064 Renting a House
The story of Huang Yanqiu's escape from marriage suddenly passed.
The two families seemed to have reached some kind of consensus and maintained a delicate peace.
Gao Qinghe's rental issue has been resolved.
Sister Hong called and said that she had found a house for her and urged her to go to the city as soon as possible to take a look.
Gao Qinghe immediately called Gao Qingmiao, and the brother and sister rode their bikes to the county town to look at houses.
Sister Hong was waiting for the siblings at the gate of the staff compound where they had agreed to meet. Seeing them approach, she led the way and said,
"These are all employee houses of the button factory. The original owners were a retired couple. After the New Year, the old man was in poor health, so their children from the city came over and took them away. That's when they asked someone to rent out the house."
As they were talking, they came to a two-story old red brick house.
The staff housing built in the 1960s has wide spacing and good lighting. There are two households on each floor. The first-floor units have gardens in front and back, and the top floor has a loft.
Sister Hong took out the key and opened room number two on the left side of the first floor.
"The house has most of the furniture, two bedrooms, a living room and a kitchen. The water and electricity are all working. The public toilet is just behind the house. There is a staff bathhouse for taking baths. Now that it is open to the public, even non-factory employees can buy tickets to enter the bathhouse. It is quite convenient."
"Oh, right."
Sister Hong opened the two small doors in the front and back of the living room. "The front yard is a bit wider. The owner paved the yard with blue bricks himself and opened a door in the front and back yards. You can go to the public restroom directly through the back door."
Of course, the most convenient one is the door to the front yard. It has two open iron doors, which makes it very convenient to go in and out and move things.
Gao Qingmiao looked at every room and couldn't find anything to dissatisfy.
The staff housing of this unit is much more spacious than the earthen houses in the countryside and looks clean.
Gao Qingmiao whispered to her sister, "No wonder city people look down on us in the countryside. It turns out people there live so well."
After living in a clean and comfortable building, it would be strange if you didn't cry out for help when you have to lie down in a dusty earthen building and go to that smelly toilet.
"How is it? Are you satisfied with this house?" Sister Hong asked with a smile.
It is not easy to rent a house now, unlike ten years later when commercial housing will be everywhere.
At this moment, all the buildings in the city are allocated to employees. No one has the intention to buy their own house and they are all waiting for the factory to distribute houses.
Many people, seven or eight, squeeze into a small house of fifty or sixty square meters, which is not enough for them to live in.
Just like the house that Sister Hong found, it would be impossible to get it without some connections, as it had already been sold internally.
This is also the reason why Sister Hong urged the siblings to come over and see.
However, Gao Qinghe was not very satisfied with such a perfect apartment.
The upper and lower floors share a wooden floor, and the sound insulation is very poor.
The outside of the house looks a little better, but the walls inside are old and peeling, and the furniture is just okay.
Because it was on the first floor, and it was March and the south wind was blowing, the cement floor was wet.
Gao Qinghe thought that if he stayed there long enough, mushrooms would grow there.
But she also knew that she wouldn't find anything better in a short period of time.
Button production has little pollution to the environment, so the factory is also located in the city, only more than ten minutes away from the pedestrian street. Riding a bike is even faster, only three minutes.
Moreover, there are guards at the gate of this compound, so it is very safe.
Based on these two points alone, Gao Qinghe did not hesitate and rented the house that day.
The monthly rent is 15 yuan, with a minimum lease of six months.
Sister Hong wrote a simple rent note and took the siblings to the button factory building management office to get a stamped certificate.
"This is ninety yuan for half a year's rent." Gao Qinghe handed the money to Sister Hong.
Sister Hong handed her a bunch of keys.
She just collected the money and then had to go to the post office to forward it to the landlord.
He also copied the landlord's contact information and payment account number and gave it to Gao Qinghe.
After things were settled, Gao Qingmiao stayed in the newly rented house to clean up.
Gao Qinghe followed Sister Hong back to the pedestrian street, and together they called the landlord's son in a phone booth.
Once everything is made clear, the process of renting a house is completed.
From now on, Gao Qinghe will just transfer the money to the landlord’s account on time.
"Oh, by the way, you have to pay the water and electricity bills yourselves," said Sister Hong.
Gao Qinghe nodded and said, "Sister Hong, thank you so much this time. If it weren't for you, Miaomiao and I would be so unfamiliar with the city and I don't know when we'd find each other!"
As he said this, he stuffed the red envelope he had just quietly prepared into Sister Hong's shirt pocket.
"Even if you hire an agent, you'll have to pay an agency fee. This is just a small token of my appreciation. Sister Hong, please don't refuse it, otherwise I'll be embarrassed to bother you next time."
The red envelope contains one month's rent. Business people can tell the amount by just feeling the thickness and outline of the red envelope.
Sister Hong was really embarrassed because her daughter had just finished eating the two bottles of canned fruit that Gao Qinghe had given her.
Unexpectedly, after finding a house, she gave another red envelope.
Gao Qinghe didn't give her a chance to refuse. He said he was busy cleaning the house, waved goodbye, and trotted away.
After renting the house and buying some new things, Gao Qinghe's 1,700 yuan became 1,500 yuan.
But it's money well spent.
Lying on his own spacious bed at night, smelling the fragrance of the quilt he brought from home, Gao Qinghe thought happily.
I don’t have to get up before six o’clock to catch the bus tomorrow!
All the goods imported from the provincial capital were stored in the new house, and after closing the stall in the afternoon, there was no need to rush back to the village. It was so much more convenient. The only thing that made Gao Qinghe uncomfortable was that she could no longer eat the meals cooked by her grandmother.
During the first lunch in the new home, Gao Qingmiao was almost driven into autism by her elder sister’s disgusted expression.
"Are the noodles I cooked so bad?"
Gao Qinghe forced himself to swallow the noodles in his mouth and put the rest of the noodles and the bowl back on the table.
He stood up and said, "I'm going to go outside to see what we can eat. After you finish eating, remember to take out the clothes you need to sell tomorrow and iron them."
Gao Qingmiao said "Oh" dejectedly and secretly vowed to improve his cooking skills.
Otherwise, when his eldest sister comes home and his parents see that he has lost weight, he will have no chance of survival.
As for the idea of asking Gao Qinghe to cook, it didn't even exist in Gao Qingmiao's mind.
What has his sister done since she was a child?
He doesn't know anything, he does everything!
Oh, by the way, the clothes that my elder sister took off yesterday haven’t been washed yet.
Thinking of this, Gao Qingmiao quickly finished his noodles and started busying himself at home.
Wash the dishes, do the laundry, mop the floor, and take out the dresses, iron them and hang them up.
Compared with the busyness at home, Gao Qinghe's life is much more comfortable.
Holding the snacks he bought in one hand and a soda in the other, he strolled around the button factory while eating.
Compared with the busy flour mill, the button factory was deserted.
The machines in the factory were silent, and most of the stalls at the factory gate had closed. She had to walk almost out of the factory before she could buy the food and drinks in her hands.
The workers in the staff compound were chatting and playing cards, making it even more lively than in the factory.
This is not a good sign.
The button factory, which used to be so busy that it couldn't handle three shifts, now operates on two shifts, and all the machines stop before nine o'clock in the evening.
But it doesn't matter.
What Gao Qinghe didn't expect was the once arrogant button factory workers.
He hung a wooden box around his neck and sold buttons on the street.
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