Chapter 136: Chapter 133: Retreat

Lin Lan saw it was already 2:40. She hurried inside to grab her household registration book and passbook, then said to Lin Yuezhen, “Sister, you can finish the rest of the pea-flour cakes. When Zhixue and the others get here, just give them the goods. I’m going to the vehicle plant to look at houses with Xiangyang and the others.”

Lin Yuezhen nodded and waved her hand, urging her to hurry. Watching Lin Lan push her bicycle out of the courtyard, she went back to her work.

Yang Liying, who was pressing tofu in the back courtyard, came out and saw Lin Lan leave in a rush. She asked curiously, “Where did Lin Lan go?”

Lin Yuezhen gestured to tell her that Lin Lan had gone to see the new house.

****

Li Xiangyang, Yang Dingbang, and the others arrived at the entrance of the alley by the vehicle plant in a green jeep. Just as they got out, they saw Lin Lan ride up on her bicycle.

The moment he saw Lin Lan approaching, the corners of Li Xiangyang’s mouth turned up. A small smile appeared on his face, gradually spreading until even his eyes were beaming.

When Lin Lan saw his smiling face, her heart skipped a beat. She quickly squeezed the brakes and planted a foot on the ground to cover her reaction, then looked up and said with a polite smile, “Sorry I’m late.”

“We just got here too.” Li Xiangyang stepped forward and held her handlebars. “You get in the car first. I’ll just park the bicycle with the civil defense patrol and be right back.”

Yao Xiuyun pushed the car door open and waved to Lin Lan. “Sister Lin, hurry! Sit next to me.”

“Okay!” Lin Lan scurried over as if making an escape.

Yao Xiuyun scooted over a little and said with a grin, “Let’s buy houses next to each other. That’ll make it easier for me to come over for good food.”

Lin Lan smiled and nodded. “Sure! Just let me know what you want to eat.”

“Sister Lin, don’t listen to her!” said Xu Dong, who was sitting next to Yao Xiuyun, with a laugh. “She’s as shameless as they come.”

“You’re getting bold, huh! How dare you call me shameless.” Yao Xiuyun grinned menacingly and pinched a soft spot on his side.

“Help!” Xu Dong yelped dramatically. “A police officer is murdering her dear husband!”

“You two are a couple of clowns!” Yang Dingbang, in the driver’s seat, started the car and drove ahead to pick up Li Xiangyang. After stopping, he turned his head with a smile. “Sister-in-law, once you buy a shop, you won’t have to work so hard at your stall anymore.”

Yao Xiuyun commented, “I’m afraid it might be a while before they allow people to open up private shops for business.”

Xu Dong picked up the thread, “I heard they’re going to allow street stalls next year. To open a shop, I heard you have to get a permit. I forgot what it’s called, but I’ll ask my brother when I get back.”

Lin Lan smiled and said, “Okay, I’d appreciate that.”

“No trouble at all. Just make us some stewed fish with pork intestines and we’ll call it even.” After saying this, Xu Dong looked at Yao Xiuyun and burst out laughing.

“Sigh. People of a kind truly do flock together.” Yang Dingbang shook his head repeatedly. “Sister-in-law, whatever you do, don’t buy a house next to these two foodies.”

Yao Xiuyun linked her arm through Lin Lan’s. “We ladies are on the same team. You men can step aside.”

Xu Dong and Yang Dingbang said in unison, “Feisty girls! We can’t afford to mess with them!”

Li Xiangyang got in the car and said to Yang Dingbang, “Brother Shuiqing is waiting for us over by City No. 1 Middle School. Let’s head there first.”

And so, the group headed straight for the street where City No. 1 Middle School was located.

After a drive of ten-odd minutes, the jeep arrived at Wenti Street. City No. 1 Middle School was just past City No. 1 Elementary. After driving another two minutes, Li Xiangyang had Yang Dingbang stop the car at the mouth of an alley.

The group got out of the car and walked down the alley. It was quiet inside.

