Five years of marriage, always separated [1970s]

The previous owner of Ye Fan's house was not generous, but her husband is very generous.

After the transfer that day, Ye Fan told the previous owner that she really needed the house and that she also had a son and a daughter, but there was one thing she didn't say in the morning: she was a student at Peking University.

The husband of the previous owner was also there at the time and said that he would give her 8,000 yuan instead of 8,500 yuan. She was in school and had no job, and it must be very hard for her husband to support the whole family alone.

The former owner was speechless.

Ye Fan and Geng Zhiye were also speechless. Five hundred yuan. It was hard to say whether the previous owner's family could save five hundred yuan after living frugally for a year. Yet he was so generous.

When transferring money to the bank, Ye Fan reminded the former landlord to deposit four savings accounts, one with 4,000, one with 2,000, and two with 1,000. Four thousand was for her sister-in-law, one thousand was for marrying a daughter-in-law, one thousand was for emergencies, and the remaining two thousand was for her and her husband's retirement.

People always say "Don't put all your eggs in one basket" and "A cunning rabbit has three burrows". Ye Fan actually asked her to divide it into four parts? The former owner couldn't help but sigh in her heart that college students are still very cunning.

But she still listened to Ye Fan and asked the teller to open four savings books for her. With 500 left, the former owner also decided to listen to Ye Fan and go to the second-hand store to buy gold, silver and jade.

The former owner came out of the thrift store and saw a bag of gold, silver and jade jewelry. The obsession she had with the gold, silver and jade jewelry her brother and sister had taken away from home disappeared, and she felt relieved at that moment.

Because Ye Fan told the truth to the former landlord, and the former landlord listened to her and left 2,000 yuan for retirement money, she no longer felt that she was taking advantage of someone.

Then again, seeing how the previous owner and the old lady behind the house felt about the house, Ye Fan expected that the house behind the house would be more expensive than the one she bought. Even if the house behind the house was exactly the same as this one, it would still be one or two thousand more expensive.

Ye Fan shook his head slightly: "Ten thousand is too little, at least twelve thousand."

"Then don't buy it!" Yu Wentao said, "She's not the only one who's anxious to sell her house."

Today, Geng Zhiqin accompanied Geng Huihui to register for dormitory preparation at school. In addition to the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, there are three children at home. When Geng Benben heard what his grandmother said, he said, "Buy the one in the southeast corner, grandma, I will give that house to you."

Yu Wentao couldn't help but complain: "Don't tell me it's like your dad bought it for you!"

Geng Benben got angry when he talked about this: "Aunt, my dad is a college student like my uncle, so why doesn't he know more than my uncle? Who is the older brother and who is the younger brother?"

Ye Fan smiled as he picked vegetables: "Ask your dad later?"

Geng Benben didn't dare to do that and continued to cut newspapers to wrap the book cover.

Dabao couldn't help but say, "Tell Uncle Er that buying it is a good deal."

"Your second uncle doesn't believe it." Yu Wentao glanced at Ye Fan and saw that she was not angry. "I also don't believe that buying a house means making a profit."

Ye Fan: "Things are valuable because they are rare."

"I know that. But who doesn't have a house?"

Ye Fan nodded: "We were not in a hurry before because our children all went to the countryside and the people provided us with houses. Now that the educated youth are returning to the city one after another, don't they want to get married and have children? For example, if our eldest brother also lived with us in the capital, should we buy another house?"

Yu Wentao originally wanted to say that the boss’s company had allocated housing, but suddenly she remembered that there were many more people who did not get housing, so she said that in the alley near Geng’s old house, half of the people did not have housing allocated by their company.

There is also a large compound behind the Geng family's old house, where four or five families live in one house. When the children are young, they can make do with it, but when the children are in their early twenties, when the company allocates houses, they will not have any for them because they are young and inexperienced. Parents must buy a house, otherwise it will be difficult to find a partner.

Yu Wentao asked: "But no one has money to buy, so how can house prices increase? The more they increase, the more unaffordable they become."

