Chapter 48
The house is an imitation courtyard building, with the main gate on the south and the main house on the north. The main house has two rooms, and there is even a kang in it, which surprised Pei Xingzhi, who is from the north.
There is a main room between the two rooms of the main house, which can be used for dining and entertaining guests in the future.
The east and west wing rooms are both composed of two rooms, one large and one small. The large one will be used as the child's room, and the small one will be the kitchen.
On the west side are the toilet and utility room, and there is a small vegetable patch next to it where I can grow some onions, ginger, garlic, etc. in the future.
Except for this small vegetable patch, the rest of the yard is paved with stone slabs. However, due to their age, some of the stone slabs have cracked and bulged, and weeds have grown on them.
The house also had various minor problems, including paint peeling in many places, leaking windows, and broken roof tiles.
But these can be fixed without causing any harm.
The old man's surname was Feng. Seeing the satisfied look in the couple's eyes, he slowly took out his pipe from his waist, tapped the ash inside with his thumb, and put it in his mouth without lighting it.
Uncle Feng: "How about it? Are you planning to rent it?"
Just as Meng Wanqiu was about to speak, Pei Xingzhi tugged at her sleeve and they walked away a little. "Wanwan, are you satisfied with this house?"
Meng Wanqiu nodded. "I'm satisfied. There's a lot of furniture in there. Don't you like it?"
Pei Xingzhi shook his head. "I like it too. So, why don't we buy this place?"
This house was beyond Pei Xingzhi's expectations, and after seeing it, he had the idea of buying it. If nothing unexpected happened, they might stay here for four or five years. During this time, their children would be born, grow up, and go to school here, and they would also work here, with the center of their lives being in this house.
Pei Xingzhi was very satisfied with the infrastructure of this house, but if he wanted to live comfortably, it would need some major changes. If he rented the house, he would need to ask the landlord for his opinion if he wanted to change the layout of the house, or add or subtract something. If the landlord disagreed, the renovation would not be possible.
Therefore, Pei Xingzhi wanted to buy this courtyard, and then they could modify it however they wanted without having to ask for other people's opinions.
Pei Xingzhi wanted to give Meng Wanqiu and their unborn child a good living environment. Therefore, buying this yard was necessary.
After listening to Pei Xingzhi's words, Meng Wanqiu pondered for a moment. Although they had two small yellow croakers given by Grandma Meng, they had decided before coming that unless it was a big deal, they would try not to use the small yellow croakers.
Therefore, the only cash they could use was what they had saved over the past two years. Although Pei Xingzhi no longer took repair orders, he had partnered with Yao Jin at the farm for the past two years and had taken on a sinecure there, receiving a monthly salary.
Meng Wanqiu, who knew a bit about pharmacology, would often go to the mountains to collect herbs, prepare them, and sell them to purchasing stations. The purchasing stations weren't considered speculative, and she had saved over 600 yuan.
However, if they wanted to buy this yard, they would have to spend more than 90% of their money. They could see the goodness of this yard, and the owner of the house certainly knew it too.
You definitely can't buy this house without four or five hundred yuan.
If they buy a house, they will definitely need to renovate it since they have just arrived, and they also have to make a living, so they may feel very tight on money later on.
Moreover, the jobs of the two have not been finalized yet, and the situation in the factory has not been fully understood, but the current wages of workers range from about 20 to 60 or 70 yuan. There are also higher wages, but those are only for level 7 or 8 workers.
For the two of them who were new to the factory, it was good enough for them to get a salary of 30 yuan. Moreover, they were no longer in Qinghe Village, so they had to buy their own food or go to the factory canteen, which all cost money.
Considering this, Meng Wanqiu was a little hesitant.
She looked up at Pei Xingzhi and noticed that his lips were slightly pursed, and there was expectation and pleading in his eyes. His hand was pulling the corner of her clothes and shaking it gently.
Meng Wanqiu's heart instantly softened like a pool of spring water. It was the first time she saw Pei Xingzhi nervously and acting coquettishly towards her.
"Okay, let's buy it!"
In an instant, Pei Xingzhi's eyes lit up, the corners of his lips couldn't help but rise, his long eyelashes trembled, a smile jumped from the corners of his eyes to the tips of his eyebrows, and his whole body exuded a cheerful atmosphere.
Meng Wanqiu couldn't help but reach out and rub his head. Pei Xingzhi was now like a big dog wagging its tail at her.
