Chapter 76
Qin Xiang didn't expect that Meng Huaiqing would come to Uncle Ge again late at night, but his eyes just looked away and then retracted as soon as they met.
"Xiangxiang, it's time to sleep." Qin Juan had already made the bed. Fortunately, Qin Xiang's bed was 1.5 meters long, otherwise three people would not be able to lie down. However, it was not very spacious for three people either.
Qin Xiang drew the curtains, lay down on the bed, and patted the seat next to her. "Come to the middle."
Nian Nian happily came over and lay down, hugging Qin Xiang softly and calling, "Auntie."
Qin Xiang couldn't help laughing.
The summer night was far from cool. Even though the fan was on in the living room, the bedroom still felt hot. Qin Xiang fanned Nian Nian with a palm-leaf fan. The little girl looked at Qin Xiang with wide eyes and said, "Auntie, you smell so good."
"Really? Let me smell if Nian Nian smells good." Qin Xiang leaned towards Nian Nian, and Nian Nian started to laugh.
The crisp laughter echoed, Meng Huaiqing came out of his uncle's room and looked up at the open window.
Once upon a time, that was where my grandma lived.
Meng Huaiqing got in the car and said to Cen Xuan beside him, "Get ready and go back to Hong Kong City."
Cen Xuan nodded in response, "Okay, Boss. What about Mr. Ge?"
"My uncle still refuses to agree." Meng Huaiqing rubbed his brows with a headache. This time, he received news from Hong Kong City that his grandmother was hospitalized because of the anger from his relatives. He had to suspend his work here and go to Hong Kong City to take care of her. He originally thought that since his grandmother was in the hospital, his uncle would give in, but the old man directly said that life and death are determined by fate and directly refused.
Meng Huaiqing couldn't do anything to force someone. If he didn't mean it sincerely, kidnapping the person wouldn't make his grandmother happy.
When the car started up again, Qin Xiang heard a noise. Qin Juan then remembered the car she had seen yesterday and asked, "Is that boss who helped us so many days... your friend?"
friend?
Qin Xiang shook her head. "Sister, he's a big boss in Gangcheng. How could I be friends with him? He's the great-nephew of Mr. Ge next door, and the owner of this house. But he's well-educated and polite, so he gave me a ride when we met."
"Oh." Qin Juan was thinking about the divorce, so she only remembered that the other party drove a luxurious car and was dressed very expensively, and she didn't know anything else.
Everyone was very tired these two days. Nian Nian fell asleep while grabbing Qin Juan's clothes not long after she lay down. Qin Xiang was also drowsy.
After a while, just when Qin Xiang was about to fall asleep, Qin Juan whispered, "Xiangxiang, why is the world so malicious towards women?"
Qin Xiang woke up with a start and her sleepiness faded. She glanced at her sister's face in the dark. Under the light of the street lights outside, Qin Juan's face was filled with deep sadness, which made Qin Xiang feel very uncomfortable.
But when she thought about what happened to her sister in her previous life and then thought about what happened in this life, she suddenly felt that the two sisters were lucky.
She reached out and took Qin Juan's hand, saying, "Sister, it's not that the world is hostile to women, it's that women often can't let go of other women. Men are fine, they should have been hung on the wall, but women often make things difficult for other women. But I think we two sisters are very lucky to have escaped the sea of suffering so early. If we had continued to endure it, what would we be like in ten years, and what would we be like in twenty years?"
After she finished speaking, she patted her sister's hand and said, "Sister, go to sleep. We will go find a house tomorrow morning. Once you have your own home, you and Nian Nian will have a brand new beginning."
Qin Xiang really couldn't open her eyes, so she fell asleep after she finished speaking, but Qin Juan couldn't sleep. She stared at the ceiling, thinking about her sister's words.
Yes, they are both unfortunate and lucky. They escaped from the suffering early. She really couldn't imagine what would be waiting for her if she continued to insist on this marriage.
