Chapter 75 People Will Change
"Sister, don't bother looking." Ma Cuifen laughed, pointing to the man in bell-bottom jeans: "It's still the same guy, just a different outfit."
"oh--"
Chen Yun suddenly realized.
Jin Decai laughed heartily and hurriedly pulled out a pair of black-rimmed glasses from his coat pocket and put them on.
"Sister-in-law, take another look and see if it looks like her!"
"Isn't this just like it!" Chen Yun laughed, and quickly invited the two of them into the house: "Don't you work in the provincial capital? Why did you come to Beicheng?"
Chen Yun still vividly remembers the proud and self-satisfied look on Old Ma's face the summer before last.
"Let's have a drink of water first." Ma Cuifen's smile froze for a moment before returning to normal, her gaze wandering: "It's a long story... Which one is my brother-in-law's mother?"
"Hello, Auntie!"
"Wow! They're sewing quilts! They have such bright eyes."
Chen Yun and Gao Ming exchanged a glance, and the smiles on their faces faded considerably.
Ma Cuifen seemed like a different person, chatting with the aunties with ease, able to chime in on any topic.
...She was completely different from the shy and introverted Ma Cuifen she used to be.
Moreover, when Ma Cuifen was talking to Dong Qiaoying and the others with her head down, Chen Yun noticed a tattoo on her exposed neck.
After lunch.
Jin Decai asked Gao Ming to take her to the toilet at the entrance of the alley, and Chen Yun finally found an opportunity to grab Ma Cuifen and ask her questions again.
"Tell me the truth, did you resign from the hospital?"
"Hmm." Ma Cuifen didn't dare to look at Chen Yun, her eyes darting around nervously. After a long while, she finally uttered, "I just don't want to work at the hospital. The director always targets me, the newcomer, and I feel so frustrated every day."
Chen Yun sighed inwardly.
When will your mother, brother, and sister-in-law arrive in the north of the city?
The girl who was determined to study medicine six years ago is now an adult. Even the Ma family can't control what kind of future she chooses, let alone an outsider like Chen Yun.
A slight disappointment rose in her heart, but Chen Yun still took the initiative to skip the topic.
Little did I know that this was the real reason Ma Cuifen came to see Chen Yun today...
"When my parents arrive in Beicheng, could you please put in a good word for me? Try to stop my mother from being angry!"
"Why is Aunt Ma angry?" Chen Yun asked knowingly.
"It's all because I resigned from the hospital, and my mother scolded me for being ungrateful and heartless!" Ma Cuifen licked her lips, a wronged expression on her face: "In her eyes, only working in a hospital and earning a meager salary is considered capable..." She finished speaking in one breath before remembering that Chen Yun was still working at the hospital, and quickly waved her hand: "I wasn't talking about you."
"It's nothing." Chen Yun forced a smile: "Working at a hospital certainly can't compare to making money in business."
“Exactly!” Ma Cuifen immediately became excited, feeling that Chen Yun was the most reasonable one: “You said that Jin Decai and I make more money in a month doing business in Beicheng than the hospital makes in a year, only a fool would choose the hospital!”
Chen Yun, who had been unwittingly struck in the knee again: ...
As Ma Cuifen spoke, she became increasingly carried away, listing all the advantages of doing business with great enthusiasm.
From the rigid thinking of people in small towns to how fashionable girls in big cities dress, from the fact that even a chef in a state-run factory restaurant can't compare to a bowl of noodles with soybean paste from a small noodle shop in the north of the city.
Everyone has different pursuits. Ma Cuifen was tired of the monotonous hospital work and longed for a big city and to earn more money, which is understandable... until Chen Yun asked her a question unintentionally.
What kind of business do you do?
"Arcade! It's not far from your alley, why don't you and Brother Gaoming come over to our arcade for a while sometime!"
Chen Yun: "..."
Where is the arcade located?
Gao Yi stole more than a thousand yuan from home and went to an arcade not far from Guanming Hutong. Chen Yun hoped that it was not the arcade where Gao Fei was injured.