This made Meng Wanqiu feel an indescribable sense of satisfaction in her heart. In the past, she had always relied on Pei Xingzhi, and Pei Xingzhi had spoiled her in every way.
This time, it was my turn to spoil Pei Xingzhi. It turned out that satisfying a lover's wishes was such a wonderful feeling. My body and mind felt like a cloud, light and floating, unable to land on the ground, but very satisfied.
Pei Xingzhi thought of Uncle Feng who was still waiting for them, and barely suppressed his desire to hug and kiss Meng Wanqiu. He stroked Meng Wanqiu's hand and walked towards Uncle Feng.
"Uncle Feng, are you selling this house? My husband and I are very satisfied with it and would like to buy it."
Buy a house?
Uncle Feng, holding his pipe in his mouth, looked Pei Xingzhi up and down. "I can sell it, but the price won't be cheap. Can you afford it?"
Pei Xingzhi: "Could you tell me the price?"
Uncle Feng raised his palm, all five fingers raised and shook, "No bargaining for this price."
After Pei Xingzhi saw this, he turned around and glanced at Meng Wanqiu. Seeing her nod, he said without blinking, "Okay. Then let's make it a deal."
Five hundred yuan was within Pei Xingzhi's expectations, and even a little cheaper. You know, this yard not only has rooms, but also a lot of furniture. For example, there is an iron pot on the stove in the kitchen.
Forehead.
Uncle Feng's pupils dilated slightly. I said I wouldn't bargain, and you really didn't bargain. You are so rich, you should have asked for a higher price earlier.
Uncle Feng felt a little regretful in his heart, but he was not the kind of person who would go back on his word. Since he had already said it, he would let it be.
"Okay, young man, you're quite straightforward. You can stay here first. I'll go home and get some written proof. We'll hand over the proof and the money this afternoon."
Uncle Feng was a quick man. He took the key on the spot, handed it to Pei Xingzhi, and turned around to leave.
"Yeah, you know those rules, right?"
When he reached the door, Uncle Feng suddenly turned around and said something ambiguous.
Pei Xingzhi nodded. "Don't worry, I know all the rules. By the way, I have a favor to ask of you. If anyone asks about the house, just say we're just renting it."
Uncle Feng gave Pei Xingzhi a thumbs-up and said, "That's right. By the way, my house is just across the street. Come and see me if you need anything."
After saying that, he opened the door and disappeared.
Meng Wanqiu came over, looked at the key in Pei Xingzhi's hand, and said with a smile: "No wonder they trusted us with the key. It turns out that their home is right next door."
Pei Xingzhi also laughed, "Let's make a few more keys later. Each of us can carry one, and keep one at home."
"Alas, after two and a half years of hard work, I'm still a pauper when I return. Comrade Pei, what do you think?"
Meng Wanqiu put his hand on Pei Xingzhi's shoulder, looking like a good brother, and asked jokingly.
Pei Xingzhi raised his eyebrows, pulled Meng Wanqiu's hand down, put his arm around her waist and pulled her into his arms, pressing his body close to hers. He lowered his head to Meng Wanqiu's face, their faces facing each other, exchanging breaths, their noses rubbing against each other's, and his voice was magnetic as he murmured,
"Well, you don't believe I'll let you live a good life? Comrade Meng, do you need to strengthen your thinking?"
His tone was full of confidence.
In such a poor rural area, Pei Xingzhi never let Meng Wanqiu suffer any hardship. It doesn't make sense that after moving to the city, Meng Wanqiu would have to live a poor life.
Meng Wanqiu understood this truth. She smiled and hugged Pei Xingzhi's neck, her voice clear and sweet, "Of course I believe it."
Pei Xingzhi hugged Meng Wanqiu's waist tightly, pulled her up, hummed a laugh, and the rest of the words disappeared between his lips.
After a brief moment of intimacy, the two began to clean the house, starting with the main room. Fortunately, they had already bought basic daily necessities at the county supply and marketing cooperative.
Pei Xingzhi skillfully drew a bucket of water from the well in the yard. Unexpectedly, he had just started using the pressurized well and had to use primitive methods here again.
When I have some free time in the future, I can build a new water pressure well. It will save time, effort and be safer.
After fetching water, they poured it into an enamel basin with a big red peony flower pattern and brought it into the main room. The two planned to use this room as a bedroom and leave the room next to it vacant for the time being.