Adults can tolerate it, but what about Nian Nian?
Qin Juan couldn't imagine what kind of child Nian Nian would become if she grew up in such a family. She really couldn't imagine it.
Qin Juan hugged Nian Nian tightly, and Nian Nian also snuggled into her arms, adjusting the appropriate position, and murmured, "Mom, don't hit me..."
Her little body trembled slightly, and tears flowed from the corners of her eyes, wetting Qin Juan's clothes.
Qin Juan was so heartbroken that she couldn't breathe and couldn't hold back her tears any longer.
But she was worried that her sister would hear her, so she covered her mouth and let the tears fall.
However, she cried and then laughed. Her bad luck was that she met a scumbag like Zhao Qianjin, but at the same time she was very lucky because she had brothers and sisters who cared about her.
Qin Juan breathed a sigh of relief, wiped away her tears, and closed her eyes. The good days for her and Nian Nian had just begun.
When Qin Xiang woke up the next day, she found that her sister's eyes were swollen.
Thinking about her sister's temper, Qin Xiang knew that her sister must have cried secretly again after she fell asleep last night. When she was a child, sometimes when something happened, she thought it was no big deal, and her sister would cry secretly by herself. Because of this temper, her sister didn't know how many times she was scolded by her grandmother, but scolding was useless, because Qin Juan was just like that.
But later, Qin Juan set her sights on Zhao Qianjin and insisted on getting married. Grandma scolded Qin Juan, then turned around and cried behind others' backs, telling Qin Xiang that her sister would regret it sooner or later.
Even so, the old lady took out all her savings and asked Qin Baotian to raise money to buy a job for Qin Juan, just because she didn't want the Zhao family to look down on her because of her job.
But grandma still miscalculated. The Zhao family was evil to the core. Even if Qin Juan had a job, it would not work just because she gave birth to a daughter.
Qin Xiang pretended not to see it and went to cook after washing up. Mi Hongjun got up very early every day and bought some vegetables when he came from the university town.
Qin Juan let Nian Nian play with her third uncle while she helped cook in the kitchen. The two sisters also chatted with each other.
Qin Xiang said, "I have a client who's a teacher at Experimental Junior High School. I think since we're looking for a school for Nian Nian, why don't we just go find a good one? The school isn't far from here, near the provincial government, and it has a good environment and is safe. How about we look for an apartment nearby?"
Qin Juan was naturally tempted to hear Qin Xiang say this, but she still hesitated, "The price must be very high. I only have 400 yuan from selling my job, and the 200 yuan I got as a share. I'm afraid it's not enough."
Qin Xiang laughed and said, "I have some money here. Can I add to your bill first?"
But Qin Juan didn't want to take Qin Xiang's money. After a moment's hesitation, she said, "I saw that there's a night market in your square at night. What do you think about me setting up a stall to sell food? Is that okay?"
Qin Xiang looked at her sister in surprise when she heard this, then nodded immediately. "Of course, I'll take you and Nian Nian to have a look tonight. Don't be fooled by the fact that there are a lot of food sold at the night market, but there are also a lot of people. Let's see what we can sell."
Qin Juan felt relieved when her sister confirmed her idea. "I originally wanted to open a snack bar, but I was worried that I wouldn't have enough money to buy a house and then open a shop, so I decided to start by setting up a stall."
Qin Xiang nodded, "Okay, I support you."
Qin Juan had her own plans and could think so far ahead, which was something Qin Xiang had not expected.
In her previous life, until the accident, Qin Juan's life was all in the Zhao family, revolving around the Zhao family. Unexpectedly, in this life, her sister bravely took the step of divorce and now has plans for the future, which makes Qin Xiang very excited.
Of course, she wouldn't say she would give money for anything. Her sister is soft-hearted and a little sensitive. If she said it directly, her sister probably wouldn't be able to get over it.
Qin Xiang said, "If you need any help, tell me. Third brother is here too, so it's the same if you tell him."
