Chapter 37 The First Date
Xiao Sun parked the car, and Fang Yuru and Song Manli got out. The two entered the living room and saw Grandpa Song sitting on the sofa. There were many antiques on the coffee table, and the old man was playing with them one by one.
Fang Yuru asked him, "Dad, what brings you here?"
Song Chengming put down the antique in his hand, "I brought you some fruits and vegetables, all freshly picked. Xiao Xu has put them in the kitchen."
He planted a lot of fruits and vegetables in his small courtyard in the countryside. He couldn't eat them all himself, so he shared them with his neighbors. Sometimes he would come over and bring some to Fang Yuru and the others.
Song Manli greeted the old man and asked him, "These are all antiques from our family's old collection, right? Why did you bring them all out?"
Song Chengming said with a smile, "Yiping's girlfriend likes antiques. Yiping took them to her, but she didn't want them, so he took them back."
After saying that, he asked Fang Yuru, "When did Yiping start dating someone? Why didn't anyone tell me?"
Fang Yuru: "It was Dr. Liu who introduced him to me. I was thinking of telling you after things were settled. I asked him before if they were together, and he gave a vague answer. I thought they weren't together. I only just found out that they were dating. Maybe you didn't know about it as early as I did."
Song Manli's focus, however, was on the old man's earlier words. She exclaimed in shock, "Does Yiping even know how much these antiques are worth? He just gave them away so casually. I think that girl wasn't unwilling; maybe she was playing the long game. Yiping has been in the army all this time; has he gone crazy? How could he be so easily fooled!"
Song Chengming was displeased. "I've spent my whole life in the army, and Chengren has spent most of his life in the army. If you're going to say that, does that mean Chengren and I are completely stupid?"
Song Manli realized she had misspoke and quickly tried to correct herself, saying, "That's not what I meant. I meant that the environment in the military is simple. Yiping has been in the military all his life and hasn't had any contact with girls outside. He doesn't know that girls outside are very shrewd these days, especially girls from humble families. They have many tricks up their sleeves to climb the social ladder, and it's impossible to guard against them. I just wanted to remind him to be more vigilant."
Song Chengming was very unhappy to hear this.
His grandson isn't stupid; he can't judge people poorly. Whether it's worth it for the girl to give him an antique is his own judgment.
Since he gave it to her, it means the girl is worth it.
No matter how valuable an antique is, it's still an inanimate object; it's not as important as a person.
He interrupted Song Manli, "Alright, Yiping called me last night and I agreed. These things will belong to Yiping from now on. He can give them to whomever he wants. Anyway, they'll be his and his wife's sooner or later. Besides, this girl works in this industry, so it's normal for her to like antiques. It's better for her to be in her hands than in Yiping and Chengren's. Those two roughnecks don't know anything!"
Anyway, Song Chengming was very satisfied with his granddaughter-in-law, whom he had never met.
He likes antiques, but his son and grandson are not interested, as is Fang Yuru. Sometimes when he gets into a good mood, he wants to chat with them for a bit, but the three of them can fall asleep listening to him.
So when I heard Song Yiping say that his partner worked at the Cultural Relics Bureau, I immediately felt that at least there was someone to carry on the family line.
He had just wanted to learn more about the girl from Song Yiping, but his grandson, as if his pants were on fire, ran off in a panic after sitting for less than a minute.
He also took most of the fruits and vegetables he brought.
It's clear that the grandson genuinely likes this girl.
It's rare for a grandson to find someone he likes. He wouldn't mind giving her all his family's wealth, let alone a few antiques.
Fang Yuru was taken aback by the old man's words.
Song Chengren graduated from an artillery school, and Song Yiping graduated from the Army Engineering University; both were considered highly educated in the military.
When it came to the old man, they all became roughnecks!
It seems that in the old man's eyes, whether someone is a roughneck or not is not determined by their education level, but by whether they understand antiques.
If you put it that way, she's a complete roughneck.
Having said all that, Song Manli dared not refute the old man any further, but in her heart she looked down on this family to some extent, feeling that Song Yiming's branch of the Song family would inevitably decline sooner or later.
Song Yiping sped all the way to the entrance of the military compound, stopped the car, got out and opened the door for Yan Ruyi, "Were you waiting long?"
"No."
Yan Ruyi got into the car and said enviously, "Your family compound is so beautiful."
