Seeing that it was almost noon, Liang Shouzhen asked his wife, Li Shuzhen, to cook. Everyone sat inside and chatted.
Liang Shouzhen said to Du Lianqiao, "Brother Du, you've had a long and tiring journey."
Du Lianqiao quickly waved his hand and said, "It's no trouble at all. With Yuhan leading us all the way, we haven't suffered much. We're just causing you trouble here, brother."
Liang Shouzhen said, "We're all family, so there's no need for formalities. You're Yuhan's relatives, so you're our relatives too. Feel free to speak up if you need anything in the future."
I've already prepared a house for you; it's not far from my home.
This house belonged to one of my uncles. His children all perished in the war, and after he passed away two years ago, the house reverted to the village. Our village is small and doesn't lack housing, so the house has remained empty and uninhabited ever since.
"Since you're here, you can stay here. I've already had someone tidy up for you; we'll go take a look after dinner. If you'd like to build a new house, that's fine too; I'll get you a new plot of land."
Although Du Lianqiao has some money now, they still need to buy food and daily necessities. Where would they get the funds to build a new house? It's already very good that they have a house to live in.
Du Lianqiao and Wang Yuqiao thanked Liang Shouzheng profusely.
After lunch, everyone went to see the house together.
The house was at the westernmost end of the village, not far from the river; it consisted of three mud-brick rooms.
Although it looks a bit old from the outside, it's perfectly habitable. The house has a large yard, with a storage room and a woodshed in the yard.
There were no other houses around the house; the closest one was Liang Shouzhen's house.
The main house has three rooms, with bedrooms on both sides and a central hall in the middle. The central hall has two earthen stoves connected to the large heated brick beds and fire walls in the east and west rooms.
Although this place isn't in the far north, it's still very cold in winter. The firewalls make it much warmer.
Although it was an adobe house, it was very clean inside, with newspapers pasted on the walls to prevent dust from falling off. The large heated kang (a traditional Chinese bed-stove) had clean mats on it, even though there were no quilts. There were also cabinets on the kang.
There was a kang table on the kang in the east room, two horizontal cabinets, a square table, and several stools on the floor.
Overall, the house is really nice, much better than the house the Du family stayed in at Xikou Village.
Looking at the clean, tidy, and fully furnished house, Du Lianqiao said gratefully, "Thank you so much, Brother Liang. This house is wonderful; we've never stayed in such a nice house before. You've really gone to so much trouble for us."
Liang Shouzhen said, "These pieces of furniture were left to me by my uncle. They were originally meant for me, but my family doesn't need them, so we've left them here. If you don't mind, you can keep them all."
Du Lianqiao quickly replied, "Don't mind, these are all nice pieces of furniture. To be honest, my old home only had one table and nothing else. This is much better than my old home."
Wang Yuqiao was very happy to see a house that was even better than her previous home. Her anxiety about leaving her hometown finally subsided after seeing such a nice house.
The three Du brothers were also very happy. No one from the old Du family mansion would bully them anymore, and they could live in such a nice house. Du Haifeng and Du Haichao, who were already sensible, grinned from ear to ear.
Du Yuhan was very happy after seeing the house and said, "Uncle Liang, you've really gone to a lot of trouble. We can't just take this house for nothing. How much would you like to offer for it?"
Upon hearing Du Yuhan's words, Liang Shouzhen became displeased and glared at her, saying, "If you give me money, isn't that a slap in the face to your Uncle Liang?"
He Zhendong looked at his younger sister, wondering why she would say something so discouraging at this moment.
Du Yuhan quickly explained, "Uncle Liang, please listen to me. Although we came to seek refuge under the name of your relatives, that's just what we say to outsiders. Your relatives certainly know the truth."
Besides, this house belongs to the village. If we live here for free, the villagers will inevitably have complaints, which won't be good for your work. We can't let a small matter cause a bigger problem. This is already troublesome enough for you; how can we add to your burdens?"
As soon as Du Yuhan said that, Liang Shouzhen thought of his relatives.
Liang Shouzhen's eldest son is in the military, and his second son is also working outside. They certainly won't come home to live after they get married.
Their daughter and youngest son are still in school. Even if their youngest son gets married in the future, he will definitely live with the elderly couple, so they don't need this house.
However, some families with sons still want to get such a house for free.
Some people are naturally unhappy about having their houses given away for free.
If the Du family pays for this house, no one will have anything to say. After all, they certainly wouldn't be willing to pay for such an old house.
Du Yuhan had such keen insight that she knew she was right the moment she saw Liang Shouzhen's reaction.
Du Yuhan said, "I won't give the village much for the house, just one hundred yuan, which includes the house and furniture. Please don't think it's too little. That way, no one will have anything to say. It will also save you some trouble."
Du Yuhan knew in her heart that an old house in such a remote mountain village was not worth a hundred yuan at all. But she would rather give more money than owe too many favors. Favors are hard to repay, so she wanted to owe as little as possible.
Hearing that his younger sister's words made sense, He Zhendong also advised, "Uncle Liang, this house doesn't belong to you alone after all, so it's only right that you collect money. Uncle Du and the others will feel at ease living here."
Upon hearing this, Du Lianqiao quickly chimed in, "Yuhan is right. We can't put you in a difficult position, Brother Liang. It's only right that we pay for the house we live in."
Liang Shouzhen finally gritted his teeth and said, "Alright, I'll collect the money on behalf of the village, but one hundred yuan is too much. Thirty yuan will do, after all, it's an old house and old furniture. The houses in the village aren't worth much."
"I'll have the accountant collect the money, give you a receipt, and register the house in your name, Brother Du. As for your household registration, I'll go to the township office tomorrow to get it done, so you'll be proper residents of Laohewan Village."
Du Yuhan was about to persuade him further when He Zhendong preemptively said, "Let's do as Uncle Liang says."
Given Liang Shouzhen's relationship with the He family, it wouldn't be good to be too formal, so He Zhendong agreed to this approach.
Du Yuhan didn't say anything more and told her adoptive mother to take her younger brothers to pack their things. She then took her adoptive father and went with Liang Shouzheng to pay the fees and complete the formalities. She also gave Liang Shouzheng the household registration documents, which he would then use to register the household registration later.
After completing the formalities at the brigade, He Zhendong took advantage of Liang Shouzheng's presence and drove him to the township to register the Du family's household registration. Du Yuhan said she needed to buy some things and would go to the town with him, asking her adoptive father to go home and pack his things first.
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