Chapter 4: The New Home

As Zong Shao had said, the new home was indeed a two-story brick house. After so many years of wind and sun, the bricks had varying shades of color, and there were cracks on the side walls that had been repaired, giving the house a sense of age.

Although the exterior looked a bit old, the interior was quite new. The walls upstairs and downstairs were snow white, and the windows were clear, clearly replaced recently.

The furniture was a mix of new and old. For instance, the dining table and cabinet in the dining room were left behind by the previous owners, while a few new benches had been added. The coffee table in the living room also looked a little old, but the wood was in good condition, so Zong Shao hadn’t thrown it away. He also added a long and short wooden sofa beside it.

Upstairs, in the master bedroom, the furniture was all new. The bed was custom-made by Zong Shao, with a natural wood color and no paint. The wardrobe and dressing table were also in the same color, but these were brought back from the county’s supply and marketing cooperative.

Upon hearing this, Lin Wei asked, “Is the county town big? How far is it from here?”

“It’s much smaller than Shicheng, there’s only one street to walk around, but the county has a movie theater. I’ll take you to see it when I get the chance.” Zong Shao thought for a moment and then added, “It might be a bit far to walk, but on a bike, it’s quicker—about twenty minutes.”

Lin Wei sighed and said, “I sold my bike before coming here.”

These days, weddings focus on the “three turns and one sound”—it doesn’t need to be everything, just one or two items will do.

The Zong family was quite considerate in this regard. They had prepared money and tickets for the three turns and one sound, but Lin Wei didn’t think a radio was necessary as she didn’t listen to one much. As for the sewing machine, Zong’s mother had one at home, so getting two would be a waste of money. In the end, they just bought a Shanghai brand watch and a “Permanent” brand bicycle.

The watch was a women’s watch, which Lin Wei wore after the wedding, and while the bike wasn’t gender-specific, since Zong Shao was in the military, it was mostly Lin Wei who rode it.

But when Lin Wei followed her husband to the military, her job—whether to sell it or let someone else take over—was no longer hers. She wouldn’t be able to live in the house originally assigned to her mother-in-law, as so many people were waiting for housing, and the factory couldn’t keep a house vacant for her.

So, before leaving, Lin Wei sold the larger furniture, the pots, pans, and anything she could sell. The things she couldn’t sell, she gave away. Her last item to sell was the bike, and the buyer wasn’t anyone else but her sister-in-law from her maternal family.

But since it was no one else, after the transaction, the bike no longer belonged to her.

As she thought about it, Lin Wei couldn’t help but feel a sense of regret. After all, it was something from her wedding, and it had accompanied her for four years.

Zong Shao remained silent for a moment and then said, “In a few days, I’ll go with you to the county supply and marketing cooperative and buy you another bike.”

A cheap bike would cost around a hundred, but for a bigger brand like Feige or Permanent, it would cost at least two hundred. She had just come with the military, her job wasn’t settled yet, and she probably wouldn’t be going out much, so it seemed unnecessary to spend that extra money.

Moreover, if this world were truly like a novel, and she couldn’t change her fate, the new bike might end up being sold again within a year, so she shook her head and said, “It’s not urgent. We’ll talk about it later.”

Zong Shao didn’t know what was on Lin Wei’s mind and thought that “later” just meant a little while from now. He nodded and turned to go next door to find the two children.

Lin Wei, on the other hand, walked to the window and looked outside. The view before her was completely different from the one in Shicheng.

Shicheng was an industrial city with steel mills, cement plants, and glass factories. The smokestacks from these factories emitted thick black smoke all year round, causing the sky to be perpetually gray.

But the sky outside the window was a clear blue, washed clean by the water, with soft, white clouds scattered across it, creating a feeling of calm and happiness.

Beneath the blue sky, there was nothing but the endless, vast blue sea. The surface of the sea wasn’t calm; the sea breeze created layers of waves, sweeping past the swaying fishing boats, heading straight for the golden beach.

