A century of poverty

Chapter 98 The House

Let's go to the back and talk to my father-in-law about our ideas. He said, "That's fine too! The purlin of that side room is broken, and the roof has collapsed, so we just put two tattered paper blankets there. You can renovate it and turn it into a business; it's not a bad thing, and it'll also solve your employment problems."

I said, "Dad, let's wait half a month. The fishing season is just starting and the prices are good. Once this mini-peak season is over, we can start cleaning up the side rooms and taking down the roofs."

For now, we'll just sell the fish; construction will begin after that!

Father-in-law: "Oh—you can do it whenever you want, sooner or later, nobody cares! It's just that your second sister is waiting to move, so you need to vacate the house for her as soon as possible."

I asked, "Which room will we be living in after we move in?"

Father-in-law: That's true. Old Guo from Beining lives alone in the west room, and it's not easy for him. The opposite room is Yangliu, and it's not easy for us old folks in the east room to evict them. Why don't you just stay in the inner room for now and move over when someone moves out of the other room?

Me: "Okay."

The next day, they started arranging the move. Two cabinets and some other things filled the small inner room to the brim, leaving the sofa in the front room for my second aunt to use.

When the third sister-in-law, Su Zhichun, came home from get off work, she peeked inside through the door, curled her lip, and said, "Poor people moving house, moving from a shithole to a pisshole!" Then she turned and left.

That afternoon, after we finished selling the fish and returned, we saw Zhang Guozhi, Su Zhiru, and their daughter Su Lixin digging dirt on the roof of the side room from afar. It was immediately clear that this family had come to open up the shop again, trying to get there first.

As we reached the main gate, we happened to see Old Zhao's family across the street calling for my aunt to come out and dump ashes into the ditch by the roadside. Zhang Guozhi, on the roof, deliberately called out loudly to my aunt, "Auntie, start the fire!"

Aunt: "Ah—making a fire, what are all those people doing on the roof?"

Zhang Guozhi: "Tear down the houses, tear them down and build shops on top!"

Aunt: "Great, that's a good selling point!"

Zhang Guozhi: "In this family, I have to do everything; I'm the one who's capable of handling things!"

I could tell from the first part of her words that she was her trusted lieutenant and not entirely willing, while the second part was meant for me to hear. She was determined to make her move, and I couldn't outmaneuver her. On one hand, she was trying to scare me, and by deliberately shouting loudly, she was also letting the world know that if she made the first move, it would be hers.

In terms of appearance, she was quite fierce. She was 1.5 meters tall and weighed 150 kilograms. She had a square head, a big face, and a dark complexion. A few sparse strands of hair were tied up on her head. Her face was full of horizontal lines, and she had an underbite with her lower teeth sticking out.

Normally, she rarely speaks to people first, always holding her head high with her hands in her pockets, acting arrogant and ignoring everyone. When the Zhao family moved in, she assumed they weren't much older than her, and while everyone else called her "aunt," she called her "sister-in-law" for a long time. Later, seeing that it wasn't working, she changed her address to "aunt."

After entering the house, I asked my father-in-law, "Dad, did you approve of my second brother and sister-in-law opening a shop in a side room?"

Father-in-law: "Ah!"

Me: "Didn't you promise us? We agreed that we would start after the peak fishing season. Why did you agree to her? My second brother has a job in the supply and marketing department, and my sister-in-law is also a working person with factory status. She also grows in greenhouses. She's happy to open a shop. Her current house is by the roadside. She can just open a door. Why does she have to compete with us?"

What do we have? Selling our house to open a shop was a decision we made after careful consideration, and it was with your consent. This time, I'm not letting her have it! You can't go back on your word and break your promise!

The father-in-law fell silent, then pondered for a moment before saying, "Then go and talk to your second brother and sister-in-law yourself. They'll let you have it, so you can drive it!"

Me: "That's difficult. You know what kind of people they are. Why didn't they open their doors earlier or later? They just had to come here and compete with us to open one. You promised them, and now you want me to talk to them again? What kind of authority do I have?"

If I don't tell them, this matter is too important to us; but if I do, I know they won't feel comfortable about it. Since things have come to this, I'll bite the bullet and give it a try.

After dinner, I went over, and after a few casual words, I said, "Second brother and sister-in-law, I came to talk to you about tearing down the side room to build a shop. Please don't argue with us, just let us have it. You see, we're unemployed and in poor health, it's really hard for us to go out and work."

Before the adults could speak, sixteen or seventeen-year-old Su Lixin declared, "Even if he's not the best, he's still better than my dad, who's disabled!"

I said, "Don't interrupt. Your parents and I are here to discuss what conditions we want if we want to give it to us."

Zhang Guozhi: "Giving it to you isn't out of the question. Su Lixin is about to start high school, and she needs money for her education. How about you give us five thousand yuan?"

