After dinner, Wei Lingcheng drove Cheng Maixiang and Lin Jiayu to the Lin family mansion, and then left with Lin Qingwan and Yingying.
The two walked into the black gate and passed the screen wall. The "Administration Office" sign that was erected when they came here last year had disappeared.
The two side rooms that were originally used as dormitory management offices have been restored to their original appearance. There is an octagonal table and several pearwood chairs in the middle, which seem to be used to entertain guests.
The last time the four of them came to the Lin family mansion, it was here that they negotiated with Manager Huang. They first asked the female workers from the provincial textile factory who lived in the third courtyard of the mansion to move out and let the Lin family move in. Manager Huang agreed.
Originally, Cheng Maixiang thought that they would have to live with these female workers for at least a few more years before they could have complete peace and quiet. Unexpectedly, Wei Lingcheng took action and made the people from the provincial textile factory leave the Lin family's house.
Lin Jiayu looked at the two rooms and said to Cheng Maixiang, "Don't you want to open a clothing sales outlet in the provincial capital? These two rooms are great. If you knock down the wall in the middle, it will be a full 70 or 80 square meters."
Cheng Maixiang shook her head. "These two rooms are inside the house. It's not very convenient. We can't let those who want to buy clothes come in and out of the Lin family all day long. It's too inconvenient."
"What's the big deal? Look, these two rooms are next to the south wall. If you knock down the wall, these two rooms will face the street directly. Then we won't have to go in and out of the main door."
Cheng Maixiang looked at Lin Jiayu in astonishment, then turned to look at the pink wall outside the window, and she couldn't bring herself to do such a cruel thing.
To put it simply, this house is the ancestral property of the Lin family. To put it more broadly, it is an ancient building. If it were much older, it might even be considered a cultural relic. She still didn't dare to smash a hole in the ancient building.
Seeing Cheng Maixiang's disapproval, Lin Jiayu smiled and said, "We'll discuss this later. Let's go check out the house first."
Cheng Maixiang was hoping that he would give up the idea of smashing the cultural relics as soon as possible, and nodded hurriedly. The two of them walked out of the two rooms, took a few steps to the east, and saw a crescent-shaped archway.
The two of them passed through the archway and saw a bluestone path under their feet. There were two small flower beds on each side of the path, but the flowers in them had long been cut down, and a lot of vegetables were planted instead.
On both sides of the flower garden, there are four rooms with white walls and black tiles. The two pushed the door open and went in. The layout inside was very similar to the two rooms at the door. There were only tables in both rooms, and several rooms were empty, but they were very clean, and it was obvious that they had been cleaned carefully.
Lin Jiayu sighed, "It seems that the furniture originally placed in the house has either been destroyed or thrown away."
Cheng Maixiang nodded. These side rooms looked like either study rooms or guest rooms, so naturally they had a lot of good furniture. But since the provincial textile factory was used as a dormitory for female workers, it naturally did not need those things that seemed worthless to them.
Cheng Maixiang guessed that there must have been a lot of bunk beds in this house before they came. After they were moved away, Wei Lingcheng sent someone to clean it, but the lost furniture could never be found again, so the house was left empty.
Lin Jiayu walked around, looking at the now-empty room. Pointing to the south corner, he said, "This used to be a bookshelf. Dad loved to read here every night. With the window open, the scent of roses from the flowerbed streamed in. The fragrance of books complemented the scent of flowers. It was truly the most beautiful thing."
As Cheng Maixiang listened to his description, a picture seemed to emerge in front of her eyes: an elegant middle-aged man in his thirties, standing by the window, flipping through a thread-bound book in his hand, and a child of six or seven years old hugging his legs, laughing and making noises. The man put down the book, picked up the naughty child, and played with him.
"When my parents left the provincial capital, they had already sensed something was amiss. To leave a way out for my older sister and me, they left all their treasured books at home. They also tried every possible way to bring the family's valuable jewelry to Linwen County and hid them in that big tree.
After my parents passed away, this house was confiscated, and none of those ancient books were left. They were all lost and can never be found again."
Cheng Maixiang heard the indescribable sadness in Lin Jiayu's words. Not wanting him to recall those sad past events, she hurriedly took his hand and said, "Take me to the master's room to take a look."
"Okay." Lin Jiayu nodded with a smile. Although he felt sad when thinking about the past, he still came back and brought his beloved wife with him. Perhaps this was the best comfort for his deceased parents.
The third courtyard of the house is where the owner actually lives. There is a small pond in the yard, but it has long been dry and there is not a drop of water in it. The pond is surrounded by a flower bed, which is planted with vegetables such as cabbage and radishes as usual.
Cheng Maixiang shook her head helplessly, but Lin Jiayu didn't care at all. He smiled and said, "That's perfect. It saves us from spending money to buy it."
Cheng Maixiang pointed at the pond and said, "After we settle down, I will clean up the yard, pull out all these green and white radishes, plant some beautiful flowers, fill the pond with water, and raise some carp, so that this yard can regain its former vitality."
Lin Jiayu looked at her with a smile. He would never oppose his young wife's decision. If she wanted to grow crops in the yard, he would also raise his hand in agreement. Not to mention that she wanted to restore the yard to its original appearance, that would be perfect.
In the third courtyard, five side rooms were built in sequence on the north side, three bright and two dark. The middle one was the main room, and on both sides were bedrooms, each with an ear room.
Cheng Maixiang and Lin Jiayu pushed the door open and entered the east room. They saw a wooden table under the window with a radio on it, a chair in front of it, and a brand new sewing machine opposite the table.
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