When the waves hit the shore, the gathered seawater quickly broke apart and retreated back into the ocean, leaving behind only the crabs that couldn’t keep up with the tide, helplessly crawling on the sand.

A row of palm trees on the beach shook their long leaves, as though mocking the crabs for their foolishness.

Lin Wei’s lips curled into a smile as she withdrew her gaze and looked downstairs.

What she saw was a small courtyard. To the right as you entered was the newly built kitchen, with white walls and a flat roof. A circle of bricks surrounded the top, and inside was a drying platform.

From Lin Wei’s angle, she could clearly see the two clotheslines that Zong Shao had set up, and the two Y-shaped wooden sticks that were fixed to the low wall to support the clotheslines.

Then, Lin Wei shifted her gaze to the opposite side of the kitchen, where there was a small vegetable garden. However, the house had been vacant for half a year, so there were no vegetables left in the soil. The wild grass had grown quite thick, but Zong Shao had already removed it, so it now looked rather bare.

The toilet had been built in the backyard, with a small door opened beside the back gate to enter.

Lin Wei had checked it out when she first entered the house. The squat toilet was made with ceramic tiles, and the window in the toilet was quite large. With proper ventilation and flushing after use, it should have no odor.

Just looking at the toilet, the money spent on renovations seemed worthwhile.

Of course, it was better not to dwell on it too much; thinking about it too much would still be a little painful.

While lost in thought, Lin Wei heard Mingming running into the room from the next door, excitedly asking, “Mom! Do I really have my own room now?”

Snapping out of her thoughts, Lin Wei replied, “You and your brother will share a room.”

To Mingming, there was no distinction between him and his younger brother. Sharing a room with his brother meant that he had his own room, and he immediately cheered, “I have my own room now! I’m an adult!”

Housing in the city was tight, so children usually lived with their parents, and only after reaching a certain age would the family try to find a way to create a space for them to sleep on their own.

Therefore, in the minds of the children living in the cotton mill workers’ compound, having their own room was equivalent to becoming an adult.

Children like Mingming, at his age, longed to be grown up, as if that would grant them the freedom to do whatever they wanted. However, Lin Wei had never allowed the brothers to sleep alone. One reason was that the house didn’t have extra rooms, and another was that she was worried they might catch a cold if they slept without covering themselves at night, as they were still young.

Now, Lin Wei was still not at ease letting the two children sleep alone, but Zong Shao had already assigned the rooms, and Mingming was so excited that she didn’t voice her objections. She followed him out of the master bedroom.

The second floor had an L-shaped layout. The long part was the master bedroom, which was bright and airy with windows on both ends, while the shorter part was the second bedroom, which was only half the size of the master bedroom.

At the door to the room was a hallway wide enough for two people to walk side by side. At the end of the hallway, there was a door that led to a small balcony. On the balcony was a rusty washbasin filled with soil, likely meant for planting flowers. However, since the previous tenants moved out, no one had taken care of it, and the flowers had withered, leaving the basin empty and barren.

Next to the balcony door was the staircase, which had two levels. The upper level led down to the back door, and the toilet door opened here as well. The lower level of the stairs was next to the kitchen, but now, the kitchen had been converted into a bathroom.

Back on the second floor, the doors to the master bedroom and the second bedroom were almost next to each other. When Lin Wei stepped out of the master bedroom, she immediately saw the second bedroom.

Unlike the master bedroom, which had all new furniture, the second bedroom mostly contained furniture left behind by the previous tenant.

When the housing units in the compound were first assigned, the military provided basic furniture, such as beds, wardrobes, desks, and dining tables for both the master and second bedrooms. These were pieces the tenants were not allowed to take when they moved out.

However, furniture tends to wear out faster than buildings, so the new tenants often replaced it over time. By the time Zong Shao got the keys, none of the original furniture provided by the military remained in the house.

But even the furniture the previous tenant had replaced was not in great condition.

It wasn’t that the previous tenant didn’t take care of the furniture, but rather, the coastal humidity. While the furniture would have held up better if someone had been living there, with windows opened regularly for ventilation and proper maintenance, the furniture would last a good ten years or more. But with the house empty for over half a year and the windows tightly shut, the lack of airflow caused the furniture to mildew faster.

