Chapter 16 New House

Under the dim yellow light, Xia Dashan, with a frozen face, listened to Liu Mei tremblingly telling what happened today.

With every minute he listened, his face grew darker.

While Liu Mei was talking, she secretly glanced at Xia Dashan's expression.

Seeing Xia Dashan’s gloomy face, a dark sense of pleasure suddenly arose in my heart.

You don't even go home during your ten-day break!

Is it any use to worry now?

Sister Liu knew that she had suffered a loss today.

But what else can she do as a single woman!

As the big bosses, you seem to be worried now, but when I was squeezed into that state, where were you? !

She was not without resentment in her heart.

But no matter how much resentment he had, he did not dare to vent it on Xia Dashan. He only exaggerated and made Xia Tang sound even worse.

"You are so evil! I have raised her for so long! And yet you dare to ask for things and money! How can you not erode her heart!"

Despite all the criticism, she also praised her own decision:

"But if you ask me, it's worth exchanging those for this house."

"Xia Dong's work is almost over. If I don't have money, I can go find someone to borrow, but I can't borrow money for this house..."

“That’s enough!”

Xia Dashan glared at her, frightening Liu Mei so much that she shivered again.

He said nothing, but took out his foreign cigarette and started smoking again.

The light of the bulb flickered and it looked like the filament was about to burn out again.

The filament of the lamp is burnt out, and I have to go buy a bulb. I smoked all afternoon today, and my foreign cigarettes are all gone...

Everything costs money! Xia Dong's wedding costs even more!

But, where is the money?

Xia Dashan sucked hard on the white cigarette butt. The red color of the cigarette tip flickered, making his face even darker.

Seeing that Xia Dashan remained silent, Liu Mei couldn't help but ask:

"Dashan, now..."

"What else can I do?"

Xia Dashan finally finished smoking a cigarette and threw the butt directly on the ground.

"She has brought people from the factory here, how can we cause trouble for her?"

If someone comes to the factory, it shows the attitude of the factory.

No matter how bad Xia Dashan's temper is at home, he is just an ordinary worker in the factory.

He could have a quarrel with Xia Tang, but given the current situation, if things got out of hand, he would suffer the consequences.

Xia Dashan raised his head and looked at the house in front of him.

Even though the furniture is gone, at least the house is still there.

This house is really nice, warm in winter and cool in summer, and it has a large area.

Even his fellow card players said that he lived better than his leader.

Xia Tang was so stupid that he gave up his house just for 600 yuan.

Thinking of this, Xia Dashan felt at least a little comforted, just like Liu Mei.

He looked at Liu Mei lying on the bed, and his head of the family acted like a head of the family again:

"What a mess! Hurry up and clean it up!"

*

Xia Dashan's family welcomed the new day amidst messy tidying and complaints.

And Xia Tang's new day was much happier.

During the lunch break, Gu Yan specially sent someone to ask her to go and see the house.

The person who came was a little fat boy, a young employee who was newly assigned to the factory.

The man looked very amiable, like a fat bird announcing good news, and looked very happy.

"Sister Xia Tang, our leader said that we will take you to see the storefront first. If you don't like any of them, we can also give you a house in the neighborhood."

Xia Tang smiled and nodded.

When he looked over, Xia Tang felt even more satisfied.

In her previous life, when this row of storefronts was built, she had already resigned from the factory.

Xia Tang was unhappy in her marriage and didn't like going out shopping. She only knew that this row of shops was the most popular commercial street nearby, but she seldom came here.

But today, I see that this row of houses are all well-built and spacious, and with wide sidewalks and convenient transportation, it is truly a perfect commercial street.

However, this row of storefronts has just been renovated, and the nearby schools and office buildings have not yet been built, so there are no businesses moving in and it looks rather desolate.

Xia Tang looked at each room carefully.

The fat boy initially thought that she might not like these things, but when he saw that she was looking at them so seriously, he enthusiastically introduced them to her.

"If you follow my advice, you'll want this one. It's the largest one in the area and closest to the front door of our factory."

Xia Tang shook his head.

She pointed to the corner across the street:

"Does the house over there also belong to our factory?"

The little fat boy was a little surprised, but he told the truth:

"They belong to our factory, but there are only two near the street corner. The others belong to the machinery factory."

"It's a bit far from our factory. If you want to start a small business, this is the best place."

Xia Tang said:

"Can I have the room over there?"

"Of course, but..."

Before he could finish saying "but", he saw Xia Tang already walking towards the other side.

The little fat boy hurriedly chased after her, but he couldn't help thinking in his heart that this Sister Xia Tang in front of him was really a bit strange.

Why not choose a big house and instead choose a small storefront on the corner?

Xia Tang could also sense what the little fat boy was thinking.

But she didn't care at all.

She asked the fat boy to open the door of one of the rooms, walked in and looked carefully. The more she looked, the more she liked it.

The house is a three-compartment bungalow with a small yard.

There are two small narrow rooms at the back of the yard. They are not very spacious, but they can be used as warehouses and are barely habitable.

