On the third day of the Lunar New Year in 1973, Guo Xiaojie and her husband, along with their son Wei'an, came to Yu Rujia's house to offer their New Year's greetings, carrying large and small bags.
Yu Rujia: "Isn't today Anzi's birthday? Why aren't you celebrating his birthday properly at home?"
Wei An was born in the early morning of the third day of the Lunar New Year in 1971. He is now two years old. With Yu Rujia's help to take care of his health, his body is now no worse than that of a full-term baby.
Guo Xiaojie: "A birthday celebration doesn't need a whole day. We can celebrate it for him when we get back. Anzi, come here and call Aunt Yu."
Wei An timidly hid behind her, peeking out with his head, and called out softly, "Aunt Yu."
He had visited the family many times, but the child didn't remember. The last time he came was several months ago, and the family was a stranger to Wei An.
Yu Rujia: "Oh, Anzi is such a good girl, why don't you go play with your older and younger brothers?"
Wei An looked up at Duo Fu and the others in front of him, his face showing a hint of restlessness. He shuffled his little feet on the ground, but didn't dare to step out from behind his mother.
Guo Xiaojie pulled him out from behind and encouraged him, "Go have fun."
As a big kid, Duofu has seen his younger brothers in all sorts of situations and has a deep understanding of children.
Wei An was clearly shy, so Duo Fu pushed out the most harmless younger brother: "Duole, go and bring Brother Anzi over to play."
Duole was almost a year younger than Wei'an. After hearing his older brother's instructions, the little guy ran to the only unfamiliar older brother and looked him up and down with his big eyes.
However, the little guy still remembered his mission. After looking him over for a while, he tilted his little head and invited him in a cute, childlike voice, "An'an, An, brother, play."
The chubby, fair-skinned little dumpling tilted its head in a cute pose, its adorable face and three-headed body making you want to pinch it.
Guo Xiaojie, now disguised as a strange aunt, picked up the little dumpling, rubbed against his chubby little body, and exclaimed, "Oh my, how can our Duole be so cute? Auntie likes him so much!"
The little guy was startled when a stranger rubbed against him, his face contorted in shock. He struggled and stretched out his chubby little hands to try to push the strange aunt away.
Fortunately, Guo Xiaojie had already had her fill of rubbing against Duole and stopped rubbing against him.
Duole breathed a sigh of relief and struggled to get down. He never wanted to go near this strange aunt again.
Guo Xiaojie let go of the little guy, and Duole, who was finally able to get down on the ground, did not forget the task arranged by his older brother. He grabbed Wei An, who was still timidly peeking out from behind Guo Xiaojie, and rushed into the group of his older brothers.
Because he was running too fast and carrying a large package, the little guy almost fell over. Fortunately, Duofu and the others were nearby and pulled him back in time.
Even though there was a nearly one-year age difference between the two, Wei An, a normal child, was still no match for Du Le, who had used the Body Strengthening Pill. By the time he realized it, a bunch of children had already surrounded him.
Duo Shou picked up a fragrant pork floss roll and handed it to the dumbfounded Wei An, smiling as he said, "Anzi, here you go, this is delicious."
The aroma made Wei An's mouth water. His older brother's smiling face made him feel less nervous, and he tentatively reached out his little hand to take the meat floss roll.
Feeling the soft texture in his hand, Wei An whispered a thank you before starting to eat the pork floss roll.
The sweet and soft pork floss rolls made Wei An squint his eyes and look like he was enjoying them.
Guo Xiaojie laughed and said, "I wish Anzi could be as lively and adorable as your children someday."
Yu Rujia: "Tell my family's steamed buns and see how they react."
To the children who aren't in school, Huajuan Mantou sees them as no different from devils, especially those under two years old. The dog feels that playing with them every time is more dangerous than killing a 'close relative'.
Guo Xiaojie: "I would like to get a dog for Anzi to keep him company, but our house is too small and there is no place for the dog to live."
She had seen steamed buns before. When they first arrived, the two dogs glared at them fiercely, scaring them so much that they dared not move.
When they arrived at the Yu family's house, they saw several times how the fierce dog's fur was pulled out in clumps by Duole, and it didn't even put up a fight.
Such a dog can protect the family and play with the children. What a great companion! It's a pity that houses in the city are hard to buy. She and Wei Jianqiang have been living in rented houses for two years.
Yu Rujia: "There can't be that much housing shortage in town, can there?"
Guo Xiaojie: "It's all because of your husband. A few years ago, he expanded the production of all the major factories in the town, creating a lot of new jobs. With wages in hand and demand, naturally more people are buying houses."
"By the time we realized it, housing was already in short supply, and we couldn't buy a house even if we had the money."
Yu Rujia didn't expect that expanding the factory would have this impact: "If you can't buy one, just build one yourself."
Guo Xiaojie: "The city is not like the countryside, where you can do anything if you have money. Every inch of land in the city is precious, and every place has to be planned and used carefully. Where would we find land to build on?"
Yu Rujia: "It's really not easy to buy land and build a new house. You can buy the house you're living in now."
"We'll trade with those who live in bungalows. As long as the area is large, it doesn't matter if the house is good or not. We'll take a loss for now and consider it as spending money to buy land."
"Once you buy the house, you can build it yourself. You can build whatever you want in your own home, the neighborhood committee probably won't care, right?"
Nowadays, there aren't many fancy ways to build houses, so it doesn't affect the town's appearance. You can build a house on your own land, and nobody will care.
Guo Xiaojie rented a tenement building with two rooms, totaling more than 30 square meters.
Don't underestimate the small size. Nowadays, most people prefer to live in apartment buildings because they feel it's prestigious. If Guo Xiaojie were willing to trade her apartment for a bungalow, there would be plenty of people willing to do so.
Guo Xiaojie: "This method is good. I don't care whether I live in a bungalow or an apartment building, as long as the area is big enough. We can exchange apartments with people, especially those who live in dilapidated bungalows. There will definitely be people willing to exchange with us."
"The problem is that the building materials are hard to buy, and we don't have the corresponding quota."
Yu Rujia: "Our brigade sells bricks and tiles. You can discuss it with our brigade leader. It should be feasible."
The brick kiln of the brigade has just opened, and Brigade Leader Huang is trying to find customers. With Guo Xiaojie's order, Wei Hanjie will be busy for several days.
Guo Xiaojie clapped her hands: "Oh dear, I should have come to find you sooner. Living in that tiny place for two years was really suffocating me."
In fact, two adults and one child living in two rooms of more than 30 square meters is something that only families with very good conditions can afford in this day and age.
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