When Meng Tao arrived in Mengzhou, she first went to the freight yard of the railway station to receive the goods. Ma Fengnian had been waiting there early. When he saw Meng Tao coming, he immediately started to move the goods for Meng Tao to inspect.

They are all local specialties of very good appearance and quality, totaling more than several thousand kilograms.

Thirty kilograms of tea, ten kilograms each of black tea, green tea and white tea.

Meng Tao doesn't know much about tea, and she just thinks it's good because it says "special grade" on the package. She believes in Ma Fengnian, and at least for now, Ma Fengnian is very honest and will not cheat her by selling inferior products as good ones.

After settling the payment on the spot, Ma Fengnian left first again. Meng Tao closed the door and stayed in the small shed in the cargo yard for an hour or two, slowly sorting the goods. When he saw the busiest time outside with vehicles and people coming and going, he would directly collect the goods into the space and leave.

After walking around the street for a few times, I saw a grocery store. I took out my money and tickets, went in and bought a bag of noodles and a pound of eggs, which I put in my bag. I also bought a three-pound grass carp, a roast chicken, a pound of braised pork skin, and five or six apples and pears, which I put in a net bag, and walked slowly towards Xingzi Lane.

The blue wooden door of Yard No. 9 was locked, so Meng Tao took a few steps to push open the half-open door of Yard No. 10 on the left. The rusty iron door creaked, and before she could call out "Are the masters home?", Aunt Wang came out of the house, saw Meng Tao, and smiled as she shook the water from her hands:

"I thought so. My left eye twitched early this morning. It must be a good thing. It must be that Miss Meng is back!"

Meng Tao called out "Hello, Aunt Wang" and looked around her yard. It was a little bigger than the No. 9 yard she bought. The main house had five rooms, and there were a whole row of side rooms. The corridors of the side rooms were full of clothes hanging out to dry. It seemed that there were quite a few people in the family. There were a lot of sundries piled up in the open space, making the yard look small and messy. There were no tiles on the ground, only a cement road about half a meter wide from the gate to the main house, so that shoes would not get dirty when walking on rainy days.

Aunt Wang welcomed Meng Tao into the main room, and three little kids ran out of the room. The oldest was five or six years old, and the youngest was just learning to walk, probably about two years old. They were wearing cotton coats and trousers, and were chubby. To prevent their clothes from getting dirty, they all wore aprons made from adult clothes.

Aunt Wang smiled and said that the one who is five or six years old is her youngest son, and the three and two years old are her grandson and her grandson respectively. It has been raining these two days and the weather is too cold, so the youngest son and two grandsons don’t want to go to kindergarten and stay at home for her to take care of. The three kids are almost climbing up the roof and tearing off the tiles, which is annoying her to death.

Meng Tao handed the fish, roast chicken, pig skin and fruit in her hand to Aunt Wang. Since there were children at home, she had to take out a pound of fruit candy from her bag:

"Uncle Wang and Aunt Wang have been helping to clean up the yard these days. They have worked hard. I should at least treat them to a meal, but there is nothing in the house. I can only buy some vegetables and ask Aunt Wang to cook for her."

Aunt Wang declined twice, then continued, smiling, "Miss Meng is so polite. Let's have lunch together at my house later!"

Meng Tao said, "No, I still have to go to the street to buy some household items. Now I want to see what the courtyard house looks like."

"Okay, I'll get you the key right away. The house has been painted, the ceiling has been replaced, the electrical wires have been replaced, the doors and windows have been repainted in the original color, and I said I had the materials, so why didn't you paint the exterior walls white? Your uncle Wang said I didn't understand, people should keep red walls and green tiles to look good, right? After two days of painting, your uncle Wang and I started to clean the inside and outside of the house and the window glass. We also cleaned the yard and left the flower pots untouched as you asked. Your uncle Wang also dug the drainage ditch and painted the toilets white... Here, the key is here, you can go and see, I'll go with you."

"No need, just keep an eye on the child and make sure he doesn't get hurt."