Qin Juan looked at Qin Xiang and said, "Thank you, Xiangxiang."
Qin Xiang took the millet porridge off the stove and quickly heated the oil in a wok to prepare the dishes. "We are sisters, so it's a bit strange to say that. Brothers and sisters should help each other. Didn't I ask my second and third brothers for help at the beginning of the new year? Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to do what I have now on my own."
Although Qin Juan hadn't visited the shops in the university town yet, the two-story building she lived in was quite impressive. To be honest, she was envious, but she wasn't jealous; she just admired her sister's ability.
Qin Xiang thought of the storefronts in the university town again. "Oh, sister, besides the storefronts in the corner that I've reserved for myself, there are several more nearby. I'll reserve one for you. How about starting a snack business in the future? The provincial university is across the street, and there are many schools nearby. There will definitely be no shortage of people. What do you think?"
Qin Juan was surprised. "You still have a shop? Your own?"
"Yes, mine." Qin Xiang served the rapeseed and poured the buns and pickles that Mi Hongjun had bought onto the plate. Such a simple breakfast was enough. "I'll take you there later. It's not too far away. If possible, I'll reserve one for you. It's probably almost dried out in the past few days."
Qin Juan sighed, "Xiangxiang, you are really amazing. You are so different from before."
Qin Xiang laughed, "Sister, after my divorce, I went out with my third brother twice and realized how big the world is. You don't know that in many places in the south, women can become bosses. They are very powerful. You will definitely become as powerful as them in the future."
Hearing Qin Xiang say this, Qin Juan was very tempted, "Okay, let's go and take a look, but you have to rent it to me for the same amount as you rent it to others."
She paused, "But I want to set up a stall to earn some money first."
Qin Xiang nodded, "Okay, there's still more than a month before school starts."
Qin Juan felt that Qin Xiang really thought highly of her. She hesitated for a moment and said, "But if someone asks you to rent it, you can rent it. There's no need to keep it for me."
"Okay, I got it." Qin Xiang agreed, but in her heart she was thinking about which one would be more suitable as a storefront for snack business. If it wasn't a bit far from the school, she would have wanted to sell the house to her sister at a low price.
The two sisters came out with breakfast and found Nian Nian and Mi Hongjun playing together. They were surprisingly harmonious. Qin Yang was clearing the table and called Nian Nian, "Nian Nian, it's time to eat."
Nian Nian glanced at her third uncle and called Mi Hongjun, "Brother, eat."
Mi Hongjun immediately quit, glanced at Qin Xiang, gritted his teeth, and said, "Call me uncle."
Nian Nian tilted her head, not knowing what was wrong with this older brother, but she still insisted on calling out, "Brother, eat."
Mi Hongjun was about to collapse, "If you don't call me uncle, I won't play with you anymore."
Nian Nian's eyes were filled with trepidation, and she bit her lip and said, "Uncle."
Seeing this, Qin Xiang hurriedly hugged Nian Nian and glared at Mi Hongjun in reproach. "You are so young, it's normal for her to call you brother. Why are you trying to scare her?"
Komi Hongjun also felt aggrieved, "I am only two years younger than you. If she calls you aunt, then of course she should call me uncle. If she calls me uncle, then what should I call you?"
Hearing this, Qin Xiang couldn't help but laugh, "You can also call me aunt."
As she said this, she put Nian Nian on the stool and took a spoon for her to eat.
Mi Hongjun was speechless and said as he sat next to her, "You just take advantage of me."
Qin Xiang smiled but said nothing.
Qin Juan looked at Mi Hongjun and then at Qin Xiang and couldn't help laughing. The only one who was unhappy was probably Qin Yang. Qin Yang said to Mi Hongjun, "You will take care of your own meals from now on."
Before Mi Hongjun could complain about his grievances, Qin Xiang laughed first and said, "Don't worry, it's quite convenient for him to come and buy groceries."
Qin Yang frowned, "I'll buy it later."
