NOVPUB
Chapter 381: Chapter 371: Securing the House
The commotion at the door of Auntie Zhao’s house finally came to an end after the arrival of the public security officers. Of course, the Qu Family members weren’t arrested; the officers had only said that to scare them.
Speaking seriously, this was still a family affair, and the local police station really shouldn’t intervene. Even when it did, most cases were primarily resolved through mediation.
Qu Yingfeng, seeing the arrival of the public security officers, motioned to her husband, who had been standing on the outskirts the whole time. After exchanging a few courteous words and admitting their fault, promising not to cause trouble in the future, they quickly walked away hand in hand.
Seeing Qu Yingfeng act this way, the others knew there must be something more to it and followed suit, leaving the scene clean.
Shen Yunfang watched the excitement from the side and, seeing that the matter was almost resolved, approached with Ma Liguo to support Auntie Zhao, "Auntie Zhao, are you okay?"
"I’m fine, I won’t die quite yet," said Auntie Zhao slowly.
Shen Yunfang did not realize that someone in the crowd, while walking away with the Qu family, had turned back and glared at her hatefully.
Shen Yunfang also didn’t know how to comfort Auntie Zhao. When faced with such a situation, one could only say it was due to a lack of good deeds in a past life and try to accept it.
She helped Auntie Zhao walk towards the house, and as they passed by the public security officers, she heard Ma Liguo say, "We owe you a lot today; come over for a drink at our place tomorrow, okay?"
"Ha ha, brother-in-law, what is this, we are all pals here, nothing serious, right? Well, we’re heading back now, see you later." The two officers in their big caps had lost the authority they had shown before, and started chuckling and joking with Ma Liguo.
Once everyone had left, Ma Liguo also entered the courtyard and, seeing Shen Yunfang’s questioning gaze, explained proactively, "Those two public security officers are colleagues of your sister-in-law. We’re pretty familiar in our daily lives." Not speaking or greeting each other earlier was just for show, which both parties understood.
Oh, so it was all about connections.
Ma Liguo went over to Auntie Zhao and said, "Auntie, are you alright? Don’t be sad, they’ll regret it sooner or later."
Auntie Zhao sighed, "I might not live to see that day." Then she turned and grabbed Shen Yunfang’s hand, full of gratitude, "My girl, thank goodness you didn’t give me all the money yesterday, otherwise I really would’ve ended up on the streets."
Shen Yunfang raised an eyebrow, what do you mean?
"They took the nine hundred yuan from yesterday?" Ma Liguo understood and asked with a frown.
"Hmm, this morning they tricked me into opening the door for them, barged into the house and rummaged through everything. I saw the eldest take the money," Auntie Zhao said as tears threatened to fall again, but she quickly wiped them away. "It’s better that she took it, at least now they don’t have the time to bother me." no𝚟𝚙u𝚋.c𝚘m
Shen Yunfang initially didn’t understand, but then it dawned on her. She had seen the character of the four families during the scene at the door: now that the eldest had taken the nine hundred yuan alone, the remaining siblings surely wouldn’t be content to be at a loss. They’d likely quarrel over the nine hundred, which could lead to more internal strife until the money was evenly distributed.
Of course, if it could be evenly divided, they wouldn’t fight, but given their nature, the one with the money would not want to share it equally, and those who came later would not settle for less than others. Oh, there would be more trouble ahead.
Although the courtyard had just been through a chaotic fight, it was already dirty and messy, so there really wasn’t anything worth cleaning up. After resting briefly in the house, Auntie Zhao took the initiative to say that she wanted to get the property transfer formalities done as soon as possible.
The earlier it was done, the better. She had already decided that once she got the remaining nine hundred yuan, she would move somewhere else on her own, somewhere her children couldn’t find her. Living quietly until her death was now her greatest wish.
After that, everything was simpler. With Ma Liguo, the know-it-all leading them, they made their way through the police station and the house management office, finally getting the property transferred into Shen Yunfang’s name.
Auntie Zhao took the letter of introduction from Ma Liguo, packed up her belongings without a word, and moved out of the courtyard house.
Shen Yunfang immediately went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy a new lock after getting the keys and changed the padlock of the courtyard gate, realizing she still had some time, she decided to stay a bit longer in the courtyard.
"Liguo, it’s still early, and I want to tidy up the place a bit. You’ve been accompanying me for two days, and I’m afraid it might have interfered with your work. You go ahead and tend to your own matters."
Ma Liguo did indeed have some work to attend to back at his unit, so he didn’t stand on ceremony, "All right, I’ll get going then. Will you be okay here by yourself?"
"What could go wrong? Once I lock the courtyard gate, no one can get in," Shen Yunfang said, shaking the new lock she had bought.
"Heh, okay then. Just be careful on your own, and I’ll come over to pick you up once I’m done," Ma Liguo said, and left.
After securing the courtyard gate, Shen Yunfang turned and looked at the dirty, disorderly courtyard and the dilapidated houses, yet she silently shouted with joy because from now on, this place was hers.
She vented the happiness in her heart and then began to tidy up, starting with the big broom she found in the upside-down house, sweeping throughout the yard. After the yard was done, she wandered through each of the rooms. There wasn’t much in the way of good stuff, not even much rubbish to speak of.
Nowadays, people only want the best things; there’s hardly any junk to be found.
Shen Yunfang roamed inside and outside the house several times, going through the plans for organizing the house in her mind repeatedly.
Hmm, the house was too dilapidated and definitely needed some repairs to last longer. That was something she couldn’t do herself; she would have to find a professional to handle it.
Furthermore, the house felt humiliated from prior occupants, so the walls and such would need a good painting. The yard couldn’t remain so empty; she would have to think about planting some trees to provide shade and a cool place to sit in the summer.
There was also a complete lack of furniture in the house; at the very least, she would need to buy some beds and cabinets to put in there.
Well, buying new ones would be a waste; she should find somewhere to pick up some second-hand items.
She would have to ask Ma Liguo about this when he came over, being a local insider, he would likely know where to get these things.
Ma Liguo arrived after four in the afternoon and together they disposed of the trash Shen Yunfang had amassed at the entrance into the street-side garbage bin. Then they locked up and headed towards Ma Liguo’s home.
The housing complex was about a ten-minute walk from here, not too far.
On the way, Shen Yunfang shared her ideas with Ma Liguo, who listened and nodded, eventually slapping his chest in assurance that he would sort everything out.
He knew the repairmen, who was good at painting walls, and the second-hand furniture was even easier to find; there was plenty at the procurement station.
On their way home, the two of them took a detour to the daycare to pick up Pangpang and Manman.
Seeing both children well and smiling, Shen Yunfang finally let go of the worry she had carried all day.
"Your two children are very bright, and they are quite self-sufficient. Basically, we just need to feed them on time and there are no problems whatsoever. They’re also very popular; your son has only been here for a day and he’s already about to become the king of the kids," said the director, who was Ma Liguo’s aunt, with a laugh.
"Thank you, thank you so much. It’s such a relief to us parents to have teachers and aunties as responsible as you to take care," Shen Yunfang didn’t mind heaping praise where it was due, freely doling out flattering words at no expense.
All the way home, Pangpang chattered nonstop about the funny things that had happened in the daycare, and Manman also shared with a mouthful of smiles how tasty the fruit was.
