The next day, Xu Ming received his wages from the landlady. Thinking that his third brother wasn't in a hurry, he decided to go home first.
"Xiao Wan is back. Is she on vacation?"
"Have you found a boyfriend yet? You're getting prettier and prettier."
Before Xu Mingwan even reached her doorstep, she was surrounded by several aunties asking her questions, all wondering if her family had any suitable young men to introduce her to.
The youngest daughter of the Xu family is quite pretty, and she has five older brothers. Her parents are also very capable. Although they haven't built a new house yet, judging from Old Man Xu's energy, they must have a lot of savings.
Besides, Xu Mingwan is quite capable. She saves all the money she earns for her mother, and over the years, she should have accumulated quite a bit.
"Hey, the aunties haven't cooked yet!" Xu Mingwan replied with a smile.
"Hey, Xiaowan, why are you back? Isn't my Xiaoxi working at the same factory as you? Why isn't she back?"
When Xu Xiaoxi's mother, Zhou Hehua, saw Xu Mingwan return, she looked back and, not seeing her daughter, asked her what was wrong.
"Aunt Zhou, Xiaoxi is still at work! I'm leaving now and going home first."
"Hey, Xiao Wan, you're not working at the button factory anymore? Could you introduce my daughter to a job there?"
"Yes, and my house too~"
The group surrounded Xu Mingwan, chattering amongst themselves, trying to fill the void left by her absence.
Granny Liu frowned as she looked at the crowd, strode forward, pulled aside the people surrounding her daughter, and shouted, "You're all home, why aren't you coming in? What are you dawdling about here for? And you all, hurry up and go home to cook!"
Besides, what's the point of asking a young girl about factory hiring? You'd be better off asking Granny Xu; she's the one who arranged everything!
After saying that, he grabbed his youngest daughter and started walking home, scolding her as they went, "If I hadn't pulled you, were you planning to walk until dark?!"
"Mom, it's not that exaggerated!" Xu Mingwan went into the house and put her luggage bag in the innermost room.
"Where are Panpan and the others? I even brought them some small toys!"
Xu Mingwan looked around but couldn't see her little niece and the others. She thought to herself that it had been a long time since she had seen her sweet and soft little niece.
"The two boys went off to play, but what about you? Why aren't you working at the factory anymore? You know it's hard to find a job these days. Do you want to go back home and farm?"
There are two ways for villagers to find work: one is to go out and find it themselves, and the other is to be introduced by Granny Xu in the village, who will take a small fee and then arrange for them to work in a factory in the town.
"My third brother called me and asked me to come to his place."
"Go to him? He's still wandering around! What kind of job could he possibly arrange for you?" Granny Liu didn't believe that the third son had that kind of ability.
"Oh dear, it's not work, it's just taking care of my third sister-in-law. Isn't she eight months along? She'll be giving birth soon."
Granny Liu was displeased as soon as she heard this. "You, a young unmarried woman, know how to take care of a new mother and child? No way, you're not allowed to go."
"If I'm not going, why are you going?" Xu Mingwan knew her mother wouldn't go because she couldn't bear to leave her father, the big fat pig at home, and the chickens and ducks.
"I can't go, your dad still wants me to cook! Besides, I have Panpan with me!"
"That's it then. Only I can go, since Third Sister-in-law can't come back."
"Can you do it?" Granny Liu was still a little worried about her youngest daughter, as she had never seen her cook at home.
Women who have just given birth already have a poor appetite, and if they don't have any delicious food, the mother won't have enough breast milk, and the baby will suffer too.
"Why not? It's better than having no one to take care of me!" Xu Mingwan felt that she was quite capable, and this little thing was no problem for her.
As soon as Xu Panpan entered the house, she saw that there was an extra person in the house. She initially thought it was her mother, but upon closer inspection, she realized it was her aunt.
"What's wrong? Is Panpan unhappy to see her aunt?" Xu Mingwan asked, pretending to be unhappy.
"No, no, Panpan likes her aunt very much, she just misses her mother very much," Xu Panpan quickly explained, then lowered her head again when she mentioned her mother.
Xu Mingwan glanced at his mother, Granny Liu, who sighed and whispered, "A while ago, people from the township came to inspect and they tore down the stove at Lao San's house. Panpan happened to be there and was a little frightened."
"How could these despicable people do such a thing!" Xu Mingwan hadn't been to the place where her third brother lived next door, so she really didn't know that even the stove had been torn down.
Granny Liu glanced at her and said, "Don't go around talking nonsense. Isn't this how it is now? If you have more children than allowed, people can't do anything about it but they can dismantle your stove so you can't even eat."
"I'll just say it at home." Xu Mingwan was aware of the seriousness of the situation. Her family was already under close scrutiny, so she had to keep a low profile.
"What about Uncle's family? This house belongs to them." Xu Mingwan knew that the house her third brother lived in was borrowed from Uncle's family. Although it was already very dilapidated, now that the stove was gone, they certainly couldn't ignore it.
Speaking of this, Granny Liu gets angry. "You know your second uncle, he's a henpecked husband. He does whatever your second aunt says."
They said they were taking the house back, that your third brother wouldn't be able to live there anymore, and that they'd have to compensate him two hundred yuan.
Xu Mingwan didn't know what to say. After all, it was someone else's house, and it was fine if they didn't let them live there, but where would the third brother's family live in the future?
There wasn't a single tile on his foundation; it was just an empty lot.
“I didn’t agree to pay you. I just said I would rebuild the stove. Anyway, your dad can do this kind of work. It will only cost some money for materials. We can save on labor costs. It shouldn’t cost more than two hundred.”
If it's only fifty or sixty, I'll give it to you, but I won't give you two hundred!
Besides, the third brother didn't just give him the house for free. His family has a piece of land that they cultivate. It's an exchange.
Xu Mingwan thought for a moment, then took out three toys from her duffel bag and handed them to her little niece who was leaning against the wall obediently. "Go on, go play with your brothers."
Xu Panpan was still just a child. As soon as she saw the new toy, she forgot about her mother and happily went to find her brother with the toy.
"Mom, I'll pay for Third Brother's stove repair first. I figured they probably don't have any money on them." Xu Mingwan handed her mother a hundred yuan. She had just received her salary and had some money left over.
Granny Liu waved her hand and refused, "Keep the money yourself, you can save it all for yourself. Keep the old money with me for now, and I'll give it to you when you get married."
Granny Liu was too embarrassed to say that she had lent all the money they had entrusted to her to her third son. She thought that saying too much would affect the relationship between the siblings, so she decided not to say anything. From now on, she wouldn't manage their money anymore; they were all grown up and could save it themselves.
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