However, Lu Yaozu didn’t directly say anything.

Instead, he turned to his parents and asked, “Mom, Dad, do you still want those things? If you do, I’m free now, so I can go dig them up.”

Mrs. Lu’s face flushed with embarrassment.

She quickly responded, “No, no… Comrade, you can just deal with them as you see fit.”

She, who had lived her entire life as a lady, had never been so humiliated as she had been recently.

And to make matters worse, these embarrassing situations kept happening with the same family.

“Alright, I’ll take care of it then,” Ning Shu said, not wanting to drag out the conversation.

She then greeted Lu Yaozu, “Comrade Lu, I’ll be heading back.”

Lu Yaozu replied, “I’ll walk you out.”

Ning Shu said, “No need to trouble yourself.”

Lu Yaozu insisted, “I’m actually heading out to look for a place to stay as well. Let’s go together.”

With that, Ning Shu didn’t refuse anymore.

As soon as the two of them walked out of the courtyard, Lu Yaozu spoke about the previous moving situation: “… Comrade Ning, I’m sorry about my parents. They’re old and have experienced many ups and downs, so they didn’t consider things thoroughly.”

Ning Shu was a bit surprised.

She didn’t expect Lu Yaozu to apologize to her, especially since it wasn’t really his fault and the incident had happened a long time ago.

Moreover, he was apologizing on behalf of his parents.

Lu Yaozu was truly a principled person.

“It’s all minor stuff. It’s been resolved now, so Comrade Lü needn’t worry about it,” Ning Shu said淡淡ly.

Lü Yaozu replied, “Comrade Ning, you’re very generous. I’ll head this way now.” His primary reason for coming out was to find a house, but he also wanted to clear up this matter. Since it was inappropriate for a lone man and woman to be out together, he would go find a house and also catch up with old friends for advice.

……

When Ning Shu returned to the compound, she saw Zhang Cuilan waiting at the gate with a middle-aged man.

The man was looking in her direction, and when he saw her, Zhang Cuilan waved and called out loudly, “Comrade Ning, I’ve brought the person you needed.”

Ning Shu jogged over, “Auntie, Comrade, hello.” She noticed the man looked quite sturdy, with a slightly dark complexion but bright eyes.

“Hello, Comrade,” the middle-aged man said cheerfully. “My name is Jia Jianzhong. I specialize in construction. I heard from Aunt Zhang that you want to renovate the backyard. Could you tell me what you have in mind?”

The term “construction” was quite professional and rare at the time.

Ning Shu wondered if Jia Jianzhong might be one of the first batch of real estate developers after the reforms.

She thought about whether she would be interested in becoming a landlord or an investor, as she wasn’t suited for handling these kinds of tasks directly.

But being an investor—just providing money and not managing the details—might be a different story.

Putting aside those thoughts, Ning Shu said, “Comrade Jia, let me show you the backyard.”

“Sure.” Jia Jianzhong was quite familiar with the area and had worked on several renovations here.

He always provided thorough service, considering it good for long-term relationships.

Zhang Cuilan didn’t follow them inside. “You two go ahead and discuss. I won’t be joining.”

Ning Shu led Jia Jianzhong to the backyard.

There were two ways to get there: either walk around the house from the courtyard or go through the house and across the hall. They took the route around the house.

Upon arriving at the backyard, Jia Jianzhong said, “The backyard is quite large, probably around 50 square meters.”

It was indeed very spacious. Ning Shu continued, “I want to build a bathroom, a toilet, and set up a drying area. Also, I’d like to add a sunroom here…” Ning Shu briefly described her plans and showed him a sketch.

She had only drawn the bathroom layout, with the other ideas coming up on the spot.

Jia Jianzhong said, “The space is sufficient for what you’re planning. As for the sunroom, could you explain it again?” He hadn’t heard of it before.

