Chapter 10 Renting a Room in Town
Song Xinran remained noncommittal to such praise of her house; any landlord would say that, and she didn't have any extra expectations because of it. She would wait until she saw the house before making any decisions.
The apartment was on the third floor. As soon as the woman opened the door, Song Xinran fell silent.
"My apartment has great natural light; it's much brighter and better ventilated than the apartments next door!" the woman boasted proudly.
Song Xinran thought to herself, "This... aside from the lighting, there's really nothing else to praise about it."
The cement floor was uneven, the whitewash on the walls was yellowed, the wall near the toilet was stained with water, the window frames were made of peeling wood, and the glass was chipped and taped up with white tape. It swayed in the wind. The main room had only one table and no chairs, making it look frighteningly empty.
Several ceramic jars with broken rims were placed in the corner of the balcony.
The woman was very generous: "You can keep this jar. You can fill it with water or rice, it's my son's."
Song Xinran was speechless. What did she want this jar for?
Song Xinwen's family has quite a few of these things. He said that Cai Yongde brought them back from the factory. Although they are obsolete products, they can still be used at home.
These were probably taken from the factory by the woman's son.
Seeing Song Xinran's serious expression, the woman quickly said, "Go and take another look at the room. My house has two rooms, and it's cheap, only two hundred yuan a month for rent."
Song Xinran was speechless: "Sister, thank you for your trouble, I won't watch it."
Upon hearing this, the woman's smile vanished instantly: "You're not renting it out?"
“If you don’t even like my place, you probably won’t be able to rent any other place. My place has two bedrooms, a separate kitchen and a bathroom. It’s very nice, and the price is cheap.”
Song Xinran didn't want to argue, but these words sounded too harsh, so she said indifferently, "Your house is very cheap. Five or six hundred a month is not expensive. After all, the feng shui is good. May it bless your son to have a smooth job at the pottery factory."
Song Xinran was just being sarcastic, but to the woman's surprise, her eyes widened immediately: "How did you know?!"
Song Xinran glanced at her indifferently, said nothing, and took a step to walk out. The woman quickly followed behind her, saying, "Sister, wait a minute!"
How did you know my son works at the ceramics factory?
Song Xinran ignored her, but little did she know that in the woman's eyes, her nonchalant demeanor was that of a master. The woman stamped her foot and guessed, "Girl, are you a master?"
Song Xinran paused, wondering what all this was all about.
Seeing Song Xinran's reaction, the woman became even more certain of her guess: "Master, did you notice that my house has good feng shui? I thought so too, otherwise how could my son have developed so smoothly and even bought a house in the city!"
"The feng shui of this house is really effective. I've heard before that the feng shui of other people's houses changes after they're rented out, and their own houses don't fare well anymore." The woman clapped her hands, making her own conclusion, "I knew this house shouldn't have been rented out!"
"Thank you, sister!" The woman hurriedly went upstairs and slammed the door shut, probably afraid that the good fortune would leak out.
Song Xinran: ?
No, she didn't say anything.
How can this person have such a vivid imagination?
She shook her head and left.
Inside the house, the woman locked the door and quickly called her son, telling him what had happened: "I met a master who immediately said our house has good feng shui. Son, we really shouldn't rent this house!"
The voice on the other end of the phone was inexplicable: "What feng shui? Just rent it out quickly and get the money as soon as possible."
The woman absolutely refused to listen, insisting that he had to believe the master's words. The son, annoyed to no end, finally found out what had happened, especially what the master had said!
Finally, the son snapped, "My goodness, they're saying you asked for too much money, can't you tell?"
*
That day, Song Xinran looked at six rooms, but none of them were suitable. She rubbed her sore calves and missed her car and electric scooter from her previous life.
I'll buy a motorcycle when I'm rich in this lifetime.
Since she had just arrived in town, Song Xinran decided to buy some more vegetables to take home. She also wanted to go back to the place where she bought meat last time, but the stall owner wasn't there today, so Song Xinran just bought eight ounces of meat.
