Two weeks after his sister started school, Qiu Dashu packed his bags and headed for his bright future.
The Qiu family had sent two promising children away in a row, and many families in the brigade were jealous. Those who had previously been on the fence about whether their children could go to school finally gritted their teeth and sent their children back to school, just in case the smoke drifted to their homes!
Even Qiu Yuling's grandmother would come over for a stroll every now and then with her crutches. She found the second brother's yard lush and green, and tidy. There was nothing she could find fault with, so she would go back satisfied.
A week later, Zhou Xiaonan brought good news to Qiu Yuling. "Yuling, it's for sale. They're selling it. My mother wants three hundred and it's hard to bargain. She said it has a lot of rooms and is made of good materials. But your parents need to come over to negotiate."
Qiu Yuling went to see the house first, and the key was left with Zhou Xiaonan's mother.
At noon, Qiu Yuling and the teacher approved the note, and the security guard let us go. Following Zhou Xiaonan's instructions, we walked around a main street, a side street, and entered a long alley.
There was a wall on one side of the alley, and on the other side were several rows of houses forming a series of small alleys. Qiu Yuling counted to the sixth one from the beginning before turning in. After entering, she counted to the fifth door, grabbed the copper ring on the door and patted it.
Zhou Xiaonan jumped out and opened the door.
"Yuling is here, come in quickly. Mom, mom, my classmate is here."
Zhou Xiaonan's mother wiped the water off her hands and hurried out of the house at the corner. Seeing Qiu Yuling just standing in the yard, she asked, "Why doesn't this kid invite his classmates to sit upstairs?"
As she spoke, she invited the people into the house. She had worked in a vinegar factory all year round and her body smelled strongly of vinegar. Qiu Yuling remembered what Zhou Xiaonan had said before, that it was marinated well.
"Auntie, I won't go in. I still have classes this afternoon. I'll take a quick look. If there's nothing serious, I'll go home tomorrow weekend and ask my parents to come."
Zhou Xiaonan's mother Wang Cuifeng didn't hesitate after hearing this. She took out the key from her trouser pocket and walked out with her people.
"They are the third door. If you just came in from the alley, turn in and count the third house. The original owner of this yard went over there, and the current owner's son is capable..." As he spoke, the door opened.
The yard was indeed similar to Zhou Xiaonan's house, with almost the same number of rooms. The best thing was that it was made of blue bricks. There was a big apricot tree in the yard, providing plenty of shade.
Qiu Yuling took a quick look and thought it was a good deal. Although she didn't know much about the current housing market, she felt that three hundred was not expensive at all. Building a mud house would cost a hundred, but this was a brick house.
I immediately decided to accept it. "Aunt, I think it's good enough. I have classes in the afternoon, so I won't watch it any longer. I'll ask my parents to come over to watch it together tomorrow. How will I contact the host family then?"
It’s best to finalize it in one trip. It’s not easy for her parents to go out. They have to squeeze in time and get documents approved. It’s best to avoid all the hassles.
After school on Saturday afternoon, she went back to Qiuzhuang overnight.
Qiu Yuling never thought about the possibility that her parents would object.
"Why buy that? You go to school for two years, and then you graduate and leave. The house will be left empty, and no one will live there. Why waste that money?" Li Qingmei was the first to object. Of course, silence was Qiu Jianshe's most affirmative support for his wife.
So that's it! Qiu Yuling didn't argue, put down her bowl and chopsticks, and went back to her room to rest.
Li Qingmei felt uncomfortable, as if she hadn't finished what she was saying. She thought her child wouldn't be that brave, right?
I also felt that she was very courageous.
After washing the pot, pouring out the slop, and wiping the stove, I still feel very nervous.
Although it was normal for her to refuse such a big thing, she felt something was wrong because she didn't say anything today. She took off her apron, knocked on the door twice, and pushed the door open and walked in without waiting for Qiu Yuling to say come in.
As soon as she entered, Qiu Yuling seemed to be waiting for her, with her hands behind her head, her eyes fixed on the beams above the ceiling, one leg bent and the other leg resting on the bent leg, her feet swinging intermittently.
The edge of the kang was filled with banknotes, from large to small. There was also an old notebook filled with densely written accounts.
She pulled the notebook over. She recognized most of the words, but guessed at the others. She compared the amount of money on the back and realized it was an account book. She scanned the ten lines, then counted the bills on the spread, finding the number just matched.
She originally came in to take the money from her, but her daughter seemed to have thought of everything in advance, which caught her off guard.
"What? Are you going to quit if things don't go your way? Are you going to give me an account?" Li Qingmei took the money in her hand, half leaned her butt on the edge of the kang, and began to persuade Qiu Yuling with her experience of having lived several decades longer than him.
For example, money should be spent wisely. It would have been fine if she just used it to buy food and drinks, but now she wants to buy a house. Does it mean that she feels uncomfortable if she doesn't spend all the money she has at home?
For example, let's say she's buying something now. Even if she agrees, what happens next? Won't her brothers yell? What's that wise old saying? It's not the lack of wealth that's worrying, but the inequality!
For example, the brothers didn't fight over it and just bought the house. She will get married in the future and can't carry the house with her. How can she live in a house with so many homes everywhere?
......
Mother Qiu said a lot, and Qiu Yuling just kept saying "um", but she didn't disobey. Then she handed over the remaining money and the account book. She had no say in this family, so what was the point of keeping all this.
Besides, she was often at school and her family couldn't help her much, so she couldn't buy anything. It would be better for her to hand it over so that no one would worry about her spending the money.
No one got angry, but the meeting still ended in a bad mood.
Early the next morning, Qiu Yuling made the excuse that she had something to do at school, touched Wanjin's dog head, and was no different from usual. She even greeted everyone and said she was going back to school with her schoolbag.
Li Qingmei was working absent-mindedly. Suddenly, she slapped her thigh and finally realized what was wrong.
Qiu Yuling paid her all the money, but when she left, she didn't take any steamed buns or noodles, and she didn't ask for any money. How is she going to make a living at school? Is she so embarrassed?
No, she had to send it. This gave her an excuse, so she quickly ran to ask for leave from the team leader, not even having time to go to the brigade headquarters, and didn't even have time to pick up any introduction forms. She figured since she wasn't staying overnight or doing anything else, it wouldn't matter if she didn't bring it, so she hurried home.
After a rough tidy up, when there was no one in the house, she slung her bicycle over her shoulder and rode until both wheels started smoking.
Sparks were kicked up all the way, but Qiu Yuling was not found halfway. I guess what she said about riding a classmate's bicycle was true, otherwise she couldn't have gone so fast.
Around noon she arrived at the county's No. 1 Middle School, parked the car, and told the security guard. The security guard sent the student on duty to call for help. After a while, the student who called for help came running over breathlessly, saying that no one was in the classrooms or dormitories.
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