Lin Tieniu’s eldest son was already married and had two children of his own.
His second son was serving in the army. He had married a woman from the place where he was stationed and would not be returning home anytime soon.
That still left four sons at home. Apart from the youngest, who had not yet reached marriageable age, the other three were all preparing to marry at nearly the same time.
The betrothal gifts were already a problem.
Housing was an even bigger one.
After the eldest son married, he and his wife took one of the family’s rooms. Even their two children still had to sleep with their grandparents because there simply was not enough space.
As for the remaining four sons, there were only two rooms left for them.
Their third son had become so frustrated that he had even declared that if the family could not provide him with a room to marry a wife, he would marry into his future wife’s family instead.
When Village Chief Lin arrived, Li Xinghua, Lin Tieniu’s wife, was so furious over her third son’s words that she was loudly scolding him.
“You heartless brat! You unfilial son! We already told you we would find a way to solve the problem with the house. Why won’t you believe us?”
The third son felt wronged as well.
“Mother, our family already added another room before. There’s nowhere left to build now, and we don’t have enough money to build a new house. How am I supposed to believe you can solve it?”
His eldest and second brothers were already married.
Meanwhile, he did not even have a proper place to bring a wife home to. How could he not feel aggrieved?
Li Xinghua understood her son’s frustration.
Her voice softened.
“The money our family has saved might barely be enough to build rooms for the three of you, but we still have to prepare the betrothal gifts. If there’s really no other way, your mother will borrow some money…”
That was when Village Chief Lin walked in.
Lin Tieniu had been sitting silently on a chair, steadily puffing on his long-stemmed tobacco pipe. He raised his head when he saw the village chief.
“Village Chief? What brings you here?”
Village Chief Lin clasped his hands behind his back.
“Arguing again? Is it about the house?”
Lin Tieniu rubbed his hands together, his dark, weathered face turning slightly red with embarrassment.
“You’ve caught us making a spectacle of ourselves…”
“As if I don’t already know what things are like in your family.”
Village Chief Lin patted him on the shoulder.
“Actually, I came here today because there’s a house available. I wanted to ask whether your family wants it.”
Li Xinghua reacted faster than anyone.
“Village Chief, what house? Where is it?”
Village Chief Lin told them it was Lin Yujiao’s house.
“The girl is asking two hundred and fifty yuan. The price is fixed. If you want it, you can buy it. If you don’t…”
“We want it!”
Li Xinghua grabbed Village Chief Lin’s arm with a grip as firm as iron.
Her voice was urgent.
“Our family will buy it!”
Village Chief Lin glanced at Lin Tieniu and then at the room full of family members.
“You don’t need to discuss it first?”
The third son’s eyes were brighter than they had ever been.
“Lin Yujiao’s house? That’s a brick house!”
If that house belonged to their family, would he still have to worry about finding a wife?
The fourth and fifth sons were thinking exactly the same thing. Both looked eagerly at their parents.
Lin Tieniu tapped his tobacco pipe and stared at Village Chief Lin.
“That girl really said she’d sell it for two hundred and fifty? She won’t change her mind?”
“That’s right,” Li Xinghua added. “Didn’t something serious happen in her family? I heard Lin Shengli was arrested.”
Now that her initial excitement had faded slightly, doubts began to surface.
Village Chief Lin explained, “What happened with Lin Shengli is Lin Shengli’s affair. Lin Dajun separated his household from the rest of the family long ago. Lin Yujiao has the right to sell her own house.”
Then his expression became serious.
“But you need to be prepared. Lin Laogen and his family may come over and make trouble. Yujiao chose your family precisely because you have plenty of people and won’t be intimidated by her grandparents. That’s why she’s willing to sell the house to you at such a low price.”
When Li Xinghua heard this, she waved it off as though it were nothing.
“That’s all? What is there to fear? I have six sons. If Lin Laogen wants to cause trouble, let him try.”
Lin Tieniu nodded.
“Exactly. That girl Yujiao has suffered enough. If she’s willing to sell us the house, she doesn’t need to worry about anything else afterward.”
The third, fourth, and fifth sons eagerly agreed.
“That’s right. If Lin Yujiao needs us to, we can even help her fight them!”
Village Chief Lin shook his head.
“There’s no need to fight anyone. If you truly want to buy the house, I’ll go tell Yujiao.”
The family was so eager that they wanted to take the money over and complete the transfer immediately.
