Chapter 41
Zhong Miao got downstairs and carried An An onto the kang, then got him a set of clean clothes to change into. An An had just rolled around on the ground and was quite dirty.
She threw the dirty clothes she had changed into the basin, and Pei Ze naturally took them out and added some detergent to soak them.
"Miaomiao, come up and warm up too."
"Yeah, I'll be right there. I'll get some food. Pei Ze, make some tea."
"Okay, wife."
Zhong Miao ran back to the new house in a hurry, filled her arms with snacks such as melon seeds, candy, popcorn and persimmon cakes and returned to the main house.
Pei Ze had just made the tea when he saw her holding the snacks in her arms like they were treasures, and he couldn't help but laugh.
"What are you laughing at? We all need some snacks to replenish our energy so that we can have the energy to eat well at night." Zhong Miao was talking nonsense.
The door to the room was not closed. When the two old people heard her words, they burst into laughter and asked the young couple to go into the room and close the door.
The aroma of jasmine tea wafted through the room. The tea in the cup was steaming, and the curling green smoke hit the rim of the cup and condensed into tiny water droplets.
The four adults sat cross-legged around the kang table, while An An was lying on the other side of the kang playing with his wind-up toy. This child was a carefree person and easy to coax, and he had stopped crying and getting angry a long time ago.
The old father and mother also relaxed, and Zhang Weilan felt relieved and relaxed. Zhong Ming also drank tea leisurely, and the two of them occasionally chatted a few words.
Zhong Miao rested his elbows on the table, supported his head with his hands, and looked lazy, with his eyes half-closed as if thinking about something.
Now she understood why Pei Ze had to keep a low profile and pretend to be poor. With relatives like this, she was really afraid that they would come to her house every few days to cause trouble. It would be fine if you had no money, but if you had money, they would seize the opportunity and take advantage of you while not wanting you to live better than them.
The plot has changed after all, and it has been changed many times, but I haven't seen any side effects.
In the original text, no one bought An An a car, so naturally there wouldn't be this fuse. The conflict wasn't so big, and the mother-in-law didn't really cut off contact.
In other words, it is useless for the mother-in-law to cut off contact unilaterally. They have legs. The more you tell them not to come, the more likely they will come. It is better to deal with it coldly.
Especially in the past few years when Pei Ze's elder brother was still around, Pei Ze, who was good at fighting, went out to school and was not at home. His elder brother couldn't bring himself to hit him and there was really no good way.
On the other hand, the mother-in-law has deep feelings for her husband. Even though they have been separated for so many years, she still remembers him in her heart. So when these relatives come and ridicule her, she will mostly tolerate it. After all, it won't hurt her.
But An An is the apple of my mother-in-law's eye. This time, with the car as the fuse, my mother-in-law has made up her mind not to have any contact with her anymore.
With Zhong Ming and Pei Ze here, we can fight back even if they come again. In fact, Pei Ze has never fought with his elders. He will retaliate against their children afterwards. But Zhong Ming is of the same generation as them. It won't work if you rely on your seniority. I can beat them up anyway.
If they don't interact, will the subsequent plot change?
There is a sentence in the book: "After Pei Ze divorced, Zhang Weilan could not hold her head up in the village. Even her in-laws, whom she had not seen for a long time, came to add insult to injury."
She couldn't remember the details, there should be a few more sentences than this.
Not long after that, I received news of my mother-in-law's unexpected death.
Zhong Miao wondered if her mother-in-law's accident was related to these relatives. Were they trying to take advantage of her misfortune? Could this be the straw that broke the camel's back?
Can you avoid the plot by cutting off contact and saying harsh words?
Zhong Miao's mind was full of questions, and she couldn't figure them out.
"Wife, what are you thinking about?" Pei Ze asked when he saw that Zhong Miao was distracted. He was afraid that what happened in the morning would make Zhong Miao unhappy.
"I'm not thinking about anything. After the New Year, I should go and register for the school entrance exam."
"Okay, I'll go with you."