Song Yiping said, "If you like it, you can live here after you get married. If you don't like it, that's fine too. I can apply for another house from the military. With my current conditions, I can get one."
Yan Ruyi felt that ever since they started dating, Song Yiping had become a bit obsessed, constantly talking about marriage.
She decided not to respond to him, lest he take advantage of her and drag her to get a marriage certificate the next day.
Song Yiping handed her a melon with a green rind that had just been washed and still had water droplets on it, making it look particularly fresh.
Song Yiping: "My grandfather grew them himself, and he just picked them."
Yan Ruyi's eyes widened. "Your grandfather grows his own melons?"
Yan Ruyi's big, round eyes were so endearing that Song Yiping couldn't help but pat her head. "After my grandfather retired, he moved to the countryside. He has a small courtyard there, where he grows a lot of fruits and vegetables. He can't eat them all himself, so sometimes he brings some over. Most of the fruits and vegetables he grows are new varieties that have just been cultivated by the Academy of Agricultural Sciences and haven't been widely planted yet. They taste better than the ones sold in fruit shops."
Yan Ruyi's focus wasn't on that; she asked him, "Your grandfather is here?"
Song Yiping hummed in agreement. "He said he picked a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables this morning and brought them over."
Actually, his grandfather's real purpose was to interrogate him, but he didn't give his grandfather the chance. The old man is probably itching to do something right now.
Yan Ruyi patted her chest, relieved, and said, "Luckily, I didn't go back with you."
He took a bite of the melon and said, "Sweet."
It's not only sweet, but also crisp and juicy.
Seeing her enjoying her food, Song Yiping's lips curled up as well. "Next time, let's go pick them ourselves. Freshly picked ones taste even better."
While eating watermelon, Yan Ruyi peered out the window and asked, "Where are we going?"
When she and Shen Zhimin were dating, they rarely went on dates; at most, they would meet at the library to do their homework together.
It was mainly because I was about to graduate at that time, and I had a lot of things to do, so I didn't have time to go on dates.
So although she had been in relationships, she had no experience dating.
Seeing her constantly peering out the window, Song Yiping said to her, "Shall I show you around the city?"
Yan Ruyi nodded repeatedly, "Okay."
Although she grew up in this city, there are many places in the city that she has never been to.
The farthest place she had ever been was Songshui Road, and the second farthest was her school.
Or places like department stores, People's Park, and cinemas.
Song Yiping's suggestion immediately piqued her interest. Her second brother often said that the city had changed a lot in the past two years, and she really wanted to see just how much the changes were.
Song Yiping drove around, from east to west and from south to north, taking in every road he could find.
We went to Sijichun at noon.
When they went on their blind date, Fang Yuru booked a private room at Siji Chun, but Yan Ruyi ran away later, so the room was never used.
This time it's a continuation.
After the meal, Song Yiping naturally paid the bill again.
Yan Ruyi muttered, "I still owe you a meal."
Song Yiping said, "Today is our first date, I'll pay, you can pay next time."
"It's settled then, I'll pay next time."
"good."
After dinner, we went boating in People's Park, which made up for the procedures from the last blind date.
It wasn't until the sun was starting to set that Yan Ruyi, worried that her mother would be anxious, said she wanted to go back, and Song Yiping finally took her home.
Fearing that people in the family compound would see her, Yan Ruyi said to Song Yiping, "Park further away, I'll walk back myself."
Song Yiping stopped the car at the roadside. Yan Ruyi got out of the car and was about to leave when Song Yiping called out to her, "Wait."
After saying that, he opened the back door and took out two nets.
The net bag was full of vegetables: eggplant, peppers, bok choy, green beans...
The other net bag contained a melon, the kind Yan Ruyi ate.
Song Yiping handed her two net bags, saying, "These are all grown by my grandfather himself. Take them back and let your family try them."
They're taking things along with the food they're eating!
Yan Ruyi took the two nets.
Song Yiping: "Excuse me, Comrade Xiao Yan, is it possible to have a date tomorrow?"
Yan Ruyi said haughtily, "It depends on my mood."
Song Yiping's lips curled up. "Alright, then I'll wait for Comrade Xiao Yan's call."
Yan Ruyi ran off carrying two nets.
The two net bags were quite heavy. Yan Ruyi considered whether to make her relationship with Song Yiping public, so that next time Song Yiping gave her something, she could have him deliver it to her doorstep.
