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The house Lin Yan was talking about was right next to the supermarket where Xiao Yangyang often tricked the old couple into buying toys.
That house had only been built a few years ago. It was originally run by a couple who operated the supermarket. Later the husband went to do business out of province and was said to have found a better opportunity. Now they were selling the house to buy a new one and settle down elsewhere.
In this era land was not valuable. The only thing of value was the house itself.
Because of the urgent sale the asking price of thirty-eight thousand was not high.
However, at that time the average monthly salary was two to three hundred. Even in the provincial capital it was no more than five hundred. It was still a huge sum and the house was hard to sell.
Lin Yan had saved up some money recently but it was certainly not enough. Fang Yuwei thought of the two of them going to the bank to get a loan to buy the house.
The current loan conditions at city banks were not strict. If they negotiated a bit they could definitely get the loan. Based on their income they could pay it back with the earnings from operating the supermarket on the first floor.
Fang Yuwei felt there was no problem. Lin Yan also listened to her. The only concern came from the older generation who were not comfortable with owing money. Mother Lin and Father Lin said they had some money and even brought it over.
“Where did you get so much money?” Fang Yuwei was startled seeing the stacks of crisp bills on the table.
Mother Lin softly said. “This is twenty-six thousand in total. The orchard and pepper field sold for twenty-four thousand. The remaining two thousand came from what you two gave us from time to time. Your father and I don’t really spend money.”
After she finished she sighed and smiled. “Your father and I talked it over. We’re old. We can’t manage the orchard and land anymore. After this year’s rice harvest we’re planning to stop planting. Leaving it idle is a waste. Better to sell it now while the price is still good.”
Father Lin had remained silent. He thought for a moment and then added. “You always need a house. A place for the family to settle down. We don’t want you to go back to farming. This situation is already pretty good.”
Nowadays land in the town was worthless and couldn’t be used to grow vegetables to be self-sufficient. Other than running small businesses nobody was interested. The mountain land in the village however could still grow grain and fruit. As long as one was willing to work hard they wouldn’t go hungry and could still make money.
The Lin family’s large orchard spanned two entire hills along with a pepper field. These were the lifelong efforts of Father Lin and Mother Lin. Once he mentioned selling them someone quickly bought them.
They had stayed in the village originally but moved to town to help their children by taking care of the grandkids and helping in the shop. Their mindset had changed.
Running a shop to make money was much better than bending over in the fields from dawn to dusk. There was no sun or wind exposure. At most it was a bit tiring. How could they still bear to let their son and grandson go back to farming?
When they got older the land would be useless.
Since the whole family was now in town as parents they had to provide a place for the children to live. So the Lin couple did not feel any reluctance in selling the land.
On the contrary they felt it was very worthwhile. The family had a place to live in town. They could run a supermarket and a breakfast shop. At night the space could be rented out as a barbecue shop. Their grandson could earn easy money in the future.
With the twenty-six thousand from the Lin couple things became much easier. Fang Yuwei took charge of negotiating the price with the seller.
After a few rounds, the deal was closed at a price one thousand two hundred less. The whole family looked at her with newfound respect. Even Father Lin, who was not good with words, praised her nonstop when talking about this matter.
Scholars are indeed different.
Even the two little ones knew their mom was amazing. When they saw other kids they would boast about how awesome their mom was and say she was super amazingly awesome.
Fu Xia deliberately teased them. “Why is your mom amazing?”
The two of them looked confused. Xiao Chaochao spoke first. “Grandpa and Grandma said Mom is amazing.”
Xiao Yangyang added. “Dad said so too.”
Xiao Chaochao concluded. “Mom is good at everything. She’s a Super Mom!”
After buying the house there was no rush to move in right away. Lin Yan was busy with the renovation. He didn’t let Fang Yuwei worry and told her to focus on preparing for her exam.
When it was time for Fang Yuwei’s exam the whole family set off for the provincial capital.