Zhong Miao took a sip of tea. This was jasmine tea from a bag. The taste was different from the one she drank in her previous life. The tea soup was dark brown and had a stronger taste. There was a layer of something like oil skin floating on the tea. The slightly astringent feeling coupled with the rich jasmine fragrance made her relax and she stopped thinking about the problem.
The family's interactions are filled with tender affection like flowing water, and the atmosphere is relaxed and happy, as if nothing had happened.
The two old men were chatting, Zhong Miao occasionally interjected, steam rose, and Pei Ze especially enjoyed this wonderful time. This was his home, where his old mother and father-in-law were, as well as his lover and children. Unconsciously, his whole heart was warmed by the steam.
Under the kang table, he stretched out his big palm to wrap around Zhong Miao's small hand, stroking it gently again and again, as if he cherished it and loved it very much.
Zhong Miao glanced at him. Recently, Pei Ze always liked to hold her hand and play with it. She didn't move, letting his body temperature wrap around her, warm and soft.
After spending such a long time together, which was neither long nor short, Pei Ze had grown from a paper man into a real person in Zhong Miao's heart. His temper and personality were not as domineering as described in the books, but it was hard to say about his attitude towards outsiders.
Zhong Miao, a contestant with limited dating experience, may be slowly accepting this kind of married life. However, she is too rational, and it is unrealistic to expect her to become passionate quickly.
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After the Spring Festival, Wang Yingying's family received great news. Song Xing was allocated a house in the factory, and the couple finally no longer had to live apart.
Song Xing was lucky enough to be assigned to an apartment building, but some of his colleagues were actually assigned to bungalows.
It was a four-story building, each floor was divided into left and right sides, with two households on each side, sharing a balcony and bathroom, but the kitchen was independent, with one bedroom and one living room.
At that time, there was not much concept of living rooms. As long as it was a building, it was good. The living room was not even as big as the bedroom. Some living rooms were just aisles, and putting a dining table there would be too much of a blockage.
Song Xing was happy and unusually generous. He bought a TV and a refrigerator, and even asked a carpenter to make two large wardrobes. He and Wang Yingying set up their small home together.
The rubber factory was originally quite close to Qingmei, and the staff quarters were also nearby. Wang Yingying also got to see what an art academy was like, and she went for a stroll around the school with Song Xing.
The campus is spacious, with almost every major having a separate bungalow, and there are also several two- and three-story buildings. Is this a university? Although Wang Yingying did not apply to an art school, it deepened her yearning for university.
It was winter vacation now and there were not many people in the school. She imagined that after school started, the people walking around the campus would be all intellectuals and high-end people. The more she imagined it, the more her heart felt like it was on fire.
She kept muttering about taking the college entrance exam and was indeed reading and studying. In fact, this was the first time she saw what college was like. She had only heard Song Xing tell her about it before.
Over there, Wang Yingying's family showed off to everyone that Song Xing had separated the room. Over here, Zhong Miao, who had just registered for the entrance exam to a prestigious university, stayed at home drawing and reading. These were not difficult for her, and she only needed to go over them a few times. So she prepared for the exam as if it were play, and even asked An An to accompany her to study, and she didn't mind the child's noise.
Li Hongmei would occasionally come to tell her about any big or small things happening in the village. Although she was in a bad mood recently and didn't like gossiping as much as before, she still knew about big things like the housing division very early on.
Zhong Miao just listened and knew that the factory would definitely divide the houses. How could they have a child if they kept living apart like this? Wouldn't the rest of the plot be ruined then?
Li Hongmei's mentality has been more stable recently. She has been trying hard to persuade her mother at home and pretending to be well-behaved and sensible. Her mother seems to have become a little more relaxed about her going out to work, but this girl is still trying to persuade her mother.
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In mid-March, winter passed and spring came. When the snow melted, the roads were dirty and muddy. Zhong Miao became less and less willing to go out. She planned to stay at home until the end of March when the school exams came.
Her wish was shattered by Zhong Ming and Pei Ze who rushed back in the middle of the night. Before dawn, the father-in-law and son-in-law dragged her to the city.
