Chapter 98 Jinjiang Exclusive House Building
"cousin."
As soon as Su Ruyi opened the door, she saw Zhang Sisi's bright smile.
Compared to the first time Su Ruyi saw Zhang Sisi, the child had grown much taller, had a rosy complexion, her hair was no longer yellow, and her clothes were all new.
"You're getting more and more beautiful."
Su Ruyi rubbed her head, then noticed that Tong Dahua was carrying two large bags and Zhang Shitou was also carrying a large sack on his back. She turned aside, sighing helplessly.
"Aunt, Uncle, come in quickly! You're here, but why did you bring so much stuff? Cousin, give me these things, what are they? Why are they so heavy?"
Su Ruyi took the sack off Zhang Shitou's shoulder and found it to be extremely heavy; if she weren't strong, she wouldn't have been able to lift it at all.
"They're nothing valuable, just watermelons grown at home. They weren't ripe when you came back to the county. I brought them over for you to try. The weather's been good this year, so the watermelons are especially sweet," Tong Dahua said with a smile.
Zhang Dagui laughed along. He wasn't good with words and didn't know what to say, so he just laughed along.
Not only Zhang Sisi has changed a lot, but the whole family is different. They are all wearing new clothes, and the worries in their eyes have disappeared.
Zhang Dagui is no longer a bench; the bench he used to support his body has become a wheelchair.
The wheelchair was bought by Su Ruyi during the Spring Festival and given to Zhang Dagui to make it easier for him to move around.
After Xinghua Village became wealthy, the main roads in the village were repaired in a good manner to facilitate wheelchair access.
Tong Dahua now runs a small shop in town, specializing in selling various accessories, hair accessories, stationery, toys, etc. Because it is near the school, business is very good every day.
Although Zhang Dagui has difficulty walking, he has attended school for several years and can manage the store without much trouble. With a wheelchair, he can even organize the shelves.
Ever since Tong Dahua started buying and selling small ornaments with Wang Huiting, she has found that doing business is much easier than farming.
As he accumulated more and more money, he became a different person, and much bolder.
Without needing anyone to remind her, she started wholesaling pens, notebooks, toys, and the like to sell, and she did quite well.
Zhang Qiaoqiao and Zhang Sisi don't think there's anything shameful about their parents running a small business. They are very supportive and often advertise their business in class and at school.
The shop was Su Ruyi's suggestion to open. Having a fixed shop would make it easier to do business, and we could stock more goods. Zhang Dagui could also lend a hand.
Zhang Dagui was born with a disability and could not help with farm work in the countryside, making it difficult for him to support himself, let alone his family. He was a person with low self-esteem and timidity.
But things are different once you open a shop. After realizing your value, you no longer feel like a useless person.
At first, Tong Dahua was a little hesitant. Once she rented a shop, the costs would be much higher, and she would have to buy more goods than before, otherwise she wouldn't be able to support the shop at all.
If they don't sell, those items will be stuck in our hands, and we'll still have to pay rent.
But after running the business for a while, she gritted her teeth and opened the shop, even borrowing some money from Su Ruyi.
The couple worked tirelessly from dawn till dusk to run this shop. In addition to selling jewelry, stationery, and toys, they also set up a stall at the entrance to sell tea eggs, scallion pancakes, boiled corn, and other snacks.
The two have now paid off all their debts and even have some savings.
Although they run a shop, the two haven't forgotten they are farmers, and their land hasn't been left idle. However, they're not working as hard as before; they only grow enough grain for their own consumption, and the rest is used to grow watermelons.
They didn't dare to grow so many watermelons in the past, because unlike grains, which can't be sold and can be eaten by themselves, watermelons don't keep well for long.
If you can't find a seller, it will just rot in the ground.
One year, they listened to others and planted more crops, resulting in a bumper harvest that year, which drove the purchase price down to an extremely low level.
They didn't dare take the watermelons to sell elsewhere, so in the end they lost money and it would have been better to grow grain.
But this year they have a small shop, so instead of making money by farming, they're thinking of planting more watermelons to give to Lu Ting later.
With so many employees at the plastics factory, the watermelons from several acres of land could be distributed in no time.
Lu Ting has helped their family a lot over the past year. Even if he doesn't come himself, he sends his men over so that the villagers can see that their family has powerful backers and they are no longer bullied by the villagers as before.
Otherwise, if their business improves this year, people will definitely talk about them and even try to cheat them.
The soil and water in Xinghua Village are excellent, and the watermelons grown there are exceptionally sweet, incomparable to those from other places.
Tong Dahua figured Lu Ting had everything he needed, so she decided to give him some watermelons. This year's watermelon harvest was another bumper crop; besides the ones given to Lu Ting, they also sold quite a few at the convenience store.
Each time I cut a watermelon into slices and sold them one by one, quite a few people bought them, and I earned much more than if I sold them one by one. Some people even bought the whole watermelon because they thought it was delicious.
Their watermelons are exceptionally large, each weighing over ten or twenty pounds. Because they taste so good, many people buy several at a time, with the extras used as gifts.
That year, the watermelons grown by Tong Dahua's family not only provided gifts and reciprocated favors, but also earned them a considerable income.
Upon hearing this, Su Ruyi immediately took out a large watermelon from the sack and put it in the refrigerator to freeze.
"I've heard that my aunt's watermelons are delicious, and I was thinking of going to your house to eat some when I have time in a couple of days."
"We still have some at home! You can come anytime. The taste is completely different when you pick them directly from the field. If you put them in the well to chill them when you get home, they will taste even better than if you put them in the refrigerator."
