Chapter 53: A surprise letter was delivered. Lord Demon despised this kind of encounter the most...
Chapter 53: A Surprise in a Letter
Ever since the house was occupied by these people, the two of them had nothing left and there was no need for help. The old couple started to move around like ants moving house.
Yan Jiuru and Chen Yin took the opportunity to look around the mansion:
From the outside alone, it no longer resembles the wealthy family it once was. The desolate grey walls and the vermilion gate with peeling paint are covered with layers of old and new big-character posters. The stone lions at the gate are dented and battered, and the door lintels, door panels, and carved small animals are all covered in mud and look like shit. Slogans such as "Down with all demons and monsters" and "The great helmsman guides us forward" are painted on the walls, along with many other big-character posters.
It's really magical.
The old couple has now moved into the main courtyard of the house, which is about 200 square meters. There are about five rooms in the north, each with an ear room, a corridor and a hall, as well as east and west wing rooms.
There are two large broken ceramic vats lying upside down in the corner. They used to be used to grow lotus flowers or raise fish. Now they are full of dirt and it is hard to tell what they used to look like.
The door locks of several rooms had been pulled away by the people who moved out earlier, leaving only some heavy furniture and things that could not be taken away, some of which were tilted to one side.
The host first picked up the fallen stool in the main room and said to the two of them, "It's cold outside. Please come inside and talk."
The hostess dusted off her clothes and prepared to pour water for the two people.
Yan Jiuru waved his hand and said, "Don't bother. We came from the Northern Province to bring you a letter from home."
Hearing this, the two old men were stunned.
I never expected that the revolutionary young man who was so powerful outside just now would suddenly become a messenger from his daughter and son-in-law...
Chen Yin handed the letter to the hostess.
The two old men tremblingly pulled out the letter, and after reading it, their eyes were filled with tears of gratitude.
"Thank you both, thank you so much."
"We are the ones who have implicated the children."
Chen Yin said gently, "You don't have to be like this. They're doing well in the village. We don't have struggle sessions there, and they have enough to eat. Maybe one day... they'll come back."
"Yes, yes, thank you."
The old couple seemed to be frightened by the criticism and the young generals. Their reactions were slow and they seemed timid.
Fortunately, they are all still alive. Can they go back and rest in peace?
***
Yan Jiuru chatted with the other party for a few sentences and found out that Xue Litong originally worked at the Cultural Museum of Daming Palace, Wang Yuzhen worked at the Academy of Fine Arts, and his daughter and son-in-law were both teachers at Shouda University. Who wouldn't look up to such a family?
Who knew that after such a big movement, it would be these people who would suffer the devastating disaster first!
Their family suddenly became the "five black categories" with bad backgrounds and big capitalists, but they had donated a lot of property and loaned cultural relics to the country free of charge as early as the liberation, and now they live in this old house.
"Alas, even this is a sin."
Of course, the main charge is that my son, daughter-in-law and their family are overseas...
If you want to blame someone, blame them for not listening to their son earlier.
Mr. Xue shook his head and said, "My daughter and son-in-law were implicated by us. Otherwise, their mother-in-law had a good background and wouldn't have needed to be sent down."
They can sweep the streets now thanks to their donated property, otherwise, like those who were driven mentally insane, who knows how many people would have committed suicide.
Old Lady Wang Yuzhen looked at Chen Yin anxiously, holding her hand weakly, and said anxiously, "I don't know if coming here today will cause any trouble for you guys."
Chen Yin patted her hand and smiled calmly, "Don't worry, we are both of good family background. We are honest poor and lower-middle peasants, and we come from humble backgrounds. No one can bring us any harm."
***
At this moment, there was a faint sound outside the door, and the two old men suddenly became visibly nervous.
Yan Jiuru gestured to Chen Yin to stay here and watch over it. He strode over and opened the door. Two or three people couldn't stop themselves and fell in.
"What are you doing?" Yan Jiuru pulled out a pistol and pointed it at one of the men's forehead. The cold muzzle of the gun was not fake!
