“You want to rent our place?” A strong man with tattooed arms looked Shen Wei up and down with a sharp gaze.
His wife crossed her arms and thought for a moment. “You’re Shen Jianming’s daughter, aren’t you?”
Shen Wei nodded.
“Shen Jianming?” Liu Jun didn’t recognize the name at first. The woman leaned against his shoulder and whispered a few words to him.
“Did your family kick you out?” The woman exchanged a glance with her husband. “I said it before Shen Jianguo is no good.”
“It’s like this, sis,” Shen Wei said. In her previous life, influenced by rumors, she hadn’t really interacted with this couple. “The house my whole family is living in now was left by my parents, but they’re scheming to marry me off so they can take it. I want to sell the house.”
“Alright, we’ll rent this place to you,” the woman said straightforwardly. “Fifteen yuan a month.”
“It’s expensive for a reason. You’ll understand once you take a look inside.”
Shen Wei followed the couple in to look around. It was a private courtyard with two rooms, the yard neatly paved with red bricks.
There was a separate kitchen in the yard, and most importantly, the toilet was very clean.
The woman pulled the rope above the squat toilet. “It’s a flush system no smell.”
“Alright, I’ll take it.”
Shen Wei decisively took fifteen yuan from her pocket and handed it to them. “Today is the third, right? I’ll pay rent on the third of every month from now on.”
“Sis, I do have one concern,”
“Go ahead.”
“You both know what my uncle and aunt are like. They’re definitely eyeing the house my parents left me. If they find out I’m living here, they might come and cause trouble.”
“Cause trouble?” Liu Jun laughed as if he’d heard a joke. “Don’t worry, little sister. If they dare come make trouble on my turf, I’ll beat the crap out of them.”
Their rent was high, and they had finally found a tenant. If anyone dared to stir up trouble, they’d be kicking a steel plate.
After renting the house, Shen Wei finally felt at ease. Now she just had to wait for news from Uncle Fu.
……
Fu Changzheng discussed Shen Wei’s plan to sell the house with his wife.
“With the property deed, selling it won’t be difficult. But since it was left by her parents, and she’s still young, we should leave her a way out. Why don’t we buy it ourselves?” Tian Fang genuinely felt sorry for the girl who had no parents to protect her.
“We buy it?” Fu Changzheng thought it was a good idea. “But the girl has her pride. Why don’t we have someone else pose as the buyer?”
“Shen Jianguo’s wife isn’t easy to deal with we also have to prevent them from making a scene.”
“That’s a small problem. We can buy it under my younger brother’s name, then move in for a while to handle them.”
Tian Fang’s younger brother, Tian Yu, was a bit of a hooligan perfect for this kind of thing.
Just as the couple finished discussing, the door was pushed open.
“Axiao? Why are you back at this time?” Tian Fang asked in surprise when she saw her son.
“Oh, something came up.” The young man was about 1.87 meters tall, nearly as tall as the doorframe. His side profile somewhat resembled Fu Changzheng’s, but his pair of dark, striking phoenix eyes came from Tian Fang. His whole demeanor was rather cold.
The first thing he did after being reborn was rush back from the military he didn’t want to miss her again like in his previous life.
“What is it?” Tian Fang asked again.
Fu Xiao gave a vague reply, then glanced at the property deed on the table and asked, “This… whose house is it?”
His eyesight was excellent he had already seen Shen Jianming’s name on it.
“It belongs to your Uncle Shen’s daughter. She wants your father to help sell the house her parents left behind.”
She wants to sell the house?
Fu Xiao frowned. In his previous life, he hadn’t heard about this at all. That house had always seemed to be occupied by Shen Wei’s uncle and aunt.
“That child has had it hard. Your father and I were thinking of buying the house ourselves. If you’ve got something to do, go ahead I’ll have your uncle handle it,” Tian Fang added.
Fu Xiao’s thoughts shifted. “Actually… I don’t really have anything to do.”
“Then why did you come back?”
“To visit you. Oh right, when is Uncle coming? I’ll go with him.”
Tian Fang thought for a moment. “That works. Your uncle is always fooling around you’re more mature and steady. You can go together.”
……
“A woman has to get married eventually. Shen Wei, don’t be so picky. I think Lu Cheng is a good kid. He’s even willing to give a bride price of two hundred yuan,” Yu Li urged. “Just marry him.”
Shen Wei had already gotten confirmation from Uncle Fu the house had been sold for a total of 1,500 yuan, and the money was now in her hands.
She had heard the buyer was Tian Fang’s younger brother, who would be arriving shortly.
“My marriage isn’t something you need to worry about, Aunt,” Shen Wei said bluntly. “You’d better start packing and move out.”
“Move out?” Yu Li was stunned. “Move out where?”
This was her home!
“Aunt, have you forgotten? This is my house. Back when my parents passed away, you said you moved in to take care of me. After living here so long, don’t tell me you’ve started thinking it’s your house?” Shen Wei pulled the front gate open. “Everyone grandpas, grandmas, uncles please come and judge this for our family!”
In those days, entertainment was scarce, and it was right around lunchtime. The moment people heard there was drama, they all came out holding their rice bowls to watch.
“Uncle Niu, you’re a fair man,” Shen Wei said, walking up to a middle-aged man. “You saw my father build this house with your own eyes. My parents are gone, and I’m their only daughter isn’t this house mine?”
The neighbors immediately understood this was a dispute over the house.
Uncle Niu was indeed fair. He glanced at Shen Jianguo, who stood there with hunched shoulders, and said, “Yes, I can testify. Your father built this house.”
Yu Li shot him a sharp glare. “Brother Niu, why rush to step on us like this? No one said the house wasn’t built by Jianguo’s elder brother!”
She covered her nose and sniffled, then began crying aloud, “The child’s grown up and her wings are strong now. When her parents died, it was us who raised her. And now she turns her back on us without a second thought! Why is my life so bitter? I married into the Shen family and worked like a servant, and now I have to be judged by others…”
Her wailing complaint quickly drew people from several streets over.
Not far away, Lu Cheng’s mother winked at her son. “ACheng, the Shen family is in chaos. That girl probably can’t stay in that house anymore. We might not even need to pay the full two hundred yuan bride price to marry her!”
Her health wasn’t good after walking just a few steps, she would be out of breath so she was determined to find a capable daughter-in-law.
The Shen family’s daughter was known to be hardworking; it was said she handled all the cooking and laundry for the entire household.
Once that girl married in, she could finally rest and recover.
Lu Cheng frowned and was about to head over when his mother grabbed him. “Wait until things get more heated before you go. Then coax her properly and bring this daughter-in-law home as soon as possible!”