I really don’t know what to say. Mi Hongjun’s behavior was so obvious, but his sister didn’t notice anything wrong and actually treated Mi Hongjun like a child.
Mi Hongjun felt that Qin Yang saw through his thoughts, so he didn't dare to look at him at all and just sat there pretending to be stupid.
After breakfast, Qin Yang and his two siblings took Nian Nian to the university town. Seeing the neat row of houses, Qin Juan was shocked. "Are all these houses yours?"
Qin Juan hadn't had much contact with her family before. She only knew that Qin Xiang was a self-employed person in the provincial capital, but she had no idea that Qin Xiang had the ability to actually build his own storefront. Not to mention the largest one on the corner, the others were enough to make Qin Juan envious.
With this shop, even if her sister does nothing but collect rent, she will still make a lot of money every month, right?
There were four rooms across the room, and another at the corner, all of which were quite large. This was completely beyond Qin Juan's understanding.
Last night she thought the shop Qin Xiang was talking about was the same gray little house outside, but she never imagined it was such a shop, with two floors above and below, and the rent alone would not be cheap.
Qin Juan looked at Qin Xiang in shock and said, "Xiang Xiang, tell me the truth, how much do you plan to rent this house for a month?"
Qin Xiang has not yet decided on this issue. She started the renovation of her storefront first, and the other parts have only been cleaned up in the past few days. She has not yet decided on the price.
But comparing it to the rent of houses nearby, she estimated, "I estimate it will be at least more than twenty dollars a month."
But not all of these storefronts are two-story, after all, some people don’t want the space on the second floor.
To make the staff quarters larger, the original plan was revised. The second floor was expanded, and only the first floor of the two corner shops would be rented out, with the second floor combined into the staff quarters. One of the four horizontal rooms was also used as staff quarters, leaving the remaining two rooms as two-story buildings.
Qin Xiang said, "If it's just the front room, I'm planning to rent it for fifteen yuan a month, and twenty-five yuan for the upper and lower floors. I'll ask for the details first."
Hearing her say this, Qin Juan took a deep breath. Even if it was the cheapest one, the cost would be one hundred and eighty yuan a year.
Qin Xiang led her to the westernmost storefront. "There's a staircase on the inside, with seating for both upstairs and downstairs. If it's a small business, you can use the lower floor to entertain guests, and then hire a waiter upstairs to use as staff quarters. That's fine. This location is not far from the Normal School over there, and the traffic from the two schools is enough to support this store."
In fact, there are other snack shops nearby, but the environment is like this, and there are still few people who actually do small business. With so many people in several schools, there is no need to worry about the flow of people being divided. On the contrary, it is also beneficial to have snack shops together. Students have more choices, and more people will come, so the average score will not be reduced.
Qin Juan went in and looked around inside and out. The more she looked, the more she liked it. "It would be nice to have a shop downstairs and a living space upstairs."
She now has money to buy a house and buy things for her stall, so renting this place is not really convenient. She will wait and see.
After looking around here, the three siblings prepared to go look for a house near the school.
There is no such thing as school district housing now, but schools are divided according to distance.
Moreover, there are no specialized real estate agencies now, so if they want to buy a house, there are only two ways: either go to the housing authority to ask, or find a know-it-all in the area they like, which is the most direct way.
Qin Xiang's rental of the small building and purchase of the house in the university town were really based on luck. If she really went to the housing management office, she might not be successful.
So today, Qin Xiang took Qin Juan and the others to the district's housing management office. They weren't sure if they were lucky, but after searching for a while, the staff member said, "There really is one. It turns out it's a dormitory for brewery employees. They built a new staff building this year, and with the government subsidizing part of it, employees can buy it themselves. Then, a junior leader at the factory wanted to move to a bigger house, but unfortunately, he didn't have the money, so he wanted to sell it."
Qin Xiang asked, "How big is this house?"
