In the past two weeks, Bu Ling's small business has been thriving. Xia Qingmei comes once a week, each time carrying large bags and small packages, ostensibly to visit her cousin.
Whenever this happened, the older women in the alley would enthusiastically take people into their homes. When Xia Qingmei came out again, apart from the things she left for Bu Ling, everything else was divided up by the older women.
Over time, everyone in the Yangliu Hutong area knew that Buling had a cousin from the countryside, and that cousin was quite capable; she could trade anything for...
From chickens, ducks, and fish to wild vegetables and greens, they especially cared for their cousin, Buling, and often brought her food.
But Xiao Bu couldn't possibly eat that much by himself, so his kind neighbors had to lend a hand. It's a win-win situation, isn't it? And it wasn't expensive.
If they didn't have money, they could exchange tickets. It's not like no one questioned whether this was speculation or profiteering, but the two cousins were very generous. And it's true, the older cousin bringing food to the younger one—no one could say anything wrong with that.
Besides, even if they were, so what? It still made things convenient for them, and the goods were much cheaper than on the black market. So it's become an open secret in this area. Even Sister Wang from the neighborhood office has traded eggs with Cousin Buling.
Now everyone is even more convinced that it's not speculation or profiteering.
Buling was quite satisfied. In just half a month, her commission had reached over twenty yuan, almost equivalent to her monthly salary. No wonder merchants have always been the richest people!
Xia Qingmei is also a very loyal girl. She never delays in paying her share of the agreed-upon commission; she always gives it to Buling on the same day. Buling likes this kind of generous girl.
Just as Buling's side business was in full swing, the three houses in the backyard that had caused the dispute finally found owners. The leaders of the machine factory didn't give them to anyone; instead, they reassigned them to another family.
That evening, after Aunt Tian told her the news, before Bu Ling could even express her feelings, she heard Aunt Lan let out a loud wail and burst into tears.
The sound of that crying was truly heartbreaking.
She and Aunt Tian looked at each other, unsure what to say. Although she didn't get along with Aunt Lan, seeing her crying like this at her age still evoked sympathy.
"Old Lan was pushed to his limit," said Aunt Tian.
Buling nodded. Indeed, it was the first time she'd ever seen Aunt Lan cry.
However, it's understandable. Grandma Lan's family has nine members. Her eldest son's family of four occupies half of the main room, her younger son's family of three occupies the east wing, and the elderly couple occupies the largest main room. They even had a partition built; one half is used as a kitchen and living room, and the other half is where the elderly couple lives.
It's not exactly crowded, but her grandson is all grown up, and it's inconvenient for him to sleep in the same room as his parents. So, the elderly couple partitioned off half of their own room for their grandson. With nine people living in a 50-square-meter apartment, you can imagine how cramped it was.
The eldest son of the Wang family was an ordinary worker at a lumber mill, and his wife was a textile factory worker. Neither of them had much of a presence at the factory, and their chances of getting housing were slim, let alone for the second son's family.
The Wang family's eldest grandson is already twelve years old this year. In a few years, he'll be of marriageable age, and it will definitely be even more crowded then.
Not only Aunt Lan's family, but also the two sisters-in-law of the Qian family looked displeased upon hearing this, as their families were in even more difficult circumstances than the Lan family.
Their house was in the west wing. The eldest and second eldest sons each had a room, and the remaining room was for the grandfather and the third son. Of course, only the grandfather lived there now, but he had also declared that his room was reserved for his third son, and no one was allowed to covet it.
Logically speaking, their front yard isn't small enough to build a house, but even with a decent yard, it's only about fifty square meters. With so many people living in the front yard, who will build, and who won't? Besides, every household in the front yard has already erected a shed in front of their door.
Although it's used to store firewood and other miscellaneous items, it's locked and already takes up quite a bit of space.
The compound is mostly inhabited by long-time employees of the machinery factory. They were allocated quite a few apartments when they were distributed, so for now, it's still relatively spacious.
It's not like that in other courtyards; many families have more than ten members crammed into one room. They're in even worse shape than Aunt Lan and her family, so it's impossible for them to have those three rooms.
Aunt Tian analyzed the situation at the machinery factory for Bu Ling.
Buling nodded in understanding. In her opinion, Aunt Lan's house was already very crowded, but it was still considered good in front of others.
Another day of gaining a deeper understanding of this era.
Speaking of the sheds, Buling was a little embarrassed because she had built two. One was for storing coal in front of the window, and the other was for storing firewood in front of the hanging flower gate leading to the backyard. Sangshen built them for her; they were quite large, enough for two people to live in.
I wonder if anyone made sarcastic remarks when the mulberries were in bloom.
However, it's truly joyful to eat more and take more.
Since the topic turned to the new neighbors, Bu Ling took the opportunity to ask a few questions: "Aunt Tian, do you know what the new neighbors do? How many people live with them? What are they like?"
Aunt Tian actually knew a little: "Since Xiao Li left, our factory is one less technician. I heard that our factory manager specially invited a top expert from the capital, and it took a lot of effort."
"A big shot?" Bling asked curiously.
Aunt Tian nodded: "That's what everyone in the factory is saying. I heard that the factory promised to provide housing, and they could also help their family members transfer their jobs here. Most importantly, they also offered a job quota. That's what convinced them."
"The factory is really going all out!" Bu Ling exclaimed.
"That's right, who wouldn't be confused by these conditions?" Aunt Tian was also confused, especially about the last job quota, which was extremely important. With this quota, her child wouldn't have to go to the countryside.
Not to mention Aunt Tian, Aunt Shen from the backyard immediately set her sights on that quota after hearing about it. With that quota, her daughter could go back to the city, right?
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
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