Read Novel Full Chapter 42.3 – We Have a Home in This City! (III)
Chapter 42.3 – We Have a Home in This City! (III)
With reasoning like this, Third Grandma couldn’t win in front of the in-laws, so she resorted to scheming behind the scenes instead. The three most famous incidents that the Mao sisters know are:
The first was when Old Lady Mao forced one of the daughters, who had her period, to work in the fields, causing the girl to faint. The next day, Third Grandma tied Old Lady Mao to a tree in a desolate area outside the county and left her there to roast in the sun. In addition, Third Grandma even stripped Old Lady Mao, which not only left her too frightened to call for help but also forced her to conceal her presence whenever she heard people nearby. She was left out there until she fainted from heatstroke.
When Third Grandma finally let her go, Old Lady Mao couldn’t complain to anyone. The area was remote but not entirely isolated—if anyone asked why she didn’t call for help, it would be hard to explain. If her mother-in-law found out she’d been tied naked outside for an entire afternoon, she wouldn’t take Old Lady Mao’s side. In fact, she might even accuse her of bringing shame to the family and consider kicking her out.
However, Old Lady Mao didn’t learn her lesson and once again persuaded her mother-in-law to force Third Grandma’s daughter to gather pig feed in the scorching summer heat. The revenge was quick and direct—the next day, Old Lady Mao ended up being shoved into a pit of pig manure, and for days, no one, not even her own sons, wanted to go near her because of the stench.
There were many more similar stories, but the most extreme incident was when Old Lady Mao persuaded her mother-in-law to arrange a marriage between Third Grandma’s 15-year-old daughter and the mentally challenged son of a paper factory manager, in exchange for a better job for her eldest son. When Third Grandma found out, she stormed into Old Lady Mao’s room with a sickle, hacking away and even chopping off one of Old Lady Mao’s long, thick braids.
That incident shook even their mother-in-law, and Old Lady Mao never dared to provoke Third Grandma again. This person never bothered reasoning—she always retaliated with force.
When their mother-in-law passed away and the family split up, Old Lady Mao made sure to stay far away from Third Grandma. However, during the division of property, Third Grandma’s family still ended up short on housing.
If Mao Zhishan tried to sell the house to someone else, it would probably be difficult, since no one likes having a bad neighbor. But selling it to Third Grandma came with no such concerns—Old Lady Mao was the one who should be worried.
Mao Huimei covered her mouth, laughing. “Isn’t this killing two birds with one stone?” Not only would they be free from their cruel grandma, but also give her some retaliation!
Regardless, the news that Mao Zhishan was coming to Yan City made the whole family happy. The day after the phone call, they received the shipping receipt for the freight items. From the dates, the luggage had already been stored at the train station for two days. Since Xia Wenyue had to work at her stall, Xia Mian and the older Mao sisters went to the station to collect the items after dropping the kids off at kindergarten.
There were six large packages in total, making it an impressive sight. The girls had to pay for a tricycle to transport everything back home.
Mao Zhishan had sent six sets of bedding, considering the number of people. Xia Mian and her cousins spent the rest of the day setting up the beds in each room. As planned, Xia Mian and Xiao Feng took the east room in the main house, while Xia Wenyue, her husband, and Mao Huizhu shared the west room. Mao Huimei and Mao Huilan each took a room in the east wing.
The grown-ups weren’t the only ones excited—Xiao Feng ran straight to the new house after kindergarten. Seeing the freshly made bed, he asked, “Auntie, are we sleeping here tonight?”
Xia Mian smiled at his eager expression. “Yes, starting today, we’re living in our own house!”
Xiao Feng clapped his hands in excitement and immediately ran off to find Chenchen. “Brother Chenchen, we’ve moved!”
Ning Shaoyun and Auntie Wei were also happy for them and fully understood their eagerness.
“If you don’t have curtains yet, you can hang some bedsheets for now,” Auntie Wei suggested. “Don’t rush to buy things. Next week, there’s a big market fair in Longcheng Temple that lasts for three days. You can find everything there much cheaper.”
As soon as she heard about the market fair, Mao Huizhu’s eyes lit up. “Auntie Wei, so there are fairs in Yan City too?”
Auntie Wei smiled, “Of course there are, and they’re quite big. Even if you go every day, it might take you all three days to see everything.”
Mao Huilan exclaimed, “That’s fantastic! I think we’ll end up bringing home half the market.”
Mao Huimei had already started thinking about what to buy and was making a list.
It’s clear that for women, no matter the era or their age, shopping is always the greatest joy.
“For now, let’s continue eating together here. After the fair, when you’ve bought everything you need, you can officially move in,” Ning Shaoyun said.
That evening, after washing up, everyone returned to their respective houses to sleep. Xia Wenyue mother and daughters, who had previously been cramped into one small room, felt an incredible sense of relief. Even the usually reserved Mao Huimei had a bright smile on her face.
“I never had my own room back home,” Mao Huilan sighed.
Her mother had already been thinking about buying a house, “I think this kind of courtyard is great. Later, we should look into buying one too. We may not be able to afford a two-entry courtyard, but a single-entry one should be doable.”
Mao Huilan agreed, “Just a courtyard would be fine. I heard from the neighbors that apartment prices are skyrocketing right now. There’s no way we could afford that.”
At the time, most people wanted to live in newly-built apartments, but with the housing speculation craze happening along the southern coast, even the north was seeing a rapid rise in prices.
However, the housing market would soon collapse. Though Xia Mian was not aware of the details, she knew that the Southern real estate bubble eventually ruined many greedy individuals, and after that, housing prices across the country hit rock bottom.
It was this market trend that caused many cities to introduce a policy where buying a house could help you get household registration. Xia Mian thought it might be the same in Yan City, but when she asked Rong Xin, she found out that buying a house in Yan City didn’t grant you registration. Fortunately, there were other options.
Currently, there are three ways to get household registration in Yan City: First, through back doors, which could be arranged by knowing the right people and providing a bribe for about 20,000 to 30,000 yuan; second, by securing a government job in Yan City, where the workplace would handle the registration; and third, by investing over 300,000 yuan in the city, which would also qualify you for registration.
This investment could include buying a house. Xia Mian immediately decided that when the real estate market crashed after the southern bubble burst, she would invest 300,000 yuan to buy a house, and that would solve the registration problem easily!
She recalled the numbers in her savings account, with its pitiful balance of less than 10,000 yuan, and imagined the possibility of becoming rich overnight.
As for her second aunt’s family, Xia Mian figured they would be able to get their household registration within four or five years before any policy changes occurred.
In the meantime, the issue of buying a courtyard could be settled first. After all, the Huo family still had two single-entry courtyards, and she was determined to see one of those eventually go to her second aunt’s family.
But that was all for later.
Right now, Xia Mian was content to watch Xiao Feng happily scampering over to the bed, his short legs kicking quickly. Without waiting for her to help, he clambered onto the bed in a few quick moves and sprawled out with his arms and legs wide.
After a while, the boy began rolling from one side to the other, giggling the whole time like a little animal marking its territory.
Xia Mian jumped over and rolled with him. From the west room, she could hear the laughter of Xia Wenyue and Mao Huizhu as well.