Chapter 49: Camera

◎ Looking for a House ◎

Since the phone call was for Third Brother Wei, when Wei Mother heard the broadcast, she told him to go: “It’s probably your wife calling. Go and see what she needs.”

“Alright, I’m going now.”

By the time Third Brother Wei cheerfully walked to the team’s office, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and went in to pick up the receiver, he said, “Hello, is it my wife?”

“It’s me.” Third Sister-in-Law Wei, feeling troubled, didn’t have time to be affectionate. Once she confirmed it was him, she directly got to the point.

On the other end, Third Brother Wei, still a bit confused, only had one thought: either his ears were broken, or his wife had gone mad. She was starting to say nonsense.

After digesting it for a while, he finally asked, “Where are you getting the money to buy little sister’s job?”

Third Sister-in-Law Wei snapped, “Are you stupid? I don’t have cash right now, but when I start working, I’ll have a salary, right? I can pay little sister back with my salary every month.”

“How long is it going to take to pay it all back?” Third Brother Wei grinned. “It’ll probably be ages before we get our own money!”

“Stop talking nonsense. Just say yes or no. If you agree, I need to talk to little sister before she finds someone else. Otherwise, once she sells it, it’ll be too late.”

Third Brother Wei actually knew that what his wife was suggesting would benefit them, but he had just said that because he was worried. If his wife stayed in the city, wouldn’t they have to continue living apart like they were now?

Thinking of this, he felt a wave of grievance. “Wife, don’t just think about yourself, think about Xiangxiang too. If you don’t come back soon, he’ll forget about you.” It hadn’t been easy for him these past few days, playing both the father and the mother.

When it came to their son, Third Sister-in-Law Wei couldn’t possibly not care. After all, he was the flesh from her body!

Holding back tears, Third Sister-in-Law Wei spoke into the phone to her husband, “I’m doing this for Xiangxiang. I want to seize this opportunity. Once I settle down in the city, I’ll figure out a way to bring both of you here. Plus, when there’s nothing else going on, you can bring Xiangxiang to stay here for a couple of days. The city’s only a couple of hours from our hometown. As long as there’s money, there’s no reason we can’t meet.”

Seeing how determined his wife was, Third Brother Wei really didn’t want to keep nagging and have her think poorly of him, so he nodded and agreed.

Third Sister-in-Law Wei was overjoyed. “Then you need to talk to Father and Mother properly.”

After hanging up the phone, Third Brother Wei returned home. Seeing that his mother wasn’t in the yard, he wandered into the kitchen to find her.

When Wei Mother saw him come back, she asked, “Did your wife say when she’s coming back?”

“Big Sister Wei and Second Sister-in-Law Wei also looked at him, eagerly wanting to know when Third Brother’s family would return. The busy farming season was about to begin, and having one more person to help would ease their workload.

Third Brother Wei saw everyone staring at him, hesitating and unable to come up with a clear answer. He had been thinking about finding his mother but had forgotten that his sisters-in-law were also present. How should he bring this up?

In the end, it was Wei Mother who sensed something was off and asked him what was going on.

“Mother, uh, I have something I want to discuss with you and Father.”

Wei Mother first glanced at the two daughters-in-law, then set down the rag she was holding and walked outside.

Third Brother Wei quickly followed her, jogging to keep up.

Once they were far enough, Big Sister Wei and Third Sister-in-Law Wei lost their focus on work and began to gossip.

“What do you think Third Brother wants to talk to Mother about? Why is he avoiding us?”

Big Sister Wei absently washed the cabbage in her hands. “How would I know?”

“Could it be that Third Brother’s family isn’t planning to come back?”

Surprisingly, Second Sister-in-Law Wei’s guess was quite accurate. Inside the house, after Third Brother Wei explained the situation to his parents, Wei Mother asked, “Is this your wife’s idea?”

Thinking his mother was blaming his wife, Third Brother Wei quickly spoke up in her defense. “Mother, it’s not just my wife. I think the same way. This opportunity is really rare, and I just feel that it would be such a shame to miss it.”

Wei Mother knew about this already, but she had to consider the situation with Eldest Brother and Second Brother. If Third Brother’s family really took over his daughter’s job, it would be very different from when she had asked her daughter to take over temporarily.

Having Third Brother’s family take over the job meant the family had one less person working, but the monthly salary was still coming to her. That money would go directly into the family’s pockets.

But if they let Third Brother’s wife take the job, first, the monthly salary would no longer be there since it would have to be paid back to Nier. Secondly, with a job, wouldn’t she have to stay in the capital permanently? Would the other two daughters-in-law agree to that?

Right now, with her and her husband still around, they could handle it, but once they were gone, how would the job be divided?

The biggest issue was that if Third Brother’s wife stayed in the city, she would have to be separated from Third Brother, and what kind of life would that be for a married couple living apart for the long term?

So, Wei Mother explained all this to her third son.

“You need to think carefully. This isn’t something you can just decide on a whim. Anyway, I’ve said my piece. You’re grown up now, and you need to think things through. As for your sister, I’ll write her a letter. You can mail it first thing tomorrow.”

Seeing that her third son had made up his mind, she knew that no matter how much she said, it wouldn’t change anything. She could only ask her daughter what to do about the situation.

