Chapter 177 Island Rental
Hu Meili finished introducing the situation in the village in one breath, and then smiled and said.
“The army canteen buys two or three batches of seafood from them every week. I’ve dealt with the village officials several times, and they’re all very easy to talk to.”
"Come on, I'll take you to the brigade leader's house." As she spoke, Hu Meili knocked on the door of a house.
A voice answered shortly afterward, "Who is it?"
The door opened, and there stood a kind-faced old lady.
The man smiled as soon as he saw Hu Meili, “Oh, Deputy Director Hu, what brings you here? Come in, come in quickly.”
Hu Meili waved her hand, "Auntie, I've told you so many times, just call me Meili."
She loves hearing the word "beautiful".
The old woman smiled and said, "Alright, alright, Meili, come in quickly."
Not only did she smile, but the old lady was also incredibly warm and welcoming.
As soon as he entered the house, he poured out several glasses of sugar water, saying, "Hurry up and drink some water to soothe your throat."
After saying that, the old lady moved a small stool and sat down opposite the group.
"My husband, Lao Meng, has gone to the seafood processing plant. Please wait a moment, and I'll send someone to call him back."
"Auntie, there's no need to call my uncle back. I came here today to see you."
"Looking for me?" The old woman was taken aback.
Hu Meili nodded without beating around the bush.
She pointed to Jiang Si, "Auntie, this is my sister. Her husband is the commander of the flight regiment. Her family has come to the island to accompany her to the military base and they want to rent a house near the base."
"I just don't know if there are any suitable ones in our village?"
This single sentence clarifies both the relationship between the two individuals and Jiang Si's status as a military dependent.
Finally, he revealed the purpose of his trip.
Upon hearing that Jiang Si was a military dependent, the old woman's smile became even warmer.
I can't speak for other things, but there are plenty of houses in their village.
It was mainly because we caught a good time. Since the village got its own state-owned factory, the villagers' pockets have become fuller, and the number of outsiders has also increased.
In recent years, every household in the village has transformed their boat-shaped thatched houses into coral houses.
The old woman smiled and looked at Jiang Si, "Leave the house to me, but I don't know how big a place you'd like to rent?"
Jiang Si knew that housing was scarce these days, so she didn't have any other requirements.
"Auntie, everything else is fine, but we want to rent a house with its own yard."
Upon hearing the words "detached house with its own yard," the old woman paused, "Wait a minute, let me think about it."
After about five or six minutes, the old woman slapped her thigh and said, "There really is one. Come on, I'll take you to see it."
Jiang Si nodded, "Thank you, Auntie."
The old woman waved her hand, "We're family, soldiers and civilians, don't be so formal."
To be honest, the reason why Yuhua Island Village was chosen in the end, despite so many fishing villages competing for the factory site, was ultimately because of the presence of military troops stationed nearby.
On the way there, the old lady gave a brief account of the homeowner's situation.
Originally, this house was built for his two sons to use when they got married.
However, both of their sons are successful; one of them was recruited to work in the provincial capital.
The other one went to join the army and is currently serving in the military; he won't be back for a while.
The old woman said, "It wasn't right for the house to stay empty all the time, so the old couple moved into the new house, and now the old house is empty."
Fearing that Jiang Si might find it objectionable, the old woman added, "Although the house is old, it was renovated a few years ago, so living in it for another hundred years is not a problem."
As they spoke, the group soon arrived at the gate of a small coral courtyard.
The old woman went inside and explained her purpose to the homeowner.
A few minutes later, a round-faced aunt came out with the older woman.
Just by looking at the woman's face, Jiang Si knew that she was easy to talk to.
The old lady introduced her, saying, "Her surname is Feng, you can just call her Aunt Feng."
Jiang Si called out, "Aunt Feng."
Aunt Feng smiled and nodded, "Take a look at the house first. If you like it, we can talk about other things."
After she finished speaking, she opened the gate to the neighboring courtyard.
Jiang Si went inside and took a look. Actually, the layout of the houses on the island was pretty much the same.
There is a small courtyard in front of and behind the house, each courtyard is only about 15 square meters.
Upon entering, you'll find the main hall, also known as the main room.
There is a room on each side of the main hall, making it a two-bedroom, one-living room structure overall.
Perhaps because the whole house was paved with bluestone slabs, the room felt cool.
The kitchen and toilet were in the backyard, and Jiang Si took a quick look around before coming out.
"How is it?" Hu Meili and Xu Mingjuan looked over.
Jiang Si said honestly, "It's alright, the house and the house are both very clean."
Hu Meili breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm glad you're satisfied. I just asked the old lady, and she said that if you only need to rent one room, it's quite easy to find one in the village. They're the only family in the village with a detached house like this."
Jiang Si nodded.
Since she was satisfied, she didn't plan to cause any more trouble.
I asked around, and the price seems reasonable.
The rent in the city is about 13 cents per square meter.
Although Yuhua Island is located in a remote area, the rent is still 6 to 7 cents per square meter because of the state-owned factories there.
Excluding the kitchen and yard, this house has a total area of over 60 square meters.
Since it was brought by the brigade leader's wife, and Jiang Si said she wanted to rent it for a long time, Aunt Feng gave her a quick price.
"Then let's calculate it at 5 cents, that's 3 yuan per month for 60 square meters."
"You can pay the rent monthly or quarterly as you like. We won't touch the furniture in the house; you can keep it for yourselves."
Jiang Si had no objection to this.
In front of the brigade leader's wife, Jiang Si drafted a contract. After both parties confirmed that there were no problems, they signed and pressed their fingerprints.
The contract was made in triplicate, with one copy kept at the village committee, so that both parties could feel more at ease.
With the housing issue resolved smoothly, Jiang Si breathed a sigh of relief.
Before leaving, she took out two packs of premium cigarettes and a bag of candy from her handbag.
"Auntie, thank you for taking us on this trip today. Please take these two packs of cigarettes back to Uncle, and give the children this candy to sweeten their mouths."
The old woman waved her hand, refusing to accept the money, saying, "It's just a few steps..."
The old lady tried to refuse, but Hu Meili smiled and said, "Auntie, please accept them. My sister just had her wedding banquet a while ago, so these are wedding cigarettes and candies. Take them home and enjoy the festive atmosphere."
Upon hearing this, the old lady stopped refusing.
As if remembering something, she said as she walked, "The children went to the beach this morning and dug up a lot of oyster meat. Take some back and have a taste."
The moment the words "oyster" were uttered, Jiang Si's face instantly contorted into a bitter expression.
"Auntie, no need! We have plenty more at home, we'll be going now."
Seeing her run towards the village entrance as if fleeing, the old woman was still a little confused. What's wrong with Comrade Xiao Jiang?
Hu Meili and Xu Mingjuan saw through it but didn't say anything. They looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh.
When it was just the three of them, Hu Meili jokingly said something with a smile.
"So, did you try what I told you about the other day?"
Jiang Si blushed and was about to speak when a familiar figure suddenly appeared in her line of sight.
"Why did you come here? Didn't you say you had training today and didn't have time?"
Huo Tingzhou said, "Originally there was no time, but I received a last-minute notice this afternoon."
Jiang Si didn't think much of it after hearing that, until she returned to the family compound and both of her sisters-in-law went home.
Huo Tingzhou suddenly looked over with a serious expression, "Wife, do you know that asbestos tiles can cause cancer?"
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