On her way home by motorcycle, Song Xinran began to calculate how much she had spent that day: two yuan for noodles at noon, four yuan for meat, and five yuan for the bus fare.
She only has 44 yuan left in change, and the 1,000 yuan in her savings account is still untouched. But after learning more about rental prices today, Song Xinran feels that this amount of money is really too little. She really wants to set up a stall in town to make money as soon as possible, but she hasn't even found a place to rent yet.
Song Xinran sighed.
When Song Xinran got home, it was almost 6:30. She didn't see Song Yu outside, but she saw other children from the village playing together. As soon as they saw her, they all ran faster than dogs, probably remembering that she had scolded someone when she came back the day before yesterday.
Song Xinran chuckled inwardly, wondering what Song Yu was doing. She decided to braise the meat with potatoes today, since Song Yu liked potatoes. With that thought, Song Xinran quickened her pace.
She had just arrived at the dam area, before even reaching the entrance, when she heard Cai Yongde's voice:
"Why isn't dinner ready yet? I'm starving after working all day."
Song Xinwen said irritably, "Come on, come on, you know your son is sick, don't you think I'm not going to take care of him?"
Cai Yongde said, "Isn't Xinran at home? Didn't she help you?"
Song Xinwen said, "Xinran helped me all day yesterday. Today, Xiaoyang seems a bit better, but she has something to do at her factory and has gone to town."
"Have you said enough?" Song Xinwen interrupted. "Have your brothers and sisters come to see Xiao Yang when he's sick?"
Cai Yongde: "They didn't know that Xiao Yang was sick."
"Why do you bring up the past every time we talk about it? She came to help you. After Chunjun died, you took care of your sister's child for two years. You've repaid all the favors..."
Just as a fight was about to break out inside, Song Xinran shouted, "Sister, I'm back!"
Sure enough, the room fell silent instantly.
Song Xinran carried the meat inside, first glancing at Cai Yongde, who avoided her gaze.
"Brother-in-law, why are you back so early today? Are you thinking about Xiaoyang?" she said with a smile, handing the meat in her hand to Song Xinwen.
Song Xinwen hesitated for a moment, then took the paper without saying a word.
Cai Yongde gave a casual "hmm" and then tried to leave.
Song Xinran inadvertently turned to the side, blocking the doorway: "Sister, what were you talking about just now? I could hear it from far outside. It was so lively."
She then covered her mouth and laughed: "My sister and brother-in-law have been married for four or five years, and their relationship is still so good. They have so much to talk about as soon as my brother-in-law comes back."
Upon hearing this, Cai Yongde was so embarrassed that he couldn't lift his head. What they had just talked about wasn't about having a good relationship. He also wondered what was wrong with Song Xinran today. She usually wouldn't say a word, but today she was very talkative.
"I'm going to take a shower." Cai Yongde turned around and walked quickly into the bathroom.
Song Xinran continued loudly from behind, "Brother-in-law is such a good man. He remembered that Xiaoyang came back so early, and he chatted with me as soon as he got home. He's also very clean and takes frequent showers. You're so lucky, sister!"
Cai Yongde ran away as fast as he could, leaving only Song Xinran and Song Xinwen in the main room.
Song Xinwen couldn't help but chuckle. She had been married to her husband for so long, and this was the first time she had ever seen him in such a disheveled state.
She seemed to be the one who benefited from their marriage. Cai Yongde's parents were still alive and could help him, and he worked at the pottery factory, receiving a regular monthly salary.
Several years ago, his family built a house, which made them quite prominent in the village, but only Song Xinwen knew the hardships they endured.
Because her family was poor and had no one to rely on, her in-laws looked down on her. Even when Cai Yongde broke his leg two years ago, only Song Xinran came to help her for a week. Cai Yongde's relatives brought some things to visit, but left without even cooking for her.
Even so, Cai Yongde still said that his brothers and sisters were good to him, and took fruit and milk, without ever thinking about who was the one who really helped alleviate the pressure on his family.
