Chapter 17: Renovation

Chapter 17 Renovation

Although the house belonged to Lin Zhijin, it was her first time seeing it. As she followed Division Chief Yang on a tour of the place, she chose the study on the east side of the first courtyard—where the kids of wealthy families used to get their lessons.

It was close to the front gate, so she wouldn't have to walk past other folks' doors, and there was a moon gate. If she put a door in, it'd be its own little private courtyard.

The two rooms facing north in the back were originally where the teacher lived, while the two south-facing rooms were classrooms, totally bare inside.

Each room was over two hundred square feet, so two of them would be over four hundred. Lin Zhijin wanted the two south-facing rooms—she could turn them into a studio apartment.

"Want this little courtyard?" Division Chief Yang could read her mind just from the look on her face. "You can only have two rooms, Xiao Lin. It's not that we're being cheap—technically, this house is yours. But if you take up four rooms all by yourself, people are gonna get jealous sooner or later. Unless you're willing to publicly reveal your identity as the donor."

Lin Zhijin shook her head. Going public as the donor would just draw more attention. She wasn't about to underestimate human nature.

"Chief, I want the two south-facing rooms, but I'd like to renovate them. Is that alright?" Lin Zhijin figured she'd get the official green light first.

"Once the rooms are yours, they're yours. What you do with them is your own business." Division Chief Yang put his hands behind his back and led Lin Zhijin to the main courtyard. "Before everyone else moves in, go ahead and pick out some furniture. Save yourself some money where you can."

"Thank you, Chief." Lin Zhijin didn't refuse his kindness.

She was lucky—the bosses she'd run into had all been good to her, looking out for her left and right.

Back at the Military Control Office, when she saw the deed, Lin Zhijin was even more touched. "Political Commissar, why did you give me the deed for those two rooms?"

"Take it. We've already gotten way more than our fair share from you. Too bad you're single—if you had a husband and kids, all four rooms could be yours. Speaking of which, at those two mixers, didn't anybody catch your eye?" Political Commissar Wang suddenly turned gossipy.

"I'm still young. For now, I just wanna hit the books and get my elementary school diploma." Lin Zhijin said, her eyes sparkling, her voice loud and clear.

"Good, that's the spirit." Political Commissar Wang laughed heartily.

Back at the office, Li Yue already knew about the housing deal. She was also moving into the three-courtyard place, sharing a courtyard with Lin Zhijin.

"Where did you pick? The main courtyard?" Li Yue asked curiously.

"No, the small courtyard on the east side of the front yard." Lin Zhijin sketched out a rough layout. "Here. Are you choosing the main courtyard?"

Li Yue stared at the sketch, hesitating. Lin Zhijin's pick was good, but the other two rooms faced the wrong way. "Why don't I take the west side?"

"That's too close to the outhouse—no good. You should go for the main courtyard in the second one, or the east or west wing rooms." Lin Zhijin suggested.

She figured none of the rooms on the west side of the front courtyard were any good—the ones further in were too close to the toilet, and the ones by the gate were too close to the main entrance and the fancy gate. Once more people moved in, there'd be people coming and going all the time, with zero privacy.

With her housing sorted, Lin Zhijin immediately called up a renovation crew to get started. First things first, she needed a toilet, so the plumbing and wiring had to be redone.

The front half of the room by the moon gate would be the bedroom, and the back half would be the bathroom and walk-in closet. The front half of the room by the courtyard wall would be a small living room, and the back half would be the kitchen and dining area.

"Master Ma, can you set it up so that when the stove's burning, the hot water in the bathroom next door heats up too?" Lin Zhijin asked.

Master Ma and his crew had done her date tree house, and they did great work, so she'd hired him again for this place.

"Yeah, that can be done." Master Ma looked around and nodded.

"Great, then I'll leave it to you." After laying out her requirements, Lin Zhijin got ready to head back to Maple Leaf Lane to pack up her stuff.

She'd been slowly stashing her valuables and stuff she didn't need in the attic of the date tree house for safekeeping. The stuff she'd need for the new place got packed first, and she'd move it over little by little once the renovation was done.

As she turned into Maple Leaf Lane, she saw someone standing in front of her house. As she got closer, she realized it was someone she knew.

"Chunlan, are you looking for me?" Lin Zhijin asked, puzzled.

"Ninth Concubine, long time no see." Chunlan stood with her back straight and her chin up, still carrying herself like the head maid of the main house.

Lin Zhijin arched an eyebrow. "Comrade Chunlan, this is the New China now. The whole country's been liberated. There's no such thing as a 'Ninth Concubine' around here. Or don't you recognize the laws of the country?"

Chunlan's face went pale in an instant, a flash of panic in her eyes. "Ninth... Comrade Lin, don't talk nonsense. I'm here today on the mistress's orders—she was worried about you and sent me to see how you're doing."

She held up the food box in her hand to prove the mistress cared.

Lin Zhijin opened the door. "Come inside and talk."

"The mistress knew you liked Chef Liu's tofu-skin buns, so she made a point of having me bring them." Chunlan opened the food box and laid out the items one by one—tofu-skin buns, Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, and four kinds of pastries, all things Lin Zhijin used to order all the time at the Chen place.

"The mistress is really thoughtful." Lin Zhijin gave Chunlan a once-over. "You didn't leave the Chen residence?"

Honestly, it wasn't surprising. The Chen household had a ton of rules, but the perks were good too. A personal maid like Chunlan could pull in ten silver dollars a month, plus little gifts from the masters now and then. She ate and drank well, got eight outfits a year for the four seasons, and even had a junior maid waiting on her. Outside the house, people were always buttering her up—she lived better than the daughter of a well-off family. So it made sense she stuck around.