Meng Wanqiu found an old piece of clothing, tore it in two, and used it as a rag to clean the dust in the room.
But Pei Xingzhi didn't let Meng Wanqiu interfere at all. Now that she was pregnant, the first month was an unstable time and she should have rested more.
There was no way out. Pei Xingzhi felt very uncomfortable after following him for such a long distance.
Now that he was cleaning the house, Pei Xingzhi didn't let Meng Wanqiu interfere at all. After wiping a chair clean, he put a piece of clothing on it as a cushion and let Meng Wanqiu sit on it.
Then he took out a kettle, a bag of peach cakes, and a few White Rabbit milk candies from his bag and placed them on the chair next to him, just like he was taking care of his daughter.
Meng Wanqiu: ...
Feeling the protest in Meng Wanqiu's eyes, Pei Xingzhi patted her head with a smile and coaxed her, "Be good, if you feel bored, just memorize the English words I said."
Memorize English words!
Meng Wanqiu quickly shook her head. She didn't want to memorize words. There were no exams in school, not even English, so why did Pei Xingzhi always force her to learn English?
Yes, Meng Wanqiu has passed the junior high school graduation exam and obtained a junior high school diploma.
It was Director Zhang from the county town who helped Meng Wanqiu with the admission procedures two years ago. That year, Meng Wanqiu helped Jiang Xiuxiu catch two gangsters, and Director Zhang gave her an industrial voucher, so their family bought their first bicycle.
Later, Meng Wanqiu and Pei Xingzhi visited Director Zhang with smoked game to express their gratitude. The two families had a good relationship, and Director Zhang's wife was a teacher at the county's junior high school. Upon hearing that Meng Wanqiu wanted to obtain a junior high school diploma, she arranged for her to take the exam.
Pei Xingzhi moved quickly and cleaned the bedroom quickly. Then he took out the bedding he brought from home from the snakeskin bag.
Then he went to the yard to bring the washed and dried mat into the house, spread it on the kang, and then put two layers of mattresses, sheets, pillows and quilts on top.
When I turned around, I saw Meng Wanqiu was drowsy from the sunlight coming through the window, pecking at rice bit by bit like a chick.
Pei Xingzhi's eyes softened and he walked over and held Meng Wanqiu in his arms.
Meng Wanqiu dazedly hugged Pei Xingzhi's shoulders and asked, "Are you done?"
"Well, it's done. I'll carry you to bed."
He carried Meng Wanqiu to the bed, gently took off her shoes, opened the quilt, put his pillow in Meng Wanqiu's arms, let her hold it, and then covered her with the quilt.
Pei Xingzhi lay beside her and kissed Meng Wanqiu on the forehead, "Go to sleep."
Smelling the familiar scent on the quilt, Meng Wanqiu closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
Meng Wanqiu slept for more than three hours. When she sat up from the bed in a daze, rubbed her eyes and woke up, she found that the whole room had been cleaned.
There were kettles and cups on the table, and the things brought from home were neatly placed in every corner. There were dark wet marks on the floor, which must have been mopped not long ago.
The broken windows have been repaired. Although the room still looks simple, it is completely suitable for living.
The rest can be added slowly later, after all, you can’t get fat in one bite.
Suddenly, Meng Wanqiu heard some noise coming from the roof, and hurriedly put on her shoes and ran out. She wondered if Pei Xingzhi was repairing tiles on the roof at this moment.
There is no one to help. It is so dangerous. What if I fall down?
Running to the yard, Meng Wanqiu looked up and found that it was just as she thought, Pei Xingzhi was repairing the hole up there.
It looks like it's almost finished, and he's now walking down using a bamboo ladder.
Meng Wanqiu didn't dare to make a sound, for fear of startling Pei Xingzhi. She just walked to the bottom of the bamboo ladder and held it steady with her hands to prevent the ladder from sliding down due to the pressure.
Pei Xingzhi noticed Meng Wanqiu halfway through the journey. "Are you awake? Are you hungry?"
When Meng Wanqiu heard this, she couldn't help rolling her eyes. She was a pig, asking her if she was hungry every day.
After everyone got down safely, Meng Wanqiu slapped Pei Xingzhi in annoyance. "Why are you so anxious? Why don't you ask me to get up and help you? What if you fall down?"
"And where did you get the ladder and tiles?"
"I borrowed it from Mr. Feng next door."
