Wang Zhenbo coughed a few times to clear his throat, "Our Lijiapo is preparing to build a new residential project. Look, everyone, here's the map! We'll plan the new houses according to this map!"

Sure enough, there was a planning map drawn with a pen on the notice board. The map had houses drawn in a square pattern with four horizontal and five vertical lines, and the corresponding road name was written on each road.

The streets run east to west and north to south. From top to bottom, they are Hongxing Road, Hongguang Road, Hongqi Road, and Hongying Road. From left to right, they are Feixia Street, Xiaguang Street, Binshui Street, Shuiguang Street, and Qihua Street.

A total of 200 residential units were planned, each with three rooms in the north-facing house, three rooms in the south-facing house, and two rooms each in the east and west wing rooms. The size of the courtyard and the area of ​​the houses are all the same.

These houses were all built by the brigade, and all members of Lijiapo could apply to purchase one house according to their household registration. The brigade only charged the cost price, which was considered a welfare benefit for the brigade members.

Of course, once you purchase a new house, you must return the original homestead to the village committee; you can't occupy both sides.

Families with many sons asked, straining their necks, "Since we're all on the same household registration, we can only buy one set?"

Wang Zhenbo replied, "You should first divide your households according to the conditions, and then apply for the purchase separately!"

This was something they had discussed beforehand. Their son was going to get married sooner or later, and they would need to get a new homestead. So they listed all the eligible people as a separate household, and the first phase planned for 200 units.

"Accountant Wang, if our daughter doesn't get married and lives in the village with her husband, can we apply for a house?"

The one who said this was Zhao Zhengben, Zhao Suixin's second uncle. His ex-wife gave birth to a son for him, but his later wife didn't like her stepson and gave him away for adoption. Who knew that he had given birth to seven daughters but never had a son!

This family is a typical example of someone selling their son to find a son-in-law!

As soon as these words were spoken, the crowd fell silent. As Lijiapo became increasingly wealthy, no family wanted their daughters to marry outside the village. If possible, they hoped their daughters could stay in Lijiapo forever.

Wang Zhenbo looked at the crowd and said loudly, "The law stipulates that the man can register his household at the woman's home, and we will not stop him. However, if he wants to apply for a new house in our brigade, he must also transfer his household registration here and truly become a member of Lijiapo!"

They had a plan for this situation. Li Xiangdong felt that the first priority was to ensure equal rights for men and women, so girls in Lijiapo should be allowed to get married and start families just like boys.

Secondly, it is estimated that not many men would actually be willing to move their household registration to Lijiapo, after all, the feeling of living under someone else's roof is not pleasant!

Therefore, the issue of gender equality in rural areas, which remained unresolved even in the 21st century, has now been resolved in Lijiapo.

After these questions were asked, people had their own thoughts, and then someone asked, "Our house plot is larger than the planned area, what should we do about it?"

Policy interpreter Wang Zhenbo patiently explained, "According to Article 6 of the detailed rules, ten square meters of a larger homestead can be used to offset the price of one square meter of a new house! That is to say, for example, if your homestead is one hundred square meters larger than your new house, you will pay ten square meters less per square meter!"

The man silently started counting on his fingers, trying to figure out how much money he could save.

"Accountant Wang, when will this house be completed?"

This person is in a hurry to move in; he can't help it, as his eldest son is getting married on August 18th, and it would be best if the wedding could take place in the new house!

In short, some people still care about things like whether there's a heated brick bed in the house, or whether the yard is big enough to grow vegetables—these are just minor details.

Wang Zhenbo answered each question and told everyone that registration for the purchase would begin tomorrow. He said that everyone should pay a down payment first, and the remaining balance would be paid off in four installments over two years.

This was also to alleviate the financial burden on the members. Although each household had money, it was feared that if they had to pay several hundred yuan all at once, they might run out of money later.

Of course, there's also the concern that some people might feel bad about paying several hundred yuan upfront, which could delay the construction of the new houses.

In the evening, Qi Yuexian brought Chunhua over for a visit. Zhao Sufang took the jade phoenix and weighed it in her hand, laughing as she said, "The jade phoenix is ​​getting heavier and heavier!"

Jinlong stretched out his arms, wanting his aunt to hold him, squeaking and trying to compete with his sister for attention. Zhao Sufang had no choice but to hand Yufeng, whom she was holding, to Li Lan and then take Jinlong back.

Jinlong, beaming with pride, nestled in his aunt's arms and made a face at his younger sister, saying, "I won't hold you, Auntie, hold me!"

Yu Feng clapped her hands unhappily, "Brother is such a jerk!"

Li Xiangdong flicked Jinlong's nose and said, "You little rascal, all you know how to do is bully your sister!"

Jinlong was clearly familiar with him and wasn't afraid of Li Xiangdong at all. He complained to Zhao Sufang, "Auntie, my second brother bullied me!"

Chunhua laughed and said, "These two little rascals are never still for a moment!"

Li Lan handed each of them a peeled tea egg, and the two of them sat quietly on the kang (a heated brick bed) and ate it bite by bite with their little hands.

Chunhua came this time because she had a troubling matter to discuss with Li Jin and the others.

"Brother, sister-in-law, I'm hesitating about whether or not to apply for the new house!"

Zhao Sufang asked considerately, "Is it difficult to manage the money at home?"

Chunhua didn't hide anything. She nodded and said, "I have to support these two siblings all by myself. It's only because we're in our brigade that we don't have to worry about food and drink. If we were in another brigade, we would have starved to death long ago. Although the cannery pays a good wage, I only have a few dozen yuan in savings right now."

She also had another concern: she didn't know when her brother would come to pick her up.

If my brother takes them away, the purchase of the yard will be a waste. But my brother is so old, he must have already settled down and started a family. How can I, a burden with two children, live comfortably in my brother's house?

Chunhua couldn't make up her mind after thinking it over and over, so she talked to Qi Yuexian about it.

Qi Yuexian now lives by one principle: whenever she is unsure about something, she asks her elder brother and sister-in-law for advice.

Sure enough, the two of them came over after finishing their meal.

Before Li Jin and his wife could speak, Li Xiangdong said, "Aunt Chunhua, if you're short of money, I'll make it up to you. It would be best if you could reserve a house first."

Li Jin also said, "Your brother doesn't know when he'll be back. If you don't buy a new house, where will you live for the next year or two? Besides, even if he takes you away, you won't have a household registration or food coupons in the city. What will the three of you eat?"

Chunhua immediately decided, "Then I'll apply for a unit. Xiangdong, you borrow the money from your aunt, and I'll give you an IOU!"

Li Xiangdong, of course, didn't ask Chunhua to write an IOU; he simply gave her two hundred yuan.

After Chunhua's incident, Li Xiangdong and Li Jin discussed which families in the brigade lacked labor and might have difficulty getting money.

That evening, Li Jin led the brigade leadership to visit these families and promised that the brigade would advance the down payment for the new houses, with the loan installments to be deducted from the year-end dividends.