Tong Dahua was very happy to see that Su Ruyi liked it.
Hearing the commotion outside, Li Mei came out of the kitchen, greeted Tong Dahua's family, and then went back into the kitchen to continue working.
Su Ruyi's family hired a housekeeper who is responsible for cleaning and cooking. Even when Su Ruyi is away, the housekeeper comes to clean every day, and knowing she was coming back today, she bought groceries in advance.
But Li Mei couldn't stay idle. As soon as she arrived, she went into the kitchen to help, and no one could stop her.
Tong Dahua also wanted to go into the kitchen to help, but Su Ruyi stopped her.
"Aunt, the kitchen is only so big, so you should rest."
Tong Dahua did not insist, but instead asked Zhang Qiaoqiao and Zhang Sisi to help out in the kitchen.
"Will Lu Ting be here soon?"
"He'll be here in half an hour. He has some things to take care of at the construction site."
Lu Ting had something urgent to attend to, so he dropped Su Ruyi off at home and left.
Both of them are currently in a period of hard work and struggle, and this kind of situation has happened quite often. They both understand each other very well.
"Aunt, what do you need him for?"
Tong Dahua smiled sheepishly and said, "Yes, your uncle and I saved up some money this year and wanted to renovate our house. The house is old and leaks when it rains and is drafty in winter. Lu Ting works in this field, and we thought he had many connections, so we wanted to ask him for help."
There were also construction workers in the village, but they thought that Lu Ting was a big boss and could probably get cheaper materials. So, based on the principle of saving every penny, they asked for his services.
"If it's inconvenient, that's fine. Xiao Tao's dad is in the same line of work, so we can ask him."
“What’s inconvenient about this? I’ll tell him later. Even if you hadn’t brought it up, I would have told you today anyway.”
The plastics factory is going to be demolished, which means that the center of the provincial capital will shift here, driving the development of the surrounding areas.
Based on the original text, Su Ruyi was certain that Tong Dahua's village would also be demolished in the future.
Even without demolition, that area is destined to become prosperous, and building houses for rent can generate substantial profits.
At the very least, they could develop agritourism businesses; that area is a rare scenic spot near the provincial capital.
“If you’re going to build one, build a bigger one. Five or six stories wouldn’t be too low.”
Tong Dahua was taken aback: "There are only a few people in our family, why would we need such a big house?"
According to her, it would be quite good to tear down the old house and rebuild a small courtyard house.
Their homestead is quite large, so they need to quickly enclose it with a house, otherwise it's easy for others to take advantage of them.
Previously, when the village was repairing the road, they wanted to move the road to their house. Fortunately, Lu Ting sent someone over to deliver some things that day, which resolved the issue.
But if it's just left like this, without being enclosed by a building, things will get complicated over time.
Therefore, Tong Dahua and Zhang Dagui decided to grit their teeth and demolish their old house to rebuild it, enclosing their entire homestead in the yard, otherwise a fence alone would not be enough.
Although the convenience store was profitable, they had only been operating it for less than a year, and their savings were still very limited.
Building a typical rural courtyard is already quite difficult, leaving little money behind. Building a five- or six-story building would definitely not be enough.
Su Ruyi then told them about the demolition of the plastic factory. She didn't mention that their area would also be demolished. She only said that the area would become more prosperous in the future, with more and more people. In the future, it would be less and less common for companies to provide housing, and everyone would have to buy or rent their own houses.
Their village has such a good location; it would be a shame if they didn't become landladies/landlords.
"Huh? There are so many places in the provincial capital, why did they choose to develop in that remote corner of our city?" Tong Dahua couldn't understand.
"Who knows? Anyway, it's a good thing for your family." Su Ruyi said with a smile, "Aunt, it's not easy to break ground once, so let's just do it all at once. If you don't have enough money, I'll lend it to you. I won't be polite. The interest will follow the bank's rates."
Tong Dahua was completely stunned. She had heard the news, but hadn't connected it to herself. At most, she thought that since the plastic factory had moved, it would be inconvenient for Lu Ting and his men to come to their house.
Aunt Zhao from the Yao family even came up to them and made sarcastic remarks, saying that their backer was leaving and they should see how smug they could still be.
Since Yao Sanmei and Yao Simei got into trouble, the already strained relationship between the two families has deteriorated even further.
Now, after Su Ruyi's analysis, Tong Dahua realized that this matter was closely related to her.
"We'll build it, even if it means selling everything we own," said Zhang Dagui, who had been silent until now.
"Honey, this will cost a lot of money."
Although Tong Dahua believed Su Ruyi's words, it was still unfounded. The area around the plastic factory was still a desolate place, not to mention Xinghua Village, which was even further away. Who knew when she would be able to make money from rent?
They had just paid off their debts, and now they were being asked to borrow again, which made them very uneasy.
During the time they borrowed the money, they couldn't sleep well. Although Su Ruyi was easy to talk to and never pressured them, they still felt uneasy.
She was forced into this situation, which is why she came up with so many tricks in the shop, just to make more money.
Zhang Dagui, however, insisted, "Let's build four stories. We'll live on one floor, and each child can have their own floor."
Tong Dahua's eyes immediately reddened, and she instantly understood what he meant.
Zhang Shitou is in such a state that he can't find a wife and have children. His other two children are both daughters, so doing this means he wants his daughters to find husbands.
Even if they weren't recruiting a son-in-law, providing a house would give their two daughters the confidence to help take care of their brother after they pass away.
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