It was just past lunchtime, and children bundled up tightly were playing in the street. Lu Yang learned of Song Qing's plans and slowly told her about the situation here.
"The roads here will be paved with cement in the spring, and if there are any issues with the houses, you can register them, and the logistics office will come and fix them in the spring."
Song Qing was somewhat surprised to hear this, as she had noticed that only the main road was paved with cement when she arrived.
Building materials like cement and bricks are hard to come by now, otherwise only a few buildings would have been built in the new district.
The only paved road they encountered along their journey was the one near the cadre's quarters.
"Otherwise, the people here wouldn't be willing either," Lu Yang said with a wry smile.
These rows of houses are all detached houses with their own courtyards. Pushing open the creaking, heavy wooden doors, you'll see the main house right in front of you. There's a pile of wood next to the passageway, making it look quite messy.
However, if this place were cleared out, it would be a very large vegetable garden.
Song Qing liked this place at first glance; the tiled houses were old but looked sturdy.
The original homeowner must have been quite wealthy, as there are faint patterns carved on the wooden doors. There is also a side room next to the main house, and the kitchen is next to the side room.
She didn't rush to see the main house, but instead looked up at the gatehouse. It was called a gatehouse, but it was actually just two eaves made of blue tiles. Looking up, you could see some patterns carved on the wood.
These details show that although the original owner was not very wealthy, he was very meticulous in those details.
There was also a tree in the yard, about the size of a bowl, whose species was unclear. Under the tree and in the adjacent yard, there were also trees made of wood.
The house is well-preserved, but it's too messy.
However, Song Qing was quite satisfied. It was just a little messy to tidy up, and the main thing was that the place was big enough. She had never experienced life with a yard before.
However, all of this came to an end when she pushed open the door to the main room. The original two walls inside were gone, and there was only a kang (a heated brick bed) on the south side, which was clean and tidy, presumably cleaned by Zhou Lian's family.
The room to the north still had traces of the old kang (heated brick bed) on the floor, and there was a pile of wooden planks and several stacked large vats in the middle. There was even a pile of straw in the corner of the north room.
"After the original owner of this house left, the house was taken over by a village under the commune and used as a warehouse, so the walls were knocked down to make it more spacious."
Although the house had been tidied up, it was obvious that only the clutter had been piled up, and the rest of the passageway had been swept clean. Song Qing walked to the window in the main room and pushed it hard, but it wouldn't open.
The villagers had previously stuffed straw inside the windows to prevent them from being blown open by the wind. Lu Yang held An An in one arm and slowly pulled the straw out with the other.
Only after opening the window did I discover that there was a small courtyard behind it, less than four meters wide. After coming out, I found a passageway next to the main house leading to the back courtyard.
However, the passageway was still filled with wood and tree roots, covered with snow, which explained why they hadn't noticed it before.
The side room wasn't big, but it was quite clean, probably because Zhou Lian's family had cleaned it. The stove in the kitchen was collapsed, but there was a table inside, which Song Qing shook and found to be quite sturdy.
"What do you think of this place?" She liked the yard, but cleaning up and building walls would take a lot of work, unlike the new building where you could move in right away, saving money and effort.
"The house and yard are in good condition, but we need to build a kang (heated brick bed) and walls, as well as buy doors and make all kinds of furniture. It will cost a lot of money and time."
What Lu Yang liked most about this place was that he had to walk more than ten steps to each of the neighbors on both sides, which was close but still maintained a sense of boundaries.
Unlike those buildings where everything is next to each other.
"Let's talk."
They returned to the main room, where An'an curiously wandered around. Song Qing took a piece of charcoal from the kitchen and scratched it on the floor.
"Furniture is needed no matter which side we live in: wardrobes, tables, chairs, and a few doors. All the miscellaneous items will cost at least several hundred yuan. Oh, and the kitchen window needs to be rebuilt..."
She kept calculating the bill, feeling more and more distressed as she did so. She could only console herself that the amount was still small compared to buying a job.
Moreover, the house is quite nice, with yards in the front and back, and a large enough area, but it's too messy, which Zhou Lian doesn't like.
Lu Yang didn't speak, but while keeping an eye on An An, he also subtly observed Song Qing. At that moment, the feeling of them living as a family in the future became incredibly strong.
“We need to build a kang (heated brick bed) in the north room, a wardrobe on each side, several chests on the kang, and two tables. But that’s not enough. We’ll start with one wardrobe and add more later.”
Do you think Director Zhang might try to use work-related issues to negotiate with us?
If it's not true, then all their preparations beforehand will have been for nothing.
They were willing to spend so much extra money and time on this house just to negotiate a condition with Director Zhang.
Unless Director Zhang can conjure up a red house out of thin air, she will have to put in some effort to persuade the family to leave.
Song Qing had this idea when she learned that Director Zhang was also the leader of a military-owned factory. She thought she would give it a try, and if it didn't work, she would give up.
You don't need anything to come and view the apartment.
Director Zhang was also very upset. She hurriedly finished her lunch at home and rushed to Zhou Lian's house. However, after spending a lot of time trying to persuade her, Zhou Lian could only cry and complain. No matter what she said, she refused to back down.
This was the first time she had encountered someone so unyielding, so she deliberately humbled herself and acted like a weakling.
What could be done? She seized the opportunity perfectly, and Director Zhang could only grit his teeth and swallow his anger.
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