The staff member said, "The house is okay, it's over 30 square meters, it's two rooms connected, and the location is good."
Qin Xiang was satisfied when she heard that the house was over 30 square meters, but Qin Juan was a little worried. Such a big house would definitely not be cheap. Her original idea was to buy a small room.
Qin Xiang knew Qin Juan's concerns, so she asked, "How much do they sell it for?"
"Eight hundred."
"Eight hundred?" Qin Juan frowned and said to Qin Xiang, "That's too expensive."
Qin Xiang asked, "Are there any other smaller ones? It's okay for just the mother and daughter to live in a smaller one."
The staff member was quite friendly. After looking through the books, he said, "No more."
Qin Juan was a little disappointed. In fact, Qin Xiang was somewhat tempted, but the house was for Qin Juan and her daughter after all, and the price was really not cheap, so she suggested taking a walk around the area first.
After leaving the Housing Management Office, they went directly to the brewery dormitory according to the address given by the staff.
The dormitory is located in the old staff compound of the brewery. There are three or four family buildings in it. It looks quite crowded and lively.
Qin Xiang went over to ask, and an old lady pointed to a room on the second floor and said, "You mean Director Qi's house? They are indeed selling their house."
Qin Xiang has a pleasant appearance, and the old lady likes him the most. Seeing Qin Xiang's good attitude, she couldn't help but say a few more words, "What are you talking about? This house is so nice to live in. Why do you have to live in a new house? Our house is also quite new."
Hearing this, Qin Xiang glanced at the compound. This dormitory was indeed quite old, and the building was a bit dilapidated.
Qin Xiang had never been here in her previous life, but she had seen it on the news. Because there were elementary schools, junior high schools and high schools nearby, this area was later planned to be developed into a library, and the residents of this area benefited from the demolition.
If they hadn't come over, Qin Xiang really wouldn't have remembered this.
Qin Xiang is ready to persuade Qin Juan to buy the house.
But Qin Juan has already inquired about other houses.
The old lady shook her head. "I've been around this compound every day, but I haven't heard of anyone selling their house. New houses are nice, but we can't afford them. Most of them are bought by young people because they can't live in them anymore. That's why there are more elderly people in this compound now. I haven't heard of anyone selling."
Qin Juan felt a little disappointed when she heard this. Qin Xiang stood outside and looked at Director Qi's house, but unfortunately, she could not see anything from the outside.
The old lady had a good impression of them, so she whispered to them, "Director Qi's family is in a hurry to sell their house to raise money. I think you can bargain and get a better price. That house is really nice, and the storage inside is also very good. I heard that he doesn't want most of his furniture anymore and wants to replace it with new ones. If you move in, you can save a lot of money on these things."
Hearing this, Qin Xiang's eyes lit up and she looked at Qin Juan, "Sister, I think it's good."
Qin Juan sighed. It was good, but the price was not cheap even after bargaining.
After leaving the compound, they searched around the school again and found a tube-shaped building a little further away. Unfortunately, the building looked like it was about to collapse, and it cost more than 500 yuan, but the area was only a dozen square meters.
Qin Juan was originally tempted, but when she went downstairs, she met a man who was staring at her. Qin Juan was frightened and said she didn't want to go there anymore after leaving that area.
Qin Xiang hadn't noticed this, assuming Qin Juan also felt that the building was unsafe. "I think the brewery dormitory is the most suitable. The ladies there seem kind, and there are a lot of elderly people there, so there probably won't be many troublemakers. It's also close to the school. I calculated it's only a few minutes' walk away."
Qin Juan was silent all the way. After Qin Xiang finished speaking, Qin Juan asked Nian Nian, "Do you like it there?"
Nian Nian tilted her head and thought for a moment, "I like it. The grandma just now praised Nian Nian as a good child."
Qin Juan was stunned. She hadn't really noticed this. This made her feel warm inside. She touched Nian Nian's head and said, "Okay, Mom will buy a house there and we'll settle down there."
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