Ye Fan: "So, with the reform and opening up, the government set up a few special economic zones for everyone to make money. If you go there and make a batch of clothes, you can earn 70 or 80 yuan. That's enough to buy a house in a year."

Yu Wentao thought about it carefully and it seemed that what she said was right.

Geng Benben couldn't help but say, "In the end, the ones who can't afford to buy a house are the ones like my dad who are stubborn and can't bring themselves to make money?"

Ye Fan wanted to laugh for some reason: "Benben, your father's situation is special. No matter which unit he goes to, they will help him arrange housing first. Your father will feel that we are just messing around because we have nothing better to do than to have enough food."

Yu Wentao suddenly thought of something: "Fanfan, do you mean that the idle people in society will be richer than us in the future?"

Ye Fan: "People who are smart and hardworking and have the nerve to set up stalls will be richer than us."

Yu Wentao couldn't help but think of the idle people on the streets now. If these people made money and rushed to buy houses, then she wouldn't be the only one to choose two houses, but two or four people would compete for one house. These people were rich, so the highest bidder would win, and then the house prices would be pushed higher and higher by them.

Yu Wentao was annoyed. How could she not have thought of this when she was in the capital every day? She even needed advice from her daughter-in-law who had just moved from the island.

Is this the difference between people?

Yu Wentao was happy again, because this person was not someone else, but her daughter-in-law.

"I'll listen to you, twelve thousand. If that old lady says fifteen thousand, you are not allowed to pay attention to her." Yu Wentao said.

Ye Fan: "Didn't you say you had a few mahogany chairs? If she sells the mahogany chairs or gives them away, and agrees to lower the price to 12,000, I won't buy hers."

With Ye Fan's assurance, Yu Wentao went to the kitchen to wash vegetables and cook with peace of mind.

Erbao didn't say anything. She was wrapping the book while thinking about what her mother said. After she figured it out, she put the book aside and asked, "Mom, you know that buying it is a good deal. The previous owner of our house, and the old lady behind that grandma mentioned, don't they know that?"

"The previous owner used my mother's housing purchase money to buy a bigger house. Later, the old lady thought that there was gold everywhere abroad and that she could make a lot of money by going abroad, so she didn't care about this small amount of money." Ye Fan said patiently.

Geng Benben understood: "When my aunt said she thought, did she actually think she was right?"

Ye Fan: "No. It's like you can get the top score in your grade, but you need to study hard, listen carefully, and work hard. But if you haven't tried it yourself, everyone will think it's easy."

Geng Benben was speechless: "Why bring this up with study?"

Ye Fan: "Now the old lady is in the same dreaming stage as you. If you don't do well in the exam, you can continue to work hard next year. She regrets it, but I won't give the house back to her."

Geng Benben dreamed every day of getting the first place in his grade. He had no power to refute Ye Fan's words: "Aunt, call my mom and ask them to come here on vacation. I want to talk to them about buying a house."

Ye Fan saw the boy talking about the house like an adult and found it very funny: "Sure. I'll use the pay phone to call your mom when I get to school this afternoon."

In the afternoon, after Ye Fan finished his day school registration at school, he called his second sister-in-law's workplace and told her that the new house had been cleaned up and she was on vacation and coming over for dinner.

My second brother and his wife had never been to Ye Fan’s new home, so during the mid-September holiday, the couple brought some fruits and vegetables to get to know the place.

It was the weekend, and when Geng Erge entered the yard, he saw three children doing homework in the main hall. Geng Erge and his wife looked at each other and thought, is Benben so self-conscious now?

The second sister-in-law suspected that Ye Fan and her mother-in-law were watching the three children inside, but when they went into the house, there were still only three children. The second sister-in-law Geng put her things on the table and asked, "Dabao, where are your mother and grandmother?"

Dabao: "There is also an antique display stand in grandma's room -" looking to the west, "It's the same as this one, but there's nothing on it, it's empty and ugly. Mommy took grandma to the thrift store to pick out some items."