"The drum and gong accompaniment."
Fortunately, it wasn't the same place, which eased Chen Yun's anxiety a little.
How long has the arcade been open?
"It hasn't even been two months. Isn't this the boss that Jin Decai met a few months ago..."
Ma Cuifen and Jin Decai are not the owners of the arcade where Gao Yi played games; it was the owner, Mr. Zhang, who sold them the game machines…
Mr. Zhang reluctantly sold the machine to them because the street was going to be demolished, and he even "kindly" introduced his old customers to them.
The arcade was a great success after it opened, earning four to five thousand yuan every month.
In order to earn more money, the two used all their earnings to buy new game machines to expand their business.
Because the shop can't be left unattended, Ma Cuifen hasn't had time to visit Chen Yun's house even though she's been in Beicheng for almost half a year.
If it weren't for Jin Decai's cousin keeping an eye on things, they wouldn't have had the chance to come over today.
Chen Yun never believed in free lunches, and besides, no one had mentioned that the street was going to be demolished for so long, which made her uneasy about the possibility of something fishy going on.
Seeing Ma Cuifen talking about how fast money could be made with such enthusiasm, Chen Yun was certain that even if she were reminded, Ma Cuifen wouldn't listen.
As it turned out, Chen Yun's guess was absolutely correct.
Then Ma Cuifen curled her lip in disdain: "I kindly sent money to my mother for travel expenses, and she treated my kindness like dirt... She even complains that the money I earn is not legitimate. I've never even left the county town in my entire life. Running an arcade is a legitimate business..."
Chen Yun immediately abandoned the idea of giving a few words of advice. She found even her mother's words annoying, let alone those of an outsider like herself.
After chatting for a few more minutes, Ma Cuifen got up to say goodbye.
Although he was Jin Decai's cousin, Ma Cuifen considered him an outsider and didn't trust him to hand over his money.
"Sister, next time I'll treat your whole family to dinner at a fancy hotel."
That sounds nice, but the green pears I just mentioned only cost 50 cents for 5 jin at the market, and those few together don't even weigh 2 jin.
"Go to a fancy hotel for dinner..." Chen Yun simply smiled and nodded.
After seeing Ma Cuifen and Jin Decai off, Chen Yun was filled with emotion.
"How can a person change so quickly?"
Gao Ming thought for a moment and replied, "Actually, we are also changing. Those who don't change are even more precious."
Having seen many different landscapes and experienced many different things, it's hard for anyone to maintain their original heart without any change.
This person can change in the blink of an eye, let alone in a year or two.
"Never mind her!" Chen Yun waved her hand, as if to shake off her feelings, and then smiled and raised an eyebrow: "Let's go see the new house."
***
Shanghong Road.
Even on weekdays, the buses in the northern part of the city are still crowded, and the entire carriage is almost soaked in the smell of mothballs.
Chen Yun, feeling dizzy and disoriented, squeezed off the bus and stood on the pedestrian crossing, breathing in fresh air for several minutes before she came to her senses.
"Looks like we need to hurry up and buy a car!" Gao Ming patted his wife on the back with concern.
In winter, it smells like mothballs; in summer, it smells like sweat and feet. Chen Yun suffers every time she goes on a long trip.
The couple had previously thought that living in the alley was low-key, so they hadn't considered buying a car. But now it seemed they had no choice but to buy one... After all, if they had the means, why should his wife suffer?
"Let's buy it." Chen Yun rubbed her temples and turned to look at the roadside: "Mom and the others haven't arrived yet?"
The couple took a public bus, while Dong Qiaoying and her two children rode on a three-wheeled motorcycle driven by Gao Tiejun.
"They're here."
The motorcycle was moving very slowly, and the rumbling sound reached our ears first, followed by Gao Nian'an sitting in the truck bed, waving his arms frantically.
This style of tricycle is unique to its time; it's essentially a two-wheeled motorcycle with a cargo bed added.
The car tends to sway when it goes fast, so the high-speed rail crew usually drives very slowly when taking their children to school.
