My wife and I are both time travelers.

Chapter 41 Trouble is coming
Seeing that Zhou Jiye and Lin Ying were both quite excited and looked like they couldn't believe what they were seeing, Xu Guoqing couldn't help but laugh.

"Is it simple? It's simple in some ways, and difficult in others. It's about finding the right people, finding the right path, being willing to pay the price, and having connections."

Xu Guoqing said meaningfully, and Lin Ying, suppressing her excitement, asked, "Brother Xu, was the money I gave you before enough? How much more do you need to add?"

"Hahaha!" Xu Guoqing laughed loudly, "That's enough, that's enough. There's still 160 left over. You guys are lucky you didn't overspend. Are you relieved now?"

"I'm relieved, I'm relieved."

Zhou Jiye and Lin Ying were overjoyed, and just as they were feeling happy, they saw Xu Guoqing take an envelope out of his pocket and hand it to them.

"This is……?"

"The extra 160! What's wrong with it? Don't you want it?"

"No, no!"

How could Zhou Jiye possibly ask Xu Guoqing to return the money? He was now extremely grateful to Xu Guoqing, and any doubts he had before had long since vanished. To be honest, even if Xu Guoqing had told them directly that he had spent every last penny of the money and even provided some subsidies, they would have been willing to accept it. Moreover, the other party was so reliable that he even wanted to return the money to them.

"Brother Xu, we are so grateful to you for helping us with such a big thing. We agreed on three thousand, so there's no reason to return any more. Also, please accept this; it's a small token of our appreciation from my husband and me..." As he spoke, Zhou Jiye took out an envelope he had prepared beforehand and stuffed it into Xu Guoqing's hand.

Now it was Xu Guoqing's turn to refuse no matter what. Xu Guoqing repeatedly declined, saying that he had already received a kickback for doing this, and that kickback was originally deducted from their three thousand yuan.

"A bridge is a bridge, a road is a road"—that's his principle. If there's an extra item, it should be returned to the owner. Why would he take any more benefits from them? Wouldn't that break the rules if word got out? Besides, they're his cousin Lao Wen's friends; they're all family, so there's no need for that.

One of them insisted on giving it to the other, while the other resolutely refused, neither willing to give in.

Lin Ying then stepped in to smooth things over, saying that since things were like this, there was no need to keep going back and forth; it wouldn't look good if others saw it. She suggested that Xu Guoqing should simply leave the extra money behind and let him keep the 160 yuan to buy some cigarettes and alcohol as a token of their appreciation. As for Zhou Jiye, she said there was no need to give him any other benefits; they should just leave it at that and find some time in a few days to invite Lao Wen over for a meal to express their gratitude.

"That works too." Xu Guoqing readily agreed, and the matter was settled.

The three returned to the ferry dock as they had come from and took the ferry back to the city.

Back in the city, they parted ways. Zhou Jiye rode his bicycle with Lin Ying on the back towards their residence, beaming with joy the whole way. When they arrived home and went up to the attic, they locked the door from the inside and couldn't help but cheer. They hugged each other excitedly, shouting and jumping.

A huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Although it's just an agricultural household registration, it's still a Shanghai household registration! With this, all their obstacles in Shanghai are gone, and they no longer need to worry about this or that.

They looked at the small household registration booklet like it was a treasure, flipping through it over and over again, occasionally bursting into laughter.

"We really have to thank Brother Xu and Brother Wen. Without them, we wouldn't have this," Lin Ying said, pointing to the household registration booklet.

Zhou Jiye nodded repeatedly and discussed with Lin Ying when to invite Xu Guoqing and Lao Wen to dinner. After thinking about it, Lin Ying said that there was no rush. Now that they had household registration, their worries were gone. Next, they should find a place to move as soon as possible. After they moved and settled in, they would invite them to dinner. Lin Ying would cook a good meal for them herself.

Zhou Jiye agreed with Lin Ying's suggestion. The place they lived in was simply not spacious enough, and it was inconvenient to eat out. Moreover, there were no private restaurants yet, and all the restaurants outside were state-run, which were expensive and had ordinary environments. In addition, it was not comfortable to eat out. It would be more appropriate to wait until they moved to a new place before inviting someone.

The next day, when Zhou Jiye went to the market, he specially brought Lao Wen a pack of cigarettes to express his gratitude. Lao Wen, who already knew that their matter had been settled, was also very happy and joked that the couple could finally rest easy now.

Zhou Jiye thanked him repeatedly and told Lao Wen that he would continue looking for a house and then host a banquet for him and Xu Guoqing after they moved. Lao Wen happily agreed and said that he would continue to help him look for suitable accommodations and would notify him as soon as a reliable place was found.

I'm so lucky today, I caught two chickens alive!
Two chickens caught alive...two chickens!

Go find your wife quickly, let's play PUBG together.

The chicken is fragrant and delicious; I guarantee she'll be satisfied!
Hahaha, I guarantee... she'll be satisfied!

When Zhou Jiye returned from the market, he had deliberately kept two chickens from selling today. He gave one to Lao Wen as a thank-you gift, and asked Lao Wen to kill and clean the other one before bringing it back.

Back at his lodgings, he enthusiastically started making chicken soup, humming a tune as he did so, looking completely carefree.

An old hen is an old hen. Although Zhou Jiye sells chickens every day, this is the first time he has ever stewed one of his own. Soon after it started stewing, a rich aroma wafted from the pot, making it incredibly tempting and mouthwatering.

