103 - Can't afford it
Gu Mannian carried Gu Yu to play with other children, leaving the two sisters sitting side by side, and the awkward atmosphere from before, where they didn't want to talk to each other, was gone.
Actually, Guan Yuehe was mainly curious about what her sister-in-law's family and her eldest sister had said. After peeling peanuts and melon seeds, she looked like she really wanted to hear some gossip.
In order to hear some gossip, she even offered her sister a small handful of sunflower seeds, staring intently at her: "I've already given you some food, so hurry up and tell me!"
Guan Yuehua then said, "They said we're all siblings from the same parents, and even if we live far apart in the future, we should still visit each other often and help each other out... Tch!"
Guan Yuehua sneered, clearly disliking these words.
She disliked her older brother since childhood and didn't particularly like Guan Aiguo either. But out of consideration for their sibling relationship, she would help if she could. However, expecting her to wholeheartedly support her brother like some other families would be an absolute no-go.
Guan Yuehe couldn't help but interject, "You just don't like people who are bad at studying, right...? I'm not saying anything more, you go ahead."
Her sister got angry because of that sentence? She felt it wasn't that simple.
"They said that Guyu will be an only child from now on, without any siblings to help her. She will have to be closer to her older brother's three children in the future."
It was her maternal grandparents who said this, and the Lin family kept agreeing with them, which made her so angry that she said to them, "At our age, people who worry too much don't live long."
The people inside were speechless and didn't know what to say. She was too lazy to listen to their nonsense, so she ran downstairs to find Guan Yuehe.
Guan Yuehe understood. The people upstairs thought that her sister and brother-in-law only had one daughter, so they looked down on Gu Yu and insisted that only a boy would be reliable.
Don't they realize how many successful men they have in their own families?
Guan Yuehe curled her lip in disdain, "Your awareness is too low! What's wrong with only children? Dual-income families can raise one child and make them fat, but if they raise two, one will probably get fat and the other will get thin."
And there's no need to worry about her parents showing favoritism. Food, drinks, and clothes won't have to be divided. And if they have a mischievous child, she and Lin Yiku won't have trouble controlling him—how wonderful!
Guan Yuehua: "......" Never mind, she'll just have to think about whatever comes to mind.
It's true that Gu Yu will be an only child from now on. Instead of finding her a brother or sister to help each other, it would be better to find someone born to Yue He and Lin Yiku.
Guan Yuehua didn't want to stay and hear unpleasant things, so not long after dinner, she called Guan Yuehe to come home with her.
My uncle and aunt also came back and decided to stay at their home in courtyard number three for the night.
Aunt came to the No. 2 courtyard to find Guan Yuehe. Together they carried out the sauerkraut jars from the house to wash them and chatted in private.
“If you and Yiku have children in the future, it’s fine if it’s only a girl. Don’t listen to what outsiders say, that you have to have a boy to support the family. Look at you and your sister, you’re much more successful than your brother and your younger brother.”
Guan Yuehe laughed and leaned closer, whispering, "My second brother is alright."
“Your second brother is too honest, that won’t do either. Being too honest makes him vulnerable to being taken advantage of.” Aunt said with relief, “Luckily, your second sister-in-law is smart.”
"Haha, knowing that finding a smart wife is an advantage is a good thing."
"All you do is laugh!" That's what my aunt said, but she couldn't help but laugh out loud herself.
"Move over there, I'll smear it all over you later."
Guan Yuehe hadn't really cared about her older brother and sister-in-law moving out before; it didn't really concern her whether they moved or not. But now she felt it was for the best. Her uncle and aunt were visiting more often, there was an empty room, and they didn't have to rush to come and go on the same day.
Guan Yuehe whispered, "When I buy a house, I'll leave an empty room so you, your uncle, and your second brother and sister-in-law can come over to visit often."
The aunt was shocked and remained silent for a long time before finally asking, "Can houses in the city still be bought and sold?"
All she knew was that you had to be allocated a plot of land in the village to build a house. She also knew that if a house in the city wasn't inherited from her ancestors, you could only get a chance to live in one if you became a worker.
"There are very few houses that can be bought and sold; I haven't found one yet."
My aunt shared the same thought as her; they both felt it would be better to have a house that was entirely their own.