"Don't get me wrong. I'm not a servant at the Chen house anymore. I'm a live-in nanny the mistress hired." Chunlan quickly explained.

She studied Lin Zhijin carefully. It had been a while, and this timid Ninth Concubine had changed a lot.

"I see. I'll take the gifts. Thank the mistress for me, and I'll go see her when I get a chance." Lin Zhijin said politely.

"How about the day after tomorrow? The mistress is throwing a flower-viewing party and wants to invite you." Chunlan pulled an invitation out from inside her clothes.

Lin Zhijin glanced at the invitation. Probably a trap, right? But now she had the state behind her—she wasn't the helpless Ninth Concubine who could be pushed around anymore.

Besides, if she turned this down, there'd be a next time. Also, the Chen family would find out sooner or later that she'd donated their stuff. It was time to go back and put on a performance.

"Sure, I'll be there." Lin Zhijin took the invitation and walked Chunlan out.

The Chen residence still had two more years of glory left. Once the public-private partnership hit in '55, they'd have to keep a low profile. And after '60, they'd have to walk on eggshells.

No matter what, she couldn't afford to offend the Chen family for now. Besides, there was no real bad blood between them—if anything, she'd gotten a ton of stuff from them.

It was getting late. Lin Zhijin packed a bag and moved to the hotel. She'd stay there until the house was done—no way she was staying in that place.

The hotel had a restaurant on the ground floor. Lin Zhijin ordered two dishes to be sent up to her room, ate, and then sat on the couch staring off into space.

She still needed to report Madam Chen's flower-viewing invite to Director Zhang. She also wondered if there was gold on Jinshi Mountain, and how Lin Shishu and Regiment Commander Liu were doing. If it worked out, Lin Shishu definitely owed her a nice meal.

The next day, Li Yue happily told Lin Zhijin she'd picked the north-facing room in the study courtyard, so they'd be neighbors right across from each other.

"Isn't the direction bad?" Lin Zhijin looked at her, confused.

"Division Chief Yang said I could add a window." Li Yue elbowed Lin Zhijin's arm. "I saw you're doing a ton of work on your place. What's your renovation plan? Tell me about it—I wanna learn."

Lin Zhijin briefly ran through her plans, and with each thing she mentioned, Li Yue's eyes lit up more.

"That bathroom you mentioned—I want one. I want the hot water heater too. Wooden windows really aren't as clean and bright as glass ones—I'm swapping those out too. Wait, you're also building a little kitchen against the wall? I want that too."

Lin Zhijin gave her a side-eye. "You might as well just copy me. But I'm single—you've got a husband. When you have kids, don't you need to keep a room for them?"

Li Yue wrestled with it for a long time before reluctantly giving up the walk-in closet. The front half of the room by the moon gate would be for the kids, the back half for her and her husband, and the kitchen would have a little bathroom sectioned off.

"Are you two talking about that three-courtyard place on Anhe Street?" Wang Chunhua leaned in, all excited. "I'm moving there too! I picked the two main rooms in the back courtyard. What about you two? Oh, we'll be neighbors in the same courtyard!"

Li Yue curled her lip. Who'd want to be her neighbor?

"Wait, shouldn't your husband's rank get you your own little courtyard?" Li Yue asked, puzzled.

"My husband is just like your He Yang - he treats the army like his home and only comes back a few days a year. How dangerous would it be for me to live alone in a standalone courtyard house? You saw how Xiao Lin wouldn't even stay there anymore." Wang Chunhua had originally wanted a courtyard of her own - how comfortable that would be, doing whatever she wanted. But after what happened with Lin Zhijin, she called her husband that very night, insisting on living in the crowded family compound.

When they went to look at the houses after work that afternoon, Sister Li actually tagged along.

"Sister Li, you're living here too?" Lin Zhijin looked at her with pleasant surprise.

"Yeah, I'm in the east wing of the second courtyard." Sister Li gave them a nod.

"You're living here too!" Wang Chunhua's tone carried a hint of annoyance.

Sister Li shot her a look. "If you don't like it, you can move out."

"Why should I..." Wang Chunhua met Sister Li's gaze and stopped herself. "No, I'm just happy we get to be neighbors."

With that, most of the Women's Federation staff ended up living in the same compound, which was actually nice - they could look out for each other.

The next afternoon, while Lin Zhijin was studying as usual, the guard brought in a somewhat haggard-looking woman.

"I... I heard you all are some kind of place that fights for women's rights?" the woman asked timidly.

The office staff perked up - was someone finally coming to the Women's Federation for help?

"Sister, you've come to the right place. We're the Women's Federation, here to help women and children. Whatever problems you have, just tell us, and we'll do our best to solve them." Sister Qian invited her to sit down and spoke warmly.

The woman's eyes lit up - she had definitely found the right place.

"Comrade, my name is Li Guihua. I heard that men and women are equal now, and women can divorce their husbands?" Her voice trembled with excitement.

Sister Qian and Sister Li exchanged a look and nodded. "That's right. Has your husband done something wrong?"

In principle, as long as it wasn't a serious issue, they would try to encourage couples to work things out rather than split them up.

Li Guihua frowned in thought, then hesitantly spoke up: "He hasn't done anything wrong. On the contrary, he's completely devoted to me - he won't let me do any dirty or heavy work, and he hands over all his earnings to me."

"Sister, are you sure about this? Why would you want to leave such a good man?" Sister Qian was even more puzzled.

Lin Zhijin was just as confused - why would she want to divorce such a good man?

"He's good to me, sure, but he's too much in bed. He wants to do it every night, and multiple times at that. Look at my complexion - if I don't divorce him, I'll die in that bed." Li Guihua said with a worried frown.

The women in the room exchanged confused looks. Their first reaction: that's impressive. Their second reaction: tell us more...

Author's note:

None