Pei Xingzhi wanted to hug Meng Wanqiu. She had just woken up, her hair was flying, and her face was puffed up like a bun. She was pink and white, very cute, like a sweet and delicious peach, making people want to take a bite.
But because he got his hands dirty on the roof, it was difficult to touch Meng Wanqiu, so he had no choice but to give up.
Faced with Meng Wanqiu's preaching, Pei Xingzhi admitted his mistake very quickly, leaving Meng Wanqiu with no place to vent her anger.
Pei Xingzhi looked at her cute angry face, leaned over and quickly kissed her on the lips, and softened his tone, "I was wrong, I will definitely ask you next time. Can you help me get some water? Your hands are dirty."
He spread out his dirty black palms to show Meng Wanqiu, with pleading in his eyes.
Meng Wanqiu softened her heart and took Pei Xingzhi to the well. When she saw where she needed to fetch water, she found that Pei Xingzhi had already fetched water in advance and filled the bucket. She only had to bend down and pick up the gourd ladle to scoop some for him.
While pouring water, Meng Wanqiu looked around the yard. The weeds in the yard had been pulled out, and some raised areas of the ground had been flattened. The kitchen window was open, and pots and pans could be seen neatly placed on the stove.
Meng Wanqiu couldn't help but hit Pei Xingzhi again and again with the gourd ladle.
"Why are you so busy? Don't you know how tired you are? Do you think I'm a cripple and you do everything by yourself?"
"Yes, yes, I know I was wrong. Really. I'll call you next time. Hey, it hurts..."
Pei Xingzhi knew that Meng Wanqiu was feeling sorry for him, so he smiled and hugged her in his arms, resting his chin on her head and stroking her back with his hands.
After coaxing his wife, there was a knock on the door.
Pei Xingzhi went to open the door, and the person who came was Uncle Feng.
When Meng Wanqiu saw the person and knew his background, she went into the house first and took out the money.
After coming out, Pei Xingzhi and Uncle Feng sat on the stone bench in the yard, talking to a piece of paper.
Meng Wanqiu returned to the room, took out the peach cakes she had prepared earlier, and poured two glasses of water onto the table. "Uncle Feng, please come over. We just arrived and there's nothing here, so please just drink some water for now. We'll have everything ready tomorrow and invite you to come over for the housewarming party."
Uncle Feng didn't hesitate and picked up a piece of peach cake and put it in his mouth. He had a much better impression of the young couple who bought his house.
"No, no, it's the norm. You and your wife are new employees of the 715, right?"
Pei Xingzhi was carefully examining the certificate while Meng Wanqiu was chatting with Grandpa Feng nearby. "Yes, my name is Meng Wanqiu and my husband's name is Pei Xingzhi. You can just call us Little Meng and Little Pei. We'll be here from now on, so I'll be grateful for your care."
"Oh, you're welcome." Uncle Feng waved his hand and continued, "My family is all from this town. My wife works at the post office, and I used to be the gatekeeper at the July 15th Station. Later, I retired when I got old."
Meng Wanqiu looked at Uncle Feng. Although he was old, his hair was still black and he looked energetic. She knew that he was just being polite.
He is young and in good health, but he retired from his job. There is only one reason for that, and that is he has plenty of money and a strong family background.
Thinking about how someone sold a yard without blinking an eye, Meng Wanqiu no longer found it strange.
The two ate and talked, and Uncle Feng told Meng Wanqiu about the things happening in the town and the July 15 incident.
For example, the 715th Factory has two factory directors, one principal and one deputy, but their ranks are the same. The director is usually in charge of miscellaneous matters and production, while the deputy director, who arrived two years ago, was immediately parachuted into the deputy director position, overseeing product design and development.
He also talked about a lot of miscellaneous things, such as where to buy coal briquettes for cooking, where to buy fresh vegetables, etc.
Afterwards, Pei Xingzhi read the certificate and felt that there was no problem. Meng Wanqiu handed the money to Uncle Feng, and both parties pressed their fingerprints on each other.
From now on, this yard belongs to Meng Wanqiu and Pei Xingzhi's house.
It was getting late, and Uncle Feng was about to leave. Meng Wanqiu and Pei Xingzhi got up to see him off.
"Hello, is Lao Feng here? I'm here to introduce you to a tenant."
As soon as they arrived at the door, they heard the sound of knocking on the door outside. It was knocking on the door of Uncle Feng's house.