"The factory might take back what they've distributed, so we'll buy it if we can."
Guan Yuehe sighed silently; it was just too difficult to buy a house.
Both of her mothers knew she wanted to buy a house and had been keeping an eye out for it for her. However, the houses that were listed for sale were either too small or too big. By the time they found out which ones met her requirements, the houses had already been quietly sold.
It's really not easy.
"The memory of past suffering has returned."
Guan Yuehe looked up and saw Lin Yiku in military uniform. Her eyes lit up. She thought Lin Yiku looked best in military uniform.
My aunt was there too, otherwise she would have already pulled them into the house to take a closer look.
"You're back so early today?" She was just trying to make conversation.
Lin Yiku greeted her aunt first before replying, "I came back in the leader's car."
After putting away the bicycle and bag, I asked, "What else needs washing?"
"No need, Mom and Dad are going to tear down the partition wall and repaint the house. You can go and help them."
Both her parents' and his parents' families are preparing to rebuild their houses, taking turns. Today, the Lin family's house is being demolished first.
After Lin Yiku got married, he didn't live at home anymore, so his original room was left empty. Aunt Fang put the sewing machine and other things in it and used it as a storage room.
As for the Guan family, Guan Jianguo and his family of five moved out, and two of the four rooms in their house were immediately empty.
Many people are eyeing the two vacant rooms. Some have offered to rent them, others have said they want to borrow them for two years for their weddings, and still others have gone to the housing management department to say that the vacant rooms should be allocated...
Whether it's renting or lending, it's inappropriate to give it to anyone. Taking it back is even worse.
So, the four elders thought about it and decided to take advantage of the National Day holiday to tear down the partition wall of the house and repaint it.
As for the Guan family, they plan to combine the two rooms on the right for Guan Aiguo to live in alone. Later, when he gets married and has children, they will partition off a separate room for his children. The remaining empty room will be left empty. If anyone asks, Jiang Guiying will say it's for her grandchildren and great-granddaughters, especially Guyu who comes over every day now, so they need to save a small room for her.
The Lin family's situation was easy to handle. The partition wall was removed, and Lin Yiku's original room was combined with Lin Sitian's room, leaving Lin Sitian to live alone in the large room.
That way, there are no empty rooms left, and outsiders can't do anything about it.
Lin Yiku went back to her room, changed into some old clothes, and then went over. Her aunt praised her, saying, "You've thought things through. You bought a house to live in yourself, and you can leave a few rooms empty if you want, so that outsiders won't have anything to worry about."
“That’s right!” Guan Yuehe said, “You should talk to my mother about this more often, otherwise she always thinks that buying a house is too expensive and not worth it.”
How expensive?
When Auntie heard that a small courtyard cost tens of thousands, she gasped and stared at Guan Yuehe, hesitant to speak.
She wanted to take back what she had just said; she now also felt that the house was too expensive and not worth it.
Guan Yuehe pretended not to notice her aunt's changed expression and kept saying how wonderful it was to have bought her own house.
That evening, while sitting cross-legged facing Lin Yiku and calculating the family's savings, Guan Yuehe said with a mischievous smile, "When Auntie heard that a courtyard cost tens of thousands, she stopped saying anything after that."
The family's current savings include the money Lin Yiku saved before their marriage, as well as money saved over the past year and a half. Guan Yuehe flicked her passbook, "There's four thousand five hundred in there."
“If we were to buy a small courtyard, we could get a quarter of it.” Guan Yuehe was quite happy. “We won’t buy a small courtyard, just a house about the same size as our current one.”
She didn't expect to achieve instant success; life is something that gets better little by little.
According to what she knew before, 1,500 could buy a 10-square-meter house, and 4,500 could buy a 30-square-meter house. If they saved up a little more, they could buy a house as big as theirs now.
Lin Yiku never thought about buying a house before. His parents were workers who could get housing from their work units, and he could also get a house in the military family compound, so he didn't have to worry about not having a place to live.
But after listening to Guan Yuehe talk more and more, he gradually felt that it would be better to have his own house.
Guan Yuehe, in particular, has a long-term plan: "Buy us one first. Then we'll keep saving money and save up for another one for Pi Hou." She even praised the new family planning policy, saying, "It's good that you can only have one child. Saving up for one house is easier than saving up for two, right?"