The house is far from the medicinal materials factory, but it is closer to the machinery factory and several other factories nearby. It is only separated by a wall from the most prosperous back street.

Break through the backyard wall and you can go directly through the door.

With such a geographical location, within three years, it will become the place with the largest flow of people in the vicinity.

She wants to use it as a snack bar, so it's perfect for her.

On the contrary, the house we just saw, although large in area, is located in a remote area, which makes it suitable for a hotel but not for a snack bar.

Besides, Xia Tang chose this house for another reason.

This row of houses here will be demolished within ten years.

After it is demolished, one unit will be equivalent to ten rooms.

Having this house is like holding a golden chicken, right?

She suppressed her excitement and asked the fat boy beside her:

"Comrade, I want to ask, when can the ownership of this house be confirmed as personal?"

"This row is a brand new policy. If you want it, you can get your title this year."

“That’s great.”

Xia Tang smiled and patted the wall:

"That's the one I want."

It is better to do it today than to choose a day.

That afternoon, Xia Tang went to the logistics department to sign a written statement of giving up the original property and a confirmation letter for the new house.

In the next two or three days, Xia Tang went to work as usual, and together with Qin Yue, they slowly moved the things that were to be moved from Xia Dashan's house into the storefront like ants moving.

There are a lot of things, but the house is small and some of them cannot be used.

If there was no need for it, Xia Tang simply asked co-workers he was familiar with to move it away.

In this day and age, everyone has nothing but bare walls, so adding a chair to the house is considered a good thing.

Slowly, I cleaned up the house and it started to look its best.

As the house became fuller, the days gradually got back on track.

If there is something different, it is Qin Yue's attitude towards her.

These few days, Qin Yue has been providing her with personal protection.

He sent her to the workshop door in the morning, and before she got off work in the afternoon, she could see him standing at the door, his figure like a javelin.

The workers began to tease Xia Tang, saying that he was just looking for an ancient escort leader.

Xia Tang felt embarrassed, but she also understood that it was Qin Yue's worry about her.

She moved out of Xia Dashan's house, and they had a complete break.

Qin Yue was worried that Xia Dashan would come to cause trouble for her.

Xia Tang didn't think that Xia Dashan thought he had gotten such a great advantage that he would come to her.

But this did not stop her from feeling warm in her heart.

After going through so much, she knows too well what is truly good for you.

Some men are all talk and no action.

There are only a few people like Qin Yue who don't say it but actually make efforts.

But, good is good.

But it was still quite awkward for the two of them to be in the same room.

Especially Qin Yue, sometimes when she got close, she could see his face turn red instantly, even the tips of his ears were red.

It was as if she was going to... do something to him.

Xia Tang was embarrassed at first.

But Qin Yue was always like this, which made her want to take action.

I want to teach him some things that only an older sister understands.

This day happened to be Friday.

After working busy for several days, everyone was beaming with joy when they were able to take a break.

Xia Tang is no exception.

She packed up and went out. Qin Yue stood at the door waiting for her as before.

These days, the two have gotten used to wandering around after work.

Sometimes I go to the back streets, and sometimes I stroll around the small park nearby.

However, today's arrangement is a little different.

"Is this... a movie ticket?"

Xia Tang looked at the two tickets in the young man's open hand and gently picked them up with his fingers.

"Yes, our department sent it out today. I asked for an extra one to celebrate your move."

Xia Tang looked at the four big words "Blue File" printed on the movie ticket and glanced at Qin Yue's face in surprise.

Before he could say anything, he heard Qin Yue continue:

"There are many types of movie tickets distributed this time, including Rouge, Little Flower, and The Horse Herder. I think you should like this one."

"So, you picked this spy movie out of a bunch of romances and dramas just for me, right?"

Xia Tang couldn't help but ask.

"Well, revolutions never cease, wars never cease. Don't you like this one?"

Qin Yue spoke seriously, looking at Xia Tang's face that didn't know whether to laugh or cry, he couldn't help but feel a little confused.

Xia Tang simply didn't know whether to be angry or laugh.

“That’s a good choice.”

"Is it?"

“Don’t choose it next time.”

“…”

However, after all, Xia Tang was still looking forward to watching a movie.

Entering the 1980s, after bidding farewell to decades of model operas, watching movies became the most fashionable thing among young people.

After all, most families don’t even have a TV, and being able to watch a movie is a rare pastime.

The cinema was on a street outside the herbal medicine factory, not far away.

Before we reached the door, many young men and women were already walking in that direction.

Some of the brave ones held hands, while many more, like Xia Tang and Qin Yue, kept a distance that was neither too far nor too close. The boys were tentative, and the girls were shy.

There were many people at the entrance of the cinema, and there were many makeshift stalls.

Qin Yue bought roasted melon seeds and boiled peanuts at a small stall.

The roasted melon seeds smelled burnt, the peanuts had a strong salty taste, the lady running the stall wrapped them in newspaper, and they were still hot to the touch.

Qin Yue walked towards Xia Tang through the crowd.

Just as I got closer, suddenly, a bicycle came running towards me from the opposite direction, slanting diagonally.