Xiang Meimei chuckled: "You have been a lazy bum since you were little. Work hard to improve your grades. If you are busy with your studies, you won't have to do housework."
After receiving her report cards for this semester, Xiang Lili, who had just finished eating stir-fried pork and bamboo shoots, looked disheartened. "...Then I'd better get back to work."
She was too embarrassed to show her elementary school transcript to anyone, and could only say that fortunately her father lived in a steel plant's family compound, so she could go straight to junior high school.
"It would be great if my sister-in-law could come in earlier. I heard that Sister Chunting is very efficient and everyone praises her." Xiang Lili pouted and put the folded matchbox in front of her sister.
"Are you stupid? The couple is going to move out and will only come back to help you on weekends at most." Xiang Meimei glanced at Silly Lili.
The Xiang family only has three bedrooms, which are very crowded. Originally, it was fine for the three sons to have one bedroom and the three daughters to have one bedroom, but after Xiang Liguo and his wife got married, it became a bit uncomfortable.
After all, we have to carry on the family line, so we can't still live in our brother's room and let Xiang Lidang and Xiang Lihua listen to the noises from the lower bunk, right?
As for the three daughters' rooms, Xiang Meimei got married earlier than Xiang Liguo, but Xiang Lili is also of age. Should the two brothers be allowed to live here together as a couple?
That won’t work either. It will be awkward no matter how we live there.
As for applying for staff housing, Xiang Liguo and his wife are both temporary workers. Once they submit the application form, they have to queue up with hundreds of people in line. By the time they get to the queue, they might have already given birth to their second child.
The house is indeed not big, and we had to convert a two-bedroom and one-living room house into a three-bedroom and one-living room house because we couldn't squeeze out any space.
Therefore, Xiang Hongqi and Zhang Jidi had already discussed that Xiang Liguo would rent a house outside after getting married.
Families with grown-up children like this have needs, and the profession of landlord naturally emerged.
Near several factories in the county town, many smart elderly people asked their children to apply for employee housing, and left their own houses vacant and rented them to young couples who had no houses.
Some were even smarter. They demolished their own houses and built three-story buildings modeled after the factory staff housing, turning them into single rooms for rent.
Most of the people who come to rent the houses are young couples who have not been able to apply for staff housing. They eat at the factory and can go back to their parents' home for meals on Sundays. Single rooms are the most popular because they are cheap.
Xiang Lili was disappointed: "It must be very expensive to live out here, right?"
"About four or five yuan a month. A few days ago, my colleague was complaining that he had to pay rent every three months, which was equivalent to his monthly salary in one go."
Xiang Meimei said nonchalantly as she deftly tied a knot in the sewn collar and bit off the thread.
Although Xiang Meimei would also face the difficulty of applying for employee housing if she married Chen Wei, she had asked Chen Wei about his future plans.
The eldest sister of the Chen family got married, the second sister went to the countryside, and the Chen family was busy arranging a marriage for the third sister. After the third sister got married, she and her husband could have one room, and her younger brother Chen Liang could have another room.
So she just listened to her colleagues' complaints and didn't take them to heart.
Xiang Lili smacked her lips and held up the matchbox in her hand: "We can't even pay the rent for a month if we make matchboxes."
My parents and three older siblings all work, so no matter how hard the three younger ones try, they can't do much. They're lucky to earn ten dollars a month.
"It's because we don't have enough house at home. It's fine for them to live on their own and be comfortable." Xiang Meimei thought that her mother-in-law, Chen Ma, was a bit angry. She and her mother-in-law might be sad living together.
But her situation is different from Xiang Liguo's. Xiang Liguo has no room at home, so it is normal for him to live outside. But the Chen family has a house, so how could she live outside and make trouble?
"It would be great if we could allocate houses. My second sister and brother-in-law have a house, and we can rent it to my eldest brother. That would be great! When will the steel plant allocate houses?" Xiang Lili asked whimsically.
"What are you thinking? Speaking of which, the seven buildings to our east have been topped out. Who knows when they'll be divided? And they might not even be in our factory. They're close to the match factory."
Xiang Meimei's heart moved, but she quickly shook her head to dispel her sister's fantasy.
"Think about it, second sister. It's better to live with your eldest brother than with your mother-in-law. Ask them to give you the rent money. You can go home together for dinner on weekends. How wonderful it would be."
The more Xiang Lili talked about it, the more she felt that this method was a good one.
"That's nonsense. You'd better use your little brain to think about doing a few pages of winter vacation homework tomorrow!" Xiang Meimei shook her head and put aside the excitement.
The two sisters chatted about some family matters, but Xiang Mianmian was ecstatic because the invisible system Xiao 6 finally gave her a task!
[The match factory is about to distribute housing, but Chen Wei is not on the list. Please help Chen Wei qualify before the Lantern Festival. Reward: a house.]
Xiang Mianmian's heart was filled with joy: [Woohoo! Eat meat, eat meat.]
Although there will definitely be meat to eat during the Chinese New Year, who would complain about having more opportunities to eat meat?
System Xiao 6 was speechless: [Is this all you have? You only care about eating meat. That's a house, a house!]
[I'm a 7-year-old girl. Even if the house is given to me, it won't be in my name. I can only look forward to the meat my mother gives me~]
System Xiao 6 was convinced: "Okay, you're right. We still have a month left. Think about how to complete the task."
Xiang Mianmian roughly knew how to complete it and didn't worry about it at all. When she got tired of pasting matchboxes, she stopped and prepared to wash up and go to bed.
At 9 o'clock in the evening, all the lights in the family compound were basically turned off.
After all, it’s dark at night and there’s nothing to entertain yourself with. It’s true that there are electric lights, but the electricity bill is not cheap. Who would stay up late and turn on the lights for no reason?
Is there something important that must be done at night? Can't it be done during the day?
The steel mill operates in three shifts, with workers resting but the machines continuing to operate. This is because the machines will become useless if they stop, but the red-hot molten steel cannot stop, so the lights have to be on every day.
There is no such rule in residential buildings. Most people go to bed after dark. It took Xiang Mianmian a long time to get used to the lack of nightlife.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