Along the way, people kept asking her where she bought the vegetables and melons.
Yan Ruyi always said that it was a gift from a friend.
When her mother asked, she gave the same answer.
Ye Hongzhen asked suspiciously, "You have friends who farm in the countryside?"
Yan Ruyi said, "Mom, I know so many people now."
Ye Hongzhen was skeptical; she always felt that her daughter wasn't telling her the truth.
Just as she was about to try and get more information out of her, Yan Ruyi stuffed a piece of melon into her mouth, saying, "Mom, eat some melon, it's so sweet."
Ye Hongzhen's attention was immediately diverted, "It is quite sweet."
Yan Minghe ran in from outside, covered in sweat, and shouted when he saw Yan Ruyi, "Sister, where's my tank?"
Yan Ruyi, "..."
She only just remembered that she had originally gone to ask Song Yi for the shell-carrying tank, but she was so busy dating that she forgot about her important business.
Yan Minghe could tell from his sister's expression that the tank hadn't been brought over. "Was it Song..."
Yan Ruyi covered his mouth, pulled him into the house, and decisively shifted the blame onto Song Yiping.
She wasn't exactly shirking responsibility; if she weren't dating Song Yiping, she wouldn't have forgotten her business.
"Commander Song said we're still short a few shell casings, but we'll have enough by tomorrow, and I'll give them to you then."
Feeling guilty, she took out two cents and gave them to Yan Minghe, saying, "Didn't you say you wanted to buy marbles? Go buy them."
A few days ago, Yan Minghe asked Ye Hongzhen for money to buy marbles, but he didn't get the money and instead got beaten up.
He came up with a terrible idea: he squeezed the toothpaste hard while brushing his teeth, wanting to use it up quickly so he could exchange the toothpaste tube for marbles.
As a result, Ye Hongzhen found out again, and he got beaten up again.
Having been beaten twice, Yan Minghe immediately forgot about the shell tank as soon as he got the money, and happily ran off with the two cents.
Yan Ruyi lay in bed, feeling her heart surging with emotion and an urgent desire to share it with someone.
It wasn't the right time to tell her family yet, so she thought of her best friend.
He ran out and told Ye Hongzhen, "Mom, I'm going to Huihui's house."
Ye Hongzhen came out of the kitchen carrying several melons, saying, "I brought some melons for Huihui."
Yan Ruyi took it and hung the net on the handlebars.
Li Yan came out of the house and pulled Yan Ruyi aside. "Second Sister-in-law Huihui works at the newspaper. Have her ask her to find out if the results of that essay contest are out yet. It's been so long, and we haven't heard anything back."
Yan Ruyi was in a hurry to leave, leaving behind the words "I'll tell her later" before she was about to go.
Li Yan grabbed her, not letting her leave, saying, "Ruyi, I need to discuss something with you."
Yan Ruyi said, "Hurry up and tell me, I'm in a hurry to find Huihui."
Li Yan looked back and saw that Ye Hongzhen had gone to the kitchen. She then whispered to Yan Ruyi, "Ruyi, have you heard? Your second brother's factory is raising funds to build houses."
Yan Ruyi said, "My second brother didn't tell me about what happened at his factory, so how would I know?"
Besides, it doesn't seem to have anything to do with her. She's not an employee of the furniture factory, so even if they paid for it, they wouldn't allocate her a house.
"Second sister-in-law wants to discuss something with you. Your second brother and I want to buy a house, but we're a little short on funds. We'd like to borrow some money from you to pay the investment first. We'll pay you back in full later. If you're not comfortable with that, I can give you an IOU."
The furniture factory had been saying for a while that it would raise funds to build houses, and yesterday it officially announced that the factory would pay half of the cost of building the houses and the employees would pay the other half.
Li Yan only found out about this from gossip among people at the factory while she was at work. When she got home, she asked Yan Mingtao, and he confirmed that it was true.
Li Yan wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to get a subsidized housing unit.
Yan Mingtao was reluctant; he was living comfortably at home and didn't want to move out.
Li Yan, however, had the opposite idea and wanted to move out.
It's better to move out and live alone than to be part of a large, chaotic family.
However, even if the employer pays half, the individual still has to pay a considerable amount. For the smallest unit of 50 square meters, the employee would have to pay around 2,000 yuan out of pocket.
Li Yan thought a 50-square-meter apartment would be enough, and she could afford 2,000 yuan.