"Hey, okay! Then when you're done, come over and tell me about it."

"OK."

Meng Tao took the key and walked out, opened the gate of Courtyard No. 9, and now it was her own yard.

The dead branches and leaves on the ground in the yard were swept away, the flower stands were repaired, and the hanging dead branches were trimmed. The whole yard looked spacious and tidy, and very comfortable to look at.

They checked the house inside and out. The walls were snow-white and the floor was bright and clean. Basically, everything was done as Aunt Wang said. Uncle Wang was very meticulous in his work and there was nothing wrong with the wall painting and paint. The kitchen was rebuilt according to Meng Tao's requirements, and the yellow tiles were removed and replaced with pure white ones... The couple didn't know anything else, but they did their best when they got the job, which was a good thing.

Next, we need to buy some furniture and basic living utensils.

Meng Tao replaced the locks on the house and the courtyard gate with new ones, locked the door and went to the neighbor's house on the left. Aunt Wang was yelling and dealing with a lawsuit between several children - it was caused by snatching fruits and candies.

Seeing Meng Tao enter the room, Aunt Wang hurriedly left the children and came over to talk to her. She also took out the sugar jar and wanted to make her a cup of sugar water.

Meng Tao waved her hand to indicate that it was not necessary, and settled the wages for her and her husband's work with Aunt Wang. Aunt Wang liked the new neighbor's straightforwardness and tried hard to keep her for dinner, but Meng Tao declined and said that she would do it next time as she had other things to do.

When she came out of Wang's house, she saw Aunt Zhao from the opposite door and several women standing in the middle of the road talking. Aunt Zhao saw Meng Tao and hurriedly greeted her "Miss Meng" and waved her over. Meng Tao smiled and greeted her, saying that she had something else to do. She ignored the women staring at her and walked straight out of the alley.

Hearing the chatter behind him, some asked, "Is this the new neighbor? She's so young, who gave her the money to buy a house?" Others said, "This girl is arrogant and looks down on others. What's so great about that?" Meng Tao pretended not to hear.

She knew that neighbors of this era had very good relationships and close personal connections. They opened their doors to each other and accepted each other, and there was basically no privacy.

She is not an antisocial person and of course she is happy to see friendly neighbors, but it depends on the situation. Everyone has their own personality and not everyone can get along with them, and it is impossible for everyone to be affectionate as soon as they meet.

She is unwilling to do anything that goes beyond her bottom line.

Meng Tao first went to the furniture factory's sales department, where there were ready-made furniture for sale. The good thing about state-owned manufacturers is that they would never cheat or falsify information. The prices would correspond to the grades of the products, and you get what you pay for. So even if Meng Tao didn't know much about wood, she could still buy the furniture she liked based on the price.

The furniture factory sent a medium-sized trailer truck to deliver the goods to the door, and two workers followed the truck to unload the goods. Uncle Wang from next door had gone home for lunch and had not yet left, so he also brought his fourth son to help with the loading.

After arranging the furniture, Meng Tao locked the door and came out. She saw Uncle Wang had a tricycle with a bicycle on it, so she asked to borrow it to go shopping. Uncle Wang was afraid that Meng Tao didn't know how to ride the tricycle, so he asked his fourth son Wang Jiancheng to go with her and help carry things.

Wang Jiancheng was seventeen years old, tall and strong, and didn't like studying. He followed his father as an apprentice. Uncle Wang taught him to call Meng Tao "Sister Meng". He scratched his head in embarrassment, thinking that Meng Tao was younger than him. Meng Tao laughed and said that she would be twenty years old on New Year's Eve, so Wang Jiancheng had to call her "Little Sister Meng".

Other things to buy include brooms, mops, washbasins, and buckets; charcoal and stoves; as the old people said, when moving into a new home, you have to light a big fire for the family to prosper. Even if it's a superstitious belief, Meng Tao really likes playing with fire in the winter.

