Bright sunlight shone through the window, leaving a white streak on the windowsill. The white flakes moved with the light, fell down the edge of the windowsill, spread out on the floor in front of the bed, and illuminated one tip of the slippers.
Ruan Xi woke up slowly in bed, her eyes fluttering open a few times.
When she woke up from her nap, Ruan Qiuyue also woke up and asked Ruan Xi with a nasal voice: "What time is it?"
Ruan Jie and Chen Weidong didn't call them when they got up in the morning. They were exhausted after a busy day yesterday and they overslept again.
Ruan Xi reached out and touched the small clock on the bedside table, took a look and said, "It's almost nine o'clock."
Ruan Qiuyue got up, lifted the thin quilt, put on her slippers, went to the window and opened the curtains.
The sunlight suddenly poured in, and Ruan Xi squinted because of the brightness.
After getting used to the sunlight outside, the two went to the bathroom to wash up together.
Ruan Hongjun and Ruan Hongbing were still sleeping in the room, and Ruan Xi and Ruan Qiuyue did not go to wake them up.
I had originally planned to go back home after the lecture yesterday, but because Ling Yao stayed one more night, I have no plans for today. It would be too tiring to go to the park or scenic spots again, so let them sleep a little longer.
After washing up, Ruan Xi and Ruan Qiuyue went to the kitchen to make breakfast together. They mixed egg flour, chopped green onions, salt and water, heated the pan, added oil, spread out golden and tender egg pancakes, and stacked them one by one on a plate.
When the meal was ready and served to the table, Ruan Hongjun and Ruan Hongbing just got up.
Ruan Qiuyue said to them, "You guys are really lucky."
Ruan Hongjun and Ruan Hongbing smelled the aroma of the omelettes and immediately ran to wash.
After washing up, he came back and sat down, picked up his chopsticks and had breakfast with Ruan Xi and Ruan Qiuyue.
Ruan Xi put down his chopsticks after eating. "We are so tired after playing for two days. You guys should take a rest here today, watch some TV and take a nap. I will go out to do something. We will go back together in the afternoon after I finish it."
Ruan Qiuyue also put down her chopsticks after finishing her meal, "Are you going to get the money to buy the old lady's house?"
Ruan Xi looked at her and smiled, "You know everything."
Ruan Qiuyue said, "I don't want to stay here with them and watch TV. I don't like what they watch. Big sister, let me go with you. It just so happens that you have someone to keep you company."
Ruan Xi looked at her, "It's so hot outside, do you want to go?"
Ruan Qiuyue glanced outside and said, "It doesn't matter. It's hot in the house anyway."
Ruan Xi nodded and said, "Okay, then come with me."
After saying that, she stood up, went to her room to get her purse, and came out to the dining room. She gave some money and food coupons to Ruan Hongjun and Ruan Hongbing, and said to them, "Wash the dishes after dinner. You can find a place to eat at noon."
Ruan Hongjun accepted the money and nodded, "Okay."
After saying this, Ruan Xi took Ruan Qiuyue out.
In order to prevent Ruan Xi from being too tired, Ruan Qiuyue also rode a bicycle herself.
The two of them rode their bikes together and went to the bank first, and Ruan Xi withdrew 12,000 yuan from the bank. She packed the twelve stacks of "Unity" in her bag, and went to the Education Bureau with Ruan Qiuyue, asking Ruan Jie for a small favor.
Ruan Jie printed out the contract for Ruan Xi, handed it to Ruan Xi and said, "Go ahead, finish the formalities and move in early. It will be more convenient for Uncle Wu and Aunt Wu to go to work in the future, and we can see each other more often."
Ruan Xi did have this idea. After buying a house, he let Ruan Changsheng and Qian Chuan move in first. Because they were running a store in the city, they had to run back and forth between the city and the countryside every day. The long journey was really inconvenient. Ruan Dabao happened to be coming to the city to go to school next semester.
Ruan Cuizhi would take the girls to work in the countryside, and Yue Haofeng would also deliver the goods he received to the countryside. Besides, Ruan Yue was still young and had not yet reached school age, so there was no rush for her to move here.
