Chapter 7: Helping

“How’s it going?” Old Man Liu stared at Liu Shisheng and asked.

Liu Shisheng wore a sulky expression and replied irritably, “Didn’t answer the phone.” He had clearly heard Chen Jin’s voice on the line. It was obvious that she had instructed the person answering the call to say she wasn’t there. She clearly didn’t want to get in touch with him, probably because she was afraid he would ask her for money.

He would never swallow his pride and ask Chen Jin for money. Life was manageable; there was no need to humiliate himself by begging her.

Old Man Liu sighed as he stared at the phone. Ever since it was confirmed yesterday that the demolition would include Qiaodong Village and Mutang Village, he had felt restless. How did it end up being Qiaodong Village? He still couldn’t figure that out. Wasn’t the closer-to-the-city Qiaoxi Village a better fit?

Liu Shisheng’s several brothers and sisters-in-law had changed their attitude towards Chen Jin, now encouraging Liu Shisheng:

“No matter what, she’s still your daughter. Her mother is gone; you should step up and help her with things.”

“Yeah, she’s just a little girl. Don’t let her uncles cheat her out of money.”

“Right, I think it’d be better for Chen Jin to move back home. After her house is demolished, she’ll need a place to stay.”

One by one, they urged him, and Liu Shisheng’s repressed feelings began to stir. Jiang Zijun, who was nearby, neither supported nor opposed him, but her silence felt like agreement at that moment.

Liu Shisheng clenched his fist and reluctantly replied, “Fine, I’ll go to Qiaodong Village tomorrow. At least I can help a bit.”

Finally, Old Man Liu and Old Man Liu’s wife, who had been gloomy all day, showed a bit of improvement in their mood. They forced out a smile and reminded Liu Shisheng to take care of Chen Jin. After all, she was his first child. He hadn’t taken care of her in the past, and now that she was alone and helpless, it was his responsibility as a father to support her.

Behind him, Liu Shisheng’s brothers and sisters-in-law exchanged knowing glances: Chen Jin was now a plump little sheep.

“The village meeting has started, Third Sister!”

“Ah, I’m coming!” Chen Jin was carrying a small bag with all her family’s belongings. She also had a pen and notebook ready to take notes. In a good mood, her half-high ponytail swayed as she walked.

This morning’s meeting was about moving the ancestral graves. Chen Jin’s mother’s grave was included in the designated area. But being young and inexperienced in handling funerals, all she understood was the amount offered for moving the grave.

The advantage of having fewer people in the village became apparent during the meeting: it was easy to address any opposing voices.

She heard that the police were called to Mutang Village yesterday. It sounded lively, and if she hadn’t had so many family matters to deal with, she would have loved to ride her bike to take a look.

After some discussion, the elderly villagers decided to move the old Chen family’s ancestral grave to the barren land in the west. Chen Jin made a request: she wanted her mother’s grave moved to the peach orchard at home, near the three peach trees that her mother had planted when she was alive.

The decision to relocate the ancestral graves was quickly settled.

Starting this afternoon, the demolition office would officially enter the village. They aimed to prevent any villagers from constructing new houses during this period to avoid future complications.

Surprisingly, some people were indeed tempted. These individuals had heard from people in the neighboring village, Mutang, that building an extra room could yield extra money, so they had considered secretly building in their yards. However, they hadn’t anticipated the demolition office’s swift action.

Chen Guangman, who had served as village head for nearly twenty years, knew everyone in the village and their personalities very well.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you, the officials aren’t fools. They’ll see any new constructions immediately. If anyone tries to pull a fast one, don’t blame me for calling you out in front of our ancestors!”

The villagers with ulterior motives shrank back at his words.

“Come on, draw lots. Whoever picks first gets to register for the measurement first,” the village head said, placing several folded pieces of paper on the table. Some people leaned in closely, hoping to catch a glimpse of the numbers.

Chen Guangman slapped a hand on the back of a nearby person, impatiently urging, “Hurry up! Measuring early means getting signed and receiving money sooner, and you might even get to pick your house first.”

“After the contracts are signed, all the villagers will move to the temporary housing. The size of the house you get will depend on the measurement results and the number of people in your household. Besides our villagers, people from Mutang will also move to the temporary housing. We want to avoid disputes later, so the sooner you choose, the better. We’ll all be living in the same building; there won’t be any problems.”

Chen Jin was the last to draw, and she picked number three.

“Hey, I’m the third sister, and I got number three!”

She was surrounded by a bunch of older men discussing whether to take cash or a house. Aunt Zhou’s father-in-law, Old Man Chen, loudly declared, “Of course, we want cash! What we can hold in our hands is what counts. The compensation for houses hasn’t even started construction; we can’t see it yet!”