In the past, Song Xinwen would just tolerate it and let it pass, but he never expected to feel so happy to see Cai Yongde get the short end of the stick today.
But then she thought again, and Song Xinwen didn't want her sister to have a strained relationship with her husband, so she said, "Xinran, your brother-in-law is all bark and no bite. Don't take what he says to heart. This is your home. Come back whenever you want."
Song Xinran pretended to be stupid: "Sister, what are you talking about? Of course I know about brother-in-law."
She smiled and said, "Sister, it's your life to live. If you're happy, that's all that matters. I also hope you're happy and joyful!"
Happy, joyful, and blissful.
Upon hearing this, Song Xinwen couldn't help but feel a lump in his throat.
*
the next day.
Song Xinran decided to go to town to look at houses again.
As she left, Song Yu looked at her expectantly: "Will Mom be coming back today?"
He remembered that his mother used to take a very long time to come back after she left, but she came back very quickly yesterday, and he hoped it would be the same today.
Song Xinran bent down slightly, looked into the child's dark eyes, and said, "Of course I will. I'll bring Xiaoyu candy when I come back."
Song Yu shook her head and said seriously, "I don't want candy. It's fine as long as Mom comes back."
Song Xinran said softly, "Mom will come back. Mom is going to take Xiaoyu to live with us in town."
Song Yu pursed her lips, her eyes crinkling with a smile.
Upon arriving in town, Song Xinran decided to try a different approach to finding a place to live.
She first went to a store and bought two yuan's worth of candy, then headed straight for the teahouse outside the town's middle school.
Nowadays, renting a place often relies on introductions from acquaintances. Although she doesn't know anyone there yet, she can still sit with others, offer them candy, and try to get to know them and ask for information.
As soon as Song Xinran approached the teahouse, her eyes lit up. Among the people chatting outside the teahouse, she spotted a familiar figure.
After a brief moment of thought, Song Xinran casually walked towards the teahouse. As she passed the group of people chatting, she immediately called out, "Sister!"
Her voice was full of surprise. The person she called out looked up at her, his gaze initially a little blank, but then he immediately recognized her: "Hey, girl!"
Song Xinran said, "Sister, haven't you been to the market these past two days? I specifically wanted to go find you to buy meat, but I couldn't find you anywhere."
The person in front of her was none other than the meat stall owner from the market where Song Xinran had bought meat that day.
Hearing that someone had come specifically to buy her products, Huang Yun was naturally happy: "I haven't gone these past two days because I'm off work, but my family members are selling them!"
Song Xinran said, "Sister, I only recognize you. I didn't see you buying much meat. I didn't expect to run into you here. I have to hurry up and buy some so we don't run out later."
The people chatting around them laughed and joked, "Huang Yun, you've sold your brand now, people only buy your meat."
"That's right, the pork from Huang Yun's family tastes even better when cooked."
Song Xinran chimed in, "The meat at Sister Yun's place is really fresh. The color is different from what you buy elsewhere, and it tastes especially delicious when cooked. My family wants more after they've tried it!"
Hearing this, Huang Yun's face lit up with a big smile: "If you like it, come and buy more, I'll give it to you at cost price!"
Song Xinran took out the candy she had just bought and stuffed a handful into Huang Yun's hands: "Sister, I just bought some candy to eat. It tastes pretty good. Try some."
After saying that, she handed out candies to the others present. She smiled and called them "sister" one after another. It was just a few candies, so everyone readily accepted them and said, "You're really enjoying yourself today, sitting next to Huang Yun."
Huang Yun's smile widened: "We should thank the girl for the things she bought."
He turned to look at Song Xinran, his gaze much warmer: "What are you doing here, little sister?"
Song Xinran: "I've been looking at houses in town for the past two days, and I came here today to see if there are any suitable ones."
Huang Yun immediately said, "Oh, I did hear that someone in our building wants to rent out a room. I'll go back and ask for you!"
Others chimed in, saying, "We have it where we live too. I hadn't noticed it before. I'll ask about it when I get back."
A note from the author:
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