Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 937 The Dollar as a Bridge – It Really Works
Gu Xiaoyu's stepfather, Huang Jiuzhang, was a minor leader in a state-owned enterprise. Before marrying Gu Xiaoyu's mother, Fan Wenli, he was just an ordinary cadre. After their marriage, Fan Wenli advised him to cultivate relationships with higher-ups, and because he chose the right side, he was promoted to a minor leader.

This is also an important reason why he was willing to support Gu Xiaoyu's schooling and did not allow Gu Xiaoyu to change her surname.

My stepbrother's name is Huang Yufei. After graduating from junior high school, he couldn't continue his studies and went to the countryside for a few years. After returning, Huang Jiuzhang arranged for him to work in a factory. Now he is a formal worker, but he is not married yet. The main reason is that the girl he likes requires his family to have a new house for their wedding.

Although Huang Jiuzhang was a minor leader, he wasn't good at making money. Although his salary was higher than that of ordinary workers, it wasn't enough for him to afford a new house.

So Huang Yufei could only slowly save money. Fortunately, the woman was willing to wait for him, which gave him some comfort.

Fan Wenli, who returned home first at noon, was cooking. When Gu Xiaoyu returned, the food wasn't ready yet, so she put down her bag and went into the kitchen to help.

The Huang family also lived in a tenement building. Although Huang Jiuzhang was a minor leader, he wasn't allocated a three-bedroom apartment. The family of four originally had two rooms separated by a partition, which only became more convenient after Gu Xiaoyu went to university and moved out.

After graduating from university, Gu Xiaoyu started working at the school. Fan Wenli immediately helped her apply for a dormitory so that her home would be less crowded.

Because she had always lived outside, Gu Xiaoyu was relatively free. When she wanted to go to the northern border to find her father and sister, Fan Wenli couldn't interfere.

"Mom, this is for you. Try it on." Gu Xiaoyu washed her hands and gave the jade bracelet to her mother before going to the kitchen.

"Oh, a jade bracelet? It's so beautiful..." Fan Wenli knew a little about jade. Looking at the color and the quality of the jade, she knew it must be a top-grade piece.

"It must have been expensive, right?" Fan Wenli asked as she took the jade bracelet. "Did you buy it in northern Xinjiang?"

"No, my sister gave it to you." Gu Xiaoyu stretched out her arm and said, "Look, I have one too."

"Your sister...is that rich? Didn't you say she got married last time you came back, and that her husband was a farmer, and that your sister worked at the education bureau? An education bureau in a small county town, how could they afford to buy this?"

"One reason is that my brother-in-law is good at making money, and the other is that jade is not that expensive in northern Xinjiang."

"Don't try to fool me. Even in the northern frontier, jade bracelets like this aren't cheap." Fan Wenli wanted to take the bracelet off, but she was also reluctant to part with it.

She remembered a colleague from the library showing off her jade necklace a few days ago, saying it was a gift from her son to show his filial piety. The smug look on her face at the time made her feel... disgusted.

Hmph, I have mine too!

"Your brother-in-law is quite capable, but what about your dad? He probably just relies on your brother-in-law and his family, right? He's not cut out for farming, he's stubborn and arrogant..."

“No, my dad has his own job.” Gu Xiaoyu took out a wad of cash from her bag and said, “This is the money he earned. He said that my daughter and I have suffered all these years, and since he knows you’re married, he couldn’t make it up to you, so he gave you this money…”

"So much money?" Fan Wenli was startled. "Did he steal it or rob it? How could he possibly earn so much? Isn't northern Xinjiang supposed to be a harsh and impoverished place?"

“My brother-in-law opened a purchasing station, and my dad partnered with him. He said it’s very profitable…” Gu Xiaoyu only gave a rough outline. “Mom, you keep it. My dad has been regretting it. He’ll feel better knowing we’re all safe and sound.”

“At least he has a conscience…” Fan Wenli took the money and asked, “How much is this?”

"Five thousand."

“Alright, I’ll keep it then, it won’t be a waste of my time with him… But make it clear to your dad that I’ve been married to Yufei’s dad for so many years, there’s no way we’ll get a divorce… Let him give up on that idea.”

Hearing this, Gu Xiaoyu felt bad. She held back her tears and said, "My dad said he only wishes you happiness and hopes we can live well..."

"Has he looked for it?" Fan Wenli suddenly asked.

"No, my dad has always been single."

