In the afternoon, Chen Xingling took the rental contract to negotiate with Gu Yi's landlord.
She spoke righteously and had a good partner. After being intimidated by her, the other party finally did not dare to raise the price and said he would talk about it after living there for two years.
Chen Xingling was not worried about what would happen in a year or so. He believed that with Zhao Xiaoxing and Gu Yi's income, as long as they managed to control their spending and not waste money, they would have a good chance of buying a house or land to build a house in Yucheng within a few years. There was no need to worry.
Then she took two large bottles of herbicide from the supermarket, loaded two large buckets of water and hurried off.
The factory site was so wide that it took her more than two hours to spray the herbicides everywhere.
Then, she went to the construction site, picked up a large wooden board, wrote eight eye-catching characters "Poisonous, Do Not Touch" on it with red paint, and hung it on the outermost edge of the wasteland.
After finishing all this, she went to nearby residents to explain the actual situation and told them that their children should not play in the wasteland.
When Ma Dali heard that she went to spray the herbicide alone, he couldn't help frowning.
"Luckily it's winter now, otherwise even I wouldn't dare to go. You, I don't know whether to say you are brave or courageous!"
Chen Xingling asked suspiciously: "What's wrong?"
"There are snakes!" Ma Dali explained, "The grass on that wasteland is very tall, and there are many snakes hiding in it. People nearby don't dare to go in casually, especially in summer."
Chen Xingling was shocked when he heard this, and said, "Well - I didn't notice anything. They left immediately after spraying the herbicide."
"Because the snakes hibernate!" Ma Dali explained: "Someone used to cultivate that land, but the soil was not fertile enough, and there was no water source nearby, so it was a long way to get water. After two years of not cultivating the land, weeds grew everywhere. The grass was tall and dense, and there were snakes, insects and ants everywhere. Fortunately, it is winter now, otherwise it would be very dangerous."
Chen Xingling wasn't too worried. "It's okay. Once the herbicide is sprayed, many insects and ants will run away. I was worried that the children nearby might come in to play and it might be unsafe if they came into contact with the herbicide, so I wrote a note to remind them. It seems that it was unnecessary."
"No need to remind them." Ma Dali said, "There are not many people around here. Every household knows that it is not safe inside, so they usually walk around it. How could they possibly get in?"
"It is true that the ignorant are the bravest." Chen Xingling laughed bitterly.
Ma Dali was amused by her and said, "With you as a pioneer, we will go to weed and turn the soil in a few days. Even if we are afraid, we have to bite the bullet and do it."
Chen Xingling washed his hands and drank some water from the kettle.
"I told my fourth brother to go back and ask a few brothers to come and help you every day. The tractor should be used to pull bricks, and the mud, sand and cement should be prepared every day."
"Yes." Ma Dali explained, "It's just two rooms and a loft. We have called so many workers, including your brothers, and we can lay all the bricks in one day."
Chen Xingling reminded: "You have to contact them separately for water and electricity. You don't have to be too busy in Gaoshan Park. Next, we will deal with your family's house and my fourth brother's factory site - we will try to complete it before the New Year."
"Yes." Ma Dali nodded: "Half a month is a bit rushed, but fortunately we have enough manpower."
Chen Xingling looked around the office and asked, "Can you move out by the end of the year?"
"It should be possible." Ma Dali whispered: "After the widow and the little kid move out, we can still live like before."
Chen Xingling said, "Uncle Liao is not in a hurry to move in, so it's fine for you to stay for a while. When the time comes, clean it up and use it as a worker's room or a utility room. There's no need to tear it down, you can still use it."
"Hmm." Ma Dali asked hesitantly, "Lingling, what do you think - should I take this opportunity to renovate our old house? I still have some money on hand, so I might as well build two more rooms so that my family can live in more spaciously."
Chen Xingling glanced at him and whispered, "Have you forgotten? There are people eyeing your family. You bought the land and built the house this time, plus the furniture and supplies later, it will cost at least seven or eight yuan. If you build another house, it will cost at least a few yuan. Your nouveau riche behavior has no benefit except that it attracts attention."
