Aunt Wang smiled and said, "Your Aunt Li wants to buy some furniture."
He Shuai: "Sure, our factory just happened to have a batch of defective furniture that we want to sell at a low price, and the boss is asking us to call on our relatives to buy it."
"Even though it has defects, it's still usable and the price is half the price." He Shuai said to Mrs. Li.
Old Lady Li: "That's great, I got a bargain."
"Let's go in and choose."
He Shuai led the two of them into the factory. Old Mrs. Li picked out a 1.5-meter bunk bed, with the narrow upper tier being 1.2 meters wide.
A double-door wardrobe, a set of tables and stools, a desk, a chest of drawers, and a large wooden tub for bathing and washing clothes.
The bunk bed and wardrobe were a little more expensive, but still much cheaper than the market price. The total cost was one hundred and twenty-five yuan.
Old Mrs. Li added five dollars and the factory’s truck could deliver the goods directly to her home, and He Shuai would follow to deliver the goods.
Old Mrs. Li and Aunt Wang also squeezed onto the truck and went back together.
When the truck passed by Yard 18, Old Lady Li asked the truck to stop and got off with Aunt Wang.
Old Mrs. Li and Aunt Wang moved the two big bags out of the house together and locked the door with the key.
"Shuping, are you moving now?" Aunt Zhao asked as she came out of the house.
Mrs. Li nodded, "Yes."
"Where are you moving to?" Aunt Zhao walked forward. She was really reluctant to let her old sister, who had lived with her for several years, move away.
"No. 23 Courtyard. Come and play with me when you are free."
Aunt Zhao frowned. "Why did you move there? I heard that the people in that courtyard are very evil."
Old Mrs. Li: "Isn't there a housing shortage? I'm lucky to be able to rent a house in that yard."
"If you get bullied, come back to us and we will support you." Aunt Zhao said, patting her chest in a very righteous manner.
Mrs. Li felt warm in her heart and said, "Okay."
Aunt Zhao said she wanted to help, but the truck was full, so she asked Aunt Li and the others to go first and she would walk over.
The truck stopped at the gate of No. 23 Yard, and the noise attracted adults and children who had no classes or schools in the yard to run out to watch the fun.
"A truck. What a big truck."
"There's furniture on it."
“All new furniture.”
The children ran around the wagon, chattering.
The adults' eyes were filled with inquiry, scrutiny, and some even had envy and jealousy.
"Girl, you moved in today?" The white-haired lady who had spoken a few words yesterday greeted Old Lady Li with a smile.
Old Mrs. Li smiled and responded, then said to the other neighbors, "My last name is Li, Li Shuping. I have a daughter, Lin Xiaoyu, who is in school. She will live here with me in the future. Please take care of her, neighbors."
I moved here today and I want to say hello to my neighbors.
The newcomers all greeted her with a smile, and the neighbors in Yard 23 also greeted her with a smile and exchanged a few polite words.
Old Mrs. Li also knows the names of these neighbors.
Old Mrs. Li and Aunt Wang took the two large bags off the truck and brought them into the house.
He Shuai and the driver were unloading furniture outside, and the neighbors of Yard 23 were standing by and watching, but no one took the initiative to help.
After Old Lady Li and Aunt Wang put down their things, they came out to help. When the furniture was halfway down, Aunt Zhao came and joined in.
Old Mrs. Li and Aunt Wang carried the table into the house, and Aunt Zhao followed behind with two stools.
"This No. 23 Courtyard is really worthy of its reputation. You have so many heavy furnitures, and these neighbors don't even have anyone to help. They just stand there and watch the fun." Aunt Zhao complained in a low voice.
Old Mrs. Li said unhappily, "I have no relatives or friends with him. It's a favor if he helps me, but it's not a favor if he doesn't help me."
She thought there was nothing to say.
Aunt Wang: "That's true, but a distant relative is not as good as a close neighbor. It's only natural for neighbors to help each other. For example, in our yard, whenever a new person moves in, everyone will ask if they need help."
"You are so nice." Aunt Zhao nodded in agreement, and then looked at Old Lady Li and said, "You have always been a nice person with a soft temper. When you get here, don't rush over to help others when you see them need help. You should be more careful and don't let others take advantage of you."
Old Mrs. Li knew that they were all saying these things to her because they were doing it for her own good.
She was indeed like this in the past. She was always regarded as a good person by others. She was particularly afraid of offending others and having conflicts with others.
She was always like this no matter whether she was dealing with her family or neighbors. In her past life, she had been taken advantage of by neighbors and friends, and had been called a coward behind their backs.
She used to justify herself by saying that suffering a loss brings happiness, but in her previous life, she starved to death in a nursing home, her children were unfilial, and no one saw her off to the end of her life. It is clear that suffering a loss does not bring happiness.
It's obvious that you've suffered a loss. All your blessings have been eaten up by others.
If she were to live her life over again, she would never live as miserably as she did in her previous life!
"I know. I won't let anyone take advantage of me."
Aunt Wang and Aunt Zhao didn't quite believe it. They had said a lot to her in the past, and she knew it every time. She would definitely not let anyone take advantage of her in the future.
But last time, Mrs. Lai asked her to take the cut clothes to the factory for her to sew, but she refused to take them.
He was discovered by his superior and criticized. Before he could hand the project over to Lin Jianshe, someone was missing from the factory.
"See? There are all new furniture. This woman is quite rich." Wang Guixiang, the new bride who just married into Courtyard No. 23, leaned against the door frame of the courtyard and ate melon seeds, and said to Liu Mingxiang beside her.
In the households living in Courtyard 23, there are basically no families with two-person jobs. In most families, only one person has one, and few of them are formal workers.
Wang Guixiang and Liu Mingxiang both had no money, but they had families and took odd jobs making matchboxes.
Liu Mingxiang spat out the melon seed shells in her mouth with a gloomy face, "I don't know where this person comes from. Let's go to No. 18 Courtyard to ask around tomorrow."
The furniture was moved into the house, the bunk beds were installed, and He Shuai and the driver were ready to leave.
Old Mrs. Li stopped them and said, "Don't leave. Let's go to the state-owned restaurant to have lunch. Sister Zhao and Sister Wang will also come."
"No need, let's go back to the factory to eat, our factory provides meals." He Shuai didn't want Aunt Li to spend money, so he smiled and refused.
Mrs. Li: "The food in the factory is not as good as the food in the state-owned restaurant."
"Really, we don't need it. We have to go back quickly. The factory might still need the car." After saying that, He Shuai and the driver left together. Old Mrs. Li couldn't persuade them, so she sent them to the gate of the compound.
After the truck drove away, Mrs. Li looked at Aunt Wang and the others and said, "Come with me to eat."
Aunt Wang: "Thank you for your kindness. You know I need to go home and cook for my granddaughter."
Her granddaughter is studying and will go home for lunch.
Aunt Zhao: "You know, I also want to go home and cook for my grandson."
Old Lady Li: “…”
No one went to the state-owned restaurant with her, so Old Lady Li went alone to eat a bowl of beef noodles.
After eating, I went to the store and started shopping.
Old Mrs. Li ran back and forth between her home and the store three or four times before she bought everything.
Looking at the new quilt on the bed and the curtain that had been hung up as a partition, Mrs. Li nodded with satisfaction. From today on, this would be her and Xiaoyu's new home.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
