Starting with vegetable greenhouses in 1988

Chapter 54 Moving
Li Zhe separated the two women. "Brother, it's getting late. You and sister-in-law should take Daya back first. I'll talk to Mother. Mother, I know about this, but I didn't tell you because I was afraid you'd worry."

Old Li grabbed Wang Xiuying's arm, "The children have worked all day, let's talk about it tomorrow."

Wang Xiuying shook off her husband, pointed at her own nose, and said, "So you all knew, but you kept it from me?"

Old Li quickly explained, "This is the first time I've ever heard of this either."

Li Zhe told everyone to leave, leaving only Li Zhe and his family of three in the greenhouse. "Mom, calm down, this is my fault. My brother's family was facing a famine, so I came up with an idea to have him take out a loan from the credit union and deposit it in another bank to earn interest."

Old Li asked, "How much did your brother borrow? How much interest can he get?"

"I borrowed 5,000, and the interest is more than 500 per year. It will be about 2,600 over five years."

"Holy crap, you can do that?" Old Li was a little taken aback.

"Fine, you've all grown up and have your own agendas. I'm not going to manage this household anymore. You can do whatever you want." Wang Xiuying said this and stormed off.

Old Li gave his son a wink and hurried after him, saying, "Slow down! It's pitch black, be careful not to twist your ankle..."

After her parents left, Li Na hurriedly said, "Second brother, I want to help you move tomorrow."

"You better study hard! When winter break comes, I'll take you to Tiananmen Square."

"You'll keep your word? You can't fool me."

"When have I ever lied to you? Go back and behave yourself, and don't mess with Mom."

"I'm trying to avoid him!" Li Na flicked her braid and jogged to catch up with Old Li.

As soon as Li Na arrived home, she hid in the west room. Since her second brother was no longer coming home, she moved to the west room to live by herself.

East room.

Wang Xiuying sat angrily on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), pouting, her face so gloomy it seemed to drip water.

Old Li stood to the side, not daring to utter a sound.

After a long while, Old Li finally advised, "The children are grown up, let them be. It's your own health, don't get upset."

“What sins did I commit in my past life that you Li family members are all so angry with me? At least the second son told me about the loan, he still cares about his mother. But the eldest son secretly took out the loan and treats me like a thief. He doesn’t have the ability of the second son. If he loses all those thousands of dollars, he’ll be living in poverty for the rest of his life.”

"Didn't the second brother say that the eldest brother doesn't do anything but put his money in the bank to earn interest? Besides, the eldest brother isn't very bold and doesn't have the ambition to do business."

"Hmph, he's definitely a Malaysian instigator, otherwise how could the boss have borrowed so much money?"

Old Li advised, "Harmony in the family brings prosperity in everything; you mustn't let the eldest son's wife hear that..."

"So what if I heard that? I've disliked her for a long time. Her eldest daughter is already running around, and she hasn't even started having a baby yet. When I was her age, I was already about to give birth to my second child."

"The eldest son and his wife are still young, it won't matter if they wait a couple more years."

“I didn’t pressure her, but something just felt off. Every time I brought it up, she would give me the cold shoulder. Who is she trying to impress? Anyone who didn’t know better would think she was the mother-in-law and I was the submissive daughter-in-law.”

"Don't hold a grudge. Go to sleep early. We have to get up early tomorrow to go to Beijing to tidy up the house for the second son."

"Hmph, it's our second son who's really capable. He even has a house in Beijing now. I'll have to be careful when choosing a wife for him."

Old Li pondered for a while and shook his head, "There's no rush for the second son's marriage, let's wait a bit longer." "The second son isn't young anymore, what are we waiting for? Besides, our second son is capable now, he can pick any girl from the surrounding villages."

"The more capable you are, the less you should rush things. Just wait and see, in a few years, the second son might be able to marry a woman from the capital."

"What! A wife from the capital!" Wang Xiuying's eyes lit up. If someone could really be a wife from the capital, they would be the best in the whole area. "Old Li, you're not asleep yet, how can you be dreaming?" Wang Xiuying still couldn't believe it.