The siblings were crammed into the truck bed, with only Gao Nianping's head sticking out and half of his body sliding off the seat.
"Dad, Mom."
The tricycle slowly pulled up to the side of the road, and Gao Ming pointed to the alley next to it: "Drive in, the last house on the right."
Chen Yun looked up and looked behind her.
The red sign for the Workers' Hospital is just across the street; it's a five-minute walk away.
"With such a good location, the house must be worth a lot of money!" Chen Yun sighed.
The Workers' Hospital is located in the very heart of the city, just a ten-minute walk from People's Square, which is technically within the second ring road.
"This house is an old house passed down from his grandfather's generation. A lot of money was spent on renovations a couple of years ago, but unfortunately... things didn't go as planned."
The house was just renovated and the family hadn't even moved in when the exported goods were returned due to quality issues, causing a break in the cash flow. Otherwise, no one would easily sell their ancestral house.
The alleyway is lined with low-rise residential buildings of various styles.
The road is wide enough to easily accommodate a small car, and the roadside trees on both sides are neatly trimmed.
The warm afternoon sun of winter shone on the houses on both sides, making them appear particularly... deserted.
Along the way, Chen Yun didn't see a single person pass by.
Every household had its doors tightly shut, and only the sound of two people walking could be heard echoing in the alley.
“This used to be the residence of diplomats, but they all moved to the new district along with the embassies.” Gao Ming casually pointed to the foreign characters on the side of a gate by the roadside: “I heard it has been acquired by the Municipal Power Supply Bureau, and many of the power supply bureau’s employees may move in in the future.”
Nowadays, few people buy houses, since employers will provide housing anyway, and the better the company's performance, the better the employees live.
For example, the power supply bureau that Gao Ming mentioned right now...
The buildings are all two or three stories high, and the courtyard of each building is larger than the house itself.
"Mom and Dad."
The four members of the family, who had arrived a dozen minutes earlier than Chen Yun and the others, had been lingering in front of the brand-new building for quite some time.
Gao Nian'an touched every single pattern on the door, while Gao Nianping peered through the crack in the door to see what was happening in the courtyard.
"Mom, there's a huge table in the yard!" Gao Nianping rushed into Chen Yun's arms, gesturing exaggeratedly with his chubby hands: "A table as big as the sky."
Gao Ming laughed: "Last time I came to look at houses, I happened to run into a foreigner moving next door. I saw that the table was still quite new, so I was thinking that I could put some things there when I moved.
As the key was inserted, the door creaked open, and Chen Yun saw the table the father and son had mentioned.
The rectangular dining table for twelve people, which foreigners like to use, was probably only used by the host to entertain guests in the past. The table is so new that there isn't even a single scratch.
The courtyard is about 70 or 80 square meters, a square courtyard.
The previous owner paved the entire front yard with cement, except for two rectangular flower beds built along the wall, where the jujube trees that were planted have withered into bare branches.
"Er Ming has really made something of himself!" Dong Qiaoying exclaimed.
Before today, I had only heard about my son making money by starting a company; it was only when I actually saw this big house that I truly felt it.
She never dared to dream of living in such a luxurious house in the past.
“I’ve worked most of my life and still can’t afford it.” Gao Tiejun patted Gao Ming’s shoulder hard, his tone full of emotion: “If your grandfather were still alive, he would be so happy to see his grandson so successful.”
“Dad is much more capable than Gao Ming.” Chen Yun interjected with a smile: “More than ten years ago, when the whole country was starving, Gao Ming said that his family could still occasionally eat white rice.”
"This kid still remembers!" Gao Tiejun laughed.
Gao Ming made money by seizing the opportunities of the times. Chen Yunzhen thought it was amazing that Gao Tiejun was able to support his family during wartime.
If she were to accidentally travel back ten years, she would probably either starve to death or die from overwork while farming.
"Of course I remember." Gao Ming scratched his head sheepishly. "I also remember that Grandpa would sneak out at night to catch loaches in order to improve the family's meals."