Uncle Feng put his hands behind his back and replied slowly, "I'm here, stop knocking."
After going out, Meng Wanqiu saw that the people followed by the middle-aged woman knocking on the door were the man and woman she met in the square this morning.
The exquisite girl also saw Meng Wanqiu, her eyes widened, and she was obviously surprised.
The man next to her came over and greeted Pei Xingzhi, "Comrade Pei, it's you, are you here to rent a room too?"
Pei Xingzhi smiled and said, "Yes, but we have already rented it."
The man's gaze shifted to Meng Wanqiu, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes, "Who is this?"
Pei Xingzhi's mouth stiffened, and his smile faded. "My wife."
The man suddenly realized, "So, Comrade Pei, you also came with your wife. Let me introduce you. This is my wife, Qu Miao. My name is Li Xuezhi, and we'll be colleagues from now on."
Compared to Li Xuezhi's surprise, Pei Xingzhi and Meng Wanqiu were relatively calm.
But since they had already introduced themselves, Meng Wanqiu couldn't remain indifferent. She nodded and said, "Hello, Meng Wanqiu."
Qu Miao glanced at Meng Wanqiu calmly, "Hello."
After saying that, he ignored Meng Wanqiu and turned to Li Xuezhi and said, "Li Xuezhi, hurry up and look for houses. We've been looking all day and my legs are about to break."
Upon hearing this, Li Xuezhi quickly admitted his mistake and held Qu Miao's shoulders to comfort him.
Pei Xingzhi and Meng Wanqiu looked at each other, both feeling bored. "Then Uncle Feng, please take care. We'll go back to the house and clean up first."
Have they already booked a house? Qu Miao twitched his ears and peeked inside through the half-open door. His eyes suddenly lit up, and he quickly called out to Pei Xingzhi and Meng Wanqiu, "Hey, wait, can we go in and take a look?"
Looking at houses, Meng Wanqiu thought for a moment, isn’t it no big deal?
"But, is it okay?"
He looked at Pei Xingzhi with an inquiring look.
Pei Xingzhi raised the corner of his lips, touched Meng Wanqiu's head, and said softly: "You decide for yourself."
After receiving a positive answer, Meng Wanqiu said to Qu Miao, "Okay, you can come in."
Qu Miao smiled when he heard this and said, "Thank you." Then he pulled Li Xuezhi into the yard first, leaving Meng Wanqiu and Pei Xingzhi behind.
Seeing this, Meng Wanqiu felt a little regretful.
Pei Xingzhi patted her soothingly.
The two followed him in and saw Qu Miao opening the doors one by one to look inside. Meng Wanqiu's face turned completely bad.
She thought the other party just wanted to take a look at the layout of the yard, but she didn't expect that the other party had no manners at all. He didn't even ask for their opinions and pushed open the door on his own.
Seeing Qu Miao heading towards their bedroom, Meng Wanqiu quickly blocked his way and said, "Sorry, this is our bedroom, it's not convenient."
Qu Miao snorted, "Stingy."
How petty! Could she possibly covet this village girl's things? As expected, people from the countryside are not presentable.
Qu Miao complained about Meng Wanqiu in his heart, turned around and looked at the yard, walked to the jujube tree, pulled off a leaf, and shook off more leaves.
The veins on Meng Wanqiu's forehead twitched, and Pei Xingzhi's previous cleaning was in vain.
She regretted why she agreed to Qu Miao. She couldn't help but look at Pei Xingzhi, who was chatting with Uncle Feng and the new aunt.
He seemed to notice Meng Wanqiu's pleading gaze and couldn't help but give her a teasing smile.
At this time, Qu Miao was extremely satisfied with the yard. When he saw the open space in the yard, he couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "Great! I can use this place to grow flowers and make it my flower garden. When spring comes, I'll set up a round table, cover it with a fresh tablecloth, put out two rattan chairs, and drink a cup of coffee or a cup of fragrant tea. This will be the pastoral life I've always dreamed of."
Meng Wanqiu: ...
What nonsense is she talking about? She knows every word, so why can't she understand when they are put together?
Qu Miao's next words were even more explosive, making Meng Wanqiu want to go back and kill herself for agreeing to the visit.
"I've decided, landlord, we'll rent this yard."
Meng Wanqiu: ...What did she say?
Everyone in the yard: ...
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