Chapter 134: Keep Yourself Alone
After buying the house this time, I didn’t rush to decorate it.
You have to know that after paying the 300,000 yuan house price, the money in the couple's pockets together was not even 300 yuan. In addition, Taoyuantai is too far from Wang Shan’s school, making it inconvenient to go to and from school.
So, let’s put the decoration aside for now.
December of 1997 was busier than previous years.
Adago handed over the decoration of Taoyuantai Building 1 and 2 to Wang Xiuren. Although the decoration provided when buying a house is relatively simple, it is still very large.
Wang Xiuren led a dozen people including plasterers, plumbers, painters, etc. to work overtime at Taoyuantai every day.
Lin Qiu was also very busy.
The newsstand received a batch of new magazines and a container of tapes, including music albums of Hong Kong and Taiwan superstars such as Richie Jen, Leslie Cheung, the Four Heavenly Kings, and Faye Wong, so that the small newsstand was packed with people.
After New Year's Day, the old lady from Yangcheng Debao Trading Market called again.
A few days later, newsstands and convenience stores hung up Spring Festival decorations such as spring couplets, lanterns, and Chinese knots. Zhang Guixiang and Yang Zhefeng's father also started setting up stalls in the vegetable market and in front of Hua'anyuan.
Busy work brings rich rewards.
Not to mention Zhang Guixiang and Yang's father who made a fortune, even Lin Hui, who participated in the last few days, touched her pocket and happily took the train back to her hometown with her parents.
Of course, as an agent, Lin Qiu earns more.
This year’s New Year’s Eve is the same as last year, on December 29th.
Just like last year, Lin Qiu prepared a sumptuous meal and a cake to celebrate Wang Xiuren's birthday.
Wang Shan has grown up after all and doesn't need to be reminded. She used her own pocket money to buy her father a key chain as a birthday gift and also drew a picture for her father.
Although the keychain had Wang Shan’s favorite Pikachu on it and the drawing was of a cartoon character from Pokémon, Wang Xiuren was still very moved.
Wang Xiuren hung the key chain on the leg of his trousers and showed off his daughter's filial piety whenever he met acquaintances. He treasured the cartoons in an album, which also contained a simple sketch drawn by Wang Shan last year. He also marked the time carefully.
On New Year's Eve, the family of three snuggled on the sofa and watched the Spring Festival Gala. Wang Shan still couldn't hold on and fell asleep before ten o'clock.
Wang Xiuren picked her up gently, put her on the bed in the small bedroom, and covered her with a quilt.
Lin Qiu placed two more red envelopes next to her pillow.
The child is grown up now and can’t be fooled anymore. If I don’t give her New Year’s money, she will be very aggrieved.
After their daughter fell asleep, the couple had no interest in watching the Spring Festival Gala, so they simply took out the account book and calculated their income for the year.
They are probably the only ones in China who take out the account books to check the accounts on New Year’s Eve.
Lin Qiu kept pressing the calculator, and the final total made the couple look at each other in surprise.
"Did you really make that much?" Wang Xiuren found it unbelievable.
Lin Qiu nodded. "I counted it twice, and the total is the same. It should be correct."
“Then we are really capable!”
Wang Xiuren leaned back and half-lay on the sofa. "The mortgage for Hua'anyuan is 50,000 yuan, and I saved 100,000 yuan to buy a house in Taoyuanju. Now I have more than 16,000 yuan left on hand."
Lin Qiu also lay down on the sofa, "You are the main force in our family's income this year, and the great contributor to our small family! You made a small part of it!"
Wang Xiuren waved his hands, "I still have to rely on you! The newsstand, the convenience store, and the three rental houses, which one of them wasn't bought because of you? If I rely on working, I can't earn this much even if I work 20 hours a day!"
"So, you are smart and think long-term, otherwise we wouldn't have the life we have now!"
Listening to Wang Xiuren's praise, Lin Qiu turned his head away somewhat unnaturally.
I have been an ordinary person in both of my lives, I just had the advantage.
If it were a smart person, he might have accumulated billions of assets long ago, and there would be no need to struggle for life like me.
"Just wait a few years until the mortgage is paid off!" Lin Qiu calmly changed the subject, "Once the mortgage is paid off, you won't have to work so hard."
"Why should I work so hard? I'm happy to make money!" Wang Xiuren grew up in an era of food and clothing shortages. He was not afraid of hardship or fatigue, but he was afraid of having no money in his pocket and no food at home.
He said excitedly: "The construction site that Brother Adada gave me is expected to be completed for a whole year next year. I estimate that I should be able to pay back half of the money I owe to the bank next year."
"It's time to pay it back! Carrying this debt makes me feel uneasy." Lin Qiu nodded, "By the way, when will our house in Taoyuan Terrace be renovated?"
"There's no rush for this!" Wang Xiuren opened his eyes and pondered, "Taoyuanju is now seriously short of electricity, and there seems to be a problem with the water supply. Many residents who moved in before the New Year complained, but it seems the problem has not been solved."
"Ah?" Lin Qiu didn't expect the problem to be so serious. "Then what should we do? Shanshan is another year older."
Wang Xiuren sighed, "Well, let's take a look first. Even if Taoyuanju has water and electricity, we can't live there for the time being. It's too far from Shanshan's school."
"If it really doesn't work, let's move into the police station staff quarters! We can still eat here, but sleep there at night. Xiao Su moved out this month anyway, and we haven't had time to put up an advertisement yet." Lin Qiu suggested.
Wang Xiuren didn't rush to deny it. "I'll ask if there are any single rooms for rent in our community these days."
"OK!"
Buying a big house but not being able to live in it is also a big problem for the couple.
"Your co-workers don't blame you, right?" Lin Qiu looked at her husband worriedly.
In order to help Adage, Wang Xiuren often chatted with his co-workers and boasted about how good Taoyuanju was. After listening to him, several co-workers went to Taoyuanju and bought houses.
"Why are they blaming me?" Wang Xiuren wondered.
"Isn't Taoyuantai without water and electricity?"
"What's the big deal!" Wang Xiuren didn't care.
"They are grateful to me!" Wang Xiuren went on to explain, "First, they don't have to pay rent every month, and second, they can get a permanent residence. This way, getting married and sending their children to school won't be a problem."
"As for the water and power outages, it's nothing to us. We just need to store more water."
Lin Qiu was stunned.
After thinking about it, I attributed this to the fact that I have had a smooth life in this life, so much so that I have forgotten about the lives of the lower-class migrant workers.
If he were still working on a sewing machine in a garment factory, Wang Xiuren would just be working behind others. He would probably be like his co-workers. As long as he had a house in Pengcheng and could solve the household registration problem, he would not mind having to eat coarse food and not having water or electricity.
"It seems that I have been living a good life for a long time!" Lin Qiu sighed.
Wang Xiuren laughed and teased Lin Qiu, "Then you still want to live a hard life?"
Lin Qiu glared at him and said, "Only a fool would think so!"
"That's it! Don't worry about it. As long as we make our lives better and better, that's enough!"
"Yes, live your life first!"
If you are poor, you should take care of yourself; if you are rich, you should help the world.
If you don’t have the ability to help the world, then just live your own life well!
Lin Qiuru thought so.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