For fear of disturbing Fang Yuwei, Lin Yan specially booked two rooms. He took the kids to the other room or brought them out for a walk.
The two little ones were lively and energetic. Being in a new place they followed their dad everywhere full of excitement.
When Lin Yan bought them a small toy they immediately became obedient and promised not to disturb their mom.
Fang Yuwei’s exam went very smoothly. This time there were only four subjects. After finishing the exam in the next few days the family of four ate and shopped in the provincial capital. The original plan was to buy clothes for the kids since they were growing fast and outgrowing their clothes.
In the end Lin Yan bought a lot for Fang Yuwei instead and even got a set of family outfits for the four of them.
Since they were bought at the mall the prices were a bit high. Fang Yuwei was hesitant and took the kids to change out of them. Lin Yan had already paid.
He even thought the money was very well spent.
After playing in the provincial capital for a few days the family of four returned home. Fang Yuwei and Lin Yan bought two sets of clothes for Father Lin and Mother Lin and also a new pair of shoes.
When they returned to the town, Father Lin and Mother Lin were already waiting. From afar, they saw the bus stop and immediately looked over. They themselves had lost count of how many buses they had watched by now.
As soon as they saw Lin Yan get off the bus, the old couple immediately stood up and walked over.
“Grandma!”
“Grandpa!”
As soon as Xiao Yangyang and Xiao Chaochao got off the bus, they shouted sweetly toward the front.
“Good babies, you’re back?” Mother Lin hadn’t seen them for several days. She had been tossing and turning sleeplessly these past few nights. As soon as she saw the two little ones, she immediately walked over and squatted down to give them a hug.
Although Father Lin was not as expressive, he also walked over and gently patted the two on their little heads with a loving gaze, his face full of tenderness.
“We ate lots of yummy food and bought toys and saw so many people—”
The two chirped on like birds, hands dancing as they talked endlessly to the old couple. The old couple listened with full attention, occasionally responding to what they said.
Laughter and cheer instantly filled the shop again. The smiles on the old couple’s faces deepened as they watched the two little ones showing off their new toys without taking their eyes off them.
Fang Yuwei took out the clothes they had bought and handed them to the old couple, saying, “Dad, Mom, try these on and see if they fit.”
“We have clothes to wear. Why waste money on this?” Mother Lin’s first reaction was to refuse. Then she saw that Fang Yuwei had also bought shoes. Her eyes flickered slightly. “Why buy for us? You should buy for the children.”
“I’ll help you wear them.” Xiao Chaochao walked over first and grabbed the shoes, about to put them on Mother Lin.
“Then help Grandma put them on,” Fang Yuwei told her son.
“Okay!” Xiao Chaochao immediately agreed. His small figure carried the shoes over, squatted down, and reached out his little hands to help Mother Lin put them on.
Not to be outdone, Xiao Yangyang followed his brother’s lead, took a pair of shoes, and went to help Father Lin put them on.
The two little ones squatted on the ground. Their movements were clumsy but serious as they helped the old couple put on their shoes. Of course, the elders did not want to trouble their grandsons, but Fang Yuwei said, “Let them try. It’s good for them to practice.”
The old couple paused and looked at the two little ones. Mother Lin’s gaze turned from gentle to slightly teary as she kept her eyes on their innocent faces.
The two of them had always been frugal. Even when Fang Yuwei bought them new clothes, they were reluctant to wear them. She did not try to persuade them further but instead let the two little ones speak. This worked better than anything she could have said herself.
The newly purchased house had finished renovations. Lin Yan rearranged the first floor for a more practical and tidy layout that could accommodate more goods. The second floor had simple renovations.
As for their own rooms on the top floor, Lin Yan put in a lot of effort. It could be called a complete overhaul. From the bed to even a single chair, everything had been carefully compared and selected multiple times by him.
Since the house needed to be ventilated after renovations, they didn’t move in immediately.
The whole holiday, after the exams were over, was quite leisurely for Fang Yuwei.
She could sleep in whenever she wanted. After waking up, she would visit the shop or check in at the supermarket.