Brother Geng picked up a jade carving and looked closely at it. It looked like a sleeping child. The jade was yellow and white, and the carving and the color of the jade were not very good. "Did your mother buy this?"

Dabao nodded.

"Why don't you buy a few nice things? Do you have no money left after buying the house?"

Geng Benben: "Dad can tell at a glance that I'm an amateur. The jade in your hand is Hetian jade."

"But it's also mixed jade, and the carving is quite dull." Brother Geng put the thing back.

Geng Benben sighed: "Dad, what was the craftsmanship in the past? What is the craftsmanship now? It would be strange if it was so exquisite."

Dabao nodded: "The royal carving is good, but the royal family must use good jade. My mother said it is folk craft. Folk craft does not mean it is bad. Besides, it is bought at a bargain price, so why should I choose it?"

Geng Zhiye's second sister-in-law said, "Dabao, don't pay attention to your second uncle. He only wants to compete with the best, and doesn't think about how expensive the best is. He can't even afford it with a month's salary."

The three children nodded together.

Brother Geng didn't dare to comment on the things on the antique shelf, but he couldn't help asking, "Dabao, does your dad get paid for school?"

Dabao: "Uncle, don't worry about my family having no money. My mother has to go to the countryside to sell vegetables in the afternoon."

"Why set up a stall when you have money?" Brother Geng didn't believe it.

Dabao didn't want to talk to his uncle - is there any conflict between having money and making money? His uncle had been a fitter for so long that his brain was screwed by the wrench.

Brother Geng was ignored by his nephew, and his face looked unnatural. Seeing this, his wife Chu Fenghe wanted to laugh: "Dabao, does your aunt know that you moved here?"

Dabao nodded: "The day before Dad went to school, he went to my uncle's house to tell them that we moved here." During those days, Dabao also wrote a letter to a good friend on Hengshan Island, leaving the address of the new home, "Second Mom, your mother came here last weekend."

Chu Fenghe: "Are you worried about Benben being here?"

Geng Benben nodded: "She saw me and Dabao sharing a bed and asked if it was too crowded. Don't think I don't know what she meant."

"What do you mean?" asked Geng Zhiye's second brother Geng Zhihui.

Geng Benben: "If you want to squeeze in, just go to her house. My cousin went to her house and shared a bed with me, but she didn't ask me if I wanted to squeeze in. Isn't she just worried that grandma and my aunt wouldn't treat me well? Grandma couldn't have raised me up if she wasn't good."

When Benben and his sister Huihui were young, the Chu family was exiled to different parts of the country and could not help Chu Fenghe take care of the two children. Benben and his sister were raised by their grandparents. Although Yu Wentao initially looked after her grandchildren with the hope that Geng Zhihui would provide for her in her old age, it was true that Yu Wentao cared about the children and never asked Geng Zhihui for money.

Chu Fenghe could see clearly and could not say anything wrong about her mother-in-law. "Your grandma just cares too much about you. She is worried when you are not in front of her."

Geng Benben sneered, "You said grandma is illiterate and still nagging, afraid that I will be corrupted by bad company. Don't explain for grandma, I know everything. My aunt said that if a person is well educated and has a good job, it only shows that he is smart, not that he has a noble character."

Chu Fenghe couldn't refute it, because her mother was sent to the farm for many years because of her mother's colleagues. How could a person like the professor not be smart? But he is narrow-minded and likes to take revenge!

Chu Fenghe: "Benben, grandma is not as bad as you say. She has good intentions towards you. Go visit grandma and grandpa with your sister on weekends."

Geng Benben wanted to say that he had to do his homework, but suddenly he thought of something: "You can go, but you can use the money you and dad have saved to buy a house for me and my sister."

Chu Fenghe suspected that she had heard it wrongly: "What to buy?"

Geng Benben: "Two houses. Like the one my aunt has. If you don't want to buy them, don't ask me to do something I don't want to do."