Ruan Xi took the contract and said, "Then I'll go over first, you go back and get busy."
Ruan Jie waved to them and turned to go through the gate.
After getting the contract, Ruan Xi and Ruan Qiuyue did not go to see Old Mrs. Zhou immediately, but first found a place to have lunch. They rode their bikes to a random noodle shop on the street, went in and each ordered a bowl of noodles with soybean paste.
While eating noodles, Ruan Xi asked Ruan Qiuyue: "Is Lao Ruan going back tomorrow?"
Ruan Qiuyue nodded. "He should be done with his work tonight. He will take the train back tomorrow morning and arrive home in the evening."
Ruan Xi looked at her and smiled, "Then do you want to stay and play?"
Ruan Qiuyue said: "We must stay."
Ruan Xi: "Then I'll take you to the Forbidden City, Badaling, the Summer Palace when I'm free... Or you can discuss with me and decide where else you want to go. I'll take you there."
Ruan Qiuyue was excited when she heard these names, and couldn't hide the smile on her face as she asked, "Really?"
Ruan Xi nodded, "It's not easy for you to come here, of course I want you to have fun."
Ruan Qiuyue took a big mouthful of noodles and said, "Big sister, you are the best."
After dinner, Ruan Xi didn't delay any longer. He took Ruan Qiuyue and rode his bike to the front gate, then went straight into the alley and found Old Lady Zhou's home.
This time, Old Mrs. Zhou was not at home, so the two of them stood outside the gate and waited for a while.
There were pedestrians walking in the alley, some were riding bicycles with their bells ringing, and three or five children were playing together in a group, two were running in front with steel rings rolling, and three were chasing behind. When the steel ring fell, they would take over.
Ruan Qiuyue stared at it for a while and said with a smile: "It's the same all over the country. The boys in our compound also played this when they were young. They rolled around the compound with a steel ring, and everyone wanted to show off their skills."
Ruan Xi watched the boys playing with the steel ring for a while and said with a smile, "We have never seen anyone playing with it in the countryside."
Because they couldn't find any steel rims at all, many children actually played with the steel rims from old bicycles. The countryside was so poor that you couldn't even see a bicycle, let alone old steel rims for children to play with.
Ruan Xi himself didn't have any such thing in his childhood memory, after all, it was not from this era.
She thought it was quite interesting, so she stared at it for a while.
Old Mrs. Zhou wouldn't be back for a while, so Ruan Xi and Ruan Qiuyue were patient and didn't wait anxiously.
After watching the kid playing with the steel ring, Ruan Qiuyue looked back at the courtyard of Old Lady Zhou's house and changed the subject, saying, "People living in the imperial city are rich, and they used to live in courtyards like this. The houses in Dream of the Red Chamber are probably like this."
Ruan Xi nodded, "The houses in Dream of the Red Chamber are large. Grandma Zhou's courtyard should be considered a two-story house because there is another door inside, and the courtyard where Grandmother Jia lives alone has a five-story courtyard. Just imagine how big the entire Jia Mansion must be."
Ruan Qiuyue said with emotion: "A family of wealth and power, a family of poetry and literature."
Ruan Xi said: "We can't see the Jia Mansion in Dream of the Red Chamber, but we can take some time to go to Prince Gong's Mansion, the mansion built by Heshen. People say 'One Prince Gong's Mansion is half of the history of the Qing Dynasty'. That mansion is really big."
Ruan Qiuyue nodded and said, "Okay, I want to see them all."
Because she reads a lot, she is interested in these cultural relics and wants to see them with her own eyes.
Ruan Xi is so interested in siheyuans and old houses that he wants to spend money to buy several of them. Besides the fact that he needs a house to live in now, it is more because siheyuans, as old antiques, are of great investment value in this era.
In fact, it is very easy to find bargains in antiques these days, because there are so many old things and no one is counterfeiting them. Basically, if you have money to find bargains, you can find a lot of great treasures, but she doesn't have the ability to do so.
She has no eye for antiques, but she will definitely not go wrong when buying a courtyard house.
