When Hua Xiangyun returned home, she sighed, "She's ruined such a good life and such good fortune."

Jiang Yi had long seen that Zhou Xiaolan would escape this time, but she would inevitably lose her luck again.

"Do you think they're really planning to take the college entrance exam?" Jiang Yi carried water to the kitchen to boil. His brother-in-law and his family probably wouldn't be coming over today, so he should just wash up and go to bed early.

"Who knows?" Hua Xiangyun didn't even want to think too much about it. "As long as our family doesn't get involved with them, what do their affairs have to do with us?"

&

Zhou Xiaolan returned home in a huff, only to find the stove and pots empty, and He Ping'an still sitting there, legs crossed, singing. "Since you're home, why don't you at least tidy up a bit?"

Upon seeing her return, He Ping'an immediately stood up eagerly, "How was it? Did you have a good day?"

"What could you possibly gain? You've borrowed from everyone you could," Zhou Xiaolan said irritably. "You had a few good friends when you were in school, go and borrow from them now."

"Where can I borrow from? They went to the countryside right after graduation and we haven't kept in touch since." He Ping'an was also a little regretful. He had been a bit cocky when he got a job and said some offensive things. Maybe if he sent a letter now, he could at least get some information?

"Didn't you say you were going to borrow it? Why did you come back empty-handed?"

Zhou Xiaolan sat in his previous seat and said irritably, "I went to find Hua Xiangyun. I finally managed to catch her, but I didn't expect her to be so heartless. She would rather lend the information to outsiders than to me."

"Have they all been lent out?" He Ping'an didn't believe it. They had asked around these past few days, but they had only managed to borrow one or two cards. Little by little, the amount was still acceptable.

"Who knows?" Zhou Xiaolan said viciously. "Maybe those two old guys used it to exchange for benefits."

I asked around the neighborhood, and every time someone from She'er Village comes to the Hua family's house, they carry a huge sack of potatoes. Do you think they're doing this kind of buying and selling too?

Throughout the journey, she kept thinking about this issue, feeling that Hua Guangzong and his group were trying to steal her business.

“It shouldn’t be possible,” He Ping’an immediately denied. “The Hua family is one of the most prestigious families in our compound. All of them have high salaries, so they don’t care about this at all.”

I think they're just making excuses to avoid lending you the money.

Zhou Xiaolan said, "They are really despicable. They would rather keep their things to themselves than lend them out."

What do we do now? Has what we were about to get slipped away?

In just a few days, they have earned more than a hundred yuan from the exam papers and materials they obtained through personal connections. This is much easier than doing business without any investment.

How could they bear to give it up like this?

"You'd better think of a way quickly. I went to the village yesterday, and they were still urging me to do it." Zhou Xiaolan felt a pang of pain in her heart as she watched the money slip away.

"We've borrowed from everyone we could, and those we couldn't borrow from are all people who live far away or in rural areas. What are we supposed to do? We could have just found the money, but it just flew away like that?"

He Ping'an said, "...Why don't you go to the school and keep watch? They have test papers to copy every day. You can copy them down and then give them back."

“Even if I work non-stop all day, I can’t copy more than a few pages. Staying there all day won’t get me anything done. It’s not worth it.” Zhou Xiaolan didn’t want to suffer for herself. “Why don’t you go if you’re free and can rest?”

He Ping'an: "...So I don't have to go to work?"

"You only make a few dollars at your job..."

"But at least you get something every month. How long can you keep this business going?"

...

With the resumption of the college entrance examination, some people who had been sent to the countryside were able to return.

Some of the previously confiscated property is also among those being returned.

The heat of the college entrance examination hasn't died down yet, and now there's a lot of commotion over real estate issues.

The owner of the house in the yard right across from theirs returned with documents stating that it should be returned, but the people living there had nowhere to go.

Tian Guihua and the others were also worried. Although their courtyard was donated by the original owner, who knew if there would be any further complications?

Hua Guangzong even withdrew all his savings, thinking of looking for nearby properties to buy one first, so that his family would have a fallback plan.

When Hua Xiangyun found out, she said, "Grandpa, don't worry about these things. We agreed to donate back then. If you want to go back, we will definitely give you a chance to do so."

Everyone is demanding that the factory solve this problem; they are the ones who should be really worried.

If things proceed as planned, family housing should be built right now. My second brother might not be eligible yet, but my grandfather and other long-time employees, along with my eldest brother and sister-in-law's seniority, should be able to get housing.

However, now that they are all taking the college entrance examination, the situation may change somewhat.

“Yes, Grandpa, if you really can’t stay here, we can stay at our house.” Jiang Yi quickly stepped forward to express his opinion. “After the exam, we can’t stay at home, so we’ll have to trouble you to take care of the house.”

Even if we can't go to university and leave, many places will be open to the public in a couple of years, and this place will only be used as our ancestral home.

"Sigh, even if we make a scene now, the houses won't magically appear anytime soon." Hua Guangzong didn't have a high opinion of the officials in the county. Other places had already built their family housing in a flurry of activity, while in Heping County, they had only heard rumors but hadn't seen any action.

Now that things have come to this point, and they still haven't given a definite answer, it's no wonder everyone is getting anxious.

If things go wrong, they could all end up homeless. We can't have so many people sleeping on the streets in the cold.

Since autumn began, each autumn rain has brought a chill, and some people with weaker constitutions have started wearing cotton-padded coats.

"Don't worry about it," Tian Guihua had advised him countless times these past few days. This old man never thinks about his family. How can his heart take care of these things?

As the saying goes, when the sky falls, there are tall people to hold it up. At least their family has their grandson-in-law's house as a fallback. If all else fails, they can move to the city and squeeze in to make a living.

Those families living in a single room are truly left with no way out; they can't just quit their jobs and go back to the countryside.

Living in the same courtyard has created too many negative emotions. Now, Tian Guihua doesn't want to go out. As soon as she does, she'll definitely be confronted about this issue.

Hua Guangzong was the same; after hearing so much, he couldn't help but worry about it.

Hua Xiangyun also noticed that the two elderly people were in low spirits and had already suggested that they move to her place for a short stay, but they refused.

“The college entrance exam is coming up soon, and the children should be the priority,” Tian Guihua could only say. “If our children do well and get into a good university, and if the other family wants the house back, we, the old couple, will move to the city.”