"right."
Lin Yiku agreed with her plans, but he felt that their child might not necessarily be a troublemaker. She was quite easy to coax when she was little, so maybe she would take after her.
Before he could even begin to refute the nickname "mischievous monkey," the power suddenly went out.
Guan Yuehe immediately put the notebook aside, "Go to sleep!"
The couple had such great energy; after working up half the night, they still got up early the next day, rolled up their sleeves, and went to help with the work in the neighboring yard.
Many neighbors were home today, and they called on each other to come and help. The demolition and painting were done quickly, and everything was cleaned up in half a day.
Even Xie Zhenhua and Zhang Desheng, who usually go to school, stayed home.
Zhang Desheng had been in school for less than a month when he was completely transformed and became very much like a cultured person.
Xie Zhenhua has also changed a bit. Compared to before, he has become much more talkative and will take the initiative to chat with people.
When Tingting heard the adults praising her own father, she didn't feel proud. Instead, she secretly rolled her eyes. When she went to the supply and marketing cooperative with her friends to buy snacks, she also spoke ill of her father.
“My dad’s teacher said he was a gourd with a sawed mouth, which is not good, and he should talk more.”
Anyway, when she and her mother went to deliver clothes to her father, they ran into her father's teacher, and that's what the teacher said to her about her father.
As soon as she finished speaking, she caught sight of her mother walking over with a vegetable basket, and immediately told her friends to hide.
"My mom won't let me buy candy." But her dad didn't know that, and he even gave her money to buy snacks.
Only Yuanbao ran out. She saw her parents. Among her group of friends, she was the only one without any money.
"Mom, I want to eat snacks too."
Having received the money, Yuanbao ignored his friends behind him and ran straight to the person in front, shouting, "Auntie, wait for me!"
She spotted Aunt Yuehe and Uncle Lin at a glance.
Guan Yuehe had just finished greeting Yuanbao when, a moment later, a string of little tails appeared behind her. Then she watched them run off in a flurry into the distance.
Living in the compound, the children never have to worry about finding playmates.
That very evening, something interesting happened in Courtyard No. 3.
Zhang Desheng is returning to the factory this time to hand over his work to Zhang Quanbin.
"Didn't they say we wouldn't have to go to the countryside anymore? Why transfer the job out?"
Grandpa Lin glanced at Grandpa Xu, who was still puzzled, and said, "Zhang Desheng can wait for job assignment after graduation, but Quan Bin wants to get a factory job through recruitment, but who knows how many years he will have to wait."
If they changed jobs at this point, the worst that would happen is that Zhang Desheng wouldn't be able to collect his wages from the factory, while Zhang Quanbin would receive half the wages. At worst, they'd have to tighten their belts for the next two or three years; once they got through that, they wouldn't have to worry about not having a good life afterward.
The others suddenly realized and exclaimed, "Zhang Desheng is really good at scheming. Even if his son Zhang Quanbin doesn't get into university, he can still get a job."
That's a very good saying. If given the chance, who wouldn't try to get an extra job?
Some people also mentioned that the black market has been particularly active recently, with more people carrying baskets and selling things outside.
"Hey you, you sell sunflower seeds at the movie theater every day, you must make a lot of money, right? You've got a wife and eat meat all the time, and you're even asking around about who's selling their house."
Grandpa Lin glanced at Old Ding and said, "It's hard to say what happens in other people's lives. These days, you don't do that kind of reporting or posting big-character posters. We're all neighbors..."
Several people, feeling guilty, suddenly raised their voices, "We're not that kind of people!"
But it's impossible to say that they have no ideas about making money just because they see others doing it.
Someone also mentioned Xu Chengcai, jokingly saying, "I want to make money, but I don't have Xu Laosi's skills. Everyone takes their cloth to him and his wife to ask for help in making clothes."
If you make a garment and charge a dollar or two for the workmanship, and you make ten garments a month, you can earn at least ten dollars, which is quite a lot.
“If you don’t have the skill, go learn it.” Lin Sitian suddenly spoke up from the crowd. “You can find a few more people to form a class, pay Xu Cheng to teach you, charge ten or twenty yuan per class, and after twenty or thirty classes, you’re guaranteed to learn it.”
