Zhou Yi pointed it out to Chen Hong, "It's just that the area is too small. There's only enough space to hang one guitar here. There's no room for any other instruments."
There's no bathroom in this bedroom either, so Yu Yang has to use the shared bathroom in the living room when he gets up at night.
Chen Hong: "It's not bad. For such a small house, having two bathrooms is good enough."
"Did you buy all this new furniture? And did you redo the walls too?"
"Yes! It was all done with the help of our logistics comrades. In the family compound, the houses are all government-owned, so we can't make any major changes. This is the most we can do. If you see anything you're not satisfied with, I'll find someone else to fix it."
Chen Hong turned around, shook her head and said, "You said it yourself, this is a military house, not our own home."
Why bother moving it? Let it stay as it is! As long as it's clean and tidy, that's fine. Who knows how many years we'll live here? There's no need to make any more changes.
Right, now all that's missing here are household appliances, bedding, and kitchen pots and pans, right?
"If you have time, go ahead and buy it. If you don't, that's okay too. When my daughter and I arrive, we can go to the supermarket and buy everything in one go."
Zhou Yi said to Chen Hong with some guilt, "I have another day off tomorrow. Come with me home first and let me meet my parents and other family members."
I'll be quite busy in the coming days, and I might not have any vacation time. I'll arrange for my parents to help you with the moving and Yu Yang's schooling. Once you're in Beijing, my parents can take Yu Yang to school.
The procedures for transferring household registration and Yu Yang's school transfer are all completed. I'll be going on a mission soon, so if you have any questions, just ask my parents.
Chen Hong said she understood; with the Olympics just around the corner, it was understandable that they would be busy.
In the afternoon, they first went to a nearby shopping mall and bought all the commonly used household items and bedding, as well as necessary home appliances.
They scheduled a time for home appliance delivery and air conditioner installation for the next day. The two first went to the family compound to deliver the items, and then went directly to Zhou Yi's parents' home in the city that evening.
Zhou Yi's family also owns a courtyard house, but it only has one courtyard. The area is not large, with a building area of only a little over 160 square meters.
However, it has a very homey feel, and like most Beijing courtyard houses, it has a main entrance facing southeast.
There are two ancient stone pillars at the entrance, and inside the gate is a passageway four meters deep.
Facing you is a screen wall adorned with blooming flowers symbolizing wealth and prosperity, with a clump of green bamboo planted at its base.
To the left of the entrance is a covered walkway, which is designed to be spacious and resembles a leisure pavilion, with fixed seating on three sides.
Chen Hong was immediately impressed. "Wow, this pavilion is wonderful! You can cool off here on summer nights, and enjoy the flowers on spring, summer, and autumn afternoons."
The courtyard is not large, only seventy or eighty square meters, but there is a tree planted on each side in front of the main house: a pomegranate tree on the left and a crabapple tree on the right.
A row of flowerpots was placed around the perimeter of the veranda, containing roses, hostas, nasturtiums, sunflowers, bougainvillea, freesias, jasmine, kalanchoe, and geraniums in several colors.
Some flowers are in bloom, while others are not yet in bloom. They are growing lush and green, gathering strength and preparing for their budding.
The Zhou family's house consisted of three rooms in the north wing, three rooms in the south wing, and three rooms each in the east and west wings, making it a typical, square-shaped northern courtyard house.
One of the rooms, the one facing away from the main entrance, was converted into a garage, another into a gate, and the third into the bedroom of Zhou Rui, Zhou Yi's nephew.
Going further in is the east wing, which is the room of Zhou Yi and his wife. It is divided into a large bedroom with a bathroom and a kitchen, and there is also a shared bathroom at the end.
The largest room in the main house is the north-facing room, which has a living room and family room in the middle, and the bedroom for the elderly couple is on the west side, which also has a bathroom.
To the east is the study of Mr. and Mrs. Zhou, a room of about 20 square meters with plenty of light.
The west wing is Zhou Yi's room and a storage room. Zhou Yi's mother said, "In a few days, I plan to clean up this room and turn it into a bedroom, so that Yang can stay here when he comes."
Chen Hong smiled, turned to look at Zhou Yi, and said to the old lady, "Mom, there's no need to make any trouble. After Chen Hong moves in, we'll live in the family compound. Where are we going to put all this stuff in this room?"
Zhou Yi's mother immediately said, "That won't do. This west wing is all yours. Don't worry about it. These things are no longer needed. We couldn't bear to give them away before, so they just took up a room."
But now that you're married, how can you go home without a place to stay? We need to change our family's habits; we need to throw away everything that needs to be thrown away.
This room looks messy now, but it's actually quite spacious. Once I tidy it up and get it repainted, I'm sure you'll all be satisfied!
Chen Hong walked into the yard, looked at the pomegranate and crabapple trees, and said with a smile, "Mom, no need to trouble yourself. I also have a yard in the city, not far from here, just over Houhai."
Everything there is readily available; you can move in right away. If we go back to the city, we'll stay near Houhai; otherwise, if no one lives there for a long time, the house will get damp and moldy.
"That's fine here. Zhou Yi can stay at home occasionally when he goes back to the city for business, and it'll be convenient for him to eat with you guys."
Zhou Yi's mother was a little disappointed after hearing Chen Hong's words, "Oh, is that so? Fine then, whatever's convenient for you."
I just wanted everyone to live together and have fun. Now I regret it. I should have moved to a bigger house in the 60s or 70s.
"They haven't thought about it enough. The children are all grown up and will start their own families. The environment is different now than before; everyone wants their own private space."
Chen Hong and Zhou Yi exchanged a glance and smiled as they coaxed the old lady, "Mom, my yard is big. If you like a lively atmosphere, you can come and stay with us with Dad when Zhou Yi has a vacation."
The old man waved his hand and shook his head repeatedly, "That won't do. That's your private property. We're so old, we can't cause trouble for you young people."
Houhai isn't far from our home, only a half-hour walk away, so it's fine for you to stay there.
We're older, and our lifestyles are different from yours, so this is actually quite convenient.
Now that telephones are so convenient, you can call your mom in the yard to tell her what delicious food she's made, and then bring your kids over to eat.
After we finish eating, we can go back over there to rest; it won't delay anything!
Zhou Yi's father set the tone with a few words, and although the old lady was disappointed, she thought again that what her husband said made sense.
Chen Hong is, after all, a new bride, and she may not be used to living with them.
The eldest daughter had just gotten married then, and it took her a few years to adjust before she became less reserved. She was a local Beijing girl!
Chen Hong and her son are from Shandong, and live by the sea, so their lifestyle and eating habits may be quite different from those of others.
These days, young people often say that distance makes the heart grow fonder, right? Maybe it really is true that things smell better when they're far away and worse when they're close!
Besides, it's not just the two of them living in the house; there's also their eldest son's family of three. If they were to move in, with the father-in-law, brother-in-law, mother-in-law, and sister-in-law, it might really be inconvenient!
Although the Zhou family elders had never seen Chen Hong's courtyard in Houhai, they had seen her self-built villa in Rongcheng.
I know that her family lives a more comfortable life than 95% of the people in Beijing.
Not only is their living environment much more spacious than theirs, but their standard of living is also much higher.
Maybe living separately would be better for both sides!
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