As long as you have money to invest, the first choice in this era must be a siheyuan. In the future, when the real estate market becomes popular, a well-preserved yard like this one could be worth hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars.
Because of inflation, the money you keep in your hand will only continue to depreciate, but if you buy a courtyard house, it will always appreciate in value.
The two of them were standing beside the stone lions in front of the gate and talking. After a while, Old Mrs. Zhou came back with a cane. She looked older and older recently, with all her hair turning gray, and because of her bound feet, she walked unsteadily.
Before she came closer, Ruan Xi greeted her: "Grandma Zhou."
Old Mrs. Zhou heard the voice and looked over, then smiled and said, "Xiaoxi, you're here."
Ruan Xi came to Old Lady Zhou and helped her walk to the gate of the yard. After she took out the key from her body, Ruan Xi took her key and opened the door. After opening the door, she handed the key back to Mrs. Zhou.
As Mrs. Zhou walked into the house, she said, "I just went out to visit someone. I didn't wait long, did I?"
Ruan Xi helped her across the threshold. "It wasn't long, just a moment. Be careful with your steps and don't trip."
Old Mrs. Zhou walked slowly, passed two doors and the yard, and pushed open the door in front of the main house and went in.
Sitting down on the kang couch, she looked at Ruan Xi and said, "Are you here to buy my yard?"
Ruan Xi sat down opposite Old Lady Zhou and said with a smile, "Yes, I just went to withdraw the money. I often come to your yard, and I don't need to see it. As long as you agree to sell it, we can sign the contract and go through the formalities immediately."
Ruan Qiuyue did not interfere in the conversation with Ruan Xi about serious matters, but moved an armchair and sat next to them.
Mrs. Zhou asked, "Have you prepared the contract?"
Ruan Xi took out the contract directly and placed it on the table facing Old Mrs. Zhou.
Mrs. Zhou actually didn't understand. After looking at it for a while, she said, "I don't understand this either. It means signing this, taking all the certificates and documents, and going to the Housing Authority to handle the transfer procedures, right?"
Ruan Xi nodded, "That's right."
Old Mrs. Zhou had known Ruan Xi for a long time and trusted her very much, so she didn't plan to look at her any further. She was already very happy that Ruan Xi was willing to buy her house. She directly asked Ruan Xi for a pen, and with trembling hands asked Ruan Xi where she should sign.
Ruan Xi pointed out where she had to sign, but before Mrs. Zhou could sign, she heard a voice coming from the main room door: "Mom, what are you signing?"
Old Mrs. Zhou turned around and saw that it was her son who had returned.
Mrs. Zhou stopped writing and said, "Sign the contract. After you sign it, sell the house. Then you will have money for emergency. You just happened to come back. You can handle it. No problem, we will complete the transfer procedures today."
Mr. Zhou put down his suitcase and walked over. He greeted Ruan Xi and Ruan Qiuyue politely, then picked up the contract on the table and looked through it. After reading it, he looked at Ruan Xi and said, "Are you the one who wants to buy a house?"
Ruan Xi nodded, "I brought all the money."
Mr. Zhou knew the general situation, otherwise he would not have rushed back at this time. He just wanted to come back and see the house sold, and take Old Mrs. Zhou abroad, and never come back again if nothing else happened.
He thought about the contract, looked at Ruan Xi and said, "How about this, to be on the safe side, you pay 4,000 first, we sign the contract, and then you pay another 4,000. We take all the documents to the Housing Authority to complete the transfer procedures. After the review, you pay the taxes and fees, and then pay us the remaining 4,000. We will give you the keys. How about that?"
Ruan Xi didn't intend to cause so much trouble to Old Lady Zhou. Since her son had proposed it, she naturally agreed. It was also safe for her, so she nodded and said, "Okay, let's do as you say."
So, under her son's instructions, Mrs. Zhou signed her name and put her fingerprints on it.
After Ruan Xi signed and put his fingerprints on the contract, he paid them a deposit of 4,000 yuan.
