Chapter 4

Grandpa Si asked Si Cheng to go upstairs to put his schoolbag down and wash his face.

He looked at Si’s father and said, “Don’t blame Cheng Cheng. Although I didn’t faint, I didn’t want you to watch people gamble. Wen Tao, you have so much money on you, so don’t go out before you pay the landlord. Also, your third sister and brother-in-law lent you 10,000 yuan to buy a house. You have to treat them to a good meal at noon today.”

Si Wentao said, “Dad, of course we’ll have this meal at my place. I bought the groceries this morning and have already bought them.”

Upstairs, Si Cheng looked at the simply decorated room, his mind full of thoughts.

She had been at school for a week and hadn’t washed her hair much, so it was extremely greasy.

It seemed like I had taken a shower three days ago, and my body smelled terrible. After running, the sweat on my body was almost sticky.

The water pressure was not so good at that time, and it was difficult to use water after reaching the fourth floor. The toilet on the fourth floor was useless.

Si Cheng had to pack his clothes and go downstairs to take a shower and wash his hair.

But when she opened the paper bag that contained the Snake King wine, a faint sour smell hit her in the face, and she couldn’t help choking.

The bathing conditions in the school are very poor. You have to queue up to get hot water, which costs ten cents a bottle and you may not even get it.

Many times, they take a shower and wash their hair, relying solely on their strong bodies.

In winter, I don’t even take a shower.

There are also female students who don’t wash their feet every day, and the whole dormitory is filled with the lingering smell of stinky feet.

Her underwear was also washed yellow.

Si Cheng looked at it with disgust.

But now she was poor and had no choice but to take the clean clothes wrapped in a plastic bag and go downstairs to take a shower.

When he came out of the shower, Si’s mother was butchering chickens and ducks, and Si’s father and grandfather were chatting. Si An rolled his eyes and listened with his ears tilted, his mind not on doing his homework.

Grandpa Si said to Si Cheng, “Cheng Cheng, the landlord is back. Go to your third aunt’s house to see if your uncle is back.”

Si’s mother threw the chickens and ducks into the water and said, “I’ll go. Si Cheng, you clean up the chickens and ducks.”

Si Cheng nodded silently.

She took a bucket, soaked her clothes, shoes and socks in it, and then came over to deal with the chickens and ducks.

Grandpa Si was still talking to Father Si about buying a house, but Father Si did not come to help.

Mr. and Mrs. Si set up a night snack stall to make money, which is similar to a food stall, but it does not have a storefront like a food stall. After closing time, they can just put the tables, chairs and benches back in front of the store.

They were setting up stalls. Starting at around 5pm, they used carts to transport tables, chairs, benches, coal stoves, food ingredients and other items to the stalls. After the business closed, they put them back on the carts.

The money I earn every day is extremely hard-earned.

Si’s father was responsible for getting up early to buy groceries, pulling a cart to transport the items to the stall location, helping to cut side dishes after setting up the stall, chatting with male customers, and taking orders.

The rest of the work is basically done by Si’s mother. She is responsible for cooking, washing vegetables and dishes.

Usually, Si’s father doesn’t care about the issue of dealing with chickens and ducks.

Mrs. Si still wanted to see the result of the last game on the table, so she hurried out.

Si Cheng took on the job.

She knew that her third aunt and uncle closed their stall very late last night. When her aunt came back from buying groceries, she saw that it was still early, so she went back to sleep.

I got up again to get the money, but I was a little late.

It was just a little late that made Si’s mother suspect that she did it on purpose. She was unwilling to lend money to her brother from her natal family to buy a house in the city, and she also reported it on time. In the end, she bought the self-built building herself.

But Si Cheng knew that the person who reported them was someone who set up a stall on the same street as them.

His stall was located opposite Si’s father and Si’s third aunt, and the two sides had conflicts over the issue of attracting customers.

The business of Si’s father and Si’s third aunt was getting better and better. The other party was resentful and when Si’s father wanted to buy a house, she seized this opportunity and called the police to report them.

Not long after Si’s mother left, she came over with Si Sangu and her husband, both of them looking pale.

Aunt Si San was so frightened that her hands and feet were cold.

Si’s mother also looked scared.

As soon as Si Sangu entered the room, she sat down immediately.

Father Si asked, “Third sister, what’s wrong with you?”

“It’s you!” Aunt Si raised her hand and hit her brother on the arm, “Do you know that just now, the place where you gambled was set up! I just came back and heard your brother-in-law say that you were in there. I was so scared that I almost fainted! Fortunately, Sufen came over, and I knew you left. Sufen told me that you went in with 30,000 yuan on you to watch people gamble, how could you…”

Father Si was also quite frightened. He looked at Si Cheng suspiciously and remained silent.

Si’s mother said, “If you ask me, we shouldn’t have bought this house. It’s so unlucky to do this.”

Si Cheng listened with his ears tilted. Just when he was about to ask his father to firmly buy the house, his father spoke: “I will go to the street director. Sufen, you go to the landlord. Let’s trade first, and then we will go to the housing management office to transfer the ownership. This will avoid any more trouble.”

Third Aunt Si and Grandpa Si also agreed to do so.

Mother Si couldn’t handle the overall situation alone, so she had to agree reluctantly.

Today is the big day for the family to buy a house. Si’s mother has some resentment in her heart, but she can’t get angry and bring bad luck to her family, so she doesn’t make any more trouble in the end.

Soon, the landlord and his son and daughter-in-law came down from the building with relevant documents. Si’s father invited two street officials, and the group went to the Housing Authority to write the transaction files, complete the transaction, and transfer the ownership.

Only Si Cheng and Si An were left at home.

Seeing that his parents and grandfather had gone out, Si An threw the coins, walked up to Si Cheng and stretched out his hand.

“Sister, give me twenty cents.”

“No.”

“I don’t want to play video games, I just want to buy spicy noodles.”

Si Cheng looked up at his ten-year-old brother and said coldly, “That’s not the case either.”

“Sister! How could you do this? I am your own brother, and you get 28 yuan a month, but you don’t even have 20 cents to give me!”

Si Cheng’s living expenses are twenty-eight yuan a week.

The round-trip fare from the city to the town where she goes to school is five yuan.

The remaining twenty-three dollars was used to buy groceries, stationery and other things she wanted for a week.

Their school has classes five days a week. Students go home after self-study on Saturday morning and have to rush to school on Sunday afternoon for self-study classes.

In other words, she has to eat 17 meals at school a week, and her family calculates her living expenses based on one meat dish and one vegetable for each meal.

Meat dishes cost 5-8 cents, and vegetarian dishes cost 3 cents.

With an average meal costing one yuan, the remaining eight yuan is her pocket money for stationery and daily necessities.

But she usually only eats one vegetarian dish, and occasionally brings vegetables from home to school. After deducting living expenses, she still has at least fifteen dollars left every week.

But before her parents quarreled and their relationship became bad, she could never keep the money she had. She only kept enough for the bus fare home every week, and occasionally left a few dimes for Si An.

It just so happened that she didn’t have a penny at the moment.

Apart from buying notebooks and stickers, I spent the remaining money on spicy noodles and fruits.