There are supply and marketing cooperatives and department stores in the city. Citizens who are particular about details like to go to department stores to buy and sell things. They think that the goods sold in supply and marketing cooperatives are of low quality. In fact, there is not much difference between them. Some of them are exactly the same.

Meng Tao did not go to the department store, but directly bought two quilts, sheets, mosquito nets, etc. at the supply and marketing cooperative. She stored some toiletries and spare clothes in the space and did not need to buy more.

Wang Jiancheng pulled back the goods that filled the tricycle and helped Meng Tao move them into the house. Seeing that he was running so fast and there was no hot water at home, Meng Tao took out an apple from her bag to quench his thirst. Wang Jiancheng was not polite and went home with the fruit.

As soon as he got home, his mother asked him what the girl next door had bought. Wang Jiancheng couldn't count everything, so he just picked out a few and said, "This little girl Meng is just too young. She spends money lavishly and wants to buy everything. She doesn't know how to live a refined life."

Wang Jiancheng said, "How can I not buy it? The house is empty and there is nothing in it. How can I live in it? What can I eat?"

Aunt Wang went to the next door to see what was going on. After a while, she came back and pouted, "The gates are all locked. No one responded when I called out."

Uncle Wang said, "They are tidying up their things in the house, how can they hear you? Even if they heard you, they don't have time, so don't bother them."

"Why bother her? You need help moving things around and putting things away? I can help her if I go."

"You don't know how they want to pose. Young girls have different perspectives than old ladies like you."

"You old man, you talk like you know."

"I don't know either, but I know better than you: this little Miss Meng is not ordinary. She can't get along with gossipy women like you. Don't bother her when you have nothing to do. She will annoy you."

"What's so special about that? I'm a gossipy woman, Xiao Meng just returned from his hometown."

"What's wrong with the countryside? A little girl spent hundreds of dollars to buy a house. Can we do the same?"

"That's true. How can Xiao Meng, a country girl, be so rich? Where does she get the money?"

"She's just a little girl, it's impossible that she stole it. How can you say that her family has money?"

"I'll have to ask her someday if there's any good way to make money."

"Don't be so talkative."

"Just asking what's wrong?"

Wang Jiancheng sat at the door and ate an apple, saying, "Mom, don't ask me. I'll tell you: Sister Meng just told me on the street that she is from the countryside, but her grandfather is a retired cadre with a subsidy. He saved some money for her dowry, and she wants to live in the city in the future, so he used it to buy the yard."

"Oh my! This prodigal girl has spent all the dowry money. Will her future in-laws despise her?"

Uncle Wang: “…”

Wang Jiancheng: “…”

How can it be considered a waste of money to buy a house with the dowry? This is also property.

Aunt Wang found out from her son where Miss Meng's money came from. After she figured it out, she felt bored because there was no novelty. She complained to her son again: "How did you find and eat the fruit I specially hid? I was going to save it for your second brother to give as a gift tomorrow!"

Wang Jiancheng finished eating the apple, even the core. It was so delicious that he couldn't get enough of it. "I don't know where you hid your fruit. This is what Sister Meng gave me just now."

Aunt Wang: “…”

Meng Tao over there had no idea that she had become the topic of discussion in the Wang family. Just as Uncle Wang said, she was busy in the house and indeed did not hear anyone knocking on the door.

Move the furniture, put things in place, and don't have time to sew the curtains, so cut the cloth according to the size of the windows and hang them up to cover the windows. When there is free time, take them to the sewing club for a cartload.

The room was divided into the master bedroom, guest room and study room. The antique table, eight-immortals table, four Ming Dynasty armchairs and two Qing Dynasty armchairs that were received in the provincial capital were placed in the space and covered with thick velvet. The doors and windows were very sturdy and usually locked. No guests would be entertained in this room and it would not be discovered.

Dear fairies and cuties, I have entered the V stage. Thank you for your continued support and encouragement. The author will work hard to update!

Today is the 10,000th update. Please continue to support me, ladies. Come on! 　　 　 (End of this chapter)