The couple looked at Wei Yuyan with sympathy.
"Sigh, yes, I knew that dilapidated house wouldn't last much longer, but things just didn't go as planned."
"With this accident, the house is no longer habitable."
Wei Yuyan sighed. What could she do in this situation?
"We also wanted to see if we needed any help, like if it needed to be rebuilt."
Brother Li Cai explained his purpose.
"That house is in a bad location. If there is another heavy rainstorm, there might be another mudslide."
I dare not live here anymore. I've decided to rent a place for a few months, save some money, and then choose a new address to build a new house.
To be honest, Wei Yuyan really didn't dare to live in that location anymore.
"Actually, the Wu family had lived here for decades without any problems, so we don't know what happened this time."
Brother Li Cai scratched his head, puzzled. Such torrential rains happen every few years, if not every year.
Why didn't the Wu family's house collapse before, but it did this year...?
"Because when Wu Chen is at home, he and his father would plant trees at the foot of the mountain to protect against floods and mudslides."
Another reason is that the house is getting older and older. After living there for so many years, the walls are no longer enough to stop the water from washing away the buildings.
The newly built wall should be able to stop it, preventing several houses from being washed away.
Brother Lifu also came out to analyze the reasons.
"I want to choose a good location to build a new house. If you have any good locations, please tell me and give me a suggestion."
Wei Yuyan thought that she was not familiar with the village and did not know where she could build a house and where she could not.
"Okay, we'll definitely keep an eye out for you."
Sister-in-law Zhang nodded, indicating that she would definitely keep it in mind.
In the afternoon, after Wei Yuyan had slept enough, she went to her hometown to get half a pound of brown sugar, wrapped it up, and called Xiuhua and her husband to go to the village chief's house together.
"The village chief should be at home."
Wei Yuyan was afraid of running away for nothing.
"It's so hot, I probably won't go out."
Soon, the group arrived at the village chief's house.
The gate was wide open, and the village chief's wife was sitting in the yard doing needlework.
"Auntie, is the village chief home?"
"Auntie".
Wei Yuyan took the initiative to go in and greet them, and Sister-in-law Xiuhua also greeted them.
"Oh, Wu Chen's wife, what do you need to see the village chief for? Have a seat, he's watering the vegetable garden, I'll go get him."
The village chief's wife noticed that Wei Yuyan was holding a bag and guessed that it was probably a bribe for the old man.
He warmly invited them to sit down, and then hurried to the backyard to call the village chief.
"They came to see me? What could they want?"
When the village chief heard his wife say this, he was a little curious. Could it be that she came to ask about Wu Chen's whereabouts, which he himself did not know?
"Just ask and you'll find out."
The village chief's wife was annoyed.
"Wu Chen's wife is here. What's the matter?"
The village chief came out with a smile.
"Village chief, this is what happened. Last night, there was such a heavy rain that half of my house collapsed and it's uninhabitable now."
I don't have the money to build a new house right now, so I was wondering if there are any empty houses in the village that I could rent?
Wei Yuyan briefly explained the reason.
"It collapsed?"
The village chief's wife was somewhat surprised; she hadn't heard of any other similar cases in the village. The house had collapsed; how unlucky!
"Yes, a mudslide and rocks just happened to roll down and hit my house. Half of it collapsed. I'm currently staying at Brother Lifu's house."
Wei Yuyan spoke calmly.
“There’s an empty house, and no one lives there. Shall we go take a look?”
The village chief took out his pipe, lit it, and took a puff.
"Then let's go take a look, Auntie. There's some brown sugar left at home. You can keep it to make tea."
Wei Yuyan placed the brown sugar on the table.
"Look at you, what are you even bringing? You're too kind."
When the village chief's wife heard it was brown sugar, her eyes lit up. Her daughter was pregnant and needed brown sugar water.
"Let's go~".
The village chief led the group toward the center of the village, and Wei Yuyan recognized that this was the road to Aunt Guihua's house.
"This is it~".
The village chief stopped next to Aunt Guihua's house and pointed to a house with blue bricks and tiles.
"This house is really nice."
Sister-in-law Xiuhua nodded; the wall and the gate were both in good condition.
"Let's go in and see what it's like inside. I haven't seen it in a long time."
The village chief took out a key to open the door, and Wei Yuyan went in to take in the layout.
I discovered that the courtyard only had two rooms. The one in the middle was the main room, and the two rooms on the left were for sleeping, with beds and cabinets inside.
On the right are a woodshed and a kitchen, both quite tidy, with the kitchen fully equipped with pots, pans, and utensils.
"I just don't know if the roof leaks?"
Li Fu observed the roof.
"There should always be some, after all, it's been several years."
The village chief took a few more puffs of his cigarette.
"Village chief, how much would it cost to rent this place?"
Wei Yuyan was quite satisfied; this house was even newer than the Wu family's house.
"Originally, since your house collapsed, we would have lent it to you for free."
However, with so many people in the village, gossip can be dangerous. It would be better if we just accepted a token amount, thirty coins a month.”
The village chief looked troubled.
"Then let's do it this way, village chief. I'll give you a discount. How about twenty-five coins? You know the Wu family has an orphan and a widow."
Although they recently saved some money by selling steamed buns, their two children are now in school.
In addition, there will be many expenses to be incurred in the future when building a house, and twenty-five coins is really quite a lot.”
Brother Lifu thought he should try his best to lower the price.
"Okay then, how long are you planning to stay this time? Are you going to pay now?"
The village chief was worried that they would go back and make up stories about him bullying the orphans and widows, so he had no choice but to agree to give them a discount of a few coins.
"Pay, pay 100 coins first. I'll definitely be staying here for four months."
Wei Yuyan nodded, eager to clean the place up immediately.
"Come to my house, and I'll write you a note."
The village chief is quite particular about these things; he can't just say it without proof, so it's better to write a note.
"Oh, we won't go. We'll help you clean up here."
Xiuhua's sister-in-law stopped Lifu, saying that there was nothing else for them to do, so they might as well clean up here.
"good".
Wei Yuyan nodded and followed the village chief back to his house.
"Wait a moment."
The village chief went inside to find a pen and ink.
"What are you doing in my house?"
Liu Cuifang happened to be back to visit her parents today, and unexpectedly ran into Wei Yuyan.
"I need to speak with your father about something."
Wei Yuyan didn't bother to look at her and simply turned her face to the side.
"Cuifang is back. Why did you come back in this heat? Go and rest for a while."
The village chief came out and was surprised that Liu Cuifang had come at this time, as she usually came in the morning.
"I understand, Father."
Instead of causing trouble, Liu Cuifang went inside to find her mother.
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