She hardly needed to worry about the two little ones. Not only were they the treasures of the old couple, but Yang Liyu also often came to play with them during the holiday. Each time, he would bring some handmade toys and play happily with them.
Just after finishing trimming Mother Lin’s hair, Fang Yuwei called out to Yang Liyu, “Come over, I’ll give you a haircut. Your hair’s getting long.”
With the weather being so hot, having long hair felt very uncomfortable.
Yang Liyu obediently walked over.
Fang Yuwei never cut his hair carelessly. Sometimes, she would even step back and observe from a distance several times. After cutting, she would make adjustments and jokingly say, “You still have to have a hairstyle that matches your temperament.”
“I need to study now. I don’t care about those things,” Yang Liyu said seriously to her.
“Have you finished your summer homework?” Fang Yuwei asked.
Yang Liyu replied, “I finished it a long time ago. I’ve already started memorizing questions.”
Fang Yuwei was surprised that such a young child had so much self-discipline. She walked into the room and took out the textbooks for the first semester of fourth grade and handed them to him. “If you have time during the holidays, go ahead and start previewing.”
“Thank you, teacher.” Yang Liyu accepted them naturally.
Fang Yuwei pulled over a chair and sat beside him. She said, “Give me your hand.”
Yang Liyu looked at the nail clipper in her hand. As he stretched out his hand, he said, “I just trimmed my nails yesterday.”
“Let me file them. They look like they were chewed off. I suspect you bit them yourself.” Fang Yuwei opened the nail file attached to the clipper and pulled his hand over to carefully file them.
After filing, she gave him a new nail clipper. “Use this next time.”
Yang Liyu lowered his head and kept looking at the nail clipper in his hand. He slightly tightened his grip around it. Just then, Xiao Yangyang rushed into his arms holding a small cake in his hands. “Brother, eat cake!”
He looked at Fang Yuwei. She smiled, her eyes curved. “Be careful not to bump into your brother and hurt him.”
“I’m not hurt!” Yang Liyu immediately denied it.
Xiao Yangyang quickly turned around and said in his childish voice, “Brother’s not hurt!”
The two hugged each other with love.
When Yang Liyu was about to go home, Mother Lin brought a pair of shoes for him to try on. “I went to town today and saw a store clearing out. These shoes were very cheap and just the right size for Xiao Yu, so I bought them.”
“I’ll help Brother wear shoes!” Xiao Yangyang immediately raised his helpful little hand and wanted to help Yang Liyu put on the new shoes.
In the end, Yang Liyu left his old shoes that were stiff and cracked at the shop. Mother Lin said she would wrap them up, so he wore the new shoes home.
As soon as he left the breakfast shop, he took off the new shoes and carried them, walking home barefoot.
Every step he took was so determined that when Fang Yuwei later saw the handwriting on the calligraphy book and summer homework he handed in at the beginning of school, she paused for a moment before asking, “How long do you practice every day?”
She never doubted that he wrote it himself, even though the handwriting was so good that she was surprised.
“Whenever I have time,” he said, meaning all of his free time.
Fang Yuwei patted his shoulder and praised, “A child worth teaching.”
Principal Wang approved Fang Yuwei’s proposal, and she was promoted to the homeroom teacher of Class 4(1) and continuing to lead them.
Last semester, Yang Liyu, who had been heavily questioned, boldly emerged by scoring full marks in all subjects on the midterm exam of the new semester, directly achieving first place in the entire grade.
Since then, in every test, he has been the nearly perfect top scorer.
In her last semester’s final remarks, Fang Yuwei received much recognition from parents due to her responsible and careful attitude. During this parent-teacher meeting, she gave a comprehensive and objective evaluation of each student.
She was impartial, fair, and just.
Parents showered her with praise, and in front of Principal Wang, they spoke highly of Fang Yuwei, while Wang Guohai, standing beside Principal Wang, listened with a notably interesting expression.
Ayalee[Translator]
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