Ning Shu explained, “The sunroom would have glass on all four sides and a glass roof… It’s a place where you can sunbathe. Even on rainy days, you can sit inside, drink tea, and enjoy the view.

Of course, you could also use white transparent plastic panels if glass isn’t available…” She wasn’t sure if transparent plastic panels had been invented yet, but since there were large plastic products already, it was possible.

Jia Jianzhong thought that wealthy people had interesting ideas.

However, he said, “The sunroom needs to be separate from the bathroom and toilet area…” He organized his thoughts and shared his own ideas.

Ning Shu agreed, “Alright, we’ll go with your suggestions. It’s always best to listen to experts.”

“Comrade Ning, when are you planning to start this project? Also, how do you intend to settle the payment?” Jia Jianzhong asked.

Ning Shu responded, “How do you usually handle payments?”

“There are two methods,” Jia Jianzhong explained. “One is a flat fee for the entire project, and the other is for you to buy all the materials while I only charge for the construction labor.”

Ning Shu found the second option too complicated. “Let’s go with the first method. How much will you charge for the whole project?”

Jia Jianzhong said, “I’ll need to go back and calculate the costs, including the materials for the sunroom. I’ll come back in two or three days with a quote. Is that alright?”

Ning Shu agreed, “No problem.”

After finalizing the discussion, the two of them left the backyard.

Ning Shu saw Jia Jianzhong to the gate and then noticed her three children in the courtyard, washing bed linens.

The linens were soaking in soapy water, and the children were scrubbing them on small stools.

They had been transported by tractor from their previous place, and Ning Shu had planned to change them once they arrived. Now, the children had finished changing them.

Having worked all afternoon, Ning Shu was tired and decided to sit down next to them, watching as they washed.

Ning Shu wasn’t aware that, as newcomers, their family attracted a lot of attention.

Passersby who saw the scene were astonished.

Even Zhang Cuilan from the neighboring courtyard was stunned. “Oh my God… I almost cried out. What’s going on? Comrade Ning is sitting there while her children are washing clothes?”

Unaware of Zhang Cuilan’s shock, Erbao asked while scrubbing the linens, “Mom, what are we having for dinner tonight? Are we still going to the state-run restaurant? I want to have the roast duck we had last time. Is that okay?”

Ning Shu thought for a moment.

The state-run restaurant didn’t have roast duck, so she would have to buy it herself.

She said, “Then let’s cook at home. I’ll go cook the rice first, and then I’ll go out to buy roast duck.”

“Mom, you should just go buy the roast duck. We can cook the rice,” Erbao said, nearly drooling at the mention of roast duck.

Knowing Erbao’s love for food, Ning Shu didn’t argue. “Alright.”

Although the three children didn’t know how to cook dishes, they could at least cook rice.

When they left the family quarters, they brought along quite a bit of durable vegetables with the luggage transported by the tractor.

Cabbages and radishes, for instance, could last for half a month in winter.

These were all from the bountiful harvest of the family garden in the quarters.

There were also some dried vegetables and bamboo shoots that had been stored for years—quite a bit, actually.

Originally, she planned to make a simple fried rice with eggs and a vegetable soup, but since the children wanted roast duck and had been so diligent today, she felt she had to indulge them.

Ning Shu took a basket and went to buy the roast duck.

Erbao and Sanbao continued with the washing, while Yibao went to rinse the rice and cook it.

Although all three children knew how to cook rice, Yibao felt that Erbao wasn’t careful enough, and the rice he washed might not be very clean.

Sanbao was still young, so Yibao decided to handle it himself.

“You two keep washing, I’ll go cook the rice,” Yibao said as he rushed into the kitchen, washed the rice, and put it on the stove to cook.

There was some firewood and coal at home; the firewood was prepared by Ning Shu during her last visit, and the coal was brought from the family quarters.

By the time Yibao had the rice cooking, Ning Shu had already left the courtyard.

