"Sis, what brings you here now?"
Seeing her younger brother at home, Li Qin propped up her bicycle and came over. Li Chu invited his sister inside and poured her a glass of water.
"Oh, why did you buy a sewing machine? I came over today because I wanted you to come with me to take a look." As soon as Li Qin sat down on the sofa, she saw the sewing machine placed against the wall on one side of the living room.
"After dinner that day, when I took Qiu Nan shopping, I bought it along with her. I have money, how could I let you buy everything for me?" Li Chu explained.
"I was planning to come over yesterday, but my brother-in-law had some friends over and we were drinking all day. It's driving me crazy." Li Qin said helplessly. She just couldn't understand how the alcohol could be so good that several people could sit there drinking all day.
Li Chu smiled. Despite her sister's constant nagging, she would never say a bad word about her husband in front of outsiders, always giving him ample face. That's the level of a good wife, isn't it?
Li Qin came here intending to take her younger brother to buy a sewing machine. She had already bought it and was about to leave, since she was still at work. Just as she stood up, Li Chu called her back.
"Sister, don't rush off yet, I have something to ask you."
“Okay, go ahead.” Li Qin sat back down.
"I just want to ask if you know how to buy a detached house."
"Why are you asking this? Who wants to buy a house?" Li Qin found it a bit strange. Nobody buys houses now; they're all allocated.
"Hehe, I'm asking myself this question. I want to buy a detached house to live in."
"Are you crazy? Why would you buy a house? This house isn't big enough for you!" Li Qin's voice rose considerably when she heard that it was her younger brother who wanted to buy the house.
"Sister, don't worry. This house is big enough for us now, but it might be a bit small when I have kids."
"You think you're so great? How many children can you have and still not have enough room? How do other people manage to live here?" Li Qin's mouth twitched, then she paused and said, "Let me tell you, Xiao Chu, you'd better give up on this idea as soon as possible. Don't you know that private transactions of houses are not allowed?"
"I know, that's why I asked you. I wasn't thinking of buying it privately." Li Chu shook his head.
Li Qin thought for a moment and said, "If you ask me, I can't help you. I heard that your hospital is planning to build new buildings. You won't get a chance to live in the new buildings, but you'll get a chance to live in the old buildings that are vacated."
“I don’t like living in those kinds of houses. Besides, I don’t think I’ll get a chance to live in an old house. There are plenty of people waiting. I’ve only been working for two years. How could I possibly get one?”
"Tell me the truth, what are you planning to do with this house?" Li Qin asked seriously.
"You buy a house to live in, what else can you do with it?" Li Chu was a little puzzled by his sister's question.
"Live? Do you really need to buy a detached house? Let me tell you, Li Chu, you just got married, don't cause me any trouble. Tell me properly, are you having an affair? Are you pregnant? Are you being pressured to find a house?" Li Qin stared intently at Li Chu.
Li Chu then understood what his sister meant and was both amused and exasperated: "Sister, what are you thinking? How could I do such a thing? Even if I really had someone, I would never marry Qiu Nan."
"Really not?" Li Qin was still a little doubtful.
"No, sister, I assure the Commander-in-Chief," Li Chu said, raising one hand.
Li Qin looked at her younger brother, and she believed that he was not that kind of person. "Then why do you want to buy a house? You want a detached house."
"I really just want to live here by myself. I wanted a detached house for convenience. I don't even dare to cook anything nice in this house because if I cook meat, everyone in the house can smell it. Also, if there are too many people living in this big house, there will be a lot of trouble," Li Chu explained to his sister.
Li Qin nodded after listening. She worked at the neighborhood office and knew all about the affairs of the courtyard houses.
Li Qin kept her head down and didn't speak. Li Chu could tell that his sister was thinking about something, so he didn't say anything either.
After a while, Li Qin looked up at her younger brother and said, "Don't even think about buying a house between private individuals. I know some people have done it before, but if someone sues you for this, you're completely finished, and you might even go to jail."
Just as Li Chu was about to speak, his sister waved her hand and said, "Don't interrupt. Our neighborhood office still has a courtyard there. You can buy it if you want, but it's very dilapidated and uninhabitable if it's not cleaned up."
"Where is the courtyard? How big is it?" Li Chu asked, immediately intrigued.
“That courtyard isn’t far from here. It’s a single-courtyard siheyuan (traditional courtyard house), but it’s quite large, about two or three hundred square meters,” Li Qin said after thinking for a moment.
"Where is the owner of this courtyard? Why hasn't your neighborhood committee cleaned it up and arranged for someone to move out?" Li Chu couldn't understand why the owner of such a good location and such a big house was not there.
"Sigh, the original owner of this house was involved in a case involving enemy agents and has been executed. His family is gone. The house is too dilapidated, and it would cost too much to renovate it. Our neighborhood committee simply doesn't have that much money."
Li Chu was a little stunned. Wow, this has caused quite a stir, even involving enemy agents. "So, is there anything wrong with the house?"
“There’s no problem. The land deed and house deed were transferred to us from the Public Security Bureau. When our subdistrict office took over, we specifically looked into it, and the homeowner really doesn’t have any relatives left. The house is simply uninhabitable now. To move in, it would be equivalent to rebuilding, and our subdistrict office doesn’t have that kind of money, so it’s just been left untouched. We even held a meeting before to discuss whether we could sell the house, and we also submitted a report to the district, which they approved.” After saying this, Li Qin picked up her cup and took a sip of water.
"Sister, how much would it cost if we wanted to buy that house?" Although the house would have to be rebuilt, that was still a good idea. It would allow her to build it according to her own ideas. Li Chu was very interested in this courtyard.
"What, you really want to buy it? Didn't I tell you that even if you buy the yard, the house will have to be rebuilt?"
"Sister, don't worry about rebuilding. We can buy it and build it slowly. It's not easy to find a yard that big these days. I want to buy it."
Li Qin thought for a moment and said, "I need to go back and discuss the price with our director. It definitely won't be cheap. How much money do you have right now?"
Li Chu chuckled, and Li Qin, seeing this, didn't ask any more questions. She simply said, "If you really want it, I won't say anything more. I'll go back and ask for you. However, you must get Qiu Nan's consent. If Qiu Nan doesn't agree to buy it, I won't help you."
"Don't worry, sister. I'll definitely get Qiu Nan's permission before I buy it. I'll go with you then." Li Chu was already getting impatient.
Li Qin stood up: "Let's go, I'll ask around for you, and then I'll take you to see the yard. Then you can decide whether you want to buy it or not."
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