"I admit it, I admit it, don't shoot~"
It describes a somewhat wretched man who is so frightened that he pisses and shits and raises his hands.
Yan Jiuru looked at the other party gloomily: Are you sure this guy is not a traitor?
Before he could scare him, the man became bald.
It turns out that those who moved out always felt that it was a bit too easy after they came to their senses, and some even said that they felt cheated.
They all deliberately ignored the fact that the house was not originally theirs. They felt that it belonged to them since they moved in, and they would be at a disadvantage if they moved out in such a disgrace.
Some people reminded us that the two young players were carrying weapons, but others scoffed and said that they might be fake.
So, everyone got together and decided to come and check it out, and the most enthusiastic ones were these few...
The Demon Lord despises those who cannot bear to see others doing well and want to take a bite out of anyone who lives better than themselves.
He thrust the muzzle of his gun forward and said with a smile, "How's it going? Still think it's fake? How about I give you a try?"
After hearing the sound of the trigger, several people were frightened and knelt down, crying and shouting, and confessed many crimes without being asked:
He confessed to stealing eggs from his boss's house and touching someone's underpants hanging outside. The most important thing was that he confessed to taking many things from the old couple.
"I'll give you twenty minutes. If you don't return the items to their respective owners, I'll eliminate this evil for the people!"
Yan Jiuru slapped several people on the cheek with his gun in a vicious manner, "Get lost!"
***
The old couple stood at the door, watching coldly as people came to return things one after another. They didn't dare to enter the yard, but just threw the things through the gate and ran away. . . . .
As for other families, Yan Jiuru went out for a walk, gave them a few symbolic threats, and then came back.
After packing up, the two of them also wanted to go back.
"I also have to find time to send a letter to the child's grandparents."
Yan Jiuru whispered a few words to Chen Yin.
Chen Yin took out two small yellow croakers and a handful of banknotes from the secret pocket of her cotton-padded jacket and stuffed them into the old lady's pockets, saying, "Don't refuse. You should take good care of yourselves. We'll be reunited as a family when the children return."
Yan Jiuru also said, "Take it. If something urgent happens, we may not be there at the right time. We have to save our lives, right? Otherwise, we'll have come all this way for nothing."
Chen Yin: "If you are sick, go see a doctor as soon as possible, don't delay until it becomes a serious illness."
***
Not long after the two of them walked away, Mr. Xue caught up with them from behind.
"Well, Comrade Xiaoyan, I want to discuss something with you, what do you think?"
Seeing that he was hesitant, Yan Jiuru asked curiously, "What's the matter? Tell me."
"I, just now you said that you are going to work in Yancheng soon. I wonder if you have found a place to live?"
Yan Jiuru looked him over and saw that he was unconsciously rubbing his fingers that were hanging by his side. He looked away and said, "Indeed, it has been approved, but we haven't found a house yet."
Now that the words were out of his mouth, it was easy to talk about them. Mr. Xue continued, "You can see our current situation. This house has been saved today, but who knows when it will happen again... We won't be so lucky every time."
Yan Jiuru nodded, "That's true. After all, we can't just sit here and watch every day. You have to find a way on your own."
What can he do?
Mr. Xue smiled bitterly and shook his head, "To be honest, the one who reported us for having overseas connections was one of our own relatives.
And those people just now, there are side branches and the last branch of the clan, there are people who feed livestock and drive carts, even the people watching us sweep the streets are our old women who used to wash clothes and do rough work in our family. "
This surprised Yan Jiuru and Chen Yin.
"In the past, our family treated them well. Before liberation, we burned their indentures and gave them back their freedom without asking for a penny. During the famine a few years ago, our family opened the granary and distributed some food for free to help these people survive the disaster."
He pulled the corner of his mouth down in frustration, "I wanted to be kind to others, but look at this, this is the result."
He looked up at Yan Jiuru and Chen Yin and said, "Since you are also looking for a place to live, I am willing to sell this house to you. Is that okay with you?"
Yan Jiuru and his wife exchanged glances quickly, and a feeling of surprise surged in their hearts.
