Seeing that the other party didn't look like a bad person, Liu Yanran welcomed them into the back house. In ancient times, this was usually where servants lived. Liu Yanran poured sweet soup for the two of them. "Auntie, what's the situation with your house? Is it nearby?"
The old lady first let the little girl drink some water, and when she saw that the little girl was happy, she started to drink herself. Then she found that the girl had poured them sugar water, and she was touched. Then she started to introduce her house.
This house is under the name of my daughter Nuannuan. It was left to her by her mother. My youngest son and daughter-in-law were both soldiers, but they died a few years ago, leaving behind only a little girl like Nuannuan.
Later, my eldest son agreed to raise Nuannuan, so he took my eldest daughter-in-law and several of his children to live in the courtyard. However, I encountered my grandson bullying Nuannuan several times, calling her a waste, saying she had brought bad luck to her parents, and that she didn't deserve to live. How could such a young child say such vicious words? So I basically took her with me wherever I went. I hoped everything would be fine once the child grew up.
However, in recent years, the policy has been relaxed, and my eldest son has been trying every means to get me to transfer the house to his name. I refused. This is the house that my mother Nuannuan left to her children. How could he have the idea of taking over his niece's property?
What I want now is to find someone to buy this house, and then I will save the money for Nuannuan, or even take her to rent a house. I can't let this beast get away with it.
Liu Yanran sat next to the old lady and asked softly, "Auntie, do you know why your eldest son has always wanted this house?"
The old lady frowned slightly, thought for a moment and then said, "Ah, it's all because of his three sons. The eldest one is getting married, and the other party wants to live in an apartment building. He wants to sell this house and buy houses for his sons!"
Selling the courtyard house to buy a house, what kind of sick person would do such a thing! But in this day and age, there are really few old ladies who are partial to their granddaughters. "Are you sure you can keep the money after selling your house and won't let the other party take it away?"
The old lady was silent for a moment. To be honest, she really didn't have this confidence. She was old and didn't know how much longer she could live or how long she could protect the child. "I'm not sure."
"Where is your yard and how many rooms does it have?" Liu Yanran asked.
"It's a genuine quadrangle courtyard with three main rooms and two side rooms, totaling five rooms. There are three rooms on the east and west sides, and four rooms in the south wing, not counting the main gate. Including the main gate and the hanging flower gate, there are 17 rooms in total. Because it's always been inhabited by my family, it's still in good condition. It's just across the alley from this side," the old lady explained to Liu Yanran. Liu Yanran thought it would be a good place for staff dormitories.
During the conversation, Liu Yanran learned that the old lady's surname was Qin, her eldest son's name was Qin Jiadong, and her youngest son's name was Qin Jialiang. She asked directly, "Aunt Qin, if I want you, my eldest son, to give up this house, I might have to use some tricks."
Old Mrs. Qin smiled slightly and replied, "I don't mind what you do. I'm disappointed with this son. I just want to live with my Nuan Nuan for the rest of my life. As long as the money from selling the house can be given to my Nuan Nuan, it will be fine." Liu Yanran was secretly happy and she immediately looked for someone to help.
Not long after, Qin Jiadong heard from some friends that a friend of his named Liu Zhi had suddenly become rich. He was very tempted and wanted to get a chance to make money. So he used his connections to invite Liu Zhi to dinner.
During the meal, he asked Liu Zhi if there was any way to make a fortune. Liu Zhi smiled mysteriously and took Qin Jiadong to a gambling house. At first, he didn't believe it very much, but just watched Liu Zhi place bets. Then, he watched Liu Zhi turn his capital of 10 yuan into 1,000 yuan in just half an hour. His eyes turned red.
So he also took out 10 yuan to place a bet. At the beginning, he won a lot of money and wanted to quit while he was ahead. However, the more money he won, the more he didn't want to stop. He began to go to the casino frequently and became addicted to the excitement of gambling and couldn't extricate himself.
Later, he lost all the money he won and had to pay several months' salary. He was certainly unwilling to accept this, so under Liu Zhi's temptation, he borrowed a large sum of money and started to gamble big. In the end, he lost without a doubt, and then had no money to repay the borrowed money. Every day when he went to work, he was worried, afraid that the debt collectors would block his door.
That evening, after getting off work, Qin Jiadong opened the door and saw a group of men with fierce faces sitting in the yard. He was startled and subconsciously turned around to run, but was quickly grabbed by the collar and dragged back.
"Where are you running to?" A low and cold voice sounded in his ears.
Qin Jiadong was so frightened that he trembled all over and stammered, "I didn't want to run away. I... I just wanted to raise money."
"You owe us 15,000 yuan. What are you going to use to pay us back?" The man in the lead was tall and burly, with a ferocious look on his face. Just standing there made people shudder.
Qin Jiadong's eyes widened, his face filled with astonishment and confusion. He had clearly only borrowed 5,000 yuan, so how could they claim to owe 15,000 yuan in just a few days?
"I... I have no money now. Please give me some more time and I will definitely pay you back!" Qin Jiadong pleaded.
"Hmph, we don't have that much time to wait for you. Either pay back the money or use the house as collateral!" the leading man threatened.
Qin Jiadong's wife stood aside, her face terribly gloomy. She held a thick stack of bills in her hand, her eyes flashing with anger and disappointment.
"Qin Jiadong, you bastard!" She suddenly cursed loudly, her voice filled with anger and despair. "You actually went gambling without telling me and owed so much money! What are you going to do with me and my sons?"
Qin Jiadong lowered his head, not daring to look her in the eye. He knew he had made a big mistake, but he didn't know how to face his wife.
"I've had enough," she continued. "I can't live with someone like you anymore. Let's get a divorce!"
Qin Jiadong raised his head and looked into her eyes. He knew that he could no longer win her heart back, but he was still unwilling to give up.
"Wife, I know I was wrong," he said, "I will try my best to correct it. Please give me another chance."
"Chance?" She sneered, "I've given you many chances, but you never cherished them. I won't trust you again."
Then Qin Jiadong turned to his mother, who was watching coldly from the side. "Mom, I'm your only son now. You can't not save me. Please use this courtyard house as collateral for my debt, or they'll really chop off my hands."
Mother Qin looked at her son with disappointment. "This is your sister-in-law's dowry, left to her only daughter. As an uncle, are you actually coveting your niece's property?"
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