NOVPUB
Chapter 356: Chapter 346 Renting a House
The young man paused for a moment when he entered the room and saw a stranger, edged over to the side, and once he learned the visitor was his dad’s comrade and also a soldier, he opened up and began circling around Li Hongjun, asking one question after another.
He was quite interested in the little chubby kid who kept looking up and calling him "brother," but he wasn’t at all impressed with the little brat sitting on the bed, staring him down with big eyes.
After the two children finished eating, the older one took the younger out to the yard to dig for ant nests. The adults stayed in the house to chat.
Li Hongjun and his wife also learned about Chen Jing’s situation over the past few years.
Chen Jing had been discharged from the service three years ago, and the army had arranged for him to work in a TV factory. His initial job was in the factory security department, but Chen Jing, perhaps too accustomed to the military life of being straightforward in everything, had a working style that many didn’t like and didn’t appreciate in a person who didn’t know how to beat around the bush, which led to frequent changes in his position. He had now been reduced to night watchman in the storeroom.
Seen through modern eyes, being a night watchman was a good job since it wasn’t physically demanding and involved a rest day after night shifts. But people from that era looked down upon such work because the TV factory’s salaries and bonuses were based on the number of hours worked.
Those who worked day shifts without a break could earn around thirty yuan a month, while those like Chen Jing, working one day and resting the next, would only make twenty-eight or twenty-nine yuan. 𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒑𝒖𝒃.𝙘𝙤𝒎
Do not underestimate those eight or ten yuan, their purchasing power was astonishing at that time.
Ma Huilan was a family member who had moved to the factory with her child after Chen Jing was discharged and assigned there. Since she had a bad leg, not even temporary households wanted to hire her, so Chen Jing’s small three-person family relied solely on his salary of less than thirty yuan a month.
As the child gradually grew, this small amount of money became increasingly stretched thin in the household, prompting Chen Jing to often unload goods at the train station during his days off. He charged by the piece, and earning one yuan for a day’s worth of carrying packages was considered good, though not every day came with work to do.
"Let’s stop talking about this, let’s have a drink, bro," Chen Jing raised his glass and clinked it against Li Hongjun’s.
Ma Huilan quickly advised at the side, "Chen Jing, don’t drink anymore, you have a shift tonight, and if Director Yang smells it on you, he’ll nag at you again."
Chen Jing drank the alcohol with a silent gulp.
Ma Huilan sighed by his side and said no more.
Shen Yunfang noticed the atmosphere at the table turning sour and hurriedly switched the topic to the children, which made things lively once again.
Li Hongjun and Shen Yunfang exchanged a discreet glance, sighing inwardly. Indeed, every family has its own difficult scripture to recite.
After dinner, Chen Cheng knew his younger brother would be staying for a long time, so he left for school reluctantly.
Ma Huilan stayed behind to clean up the table while Chen Jing took Li Hongjun’s family of four to visit Wang Yan’s house.
Shen Yunfang was supposed to stay with the children at the Chen Family home, but Li Hongjun thought since his wife would be the one living in the rented house eventually, she should be the one to check it out properly. So, the family of four acted in unison once more.
Shortly after leaving Chen Jing’s quadrangle house, Chen Jing called out in front of a building, "Yanzi, Yanzi, are you there?"
"Yes, I’m here," Wang Yan answered as he came out the door.
"Come on, let’s go take a look at your place," said Chen Jing with a smile.
This was the home of Wang Yan’s father-in-law, and he was now living with his father-in-law. Of course, his own parents didn’t live in this neighborhood; he was living here for the convenience of commuting to work, and it definitely wasn’t because he was living off someone else.
"Alright, let’s go," Wang Yan said, grinning as he walked with everyone towards his house.
After two more turns and about six or seven minutes, Wang Yan led everyone into a siheyuan.
"Yo, why has Yanzi come back?" A woman washing clothes in the courtyard greeted the group as they entered.
"Sister Ma is doing laundry. I’ve brought some friends over to visit," Wang Yan smiled as he took out his keys, opened the door to the room on the far right of the main house, and ushered everyone inside.
The house was about the same size as Chen Jing’s, but it only had two partitions. Upon entering, there was a long kitchen, with the bedroom taking up the whole interior space, featuring a 1.5-meter-wide bed, a solid wood cabinet at the bedhead, a dressing table beside it, and a sofa at the foot of the bed. Most importantly, the room had a window that let in plenty of light during the day without curtains, making the room brighter than Chen Jing’s. Also, the room had two clay heaters connected to the stove outside.
"I fixed up this room when I got married. My wife and I didn’t even live here for two days. If you like it, we can discuss it," Wang Yan was confident in his home. In this area, no one else had a place as well-arranged as theirs. If it weren’t for the fact that it was a pity to leave it empty, he would not be keen on renting it out.
Shen Yunfang looked around inside and out, getting a feel for the place. For instance, cooking was done in the little shed built by the door, water had to be carried by the residents from the well platform, there was no toilet in the yard, and one had to go to the public toilet two minutes south of the siheyuan.
To be honest, Shen Yunfang wasn’t impressed with the conditions, but that’s just how things were, and there wasn’t much to complain about. Compared to Chen Jing’s place, this house suddenly didn’t seem so bad. She consoled herself by nodding her head; at least this residential area had electricity, so she wouldn’t have to rely on oil lamps anymore.
The house was nice enough, so they sat down to discuss the rent next.
Since they were all acquaintances, Wang Yan didn’t ask for a high price: eight yuan per month, with the tenants paying for their own electricity.
After discussing it, Li Hongjun and his wife decided to rent the place. Being acquaintances, they dispensed with the need for a deposit.
Li Hongjun paid the rent for six months upfront, totaling forty-eight yuan, and they wrote a simple rental agreement.
Since there weren’t any personal items left in the house and everything there could be used by Shen Yunfang, Wang Yan handed Li Hongjun the keys after receiving the money and contract.
Now that the house was theirs for the time being, Shen Yunfang and Li Hongjun inspected it inside and out once more, making a mental note of what else was needed and planning to go shopping the next day.
Since they had checked into and paid for the guest house, Li Hongjun’s family of four stayed there that night. The next morning, Chen Jing, who hadn’t gone home after her night shift, came straight to the guest house to pick them up.
Then they moved their luggage to their new house, spread out their bedding on the hard plank bed, and the place immediately felt different.
Afterward, Li Hongjun entrusted the two children to Ma Huilan to watch, and then Chen Jing took the couple around S City to familiarize themselves with the environment, mainly to buy the necessary household items they were lacking.
Finally, when the house was almost furnished enough to be lived in, Li Hongjun accompanied Shen Yunfang to the university to complete her registration.
*North Agricultural University was an institution with a long history. Although it had been ravaged over the years by political movements, its essence remained intact.
The family of four visited the university and was warmly received by the president. After understanding Shen Yunfang’s difficulties and seeing the bright, pure eyes of two children peeking from under the desk, the president couldn’t resist; he agreed to Shen Yunfang’s request to not live on campus and also consented to her bringing her children to classes if there was no other option.
And so, most of the hurdles Shen Yunfang faced in attending university were resolved.