However, all her money was in the bank, and it was in a fixed-term deposit. If she withdrew it early, she would lose a lot of interest, which she was reluctant to do.
Right now, Yan Ruyi is the richest person in the family, so she wants to borrow some money from Yan Ruyi.
We're all family, we should help each other out, and besides, it's not like she's not going to pay it back.
Yan Ruyi said, "Second sister-in-law, why didn't you say so earlier? I've used all my money to buy treasury bonds. It was last time, when the higher-ups assigned us to buy treasury bonds. Your factory also mentioned it, right? Our bureau chief called on us to buy long-term bonds to support national construction. I'm a government official, so I have to respond to the leaders' call and contribute to the country's economic development. That's why I bought 10-year bonds. I can submit the exchange application to lend it to you, but you have to make up for the lost interest. Otherwise, I'll suffer a huge loss."
Li Yan also bought treasury bonds; it was a requirement of their factory, and every employee had to buy them.
She was afraid she wouldn't be able to redeem it later, so she didn't dare buy more. She bought 50 yuan worth of 3-year bonds.
The interest rate for a 3-year term is 5%, and she remembers that the interest rate for a 10-year term is around 20%.
Even if she borrows 100 yuan, she still has to pay Yan Ruyi 20 yuan in interest.
If you borrow 2000 yuan, you'll have to lose 400 yuan!
This is tantamount to cutting off her flesh!
Li Yan was still unwilling to give up and wanted to persuade Yan Ruyi again, "Why did you buy treasury bonds? Aren't you afraid that you won't be able to redeem them later? I think you should redeem some in advance. It's still easier to redeem them now, and if you can't redeem them later, you can lose less money."
Yan Ruyi said, "Second sister-in-law, how can you doubt the national policy? Would the country steal your money? Besides, there's a 1% handling fee for early redemption. If you pay the handling fee along with the interest, I'll go redeem it tomorrow and give you the money right away."
Li Yan said awkwardly, "It's really a loss to exchange now. Maybe we should just forget about it and think of another way. Remember to ask Sister-in-law Huihui for me later, don't forget."
"knew."
When Luo Huihui saw Yan Ruyi arrive, she shoved the melon Yan Ruyi was carrying into her mother's hands and pulled her into her room. "Have you been with Commander Song all day today?"
How did you know?
“I went to look for you this morning and ran into Sihe. He said you went to see Brother Song.”
When Luo Huihui said "Brother Song," she drew out the words, "Brother Song must be Commander Song, right? Tell me honestly, why does Sihe call Commander Song 'Brother Song'?"
Yan Ruyi said shyly, "Yiping and I are dating."
Luo Huihui's eyes lit up, "When did you start dating?"
"It only started today."
However, Sihe calling Song Yiping "brother" has nothing to do with her and Song Yiping being in a relationship.
Even before this, Sihe had already been bought off without any backbone.
Luo Huihui: "I knew it, Commander Song would take you down sooner or later."
Luo Huihui was genuinely happy for her good friend and said with longing, "May God bless me to find a partner before the end of this year, and we can get married together next year."
"We've only just started dating, marriage is still a long way off."
"You're not in a hurry, but Commander Song is so much older than you, how could he not be anxious?"
Yan Ruyi defended him, saying, "He's not much older than me, only four years older."
Luo Huihui pinched her cheek. "So you're protecting her now. Who was it that said you two were too far apart in age and that you didn't want to date someone older?"
Yan Ruyi selectively forgot, "Did I say that? I didn't say that, you must be mistaken."
Luo Huihui got so angry that she tickled her, and the two of them burst into laughter.
While Luo's mother and Liu Yunmin were talking in the courtyard, Yan Ruyi overheard something about "houses" and "the first batch."
Her second sister-in-law had just asked her for money because of a house. Yan Ruyi was very sensitive to those two words and asked Luo Huihui, "Is your second sister-in-law's workplace also going to raise funds to build houses?"
Luo Huihui said mysteriously, "It's not their work unit that's raising funds to build houses; it's the city that wants to build commercial housing."
Yan Ruyi didn't understand.
"Oh, it's just that after the real estate company builds the houses, they sell them to others. As long as you have money, no matter which unit you work for, you can buy one. This is what my second sister-in-law heard from the inside story. But my second sister-in-law said that there should be an official document about it soon."
