Chapter 4 Agreement 1 Step-grandmother makes new trouble again
The settlement procedures require a "written consent from the person being taken in." Since Mr. Dong changed his mind, the household registration naturally cannot be completed.
Dong Taohua was caught off guard by Old Dong's sudden change of heart. She collapsed and asked, "Didn't we agree on this the day before yesterday? Why are you going back on your word?"
Old Dong hesitated and said, "Taohua, I'm not going to regret it, but you know, our house is too small and we can't accommodate one more person."
"The 40-square-meter house has been divided into three rooms. One is for your aunt and me, one is for your eldest brother and his wife and your nephews and nieces, and one is for your younger brother Liu Qiang and his wife and their children.
In the small space left in the main hall, Fuyun sleeps on the floor at night. Now that He Ye is here, where should she stay? Is she supposed to sleep on the floor in the main hall too?
This isn't good. Fuyun is a young man in his twenties, and Heye is a girl of fifteen or sixteen. Even though they are uncle and nephew, and relatives, they should still avoid being close. "Where can the child live?"
Dong Taohua looked at her father and felt a chill in her heart.
Other people's houses are also small and have all kinds of problems, so why can they overcome these difficulties?
The eldest brother and stepbrother's room is full and there's no room for them. So can't he and his stepmother live in the room they share? Even if the grandfather and granddaughter need to avoid each other, he and his younger brother can sleep on the floor in the main room and let the granddaughter live in the room!
He Ye is fifteen years old and in the eighth grade of junior high school. She will take the high school entrance exam next year. If she can get into a technical secondary school, she can live in the school dormitory. If she goes to high school, it will only take four or five years, and she will also have accommodation when she goes to university.
In just a few years, the child will have a different future than before, and the boss is unwilling to compromise himself for a short time.
To put it bluntly, Old Dong is selfish, just like when he asked her to go to the countryside and later gave the job to his stepmother's son. He just wants someone to serve him and live a comfortable and happy life. He doesn't care what kind of suffering his son and daughter have to endure.
Old Dong said, "I'm also concerned about my granddaughter's future, but our family situation really doesn't allow it. As long as you promise not to live at home, we can go and get her registered immediately."
Dong Taohua looked at Old Dong's eloquent arguments, feeling helpless and extremely resentful. If the child's father had no relatives who could register his daughter, He Ye's household registration would have to be moved back to Hucheng and could only be registered in the house under Old Dong's name. Dong Taohua really didn't want to waste another word arguing with such a selfish, cold-hearted father.
But when it came to her daughter's future, she could only bow her head and beg the boss: "Can you please complete the household registration procedures first so that the child can go to school smoothly? It's almost April now, and the child will take the high school entrance exam in less than two months. If we delay any further, the child's future will be affected."
The old boss shook his head and refused outright, "That won't work."
Last night, the old woman had analyzed with him that if the granddaughter wanted to stay at home, there were only two places for her to live: the main room and their room.
The main room also housed the youngest son, Fuyun; it was inappropriate for a grown-up girl and a young man to share the same place at night. Inside, not to mention the awkwardness of Sumei, the step-grandmother, and Xu Heye, a cheap granddaughter with whom he had never met before, it was inappropriate for him, the grandfather, to share a room with his almost-adult granddaughter.
The final result was that she and Xu Heye lived in the inner room, while he and his youngest son slept on the floor in the main room.
Old Dong shook his head when he heard this. How could sleeping on the floor compare to sleeping on a bed? It was cold in the winter and damp in the summer. He was so old, and still asked him to sleep on the floor, it was like asking him to die!
When Mr. Dong heard this, he immediately changed his mind. Because his own interests were involved, his attitude of refusing was much more firm than before.
In a word, if you don’t live at home, you can register. If you want to register, don’t live at home.
Xu Heye looked at Old Dong and thought back to this time in her past life. Perhaps it was because her mother's banging her head against the wall had frightened her grandparents and step-grandmother's family that this incident hadn't happened when they were applying for household registration.
Xu Heye remembered that in her previous life, she had lived in the Dong family until she graduated from high school.
But later she missed the college entrance examination due to some things, and her family situation did not allow her to repeat the year, so Xu Heye found a job in a factory and moved to the factory dormitory. She never came back since then.
During the years she lived in the Dong family, her step-grandmother Wang Sumei often made indirect accusations, but Old Dong never blatantly drove her away.
Xu Heye understood after thinking about it again. Old Dong must have wanted her to move away, but her mother died on the train back home... Although it was not said explicitly, everyone knew that her mother's death must be related to the collision at Dong's house.
Perhaps out of guilt towards his eldest daughter, or perhaps out of a guilty conscience, Mr. Dong let her stay at his home.
This time, they were safe and sound, and these people's various schemes could no longer be hidden.
Without any false sense of guilt, Old Dong was the first to jump out and oppose her living at home.
However, Xu Heye was extremely relieved because this meant that her mother was safe and sound.
She pulled Dong Taohua's hand, looked at Old Dong and said, "Grandpa, don't worry, we won't live at home. We'll just borrow this house from you to settle down."
Just as the boss was about to agree, Wang Sumei quickly said, "No, you have to find a house first, and then register your hukou. Otherwise, if you register your hukou and refuse to move out, constantly making excuses saying you can't find a house, what are we going to do?"
Xu Heye thought to herself, "It's rare that I've rented a house and settled down. I want to move back in, and you can still refuse?"
But she definitely couldn't say that. "You all know how hard it is to find a house. We need time. But every day I delay settling in, my enrollment will be postponed by a day, and my studies will fall behind by a day. I can't afford to lose time."
Since you have doubts and are worried that we won't leave, I'll sign an agreement with you, stipulating how long I'll have to move out after I'm settled. If I refuse to move out when the deadline comes, you can use the agreement to kick me out. That should be fine, right?
Wang Sumei thought about it and felt it was okay, then said, "That's fine. But the agreed moving-out date can't be too far away, otherwise what's the point of signing this agreement?"
Xu Heye said immediately, "But it can't be too short. Houses are hard to find, and you can't just give me a day or two to look for a house. I can't even go around the steel plant's staff quarters in such a short time, so where can I find a house? You have to give me at least a month..."
"One month? One month won't work, it's too long. Half a month, I'll give you half a month to find a house." Wang Sumei said immediately.
Xu Heye agreed: "Okay, half a month, let's sign the agreement now."
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