Fan Wenli had actually asked Gu Xiaoyu about this before when Gu Xiaoyu went to Ma County. The reason she asked now was mainly because she was married while Gu Boyuan was not, which made her feel somewhat unbalanced and guilty, and she wanted to make amends.

“Then tell him to stop dwelling on the past and find someone else.” Fan Wenli said, holding the money, “So many years have passed, everything is in the past. I used to resent him, but now he knows how to make amends, so this matter is over.”

Gu Xiaoyu was somewhat puzzled, and also felt indignant on behalf of her father. When her father gave her the money, he was afraid that she and her mother would misunderstand and think that he only wanted to make up for everything with money, but her mother felt that making up for everything with money was the best option.

The adult world is so real!

"I'll keep this money, and I'll give it to you when you need it." Fan Wenli took the money and walked towards the bedroom.

Gu Xiaoyu hurriedly said, "Mom, this money is for you, I don't want it."

"Okay, Mom knows," Fan Wenli replied.

When Huang Jiuzhang and Huang Yufei returned, dinner was already prepared. Seeing Gu Xiaoyu return, both of them had smiles on their faces. After all, they were family, and there was affection between them.

Facing Huang Jiuzhang, Gu Xiaoyu found it difficult to say "Dad" as she used to call him so easily, but she eventually managed to say it and then took out two jade Guanyin pendants.

"Oh, there's a gift for me too?" Huang Yufei was somewhat surprised as he accepted the jade Guanyin.

"This jade is of excellent quality!" Huang Jiuzhang exclaimed, looking at the jade Guanyin. "It's mutton fat jade; this piece must be worth at least seven or eight hundred yuan, right?"

“It’s not that expensive in the northern border region.” Gu Xiaoyu was a little surprised. Is it really that expensive for just a piece of jade at her brother-in-law’s and sister’s place?
She was already guessing the prices of the other two small jade stones she had.

"Anyway, it's not cheap here. Such good material is hard to find. I can't tell the carving, but the jade quality is excellent." Huang Jiuzhang was very satisfied with Gu Xiaoyu.

“Then I’ll sell it. I’m one step closer to buying a house…” Huang Yufei didn’t want to wear it anymore when he heard it was so expensive.

"What are you selling? This kind of thing will only get more expensive in the future." Huang Jiuzhang stopped him. "Besides, it's Xiaoyu's kind gesture. What are you selling? Let's eat!"

After dinner, Gu Xiaoyu left. Fan Wenli took out a wad of cash from the house and handed it to Huang Jiuzhang: "This is from Xiaoyu's father. You can use it to buy a house for Yufei."

"How much money?" Huang Jiuzhang was surprised that his wife had produced so much money all at once. "Where did he get so much money?"

They all knew about Gu Xiaoyu's trip to the northern frontier and didn't stop her, thinking that as long as she didn't bring that poor relative over, it would be fine.

I never expected to attract such a wealthy relative!
"Three thousand yuan," Fan Wenli said. "Is that about right?"

"Then why not leave some for Xiaoyu? After all, she is..."

"I'll pay Xiaoyu back later!" Huang Yufei said quickly. "Knowing that I'm buying a house, Xiaoyu will definitely be willing."

Huang Jiuzhang hesitated for a moment and then fell silent. Between his son and his adopted daughter, it was obvious which way his heart leaned.

Seeing that Huang Jiuzhang didn't say anything more, Fan Wenli stuffed the money into his hand, feeling somewhat relieved. Although Huang Jiuzhang would complain to her over the years, he had at least supported Gu Xiaoyu through her education. By university, Gu Xiaoyu was basically able to take care of herself, but before that, without Huang Jiuzhang, she might not have been able to escape that misery.

Now that it's been repaid, I don't know what Xiaoyu thinks, but at least the pressure I was under has been greatly reduced, or even eliminated.

After receiving this money, it will be much harder for Huang Jiuzhang to boss Fan Wenli around. Even if the dynamics of power shift completely, his family status will at least undergo a subtle change.

After leaving the Huang family, Gu Xiaoyu felt much more relaxed. She carefully stepped out of the alley through the ice and snow, onto the main street, turned a corner, and headed towards the university. When she was almost there, she changed direction again. The courtyard house that her colleague had mentioned was right here.

Since the other party is eager to go abroad, wouldn't the US dollars in their possession be able to play a greater role?
There is ice and snow, and the scenery in the north during winter is probably all pretty much the same.