Some agreed, while others thought it wasn’t worth it. “The money we get from tearing down the house won’t buy much in the city’s prime areas; it’s better to take the house. What did Director Jiang say about the swap? Ah, how did he phrase it… Oh, the third sister is here! Third sister, you wrote down the details, can you explain?”

Chen Jin opened her notebook. “Different houses have different appraisal results, but let’s just talk about one standard. Houses on the first to third floors are swapped at a one-to-one area ratio. The fourth floor gets half the average area of the first three floors as compensation. For example, Uncle, if your house is two hundred square meters across four floors, you’ll get three two-hundred-square-meter houses and one one-hundred-square-meter house. If it’s over four floors, you’ll get cash for the extra square meters, at five hundred per square meter. The maximum area you can swap is six hundred square meters, and the rest will be paid in cash.”

Uncle Chen exclaimed, “Three hundred thousand! That’s more than enough to buy a good place in the city center, we could buy three two-hundred-square-meter houses!” Moreover, there were additional compensations for the land, renovation, and land attachment.

After the initial excitement, some nearby villagers began to analyze the situation more rationally, shaking their heads. “How many houses are two hundred square meters or more? With the other compensations, we might get three hundred thousand, but I have a big family. I need to share a house with my three sons, and my married daughters should get a share too. We old folks need to keep a house for ourselves. Aren’t the city center properties going for five or six thousand per square meter? If we buy five houses, the money will be spent!”

Some folks still seemed confused after listening to Chen Jin’s explanations and approached her for calculations.

Chen Guangman rolled his eyes at the crowd. “What’s the point of calculating now? This afternoon, the demolition office will come to measure, and they’ll calculate how much you can get precisely.”

Moreover, Chen Jin was talking about high appraisal standards. The officials would assess the houses based on height, structure, and materials used… Not many would qualify for the highest compensation.

“Oh, the afternoon is sure to get noisy.”

“Meeting adjourned! Go home and prepare your materials—household registration, land ownership certificates, etc. Make sure everything is ready!”

As Chen Jin exited, a group of uncles and Second Aunts surrounded her, asking how to meet the standards she had just mentioned. She scratched her head, “Well, the demolition office didn’t specify exactly what the standards are; we’ll know when they come for the measurements this afternoon.”

Someone murmured, not daring to speak too loudly, “I heard from folks in Mutang that the compensation price is negotiable. If the villagers unite…”

But another person quickly interrupted, “In the afternoon, when they come to measure, and you check the amount with them before signing the agreement, if you think it’s unfair, just don’t sign! Why cause a ruckus? I just want to get the money as soon as possible.”

“Right, me too. Isn’t it better to get the money quickly?”

“You’re in a hurry to get money for your son’s marriage, aren’t you? I don’t need a large amount right now; I want to…”

“What do you want? If you have something to say, talk to the village head. Let’s go! I want to be the first to register for the measurements; come on, hurry up and grab the household registration!”

Chen Jin huffed and mimicked her uncle’s walking stance, hands on her hips. “Uncle, once I get the money, I want to buy a house near NTU. Can you help me find something suitable?”

“Buying a house in NTU?” Second Aunt ran a couple of steps to Chen Jin’s side and said to her uncle, “Big brother, please keep an eye out for us as well. If there’s something suitable, we’d like to buy a place too.”

“Sure, let’s talk about it after this busy period,” her uncle readily agreed. He then turned to Eldest Aunt to discuss buying a house near the Women and Children’s Hospital for their youngest daughter, Chen Ting.

Rong City has a total of four districts. The Dong cheng (East) District is the old city center, where the provincial and municipal government offices are concentrated; the Xicheng (West) District is the new area that has formed a new commercial center and is currently the most prosperous; the Nancheng (South) District is considered the industrial zone, and the Beicheng (North) District has a university town.

Nowadays, the housing prices in the West District have skyrocketed, second only to the East District. Most high-end residential communities are located in the West District.

Chen Jin was thinking about how she had received the money and wanted to ask her uncle about the housing prices in the city; she was preparing to buy more properties.

But one shouldn’t put all their eggs in one basket; she couldn’t buy only houses. What else could she do…

“Third Cousin!” Tian Miao hurried over, and upon seeing her, said, “Third Cousin, there’s a man named Liu saying that your dad is coming to look for you. He’s waiting at the small store.”

“Liu Shisheng?” Her uncle widened his eyes, his eyebrows raised. Without waiting for Tian Miao to answer, he angrily strode toward the small store.

Other uncles and aunts followed, and when the villagers heard, they also went along.

Just moments ago, they were eager to go home to find their documents; now, since the demolition office hadn’t arrived yet, they decided to watch this commotion first.