Chapter 232 Extra Chapter 10: The Red Flag
On the day Zhou Hongqi and Jin Junwei received their marriage certificate, they went back to the housing management department to register and arrange for housing allocation.
There are no vacant houses in the factory for the time being, and Zhou Hongqi is currently living in the factory's dormitory, where eight people live in one dormitory.
When his colleagues in the housing management department suggested that they rent a place outside first, Zhou Hongqi resolutely shook his head and refused.
Although she usually only thinks about work, she's not oblivious to what's going on around her. There's been a constant stream of people coming to the housing management department to cause trouble.
So many people in the factory are waiting for housing. If she rents a place outside now, when a house becomes available, the people behind her in the queue will definitely say that she is not in a hurry to use the house and take the house that should have been allocated to her.
They didn't want to rent a place outside, but they also couldn't let him sleep on the street. So Zhou Hongqi asked the housing management department to help him get a letter of introduction and took Jin Junwei to the factory's guesthouse to get a room for him to stay in temporarily.
He also exchanged a lot of meal tickets with his colleagues so that Jin Junwei could eat at the factory canteen every day.
Zhou Hongqi also pulled out half of his savings and various tickets from his pocket.
"I still have to work. When you have time, buy the things you need for daily life. If you don't have enough money, just ask me for more. We're always short of things for daily life."
When Jin Junwei held his breath as he held the wad of cash in his hand.
Zhou Hongqi, from the welding workshop, found a man six years younger than her. Within a day, the news had spread throughout the two residential compounds of the automobile factory.
"I heard that Comrade Xiao Zhou found a son-in-law who lives with her family and is six years younger than her. Is that true?"
When Guan Canghai returned from get off work with his eldest daughter, before he could even put the bicycle up properly, Jiang Guiying chased after him with shining eyes and asked him questions.
Fang Qin and Aunt Xie, who had just come to the city to help take care of her granddaughter, also jogged out from the two side rooms next door.
"You guys are very well-informed."
Does that mean the news is true?!
Guan Canghai smiled and continued, "Xiao Jin, oh, that's Zhou Gong's boyfriend. He got his hair cut at our barbershop this morning. The young man is quite handsome."
Guan Yuehua, standing to the side, glanced at her own father, thinking that his words were far too dishonest.
She worked at the guesthouse, and when Comrade Zhou brought his partner to check in, Comrade Jin was standing in front of her.
That's not what you call "handsome." Even the most handsome man at the Five Star Automobile Factory can't compare to that Comrade Jin.
"Oh my! I'll have to go see what he looks like another day." Jiang Guiying was even more curious.
Aunt Xie said sourly, "What's the use of a grown man being good-looking?"
No one responded.
Everyone in this No. 3 courtyard knows her. Aunt Xie came to the city under the pretense of taking care of her eldest son's child. When she heard that Comrade Zhou Hongqi from the factory was looking for a partner, she sent a message back to her younger son, asking him to come to the city for a blind date. She was determined to let her younger son also live the life of a city dweller.
However, Zhou Hongqi only met her youngest son once at the factory gate, and immediately returned to the matchmaker, saying that he hadn't taken a liking to him.
After the blind date failed, Aunt Xie's youngest son had no choice but to return to his hometown.
Now I hear Zhou Hongqi got married, and her husband is also from a rural area. Listening closely, this man, apart from being handsome, isn't much better than her youngest son.
Aunt Xie couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy.
Aunt Ding from the front yard deliberately retorted, "What's wrong with being handsome? Isn't it because your teacher Xie is good-looking that he was able to find a partner like Ah Xiu?"
Aunt Xie couldn't stand hearing others talk about her eldest son like that. Her eldest son, Xie Zhenhua, didn't marry into the family, and the children he had took the Xie surname.
When Aunt Xie got angry, she immediately rushed over and started fighting with Aunt Ding.
Jiang Guiying and Fang Qin exchanged a glance, then went home and closed the door.
Originally, only the few families in the front yard of No. 3 Courtyard were the noisiest, but ever since Aunt Xie came, the back yard has also become noisy.
Aunt Xie is something else; she manages to offend everyone in the entire courtyard.
Last time, she shamelessly tried to arrange a blind date between her youngest son and the daughters of both families, but they beat and scolded her, so she didn't dare to say such a thing again.
Aunt Ding and Aunt Xu from the front yard were no pushovers either, and Zhang Desheng's wife was a big mouth who talked nonsense everywhere.
It would be great if someone who could keep people in check could come to this courtyard someday.
Old Lin next door, Lin Qingsong, is the head of the household, but his words lack authority and he can't control the various residents in the courtyard.
Jiang Guiying and Fang Qin were just expressing their feelings.
But unexpectedly, such a person actually moved into Courtyard No. 3.
"The room next to Zhang Desheng's house was taken back by the housing management department. Who was it allocated to?"
"Zhou Hongqi in the welding workshop, the key is already in her hands."
Jiang Guiying said happily, "I was thinking that next time the factory holds a performance, I would go and see what Xiao Jin looks like. Now it's great, we're neighbors, we'll see each other every day from now on."
Guan Yuehe, who rarely returns home, asked, "Who is Xiao Jin?"
“You don’t know Zhou Hongqi, the engineer in the welding workshop.”
Guan Yuehe's eyes lit up, and she exclaimed in surprise, "How could I not know her? I'm a factory worker's child, after all. She was already working at the factory when I was in elementary school, right? Sitian and I sneaked into the auditorium to watch other people's social gatherings, and she even treated us to soda."
Jiang Guiying glared at her. She sneaked out to play during school and she still had the nerve to say that?
