Chapter 100 Selling the Courtyard
After dinner, Shen Yuzhu brought them hot water to wash their faces and hands, then coaxed them to go to bed in the west room.
Zhou Congsheng wandered around the house for a while, then decisively went to Shen Yuzhu's bedroom. They were already married, so being all lovey-dovey was inappropriate.
While being put to sleep, Panpan nervously tugged at Shen Yuzhu's clothes, her little face full of worry, "Auntie, my mom hasn't eaten yet!"
"Don't worry, Sister Guo and the others will definitely take good care of your mother. You should get some rest. You don't need to go over tonight. I'll have someone call your mother over later, okay?"
"Grandma said that Mom has to keep vigil for Dad," Zhang Jiemei whispered as she slept, tilting her head to the side.
"They're divorced, why keep vigil? No need."
The children listened to Shen Yuzhu and relied on her a lot. Hearing her say this, they breathed a sigh of relief and soon fell asleep peacefully.
While Shen Yuming was making a huge fuss, Zhang Li was just lying on the broken bed, with nothing on him except for the clothes he had changed into and a few ice cubes placed around him.
Whether it was the Zhang family members or Granny Zhang, they were all wailing, but their words were full of dissatisfaction with Shen Yuming.
The dead are the greatest menace, and neither Lü Guangzhi nor the old village chief could control such a matter.
Shen Yuming kept a blank face, neither crying nor saying a word.
Guo Rou and Sun Fenglan, along with several sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, and older women, stood in front of her, occasionally hurling insults at people, or waving away fingers when someone pointed at them.
Granny Zhang's arm was pinched. She turned her head and glanced at Changshan, who nodded slightly to her.
The next second she lunged forward and knelt down in front of Shen Yuming.
"My dear child, please listen to your mother and keep vigil for my son. After all, we were husband and wife. Let him leave in peace and with a clear conscience, okay?"
"Auntie, what are you doing? No matter what, Yuming is your daughter-in-law. How can you kneel before her?"
Qian Cuilian quickly went over to help her up, saying, "Sister-in-law, what are you doing? Aren't you trying to force Yuming to die? Zhang Li and she are divorced. She's already being reasonable by agreeing to let us come back to handle the funeral arrangements. We can't go too far, can we?"
“Auntie, what my Aunt Qian is saying is right. That’s not how it works. Zhang Li didn’t treat my sister-in-law well when he was alive. Now that the funeral is being held smoothly, why can’t we do that? Why are you kneeling before my sister-in-law?”
The speaker was a young wife of the Zhang family. As soon as she finished speaking, she was ridiculed by a group of people from the Zhang family, who said that she disregarded the Zhang family's reputation and that she, as a woman, had no right to speak in matters of great importance.
If things had been discussed properly, there would have been no problem. But this woman is not someone to be trifled with. She believes that what she said is fair, so everyone is acting like they've been stepped on and won't let it go.
"What are you doing? What are you doing? My sister-in-law didn't say a word, so how is it her fault? I don't think you're just so free to handle Zhang Li's funeral. You must have some other plans. Oh my god, you grown men, what kind of dirty thoughts are you hiding at a time like this? Bring them out! Zhang Li's body is barely cold, and you're already bullying my sister-in-law and her child, right?"
Guo Rou and Sun Fenglan both looked at the person who was speaking so passionately. Zhang Jiaming actually had a lot of sense, but he just didn't want to get involved in these messy things.
Now that they've been exposed like this, they've all turned into cowards.
Shen Yuming now understood why Yuzhu had said she wanted to sell the house and why she had moved to the small courtyard – it was because she was afraid these people would keep an eye on the courtyard.
The Zhang family's courtyard is a tiled house with so many rooms. It's hard to imagine many people feeling uncomfortable having a divorced woman living there with several children.
Instead of always getting involved in these trivial matters, why not let the highest bidder win today? Whoever offers the highest price can buy the yard, and she can live a peaceful life with her child from now on.
"Stop arguing. I know what you want. It's all about this courtyard, isn't it? Fine, I'll give up this courtyard."
Upon hearing this, the eyes of the Zhang family members and the Chang family members immediately lit up like light bulbs; the scheming in their eyes was obvious even to a blind person.
"But let me make this clear from the start: when Zhang Li and I divorced, it was all in black and white. Everything in this yard and house was for my son's future. Now you want it? Fine, pay up. I'll give up the five large brick houses and the private plot. Whoever can afford it, I'll give it to. Brigade leader, do you think what I'm doing is reasonable?"
Shen Yuming spoke loudly, and after he finished speaking, he just stared quietly at Lü Guangzhi.
“It’s reasonable, of course it’s reasonable. When we got divorced, we said we signed the papers. This house is for Qiancheng. Zhang Jie, Panpan, and the other girls also got a room. If any of you want to buy it first, you can come to me. Don’t always belittle Yuming, a woman.”
Granny Zhang immediately stood up; she felt she should rightfully have a share of everything the Zhang family owned.
Lu Guangzhi completely ignored her. Back then, she followed Changshan with her own belongings, and since then, Xiangyang Production Team was no longer her husband's family home. Naturally, everything about the Zhang family had nothing to do with her.
Moreover, when she left, she took a lot of money with her. If it weren't for Shen Yuzhu, Shen Yuming and her children, as well as Zhang Li, would have starved to death, but they would have suffered a lot for nothing.
Granny Zhang was naturally unwilling and immediately lay down on the ground, rolling around and acting like a spoiled child. The Chang family members tried to persuade her one by one, but this only added fuel to the fire.
Lu Guangzhi wasn't going to let it slide. He shouted, "Shut up, stop making a scene. If you're not happy, go ahead and sue the commune, go to the government. If Yuming is willing to sell the house today, then we'll agree on a good price. We'll negotiate openly. Whoever can afford the price will sell. Right now, the most important thing is to get the funeral done. If you want to deal with the house issue, that's fine too."
Lu Guangzhi glanced at the broken bed in the main room and thought, "They're all family, and he even has a mother. It can't be like this..."
"Let's talk about the house first."
"Yes, yes, Captain, you do the math, how much is the house?"
Shen Yuming almost burst out laughing. He thought at least one person really cared about Zhang Li, but to his surprise, there wasn't even one.
"Yu Ming, what do you think?"
"Captain, you handle this matter. I can't figure out the accounts either, but given your character, you certainly wouldn't cheat me."
The Chang family was large, and Changshan stopped Granny Zhang from making any more trouble.
Of the five tiled houses, he was probably the only one who could afford it. With the money his family could come up with, plus what Granny Zhang brought, they could buy such a large courtyard and the whole family could live comfortably.
He's happy to be living in a different production team!
Lu Guangzhi calculated the price. Based on the local brick and tile prices, and considering all the expenses over the years, Shen Yuming bought the house for 970 yuan, and the courtyard became the property of the Chang family.
She wrote the contract on the spot, and after she finished, she had someone call Shen Yuzhu over and bought her small courtyard for three hundred yuan.
Even close sisters should keep clear accounts, and Shen Yuzhu accepted the money. After all, with so many people around, it was always a potential problem for Shen Yuming to have so much money in his hands.
Before the funeral arrangements even began, Shen Yuming gave Guo Rou and a few others two cents each to help pack their belongings, and they immediately moved out of the Zhang family's courtyard.
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