The courtyard house that Gu Xiaoyu wanted to see wasn't on the main street; she had to go in through an alley, walk a few dozen meters, and then enter through a side door.

The courtyard was in the style of a traditional siheyuan (courtyard house). As soon as Gu Xiaoyu entered the courtyard and knocked on the door, the people inside were moving things.

The door was ajar, and upon hearing the noise, someone inside responded:
"Come in."

The person carrying the things was a young man in his twenties. Although it was the dead of winter, he was still hot from carrying things, wearing only a fleece jacket, and there was a slight sheen of sweat on his forehead. Seeing that a pretty young woman had entered, the young man seemed a little embarrassed, and then asked:
Who are you looking for?

"Is your yard for sale?" Gu Xiaoyu remembered what her colleague had said and knew that this was the person in question, so she asked, "I see you're moving things here, has it already been sold?"

"Not yet." The young man pointed to the furniture that had been moved out and said, "The yard hasn't been sold yet. Someone took a liking to this furniture, paid for it, and is going to take it away. So, you're interested in the yard?"

"Yes, I'm buying it for a friend." Gu Xiaoyu was observing as she looked at the product.

The courtyard wasn't as big as the one my sister and her family had in the county town, but it was more refined. There was a tree in the courtyard; I couldn't tell if it was a persimmon tree or something else, but it was quite thick.

The courtyard was paved entirely with bricks, with no place to plant anything. The main house had three doors, similar to my sister's main house, with two side rooms on each side, making it seem a bit small. The rear building also had three rooms, which looked alright.

The ancient buildings are well preserved; the eaves and tiles are all intact, with no damaged parts.

"Can I come inside and take a look?" Gu Xiaoxia asked again.

"Okay."

The young man could tell that the girl was genuinely interested in buying the house, so he said, "However, most of the furniture has already been moved out, so there's not much to see. The wiring in my house is all installed, and everything is as it is now; I haven't painted it white. Of course, if you buy it, it will be convenient for you to renovate."

This is true.

Gu Xiaoyu didn't like any of the old furniture in the yard; it was too outdated, similar to the furniture in her brother-in-law's yard, and she felt it wasn't as good as the newer styles.

As the young man had said, the house was almost empty. The floor was paved with blue bricks, and there were some odds and ends that hadn't been cleaned up, but overall it looked alright and wasn't too dilapidated.

“There are some odds and ends in the side room. If you want to buy it, I’ll have the junk collector in the alley collect those things in the next couple of days.” Seeing that Gu Xiaoyu was looking at it carefully, the young man immediately said, “There’s no trouble with this courtyard. It was left to me by my parents, so the paperwork is easy to handle. Unlike the other courtyards nearby, which have many people living in them, it would be more troublesome for tenants if you wanted to buy it.”

That's the truth.

"How much is this courtyard for?" Gu Xiaoyu was quite satisfied. Having grown up here, she truly knew how troublesome it would be if there were tenants in the courtyard.

Although the house in this courtyard is old, it's generally nice, and you can move in right away after buying furniture. Now it's just a matter of whether the price is right.

"Ten thousand yuan," the young man said. "I'm telling you the real price. Ask around around here, and you won't find a courtyard as nice as mine—the neighbor's courtyard, with at least three tenants, also wants to sell, but people turn around and leave as soon as they see the condition inside. That courtyard is even bigger than mine, and he offered eight thousand but no one bought it..."

Further east, there's the Heiwu family. They were legitimate Manchu families back then. Their courtyard was a two-section ancestral property, and frankly, it was even better than mine. But the five families living there wouldn't move no matter what we said. We wanted to sell it—a two-section courtyard, 10,000 yuan—and guess what? It wouldn't sell!

Gu Xiaoyu asked:
"What about in US dollars?"

"What? US dollars?" the young man exclaimed, then covered his mouth and asked in a low voice:
You mean you have US dollars?

"Hmm." Gu Xiaoyu saw that his expression made it seem like he would eat her alive if she answered yes, so she subconsciously took a few steps back towards the door, and immediately ran away when she sensed something was wrong.

"No, no, no, please don't misunderstand." Seeing Gu Xiaoyu's actions, the young man immediately knew that he had misunderstood. He lightly slapped himself and said, "It's all because of my loose tongue. Do you know how hard it is to exchange US dollars these days? If you have US dollars, how about this, I'll give you this yard for $1,500?"

