Chapter 179: Chapter 175: Not Easy

Li Xiangyang spent another ten-plus yuan on two bare wheel hubs.

The old man also lent them a handcart.

The group lifted the furniture onto it, tied it down with rope, and hauled it to the small building on Yucai Road.

It turned out Xu Ming had already bought a small villa at the end of the alley, and it was filled with quite a few good finds.

After seeing it, Li Xiangyang and Dongzi decided they would go to Xu Ming’s place after returning from the scrapyard to pick up a few nice things.

Yang Dingbang’s house was already tidied up, just waiting for him to come back and move in with the old lady.

Xu Ming went up to take a look and decided to renovate the attic on the top floor just like theirs, planning to move here from the family staff housing next year.

Thinking about Little Douzi starting school, Li Xiangyang asked him to help inquire if the boy could enroll in first grade here.

Xu Ming smiled and nodded. “Of course he can. A classmate of mine is the principal of the First Primary School. As long as his grades aren’t too bad, all I need to do is put in a good word.”

Li Xiangyang said gratefully, “Thank you, Brother! Are there any age requirements for first grade?”

Xu Ming smiled and waved his hand dismissively. “I’ll put in a word. As long as the kid can count, do simple addition and subtraction, and can handle his business in the bathroom by himself, he can enroll.”

“That’s no problem at all. As for arithmetic, I heard he can even do Dandan’s homework,” Li Xiangyang said.

“That’s already very impressive. Just let me know ahead of time before enrollment begins next year,” Xu Ming said with a laugh. “Our luck is good today. Since we still have Old Huang’s handcart, let’s go check out some other collection stations.”

“Alright. Let’s also try to find a few pieces for Ding Bang.”

Li Xiangyang and Xu Dong tied the handcart to the back of a bicycle, and the three of them continued their treasure hunting.

When Little Douzi came home from school, he saw his two uncles digging in their private plot and waved happily. “First Uncle, Second Uncle, I’m home from school!”

“Haha! Little Douzi’s back!” Lin Guodong tossed aside his hoe, strode over, and lifted the boy into the air. “You’ve gotten taller and put on some weight.”

Little Douzi grinned from ear to ear. “Mhm! I eat a lot at every meal.”

Lin Guodong looked at him cheerfully. “You get any bigger and your uncle won’t be able to lift you anymore.”

Lin Guoliang came over carrying both their hoes and ruffled Little Douzi’s fluffy hair. “Did you get a hundred on your tests? Did your teacher praise you?”

Little Douzi nodded proudly. “Yes, I got a hundred on all of them.”

Lin Guoliang gave him a thumbs-up. “Not bad! You’re more capable than your two cousins. Don’t get arrogant now, keep studying hard.”

“I know!” Little Douzi shouted in response.

Lin Lan stood at the courtyard gate, watching the three of them with a smile. “Come back and eat. I’m going to get Grand-auntie.” With that, she headed toward the old lady’s house.

“Mom!” Little Douzi quickly called out to Lin Lan. “When I was coming home from school, I saw Great-Grandma going to the Public Security Bureau.”

Lin Lan turned around. “Oh! It seems your youngest uncle is back.”

The group went back and had a lively lunch. Thinking that the goods for the afternoon were ready and that there was no school on Saturday afternoon, Lin Lan took her son, her mother, and her brothers to go look at the houses.

They first went to the south side of the city and saw Zhao Dehai busy on a rooftop with several workers. They exchanged greetings, looked around for a bit, and then continued toward Vegetable Market Street in the eastern part of the city.

When they arrived, they saw that the house had already been renovated.

Wu Shufen and the Lin Guoliang brothers were delighted, touching this and looking at that. This was their house. They, the “hillbillies” scorned by the city folk, now owned property in the city too.

After looking around, they went to the villa near the First Primary School. Just as they reached the entrance of the alley, they ran into Li Xiangyang and the others, who were returning from their treasure hunting.

Seeing Li Xiangyang, Little Douzi happily ran over. “Uncle Xiangyang, we brought Grandma and my uncles to see the houses.”

“Little Douzi!” Li Xiangyang quickly squeezed the brakes and planted a foot on the ground. Seeing Lin Lan and the others walking toward them, he said, “You guys are here too!”

Lin Lan saw the three men pushing a bicycle. A rope tied to the back seat was connected to a handcart, which was piled high with solid wood furniture and a large basket. “Did you find all of this?”

Li Xiangyang nodded, scooped Little Douzi onto the front crossbar to sit, and said with a smile, “Brother said our luck was good today. He hasn’t been in a long time and didn’t expect to find so much!” As he spoke, he took out some cigarettes and offered them to the Lin Guoliang brothers.

He then introduced Dongzi and Xu Ming to the three of them. “Auntie, Big Brother, Second Brother, this is my buddy Dongzi, and this is Brother Xu Ming.”

They all exchanged polite greetings.

Xu Ming glanced at Li Xiangyang and Lin Lan. ’Aside from the fact that Lin Lan is on her second marriage,’ he thought, ’they look quite compatible.’

Holding Little Douzi’s hand, Wu Shufen looked at the tall and strapping Li Xiangyang, a smile stretching across her face.

’It was a classic case of a mother-in-law looking at her son-in-law, growing more and more pleased with what she saw. She had always thought Xiangyang was a fine young man and had even wondered which lucky girl would end up with him.’

’Who would have known he’d end up taking a fancy to Little Lan? It was a stroke of good fortune she’d never even dreamed of!’

The Lin Guoliang brothers also felt that Li Xiangyang seemed much more reliable than that Youngest Yang, and was a decent match for Little Lan.

After exchanging pleasantries, the group started hauling the handcart with the scavenged furniture, along with various jars and containers, back to the house.

The two Lin Guoliang brothers also went forward to help move things. They both felt that the city was truly wonderful; you could buy anything there.

Lin Lan took a small, exquisitely carved round table made of some unknown material and walked into the living room. Inside were a table and chairs, and cabinets. The craftsmanship looked extremely refined and elegant, exuding an antique charm.

Wu Shufen stood in the courtyard, looking at the small villa and thinking it was just like something out of a movie. When she entered the living room and saw the dusty old furniture inside, she began to lovingly wipe the dust off with a pained expression:

“It’s so beautifully made. If it were closer to home, we’d buy a few pieces to take back with us.”

Li Xiangyang came in carrying a console table and said with a smile, “If you like it, we can go to Brother Xu’s place. He has plenty more.”

Wu Shufen smiled and shook her head. “No need, I was just saying.” ’Our old house in the countryside wouldn’t look right with furniture like this,’ she thought to herself.

“Grandma, let me take you upstairs to have a look,” Little Douzi said, pulling Wu Shufen toward the spiral solid wood staircase.

Li Xiangyang pointed to Yang Dingbang’s house across the way. “Ding Bang’s place is finished. Want to go take a look?”

Lin Lan glanced over and shook her head. “No, it’s fine. We can see it when they move in.”

Once everything was moved into the house, Li Xiangyang took the Lin Guoliang brothers next door for a tour.

The two brothers found the villa wonderful—clean and impressive.

Lin Guodong looked around, touching things here and there. “Big Brother, if we could build a villa like this to live in someday, my life would be complete.”

Lin Guoliang chuckled. “Dream on! I hear you need steel rebar and cement to build a house like this, and you can’t get those two things even if you have the money.”

Hearing this, Lin Lan thought, ’In a few years, you’ll be able to get as much as you want.’

They had seen all the properties, and it was almost time to set up their market stall, so the group hurried back.

When they reached the vehicle factory, the two of them split up and went their separate ways home to prepare their things for the stall.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep