Chapter 55 Military Dependents
It is not easy to buy a house these days. Even if you have money, you cannot buy a house. Ordinary people live in houses allocated by their work units. There is no property right in the residential area. Only a very few special houses can be bought with money.
That is, the private houses returned after the implementation of the policy. Why do we need to return the confiscated houses to the owners? This is actually for the sake of reform and opening up.
Developing the economy requires money, and it requires introducing funds from overseas Chinese, and wanting these people to come back to invest, so major cities across the country have launched the return of private houses, and Shanghai is no exception. As a result, many families whose ancestors had once been prosperous have taken back their ancestral homes.
This policy did have a certain effect. In 1980, the Shanghai Municipal Film Bureau returned a private house on Huaihai Middle Road to Guo Linshuang, the former general manager of Wing On Company. This move caused a huge response among his overseas relatives and friends.
This year, his son Guo Zhikai returned to Shanghai to invest and negotiated with relevant Shanghai departments on projects such as cooperation in building the new Yong'an Building and a joint venture to build a 30-story building. Gao Jialin saw extensive coverage of the events in major newspapers.
The novel "Blue House" by Shanghai writer Cheng Naishan, published in "Zhongshan" this year, also tells the same story.
The Blue House was the residence of steel tycoon Gu Fuxiang, one of the most wealthy people in Shanghai before liberation. Now this old house is to be returned to the descendants of the Gu family. Gu Fuxiang's grandson Gu Chuanhui had the opportunity to get part of this wealth, but he eventually gave up the opportunity.
This story is quite similar to the movie "The Shepherd". Lao Xu, who wanted to marry his wife, did not go to the United States, but chose to stay and build the motherland. This also reflects the current social atmosphere. Wealth is not, at least not openly, what everyone is vying for.
Xu Lingjun did not go to the United States, but some families who have taken back their ancestral homes and contacted their overseas relatives did not have such noble sentiments. They happily prepared to sell their houses and live overseas. This is one of the few houses that can be purchased at present.
However, such houses are extremely scarce. There are only more than 10,000 private houses that need to be returned. In order to complete the evacuation, new accommodation must be found for the people currently living in these houses. Therefore, since the policy was introduced, only a few hundred households have taken back their houses each year.
Among these people, there are even fewer who are ready to sell their old houses. In Shanghai, with a population of over 12 million, finding such people is undoubtedly like looking for a needle in a haystack. At least Gao Jialin can't find them now.
Therefore, this matter can only be considered in the long run. I should ask Feng Jie and Niu Xinliang to help me inquire about it, and I should write a few more books and earn more royalties, so as to avoid having a house in the future but not being able to pay for it. I would regret it so much.
Having not yet decided what to write for his next book, Gao Jialin has temporarily resumed his normal campus life, attending classes on time every day, going to the library to borrow books to study, and participating in student union activities.
No matter where he went, people would often come to say hello. Even when he was in class, there would be people looking out the window and pointing. Among them were some bold female students. Unfortunately, he had not met anyone who could impress Gao Jialin.
This weekend, Gao Jialin and Cui Zhiyong went to the city together to help write letters to military families. This activity has been approved by the school and the preliminary preparations have been completed. Today is their first time to go out for practice.
With the address given by the relevant department, the two walked into a crowded and cramped shantytown. There were makeshift houses everywhere, with eaves next to eaves, walls crowded against walls, and electric wires tangled in a mess. The aisles were extremely narrow, and in some places one had to turn sideways to pass through.
Gao Jialin had an inappropriate association in his mind. This place was just like the slums in South America in movies and TV shows. Who would have thought that in just 20 years, this place would become a prosperous international metropolis? Everyone stopped in front of a small house of only six or seven square meters. It couldn't even be called a house, it was almost a shack. The door was half open, and a bed and a small table were crowded together. Cooking could only be done at the door.
"Who are you looking for?" an old lady heard the noise and came out to ask.
"Excuse me, is this Aunt Wei Su'e?"
"It's me, who are you?" Wei Su'e's expression immediately became tense, for fear of hearing bad news about her son from them.
This was not the first time Gao Jialin had visited the military family. Knowing what she was worried about, he quickly said, "Your son is doing well in the army. We are students from Pujiang College and are here to express our condolences to the military family on behalf of the college students!"
"Oh, oh, thank you for squeezing out time to see me even though you are so busy with your studies!" Wei Su'e immediately felt relieved.
But the next question is how to entertain the guests. Logically, they should be invited to come in and sit down, and poured a glass of water, but the house is so small, how can they fit in?
Therefore, he could only apologize repeatedly, took out two small stools from the house for them to sit on, and then went to pour them some water. He also took this opportunity to encourage his younger son who was studying in the house, hoping that he could also be admitted to university like Gao Jialin and Cui Zhiyong.
While Wei Su'e was pouring water, Cui Zhiyong whispered in Gao Jialin's ear, "Her family must be in a difficult situation. Should we donate some money?"
Gao Jialin quickly stopped them, "It's not appropriate. Aunt Wei's house is a little small, but she keeps it very clean. People like her have strong self-esteem and won't charge us any money!"
"You can't just write a letter and leave, can you?"
From the textbook, we can see that her youngest son is in the second grade of primary school and he probably doesn't know how to write a letter yet, otherwise they wouldn't even have to do this task.
"We'll see what happens later! See if there's anything we can do to help!"
Before they could think of a solution, Wei Su'e came out with a cup of water. She quickly stood up, took the water, thanked him, and took two sips. Gao Jialin took out envelopes and letter paper and explained the content of the "Writing Letters for Military Families" activity.
Wei Su'e thanked him repeatedly, and then talked about the difficulties of their family. The child's father passed away early and he was illiterate. The youngest son was only in the second grade and it was not easy to trouble the neighbors often, so she had not communicated with her son on the front line for some time.
Gao Jialin spread out the letter paper and wrote what Wei Su'e dictated.
"Minghui, everything is fine with mom and Mingliang at home. Mingliang has been promoted to the second grade this semester. His Chinese grades are very good, and his math grades are also good. The teachers all like him very much."
"You must obey orders in the army, be brave in battle, and don't embarrass your father."
"If...if you are not too busy, remember to write a letter home. Mingliang and I miss you."
As Gao Jialin listened, sand got into his eyes, and the desire to do something for the two of them became stronger and stronger.
But what should we do? (End of this chapter)
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