Chu Fenghe was speechless. How could these two things be confused?

Geng Zhihui: "How old are you?"

"Do not do to others what you do not want others do to you!" Geng Benben said and continued to do math problems.

Geng Zhihui was choked up and couldn't speak for a while before he asked, "Why do you need a house when you are so young?"

“I rent it out to make money.”

Geng Zhihui couldn't help rolling his eyes: "Who doesn't have a house? What's the difference between renting a house and sleeping on the street?"

"You've been to college and are well-educated. I can't argue with you. Just decide whether to buy it or not." Geng Benben put down his pen. "You think I'm being naughty, but I think my mother is unreasonable."

Chu Fenghe sighed: "Grandma is your real grandma, how can she be the same as a house?"

"I haven't seen my grandma for many years, but she is still my grandma. Why do you want me to visit her more often now?" Geng Benben asked again.

Chu Fenghe opened his mouth: "Grandma wasn't in the capital before."

"I never asked you to buy it before. I know you and dad don't have that much money."

Chu Fenghe suddenly felt that all his years of studying had been in vain as he could not even win an argument with a teenager.

Geng Zhiye came in carrying a bag of Qiuyue pears and saw the three children busy doing their homework. His second brother and second sister-in-law were sitting on the east and west sides of the large square table, respectively, and they looked at each other in bewilderment.

Geng Zhiye put the pear on the table. The three little ones looked up when they heard the noise. The second child exclaimed, "Dad? Dad, I thought I couldn't see you until the winter vacation."

Geng Zhiye also thought that he would not be able to come back until the winter vacation, but he did not expect that he could come out on the weekend. Geng Zhiye hugged Erbao who rushed over to him and instinctively picked her up. Erbao struggled: "Dad, I am already in the fourth grade, don't hug me, it will be embarrassing if my classmates see me."

Geng Zhiye: "Your brother also complains about being embarrassed every day. When he came back from the island a few days ago, he slept in my arms for a night."

"Riding in a car is different from being at home." Erbao got off and held his father's hand, "Can I stay at home for a few days?"

Geng Zhiye: "Be at school before 8pm."

Erbao was very disappointed, but then he became happy again: "Mom bought a big fish and a chicken this morning, and I asked her to cook them all for Dad's health."

Geng Zhiye nodded: "Do your homework. Dad will take you out to play in the afternoon."

Geng Benben was just thinking about it, and immediately sat back down when he heard this.

Geng Zhiye motioned his brother and sister-in-law to go to the west side of the antique shelf. Geng Zhihui and his wife Chu Fenghe sat down on the western Luohan bed. Geng Zhiye casually pulled a chair and sat down opposite them, asking, "What happened? When I came in just now, you two looked very strange."

Geng Zhihui originally wanted to get away with it, but after hearing what his brother said, he knew he couldn't, so he said that Geng Benben was a little brat who had nothing better to do than to ask for a house.

Geng Benben knew that his uncle, like his aunt, believed that buying it was a good deal, so he was not panicked at all when he heard that.

Geng Zhiye is not opposed to buying a house, provided he has enough money. Geng Zhiye has not calculated how much money his brother and sister-in-law have, but he knows they can afford a house here.

Geng Benben didn't ask for a house with good location and convenient transportation in East and West City, so it was not unreasonable. Geng Zhiye didn't know why his nephew suddenly wanted a house and planned to help him.

No one drove Ye Fan away from setting up a stall, and others would certainly set up stalls if they saw that they could do it on their own. Geng Zhiye started with Ye Fan setting up a stall, saying that once the idle people in the compound made money, the first thing they did was to move out, either by buying or renting.

If they want to buy, they can buy now and sell it to idle people in the future. If the idle people do not buy, Benben's house can be rented to them.

Geng Zhihui frowned and said, "How much can you rent it for? It's not even enough to cover the renovation costs. Don't you mind the hassle?"