Ning Shu, being new to the capital, didn’t yet know where to find the black market, so she headed to the roast duck shop at the market where she had bought before, which required a meat coupon.

She brought a basket along, thinking she could also take out some things from the app.

With limited meat coupons for a family of five, she only bought one roast duck, which wouldn’t be much for each person.

She also took out a portion of salt-baked chicken from the app, something she couldn’t remember when she had bought it.

Over the past seven years, the app had accumulated so many items that she couldn’t recall when she had bought most of them.

She’d just buy, buy, buy, and store what she couldn’t use.

As a result, the money in the app never seemed to increase.

Thinking about the upcoming reforms and how the app could start working again, Ning Shu felt a huge weight lifted off her shoulders.

She planned to buy a car, go to the countryside to collect various agricultural products, and then start organizing group purchases.

She still owed the app a debt of gratitude for saving her life, and she intended to repay it unless there was no way to do so.

At the same time, she had some questions in her mind that she would need to ask once the app woke up.

“Look, the kids in that family are washing clothes.”

“Really? Boys washing clothes?”

“Isn’t that something girls and maids do?”

A few kids passing by the Lin family’s small house saw the three boys washing clothes in the yard and started discussing it.

“Then they must have a stepmother. Only a stepmother would treat children like that.”

“You’ve got a point. They’re really pitiful.”

“Pitiful? Our compound isn’t the only one with stepmothers.”

“Han Hongling’s stepmother often makes her do chores too.”

“So, Han Hongling will have a companion now.”

“I don’t like Han Hongling. She always wants to tag along with us. She’s such a drag, it’s annoying.”

The kids continued their chatter and laughter as they walked away.

It was winter break, and the kids were all on vacation.

The reason they hadn’t been seen much during the day was that they were all out playing or staying at home.

Now that it was close to dinner time, some of the kids who had been out were starting to return.

The three brothers in the yard didn’t hear what the kids outside were saying, but they did notice a few kids walking past their house.

Erbao, with his sharp eyes, said, “Hey, big brother, they’re carrying fishing rods. Is there a place to fish around here? We could go fishing too.”

Yibao replied, “They’re probably going fishing if they’ve got rods. If we get the chance, we’ll ask them.”

“Hmm… I wonder if there are a lot of fish here, like in Haikou,” Erbao pondered aloud.

They had lived in the family quarters for many years and had gone fishing a few times during market days.

However, those trips were rare since it was quite a trek from the quarters to the market, making the round trip inconvenient.

Most of the time, their mother would ride her bicycle there on her own.

“There definitely aren’t as many fish here as in Haikou,” Yibao said confidently.

“How do you know that, big brother?” Erbao asked, puzzled.

“Because it’s the sea. The sea has more fish than anywhere else,” Yibao explained.

“That makes sense,” Erbao said, suddenly remembering something. “Did we bring our fishing rods?”

“We did,” Sanbao chimed in.

“If we could go fishing tomorrow, it would be great. I want to have the fish head tofu soup that you make,” the second child said, licking his dry lips.

The winter in the capital was especially dry, and he felt his lips were peeling a bit.

At the Compound Gate

When Ning Shu returned with a basket, she noticed that there seemed to be more people coming and going at the gate.

Most of them looked efficient and business-like, dressed neatly in a manner that could be described as modern professionals.

Ning Shu was also dressed decently; her clothes were clean and without patches.

However, she was wearing cotton pants and a cotton jacket, which looked somewhat outdated in the capital.

Moreover, she was carrying a basket.

In the compound, people who had been living there for a long time generally knew who was who.

So when Ning Shu saw these new faces, they also noticed her unfamiliar presence and glanced at her a few times.

As Ning Shu was about to look away, a woman approached her.

The woman had a stylish short haircut, fair skin, and red lipstick that added a vibrant touch to her complexion.

She was wearing a qipao with leather shoes and a black coat on top, which was quite fashionable in the capital.

Ning Shu was taken aback as the woman came towards her.