Zhong Miao was still confused until she stood in the unfamiliar small courtyard.
"Wife, this will be our home from now on, come in and take a look."
Pei Ze took out the key, unlocked the door and went into the house.
Zhong Miao followed him into the house. Outside was a kitchen that was neither too big nor too small. Although it was only one room, it was not small, about 20 square meters.
What surprised Zhong Miao was that the room had a refrigerator and a TV, which were quite new, and all the furniture was there, but the floor covering was not very good.
"You bought a house? Did you buy these things?"
"No, this belongs to the previous owner. They bought it not long ago. They used to run a soy sauce factory here. Now they have to move south with their family and can't move their belongings, so they just sold it along with the house."
"How much did you pay for it?"
"I'll tell you later. You can't really buy it until the ownership is transferred. What do you think the door on the side is for?"
Pei Ze pulled her into the yard again and pointed to the side door in the yard, which was connected to the neighbor next door.
"You want to buy the house next door too?"
"Haha, my wife is really smart. They have a family of fourteen, and these first three studios belong to them. I decided to buy them all."
"Oh, where's my dad? What's he busy with?"
"I'll take you to see Dad later. Let's look at houses first. If it's okay, I'll pay for the transfer today."
Pei Ze took her to see all three small houses, and Zhong Miao also thought they were good.
Except for the one with a refrigerator and TV, the other two are rather shabby. If you want to live in them, you have to clean them up well.
I don't know how the houses were built. The yards of the three bungalows are different in size, and the house types are similar. The kitchen of the one on the side is bigger, so it is definitely enough to separate the water supply and drainage to create a separate bathroom. Zhong Miao is quite satisfied.
"I thought about buying this small house so that Mom and An An can live in one of their own in the future, and Dad can also have one to live in. I discussed it with Dad, and he said he likes the one in the warehouse at the back, and he wants to clean it up and live there."
"Warehouse? Take me to have a look."
"Okay."
The warehouse is only three minutes away from the front yard. It is called a warehouse, but it is actually a residence. There are people living next door. This room is really dirty and shabby, but the house is really big. It will definitely be very bright if it is cleaned up.
After looking at the house, Pei Ze took Zhong Miao to the large yard outside the bungalow facing the street, which could be reached in five or six minutes.
When Zhong Miao arrived here, he found that this was not an ordinary residence. There was a sign of a soy sauce factory hanging on it, and there were two rows of large vats for fermenting soy sauce in the yard.
There was also a rather shabby car parked in the yard. In Zhong Miao's eyes, the car was almost scrapped.
Zhong Ming was drinking tea and chatting with a strange middle-aged man in the house.
Seeing his daughter coming back, the old father asked cheerfully, "My dear daughter, do you think this place is okay?"
"Sure, Dad."
Zhong Ming turned to the middle-aged man and said, "My daughter said yes. Let's talk about it. Once we reach an agreement, we can transfer the ownership directly."
"Okay, brother, you're an open-minded person. I won't bother you. Just tell me what you think."
The father-in-law and son-in-law were chatting with the landlord, and Zhong Miao was listening from the side. It turned out that the old father wanted to buy the soy sauce factory as well.
The other party was also anxious to do business in the south, so he negotiated the price from 8,500 to 8,000. When it came to 7,500, he said he would not do it anymore.
Zhong Ming offered the final price: seven thousand five hundred, or ten thousand for the house, and the old car as well.
In his previous life, Zhong Ming played with cars, luxury cars and classic cars. Not only did he play with them, he could also repair and modify them himself. The car looked broken because it had many bumps and dents caused by driving skills and road conditions, but he was reluctant to spend money to repair it. Anyway, he could drive it out, so it didn't matter if it was a little shabby. Saving money was the important thing.
Zhong Ming thought that the engine of this car was in good condition and the other minor problems were not a big deal. Except for the sheet metal parts, he could repair them himself, especially since the car was only four years old.
"Oh, brother, you can't joke like this. I'm going to lose a lot of money." The landlord wailed, thinking to himself that these two people were really difficult to deal with.
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