Chapter 115 cannot escape
Beijing City.
Zhong Er and Yao Fangyuan got a house last year and moved out of the tenement.
Yao Fangyuan almost married someone else back then. Zhong Er asked her to go to Shenzhen, but she refused no matter what.
She finally got promoted to team leader and was recently transferred to the office building. Director Geng has been very supportive of her; she's in a period of rapid advancement, and perhaps in a few years, she'll have a chance to be promoted. All that hard work and success along the way—how could she just let it all go?
With Yao Fangyuan not coming, and the two of them having reached the age where they should be discussing marriage, Zhong Er couldn't sit still after Aunt Zhong tipped him off that Yao Fangyuan was going to date someone else. He simply applied to return to Beijing to take charge of sales in the Beijing area.
Zhong Er pointed at Yao Fangyuan's forehead and cursed her for being stubborn. He said her lousy job didn't earn her much money, and if they were in Shenzhen, they would definitely be doing much better.
Yao Fangyuan ignored him. She was determined not to give up the office job she'd worked so hard to get; it was a secure job, earned through her own hard work as a factory worker! How many workers out of hundreds could be like her? What did he know!
After Zhong Er returned, he and Yao Fangyuan registered their marriage. Just then, the fan factory started providing welfare housing, and after they registered, Yao Fangyuan immediately applied for housing allocation. The factory had made money in the past two years, but had invested all that money in new product development. Waiting for them to make money again, and then waiting for another housing allocation, was uncertain. Yao Fangyuan had already decided that she had to seize this opportunity. Zhong Er was also adept at networking; he visited several leaders, union leaders, and employee representatives one by one, and the housing was successfully allocated.
As soon as the two moved out of the tenement, Zhang Xiuxiu wanted to move her two daughters into the empty room. She asked Li Chunying for the key.
Li Chunying was blocking the house from entering. She said, "If you want to stay, you have to sign a rental contract for thirty yuan a month. No contract, no entry. This is already a special price!"
It was agreed beforehand that this was Weimin's house, but given Zhang Xiuxiu's nature, she might not want to return it after occupying it, so this rental contract must be signed.
Li Chunying was adamant, "Don't say I haven't taken care of you these past few years. Every day, you and your children have eaten a few steamed buns from me. Have I ever asked you for money? Daya is sensible. She knows to help me after school. I haven't mistreated Daya, have I? Have you ever paid for Daya's allowance, schoolbag, or textbooks? But one thing is one thing. When Weimin gave me the key to this house, I had to keep an eye on it for him."
“You didn’t ask for rent when Yuanyuan moved in, but you’re asking for it now that your granddaughter is here. Is it because your granddaughter is not as good as your daughter? You always praise Daya for being sensible. Anyone who doesn’t know better would think that you, as her grandmother, love Daya very much.”
Li Chunying: "When Weimin comes back for holidays, Yuanyuan always makes room for her brother. Can you do that?"
"But it still didn't turn up the space, did it? Besides, Weimin only comes back for a few days a year. He can just stay in the main room for a few days and that will be fine. The room is just sitting empty anyway."
Li Chunying sneered, knowing this would happen. "Stop talking nonsense. This rental contract must be signed. It's to let you know, to constantly remind you, that this house doesn't belong to you, it belongs to Weimin. If you want to live here, you have to pay rent. Whenever Weimin comes back, he can take this house back anytime. I don't want to end up in court with you later."
Despite Zhang Xiuxiu's repeated persuasion, Li Chunying remained firm and eventually signed the contract and paid the rent.
The courtyard returned to its usual tranquility, except for the occasional sarcastic remarks between Zhang Xiuxiu and Fang Guizhi. For years, their feud hadn't subsided; they'd exchange barbs every now and then. Years of friction and relentless insults had cemented their enmity, leaving them seething with hatred for each other. Zhang Xiuxiu, always one to find fault, had been constantly bringing up Yao Fangfang, referring to her as an unmarried old maid. Fang Guizhi, upon hearing this, would be consumed by rage, wishing she could tear Zhang Xiuxiu apart.
