Previously, as long as the apartment was close to the school, it was fine. Now, Shuyan also has to take care of her business, so the apartment she looks for must be close to a bus stop and have a bus route to Chengnan West Road. In addition, it also has to be close to the school, which limits the options.
Yesterday, I casually mentioned the house to Lao Hu. He apologized to Shu Yan and immediately promised to find her a better place to live.
Shu Yan didn't place all her hopes on Lao Hu. She also sought help from Lin Hui and Wu Xiuyue, who were both locals with many relatives and friends. Their inquiries were much better than Shu Yan's own efforts.
Actually, the best place would be in the Fuqian Street area, but Shuyan requires a detached house with its own kitchen and bathroom, which is a bit too much.
In 1992, housing was extremely scarce for local residents in Nancheng. Often, three generations of a family would squeeze into a 40-50 square meter house. Most houses did not have a private bathroom, so it was really difficult to find a suitable house.
"Why don't you just stay here for a few months? Your new house will be ready to move into by the end of the year." Wu Xiuyue asked around at several places, but they were either already rented out or she could rent out a room to supplement her household income.
"Let's keep looking." That's only when there's absolutely no other way. Maybe we can find something that suits our taste.
“I have a relative whose daughter went abroad to study and settled there after graduation. Now she has a baby, and her parents have gone to take care of their daughter and grandson. They plan to rent out the house, which is a whole yard, so the rent might be a bit high.” Lin Hui thought for a moment and then told her about her relative’s house.
“A slightly higher rent is fine, but I’ll only rent for four months, six months at most. You know I bought a house in Nancheng Shoufu. I’ll move in once the renovations are finished and the smell dissipates. Will that be okay for your relatives?” Shu Yan had already decided that if this house wasn’t good enough, she would find a roommate, but it had to have a bathroom. That was her bottom line.
“I know your situation, so that’s not a problem. Actually, my relative’s family is quite wealthy. It’s not that I’m renting it out to make money; I just want to help him manage his house. The couple are both very nice people. It’s just that his mother is a bit difficult to talk to, but they don’t live together. You can just close the door and live your own life.” Lin Hui said as she took Shu Yan to see the house.
There was a bus stop not far from the house, and Shu Yan looked at this first. If it didn't go directly to Chengnan West Road, it would be useless.
Luckily, there was a bus to Chengnan West Road, and the road to the elementary school is just to the right. It's only a five-minute walk, so transportation wasn't a problem.
The house is a two-story building with yards in the front and back. In the front, there is a jujube tree and two pomegranate trees. The jujubes have been knocked off, but the pomegranate trees still have fruit hanging on them. The living room is in the middle, the kitchen is on the left, and the study is on the right. There are three bedrooms and a small living room on the second floor. There are bathrooms on both the first and second floors. It is very spacious and fully equipped. You can move in with just your bags.
The backyard was divided into small plots, planted with bok choy, scallions, chives, and another plot that looked like it was planted with ginger. There wasn't a single weed in sight.
"Didn't you go abroad? How come this place is being taken care of so well?" Shu Yan looked at Lin Hui with a puzzled expression.
"My son asked the neighbors for help when he left." The old lady came out of the house, looked at Shu Yan with a critical gaze, and asked, "How many people live here?"
"Me and my two children." Shu Yan found that the old lady was indeed as difficult to talk to as Lin Hui had said, or rather, she particularly looked down on people from other places.
When Lin Hui took her to find the old lady, the first thing she asked was where she was from and what she did.
"Two more children? How old are they?" The old lady frowned.
"The older one is seven years old, and the younger one is three years old, but both of my children are very sensible and won't cause trouble." Shu Yan understands that many people are unwilling to rent their houses to families with children, especially those with very young children, because young children are mischievous and might scribble on the walls or damage furniture and doors and windows.
"Third Aunt, our Tongtong and her daughter are classmates. Her daughter is really well-behaved. I've also met her son, and he's very sensible and obedient. They don't cause trouble at home," Lin Hui said, speaking up for Shuyan.
"No, no," Auntie San shook her head. "The furniture in my son's house is all made of precious wood, that mahogany stuff, it's very valuable. The child doesn't know his own strength, what if he bumps or hurts himself? No, no."
Shu Yan really liked the house, but there was nothing she could do if the other party didn't want it.
As she was leaving, Shu Yan heard the door next door open. She turned her head and their eyes met. Shu Yan was stunned. Wasn't this the hero she had carpooled with last time? She didn't expect him to live here.
When the man saw Shu Yan, he nodded to her and turned to leave.
"You know him?" Lin Hui asked.
"I don't know him. I shared a ride with him when I went to buy goods last time. I don't even know his name, but the driver said he was a hero." Shu Yan glanced again at the man who was walking further and further away. "Is this house his?"
"What hero? He's a murderer." The old woman locked the door and spat at the man's back. "The house next door belongs to my sister-in-law. She's old and confused, renting the house to someone like that."
