Chen Afu could understand Chen Ming's approach, but he did not agree with it. He had good intentions and wanted to satisfy Mrs. Chen's wish that her sons all lived a good life, to thank Chen Ye for his help, but he did not want to upset Wang. However, this could easily encourage the greed of some people and make them want more.
Hu said nothing, she was always greedy. But Old Lady Chen and Chen Ye had never used their brothers' money so smoothly before. This was not only because Chen Ming, Chen Shi and Chen Afu had money, but also because these families had given money too readily before, which changed their mentality.
Old Mrs. Chen is Chen Ming's biological mother, and he must support her. But the eldest wife cannot continue to spoil her like this in the future, or she will develop bad habits.
The drama of being grateful for a little and then resenting a little should not happen to these brothers.
Moreover, often hiding a large amount of private money will affect the relationship between husband and wife. Chen Afu smiled and said, "Dad, the first wife has a new baby, and the uncles are busy. Why don't you take my grandmother to Luyuan to enjoy a good life?"
Chen Ming sighed, "Why not? I've mentioned it many times, asking her to live with me, but your grandma wouldn't come, saying she was used to living with your uncle."
Wang whispered, "Not only is mother-in-law used to living with uncle, but because she lives in the big house, the head of the household and the third uncle will pay respect to the big house as well..."
Chen Ming's face darkened a little, and he said angrily, "What nonsense are you talking about?" He felt that his attitude was not good, and he relaxed his breath and said, "It's not easy for my mother to raise us brothers, so let's follow her wishes."
Chen Ahfu smiled and said, "Dad, you are right to follow my grandmother's lead. However, we all know the character of people like Mrs. Hu. If she asks for a needle today, she will ask for a thread tomorrow. If she keeps asking like this, even a house will not be able to satisfy her desires..."
Chen Ming blushed, knowing that Chen Afu had guessed that he had saved money to buy a house for the eldest wife, and also that the Hu Shi she was talking about was not just one person. He hurriedly said, "Dad, I won't do it again next time. This is the most..."
Looking at Wang, he swallowed the last few words.
Chen Afu felt that he had given enough advice and hoped that he would think about it carefully, so he changed the subject and said, "Dad and Mom, please live with me. There is a lot of space in the mansion, and I will have someone clean up a yard for you." He then blushed and explained the matter of A Lu moving out of the mansion.
Finally, he said, "Before, I had just arrived at the mansion and didn't know many things, which made A-Lu suffer injustice. Now the mansion has been cleaned up, and the servants who bullied the master have been driven out, and those who were dishonest have also become obedient. No one dares to do those things anymore."
In the past two months, Chen Afu has cleaned up some servants, and the mansion has been completely put in order.
After hearing this, Wang wanted to move into the mansion to be closer to her daughter so that she could take care of her more easily. She also said that she was worried about Chen Afu and would stay there until she gave birth and then return to the countryside.
Chen Afu was very happy to hear this.
But Chen Ming didn't want to cause trouble for his daughter, so he shook his head and said, "No. Country people like to be lively, and it's rare for us brothers to get together, so we still want to live together and have fun. Your mother will come to accompany you during the day and go back at night."
Chen Afu had no choice but to give up.
Dabao finished school and Alu was also picked up.
Dabao happily threw himself into Wang's arms and said coquettishly, "Grandma, why did you come to see me just now? I missed you so much."
Wang happily picked him up and kissed him twice, then said with a smile, "Grandma just arrived at your third grandfather's house at noon. After having lunch, she came to see her grandson."
They played until the evening, and the family of three returned to Chen Shi's home.
The next day after breakfast, Wang and A Lu took a carriage to the General's Mansion to accompany their daughter. Chen Shi took a day off and drove a bullock cart with Chen Ming, Old Lady Chen, Chen Ye and Hu to the pawnshop to look at houses.
On the way, Old Lady Chen and Chen Ye both suggested that it would be best to buy both courtyards on Houbei Street, which would be close to Chen Shi’s home and would make it convenient for the families to travel back and forth.
Chen Shi didn't want his elder brother's house to be too close to his own, because his house was also close to the restaurant. If Hu went to the restaurant every day to eat, it would be bad if she didn't charge, but it would also be bad if she did. Or maybe, if she went to his house to eat for no reason, his wife would be unhappy.
Because he had given a lot of money to the first wife during the Chinese New Year, and this year he had to buy a dowry for his daughter, and he had not paid back the money he borrowed from his father-in-law's family. Zhang cried for several days and told her family about it. His father-in-law and mother-in-law were very unhappy with him and criticized him in many ways.
He felt that he had already repaid his elder brother's kindness and should take care of his own family more in the future.
Chen Shi smiled and said, "Houses near my home are more expensive. Big brother only has 100 taels of silver, so it's not easy to buy a satisfactory house there. If it's too small and old, it's not cost-effective. It's better to buy one in the west. The houses there are not too expensive, and they are close to the west city gate, so it's convenient to go back to the countryside."
Chen Ye felt a little regretful. They made a lot of money from selling Dingzhou melons, Dingzhou wheat and Dingzhou corn this year, but he used the more than 80 taels of silver to buy land. He felt that since his second brother was a big landlord and boss, and his third brother was a big boss, he should at least be closer to being a big landlord. So he wanted to keep buying land, but it was not enough, and he had to buy more.
Because all the money was spent on buying land and saving for Aju's dowry, the family lived frugally. Not to mention that there was no extra money to buy a house, they rarely even bought meat. When my mother was hungry, she would go to the second room to eat, and Chen Ming would occasionally buy some meat for the family.
So he said, "Then let's buy it in the west. I want to buy a newer and larger courtyard house. I don't want to spend a lot of money on decoration. I will live in the city when I'm not working on the farm. Dahu is not good at studying. When he grows up, he will rely on you uncles and brothers and sisters to find him a good job in the city and a house to live in."
However, Mrs. Hu wanted to live in Houbei Street so that she could visit the restaurant when she had nothing to do. But she didn't want to live in an old and small house, so she was very conflicted.
When they arrived at the brokerage, the broker listened to their conditions and said he had several houses that suited their tastes, so he took them to see them. They first went to the west, and there was a courtyard on Houxi Street that was not bad, a quadrangle courtyard, a blue brick and tile house, also that big, and 70% new.
However, the environment here is not very good. The alleys are narrow and many people’s houses are very dilapidated. Most of them are rental houses, with several families living in one yard.
Compared with Chen Shi's yard, this is far inferior. It's not the yard itself, but the environment is too different. It's obvious that the rich people live there, while here are mostly poor people.
The price for this yard was 130 taels of silver. After haggling for a long time, the agent finally agreed to 110 taels.
Chen Ye thought that he would need to pay an additional ten taels to buy the yard, and he would also need to repair it and buy furniture, which would cost at least another ten taels of silver. So he asked if he could buy it for ninety taels, as he did not have much extra money.
The broker shook his head and said, "Brother, you can go somewhere else. For such a nice courtyard, one hundred and ten taels of silver is the cheapest."
Chen Ye thought the price was too high and was not satisfied with the location, so he said he would think about it again.
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