Grandpa Yao has been staying indoors a lot lately, mostly lying down.
Li Chunying felt inexplicably uneasy. She would leave early and return late, and at noon she would always send Yao Deyi back with steamed buns to check on the old man.
Just as Li Chunying was considering whether to call Yao Fanghua and Yao Weimin, that noon, Old Master Yao became drowsy and unresponsive. Yao Deyi, panicked and disoriented, rushed off to find his wife.
Li Chunying wiped her hands, immediately closed the shop, and went home with Yao Deyi.
Li Chunying felt that the old man's hand was still warm. Suppressing her panic, she spread the bedding on the tricycle while calling for Yao Deren and his wife.
The couple sat comfortably inside. Aunt Zhong heard them running into the old man's room and came to ask what was going on, but the two of them just stayed inside as if nothing had happened and wouldn't come out.
Li Chunying showed them no mercy, "Yao Deren, that's your own father inside. You're just turning a blind eye at a time like this, acting like a coward. Be careful you don't get struck by lightning!"
Yao Deren jolted awake.
The couple were fast asleep in the inner room. Fang Guizhi had heard the noise earlier, but she pretended to be asleep and didn't move.
At this moment, Yao Deren kicked on his shoes and ran outside, shouting, "What's wrong? What happened?"
Seeing the old man on the bed unconscious, he immediately woke up and quickly helped Yao Deyi lift the old man onto the tricycle.
Fang Guizhi finally ran out at this moment.
Li Chunying: "Sister-in-law, quickly bring the money from home."
Fang Guizhi paused, realizing she shouldn't have come out!
"I know! Did you bring it?"
Li Chunying: "Of course I brought it."
Yao Deyi rode a tricycle, Yao Deren and his wife, and Li Chunying pushed it from behind.
Seeing this, Aunt Zhong couldn't sit still any longer, so she followed behind, pushing the cart, and ran all the way to the hospital.
The group rushed to the hospital in a panic.
Inside the hospital, Fang Guizhi was still exclaiming, "She was perfectly fine yesterday, even coming out to sunbathe in the afternoon. How could this happen so suddenly?"
The doctor continued, "When did this happen?"
Yao Deyi hurriedly said, "At noon, I brought my father lunch and found that I couldn't wake him up."
The doctor asked a few more questions, but it was mostly Fang Guizhi making a fuss.
Aunt Zhong patted Li Chunying on the shoulder and said, "It's rare for someone to live to seventy, but the old man is over eighty. That's considered a long life."
Li Chunying nodded. She wasn't too upset about it, since he wasn't her biological father. She just sighed, sighed at how quickly life goes by, and sighed that no one can escape this day.
When Yao Fanghua received the call in the afternoon, her heart skipped a beat, and she immediately called Wu Peng and Yao Weimin.
The next day, the three of them flew back to Beijing with their three children.
In recent years, Yao Fanghua and Wu Peng have never returned to Beijing, while Yao Weimin has returned every year for the Spring Festival.
The New Year's gifts that she and Wu Peng gave to Li Chunying and the old man were either sent back or taken back by Yao Weimin.
Because of this, Li Chunying called Yao Fanghua many times, complaining that she didn't come home.
But he was indeed busy, busy with the new factory, the new production line, and the new products, determined to make something of himself.
Wu Peng was also busy, busy buying houses, shops and land, and later busy demolishing houses, building houses and selling houses.
Yao Fanghua didn't mention going back, and he had no relatives in Beijing, so he certainly wouldn't. He had been spending money to keep an eye on Wu Kun, but Wu Kun had never given him a chance. Wu Kun didn't marry or have children, went to work on time every day, didn't gamble or visit prostitutes, didn't eat well or dress well, and wasn't ambitious. His life was more disciplined than that of a hermit monk. Besides smoking, he had no other vices. Every time Wu Peng saw the photos Wu Kun sent back, he wondered if Wu Kun was out of his mind. If he was so indifferent to fame and fortune, why didn't he just become a monk? Or was this some kind of guilty repentance? Ha, what's the use? No one will forgive him.
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