Me: "Second sister-in-law, you know that after selling this house and deducting the two thousand we owe my second sister, we only have ten thousand left. If you ask for five thousand, I still need to build a house and buy goods, so five thousand might not be enough. If I give you two thousand, we'll still have to be careful with our money, and maybe that will be enough."

Before Zhang Guozhi could say anything more, Su Zhiru spoke up, "Don't say anything more. Zhiqiang and his wife have it tough too. Two thousand it is fine. Just don't drag it out. See if your second sister-in-law changes her mind." She said this while looking at Zhang Guozhi with a smile.

I said, "Okay, I'll bring it to you tomorrow."

I returned to the west room and told the old man about the result.

Father-in-law: "Okay! Isn't that great? She won't argue with you anymore, so you can work with peace of mind. The family will be harmonious, and others won't laugh at us."

The next day, I delivered the two thousand yuan to the person in front.

After dinner, my father-in-law said, "Since you're both here, I have something else to say. I'd like to see if you both agree."

I asked, "What's wrong?"

Father-in-law: "Now that you're here, it's just the three of us in this courtyard. After Xiao Kai moved out, I cooked for myself, but I don't like cooking anyway. Let's all be together. You've opened the shop, so these seven rooms plus this courtyard are all yours. You take care of me in my old age, and I'll just eat whatever's ready for me. Wouldn't that be easier for both of us?"

Without hesitation, I said, "Sure! But can you really make that decision? This is a big deal. If so, we'll have to get everyone here, including my uncle, my brothers, and my sisters. They all need to be present, sign and put their fingerprints on it, and there's no going back. How about this arrangement? Is that alright?"

Father-in-law: "Alright! Zhiqiang will go door-to-door to deliver the letters tomorrow, and we'll discuss things this week."

On Sunday morning, my brother-in-law, with his slicked-back hair and dashing demeanor, arrived early. My great-uncle and his older brother stayed in the house for a while. Gradually, the other brothers and sisters arrived earlier than usual. This time, none of them brought their children.

Everyone was there. Uncle sat on the kang (a heated brick bed), with Su Zhijuan sitting next to him, and Su Qian and Su Zhichun sitting in front of them. On the other side, Hei Xingan and Zhang Guozhi, the three eldest brothers, sat on the edge of the kang. Su Kai and his wife stood at the doorway of the inner room, with the old man sitting in a chair next to Su Kai. Zhiqiang and I stood by the trunk; the room was full of people.

Uncle said openly, "I'm very happy to be here today to preside over this family meeting. It's great to see everyone here; the Su family is prosperous and harmonious. Your father called us here today because he has something to say, so let's hear what he has to say!"

Father-in-law: "I'm simple, just one sentence: this yard and house belong to the fourth son, and I'll be supported by him in my old age. I won't involve you in this. See if everyone agrees?"

Everyone laughed and said, "Agreed! Agreed!"

Su Zhijuan whispered something in her uncle's ear, saying, "I agree, but for now, the three rooms inside are up to the old man to decide."

Surprisingly, things were settled so quickly, and everyone was quite happy about it.

Everyone agreed, so I had nothing to say. Seeing everyone's happy faces, I swallowed my words. This time, everyone's agreement was clear and their decision was made willingly. And with Uncle, the manager of Jinhai City Power Company, present to oversee the process, how could it not count?

When it comes to family ties, signing and sealing documents makes it seem like something out of a formality, which is quite embarrassing.

Once the matter was settled, people got up and got off the kang (a heated brick bed), while others went outside.

I was surprised: "Everyone, don't go! I'll start a fire and cook. Eat before you leave."

Su Zhijuan: "No one eats here. The children are all at home. If we eat here, who will cook for them?"

I said, "You're so old, can't you even cook for yourself?"

At this time, Su Zhiwei's two daughters were both in their twenties. Su Zhijuan's two daughters were also seventeen or eighteen. Su Qian, Su Chun, and Su Zhiru lived in the front and back yards, and could be called out for meals.

Su Zhijuan glanced sideways and said, "We don't let our daughter cook."

The incident happened suddenly, but the outcome was also swift. From now on, we'll just manage the yard well and take good care of my father-in-law, and everything will be fine.

We cleared out the dilapidated parts from the side room, pushed the mud walls inward, and leveled them. I went home and told my father and older brother about it.

Dad said Jinhai was a damp place, and bricks would become damp and not hold together well. He suggested using stones as a base and then laying bricks on top. Dad was a bricklayer, and my older brother was also very skilled at stonework, so they came to help. Soon, the stone base of one room was finished.

Li Kongzhi also came to help with the bricklaying. Zhang Chunye's family also moved to Qiaotou Village after the reform and opening up. His second son, who was also a bricklayer, came to help. These people could put up the bricks in a room in two or three days, and then just wipe it inside and out and wait for it to dry.

Dad and my eldest brother went back. We breathed a sigh of relief.