Chapter 10: Building a New House and Recruiting a Son-in-Law

Blue-brick tiled houses were certainly nice, but having to live with a bunch of relatives who were always trying to take advantage of you—seeing them all the time and having to be constantly on guard—was enough to drive anyone mad.

The house that Shen Mo’er and her father currently lived in, aside from being a bit old and run-down, actually had many advantages.

Most importantly, its location was ideal. It sat at the entrance of the village, with farmland directly across from it. On the right was a cowshed where a reeducated old man lived; on the left was the brigade headquarters. Aside from one room in the back courtyard where a small-time landlord’s widow and son lived, the rest of the house was unoccupied. In other words, they only had three neighbors nearby, all of whom were branded “landlords, rich peasants, counterrevolutionaries, and bad elements”—the kind who kept to themselves and didn’t dare cause trouble. It was basically like having no neighbors at all.

For a father and daughter who had transmigrated and brought a treasure vault with them, the environment couldn’t have been more perfect.

So from the beginning, they never actually intended to change houses—it was just an excuse to get some money out of the Shen family.

After all, they could eat delicacies or plain fare, but suffering losses? That was absolutely out of the question.

The rest of the Shen family had no idea what Shen Mo’er was planning. They were too busy feeling the pain of having just given away such a large sum of money.

Those who were a bit more calculating, like Shen Shengli and Tian Fang, were already speculating. Shen Lao Qi had taken that money, and it wouldn’t cost that much to build a house. He’d probably save most of it for his daughter. But there was still time—they might have a chance to get it back someday.

Who knew that when they turned around, they’d hear Shen Mo’er asking the brigade leader if they could be allocated land to build a new house!

“You’re just two people. One room is more than enough. Why build a house? Lao Qi, Mo’er is young and doesn’t understand things—you can’t just spoil her in everything,” Shen Shengli said with a stern face.

“Exactly, Lao Qi. Even if you’ve got money, you have to think about the times when you don’t. Don’t be fooled by that three hundred yuan you’ve got—it doesn’t last. You have to look beyond the moment. Mo’er’s at the age to be married—you need to save for her dowry. And when she’s married and gone, you’ll be alone. Don’t you need some savings for your old age?” Tian Fang said, as usual, in a concerned and sincere tone, though her expression was clearly strained and a bit anxious.

Shen Yongjun added, “The old saying goes, ‘You won’t go broke from eating or dressing, but poor planning leads to poverty.’ Our families may have had some disagreements over housing, but we’re still blood brothers—flesh and bone. Lao Qi, your eldest brother and second sister-in-law really are thinking of your best interests.”

The old version of Shen Lao Qi and his daughter might’ve actually been swayed by these seemingly heartfelt words.

But the current Shen Mo’er and her father? Absolutely not.

Shen Mo’er snorted, clearly angry, and said indignantly, “I’m my dad’s only daughter. Why would I get married and move out? I’m going to recruit a son-in-law! We’ll build a new house and bring him in, and the three of us will grow old together!”

She glared at Shen Shengli and the others suspiciously. “You conned us out of our house before—now you’re trying to con us out of our money too, aren’t you?”

Shen Shengli: “……”

Shen Yongjun: “……”

Tian Fang: “……”

That was exactly what they were trying to do, but it was a different matter altogether to be exposed so bluntly to their faces.

They all quickly denied it:

“How could you say that? Nonsense!”

“You child, how could you mistake our good intentions like that? Your second uncle is just looking out for you!”

“Exactly! We’re all doing this for your good. Recruiting a live-in son-in-law is a nice idea, but it’s not that easy to find one…”

Tian Fang wanted to say, What if you end up with a parasite who eats you out of house and home? But for the sake of her reputation, she held her tongue and changed the subject, turning to Shen Shaoyuan. “Lao Qi, Mo’er is still a child—she’s impulsive and whimsical. You can’t just let her have her way all the time.”

Shen Shaoyuan raised his brows and said flatly, “I’ve only got one daughter. If I don’t spoil her, who should I spoil? Besides, she wants to recruit a son-in-law to care for me in my old age—that’s called filial piety. Brigade Leader, wouldn’t you agree?”

He turned to ask Zhou Mancang, “Can our household get a residential plot approved?”

Zhou Mancang laughed. “Of course! Why wouldn’t you be able to?”

They’d just given up two solid brick houses—approving a new plot for them was perfectly reasonable.

Since Shen Mo’er was literate and had just signed a contract recently, with pen and paper on hand, Zhou Mancang simply had her write an application. Shen Shaoyuan then signed it and pressed his fingerprint on it. Zhou promised to go to the commune the next day to get the paperwork processed.

The rest of the Shen family, for reasons unknown, didn’t leave right away. They stood there and watched Shen Mo’er write the application and listened as Zhou Mancang promised the paperwork would be handled the next day. Their emotions were a mixed bag.

The usually meek and timid pair had suddenly become unrecognizably assertive. Not only had they wrangled back three hundred yuan, now they were even building a new house?

Shen Mo’er couldn’t care less what they were thinking. She glanced at the group of people with their varied expressions and said, “Once our residential plot is approved and the construction date is set, I hope my cousins will all come help!”

The Shen family members froze.

Shen Shengli’s brow furrowed. Suddenly, he remembered—when they had signed the agreement transferring the brick house, they had included a line at the end: ‘When Shen Shaoyuan’s family builds a new house, Shen Shengli’s household must contribute 30 labor days toward the construction.’

Shen Yongjun’s agreement had something similar, though his household only owed 10 labor days.

At the time, they had secretly sneered—when would Lao Qi ever build a new house? He had only one daughter. Once she was married off, he’d be living alone in that storeroom. Build a house? Not in a million years. So they signed it without worry.

Who would’ve thought the impossible was now coming true?

They wanted to go back on their word, but even they knew that with black ink on white paper, witnessed by the brigade leader, there was no way to deny it.

It was a complete loss—both the house and the money. Shen Shengli had no more fight left in him. With a dark face, he left with his family.

Shen Yongjun and Tian Fang wanted to argue a little more, but if even the one who had to pay more and do more labor didn’t say a word, they, the usual good-guy pretenders, weren’t about to step forward either. So they took their kids and left too.

Zhou Mancang glanced at the clearly disgruntled group walking away, then at the pale and skinny father and daughter standing there, and sighed. “Since you’re going to build a house, you should start planning right away—figure out the materials and the layout. I’ll help call people over when it’s time. If you move fast, you could have it done in five or six days.”

Zhou Peijun also said, “Right. If you need help with anything, just come to my place and let me know.”

Shen Mo’er and Shen Shaoyuan exchanged a look and happily agreed.

Sure, there were unpleasant relatives—but there were also many warm-hearted folks!

This Willow Creek Brigade was really quite a good place.

When they got home, the father and daughter—who had seen countless rare treasures in their time—sat there flipping through a stack of “Great Unity” notes, marveling at them.

It was fascinating. In this era, people didn’t use silver or copper coins—they used this light paper money instead. The paper was brightly colored with all kinds of designs. Supposedly, the front showed delegates walking out of the Great Hall of the People, and the back showed the capital’s iconic building: the Tiananmen Gate.

“Ah… I wonder when we’ll get to see the capital for ourselves,” Shen Shaoyuan sighed.

Back then, he had lived in one of the most prime locations in the entire capital. No royal or noble estate could compare with the site of his princely residence.

“There’ll be a chance eventually,” Shen Mo’er said with a smile. “But before that, let’s go check out the commune.”

After all, the brigade leader was heading there tomorrow to process their residential land approval. They had already arranged to go along for a little outing.