Old Mrs. Zhou's son was in a hurry and did not plan to stay in the country for long because of this matter. Seeing that the time was almost up, he directly took all the materials and documents, took Old Mrs. Zhou, Ruan Xi and Ruan Qiuyue to the Housing Authority.
There are very few people buying houses these days, so naturally there are no people coming to handle house buying business.
Ruan Xi paid another four thousand yuan and took out his ID to cooperate with Mrs. Zhou and her son to complete the transfer procedures.
After completing the formalities, the person from the Housing Authority told her that the review would take two days and asked her to come back in two days to pay the taxes.
After coming out of the Housing Authority, Ruan Xi looked at Mr. Zhou and said, "Then I will go back today. I will come back the day after tomorrow to pay the taxes. If everything goes well, I will give you the remaining 4,000 yuan and you give me the house key."
Mr. Zhou nodded and said, "If the audit is OK, I'll give it to you after you pay the taxes."
After both sides agreed, Ruan Xi smiled and greeted Old Lady Zhou: "Grandma Zhou, I'll go home now. I'll come to see you the day after tomorrow and have a good chat with you then."
After all, after I gave her the key and left with her son, I would never see her again.
Mrs. Zhou held her hand and said, "Go slowly on the road."
Ruan Xi waved to her, handed her to her son, and rode away with Ruan Qiuyue.
The two men rode their bikes to Ruan Jie's home, went upstairs, poured two glasses of water, sat down to rest for a while, watched TV to relax, then left a note on the coffee table and took Ruan Hongjun and Ruan Hongbing home.
The four men rode their bikes into the wind and sped away.
Ruan Xi was happy because he bought a courtyard house, while Ruan Hongjun was happy no matter what he did.
When there is wind, he must rush forward, letting his hair and clothes blow up, that is how comfortable it is.
When they got home, their family was just preparing for dinner. Ruan Xi, Ruan Jie, Ruan Hongjun and Ruan Hongbing parked the car, washed their hands, and sat down to eat. Ruan Changfu also came back from the city after finishing his work and sat opposite Ruan Xi during dinner.
Because they had a fight before, the atmosphere between them is not very good.
It’s not that Ruan Changfu still has a temper, but he was choked by Ruan Xi and was speechless, so he now feels guilty. But he has to consider his reputation as a father and eldest brother, so he looks dry.
He told Ruan Hongjun and the other two, "Pack up after dinner and take the train back tomorrow morning."
Ruan Qiuyue took a bite of the steamed bun, looked at him and said, "I don't want to go back yet. There are still many places I want to go. I want to play here for a while and go back after the summer vacation."
Ruan Changfu said, "Three days of fun is not enough? Don't you have to spend money to go out and play? If one of you stays here, you have to eat an extra meal. Do you think this is a convenient thing?"
Before Ruan Qiuyue could say anything, Ruan Cuizhi said, "It's just a matter of putting out three more pairs of chopsticks. What's the big deal? There are already so many people at home, so why not add the three of them? Since you haven't had enough fun, just stay."
Ruan Xi added, "Don't worry about the money. It won't cost much."
Ruan Changfu said without looking at Ruan Xi, "Don't think that you can sit back and relax just because you make some money now. Maybe one day the policy will change and this will be a failure. You should be more cautious after quitting your job and make plans for the future."
His tone and words were normal, so Ruan Xi naturally had no emotion. She just said, "Even if we are planning, this is not a big deal. Or do you not want us to cultivate a brother-sister relationship together?"
Ruan Changfu was choked by her and was speechless. After a moment, he said, "Since your third aunt and eldest sister have said so, then you can stay. They don't mind the trouble, so what should I be afraid of? It's just right to stay here. The house is quiet."
Ruan Hongjun grinned and said, "Okay, then we'll stay."
Ruan Hongjun, Ruan Hongbing and Ruan Qiuyue stayed and refused to leave. In the early morning of the next day, Ruan Changfu naturally left alone with his bag. Ruan Xi did not get up early to see him off. It was Ruan Cuizhi and Ruan Changsheng who brought Yue Haofeng and Qian Chuan to see him off.
Because they were a little tired after just two days of going out to play, and there were still things to do soon, Ruan Xi didn't plan to take them out to play for the next two days.