Having lived past thirty-five, this was the first time Gao Ming had been praised by his parents. He was a little shy, and after saying that, he quickly went to open the front door of the house.
"Wow--"
The children's exclamations rose and fell, and their laughter echoed in the empty room.
The house and the yard are both square and rectangular, with white walls and cement floors, lacking any particular style, but its advantage lies in its large size.
The living room is at least 60 square meters, there is a bedroom on the right, and the kitchen and dining room on the left. The dining room has a door that opens to the backyard.
Everyone, young and old, was drawn to the room, but Chen Yun went to the backyard first.
"How about it?"
“The house is nice, but we can’t live here anymore,” Chen Yun said.
Gao Ming was puzzled. Even if there were more people in the family, the house would still be spacious enough, and with a front yard and a back yard, it was many times better than a traditional courtyard house.
Chen Yun knocked on the wall in the backyard: "Did you go up to the second floor when you came to check on the house?"
"It's up!" Gao Ming looked around at the house structure and was quite satisfied at the time.
“The person who mortgaged the house is no good. Don’t do business with him anymore.” Chen Yun’s smiling eyes were now filled with anger. She waved her hand at Gao Ming and said, “Let’s go upstairs and take a look.”
The couple went straight upstairs to the second floor and came to the room facing the backyard.
Chen Yun pointed to a row of red brick houses behind the wall: "Those houses used to be the hospital's morgue. The morgue was moved underground at the beginning of this year."
clever:"……"
“This place was a morgue more than 30 years ago, and before that it was a graveyard. How could it possibly be an ancestral house?” Chen Yun sneered.
From the moment Chen Yun entered the house, she felt like something was wrong, especially when she saw the hospital sign so close by through the back door of the restaurant and immediately understood the situation.
There are many legends about morgues in hospitals, and Chen Yun had even looked out of his office window at this row of red brick buildings.
“I…” Gao Ming rubbed his forehead, then suddenly chuckled self-deprecatingly, “What a great lesson.”
The foreigners living in this area probably didn't move with the embassy, but rather learned that the red brick buildings behind them were morgues.
Before bringing my family, I was full of confidence and looked forward to seeing a surprised smile on my wife's face, but instead, I was met with a huge blow.
"It was my oversight." Gao Ming sighed again, a look of guilt flashing across his face. "I'll buy you a better house later."
"Oh my!" Chen Yun's cold expression suddenly softened, and the corners of her lips turned up slightly. She grabbed Gao Ming's arm and pulled him towards the window. "You're just lucky. The house will appreciate in value."
"We can't be like those bastards who cheat people and resell the products; at worst, they'll just become unsellable to me."
"We can't let this go to waste." Chen Yun smiled, then pointed to the row of red brick houses: "Didn't I say that the morgue has been moved underground, so this row of empty houses will definitely be demolished? Guess what will be built in its place?"
Gao Ming's eyes lit up.
"The square." Chen Yun smiled.
By simply swapping the front and back yards, the house can be transformed into a ready-made shop, with a much higher commercial value than a residential property.
In ten years at most, the value of this house could increase at least a hundredfold... Of course, all of this is based on Chen Yun having memories of his previous life.
Residents might find it unlucky, but business people don't have these concerns.
Chen Yun now even suspects that the power supply bureau bought this alley not to use it as employee housing, but to convert it into shops for profit.
A year and a half later, Chen Yun's guesses all came true...
But to Gao Ming right now, Chen Yun seemed to be born to do business.
"From now on, I'll definitely ask my wife's opinion before making any company decisions." Gao Ming put his arm around Chen Yun's shoulder. "If you say east, I'll never go west!"
Joking aside, this incident served as a wake-up call for Gao Ming, reminding him to be more careful in the future.
Chen Yun smiled, turned around, and used two fingers to push Gao Ming's lips upward: "Let's leave it empty for two years first."
"Yes, ma'am."
The house viewing ended quickly, and Gao Ming took Gao Tiejun and his wife back to the company on his tricycle.