"You've never been to Beijing, so you don't know what a 'big courtyard' is like. A dozen or so families are crammed into one courtyard, each with a makeshift room made of tarpaulin and wooden planks. You have to squeeze through the passageways, and you have to use a public toilet. The living conditions are worse than in our village." Old Li chuckled and said dreamily, "When my second son makes money in the future, he can ask someone to buy him an apartment in Beijing. Who knows, he might actually be able to find a wife from Beijing."

Wang Xiuying's smile gradually froze as she thought of something. "Forget it, a daughter-in-law from the capital is all about prestige. A country girl knows how to manage a household better. I'll pick the prettiest girl in the surrounding villages for my son."

"What are you thinking? No matter how pretty the girls in the village are, they can't compare to the girls in the capital."

“I can’t say what kind of girl he is from the capital, but I know what kind of person his second aunt is, don’t I? Humph.” Wang Xiuying’s face darkened again.

Old Li glanced at it and realized, "Oh no, we can't chat anymore. Go to sleep, we still have work to do tomorrow."

……

The next morning, Wang Rongsheng and Li Jiugang stayed behind to watch the greenhouse, while Ma Laixiao stayed home to look after the children. The rest of the people took a tractor to Beijing.

Everyone was in high spirits along the way. Now that they had a place to stay in the capital, the trip to the capital felt different.

Old Li noticed a bundle next to his wife and asked, "What did she take?"

"Yuzhen asked me to bring it. Last time her daughter left in a hurry and didn't take everything with her."

"The Lin family's son-in-law is really good. We were able to rent a place thanks to his help." Old Li thought to himself. Ever since his second son's greenhouse started making money, his wife and Zhang Yuzhen have been getting closer and closer.

He figured out what was going on, and the more uneasy he felt, the more he blamed himself for being incompetent...

The tractor drove to the Chongwenmen vegetable market. Old Li took Li Weidong and Zhao Tiezhu to sell vegetables, while Li Zhe led the others to tidy up the house in Suzhou Hutong.

On the way, Wang Xiuying found everything fascinating. It had been ten years since her last visit to Beijing, and her memories of the city were already hazy. In the past, she had only ever taken a cursory look around and had never explored the authentic hutongs.

"Second brother, do you know why this place is called Suzhou Hutong?"

Li Zhe was unaware of this at first, but Zhou Yongqiang had mentioned it during the last rental: "During the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty, when the capital was being built, the strategist Yao Guangxiao was in charge of planning the construction of the capital. A large number of craftsmen were transferred from his hometown of Suzhou. These craftsmen gathered in this area and gradually formed a market. They missed their hometown, so they named it 'Suzhou'."

Wang Xiuying secretly made a mental note of it, so that when the gossipy women in the village asked, she could fool them.

The four of them arrived at No. 7 Suzhou Hutong. Li Zhe unlocked the door and led the three into the front yard. He gave a brief introduction, emphasizing the storage room that needed to be converted into a kitchen.

Wang Xiuying stepped on the thick bluestone slabs, looked at the carved screen wall, and touched the red lacquered door frame. She couldn't help but exclaim, "This house is really nice and grand! In the past, only wealthy families could afford to live here."

"Mom, you and Jianjun take care of things. I'll take Yongqiang to buy some furniture. Let's get the storage room ready first, then we'll cook lunch."

Wang Xiuying instructed, "Second son, don't buy too expensive furniture, save your money."

"I know, I'll buy it at the secondhand market, it won't be expensive." Li Zhe will be living here permanently in the future, and he will need to buy more clothes, food, housing and transportation. There are too many things he needs to buy, so he can't bear to buy new ones.

During this period, Li Zhe made a lot of money selling vegetables, but he also spent a lot. The plastic film for greenhouse No. 3 cost 2400 yuan, the rent was 910 yuan, and renting Zhu's greenhouse cost 1200 yuan. After deducting daily expenses, he now has less than 500 yuan.

"Is Brother Li home?" Just as Li Zhe was about to go out, a shout came from outside.

(End of this chapter)