Geng Zhiye: "After you buy a house, it will still be yours after 50 years. For example, this house in my house belongs to the owner's father. Her father went abroad and gave her the house. She doesn't live in it normally and it seems useless. Recently, she needed money, so she sold it to me, which solved her urgent need."

"Saving money can also help with urgent needs." Geng Zhihui said this, and Chu Fenghe nodded to show that he was right. Geng Zhiye thought to himself, you two are a real couple.

"Where will Benben live after he gets married?" Geng Zhiye asked. "He will be assigned a room after graduation. With his qualifications, it will be a single dormitory. Will he still need to buy a house by then?"

Geng Benben is only in junior high school, so the couple didn’t think that far ahead.

Geng Zhihui: "It won't be too late to buy it then."

Geng Zhiye finally understood why his nephew ignored them, so that the couple could only look at each other in the face. "From now on, learn how to set up a stall like Fanfan. Everyone has enough money. Can you bargain like you do now?"

"How much money can you make by setting up a stall?" Geng Zhihui was not optimistic.

Geng Zhiye: "Fanfan bought eggs from villagers at 7 cents each, and sold them to citizens for 1 cent. In addition to eggs, she also bought vegetables, fish, and crabs. After deducting the gas and car rental fees, and the hard work fees for Xiaoqin and Huihui, she made more than two yuan each time."

Chu Fenghe: "Not much."

Geng Zhiye was tired: "Sister-in-law, Fanfan only sets up the stall in the afternoon. If someone else sets up the stall in the morning, they will have to work harder and don't ask for help from others. The minimum income is ten yuan a day!"

Chu Fenghe was shocked: "If it's just one month, it's more than our combined salary?"

Geng Zhiye: "In the past, the director of the supply and marketing cooperative allowed Fanfan to compete with the purchasing station for business because he earned more and got more bonuses. Xiaoqin was a temporary worker and a salesperson, and he could get an extra five yuan every month."

Chu Fenghe: "Fanfan was an accountant at the time, and his contribution was greater than Xiaoqin's. Shouldn't he have received an extra ten dollars a month?"

Geng Zhiye didn't say yes or no, but gave her a look and let her figure it out herself.

Chu Fenghe thought, no wonder they dared to buy a house. It turned out that Ye Fan's salary in the supply and marketing cooperative was so high.

Said that Cao Cao Cao Cao arrived.

Ye Fan returned with her mother-in-law, sister-in-law and niece. However, they did not enter the main house, but went to Yu Wentao's room first, because they bought a lot of things this time, and the outer room was spacious, so they could take out the things and put them in order.

Geng Huihui took out her things as soon as she entered the house. Seeing that her hands were so black that she couldn't face anyone, Ye Fan couldn't help but say, "Huihui, don't be busy yet. Wash your hands and go to the main room. Your parents are here."

Geng Huihui asked hurriedly: "Who?"

"Your parents are here."

Geng Huihui stood up subconsciously, remembered something, and hurriedly stuffed her fifty-yuan purchase into her grandmother's cabinet. Geng Zhiqin saw this and stuffed her one hundred-yuan purchase into the cabinet as well.

Ye Fan was confused: "What are you two doing?"

Geng Huihui didn't answer, but asked: "How did Auntie know that my parents are here?"

Ye Fan: "I just saw two packages on the table. If it's not a holiday, no one will come to our house. They must have been bought by your parents."

Geng Zhiqin said, "I'll go out and ask." Then he went out and called to the main hall, "Ben Ben, is there a guest at home?"

Geng Zhiye and his brother and sister-in-law came out of the house.

Geng Zhiqin subconsciously called out "Third Brother", and then said, "Are Second Brother and Second Sister-in-law on vacation recently?"

Geng Huihui urged her grandmother: "Put it away quickly. My grandma has a lot of good things. If my mom sees them, she will say they are worthless and scold us for wasting money."

Yu Wentao is not afraid of her second son and second daughter-in-law: "Fanfan, you can put what you bought in the grand treasure room, and I will display what I bought."

