The yard had been sitting there for nearly a year without being sold, and the eldest and third brothers had long been impatient. They had to come every now and then to look after it. In addition, some cousins came over and wanted to occupy the yard, so the three brothers agreed to let it go quickly to avoid disputes among relatives. The lowest price was 600, and it was sold! So, even though he was unwilling, Uncle Jia still responded to Meng Tao: "600 is 600, I'll give it to you."
The house was originally intended to be sold, so preparations had been made in advance and the agreement had been written. Meng Tao only needed to read it once to see if there were any problems. Then both parties signed, paid the house price, and wrote a receipt.
To transfer the property, one needs proof of original address and identity. Meng Tao looked through the certificates that had been issued by Captain Bao in her schoolbag and skillfully changed the date on one of them to make it the most recent one that could prove her identity and address. She showed it to Uncle Jia, who said it could be used.
So that afternoon, Uncle Jia took Meng Tao to the housing management office and the street office, and quickly completed all the formalities. The yard at No. 9 Zuo Xingzi Lane became Meng Tao's.
Director Yao of the Street Office was a middle-aged woman who probably liked matchmaking. Seeing that Meng Tao was pretty and charming, and having looked at her credentials and filled out forms, and knowing her age, she asked with a big smile on her face:
"You are less than 20 years old, you don't have a partner, right? You have a house in the city now, if you find a partner in the city to marry, you can change from a farmer to a non-farmer, move to a city household registration and eat commercial grain. Auntie, I will find you a young man with a job. If you agree, ask him to come over immediately. It just so happens that your yard needs cleaning and tidying up, so he can help. What do you say?"
Meng Tao smiled and thought of Shen Yu. She found that it was good to have a "substitute candidate" who could serve as a shield at critical moments.
"Thank you Director Yao, I have a partner."
“Is this true or false?”
"real."
"No, you've already bought a house in the city. If you don't want to farm anymore, you can find a job in our neighborhood. Forget about dating in the countryside!"
“He’s not in the countryside.”
"A county town? That's not good either! Look, this is Mengzhou, a regional city. This is a real city!"
“He’s not from the county either.”
"That's our Mengzhou? No wonder you came here to buy a house."
Director Yao looked disappointed, but soon smiled and waved her hands: "It doesn't matter! We are just friends, not married yet, just keep dating for now. If you break up when the time comes, be sure to tell Aunt Yao and I will find you someone better right away!"
Meng Tao: “…”
Okay, you are the street director, you can say whatever you want, I will listen for now.
Meng Tao took the keys given by Uncle Jia and returned to No. 9, Xingzi Lane.
It has become my own private property. I feel a little sad when I look at this yard again. There are broken branches and leaves all over the ground, a large piece of dead vines on the wall has been pulled down, and the bonsai flowers in the corner are roughly piled up, with branches broken and several pots broken. Maybe someone wanted to clean all these out before.
Those are all blue and white porcelain basins. Mr. Jia has been taking care of them for decades. I wonder if they are antiques?
Meng Tao rearranged the flower bonsai one by one, walked to the faucet beside the miniature rockery and turned on the water to wash her hands. There was a small lotus leaf-shaped pool here. Mr. Jia probably wanted to raise a few koi.
When you walk out of the house, there are two small houses on the back right, which are the bathroom and toilet, with neatly planted holly trees beside them.
On the left wing is the kitchen and dining room. The dining room is very large, and one person does not need such a large dining room. Looking at the well-sealed glass windows and the wooden shelves on the wall, Meng Tao felt that this was actually the place where Mr. Jia placed flower pots in the winter. Some flowers are not frost-resistant, and many of the flower pots in the yard may have been frozen to death.
Meng Tao found a bamboo broom and started sweeping the yard.
It was already past four in the afternoon, and there were no cars to return to Xingyang County. Meng Tao thought that at worst, she could just stay in the space overnight. Although the space stone platform was shrouded in mist, the temperature was not as cold as outside. It was time to harvest a batch of Chinese cabbage. Who has ever seen a bamboo pole used to fish out Chinese cabbage from the cracks of the stone? It was like fishing, interesting but also very time-consuming. She would take the bus back tomorrow morning.
As she was sweeping, the half-closed courtyard door was pushed open and three women walked in. The one in front was Aunt Wang, her left neighbor whom Meng Tao had met in the morning.
Aunt Wang smiled and said, "Girl, did you really buy this house?"
Meng Tao nodded, and an auntie next to her couldn't wait to ask, "How much is it?"
Meng Tao said: "The original owner has told me, it's hard to say."
"Hey, what's so bad about that? We're neighbors, just tell us."
Meng Tao just smiled and didn't answer. It wasn't that she was keeping it a secret on purpose, but she really promised Uncle Jia not to tell anyone else the price for the time being.
Aunt Wang didn't care about this. Instead, she went to the main house and the kitchen with another aunt, and came out with a pout, muttering about how the women in the Jia family were too much. It was like robbery. Originally, the furniture and things in Mr. Jia's house were all very good, but they were all moved out. Not to mention pots and kettles, not even a bowl was left. It was a loss to buy this house, and they would have to spend money to buy more.
When she came back to talk to Meng Tao, Aunt Wang told her: "This is Aunt Zhong from the courtyard on the right, and this is Aunt Zhao from the opposite side. Aunt Zhao is a relative of my family."
Meng Tao followed her instructions and called people one by one. She thought she would have to change her way of addressing them in the future and call them Aunt Wang. After staying in the countryside for so long, she actually forgot the way to address people in the city.
But here comes the question: Is this the maiden name of the three women, or the surname of their husbands? How should they address their husbands in the future? Should they call them aunt or uncle with the same surname?
Oh, never mind, just shout like this for now.
Aunt Wang said to Meng Tao, "It's no use sweeping now. You'll make it dirty again tomorrow. Generally, a newly bought house should be cleaned inside and out. At least the house should be repainted, the ceiling and other things should be replaced, and the floor should be washed clean. This is to sweep away the smell of the old owner and make the house clean and fresh so that it is convenient to move in."
Meng Tao nodded: "I have the same plan, but I don't know where to find someone who can paint the walls and replace the ceiling?"
Thank you very much for your support! The article will be published next week. The author is working on it. It's cold now, so please keep warm.
(End of this chapter)
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