Village Chief Lin had to stop them, saying he should speak with Lin Yujiao first. Only then did they abandon the idea of rushing out to find her themselves.
Before leaving, Village Chief Lin warned them, “Don’t tell anyone about this. If her grandfather finds out before the transfer is completed, you may not get the house at all.”
The moment Lin Tieniu heard that the matter had to be kept secret from Lin Laogen, he became even more delighted.
In their younger years, he and Lin Laogen had been bitter enemies.
Even now, whenever they crossed paths in the village, neither man would bother greeting the other.
There was a reason for that old hatred.
When Lin Laogen was young, he had wanted to marry Lin Tieniu’s elder sister.
She had refused him.
But Lin Laogen had been unwilling to accept her rejection and had even tried to force himself upon her.
When Lin Tieniu found out, he beat him so badly that Lin Laogen never dared approach their home again.
Even after Lin Tieniu’s elder sister eventually married into another family, the grudge between the two men never disappeared.
Anything that could make Lin Laogen suffer a setback was enough to put Lin Tieniu in a good mood.
He grinned so broadly that his eyes nearly disappeared.
“Fine! I definitely won’t tell anyone.”
Li Xinghua knew exactly how much her husband despised Lin Laogen, but she was thinking about something else.
That girl Lin Yujiao was quite clever.
She had deliberately chosen their family as the buyers.
If she had sold the house to someone else in the village, who would willingly offend Lin Laogen and his family over it?
But their family had nothing to fear.
They had six sons and a flourishing household. Even if a fight broke out, they had more hands than most families could gather.
Li Xinghua looked around at the room filled with her sons, daughters-in-law, grandsons, and granddaughters. Her expression became stern.
“Not one of you is allowed to breathe a word about what happened here today. If anyone lets this slip and causes us to lose the house, that person can pay to build a new house themselves.”
The eldest son and his wife exchanged a glance.
Those words seemed particularly aimed at them.
After all, the third, fourth, and fifth sons were counting on the house for their marriages. There was no chance they would reveal anything.
That left only the eldest couple and their two children.
The eldest son hurriedly declared his position.
“Mother, I absolutely won’t tell anyone. We’ll keep an eye on the children too and make sure they don’t say anything they shouldn’t.”
Li Xinghua nodded with satisfaction.
“Good. Then that settles it. Once we buy the house, our family can finally start preparing for happy occasions.”
By the time Village Chief Lin returned to the brigade office, Lin Yujiao had already arrived with Auntie Cuihua to sign the agreement concerning the farmland.
“Since their family has agreed to buy the house, Village Chief Lin, please have them complete the transfer as soon as possible.”
“All right. It won’t take long.”
Village Chief Lin looked at her.
“Is there anything else you still need to take care of?”
Lin Yujiao nodded and looked at both Village Chief Lin and Auntie Cuihua.
“I’m leaving this place, and there are many things in the house that I can’t take with me. Come over and have a look. If there’s anything you can use, take it.”
“All right,” Auntie Cuihua said. “I’ll come take a look. If there’s anything useful, I’ll buy it from you. I won’t take your things for nothing.”
Village Chief Lin felt the same way.
“I’ll have your aunt go over and see what’s there.”
Neither of them knew how much money Lin Dajun had left his daughter.
They only knew that Lin Yujiao was about to travel far from home. There was an old saying that one could live frugally at home, but when traveling, one should never set out without enough money.
Neither of them felt comfortable taking advantage of a young woman preparing to leave home alone.
Lin Yujiao told them to take whatever they could use and that they could discuss money later.
That evening, Auntie Cuihua and Aunt Cai, Village Chief Lin’s wife, came to Lin Yujiao’s house.
Auntie Cuihua noticed immediately that more than half the house had already been emptied, but she did not ask any questions.
“This iron bucket can still be used, and so can this washbasin.”
She remembered the iron bucket.
Lin Dajun had only bought it the previous year, so it was still quite new.
“Then take it,” Lin Yujiao said. “It’s better for someone to make use of it than for it to sit here.”
Aunt Cai chose an earthenware pot and a wooden rack.
Then, remembering what her husband had asked her to convey, she turned to Lin Yujiao.
“Your Village Chief Lin asked me to tell you to go to the brigade office first thing tomorrow morning. He’ll handle the transfer of the house for you.”
She paused before adding the most important part.
“While you’re there, he’ll also issue your introduction letter.”