After he finished speaking, Geng Zhiye arrived at the door of the wing room and saw Ye Fan holding a sack. He reached out to take it and asked, "What did you buy?"

"There's too much space in Dabao's room, put some ornaments in it."

Geng Zhiye went directly to his son's room across the street and took out the things one by one and put them on the table. "Fan Fan, why did Ben Ben suddenly want a house?"

Ye Fan: "Did Benben tell my second brother and his wife?"

Geng Zhiye nodded.

Ye Fan started from the day when her mother-in-law looked at the house, and talked about how there were more ways to make money after the reform and opening up, etc. Finally, she said that her mother-in-law did not reach an agreement with the next house, which wanted 15,000 yuan, and her mother-in-law gave 10,000 yuan.

Geng Zhiye couldn't help but say, "She really dares to bargain. Didn't anyone scold her?"

"We don't even know if he cursed us in private."

Geng Zhiye: "You didn't go with her?"

"I told her it was twelve thousand. Later, when she was buying groceries, she ran into the old lady and she was asked to pay more. I don't know why she looked at her in disdain and asked if ten thousand was too much." Yu Wentao showed off to Ye Fan as soon as she came back. She almost made the old lady faint.

Ye Fan was accompanying his three children to learn English at the time and had no time to argue with her, so he told her not to get angry. Perhaps Ye Fan didn't scold her, Yu Wentao went to cook happily as if she had won a battle.

"Since it's her money, she can pay whatever she wants." Geng Zhiye saw the things on the table in the opposite room and asked, "Did she buy it herself?"

Ye Fan nodded: "She said she would help us decorate the house because she didn't pay for our house." He wanted to laugh when he talked about it, "While she was choosing things, Huihui and Xiaoqin complained to me in a low voice that she was stingy."

Geng Zhiye: "You've bought it even if you're stingy. If my second brother and his wife had gone with you, they would have been so angry that they'd have a headache. When I analyzed the future situation with them just now, I just wanted to scold them for being so stupid!"

"People have different perceptions. If you don't want to buy it, forget it. Huihui will definitely have a single dormitory after graduation. Benben will be admitted to a good school and assigned to a good unit in the future, so a house is inevitable." Ye Fan folded the sack: "Okay, no need to go to the thrift store anymore."

Geng Zhiye saw the dazzling array of things on the table and said, "If you are greedy, you may get stuck."

Ye Fan nodded: "I want to buy it when I see it, and I buy more and more. I become addicted to it and others can easily trap us with any trick."

"Yes, because we don't understand." Geng Zhiye said, "Put it here first, and then ask Dabao to clean it himself and put it up there."

Ye Fan waited for him to come out and then closed the door of his son's room.

Yu Wentao didn't have many things, and they could all fit on the antique shelf, so Geng Zhihui and Chu Fenghe didn't think she bought too much. They even used a rag to help her wipe them clean and put the things on display.

Ye Fan went to the main room to check Dabao and Erbao's homework. Geng Zhiye checked his nephew's math problems and found no problems. Then the couple went to the kitchen.

Ye Fan turned on the stove and waited for the water to boil. Geng Zhiye asked her if she was busy at school.

"It's not busy, it's just that the professional courses are boring." Since Ye Fan used computers and English until her death in her previous life and did not return these two subjects to the teacher, she was able to pass the public courses of foreign languages ​​and computers without taking them.

In order to prevent herself from being overconfident, Ye Fan also asked someone to find out that Dabao's foreign language level was enough to handle public courses. Computers were like a joke to Ye Fan, and the technical difficulty was not as high as her confidence in the high school entrance examination.

There are fewer subjects that she doesn't need to worry about. Ye Fan plans to take computer professional courses next year when her second baby is one year older and she doesn't need to worry too much, so she tries to get two degrees.

Geng Zhiye asked, "Then will we still set up a stall in the afternoon?"

Ye Fan: "Are you going?"