Although the house may appreciate in value, the person who mortgaged the house clearly had ill intentions, so how could he let this matter pass so easily?
Chen Yun took her two children in a taxi to her parents' place.
Some expenses are better spent than saved...
***
Xuefu Lane.
My parents lived right next to the west side of Yenching University, which was both away from the hustle and bustle of the main campus road and allowed them to faintly hear the school bells ringing.
It is a truly quiet place amidst the hustle and bustle.
It was during afternoon class time, and through the iron fence, you could see many students running on the grass.
"Nian'an, Nian'ping!"
Upon receiving the call, Chen Shu, who was waiting at the alley entrance, spotted his two grandsons jumping around from afar and shouted as he opened his arms wide.
"Grandpa."
"Grandpa."
The siblings took off running, and soon the three of them were embracing each other.
"Dad, why are you waiting outside? It's so cold!"
Chen Yun quickly took off her scarf and wrapped it around Chen Shu's neck, feeling sorry for her father's face, which was red from the cold.
"It's not cold." Chen Shu smiled, picked up Gao Nianping and weighed him in his arms: "Our Nianping has eaten a lot of meat and has grown quite a bit."
"Grandpa!" Gao Nianping happily hugged his grandfather's neck and complained in a childish voice, "My sister stole my windmill today, and it's all torn up..."
"Grandpa will make you seven more windmills covered in paintings later, so you can play with a different one every day."
The special bond between grandparents and grandchildren is most evident in Chen Shu.
My father, who never spoke softly in my memory, now coaxes the children in a low voice, and his eyes are only on his two grandsons, nothing else.
Chen Yun followed the three of them for a long time without asking why Gao Ming hadn't come.
In front of a small building with a blend of Chinese and Western architectural styles.
"mom."
Xu Cuihua rushed over and hugged Gao Nian'an tightly, calling out "My dear" with heartache. As for Chen Yun's call of "Mom," it's unclear whether she didn't hear it or if she heard it but ignored it.
"Come inside quickly, Grandma bought our Nian'an's favorite big grapes."
"I like grapes the most."
The two-story brick building was divided in two by a cement wall about half a person's height.
Chen Shu and Xu Cuihua lived on the left.
A set of tables and chairs was placed in the courtyard. It was winter and the grapevines were dormant. If it were summer, this little courtyard would definitely have a different kind of scenery.
"Old Liu, come over for dinner tonight."
Chen Shuchong shouted from the right side of the courtyard wall, and without waiting for anyone to respond, he quickly carried the child into the house.
The room is heated.
As soon as Chen Yun stepped into the room, a wave of heat hit him, and he instantly felt sweat on his back.
When they moved, Chen Yun came to take a quick look around and got a general idea of the house's condition.
After taking off her cotton-padded coat and hanging it on the hanger, she glanced at the table and saw oranges in addition to grapes. Her eyes immediately lit up with a smile.
Chen Yun liked to eat oranges, and when Gao Nianan was in danger, Gao Ming often went to the mountains to pick oranges that were so sour they could make your teeth fall out.
It seems her parents still care about her as their daughter.
"Dad, who is Old Liu you just called out to?" Chen Yun asked while peeling an orange.
“Your dad’s old classmate, he’s the one who introduced us to this house.”
Xu Cuihua looks much better than she did a few years ago after returning to her beloved traditional Chinese painting; her every move exudes a scholarly air.
"Gao Ming, go back to the company to take care of some things first, and come back when it's time for dinner."
"Your dad's cooking tonight."
The mother and daughter are both mediocre cooks, but fortunately, the husband is a good cook, and his cooking is far superior.
"Let Gao Ming have a few more drinks with your Uncle Liu later."
Chen Shu's alcohol tolerance was never very high, and since he started working at the museum, he has consciously given up drinking, which has led to him being teased by his old friends quite a bit.
With his son-in-law here today, he'd better save face.
The father-in-law had everything arranged perfectly before the person even arrived—a truly brilliant move…
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