Siheyuan: The Era of Struggle

Chapter 30: Eight years old, not much difference

"The subdistrict office does have quite a few houses, but I heard that none of them are for sale right now. Do you have any connections that could get them?"

It seems that Master Qiu has also done some investigation during this period, otherwise he would not know the situation of the houses in the hands of the street office.

"How many people are willing to buy a house now? Renting a house doesn't cost much money for a month, don't you think?"

Yang Ning said indifferently, while Yang Dagen drank tea calmly. After Yang Ning finished speaking, he nodded seriously, as if agreeing.

"This..." It seemed that Master Qiu was not good at speaking, and Yang Ning was able to understand him after just a few words.

His wife wanted to say something, but in the end, due to the lack of information, she couldn't find an excuse to refute.

Finally, Uncle Lian was asked to be the guarantor, and the two parties reached an agreement that Master Qiu's family would vacate the house after the National Day, and Yang Dagen paid a part of the deposit on the spot. The two parties shook hands and swore an oath. Anyway, it was not something that could be made public, so there was no written agreement or anything.

At this time, most people in the old city were very polite and their morals had not yet collapsed. Generally speaking, when things came to this point, no one would regret it. Otherwise, the party who breached the contract would have a hard time moving forward and would suffer from the gossip of neighbors all day long.

"Finally, I have settled my worries."

On the way home, Yang Ning could feel that Yang Dagen seemed a lot more cheerful and his voice became louder.

After returning home, Yang Liu and Erguai had not come back yet. Yang Ning asked his father to cook at home while he rode his bicycle to pick up his mother and brother.

"Uncle Zhong, is my mother here?"

"Ningzi?"

Uncle Zhong is much older than he was a few years ago. His hair has already turned gray in his forties. It seems that since the Lou’s Iron Works became the Third Steel Rolling Mill, the Lou family’s life has not been as good as before. Even Uncle Zhong has now started to serve as a doorman.

"it's me."

Yang Ning admired Uncle Zhong's loyalty. He always put the Lou family first in everything. Even though this was no longer popular now, he was still willing to follow the old custom and call them Master, Young Master, Madam and Miss.

The past living habits were like a circle, completely encircling this man who had lived in the circle for decades. Uncle Zhong had no intention of stepping out of this circle. In his opinion, everything was as it should be.

The clean blue jacket, the meticulous hairstyle, and the black cloth shoes on his feet, everything is the same as before.

It’s just that Uncle Zhong now has a pair of reading glasses on his face, which makes him look a little kinder than before. He is no longer the tough man that made people intimidated.

Uncle Zhong adjusted his reading glasses on his face and then confirmed who was coming.

"Wait."

As he spoke, Uncle Zhong took off his reading glasses and walked out of the gatehouse. His steps still looked strong, but Yang Ning could see the traces of time in them.

Although Uncle Zhong is a housekeeper, he has also practiced a few tricks. In the past, he always walked on tiptoe, with his toes touching the ground first. This way, he can better protect the master.

But now he is obviously on his heels, and it seems that he has aged. Or perhaps the long period of comfortable life has made him lose his former edge.

Uncle Zhong opened the door and asked Yang Ning to push the bicycle in and lean it against the wall of the gatehouse. Then he looked at Yang Ning and asked, "What happened to your family?"

"Nothing."

In fact, Yang Ning was a little afraid of Uncle Zhong. Perhaps it was because he spent more time at the Lou family than at the Siheyuan when he was a child, and because the original owner was naughty, every time he and Lou Changxing's son got into trouble, in addition to the beating from his mother, he would also be scolded by Uncle Zhong, the housekeeper.

So when facing the stern Uncle Zhong, Yang Ning was afraid from the bottom of his heart.

Even though the core has been changed, this fear seems to have been engraved in the body. "Stop talking nonsense, why are you going to return the house awarded by the master for no reason?"

Uncle Zhong saw Yang Ning staring inside and waved his hand casually, "Don't worry, your mother is in there keeping the Third Madam and the young lady company. Your mother hasn't been here for a long time, so let her stay a little longer.

Talk to Uncle Zhong, is there anyone bullying your family?"

"Did my Aunt Xu tell you?" Yang Ning thought Uncle Zhong knew about it, so he went to the gatehouse to get two stools and handed one to Uncle Zhong. After sitting down, Yang Ning told him a brief account of what happened in the courtyard last night.

After listening to this, Uncle Zhong thought for a moment, then sighed and said with a look of regret: "You little monkey have really grown up. You did a good job on this matter."

"If this happened before, I would have scolded you for being soft-hearted, but now even if you have money you can't do whatever you want. This is probably the best solution."

"Okay, I'll help your family explain to the master after this." Uncle Zhong stood up and went to the kitchen.

After a while, Yang Liu came out holding the two monsters, followed by a charming woman, who was holding a little girl about ten years old in her hand.

The woman seemed to be trying to keep Yang Liushi. The little girl next to her pouted. Her aggrieved expression showed that she was very unhappy, as if someone had taken away her favorite toy.

Yang Liu seemed very humble at this moment, constantly bending over to the woman and saying something, while the second monster lay in her arms, with his arms around Yang Liu's neck, burying his head in his mother's shoulder, as if hiding from something.

"Mom!" Yang Ning walked over and called to his mother, then respectfully greeted the woman and his sister-in-law with a smile: "Third Madam, Miss Lou!"

This woman and the little girl are the loli version of Xu Damao's wife Lou Xiao'e and her mother Lou Tan in the original novel.

Yang Ning had met her a few times before, but they were not very familiar with each other.

After all, the rich man's backyard is just like that. Yang Liu was originally the wet nurse of the eldest wife, and she didn't have much contact with Lou Tan and her family.

"Boss?" When Yang Liu saw Yang Ning, she was stunned at first, and then a look of surprise appeared on her face.

"Ma'am, Miss, my son is here to pick me up, so I'll take my leave now."

When Lou Xiao'e saw Yang Ning, her eyes lit up. She was obviously attracted by this older brother who was wearing a gray Zhongshan suit, had a tall figure and was very handsome.

"Sister Yang, this is your eldest son Yang Ning, right? He has grown so big after not seeing him for a few years. You know what, he looks like two different people now from the old naughty boy."

When Lou Tan saw Yang Ning, she also praised him a lot. The look in her eyes made Yang Ning want to run away.

"Thank you for the compliment, ma'am. I'm sure my family must be waiting anxiously. I'll take my leave now."

Yang Liushi seemed to have straightened her back a little when she saw her son coming.

After saying that, he carried the two monsters outside. Yang Ning nodded to Lou Xiao'e and her daughter, then trotted a few steps to catch up.

Watching Yang Ning disappear on his bike with Yang Liu, Lou Tan kept looking at Yang Ning with a strange look, then glanced at her daughter who was reluctant to leave, as if she had made some kind of decision.

"Eight years old, not much difference!" Lou Tan thought to herself.

I don't know whether it means that her daughter Lou Xiao'e is eight years younger than Yang Ning, or eight years older than Erguai.

It should be about the same, right?

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(End of this chapter)