Ruan Xi rested at home for a day and did some tailoring and clothing making work.
The next afternoon she rode her bike to the city again and packed enough money to pay the taxes at the Housing Authority.
Since Ruan Qiuyue couldn't get along with Ruan Hongjun and Ruan Hongbing, she didn't want to stay at home, so she accompanied them to the city.
The two went to the city to pay the money first, and then went to Mrs. Zhou's house with the receipt.
The property ownership certificate cannot be obtained for the time being, and you have to wait a few days to get it.
Before going to Old Lady Zhou's house, Ruan Xi walked down the street and bought some food.
On that day, in addition to giving the remaining 4,000 yuan to Mrs. Zhou's son and taking all the keys to every lock in the courtyard, she also sat under the jujube tree in the courtyard and chatted with Mrs. Zhou for half a day.
When Mrs. Zhou got up and left with her son, she said to Ruan Xi, "I won't be able to wear the clothes you made in the future."
Ruan Xi smiled and said, "Maybe I will go abroad in the future, and I will come to find you there."
Mrs. Zhou smiled and said, "Okay, I'll wait."
Ruan Xi smiled, took a breath and made a secret decision - the clothes she made would be exported abroad one day.
What you didn't have time to do in your previous life, you must complete in this life.
Sunday.
The sun hid half of its face behind the clouds.
Ruan Xi came out of the gate of the courtyard with sweat all over his forehead, stepped over the threshold and went straight to the three-wheeled cart parked next to the stone lions. He bent down and picked up the ten-pound quilt on it, then stood up and went into the house.
The quilt blocked her eyes and she turned her head to the side.
Before she reached the threshold, someone suddenly reached out and took the quilt from her hand. She thought it was Ruan Hongjun. She let go of her hand and was about to speak, but when she looked over and saw that it was Ling Yao who took the quilt from her, she was suddenly stunned.
After she was stunned, she smiled unexpectedly, and her tone was subconsciously a little surprised, "Why are you here?"
Ling Yao hugged the quilt and replied, "I have nothing to do on Sunday, so I came out to take a walk. Are you moving?"
Ruan Xi nodded and said, "I just got the key and moved all the things I need here." Including winter quilts and other things.
She felt a little embarrassed to ask Ling Yao to do these tasks, so she quickly reached out to take it.
But before she touched the quilt, Ling Yao dodged for a moment and said, "Let me help you. You can get something light."
Ruan Xi hesitated for a moment and then withdrew her hand, "Okay, I'll go get the clothes."
After saying that, she turned around and went back, carrying down a bag of clothes.
The two men went back and forth into the yard, and when they reached the second gate they ran into Ruan Hongjun and Ruan Hongbing.
Ruan Hongjun was also surprised to see him and asked, "Huh? Isn't this Zi Zi?"
Ling Yao: “…”
He cleared his throat and corrected Ruan Hongjun seriously: "Ling Yao."
Although Ruan Hongjun was calmer than before, he still didn't know what embarrassment was. He smiled and pulled Ruan Hongbing out.
Next to her, Ruan Xi was carrying her bag, pursing her lips and smiling.
Ling Yao looked at her, stared at her for a moment and asked, "Was I too embarrassing that day?"
Hearing this, Ruan Xi quickly put away the smile on his face, raised his head and cleared his throat and said: "No...no..."
Ling Yao: "I've been laughed at by my colleagues at work for a week."
This... then there is no other way...
Ruan Xi couldn't help laughing again, but after a moment's effort, she looked at him and said, "Indeed... a little bit..."
Ling Yao saw that Ruan Xi wanted to laugh but was trying hard to hold it back, and suddenly he couldn't help laughing himself.
When he smiled like that, Ruan Xi couldn't hold back any more, so they both couldn't stop laughing, and both were laughing silently.
After laughing for a while, Ruan Xi cleared her throat and said, "Let's go, let's go. It's so heavy, carry it into the house and put it down."
Ling Yao then stopped laughing, followed Ruan Xi into the house holding the quilt, and put the quilt in the east wing.
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