Geng Zhiye shook his head: "If I go with you on the three-wheeled vehicle, I will have to carry 100 kilograms less. You've worked in vain."

"I feel like there isn't much in the countryside at this time of year," Ye Fan said.

Geng Zhiye: "Ask Huihui to go with you?"

Ye Fan nodded: "That's fine. In fact, you can ask a few uncles to pick them and sell them yourself."

Geng Zhiye: "Let's not talk about whether they dare to set up stalls. They have to take a short-distance bus from the village to the station, and then take a bus to the city, and then go back the same way. The money they earn is not enough to cover the round-trip fare."

"If the things are valuable, they can make a lot of money." Ye Fan said, "It would be fine if their village could raise funds to buy a three-wheeled vehicle."

Geng Zhiye: "There are more than 100 households in Yujia Village. It is not difficult for them to contribute tens of yuan each. But there is only one three-wheeled vehicle. Who should be sold first and who should be sold later is a problem."

"That's right." Ye Fan saw smoke coming out of the kettle, "It's time to kill the chicken."

Geng Zhiye took a bowl with some salt water, went out with a knife, killed the chicken and bled it. The blood flowed into the bowl. Geng Zhiye threw the chicken into the basin. Ye Fan poured hot water on it, and Geng Zhiye cleaned up in the yard.

Geng Zhiqin heard the noise and came out: "Third brother, you take a break and I will do it."

Geng Zhiye walked from school to the bus stop and changed buses several times before getting home. He wanted to sit down and rest, so he gave the chicken to his sister.

Yu Wentao went to the kitchen and asked Ye Fan to rest in the main room while she prepared lunch. Second sister-in-law Chu Fenghe felt embarrassed to let her mother-in-law work alone, so she went to the kitchen to help.

Brother Geng went to the main hall and looked at the antique furniture. He couldn't help but say, "It's better than the old house. The ancestors of this family were bannermen, right? They actually survived those ten years."

Ye Fan: "Perhaps because the yard is small, it is obvious that this is not the home of a noble, landlord or merchant, so those who destroyed the four olds ignored this house."

Geng Zhiye nodded: "That might be the reason. The street office didn't think of arranging for people without houses to move in. That's why the house is so well preserved."

The large courtyard behind the Geng family's old house was originally a large house for wealthy people. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the owner left and the house became vacant, and the street office arranged for people without houses to move in.

Ye Fan remembered something and asked Geng Zhiye, "The house at the back is the same size as my parents' house. The street office didn't dare to arrange for anyone else to live in my house because my father is a powerful person and they didn't dare to provoke him. They were also afraid that if they arranged for someone to live there, it would disturb my father's rest. How did they keep the house at the back?"

Geng Zhiye: "Two families lived here before. The old lady was very powerful. After the revolution, she would act weird in the yard every day. People didn't dare to do anything, but would retort. She would say her heart hurt and she wanted to go to the hospital. People couldn't stand it and moved away. It seems that the street helped to solve the problem, either by finding another ownerless house or by building a dormitory for their employees."

Ye Fanxin said, no wonder her mother-in-law disliked the old lady, it turned out that the old lady was not easy to deal with.

It is better not to buy her house. Otherwise, if you can't make it abroad in a few years and come back, the house prices in the capital will have risen, and the old lady will throw a tantrum at the door again, making the whole family restless.

No one expected that Ye Fan didn't plan to buy it, and the old lady found her.

After the beginning of winter, the weather turned cold and there were no vegetables in the countryside, so Ye Fan's stall business was suspended. On Sundays, Ye Fan either took the children out, or helped them with their homework in the morning, and read books in the afternoon. The little ones played hopscotch or marbles in the yard or at the door.

The day the old lady found Ye Fan was also a weekend - usually Ye Fan went out early and came back late to attend classes, so even if she met someone, Ye Fan would not have time to pay attention to her. Geng Zhiye was also at home that day, and the two of them were wrapped in quilts and reading side by side on the Luohan bed.

Dabao suddenly ran in and said, "Mom, the old lady is here, she's in our yard."

