After solving the difficult problem of Xiang Lihua, Xiang Lili will get married at the end of the year, leaving the family with only the youngest daughter Xiang Mianmian whose marriage is unsettled.
Zhang Jidi washed the dishes while chatting and laughing with his daughter and daughter-in-law.
Originally, Yuan Huimei, as her sister-in-law, wanted to help her wash the dishes. This is the case in rural areas. When there is a wedding in the family of a brother, the sister-in-law must be present, but Zhang Jidi declined.
I feel bad when I see people. There are only a few piles of dishes, so I might as well wash them myself.
After being rejected, Yuan Huimei couldn't sit still, so she ran to the kitchen to clean up the post-war scene and stayed out of Zhang Jidi's sight.
The son works in the county town, and they, as parents, live far away in the countryside. They will have to trouble their second uncle a lot in the future, so how can they just sit there and do nothing?
As for the 1,200 yuan given, that was what Xiang Hongqi's family deserved. Yuan Huimei even felt a little guilty that she gave too little.
A rough calculation shows that people gave at least 4,400 yuan to support Mrs. Xiang in her old age. Although they were not there to fulfill their filial duties, they only gave back 1,200 yuan, which is a huge gap.
Even though the old lady must have spent some of it over the past 20 years, there is no problem with the remaining 3,000 yuan.
Xiang Tiezhu wanted to return 3,000 yuan to Xiang Hongqi. Assuming that the old man spent five yuan a month, 1,200 yuan would have been enough for the past 20 years, and there might even have been more.
But out of selfish consideration for his son, he finally divided it into four equal parts.
This made Yuan Huimei always feel ashamed of stealing money from an acquaintance whenever she faced Zhang Jidi, and she had to do something to help alleviate the feeling.
Conscience and reality are fighting, and the inner torment needs to be suppressed by busy work.
Zhang Jidi didn't care where his sister-in-law went. The doors and important things in the house were locked. She could go wherever she wanted, as long as she didn't hang around in front of him.
Seeing this strange young aunt go into the kitchen to wash up, Wang Chunting continued to talk about the news she had learned from her mother:
"I heard they're going to dig a canal here that will lead directly to the Jingjiang River. We can travel to the provincial capital, W City, by water in just two hours!"
Due to the winding mountain roads, land transportation takes at least four hours to arrive, and the train takes about the same amount.
Xiang Lili yawned. "They say this every year. Ever since our factory director announced plans to build a branch factory, these rumors have always been the same old story. How can digging a canal be that simple?"
At that time, the director of the methane plant proposed to dig a canal, which would drive the development of many factories and allow them to go directly to Shanghai by water, making it convenient to sell goods.
But when the higher-ups realized that digging the canal would cost the county three years of tax revenue, they immediately fell silent.
We also submitted a report to the city asking for support, but at that time the whole country was vigorously developing the economy and all projects were short of money, so this matter had no results and had to be left unresolved.
Wang Chunting hesitated for a moment: "But I heard that they are marking out areas for demolition."
Zhang Jidi's ears twitched. When she heard the word "demolition", she became a little excited: "Demolition? Which area are they going to demolish? It can't be our area, right?"
The family became prosperous thanks to the demolition and the rent they collected from the building they were allocated. Of course, she paid close attention to this matter.
Logically speaking, demolition will definitely be carried out in places with the least people, and it is impossible to carry out demolition in places where residents gather, such as the methane plant, because the demolition compensation will be very high.
But things are unpredictable, who knows? What if it happens to be her house...right?
Besides, she was just sitting around doing nothing, and she thought it wasn't against the law.
Xiang Meimei shook her head, her hands still washing dishes: "Mom, don't think about that beautiful thing. We just built a new building, how could they demolish ours?"
As expected of mother and daughter, Xiang Meimei immediately understood what Zhang Jidi was thinking.
Of course, she couldn't help but get carried away and for a moment thought about demolishing her own house or her mother's house, but when she thought about the reality, she felt that it was simply impossible.
The main reason is that the cost is too high. Who can afford to demolish so many households?
Wang Chunting looked around and lowered her voice. "I heard that houses along the creek are all available. There used to be a boat connection to the Jing River there, but it's dried up now. Now the prices of houses along the river have all gone up."
There is indeed a small river in the county town. The riverbed is more than ten meters wide, but the water is very shallow. During the dry season in winter, the water only reaches people's ankles, and even during the flood season in summer, the water only reaches people's thighs.
Young people have never seen it, but the old people say that this river used to connect to Jingjiang River, but they don’t know whether it is true or not.
Zhang Jidi's eyes lit up when he heard this: "Riverside? Li Dang bought a house by the river. Do you think it's possible that it's his house?"
Wang Chunting actually came to remind her mother-in-law not to sell the house easily.
Some people in the county town, after seeing the benefits brought by demolition, will take advantage of this loophole. As soon as they hear the news, they will go to places that may be demolished to buy properties and then wait for them to appreciate in value.
Although it does not necessarily mean demolishing Xiang Lidang’s house, we cannot allow anyone to take advantage of us.
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