Liu Yunmin frequently deals with government affairs, so she's better informed than others. Since she said so, it's probably true.
Yan Ruyi had only ever heard of housing allocated by work units or housing built through collective fundraising, and this was the first time she had ever heard of commercial housing. Her heart skipped a beat, and she asked Luo Huihui, "Did Second Sister-in-law say where it's going to be built?"
"It seems to be the area along the riverside road."
"Second sister-in-law, is it expensive or not?"
Luo Huihui: "I don't know, but I estimate it should be more expensive than housing built with funds raised by the work unit."
Luo Huihui's second brother's factory raised funds to build houses, which cost a total of 80 yuan per square meter. The factory paid half and the individual paid the other half.
If it's more expensive than the collectively funded housing, then it would probably cost around 100 yuan per square meter. An 80-square-meter house would cost at least 8,000 yuan.
Luo Huihui nudged her, "Are you thinking of buying a house?"
Yan Ruyi nodded; she did indeed have this idea.
Luo Huihui said, "Once you and Commander Song get married, you'll definitely be living in a villa with him. Why would you need to buy a house then?"
Yan Ruyi said, "I want to buy a set as part of my dowry. My mother said that the more dowry I have, the more confident I will be when I get to my husband's family."
Moreover, her second sister-in-law has already started eyeing her money. If this happens once, it will happen again. She's afraid that one day she might impulsively lend her money to her second sister-in-law.
Given her sister-in-law's stinginess, it won't be easy to get her to repay the money.
She might as well buy her own house. If she ever argues with Song Yiping in the future, she can move into her own house and Song Yiping won't even open the door when he knocks.
Luo Huihui thought her best friend made sense, because her mother had said the same thing.
"Now that you mention it, I'm thinking of buying a house too, but it's so expensive, I can't afford it."
Liu Yunmin went inside to get something and overheard the two discussing apartments. She asked Yan Ruyi, "Ruyi, do you want to buy an apartment?"
"I want to buy it, but I don't have that much money right now. Second sister-in-law, have you heard when the houses will go on sale?"
If she sells all the gold bars she has, she'll definitely have enough money to buy a house.
However, she counted those gold bars every night before going to bed; she couldn't bear to sell them.
Song Yiping is indeed wealthy; he has over 30,000 yuan in his savings account. If she says she wants to buy a house but doesn't have enough money, he will definitely give her his savings account without hesitation.
However, I felt a little uncomfortable using his money to buy my dowry, and I didn't feel secure living there afterward.
She still wanted to buy it with the money she earned herself.
Liu Yunmin: "It's still a long way off. I estimate it will be at least a year before it's finished."
Yan Ruyi calculated that she should be able to save enough money to buy a house in a year.
Seeing that Liu Yunmin was about to leave, he remembered what his second sister-in-law had asked him to inquire about, and asked Liu Yunmin, "Second sister-in-law, about the essay contest your newspaper held last time, my second sister-in-law asked me to ask you if the results are out yet?"
Liu Yunmin: "The results are out. I went to check them yesterday. I was going to ask Huihui to tell you, but I forgot. Your second sister-in-law won a fourth prize. Once the results are out and the remittance slip is ready, I'll send it to her. Tell her to wait at home... Ruyi, where did you buy the melon you just brought? It's better than the ones I buy at the fruit shop."
Yan Ruyi said, "It was a gift from a friend of mine, and I don't know where he bought it."
After saying that, she leaned close to Luo Huihui's ear and whispered, "Yiping gave me the melon. He said it was grown by his grandfather."
Luo Huihui asked in surprise, "His grandfather must be a high-ranking official, so why does he grow his own melons?"
Yan Ruyi said, "Yiping said he likes... Don't tell anyone else about my relationship with Yiping. My mom doesn't know yet."
Luo Huihui gave her an "I know" look.
Liu Yunmin said that Li Yan won a fourth prize, so it shouldn't change. Yan Ruyi plans to tell Li Yan when she gets home.
Ye Hongzhen was leaning against the wall talking to Zhao Cuifang when she saw Yan Ruyi return. Zhao Cuifang waved to her, "Ruyi, come here for a moment."
Yan Ruyi parked the car and drove over.
Zhao Cuifang, "Is the bracelet your sister Ruping is wearing really fake?"
"It's real jade, but it's not an antique. It's just an ordinary jade bracelet that's been artificially aged. Why are you suddenly bringing this up again?"
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