He lifted the lid of the pot, gently stirred it with a spoon, and saw a thick layer of chicken fat floating on the surface of the chicken soup. Zhou Jiye patiently watched the fire, and after simmering for a while, he sealed the bottom of the stove halfway, letting the chicken soup continue to simmer over low heat.

"Oh, what smells so good? Xiao Zhou, what are you cooking?"

Just as Zhou Jiye was concentrating on simmering chicken soup, an annoying voice rang out. He turned around and saw that it was his landlady, Aunt Wang.

"Aunt Wang, you're off work so early today?" Zhou Jiye greeted her with a smile, but he was puzzled. It was only 3 p.m., still a long way from the normal closing time. Why was this woman suddenly back? Didn't she have to work?

"I went out to run some errands this afternoon, and I went straight home after that," Aunt Wang said cheerfully, craning her neck to look ahead and laughing, "They're making chicken soup! It smells delicious. Little Zhou, you've struck it rich! Your business seems to be doing well. You're usually so frugal, why are you even having old hen soup today?"

These sarcastic remarks made Zhou Jiye frown slightly. "You want to interfere with my chicken soup? Look at how your eyes are shining, and you're practically drooling, you look like you want to just take the pot away."

"Hehe, I had no appetite because of the heat a few days ago. Now that it's finally cooler, I'm getting an old hen for my wife to nourish her."

"Hey Zhou, you can't just take any supplements when you're weak. You know the saying 'a weak body can't handle strong supplements,' right? Old hen soup is good, that's true, but if you take the wrong kind, it's better not to take it at all. You're just young and don't understand these things. You should go to the hospital and see a doctor first. Your diet should be light, and you should rest more when you're tired..." Aunt Wang rambled on and on about nothing, chatting with Zhou Jiye about this and that, while also subtly inquiring about the state of Zhou Jiye's business these days, her eyes occasionally glancing at his pot of chicken soup.

"Yes, yes, yes... right, right, right..."

Zhou Jiye patiently talked to Aunt Wang for a few minutes, and now he regretted cooking the old hen at home. If he had known Aunt Wang would be back so early today, he shouldn't have done it.

Originally, they planned to celebrate secretly after the household registration was settled. In addition, he had been selling old hens for so long but had never eaten one himself. So, while giving one to Lao Wen today, he specially kept one for himself, as a surprise for Lin Ying.

But who would have thought that this would cause such trouble, Zhou Jiye was filled with regret.

But there was nothing that could be done now. I chatted with Aunt Wang for a while, and finally, after I offered to bring her a bowl of chicken soup when it was ready, Aunt Wang stopped her incessant chatter and went back to her room satisfied.

"That damned Lily! That wretched old woman! She even tries to take advantage of this?! Damn it!"

Zhou Jiye cursed inwardly, wishing he could slap himself twice.

Showing off has backfired, hasn't it? This time, she just happened to run into trouble while making chicken soup. It's one thing to suffer some losses, but who knows what other trouble she might cause later?

That evening, when Zhou Jiye delivered dinner to Lin Ying, he dejectedly admitted his mistake and told her that he had run into Aunt Wang while she was making chicken soup, and that Aunt Wang had tricked him out of a bowl of chicken soup and an extra chicken leg.

After listening to Zhou Jiye's words, Lin Ying couldn't help but chuckle. Looking at the angry Zhou Jiye, Lin Ying comforted him for a few words, saying that this was just an accident and that since it happened, he shouldn't take it to heart. Anyway, they had already obtained their household registration, so there was no need to worry about Aunt Wang causing trouble again. They would move away once they found a suitable place, and then they would part ways and not care about her anymore.

"Yes, yes, yes! Move! We have to move right now! If we run into her again after we move, I'll definitely give her a piece of my mind." Zhou Jiye clenched his fist and swore that the old hag was a real piece of work. Did she think his chicken soup was so easy to swallow? He would definitely get his revenge for today if he got the chance.

However, Zhou Jiye and Lin Ying did not expect that they had overestimated Aunt Wang's bottom line. Just two days after the incident of cooking chicken soup, they had just returned from the movie theater and were cooking tea eggs for the next day on the first floor when Aunt Wang came over directly.

"Busy?"

"Aunt Wang, why aren't you asleep so late?"

"As people get older, they sleep more lightly. This late summer heat is really intense. It was just getting cooler a few days ago, and now it's getting hot again with National Day coming up soon," Aunt Wang said with a smile, but her eyes kept wandering towards their coal stove.

"Yes, it suddenly got to over 30 degrees today. This late summer heat is really intense. Aunt Wang, since you can't sleep, why don't you wait a while before trying again? I still need to boil these tea eggs for a bit. When they're done, can you take a few home for a midnight snack?"

"How could I accept this? You always give me tea eggs, it's like I'm begging for them on purpose."

"What are you saying? As the saying goes, a close neighbor is worse than a distant relative. Besides, we've been so grateful for your care while we've lived here. What's a few tea eggs?" Lin Ying said politely. Zhou Jiye, who was standing to the side, was very unhappy, but he knew that now was not the time to fall out with Aunt Wang. He could only suppress his anger and lower his head to help watch the fire.

Aunt Wang readily agreed with a smile, and then chatted with Lin Ying for a while. After a while, she suddenly brought up the household registration issue again, mentioning the street registration situation openly and subtly. Her words were nothing more than using this as an excuse to raise the rent again.

(End of this chapter)