Chapter 15

Su Miao and his friends played for about an hour when they heard the group next door disperse. Several loud uncles walked out, saying, "Great, great! It's great to have a car now. We'll come back often!"

After a while, Su Miao saw his father coming in with his second uncle and second aunt.

He also squatted down in front of the third wife and greeted her: "Auntie, I'm Ah Zheng, how are you?"

Grandma San choked up and said, "Okay, okay, I'm fine, you're fine too, we're all good children."

Su Yuanzheng told his relatives that he had been laid off and was going to start a small business. This time he came back to collect firewood and pickle vegetables.

The pickled vegetables made by my second aunt are famous far and wide. As for firewood, my second uncle had just dried a batch, so he asked for it here directly.

A simple house was built in the backyard specifically for pickling pickles. There are seven or eight large jars in it. Once the lids are opened, the sour smell is very refreshing.

Second Uncle said cheerfully, "Miao Miao, the pickles made by your second aunt are delicious. People from other villages often come to buy them."

"Hey, old man, stop bragging. Come on and open all of this. Ah Zheng said to take some of everything."

When Su Miao and his friends came, they brought a large porridge bucket. They wrapped different kinds of pickled vegetables in plastic bags and put them into the porridge bucket. They took them out and separated them after they returned.

Second uncle tied the dry firewood into bundles and piled them on one side of the car to prevent them from scattering and hitting Miaomiao during the bumpy ride.

Then he firmly held down Su Yuan's hand that was about to take out money: "What are you doing! You come to your brother's house to order some pickles and you have to pay! You are slapping me in the face."

Then the two brothers started to fight.

"Second brother! This is a long-term business. I'll come here every week. How can I not pay? It's a one-size-fits-all deal. I'm here to buy goods, so I have to pay!"

"Oh! Wait until you make some money, and take all this back home to eat!"

"Yes, these are all made at home, there is no cost, why would we need money!"

…

Seeing the situation was at a stalemate, Su Miao said, "Dad, Second Uncle won't accept the money, so we can't come to get the pickles anymore. It's not good to take them for free."

Su Yuanzheng understood what his daughter meant and sighed, "Brother and sister-in-law, if you don't charge me, I won't dare to come next time. I can only buy it from others in the city, and I don't know how much it will cost."

Second uncle was anxious: "Food in the city is so expensive! The pickled vegetables are not as delicious as your second sister-in-law's!"

Su Miao stepped forward and took Second Aunt's hand and said, "Second Aunt, please accept it. We will come back next time."

Finally, the third grandmother who had arrived in the backyard at some point spoke up: "Awang, you can keep it. This is Azheng helping our family. You must remember this."

Finally, the price was set at half the price in the county market. A bucket of pickled vegetables and half a cart of firewood only cost 8 yuan.

Second uncle and second aunt sent them all the way to the village entrance. The shade of the trees at the village entrance has always been a paradise for gossip. Today, Su Miao and his father will naturally be on the hot search list.

The villagers had loud voices and their enthusiastic shouting could be heard from far away.

"Forget regular jobs, now they can't even get temporary jobs. They used to be said to be the most promising family!"

"Really?! I was thinking of asking his family to use their connections to send my son to the county primary school! Now it seems like that's out of the question."

"Oh no! He's a homeless vagrant now, with no job and no land. He's worse off than us! Are you going to beg him?"

"You can't say that. Didn't he say he wanted to do business? Maybe he'll become rich from this, hahahaha!"

A female voice sounded, seemingly speaking for them, but the mockery in her tone was not concealed at all, and her words made the group laugh.

They fell silent until someone noticed them approaching.

Several uncles came over and pushed the cart, escorting the father and daughter out of the village. The second uncle said, "A Zheng, don't worry about what others say. Living your life well is the right thing to do. If you need anything, just call us. I'm old, and you still have several younger brothers. If things don't work out, your nephew has grown into a man. Don't be afraid of things! Don't put yourself in a difficult position!"

Su Yuanzheng didn't say much. He just nodded and got on the bike and drove forward.

Just after going out a little, Su Miao heard a noisy quarrel coming from behind him, mixed with the voices of several uncles, aunts and uncles.

Especially the second aunt's voice was the loudest: "Mr. Li! Keep your stinky mouth shut! My brother has been very promising since he was young! It's your turn to point fingers at him."

"What did I say? You're not allowing me to tell the truth? Is that a business that ordinary people can pull off? If I lose everything, can you afford to support me?"

"Bah! You're such a jerk! My brother is from the city, there's nothing he can't do. And your brother is a fool, he can't even speak clearly at the age of forty!"

"Hey! If you have something to say, just say it. Why are you bringing up my brother?"

…

The tricycle drove farther and farther away, and Su Miao could no longer hear the rest of the words.

Su Yuan was pedaling the bike silently. She tilted her head to look at her father's profile, and the corners of her eyes seemed a little red.

At this time, most people cannot understand why Su Yuan would give up his formal job to go into business, and he is under considerable pressure.

Su Miao didn't know how to comfort his father, so he could only silently make up his mind to help his father make the deal and stop the gossip.

They were silent all the way. Halfway through, a military jeep overtook them from behind, and the dust raised by its wheels covered the faces of the father and daughter.

Su Miao covered his mouth and nose with his sleeves, and waited until the dust settled before he stood up and patted his clothes.

"Driving a car is so cool, Dad. When we make money, we'll buy a car too. Then we can go anywhere with just one step on the accelerator."

Su Yuanzheng was amused by his daughter's witty remarks, and his anger dissipated a lot. He responded, "Okay! Dad will work hard to let Miaomiao ride in a car and live in a high-rise building!"

"High-rise buildings are fine, but they're out of touch with the real world. They're nowhere near as comfortable as the small courtyard we live in now. It's spacious and we can even grow vegetables and raise chickens."

"Hey, those who live in high-rise buildings don't have to grow vegetables or raise chickens. They can buy anything with money. But it's true that they don't have a spacious yard. Those who were allocated housing in the factory before all complained that there wasn't enough room."

At this point, Su Miao brought up the matter of the property certificate: "Dad, the yard we live in now still belongs to the government, right?"

Su Yuanzheng nodded: "Yes, but since it's allocated to us, we can live here forever, unless we move somewhere else, then it may be taken back."

"Can we buy it? I heard from some classmates that their families have already bought the allocated houses. After paying some taxes and fees, they can get the property ownership certificate, and the house will be theirs from now on."

Su Yuanzheng didn't have much of an idea about buying a house. After all, most people's houses these days were allocated. "But you're going to study in the city in the future, and maybe even work there. What are we going to do with this yard?"

"It's our hometown. This is where I grew up. I have to come back to visit eventually. Now there is a policy to buy it. Our yard happens to be home to only one family. It would be great if I could pay a little more and buy the whole yard."

"Okay, since Miaomiao wants to buy it, Dad will go and ask. But I'm not sure if we can buy the whole yard at once. After all, there are only two rooms allocated to our family at that time."

"Great! Let's go ask first. If we can buy them all, that would be great. If not, just buy as many as we can."

Su Miao thought that in a few years, as the county town expanded, the wealth of the people living in the alley where they lived would increase rapidly.

Many people who did not obtain property certificates were cleared out by the Real Estate Bureau and arranged into unified dormitories. At that time, they didn't even have time to slap their thighs.