"Not so good. 1,500 is a 1:6 ratio, which is better than the official price, but that's not how it's actually exchanged." Gu Xiaoyu wasn't stupid; she said directly, "1,000, 1,000 at most!"

She took two steps back and said at the doorway, "You've said so much, but I'm still not sure. I need to see for myself..."

As she spoke, she pulled out a hundred-dollar bill and waved it at the young man, saying, "I have this, so it shouldn't be too hard to find a place. That guy, if he had this, his tenants should be easier to find, right?"

"Alright, alright, ma'am, I'm scared of you. Please don't go. Let me put it this way, I'm also in a hurry to go abroad. The paperwork here is almost done, but I really don't have enough US dollars on hand." The young man said, "The thousand US dollars you mentioned is definitely not going to work. It's too low, I can't exchange it. How about we compromise and exchange it for thirteen thousand?"

"One thousand two hundred and fifty, that's one to eight," Gu Xiaoyu said. "If you're willing, then that's settled. If you want to bargain..."

"Okay, okay... Can we complete the procedures now? You have a Beijing household registration, right? It's not easy to do this if you're from out of town." The young man thought 1,250 yuan was a good price, and it should solve his urgent problem.

"I bought it for someone else, but they don't have a Beijing residency permit, so they can't buy it?" Gu Xiaoyu felt uneasy. "I do have one."

She also wanted to buy a house, but she didn't expect it to be a courtyard house. She thought it would be better to buy a suite or a house in a tenement building. She felt uncomfortable living in such a big courtyard by herself.

"Without a Beijing household registration, the procedures are difficult to complete." The young man shook his head.

Gu Xiaoyu realized that she had been ignoring this problem, and she needed to go and discuss it with Li Long as soon as possible.

"Hey, hey, don't go!" The young man saw Gu Xiaoyu turn to leave and immediately chased after her, shouting, "We can talk this over, it's not like there's no way..."

"Wait for my message, I'll go ask and come over later," Gu Xiaoyu said. "Don't worry, I'll definitely come."

She liked the courtyard house; mainly because her colleague had seen it before and had a feel for its features, but couldn't afford it. Now that she was here to look at it, she thought it was quite nice, as long as there were no problems.

The household registration is a big problem.

Gu Xiaoyu hurried to the inn, where Li Long and the others had already returned and were resting.

When Gu Xiaoyu explained the situation, both Li Jianguo and Gu Xiaoxia were dumbfounded.

Then they looked at Li Long.

"This matter... isn't actually impossible to accomplish." Li Long paced around in place a few times, thought for a moment, and finally said:
"Since Xiaoyu can buy it, let her buy it. Then she can sign a transfer agreement and put her fingerprint on it. Once private transactions are allowed here, we can transfer the paperwork over."

After spending the last few days getting to know her, Li Long felt that his sister-in-law was a nice person and didn't seem like the type to steal from his own yard. So, since he couldn't buy it from her, he decided to settle for something else.

Li Jianguo thought this was a viable option.

Gu Xiaoxia trusted her younger sister very much, but with her sister on one side and her brother-in-law on the other, she couldn't very well suggest not signing an agreement.

"It's a bit of a hassle, Xiaoyu. With several houses on your name, won't that have any negative impact?"

"It won't have any impact," Gu Xiaoyu said. "After I get to my workplace, my household registration will be transferred, and the paperwork for buying the house can be done. It's just that the courtyard will be under my name. Are you all comfortable with that?"

"That's why we're signing an agreement," Li Long said with a smile. "Let's put everything in writing, so it'll be legally binding. There's no other way; what can we do when some of us can't afford to buy a house?"

"Let's go take a look. I told the landlord I'd be there later, and we also discussed the price: $1,250..."

"Okay." Li Long thought that buying a courtyard house at this price was really a good deal.

"Let's go, let's all go and take a look."

"I'm not going. Mingming and Haohao are asleep. I'll stay here and watch over them," Gu Xiaoxia said.

“Alright, we’ll see what’s available after we buy it,” Li Long said. “We can also ask around to see if there are any other suitable courtyards nearby.”

As Gu Xiaoyu walked, she talked about the situation in those courtyards. Li Long thought to himself that if the young man needed US dollars urgently, he could use US dollars to have them move the other tenants out.

However, this also presents a problem. After all, none of us live here. If we kick out the tenants, it will be troublesome if they find no one in the yard and then break down the door to move in.

Sigh, it's really troublesome when people aren't here.

(End of this chapter)