"What do you think about the old house?"
Seeing that the dog of a man was glued to the kang (a heated brick bed), Wang didn't force him. They could still talk business while sitting on the kang.
"What's the meaning?"
"What do you mean? The second son's family no longer lives in the old house. We agreed that the house would be divided between our two families, but we were forced to move out, so the second son's family benefited."
Yes, that's right. "So the old house doesn't belong to my second brother?"
"Smack!"
Wang slapped Zhao Dawen hard on the head, "What nonsense are you talking about? What do you mean 'theirs'? We have half of them, half of them, understand?"
"so what?"
Zhao Dawen was puzzled.
"They don't live in the old house now, and neither do we. There are only two options: either we buy half of it and the whole house belongs to us, or the second son buys it and gives us the money. What do you think?"
It seems the old woman is right.
The second son is no longer living there, so the house should be divided equally between them. However, he's not really keen on dividing it now and wants to wait until his wife dies.
If he were to sell it to his second brother now, he would be left with not a single penny.
Unless... unless his wife buys it, it would be more cost-effective for him.
"Old woman, why don't we buy it? The place where we grew up is something we cherish."
"Come on, who said they didn't want to go home before? Let's see what the second brother's family says. I'm fine with anything, as long as they pay us back half."
Zhao Dawen thought his second son would definitely buy it. Why? Because they had two sons, and they would need two houses anyway.
But by then, I'm afraid no one will want the old house; Mother's little courtyard is much more comfortable for her.
"Old woman, what do you think about us building two more rooms, the kind with greenhouses?"
Wang looked at him with an unfriendly gaze.
Zhao Dawen knew his wife was angry, but he still forced himself to continue, "Think about it, in winter I feel like I'm welded to the kang (heated brick bed), copying books is extremely uncomfortable."
Besides, we're both getting old and can't stand the cold, but we can't just stay on the kang forever, can we?
My second son is poorer than us, but he lives in a better place than us. I'm not happy about that.
The most important thing is that we can afford it, so why should we make ourselves suffer? If we don't enjoy it now, are we going to wait until we're bedridden and can't move to enjoy it later? Look how comfortable Mom is!"
Wang thought for a while, and the old man's last words touched her heart. No matter what, she should make herself comfortable first.
“Okay, I’ll go to the county town to find the craftsman after the New Year. As long as he has time, we’ll build a few more rooms for heating.”
No matter what, she couldn't be outdone by Li, and she couldn't live or eat worse than Li.
Zhao Dawen's face lit up with joy; his wife had finally been tricked into taking the bait.
Even if I can't get the money, having a warm room to stay in is not bad.
"Does the old house need me to go find my second brother?"
Wang couldn't bear to waste the time Zhao Dawen spent earning money.
"Don't go. Just stay home and copy books to make money. I'll go find my second brother's wife. Anyway, the house isn't going anywhere."
Fine, if he doesn't want to go, he doesn't want to go. He doesn't want to go out in this freezing weather anyway.
only……
"You said this house belongs to us and my second brother, but what about the third brother?"
Wang really felt that Zhao Dawen was sometimes like a pig reincarnated. "Are you stupid? Did you give him anything when the family property was divided? When Dad died, he didn't mention giving him anything, did he?"
"No."
"That's it. Mother said her things should be divided among the three sons, and we couldn't do anything about it. The old house can't continue to go to the third son, and he doesn't need those things. There's nothing we can do. It's all because Father favors our eldest son's family, so we should get more."
Zhao Dawen agreed; his father truly only had him as his son, and everyone else was insignificant.
"I didn't realize the second son was so rich. He can just take out so much money like that without even selling any land."
"Do you think they haven't earned anything all these years? Even if they don't sell vegetables, they've always sold candy. The two of them are incredibly good at sweet-talking people. I've heard that some people only know them and buy candy from them."
"That's true. My second brother was very good at business when he was selling vegetables."
Zhao Dawen was actually somewhat disdainful. Selling things was hardly a respectable job. Even if you made money, so what? Your reputation would be terrible.
Merchants prioritize profit, and their social status is even lower than that of peasants.
"So their family is very rich, but they always complain about being poor and stingy, so everyone thinks they don't have any money."
You have no idea how reluctant my second sister-in-law was when I went to ask her for the money just now. She was almost heartbroken, and she scolded us for being too hasty, saying she didn't mean to renege on the debt.
Zhao Dawen thought to himself, "That's right, he's so impatient. He started talking about it before the New Year and hasn't stopped mentioning it every day."
"It's understandable that I feel bad about taking out so much money at once."
Come on, what's the big deal? Nobody's forcing them to buy it.
Buying my mother-in-law's small courtyard saved me a lot of money compared to building a new one myself.
This is the kind of person who gets the benefit but then complains.
………………
As soon as Wang got out of the car, Song immediately took out the silver.
"It's not comfortable to hold it in my arms, Xiaoyu. Look at what your second aunt gave us. It has all kinds of money, but it's so fragile."
“That’s normal. They sell candy, so they only make small change. I wonder if this is all of Auntie’s possessions? She’ll definitely cry after we leave.”
“Even if it’s not all of them, it’s almost half. It’s not easy for people in the village to make money. Their family relies on the two of them to earn a little.”
Zhao Xiaoyu touched the loose silver and copper coins on the small table, "I'll give them all to Dad when we get home."
Song also felt that the money should be given to the old man to make him happy. The family had mistreated him in the past, so now, no matter what, he had at least gotten some compensation.
After arriving home.
Zhao Dashu stared at the broken silver and copper coins for a long time.
"That's because my mother is easy to fool and is afraid of her suffering. Otherwise, I definitely wouldn't get a share of the family fortune this time."
"Yes, thank goodness it wasn't Grandpa. If it were him, even if we threatened him, it wouldn't have mattered. All the things and money belong to Uncle."
"Yes, thank goodness your grandfather is gone, otherwise I would definitely have been ripped off. Daughter, are you giving me all this money?"
"Of course, the milk is for Dad."
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