But he can still keep steady.
Yan Jiuru held up two fingers and said, "First, this is probably your ancestral home, right? We Chinese people don't sell our ancestral homes unless we have no other choice.
You are now desperate and want to sell it and hide away, but who knows whether you or your children will regret it in the future?
By then, no one will be watching you and your situation will have changed, so you may not think that way.
I have never cared about face, nor do I care about identity or status.
Second, can houses be bought and sold now?
Mr. Xue heaved a sigh of relief after hearing this and said, "Don't worry about this. First, this is my private property and can be resold.
I got the private land and property ownership certificate when the state confirmed the ownership rights in 1951. I can show it to you. You should also bring it with you when transferring the ownership.
Second, I can write a letter of commitment and never regret it in the future."
He sighed, "To be honest, the houses in these two or three alleys were originally ours.
After liberation, I also yearned for the New China, so I donated part of it to the state for use as office space, and rented some of it to various units at low prices.
Do you see those low houses in the back? They were originally the servants' quarters of my family. After they were donated to the country, they were divided among individuals.
Right now, this house, with its two sides and four entrances, is my private residence."
"It's just that... the other one is now rented out to the Museum of Cultural Heritage for office use. I used to work there. Even though I'm now classified as one of the "Five Black Categories," the lease documents remain unchanged.
The lease starts in 1951, and each room costs $1 per month. There are 67 rooms in total, plus a garden. The lease is for 20 years. Last year, no one came to renew the lease. It's up to you whether you want to continue renting or take it back.
Yan Jiuru twitched his lips: Good guy, he has to chase away the customers himself, no wonder.
"Have you already planned this?"
Mr. Xue smiled bitterly, "Ever since the wind started to turn bad, we've felt that a big tree attracts the wind... We've also looked for some people, but those who used to come and go have either hidden away or tried to take advantage, so it's been delayed until now."
Chen Yin: "Why do you think we can afford it?"
Yan Jiuru: "How do you plan to sell it?"
The two spoke almost at the same time, but fortunately they both kept their voices low.
A gleam flashed in Mr. Xue's eyes. Although his personality was a little too calm, he believed that he was quite good at judging people.
He looked at Yan Jiuru and held up two fingers: "The whole house, with two roads and four entrances, covers an area of 16 acres, and only needs 20 small yellow croakers in total."
"hiss--"
No wonder he couldn't make a move.
Even if the black market price of gold is ten yuan per gram, twenty small yellow croakers would cost more than six thousand yuan.
A house of twelve acres is not small, but it can be said at any time. Nowadays, big capitalists are running away and robbing. Nowadays, rich and powerful people have no shortage of houses to live in, and people without money simply cannot afford so much.
Wouldn't it be nice to wait for your company to allocate housing? You don't have to pay a penny!
Never mind the good location, the mansions and the palaces. In wartime, the least valuable things were houses; even the imperial palace was worthless.
How many years of peace have we lived like this?
Even though the house has some flaws, it still cannot be sold at a high price.
If you don’t believe me, just look at those proper royal palaces. Which one is still occupied by its original owner?
Isn’t it just collected when you said so?
***
Yan Jiuru was a little tempted, but still couldn't help complaining: "You lent the entire house, including furniture and garden, to the Cultural Museum. The monthly rent is only 60 or 70 yuan, and it's only 1,500 or 1,600 yuan in 20 years. How many years will it take for me to earn back the rent?
I've done some research on the market in Yancheng, and a single, complete courtyard house costs at most 400 yuan. "If you count both of these, there won't be more than eight courtyard houses, right?"
Xue Litong also knew that this price was a bit expensive considering most people's monthly salary was 30 or 40 yuan, but he really didn't want it to be too cheap.
Yan Jiuru continued: "Besides, if this house is sold, where will you two live?"
Xue Litong's eyes lit up: "We also have a small house in Liyu Hutong."
It turns out that he worried for nothing.
No wonder people say that a lean camel is bigger than a horse. This must be because someone who knows him well has taken notice of him.
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