Chapter 125

Chapter 125

"Brother Wang, why are you here? I was thinking of going to your village later to find you," Xiao Zhang said, looking surprised at Wang Qinghe.

Wang Qinghe followed Xiao Zhang into the courtyard and noticed a bruise on his eye. It looked like he had been hit.

"Brother Wang, I've inquired about what you asked me to look into. The house is manageable, but the job... jobs are harder to come by. However, if you're willing to spend some money, it shouldn't take more than ten days or half a month to arrange something.

As for the house, my Seventh Aunt has a small courtyard on the western side of our county, near the lumber mill and food factory. I've checked the walls; they're sturdy. Inside, there's a central room.

It's divided, with two rooms on either side.

The courtyard isn't too big or too small, about two hundred square meters. You can grow some vegetables, though not large crops.

My Seventh Aunt's husband passed away early, and she has only one daughter.

Her daughter married someone in the neighboring county and recently found a new partner herself. They plan to get married and live together.

She doesn't want the house anymore.

She wants to sell it and give part of the money to her daughter and keep the rest for her own retirement.

If you agree, we can go to the Housing Management Office."

Xiao Zhang haphazardly applied some red medicine to his eye and began explaining the details of the house to Wang Qinghe.

"When would be a convenient time to see it?" Wang Qinghe was quite interested in Xiao Zhang's description.

"We can go right now. Let me lock the door, and we'll set off immediately." Xiao Zhang quickly put the medicine away in a wooden box.

He then led Wang Qinghe out.

On the way, he enthusiastically introduced various aspects of the county.

Wang Qinghe listened attentively, noting down the information that would be useful for him and his wife.

"Oh, Brother Wang, you mentioned before that you wanted to wind down the black market business. Is there any specific reason for that?" Xiao Zhang, remembering what his brother had asked him to inquire about, casually brought up the topic.

"No, it's just that the bigger the tree, the more wind it catches. Everyone envies profitable businesses, especially those that aren't above board. Over time, it becomes problematic.

We've already reached the peak. If we continue, we might attract more trouble than the benefits we gain."

Although Wang Qinghe didn't do business in the black market, he occasionally helped his wife obtain some coupons.

The black market was even busier than the supply and marketing cooperative.

"Brother Wang, you're really smart. My brother heard the same advice a few days ago. After I told him your opinion, he started considering other options. But what else can we do?" Xiao Zhang seemed troubled.

Their operation wasn't small. Initially, his brother was hesitant.

But yesterday, when they went out, someone inexplicably put a sack over their heads and beat them up, warning them not to compete for business.

They couldn't report this to the authorities, and while Xiao Zhang's injuries were mostly on his body, his brother was badly hurt and couldn't leave the house for several days.

What kind of situation was this!

"What should we do?"

Wang Qinghe was even more puzzled by his question.

"Of course, find connections to get a job at a factory. What else?" Wang Qinghe countered.

"A job? How much could that earn?" Xiao Zhang was far from pleased.

Wang Qinghe remained silent.

They arrived at the courtyard Xiao Zhang had mentioned.

The courtyard wasn't large, but the walls were indeed solid and nearly two meters high.

All the gates in this area were iron gates.

A child had drawn a smiling face on the gate as they passed by.

Xiao Zhang knocked on the door: "Seventh Aunt? Are you home? I've brought someone over."

Soon, an elderly woman who appeared to be in her sixties opened the door.

Despite the wrinkles on her face, she looked spirited and cheerful when she smiled.

"Let's talk inside."

Wang Qinghe and Xiao Zhang followed her into the courtyard.

Before entering, Wang Qinghe glanced around at the nearby courtyards.

The other courtyards looked similar to this one. This courtyard wasn't particularly special, but it was better maintained than the others.

These courtyards were built side by side, separated only by walls.

"Brother Wang, this used to belong to a wealthy family. These small courtyards were all enclosed within a single wall. Later, the wall was demolished, and these houses were converted into individual courtyards. I heard they made hundreds of small courtyards.

Imagine how rich that family must have been.

I heard from my family that one row of houses in their courtyard was converted into dozens of small courtyards.

We now live in one of them."

Xiao Zhang couldn't help but sigh as he spoke. A house like that was something he wouldn’t even dare to dream about.

Entering the courtyard, there were a few small vegetable plots on either side, all now empty of produce.

Inside the house, the first room had a stove installed, with a dining table to the east and several stools around it.

Several large chests were placed in the room, atop which were everyday household items.

The house wasn’t large, but it was clean.

The eastern room appeared to be about twenty square meters, with a large kang bed, and two chests on the ground.

The western room was similar to the eastern one.

The old lady poured hot water for the two men: "I usually cook in this main room by myself. If you buy this house, you can build a kitchen later."

"Wang Ge, this is a minor matter; I can build it for you later."

"If you like this house, let’s settle it early so I can leave sooner." The old lady seemed a bit anxious about this matter.

Xiao Zhang looked at Wang Qinghe; without his nod, Xiao Zhang didn’t dare to agree either.

Wang Qinghe looked around and found it quite satisfactory.

However, the final decision still needed to be made by Xiuxiu.

"I’ve seen the house, and I think it’s good. But in our family, my wife makes the decisions. Would it be convenient if I bring her here tomorrow to take another look?" Wang Qinghe asked the old lady.

The old lady was a bit surprised.

For such a big decision, he actually lets his wife make the call?

"Seventh Aunt, what do you think?" Xiao Zhang was a bit worried; many people wanted to buy this house.

After all, houses were scarce, especially in this area with many factories nearby.

Many factory workers couldn’t even get housing allocations.

Houses like this, where individuals could buy and live in, were extremely rare.

If not for their family connection, he wouldn’t have been able to get close to it.

"Sure, I’ll wait," the old lady agreed. Selling the house to anyone was selling it, and she was happy to wait an extra day for someone who respected his wife.

"Seventh Aunt, about the price?" Xiao Zhang asked softly.

"We’ll discuss it after they come and see it." The old lady already had a set price.

But she also believed in eye appeal; if the person made her feel comfortable, she’d be willing to reduce the price by ten or twenty yuan.