"A murderer?" Shu Yan was taken aback and looked at the old lady with some disbelief. Could it be that the driver was lying to her?
"Third Aunt, was it manslaughter or was it done to save someone? It's different." Lin Hui glanced at Shu Yan and whispered to her, "That man just now, if you want to talk about heroes, he really is."
"What happened?" Shu Yan asked, full of curiosity.
As they walked and talked, Lin Hui told Shu Yan everything she knew.
"His name is Fang Zeyu. His father was an educated youth sent to the countryside in Nancheng. His parents seem to have divorced a long time ago. I don't know about his mother's situation. His father was a worker in our factory. They say that if there's a stepmother, there's a stepfather, and that's really true. Anyway, his family treated him badly. After graduating from junior high school, he ran away to join the army and served for about five years. After he came back, he was assigned to drive. Once, he went out to eat with his leader and director. In the car, he saw a group of people forcibly dragging a female student inside. He went to stop them, and a conflict broke out, and they started fighting. It was late at night, and I don't know what happened, but someone was accidentally pushed out and hit by a car and died. That person had some connections, and now it's all been blamed on Fang Zeyu." Lin Hui sighed as she said this. "If it were an ordinary family, they would definitely plead for him. But Fang Zeyu's father was afraid of offending people, so he didn't say a word. Even the girl he saved said that she was friends with those people and that it was just normal playful fighting. She said that Fang Zeyu rushed out and beat people without knowing the facts."
"This is so unfair." She was trying to save someone, but in the end, she was betrayed and blamed. Shu Yan couldn't even imagine what would happen if this happened to her. She would probably be heartbroken and never be a good person again.
"What could he do? The witnesses and evidence were all there, and he just sat in jail for years for nothing. He only got out because of the help of his comrades-in-arms, otherwise he might still be in prison. Now he's lost his job, and his father has cut off all ties with him. The saddest thing is that his only loving grandmother passed away while he was in jail, and he didn't even get to see her one last time. You wouldn't believe how much he cried when he came back, kneeling in front of the old house. It was heartbreaking to hear. His third aunt's neighbor was his sister-in-law. She was a very kind person, but she had a hard life. Both of her sons and daughters-in-law died back then, and her only grandson was also killed in action. He was Fang Zeyu's comrade-in-arms. I heard that one of them died and the other was seriously injured in that incident. Anyway, after Fang Zeyu came back from the army, he treated the old lady like his own grandmother, and the old lady treated him like her own grandson. The old lady even went to pick him up herself. I heard... I heard it from someone else, but Fang Zeyu transferred his household registration to the old lady's place and even changed his surname so he could be her grandson from now on."
"I think it's fine. I wouldn't acknowledge parents like that either." A kind father is essential for a filial son. What's the point of keeping a father like that? If it were her, she would change her surname and acknowledge the old lady as family.
"That's not how it's said. The rumors outside are really nasty. They say he only became a grandson because of the old lady's house, and many people say he's a murderer. Anyway, his reputation in this area is terrible, and he's disfigured, so he's still unmarried at thirty-five." Lin Hui shook her head and sighed.
Shu Yan also felt sorry that someone with a bright future had ended up like this because of an unjust accusation.
"By the way, do you want to..." Lin Hui hesitated for a moment, then shook her head, "Never mind, forget I said anything."
"Just say what you want to say." Shu Yan felt even more uncomfortable because of her hesitant speech.
“I mean, the old lady next door has a lot of houses. Do you want to rent one for a while? But you…” Lin Hui really wanted to ask where Shu Yan’s husband was, otherwise she wouldn’t be working so hard as a woman. “I’d rather not. It wouldn’t sound good if word got out that you, a woman with two children, were living with Fang Zeyu.”
Shu Yan was really speechless. If this were in the future, there would be plenty of single men and women sharing apartments. Some houses would be converted into seven or eight single rooms, all shared by men and women. Why make such a fuss?
However, times have changed, and people's thinking is more conservative now. She doesn't care about herself, but she can't ignore her children. Both of her children are studying here, and since this place is so close to the school, if the rumors are too harsh, it will affect the children.
Since they couldn't find a house yet, they could only pin their hopes on Lao Hu. Shu Yan checked the time; it was past eleven. She had originally wanted to visit her daughter, but then thought she should be having dinner at Teacher Liu's place and didn't want to disturb her. So she took Tianbao to a noodle shop next to the elementary school. Tianbao only took one bite before spitting it out.
"Mom, it's so sweet."
Shu Yan silently took a bite. She could accept it, but the two children couldn't get used to it at all. Thinking of her daughter who always said it was delicious, Shu Yan's eyes reddened slightly, and her heart ached. She wondered if the child had been mistreated by the teacher. Even if she had, she probably wouldn't have said anything. In any case, she had to find a house as soon as possible and bring the child back to her side.
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