Su Qingci's eyes lit up. "So that means I can buy a house?"

Song Jingzhou nodded. "Look carefully. As long as someone is willing to sell, there's always a way!"

At this point, Song Jingzhou said frankly, "Grandma has a plan for your uncle's matter. Last time I came back to see you, Commander Su was in the house discussing something with you. I reckon that you will ask Commander Su to resolve the issue of the house your uncle and his family live in!"

Thinking of her grandmother's personality, Su Qingci nodded, "I want to buy a house, not because of my uncle and his family."

“I don’t plan to go back to the military camp. I’ll be living outside from now on, so I need a place to stay. Although my family can’t kick me out, it’s noisy and chaotic living with this whole family. It’s okay for a day or two, but I don’t like it if it goes on for too long.”

"You know, I've always wanted my own space, or at the very least, my own room."

“I used to live alone at the educated youth settlement in Gaotang Brigade. Later, I rented a house in Taohua Town and lived alone. What I couldn’t accept most in the military camp was living with so many people. So even though I’ve left, I plan to move out.”

Su Qingci is, after all, a person with secrets. With so many people watching, she was not used to sleeping in the same bed as her grandmother at first. Now that this big family is coming together, there might be three or four people sharing a room, so she urgently needs to buy her own house.

After the first batch of college entrance examinations next year, individual businesses will gradually emerge, and various transactions will become more active. Su Qingci thought that if she couldn't buy a house, renting one would be fine, since she wasn't short of money anyway.

If we can buy, the more the better, especially courtyard houses.

Song Jingzhou seemed to have thought of something, and his eyes lit up. "I also like having my own space. Hehehe, I'll keep an eye on finding a place to live."

Su Qingci gave him a playful, dog-like smile, which made Song Jingzhou's heart tremble.

He decided that finding a place to live needed to be put on the agenda immediately.

Not to mention that Qingci doesn't have any space to be alone, he needs to have space to be alone with her even more. Since coming up from Hunan, he has even touched her hand less and less frequently.

When the two returned home, the door was closed. Guo Xiaomao heard the sound of the neighbor's door opening and poked his head out from over the wall. "Song boy, Qingci, you're back?"

"Your grandma took your uncle's family out to town!"

Su Qingci nodded, "Okay, Grandma Guo, come and sit down. Jingzhou and I bought some fruit and vegetables but we don't know what to do with them. Could you take a look?"

Guo Xiaomao shoved the half-held shoe sole into the basket and said, "Okay, okay, I'm coming right now."

As she got older, she couldn't stay idle. Usually at this time, she would be chatting with Granny Li about this and that. But today, Granny Li's heart was entirely focused on Su Changzhi's family. She was so bored that she felt empty and increasingly lonely.

She's starting to worry that if Li Yueniang focuses all her attention on taking care of her grandchildren, she might stop playing with her. Wouldn't that leave her without any playmates?

It seems she needs to push Wenjing a bit harder; she'll be twenty after the New Year, and she needs to get her married and have a baby for herself as soon as possible.

"Grandma Guo, look, we were lucky today. We ran into quite a few people at the black market in the northern suburbs, didn't we?"

"Wow, these are all rare items. You're lucky to have come across them. They're more precious than grain."

Su Qingci plucked a ripe banana from the basket and handed it to Grandma Guo, saying, "Here, have a taste."

Guo Xiaomao didn't stand on ceremony either, "When your grandma and I were strolling around before, we saw someone selling them on Fuxing Road. They weren't as big as yours, and there were only four or five on a string, which cost about two yuan."

"Tsk tsk tsk, ridiculously expensive, this must have cost a lot of money, right? Hmm~, it's so fragrant and soft, no wonder it's so expensive."

Su Qingci smiled and said, "It's not expensive. It was probably their first time going to the black market, and they were very nervous. I don't know where they got it from, and they were hiding in a corner, not daring to sell it. I just looked at it strangely and went over to ask them."

"Then I negotiated a lower price and bought them all at once, hehe."

Guo Xiaomao looked like he had gotten a great deal, "That's great, Sigui and the others are back just in time, let's all try it."

As he spoke, Guo Xiaomao rummaged through the basket, asking, "What kind of vegetables did you find?"

Su Qingci took out all the dishes from inside. "Jingzhou managed to grab a leg of lamb and a basket of eggs."

“I snatched two big fish from someone, each weighing five or six pounds, and they’re still fresh. I don’t know how they got them back. Grandma Guo, what should I do with them?”

"Oh dear, how come you always manage to snatch up the best stuff? Your grandma and I go there often too, but we never come across anything like this."

"Let's rub this leg of mutton with salt and hang it up to eat tomorrow. We'll also marinate one of those two fish and stew it tonight. We'll also put some flatbread on top. We still have plenty of vegetables left over from lunch, so we'll have enough."

Without further ado, Grandma Guo finished eating the bananas and then instructed Song Jingzhou to clean the fish. She and Su Qingci also got busy.

When Li Yueniang returned in a flurry with her entourage, the lights were already on inside the house, and a delicious aroma wafted from the kitchen.

Li Yueniang went into the kitchen, fetched water, and brought it out for everyone to wash their hands.

Guo Xiaomao's heart skipped a beat when he saw Li Yueniang's expression. He asked in a low voice, "What's wrong? Weren't you supposed to be shopping?"

The forced smile on Li Yueniang's face instantly crumbled, and she said with deep concern.

“Changzhi, he’s in more serious condition than I thought. This afternoon, before we even left Liuhuai Lane, Sigui had to carry him on her back. Sigui carried her all the way back. His body is so strong, even my old bones can’t keep up with him.”

Thinking of how Su Changzhi had forced himself to stay with her and the children that afternoon so as not to spoil their fun, Li Yueniang felt as if a knife was cutting into her heart. Her Changzhi was only in his forties.

Guo Xiaomao sighed and patted Li Yueniang's hand. "It's alright. I'll go to Tongrentang first thing tomorrow morning. If you're too busy, I'll get up early tomorrow morning and go to queue up to get you a number. You can come back later. Anyway, I can't sleep."

"Tongrentang's medical skills are excellent. Didn't Fengmei say yesterday that this illness can be cured? Let's take it slow."

Li Yueniang sighed, "That's all we can do."

The room was filled with a joyful atmosphere. Not only were the children excited, but Liao Fengmei and Su Changzhi, the couple, also had smiles on their faces as they watched their children's happy expressions.

Su Jindong, who had been instructed by Li Yueniang to go out and inquire about the enrollment of the three siblings of Sigui, was assigned to pick up Guo Wenjing from get off work as soon as he got home.

After dinner, Su Changzhi could no longer hold on and had Liao Fengmei serve him to bed early.

After packing up, Su Qingci and her brother Song Jingzhou prepared to return to their unit. As soon as they left, Song Jingzhou pulled Su Qingci to go see a movie. Guo Wenjing looked at Su Jindong with anticipation upon hearing this.

Su Jindong felt a chill run down his spine under Guo Wenjing's gaze. "Wenjing, you want to go too? Then, let's go together!"

Guo Wenjing exclaimed with delight, "Brother Jin Dong, you're so kind!"

Inside the house, Li Yueniang was enjoying the cool air in the courtyard with Sixiang, but her thoughts had wandered off somewhere else.

She thought she should go to the compound too.