Aunt Zheng curled her lip upon hearing this.

"Come on, I guess it's just talk. The young lady from the Ren family isn't stupid. She marries an old man and then gets a job for her brother. What good can she possibly get?"

I said before that girl was cunning, and sure enough, I heard that she went to work at the factory as soon as she got married.

Her family made a scene after they found out, but it was no use. A married daughter is like water spilled from a cup; she's no longer under their control.

In addition, the director's family was quite powerful, so their fuss was useless.

I heard that her brother had no choice but to go to the countryside. The Ren family has suffered a double loss this time!

As she said these words, Aunt Zheng specifically turned towards the Huang family.

However, because of Ren Xue's matter, Aunt Ren offended Section Chief Ye and has been keeping a low profile lately, rarely going out. I don't know if she heard about it.

When Aunt Zheng saw that no one came out after she finished speaking, she felt disappointed, so she said a few more words and left.

Su He and the others who were watching the commotion dispersed as well.

However, when we had dinner that evening, Lin Jingyan told me that Section Chief Ye had been inquiring about housing recently and might be moving out.

Su He understood immediately, "It's time to move to a new place; his room is too small."

The house where Section Chief Ye now lives is the same size as Su He and the others' bedroom.

It's fine if he lives alone.

But now there are one more adult and three children in the house, how can we all fit in?

Moreover, those three stepdaughters are not young, and it's inconvenient for Section Chief Ye, a grown man, to live with them.

I heard that he has been living in the duty room recently, and only buys food outside and brings it back when he has a meal, because he is afraid that Fang Guihua will not be willing to spend the food.

Therefore, I understand his desire to move.

"Is it easy to find a place to live now?"

Lin Jingyan shook his head. "It's not easy to find one. There are no vacant houses in the factory's residential compound right now. Section Chief Ye has already applied, but I don't expect to hear back anytime soon."

He's still inquiring about other houses, and he's open to buying or renting if there are any suitable ones. He's also asked me, but I don't have any news yet. I'll try to ask him later.

His room, however, isn't even vacant yet, and several people have already inquired about it.

Su He frowned upon hearing this, "Does that mean that once they move out, people will have to move into our courtyard again?"

There are quite a few families living in the courtyard now, and they're all noisy and disruptive. It's not easy to get to know someone properly, and then when someone else comes in, it's fine. If it's like the young couple from the Yuan family who live next to Section Chief Ye, they don't interact much and are easy to deal with. But if someone with a bad temper comes in, it'll really be a hassle for her.

Seemingly noticing Su He's worries, Lin Jingyan smiled and said, "Don't worry, things are still uncertain. It's not necessarily about getting people in. It's not just me at the machinery factory in our institute; I guess other people have heard the news too."

Su He understood immediately. "You mean there are other people in our compound who have their eyes on Section Chief Ye's house?"

Now it all makes sense. Indeed, before they moved in, someone had their eye on their house, but they ended up taking it first.

The Niu family, the Chen family, and the Huang family all have a lot of people living in their homes, and the front yards are also crowded. It's normal for them to want this room.

I just don't know who will get it.

...

Over the next few days, Su He saw the residents of the courtyard trying every possible way to get Ye's house.

Some people tried to get close to Section Chief Ye every day, and even Fang Guihua, who had just arrived in the city and hadn't yet adapted, became a hot commodity.

Every day, someone would take her around and teach her how to cook with coal and how to go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy things.

Fang Guihua was flattered but gradually adapted to city life.