Meanwhile, Third Sister-in-Law Wei had no idea that her mother-in-law had decided to write a letter to her sister-in-law. She had just hung up the phone and was planning to find her younger sister to talk about the matter. But then, she realized that her brother-in-law had probably already returned from work. So, she decided to wait until tomorrow when her brother-in-law would be gone and then talk to her younger sister alone.”

At this time, Wei Xuan was at home, also discussing this matter with Jiang Che.

Jiang Che didn’t think it was a big deal that his wife wasn’t working. Not only was their daughter still young, but he was also reluctant to send her to daycare. Moreover, his wife’s earnings were higher than a month’s salary at the supply and marketing cooperative, so they didn’t have to rely on that job to make a living.

So, if she didn’t want to go to work, then so be it.

Wei Xuan was pleased that Jiang Che understood, but she still pretended to hesitate and said, “What about my parents?”

“I’ll talk to them. It’s fine. If you’re taking care of the child, they’ll definitely understand,” Jiang Che reassured her.

With that, Wei Xuan was completely at ease.

The next day, Wei Xuan didn’t wait for Third Sister-in-Law Wei but was visited by Bian Qianqian and Cheng Shao.

“Why are you here so early? Isn’t your family busy lately?”

It was barely nine in the morning, and these two had already come over. How early did they have to wake up?

Bian Qianqian explained, “We came yesterday and stayed at Aunt’s house overnight.”

“Didn’t you leave the child alone at home? Isn’t she causing trouble?”

“If she causes trouble, there’s nothing we can do, Sister-in-law. We actually came for something important. Qianqian and I are planning to move to the city, but we’ve been looking for a while and haven’t been able to find a house like yours, with a private yard. We really had no other choice but to come and ask if there are any houses like that for rent around here.”

Wei Xuan, who was leading them into the house, was surprised by the question and said, “Why are you moving to the city?”

Bian Qianqian answered happily, “I’ve never liked living in the village. I just couldn’t get used to it, but I couldn’t do anything about it before since we didn’t have money. But these past two weeks, the village started the summer harvest, and Cheng Shao made some money from selling grain, so I decided to bring the child and move to the city.”

Cheng Shao also smiled, “Yeah, before, I made Qianqian and the child suffer with me. But now that we have the means, it’s much more convenient to live in the city. Plus, I sell grain, and most of the time I have to be in the city, so it’s easier for me to settle down there as well.”

Wei Xuan understood, but after thinking for a moment, she really couldn’t think of any houses with a private yard available for rent. “Actually, this house of mine was originally connected to the courtyard in front, but it was blocked off on both sides, so it has the current layout. Also, this house was introduced to me by someone else. When you asked so suddenly, I honestly don’t know where there are similar houses available for rent.”

Thinking that Jiang Che might know more about the houses since he’s been looking for one recently, she suggested, “How about this? Wait until your brother Jiang comes back, and you can ask him. He’s been looking for a house too and has probably checked out all the houses around here. Maybe he’ll know.”

“Why is Brother Jiang looking for a house? Isn’t your current place good?”

“Well, it’s not that we don’t like this house. This house is good, but we’re thinking about buying one if we can find a place that’s for sale. We’d feel more comfortable owning one.”

Cheng Shao gave a thumbs-up and said, “You’re thinking ahead, Sister-in-law. We’re just a bit short on money right now. If we had more, we’d do the same and buy a house too.”

Wei Xuan politely responded, “We’d like to buy one, but there’s no one selling right now. Plus, with what you’re doing, it’s going pretty well, so maybe it won’t be long before you can buy one yourself.”

As they were talking, the child inside woke up. Cheng Shao and Bian Qianqian, noticing this, tactfully decided to leave and mentioned that they would come back in the afternoon when Jiang Che was home.

Wei Xuan didn’t keep them and noticed the child was crying louder and louder.

Cheng Shao waved his hand, “Sister-in-law, no need to see us off. Go check on your niece. We’ll leave now.”

“Alright, take care.”

Wei Xuan quickly rushed into the room. Little Yuan Yuan was already sitting up on the bed, and when she saw her mom, she started crying even harder.

“Wuwu… Ah~ma!”

Wei Xuan immediately picked her up and comforted her, “Oh, our Yuan Yuan misses Mommy, right? Don’t cry, don’t cry.”

After finally calming the little one down, Wei Xuan went out to get water to wash her face, as her face was covered with tears from crying.

Since Yuan Yuan had just woken up, she didn’t want to leave her mother’s arms for even a second. Wei Xuan had no choice but to carry her with one arm while doing other things with the other.

Yuan Yuan was a neat little girl and didn’t mind getting her face washed at all. As Wei Xuan wiped her face, Yuan Yuan tilted her little head up, cooperating without trying to escape.

Once her face was clean, Wei Xuan even put a little bit of lotion on her. The little girl was so happy, thinking that her mom was playing with her, and she laughed so hard, giggling until she finally stopped.

Wei Xuan couldn’t help but feel her heart melt. How could she be so adorable? At that moment, she finally understood those parents who constantly show off their children. If it weren’t for their circumstances, she would also love to show off how cute her own child was.

Oh, right! She could totally buy a camera and take more pictures of Yuan Yuan to record her moments. When she grew up, she could see how she looked as a child. That would be so meaningful.

That evening, when Jiang Che came back, Wei Xuan told him about the idea.

“A camera?” Jiang Che thought it was a good suggestion.

“I remember they’re around 200 yuan, but they’ll definitely use a lot of film. How about I go ask my parents tomorrow?”