After Zong Shao got the keys, he chopped up the furniture that was beyond repair and piled it into a corner of the kitchen, leaving only the pieces that were missing limbs but could be fixed. Those were placed in the kitchen or bathroom to be used as tables and cabinets. The better items, like the bed and wardrobe from the master bedroom, were cleaned up and moved to the second bedroom.

These two pieces of furniture were made from good wood. Although they looked a bit old, they were free from mildew or insects. After being cleaned, they still looked decent.

However, both the bed and wardrobe were originally bought for the master bedroom, so after being moved to the second bedroom, they took up a lot of space. With more people in the room, it would be easy to feel cramped and have trouble moving around.

But Lin Wei thought to herself that it might be too early to worry about whether the two brothers would even have that many friends over to their room. She decided not to fret over it just yet.

Overall, the second bedroom was still quite good, except for the curtains, which were very old. When she reached out to touch them, they were covered in dust. The curtains in the master bedroom were similar, and there were even two holes in them. She really wanted to replace them.

Seeing the dust on Lin Wei’s hands, Zong Shao said, “I’ll take the curtains down and wash them later.”

Lin Wei replied, “Just replace the curtains. Before I came, I bought a lot of fabric with flaws from the factory. There are a few large pieces that would be perfect for making new curtains.”

There were several shelves of defective fabric stacked in the cotton mill’s warehouse. They hadn’t decided what to do with it yet, but since Lin Wei was willing to buy it, the factory was happy to sell it to her without requiring fabric coupons.

In fact, these fabrics were called “defective,” but the issues were minor. The main problems were either uneven threads or colors that spread when wet.

The first issue was usually with small pieces of fabric. Unless it was cut to make shoe uppers, it wasn’t very useful. However, if one wasn’t too particular, the fabric would still be good for making pants for children. The second issue was uneven color, which made clothing look unattractive, but it was perfectly fine for things like pillowcases, sofa covers, or other home items. Of course, it could also be used for curtains.

However, since curtains were a larger item and sewing them by hand was slower, plus they had just moved in and might be quite busy, replacing the curtains would probably have to be delayed for a while.

Thinking that the curtains would take time to finish, Lin Wei changed her mind and said, “We can just take down the curtains and wash them for now, and then put up the new ones once they’re ready.”

Sigh, if only she hadn’t sold the sewing machine. With her speed, she could have finished three curtains in an afternoon.

But she knew that even if she hadn’t sold the sewing machine, she probably wouldn’t be able to use it now. The journey was too long, and the machine was too heavy to carry. It was better to just sew by hand.

“Alright, I’ll take the curtains down now,” Zong Shao said as he walked over to the window and began removing the curtains.

Lin Wei didn’t expect him to act so quickly. She was a bit stunned but then stepped forward, saying, “Let me help you.”

“No need, the curtains are dirty, and I can do it myself.”

Zong Shao blocked Lin Wei with his arm, easily took down the curtains, and threw them out into the hallway. He then went into the master bedroom to continue. Though Lin Wei couldn’t help, she felt a bit awkward letting him handle everything alone, so she decided to follow him.

However, just as she entered the master bedroom, she heard a woman’s voice from outside: “Is anyone home?”

“Yes!”

Lin Wei replied and walked over to the window. When she looked down, she saw three women standing in the yard. They had probably heard her voice, as all three of them looked up at her.

Then, Lin Wei saw a young woman wearing a floral shirt. Her eyes lit up, and she smiled as she said, “You must be Zong Shao’s wife, right? We were just chatting next door and heard the car, so we guessed you might have arrived, so we came over to have a look.”

Although Lin Wei didn’t know the three women downstairs, it was clear from their attire and presence that they were likely military officers’ families, as this was the officer’s family area in the base.

Since they were neighbors, it would be impolite to let them stand outside. Lin Wei told Zong Shao, “I’ll go greet the guests,” and then headed downstairs.