Ma Dali's family had always been very poor, and was considered one of the poorest and most miserable families in the west of the city.
After he was admitted to university, his two younger sisters also went to school, which made many people feel uncomfortable. They thought that if they had no money to live on but still insisted on going to school, they were either mentally ill or they were just trying to save face and suffer.
He worked on the construction site in the second half of the year. His family had enough food and drink, and their days seemed to pass much more quickly.
Not only that, since they had never owned land, they were able to pay for two plots of land from other villagers, paying two thousand yuan at a time! They bought the land quickly, paid for the land quickly, and even built the houses quickly.
If we repair the house now, it will cost at least another two or three thousand yuan.
A family that was so poor in the past suddenly became rich overnight. I don't know how many people are happy for them, but there are definitely many people who envy, hate and hate them.
People's minds are unpredictable, so it's better to be low-key and conservative to avoid unnecessary trouble.
Ma Dali suddenly understood and nodded repeatedly.
"You-you are right. I neglected this point."
Chen Xingling lowered his voice; "I make the same amount of money as you, but I am the only one in my family who knows how much money I make. Being rich is not something glorious or impressive, and you must not pretend to be rich. Whether we have money or not, we just need to know it in our hearts, there is no need to let everyone know. Be low-key in life, high-profile in work, and always keep your heart."
"I understand." Ma Dali nodded. "I understand."
In the next few days, everyone went to the west of the city to help build houses.
Ma Dali was busy in and out, and always looked "frown and embarrassed", which made his younger brother Ma Erli secretly distressed and feel guilty.
He worked very hard, leaving home early every morning and not returning home until midnight.
"Erli, you're back." Lin Jiafeng put down her needlework and hurried out to greet him, "Are you hungry?"
Ma Erli shook his head: "My sister brought lunch and dinner over, and I ate very full."
Lin Jiafeng immediately turned around to pour water and brought it forward with both hands.
"If you're not hungry, then you must be thirsty. Come, drink some water."
Ma Erli took it with his eyes downcast and drank it silently.
Lin Jiafeng gently warned: "Don't drink too fast, it's a little hot."
Ma Erli drank it quickly as if frightened, then turned around and put the bowl on the table.
"…It's late. Go to bed early."
"Wait!" Lin Jiafeng called him and picked up a pair of pants beside her and continued to mend them: "The knees of these pants are worn out. I can mend them quickly. Wait a moment and you can change them when you take them over."
Ma Erli was a little embarrassed and whispered: "For such a job... I'd better let my sisters do it."
Lin Jiafeng glared at him in a resentful and helpless manner, and said faintly: "Between you and me - do we still need to be so clear about it?"
Upon hearing this, Ma Erli hurriedly lowered his head.
“I…I…”
Lin Jiafeng sighed sadly and whispered, "Don't think I don't know if you don't tell me. You have been avoiding me since I came to your house. Secondly, you should be the one who knows best why our daughter came here."
Ma Erli swallowed and his eyes dodged.
"I...my eldest brother said that we should build a house first so that we can settle you and the baby down."
After hearing this, Lin Jiafeng raised her eyes and asked in confusion, "What does your brother mean? To settle me and the baby? What about you? After the house is built, won't it be for you and our daughter to live together?"
I thought he was a city dweller in Chongqing, no matter how poor he was, he was still a city dweller. But who knew that he, a city dweller, was not much better than a country dweller.
The house was shabby and looked like it had been there for decades. The only decent piece of furniture in the house was a wardrobe, and the rest were tattered.
He told her that although his family was from Yucheng, they were the most backward and poorest family in the west of the city. At first she didn't believe it and thought he was deliberately saying that to scare her.
But after arriving here, I realized that he had not lied to me!
Fortunately, his family had enough food and drink, and they had two shabby houses to shelter them from the wind and rain, otherwise the couple would have no idea how they would stay in Yucheng.
Moreover, his family seemed to have a lot of land, with a large open space in the front yard and back house. Although I don't know how much it is worth, it is still land after all.
In addition, his eldest brother seemed to be a very reliable and down-to-earth person, and he quickly helped them to build a house.
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