"Ms. Song, look at this first-floor apartment. It's a large unit with three bedrooms, two living rooms, one kitchen, and one bathroom, totaling 100 square meters. It comes with some furniture, and the monthly rent is only 250 yuan."
This family of three doesn't look like they're rich. Although the lighting in this ground-floor apartment is poor, the rent is cheap, so it should be able to be sold.
"The lighting is too dim, so I have to turn on the lights at home, which increases the electricity bill. Are there any other houses I can look at? Ideally, one with more furniture."
Rent isn't a problem; Chang Ma can earn back that little bit of money in a day by setting up her stall. What she wants is to live comfortably. Her two children are older now, and it would be best if each of them had their own room instead of being crammed into one room.
Thinking about all this, Chang Ma recalled the incident of her being replaced when she bought a unit-owned apartment, and her hatred for Chang Guomin grew even stronger.
"Rent is not a problem. Just introduce me to some nice apartments, with good lighting and full furniture and appliances, three bedrooms."
"Okay, let's go check out that building across the street. That apartment is great in every way, but the rent isn't cheap."
Although the houses here are a bit old, the location is really good. It's a ten-minute walk to Changling's key middle school, a fifteen-minute walk to Changjing's Xinhua Middle School, and even closer to the market where Changma sets up her stall, within a ten-minute walk.
"Then let's go take a look. If it's really as good as you say, I'll rent it today."
As the agent went upstairs, he told Chang's mother that the house was not under the supervision of a security guard, so it was not safe to leave bicycles and motorcycles downstairs. If she wanted to be safe, she could go to the shed over there and get a monthly storage card.
When the agent opened the door to the apartment on the fifth floor, the renovation looked new, and the appliances and furniture were all provided. The three rooms were decorated in a standard way, with wooden beds, wardrobes, and bookshelves.
How do I rent this apartment?
Chang's mother nodded secretly. The decoration of this house was really good. The off-white tone made it look clean and tidy, and the furniture was simple but practical.
"The rent is 380 yuan per month, with a deposit of two months' rent and payment of one month's rent in advance. Utilities are paid on an actual cost basis. You cannot damage anything in the room; you will be required to pay for any damage."
"Can you give me a discount if I sign a long-term lease?" Bargaining is a daily routine for Chang Ma; even if she's satisfied, she still wants to reduce some expenses.
"Ms. Song, how long do you want to rent? I can call the landlord and ask."
"Let's rent for a year first! Could you please talk to the landlord for me and see if we can get a discount so we can sign the contract right away?"
Finally, with the help of the agent, Chang's mother rented the house for 360 yuan a month. After signing the contract and getting the keys, Chang's mother took Chang Jing and Chang Ling to the market to buy some daily necessities.
"Ah Jing, go fetch two basins of water. Xiao Ling and I will wipe all the furniture down properly. We still have some time this afternoon, so we can clean the house and move in tomorrow."
The day after renting the house, Chang's mother moved out with her children in a swift and decisive manner. On the contrary, Chang Guomin, since he was left alone at home, simply spent his time after get off work playing cards with his coworkers and had a great time.
"Mom, can we go back to the Chang family home and pack all our things?"
After moving to a new house, Chang Ling wanted to pack up all the things she left at the Chang family home and bring them over.
“Then let’s all go back in a bit and pack all our things. Mom will call a tricycle to help us take them away.”
Having made up her mind not to turn back, she naturally took the things left at the Chang family home with her. So, Chang's mother went directly to the market and hailed a tricycle to return to the Chang family home.
As soon as they got downstairs, Granny Chang, who was playing cards, spotted Granny Chang and her two companions. She didn't say anything, and only pretended to have something to do and go home after Granny Chang and her companions went upstairs.
"Liu Simei, come play a few rounds of cards for me. I just remembered I made soup at home and I need to go upstairs to turn off the heat."
"Alright, go ahead!" Anyone with eyes could see that Old Lady Chang suddenly left because her eldest daughter-in-law had returned. The old ladies playing cards downstairs were all curious whether Old Lady Chang had gone up to cause trouble.
"Do you think she went to pick a fight with Huizhen? I heard before that the youngest son of the Chang family injured Huizhen's son and was forced by Huizhen to pay 800 yuan in compensation."
Song Huizhen was more popular than Granny Chang, so the neighbors all thought that Granny Chang was the one causing trouble.
"Tch, your news is outdated. I heard that Huizhen hasn't been home for two days with the child."
Those living upstairs and downstairs have more up-to-date and comprehensive information.
"The Chang family is so biased towards their youngest son, so she must be going to argue with Huizhen now?"
Another neighbor scoffed at Old Lady Chang's methods, saying that she was suppressing the older son and favoring the younger one, even making the older son support the younger one. She argued that if she treated the two sons unfairly, they would eventually fall out.
"Hey, I'm going home to check things out." The person living downstairs from the Chang family threw down his cards and prepared to go home to hear the latest news.
"Chang Ling, have you packed your things? If you can't carry them all, have your brother move them down first."
Chang Jing had little stuff; after packing her school uniform, everyday clothes, and books, there wasn't much left. Chang Ling, on the other hand, had a lot of girl's clothes, as well as various accessories and trinkets, which filled several boxes.
"Brother, could you help me seal this box and move it downstairs first? I'll continue packing my things later."
As Chang Jing carried his things out, Old Lady Chang stared intently at him with eyes that seemed to be spitting fire.
"Chang Jing, did you come back today to move? What a Song Huizhen! She actually dared to try and empty my son's belongings while he was away!"
"Nobody wants to take all of your son's belongings. We're only taking our own clothes and books. Besides, everything in our house was bought by my mother over the years. What makes you think it's your son's property?"
Chang Jing has no intention of being too polite to his relatives in the Chang family now; he'll even criticize his own grandmother.
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