Year 1983: I was a carpenter in Northeast China

Xu Bei was somewhat amused and exasperated by his mother and sister's back-and-forth banter.

However, he had to admit that seeing such a beautiful girl, even more beautiful and charming after taking a bath, like a lotus emerging from the water.

When our eyes met, it felt like my heart was being gently tickled by a small hand—a slightly tingling and prickly sensation.

It was a feeling of excitement he had never experienced before.

However, having only been reborn for such a short time, making money will definitely be my top priority.

Even if you're somewhat attracted to a girl and want to pursue her, you should wait until you have certain conditions and strength.

Just as Xu Bei was about to give a few perfunctory words, he heard someone coming into the house.

The mother and her two children instinctively peered through the frosty window into the courtyard.

Xu Bei said with some surprise, "Guodong and his sister are here."

Then, he immediately wiped his hands with a towel placed on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), and quickly pushed open the door of the west room and walked outside.

Zhao Fengying and Xu Juan did almost the same thing, going out to greet them.

Song Guodong and Song Guomei arrived on bicycles, and neither of them came empty-handed.

Naturally, this drew a complaint from Zhao Fengying, who warmly welcomed them: "You two kids, you came all this way, but why did you bring anything? If I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have welcomed you."

Song Guodong used to come to our house often, especially recently when he was selling stools. He was also quite familiar with Zhao Fengying, an elder, and said affectionately, "No, Auntie, we're just using your money to give back to the Buddha."

Song Guomei, wearing a bright red cotton coat, stood out in the winter. After glancing at Xu Bei, she smiled and said, "That's right, Auntie. This peach shortbread is a perk from my mom's workplace, and the canned food was mailed over by my older brother. It didn't cost any money."

Xu Bei and Zhao Fengying also knew that Song's mother worked in a food factory. The peach shortbread was an internal benefit of the food factory, which employees could buy at a low price or get for free. It was a benefit that others could not enjoy.

Meanwhile, Song's eldest brother, who was in the army, would send things, stamps, and remittances every now and then.

"What do you mean it didn't cost money? This stuff didn't just fall from the sky."

"Alright, aren't you cold? Stop chatting in the yard and come inside."

Since there were three people sleeping in the east room, it wouldn't be appropriate to take them there regardless of whether they woke up from the noise.

In addition, Song Guodong and his group had also come for Xu Bei, so they quickly led him to the west room to sit down.

The laundry basins, washboards, and small stools that were placed on the ground were moved to the outer room.

Because Song Guomei was there, Xu Juan served tea, candy, and melon seeds. After closing the door, she didn't leave but sat down and chatted with her.

As for Xu Bei and Song Guodong, they sat on the other side of the kang (a heated brick bed) and chatted casually.

"You're off work so early today?"

"The company is repairing the machines."

"No wonder. I remember you used to get off work until dark."

"I see your grandma and the others are here. How long will they be staying this time?"

"I don't know yet, but I probably won't be staying long."

Xu Bei paused, then leaned closer and said, "By the way, I remember you have a relative who has a spare house to rent out, right? Has it been rented out yet?"

Because it was so long ago, Xu Bei couldn't remember it very clearly.

It was only because of the arrival of the old lady and her family that they wanted to rent a house for a rainy day. Suddenly, they remembered that Song Guodong's relative had an empty house that he had been renting out.

Song Guodong spat out the sunflower seed shells in his hand. "Yeah, it's my cousin's house. It was rented out before, but now it's vacant again. They're worried about having to go over every day in winter to light a fire and prevent the water from freezing. What's up, Da Bei? Do you know anyone who wants to rent it?"

Xu Bei naturally couldn't say that he wanted to rent it himself, as that would make it easier to have multiple burrows. So he made up a lie with great seriousness, "Yes, a friend of mine wants to rent a house. I just heard about it, and since you're here, I thought I'd help ask around."

Song Guodong clapped his hands and laughed, "That's great. Actually, although my cousin's house is a mud-and-thatched structure, it's in pretty good condition. It's just that the rent is a bit expensive, and he doesn't want to rent out the rooms separately. Otherwise, if some young couples who are getting married don't have a place to live and want to rent just one room, they would have rented it out long ago."

Xu Bei was naturally familiar with the housing situation in their forest area.

Because infrastructure development is slow, some employees have three generations of their families living in one house.

Especially in this era, most families have many children; four or five is considered a small number.

The allocation of public housing requires waiting in line, usually based on the number of family members, with priority given to families in relatively difficult circumstances and frontline workers.

A significant number of young people rent apartments when they get married, sometimes moving several times a year.

In addition to necessities, rent and utilities are also a significant expense during the rental period, so many people choose to rent an east or west room and share a kitchen.

"When you have time, take me to see it first. My friend has entrusted everything to me. His requirements aren't high. If it's suitable, I'll help him rent it."

Song Guodong immediately clapped his hands together. "Then why not go now? It's not dark yet, let's go right now."

"Okay, but we need to make it clear beforehand that the fewer people who know about this, the better," Xu Bei whispered a few more words.

Song Guodong nodded with a more serious expression. "Don't worry. I'm not the kind of person who can't handle things reliably."

Song Guomei felt that she hadn't even had a chance to sit down properly before her brother started making arrangements to leave, which made her very unhappy.

In particular, she had just learned from Xu Juan that they had run into Zhou Qingwan while taking a shower that afternoon, and that the lost jade pendant had been found. She was feeling a mix of emotions and was in a bad mood.

But when she learned that Xu Bei was also going with them, she became happy again.

Zhao Fengying wanted to invite the brother and sister to stay for dinner, but Xu Bei pointed to the people in the east room, so she had to give up for the time being.

The three of them packed up the dozen or so wooden stools they had ordered and left home.

Xu Bei and Song Guodong did not go directly to that cousin, but instead sent Song Guomei and Mu Deng back to the Song family first.

Because of this, Song Guomei pouted, but she was too embarrassed to show it in front of Xu Bei.

Xu Bei was quite perceptive and knew that the girl was unhappy, but looking at apartments and renting a place was not like other things, so he definitely couldn't bring her along.

The two then quickly rode their bicycles to Song Guodong's cousin's house.

Song's cousin, who also worked at the timber yard, was more at ease when he heard that his nephew's good friend was helping someone rent a house than he was renting to someone else. He immediately took the keys and showed them the house.

The house is located in a somewhat remote area, nestled deep in the mountains.

The exterior walls were made by slapping together dried and chopped rice straw and yellow mud, and then smoothing it out. The roof was also covered with rice straw.

However, the addition of the annex built against the wall not only allows for more storage but also significantly improves insulation.

After making a show of looking around the house, Xu Beili decided to rent it.

Out of respect for Song Guodong, Song's cousin even reduced the rent, accepting only five yuan, and immediately handed over the keys to the front door and the house...