The more Lin Sitian calculated the money, the more she felt it was worthwhile, and continued to ask, "Do you want to learn? I'll go find Xu Chengcai."
The others fell silent. Spending so much money to learn how to operate a sewing machine? They're not stupid.
Guan Yuehe, standing outside the crowd, replied in a high-pitched voice, "Learn!"
While everyone turned around to find the fool who made the noise, she had already sneaked away and hidden herself. When others glanced at her, she gave them an expression that said, "It has nothing to do with me."
Seeing that no one was signing up, Lin Sitian could only squeeze through the crowd to find Guan Yuehe, and sighed, "The market in this area is not good."
"I think you've been reading too many of Chen Lizhong's letters."
Chen Lizhong and Ding Xuewen used to focus on pig farming and teaching, respectively. Now that they've tasted the sweetness of making money, one focuses on student recruitment and the other on teaching.
When going out for a meal, one should pay attention to which companies' residential compounds are nearby, hoping to find students who need tutoring.
"Nonsense! I've been so busy lately that I haven't received any letters from him."
Lin Sitian felt these were minor matters; she was more concerned about other things.
Do you think it's possible to legalize private trading in the future?
"These days, what's impossible?" Guan Yuehe picked up a small pebble and threw it into the corner. "Haven't there been enough policies in the last two years?"
Policies are changing so fast that she can hardly keep up.
"That's true." Lin Sitian recalled the news she had heard from the patient, "They're building apartments in Dongcheng District, and they say they'll be open to the public for purchase. Why don't you go take a look?"
"Forget about it, we can't afford it." Guan Yuehe had also learned from Xie Dongxue that the houses over there were beyond the reach of ordinary workers. Even though her and Lin Yiku's combined income was much higher than that of an average dual-income couple, they still couldn't afford it.
Lin Sitian, who had no experience with house transactions, scratched her head and said, "Okay."
She thought the house wasn't that expensive.
“Back in the 1950s, an uncle applied to work in a third-line factory and wanted to sell his house to my family. It was 500 yuan for a small courtyard, but my parents thought it was too expensive and didn’t buy it,” Lin Sitian said with heartache. “Houses are too expensive now.”
Guan Yuehe felt the same heartache, "Our parents really missed out on a huge sum of money."
A small courtyard that could be bought for a few hundred yuan back then can now sell for tens of thousands.
The more they thought about it, the more heartbroken they became. Finally, they went to Guan Yuehe's house and ate the last bottle of lychee preserves before they felt any relief.
After the National Day holiday, Zhang Quanbin successfully took over his father's job and became a handyman at the Wuxing Automobile Factory's affiliated primary school.
Zhang Ersao wanted him to become a teacher, but Zhang Quanbin had done so poorly in school that not only did the principal disagree, but Zhang Desheng was also too ashamed to let him mislead students.
Guan Yuehe copied her class schedule and left it at home, asking Lin Yiku to try to go to school during times when she had fewer classes.
But the timetable was packed with classes, and Lin Yiku looked at it again and again, and found that only Sunday was empty.
It seems they can save a lot of money on family planning supplies and guesthouses in the next six months, and their savings plan should be able to reach its goal faster than expected.
Until 1979, Guan Yuehe didn't have a single day of rest.
Her study partners gradually increased from just Lan Yunqin to more than a dozen.
Besides the English major graduate students, there were also students from other majors in the Spanish department. At first, they just followed Guan Yuehe to the library to study, then they went running with Guan Yuehe, and then they went to find open spaces together to practice their spoken English...
Teacher Ye had just filled the thermos in the office with hot water when he saw Guan Yuehe run in and stomp her feet to ward off the cold. He then invited her to warm her hands by the stove.
He joked, "The other teachers were just mentioning you here, saying that you used other students in the department as practice subjects."
"Huh?" Guan Yuehe thought to herself, "This is nothing. They can only run two laps in the dead of winter."
"They should practice more," Teacher Ye said happily. "They're just too shy. They don't want to speak up if they don't read well. They should learn more from you."
"Exactly!" Guan Yuehe agreed before realizing something was amiss.
Is she really that shameless?
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