Ye Fan was stunned for a moment before he reacted: "The one who wants to sell the house?"

When Geng Zhiye saw her lift the quilt, he pushed it back and said, "You sit here, I'll go out and take a look." After saying that, he jumped off the bed, put on his shoes in a few seconds, and went to the door to block the uninvited person.

Geng Zhiye was tall, broad-shouldered, and wearing a military coat. He stood in front of the old lady with bound feet and a hunched body, like a mountain. The old lady stopped in fear: "You you——"

"Don't you recognize me?"

The old lady looked at him carefully and said, "Comrade Geng? Aren't you very busy?"

Geng Zhiye winked at his son, and Dabao brought a chair from the room and said, "Grandma, please sit down."

The old lady praised Dabao for being sensible and then sat down with the help of crutches.

Geng Zhiye thought to himself, if he doesn't take good care of himself and move abroad at his age, isn't he afraid that he won't be able to survive in the capitalist world?

"I'm busy on Sundays." There was a bench in the yard where Yu Wentao sat while picking vegetables in the morning. Geng Zhiye took the bench and sat down by the door. "You're looking for my mother? She's back home."

Yu Wentao was annoyed by the old lady, and the old lady was also annoyed by Yu Wentao, thinking she was too greedy, "Where is your lover?"

Geng Zhiye: "I just went out to deliver something to my mother-in-law. What do you want from her? It's the same if you tell me."

The old lady thought, am I a step too slow again? Thinking that her old man was the boss of her family, she thought that the Geng family was the same. She thought it would be better to find Geng Zhiye instead of Ye Fan. "Your mother wants to move to a bigger house. Has she bought it?"

Geng Zhiye: "No. There is a family in the southeast corner, and they are not satisfied with the same place as mine. There is a big house that they want to sell at a low price, but there are three families living in it, and they don't want to move. We can't chase them away and live under the bridge. After all, once they are on the streets, they can do anything. We are worried that they will take risks and hurt Dabao and Erbao."

When Dabao saw that his father was as talkative as his mother and was more than capable of dealing with a little old lady, he went outside to play marbles with his cousin.

The old lady glanced at Dabao and said, "That's right. We can't let them harm such a clever child like Dabao. What do you think of my family?"

Geng Zhiye smiled bitterly: "I think it's good. But my husband and I have no money. My father hasn't been gone for a year yet, and if we force my stepmother to buy a house, who knows, this matter will poke us in the spine. So, you have to talk to her."

The old lady understood the reason, but Yu Wentao was simply unreasonable. She said she would not add a cent to the ten thousand: "When will your stepmother come back?"

Geng Zhiye: "Maybe in three days."

"Can't you persuade your stepmother?" the old lady asked with a frown.

Geng Zhiye sighed: "How can I persuade her? If I say too little, she won't listen. If I say too much, it will seem like I am after her money."

The old lady thought that the relationship between a stepmother and her stepson was not as good as that between a biological mother and her biological son, and they could talk about anything. "Then I'll come back in a few days."

Geng Zhiye saw her off to the door and made sure she turned north and went home. Then he went back to the house and said to Ye Fan, "The old lady looks very anxious."

Ye Fan: "My children hope that she will spend the Spring Festival abroad. To be honest, she is not easy to deal with, but her children are very filial."

Geng Zhiye said: "If you are not nice to outsiders but love your children, it is normal for them to be filial. If your children are in a hurry, maybe you can get them back with 10,000 yuan."

Although Geng Zhiye said this, he had never thought about buying a big house with 10,000 yuan. After all, it was not realistic.

But it's done.

On the day of the winter solstice, Ye Fan accompanied Yu Wentao to transfer the property. Ye Fan took advantage of the fact that Yu Wentao had not read the relevant procedures and asked her to sign. After the procedures were completed, the name on the property certificate was Yu Wentao.

Yu Wentao was very unhappy and felt that she had been cheated.

(End of this chapter)