Courtyard House: Drunk and tipsy, the whole courtyard exposed at the start.

"Huh?" Yan Jiecheng looked incredulous. Is this his real father?

If Zhang Dabiao were here, he would definitely add a sentence—

"The reputation of the Yan family still depends on you!"

"Old Man Yan is so stingy!"

------------

The next day, the outer courtyard began to be repaired, but it was not the houses in courtyard number 95 that were being repaired. No one paid much attention to it, because the outer courtyard was originally a dormitory for temporary workers in four-person rooms. Two of the rooms were in such bad condition that the neighborhood office had not repaired them, so no one cared about the situation.

Even after the repairs, it's only used as a temporary 4-person room. The back room still doesn't face the sun and is even worse than the side room, so nobody cares.

Jia Dongxu glanced at it a couple more times, but no matter what, after being influenced by his mother, he always felt that his Jia family, if not a high-class family, should at least be a glorious working-class family, and should at least live in a side room.

He didn't even like the main hall, so he only glanced at it twice before going about his business.

It wasn't until the last day, after the two houses were repaired, that a fence was erected around them, just like Zhang Dabiao's courtyard, that they realized something was wrong.

Why is there a fence around the temporary dormitory of the neighborhood committee?

But today is Yan Jiecheng's wedding banquet, and everyone is rushing to the banquet, so Jia Dongxu only muttered a few words and planned to find some time to go to the neighborhood office to ask after the banquet.

The banquet was held in the middle courtyard, with one person from each family sitting at each table, making about three tables in total.

Chef Sha Zhu charges two yuan per table for his services.

Each table had three meat dishes and three vegetable dishes, which wasn't great, but with chicken and meat, it was passable. Yan Jiecheng had borrowed a lot from Zhang Dabiao to prepare this meal, and he had gone through a real financial crisis.

After the young man borrowed a bicycle to pick up the bride from the Yu family, they went through the wedding process according to the old 60s.

It wasn't until they finished eating and were preparing for the wedding night games that Jia Dongxu realized something was wrong, and Yan Bugui was also puzzled.

The family had prepared some wedding items for Yan Jiecheng, but these young people took them all out and started walking outside—

What does this mean?

Are you really not living at home anymore?

Many neighbors also found Yan Jiecheng's behavior inexplicable. Was he trying to become a live-in son-in-law? After finishing the meal, he grabbed his things and ran away.

I've never seen anything like this before!

Even if you want to run away, you can wait until it's dark at night before you run away. What do you mean by doing this? Where do you put your father's face?

"Jiecheng, what are you doing?"

"Moving?"

"Moving? You really became a live-in son-in-law?" Yan Bugui was completely taken aback and almost shouted, "You need more money!"

Even if we take a step back and say you really want to become a live-in son-in-law, you could stay home for two or three days and then sneak out. If you do that, I'll lose face...

"Where? I rented a place, it's in the outer courtyard, only a few meters away."

"I just finished today, so I have to hurry up and decorate the new house."

"Huh, the Foreign Languages ​​Department?"

The group followed and saw that Yan Jiecheng had taken out a key and opened the gate. Only then did they realize that the house Yan Jiecheng was referring to was the two innermost rooms that had recently been renovated.

"Yan Jiecheng—you—this?—"

Jia Dongxu's hands were trembling as he pointed at the two rear-facing rooms and the small courtyard!

"You cut in line? You cut in line to rent a place?! I'm going to report you!"

Zhang Dabiao did this last time, and now Yan Jiecheng is doing the same thing.

What are you all doing?

I can't be Sister Li!

"Why cut in line? Director Wang said last time that if you pay for the house repairs yourself, you can get priority in renting."

"You've all forgotten?"

Then everyone remembered that when Zhang Dabiao changed his side room and bought the small courtyard last time, Director Wang had mentioned this when he came to provide proof.

There are still a few dilapidated and uninhabitable houses on the street, but the repair costs are often hundreds of yuan per house, and the street office is really powerless to help.

So whoever is willing to pay for the repairs can have priority in renting the property—of course, you get priority if you pay for the repairs.

But nobody took it seriously at the time, because if you pay for the house repairs yourself, you also have to pay rent to the neighborhood committee—isn't that just being a sucker?

Repairing a house starts at 100, and the annual rent is another 10 or 20.

But how much does it cost to buy a house privately?

The side rooms are 350, the ear rooms are 250, and the rear rooms have the worst lighting; I've even heard of someone selling them for 200 yuan.

Am I crazy to spend my own money to build a house for the neighborhood committee and then pay rent to move in?

Anyone can do the math!

But Yan Jiecheng went and did it anyway, driven by a kind of madness.

Absolutely not, Sister Li!

Only Zhang Dabiao understood that these houses would truly belong to him in a decade or so, once the housing reform policy was implemented. So what was a few hundred yuan to spend on repairs now, plus some rent?

Is it a pure profit package? Once you move in, don't touch it. After a while, it'll be yours!

Yan Bugui was also incredulous. After looking inside the two rooms and the size of the courtyard, he asked, "Jiecheng, how much did it cost to renovate the house? And how much is the rent?"

Yan Jiecheng replied with a grin, "It cost 200 yuan to repair the house, and the rent is 6 yuan a month. The two rooms are 52.2 square meters in total, plus this 18-square-meter courtyard, making a total of 70.2 square meters."

[He and Yu Li live in a 70.2 square meter apartment? Our Jia family of five is crammed into a 14.85 square meter apartment? Why?!]

Jia Dongxu felt a mouthful of blood stuck in his throat, and he asked the most crucial question—

"Where did you get your money?! Where did you get it?!"

"Your dad would never give you that much money!"

Yan Jiecheng chuckled: "The youth mutual aid association's housing provident fund?"

"I applied, and the president and vice presidents approved it."

"That's enough money."

--puff--

Jia Dongxu coughed up a mouthful of blood; he couldn't hold it in any longer!

Yan Jiecheng was startled and quickly pulled Yu Li aside.

"Jia Dongxu, if you want to vomit blood, go home and do it!"

"You're going to vomit blood because I'm getting married? Are you deliberately trying to cause me trouble?"

Then, the group of young people, laughing and joking, took their things and followed Yan Jiecheng and the others to decorate the new house. There weren't many things to begin with.

No one paid any attention to Jia Dongxu, who was standing there swaying unsteadily.

Jia Dongxu was extremely depressed.

Zhang Dabiao exploited a loophole by buying land but not houses;

Yan Jiecheng also took advantage of the loophole, paying for the house repairs himself and then moving in first.

Damn it, nobody tells me about the good things that happen! They don't even include me when they're trying to get something for nothing!

The mutual aid association won't let me participate, and I don't get any housing provident fund!

I……

He didn't even know how to describe his feelings at that moment.

"Dongxu..."

Jia Dongxu turned around and saw Yi Zhonghai looking at him from behind.

In an instant, Jia Dongxu burst into tears, knelt on the ground, and turned his body to look back at Yi Zhonghai.

"Godfather, I want a house."

(I almost typed it as—Coach, I want to play basketball!)

Looking at Jia Dongxu's miserable appearance, Yi Zhonghai finally nodded helplessly.

"Buy! Let's buy too!"

He's crying like this. Look what you've done to the child. If this isn't resolved soon, the father and son might really drift apart.