Just then, a lively sound came from outside.
"Oh, Hongqi, now that you've moved in, we'll be neighbors in the same alley."
"Hongqi, is this your boyfriend? He's really handsome."
Zhou Hongqi said without any modesty, "That's right, among the men in our car factory, my girlfriend is the most handsome."
A short while later, Lin Qingsong strode back from outside and called the men in courtyard number three to come out and help move the furniture.
Lin Sitian peeked into the front yard from the back gate, beckoning Guan Yuehe to come out quickly.
Just as Guan Yuehe walked up to Lin Sitian, she saw Zhou Hongqi and his partner walk into Courtyard No. 3 side by side. Both of them were wearing new clothes and carrying cloth bags. When they saw the child, they grabbed two fruit candies and stuffed them into his hand.
Zhou Hongqi's smile was brighter than the midday sun in July. Her boyfriend, on the other hand, was quite shy, but he also had a smile on his face and nodded and greeted everyone he met.
"Sister Hongqi's boyfriend is better looking than Teacher Xie," Lin Sitian whispered in her ear. "He also seems to be a cultured person."
"Yeah, she's just a bit too thin, like a bamboo pole for hanging clothes," Guan Yuehe whispered.
"It's okay, I'm not that thin."
Standing behind them, Xu Cheng scratched his head and said, "I think Teacher Xie is prettier."
Lin Sitian and Guan Yuehe turned around and glared at him, "You have no taste!"
Unable to lend a hand, the three of them could only stand aside and watch the adults busy themselves, while chatting and exchanging pleasantries with the newly moved-in Zhou Hongqi and his wife.
But Zhou Hongqi caught a glimpse of them and gave each of the three "big kids" two fruit candies, clearly forgetting that he had treated Lin Sitian and Guan Yuehe to soda.
Courtyard No. 3 was bustling with activity for most of the day.
After seeing off the neighbors who had helped them, Zhou Hongqi and Jin Junwei, who had just moved in, began to tidy up their belongings.
During the month-long wait for housing allocation, Jin Junwei bought most of the big and small items he needed for daily life. As for the rest, he hadn't gotten the necessary tickets yet, so he could only save up as he went along.
Zhou Hongqi watched as he accurately pulled out the curtains, tablecloths, and other items he had made himself, and then arranged them one by one. The originally dim and gray room instantly became bright.
While tidying up, Jin Junwei said, "The light bulb at home isn't bright enough. I'll go buy a new one and replace it tomorrow. The factory's gatehouse can get some old newspapers. I'll go ask around another day and bring some back to wallpaper the walls. If they really can't find any, I'll go to the recycling station. You can buy a whole stack for a dime... Sister Hongqi, shall we make steamed buns tonight? Sister Hongqi?"
"Huh? Oh, okay! We'll have steamed buns tonight." Zhou Hongqi snapped out of her daze, glanced at her scattered belongings, and felt a little dizzy. "Do we have any vegetables at home?"
"Yes! You said you were moving today, so I went to the butcher shop early this morning and bought some meat."
Zhou Hongqi scratched his head and laughed, "You're in charge of things at home. You can decide what to eat; I'm not picky."
Once everything was put back in its proper place, the house became tidy.
Zhou Hongqi, who hadn't been able to help much, breathed a sigh of relief and was in a great mood.
When she was in her hometown, she lived with her parents and brothers. Later, when she went to Northeast China, she lived with her cousin. When she came to Beijing, she lived in the factory's dormitory.
This is Zhou Hongqi's home now.
"The water's on! Time to line up for water!"
Someone in the front yard called out, and one after another, people came out with buckets to fetch water and poured it into their own water tanks.
"Engineer Zhou..."
Zhou Hongqi quickly replied, "Aunt Jiang, you can just call me Hongqi."
We'll probably be neighbors for many years to come, so calling him "Engineer Zhou" would be too formal.
"Hey, Hongqi, did your family buy a water tank? In our Ginkgo Alley, we get water every morning and evening, and each household has to store water. You never know when the water will be cut off, and that would be a problem."
Even if the water supply is uninterrupted, once the tap water supply period has passed, anyone who wants to boil water can only use the water in their own water tank.
Jin Junwei replied, "We bought one too. Let me see where we can put the water tank."
"Hey, don't be picky, just put it under the eaves. It's the unspoken rule in our courtyard that the land under each person's eaves belongs to that person. Everyone puts it like this."
"Okay, thank you, Auntie."
"Oh, Xiao Jin, you're too kind." Jiang Guiying quietly looked the person up and down again, thinking to herself: If no one had told her, she would have thought that Xiao Jin was a child who had grown up in a wealthy family.
A short while later, Fang Qin brought over a bunch of scallions and garlic that she had grown herself, and Jin Junwei thanked her profusely.
When Jiang Guiying and Fang Qin met, they remarked that Hongqi's boyfriend was very polite and seemed to have a good temper.
After dinner, Zhou Hongqi and Jin Junwei took candy and went to each household in the No. 3 courtyard to get acquainted with them.
Guan Yuehe was treated like a "big kid" again and received fruit candy.
"Thank you, Sister Hongqi. Thank you, Brother Jin."
Jin Junwei smiled sheepishly and said, "How about I call you brother-in-law? That way, people will know we're family as soon as they hear it."
The adults inside the house were taken aback for a moment, then quickly chimed in, "Yes, yes, that's how you should call it."
Therefore, Jin Junwei was referred to as "Brother-in-law Jin" by Guan Yuehe's generation.
————————!!————————
The wait is finally over! [Facepalm peeking]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
