Chapter 16

Zhou Sen was stunned by the beautiful blueprint painted by Zhou Pingguo.

“this–“

Zhou Pingguo hurriedly continued to increase her efforts, “You see, our village now uses a lot of agricultural machinery to do farm work, and the efficiency has improved a lot compared to before. Gradually, we don’t need so many people working in the fields. Where can these people go? They all have to go to the city to work.” Zhou Pingguo sighed. It is very tiring for farmers to go to the city and become migrant workers to contribute to the development of the city. They are tired physically and mentally, but they have no choice.

“Actually, if we have enough money, I still hope to go to Dongzhou to buy a house. I heard on the radio that in addition to houses for export, there are also commercial houses that we can buy.”

The radio at home was Zhou Pingguo’s only channel to learn about the outside world. She kept the radio on almost every time she was awake, and she didn’t want to miss any news. Fearing that the radio would break, she went to the county department store to buy a new one after she earned money, and the two radios played alternately.

“How much does it cost?” Zhou Sen asked curiously.

“It costs more than 700 yuan per square meter. The smallest area is 50 square meters, more than 30,000 yuan, and 40,000 yuan.”

Zhou Sen was silent for a while, “Actually, we were just almost there.”

Zhou Pingguo looked at Zhou Sen, “What, what do you want?” This kid is even bolder than her! But he has a good vision.

“It was almost.” Zhou Sen shook his head. He was impulsive just now, but what could he do with 50 square meters? Besides, they were unfamiliar with Dongzhou. Zhou Pingguo was a weak woman, and he was not grown up yet. It would be better to stay in the county town.

“Sister-in-law, if you go to the county town, just ask around. You can buy a house. I think it’s best to buy a house facing the street, and then renovate it and open a small shop. Now there are licenses for individual business owners. The dumplings you make are delicious. It’s better to open a dumpling shop and do some small business than staying in the village.” Zhou Sen said.

“You have a good idea.” Zhou Pingguo nodded.

Zhou Sen held onto the cabinet and looked up at the incandescent light on the ceiling. “Sister-in-law, I’ve recently heard those gossipy women in the village talking about Jingjing and Leilei.”

Zhou Pingguo patted his shoulder and said, “Is this why you agreed to my request so quickly?”

“Yes, they are so innocent. They came into this world with the expectation of my parents, but because of one accident after another, they have to bear the pain of their father, mother and brother——”

Zhou Sen was choked up for a moment. He hated it so much. He hated these people so much for being so rude and making up stories about his younger brother and sister.

Most villagers mentioned Zhou Lei and Zhou Jing, but some also mentioned Zhou Sen. Of course, Zhou Pingguo was not immune. She was mainly accused of being a jinx, because after all, both Zhou’s father and mother had passed away before she came to the Zhou family.

Sometimes Zhou Pingguo could hear Zhou Jing sobbing in the middle of the night. The little girl had a sensitive personality, and it was indeed not suitable for her to grow up in such an environment of public opinion.

Even the carefree Zhou Lei was also troubled by this voice. Sometimes, he would ask Zhou Pingguo, “Am I a broom spirit?”

Of course Zhou Pingguo had to deny it and said a lot of things to ease his worries. On the surface, Zhou Lei agreed with what Zhou Pingguo said, but in fact, Zhou Pingguo didn’t dare to think too much.

“Okay, let’s get the ID cards first, and then I’ll try to find a house. If the location and price are right, I’ll buy it. You have to study hard, otherwise you won’t be admitted to the No. 1 Middle School in the county after you buy the house, which would be a joke.”

“There’s no way I won’t pass the exam.” Zhou Sen held his head high. As proud as he was, he would not slack off in his studies.

“Then I’ll wait.” Zhou Pingguo said.

“The things your brother left behind are all good things, except cigarettes, which are not like wine that gets better the longer it is stored. But it would be a bit of a bummer to give them to the village chief. How about this, I’ll go to the town and get some cigarettes that the villagers usually smoke. And some cakes that are easy to digest, that’ll be enough.”

“Okay.” Zhou Sen nodded, “Then let’s see what to do with these cigarettes later.”

The reason why Zhou Sen showed these things to Zhou Pingguo was that if these cigarettes were left there any longer, they would be ruined. The humidity here was high and the storage conditions were not very good. Even if there were many layers of packaging, the cigarettes would still go bad. More people could help them think of more ways to get rid of these as soon as possible.

After Zhou Pingguo bought the things, she went directly to the village chief’s house. It was not yet the busy farming season, so the village chief was at home. When he saw her carrying things over, he knew that she probably had something to ask of him.

For the village chief, stamping and issuing a letter of introduction are simple tasks that can be done in a short time.

After Zhou Pingguo declined twice, he finally accepted the cigarettes and pastries with reluctance.

On Saturday noon, they set out from the village and headed for the county town.

The two little ones had never left the village since they were born, and they were particularly excited about going out.

Jingjing, who is usually very calm, specially pestered Zhou Pingguo to help her braid two pigtails today, and put on the new clothes that Zhou Pingguo made for her a few days ago.

Things were not easy to handle now. It was not easy for Zhou Pingguo, a young girl with a tender face, to pass cigarettes around. She hurried to deposit the money before the sun went down and submitted all the documents related to her ID card. It would take half a month before she could come to collect it.

As for money, it just so happened that they had a three-month fixed deposit at the Postal Savings Bank with a pretty high interest rate, so Zhou Pingguo asked Zhou Senquan to deposit the entire amount into the fixed deposit, leaving only two hundred yuan, which they used as their daily expenses.

As for buying a house, I will study it slowly after some time.

It was too late, and it was too dangerous for them to rush back.

Zhou Pingguo happened to have a letter of introduction and household registration booklet on hand, so she suggested staying in a guesthouse.

Zhou Sen’s face was filled with pain again, but he also admitted that what Zhou Pingguo said made sense. Although he had no cash on him, the current savings rules were quite simple. He had a passbook and a household registration book. When the time came, they could put a knife to his neck and force him to tell them the password. The robber would then be able to go to the bank and withdraw the money.

It’s better not to take this risk.

Zhou Sen just wanted to get a room, but Zhou Pingguo shook her head, “It’s inconvenient! We should just live separately. We’ve already spent the money, so it doesn’t matter if it’s just a little bit.”

“Besides, there is only one quilt in a room. If we live separately, we can both sleep. But if we live in one room, who will sleep? We have to rush back to the village tomorrow.” Zhou Pingguo said.

“Okay then.” Zhou Sen compromised. It would cost 3 dollars a night, and 6 dollars for two rooms. It really hurt.