The alley was lined with small, single-family Western-style houses, each with its own private courtyard. Some of the houses looked unmanaged, the paint on their courtyard gates peeling and mottled. Others had walls covered in flowers and plants. From atop one home’s wall, a cluster of pink and purple carnations cascaded down.

Lin Lan immediately fell in love with the place. ’It’s close to the school and has detached private courtyards… it’s absolutely ideal.’

Yao Xiuyun whispered, “This street used to be home to some very prestigious families. Some of their houses were confiscated by the state years ago and have only just been returned in the last couple of years.”

“The owner of this house has a pretty powerful background. Between him and his brothers, they got a lot of property back. I heard he’s selling because East Market is too far from where he lives now, making it inconvenient to manage. In the old days, people like us were just common folk; we wouldn’t have been qualified to live in a place like this.”

Lin Lan nodded. “No wonder the owner is willing to sell such a nice house.”

Li Xiangyang glanced at Lin Lan and knew instantly that she liked this place. He strode ahead with the others toward Li Shuqing, who was waiting by the roadside.

Li Shuqing came forward with a smile and said to the group, “The owner just arrived. Let’s go right in.”

Li Xiangyang nodded. “Okay. Have you arranged appointments with the owners of the other properties?”

“They’re set. We’ll head over right after we see this one.” Li Shuqing led the group toward the courtyard ahead.

Lin Lan found Li Shuqing somewhat familiar. After a moment’s thought, she remembered he was the man who managed the black market over by the clothing factory.

“Xiuyun, is he also good friends with Xiangyang?”

Yao Xiuyun shook her head and said in a low voice, “Brother Shuiqing was Dongzi’s comrade-in-arms. When he was discharged from the military, he couldn’t find a suitable job, so Dongzi introduced him to Xiangyang. Now he works for Xiangyang.”

“Oh!”

In truth, Lin Lan knew very little about Li Xiangyang. She had always assumed he was just well-connected and knew his way around town, but now she realized she had only seen the surface.

’Thinking back to the way he looked at me at the entrance to the alley,’ she thought, ’I hope I’m just overthinking things. Otherwise, if his family found out, they might think I have improper intentions.’

’Forget it. To avoid unnecessary trouble, it’s probably best if we interact less in the future.’

A middle-aged man named Wang Chuan received them. Pointing at the courtyard, he said to the group, “It’s a good house. A lot of silver dollars were spent building it back in the day. After it was confiscated, several families were moved in, and they’ve modified the interior. You’ll have to do some renovations after you take it over.”

As he spoke, Wang Chuan took out a key and opened the main doors. The room just inside should have been a large living room, but now only a single doorway remained, the rest having been walled off.

Wang Chuan led them on a tour. They found that the downstairs rooms, the kitchen, and the bathroom were all unrecognizable from their original states. He let out a sigh. ’To think the house I poured so much heart and soul into building was changed into this.’

After looking downstairs, the group went upstairs. Wang Chuan pointed up. “There’s a small attic up there, and the other houses have the same layout as this one.” He walked to the window and pointed down below. “There’s also a small garden in the back. Only the roses along the wall are still there. They dug up everything else to plant vegetables.”

After seeing it all, everyone felt the courtyard was huge, almost as large as a big yard in the countryside.

Yang Dingbang thought to himself that if they cleared out all the junk in the front and back yards, his grandmother could plant vegetables and even raise chickens here.

Li Shuqing said to Wang Chuan, “Mr. Wang, it’s a good house, but it’s been partitioned like this. If we buy it, we’ll have to spend money on demolition and renovation. So, about the price… it needs to come down a bit. Otherwise, no one will be able to take it.”

Wang Chuan glanced at him. ’A few other people have come to see the house recently,’ he thought, ’and they all complained it was too expensive and that the yard and rooms were a mess. I was stubborn and didn’t lower the price because I had other properties to deal with first. But Li Shuqing said his cousin can take all of the properties. I might as well make it a bit cheaper for him. Besides, the final payment on the house in the Capital City is due soon.’

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep