Lingzi is not too cold today

Chapter 210 I Want to Marry You
Jingzhou Jiangxia is known as a new first-tier city.

There are high-rise buildings everywhere, and there are too many super high-rise buildings with more than 40 floors.

Like many graduates, Ouyang Rui lives in this reinforced concrete jungle.

The house he and Liu Ting rented was a dilapidated small house in a village in the city.

A dark and damp alley, a few stairs made of rusty iron frames.

The stairs were very narrow, and when they went upstairs, the two of them seemed crowded together, and if they were not careful, they would be squeezed down.

So two people have to go up one after the other.

The guardrails on the side are less than the waist height of a person, so they have no protective effect.

So Ouyang Rui was careful every time he went upstairs, especially at night, he had to turn on the flashlight.

There are no lights in the corridor, so Liu Ting will be afraid when walking here.

The rental house is very dilapidated, but there is a place for cooking. The air conditioner is creaking, dirty and leaking, but miraculously still works.

At night there was always the sound of rats squeaking from the ceiling.

"Is this the place we live in?"

Liu Ting was a little confused when she heard the sound of mice running above her head.

"It's cheap here, only 400 a month."

As Ouyang Rui said, he picked up a plastic basin and placed it on the stove facing the door.

It was raining outside and that place happened to be leaking.

The raindrops dripped into the basin, a little empty and lonely.

Liu Ting looked at the rain flowers splashing in the basin, her eyes were a little dull.

Compared with this place, the university dormitory is simply heaven.

The newly built campus dormitories are all new, with 24-hour hot water supply, separate toilets, bed and desk, internet and air conditioning.

Moving to this kind of place after graduation, the gap is really too big.

"I think the house we looked at before was pretty good."

She looked at Ouyang Rui.

"But the rent is too expensive. Just a single room with a private bathroom, 1500, and the utility bill is even higher."

"The landlord only accepts quarterly payments, so we have to deposit three times. After including the deposit and agency fees, we have to pay 7000 yuan at a time."

Ouyang Rui didn't think it was a bad place.

Because at least there is a place to cook, and there is air conditioning.

"But there are other options. You don't have to rent 1500. There are also single rooms at 1200, 1000, and 800."

"Why do you have to rent here?"

"The people who live here are all migrant workers who have entered the city. It's a mess."

Liu Ting leaned against the wall, and could vaguely hear the sound of people walking in the next room.

The houses here are all remodeled by the landlord. In order to allow more people to live in, a lot of expenses have been reduced in terms of raw materials and space.

Much worse than Khrushchev in the former Soviet Union.

The neighbors up and down, left and right can hear a little movement clearly.

Even the humming and gasping sounds when the sheets are rolled are very clear.

"Our salary is not high, and it's only 5500 including performance."

"It adds up to 3000, including rent and food, and the two of us add up to [-] a month."

"At least you can cook here, and you can save a lot of money."

"In this way, you can save 8000 yuan a month."

"If we rent a house in the city center, our rent is higher. If we can't cook, we can only eat out and order takeaway. This will cost a lot of money, and we can't save much money at all."

"The two save 8000 yuan a month. After becoming full-timers, the wages will rise. We will work harder, work more overtime, and save [-] yuan a month."

"If we stick to it for three years, there will be more than 30 yuan, and we can make up the down payment for a small three-bedroom apartment in the third ring road."

Ouyang Rui wrung his fingers and listed for her the living expenses of the two of them, expected salary, and plans for the future.

The roaring sound of the moving train exploded in my ears, and it continued.

"Is it necessary to buy a house?"

Liu Ting lost control of her emotions, and her voice was drowned in the roar of the train.

The house in this place was built next to the train station, and the railroad tracks can be seen from the window.

The sound of high-speed trains passing by is very loud, and young people basically don't live in this place, so the rent is very cheap.

"You think I want to?"

"I want to marry you."

"You must buy a house when you get married. If you don't consider buying a house, what should you do if your children go to school?"

"Your father has already said, let us buy a house in Jiangxia."

Ouyang Rui was also a little angry.

His family was very poor and could not support him at all.

If you want to live a better life for yourself, you can only work so hard.

"Can I live better if I buy a house?"

Liu Ting muttered, clutching a corner of the quilt with her hands, her eyes looked very confused.

"It will get better. We won't have to work for the landlord after we buy the house."

For the future, Ouyang Rui still has some confidence.

"And then? Carrying decades of mortgages and living a life of frugal living?"

"After giving birth to a child, I worry about his milk powder money and school expenses."

"I've lived the life of a poor kid for 20 years and know how hard it can be."

Liu Ting drooped her eyelids, feeling a little disappointed in life.

"It's going to be fine, trust me."

"Believe me."

Ouyang Rui put his hand on the back of her hand and stroked it gently.

It was a thunderstorm that night, and there was a continuous white light outside the window, followed by a roar that resounded through the sky and the earth.

The two hugged each other tightly under the quilt, and Ouyang Rui patted her on the back lightly to soothe her emotions.

The sound of rats running on the ceiling, the sound of rainwater dripping into the basin, the sound of thunder suddenly, the sound of motor vehicles whizzing by, and the sound of the neighbor's tenant rolling on the bed sheet.

Downstairs, a couple of migrant workers who went to work in the city were arguing. The cause was that the woman went out to play mahjong and came back in the early morning.

In this way, all the hustle and bustle of the world are stirred together.

"Boom!"

Something fell from the ceiling and hit the quilt.

Liu Ting could feel it crawling on the bed.

"Ahhh!"

She screamed and turned on the light.

A fat mouse was running around the room.

Ouyang Rui picked up the mop and crushed it in the room.

At one o'clock in the morning, the sound of roaring trains still rang out from time to time.

“Don't stay here anymore!”

"I will return the lease tomorrow!"

Liu Ting's eyes were red, and her emotions completely collapsed.

"Return the lease!"

"Okay, okay! Return the lease!"

After driving away the mice, Ouyang Rui quickly covered his ears and had to compromise.

In the middle of the night, the lights in the room were kept on, and Liu Ting sat on the bed, not daring to sleep, her mouth pouted, her eyes flushed.

Ouyang Rui took her hand and comforted her softly.

"Rats are rodents that want to bite everything they see."

"I don't want to wake up with a piece of my nose or ear bitten off."

Liu Ting said quietly.

"Okay, let's cancel the lease tomorrow and change to another place."

Ouyang Rui could only comfort him softly.

"Go to sleep, it's okay."

"I'll watch you from the sidelines, and I won't let the mice bite you."

After coaxing for a long time, Liu Ting lay down in a nervous mood.

In the second half of the night, Ouyang Rui really didn't sleep, so he just looked at her quietly.

As soon as I heard the sound of the mouse, my nerves tensed up.

The lamps hanging from the ceiling always flickered with the sound of thunder and were about to go out.

Ouyang Rui looked up at the greasy lampshade and couldn't help thinking.

Is this really the life he wants?
In the past, he always scoffed at Tang Fulin's ideas.

Now, he can understand him.

Liu Ting didn't sleep well, the noise of moving cars passing by was too loud, and she kept tossing and turning.

Early the next morning, Ouyang Rui opened his bloodshot eyes, packed his things and went to the landlord.

"Return the lease."

"It's agreed. If you cancel the rent, the deposit will not be refunded."

The landlord is a greasy middle-aged man who is good at calculating. Seeing that Ouyang Rui and Liu Ting are young and both are college students who have just graduated from society, he thinks it is okay to bully them.

"We only stayed for one night, and the deposit will not be refunded?"

Liu Ting was a little annoyed.

"Rules are rules, you agreed before."

The landlord didn't even bother to lift his eyelids.

After talking for a while, the landlord just refused to refund the deposit.

Ouyang Rui went back to the rental house angrily, picked up the kitchen knife from the cutting board in the kitchen, and walked out quickly.

"No refund, right?"

With red eyes, he raised the knife, and Liu Ting quickly grabbed him.

"Hey! Don't! You have something to say!"

Seeing that the stupefied young man was a bit aggressive, the landlord quickly changed his mind and honestly returned the deposit of 300 yuan plus the rent one by one.

Ouyang Rui took Liu Ting's hand and dragged the suitcase outside.

Standing in a dark alley, when he raised his head, he could see only a narrow line of sky between the Tongzilou and Tongzilou.

In that line of sky, there are rows of tall buildings.

"Come on, let's go have a good meal."

He held Liu Ting's hand, his eyelids twitched, sore and tingling.

I don't know if it's because I stayed up late for a long time, but I still feel like crying.

But when he said this sentence, there was a smile on his face.

"Ah."

Liu Ting took his hand and left the shantytown with him.

Not long after he left, the world in front of him suddenly became clear.

Tall office buildings, crowded commercial plazas, and a wide variety of facades.

It seems to be two worlds with that dirty shanty town.

"what do you want to eat?"

Ouyang Rui asked her.

Liu Ting looked left and right, her gaze stayed on a pizza shop for a moment, and then quickly moved away.

Ouyang Rui caught her gaze and asked softly, "Do you want to eat pizza?"

"No, it's too expensive."

Liu Ting shook her head, and then added: "It just suddenly occurred to me that Zhuang Xiaomeng often ate in the dormitory before."

"Well, Gongsun always travels a long way to buy her pizza."

After speaking, Ouyang Rui took her to the pizza shop.

"No need for pizza."

Liu Ting held his hand and led him to a small shop selling hot and dry noodles, and greeted him, "Two bowls of hot and dry noodles."

Ouyang Rui was not used to eating hot dry noodles at first, and found it very difficult to eat.

The second time, I felt a little greasy and dry.

For the third time, I felt that the noodles were a bit lacking.

After graduation, he missed the hot dry noodles in the cafeteria.

Just like that, the two of them squatted on the side of the road and ate the hot dry noodles.

"Do people here eat hot and dry noodles while walking?"

Ouyang Rui looked at the social animals walking and eating with bowls on the street, and asked Liu Ting sideways, feeling a little puzzled.

"Well, because it's close to the Yangtze River, it's a wharf culture."

Liu Ting smiled lightly.

"In the past, there were many porters who carried goods at the pier and did manual work."

"To save time, eat while walking."

"That's why there are many mobile vendors of hot dry noodles, and they also use paper bowls."

"So this is ah."

When Ouyang Rui heard this, he suddenly realized.

"The food in every place has its own cultural background."

Liu Ting felt a little dry after eating, so she went to buy two more cups of tofu nao and shared a cup with Ouyang Rui.

Tofu nao is sweet, and Ouyang Rui likes it very much.

They dragged their suitcases and walked through several neighborhoods one after another. Every time they entered the neighborhood, the two of them had to look at the landlord's rental note on the wall for a while.

During the period, I also made appointments with some real estate agents, and the houses shown by the agents were not bad, but when they thought about paying the agent fee, the two hesitated.

After searching for a house until the afternoon, Ouyang Rui ran over with a smile, and whispered something in Liu Ting's ear.

"real?"

"real."

After all, Ouyang Rui took Liu Ting to find a single room of 1000 yuan.

The landlord is an elderly aunt who has relocated more than a dozen houses after demolition and relocation. She can live well by collecting rent alone.

When showing the house with two people, he was carrying a bag full of keys in his hand.

It took me a long time to find the key to the corresponding house.

The room is very spacious, with a balcony, double bed in the bedroom, air conditioning, and a washing machine on the balcony.

Although there is no separate bathroom, the lighting and interior decoration are good.

Simple, but clean.

"Isn't this the one the agent showed us before?"

Liu Ting looked at the landlord and then at Ouyang Rui.

"Yeah, I stuffed a pack of cigarettes with the property staff, got the landlord's phone number from him, and contacted him directly."

"Although the landlord has listed the house on the intermediary platform for rent, but the house is rented out, the landlord has to pay the intermediary an intermediary fee of half a month's rent."

"The landlord is also unwilling, so we sign with the landlord privately, so we don't have to pay the agency fee."

Ouyang Rui said with a smile.

When Liu Ting heard this, she couldn't help being a little happy.

"How did you know this?"

"I asked in the professional group if there are any students who rent houses in Jiangxia."

"Then Gongsun Jin asked me if I was looking for a house."

"He told me that if we fell in love with the house that the intermediary showed us, but didn't want to pay the intermediary fee, we could try to contact the landlord himself, or ask the property owner for a phone number."

"If you don't give the property, you can give some benefits in private."

Ouyang Rui smiled.

He was actually quite curious, where did a well-clothed and well-fed person like Gongsun Jin know this market knowledge.

"That's right."

"It feels like he knows a lot."

Liu Ting was also surprised.

When negotiating the rent, the two of them swiped and lowered the price.

Auntie is in a good mood today, and she is not short of money. After being praised by Ouyang Rui, her mood is even better.

So the rent was reduced to [-]. Considering that the two of them were just college students who had just come out for internships, it was too much pressure to deposit one for three, so they accepted the one for one.

After signing the contract and completing the handover, the two moved in.

Ouyang Rui and Liu Ting lay on the bed, looking at the world outside the balcony, feeling much better.

The two of them who didn't sleep well last night fell asleep in bed.

After busy looking for a house, the two began to run around for work again.

Jiangxia is a place suitable for school, but not suitable for work.

The capital of sales, this is the most popular comment when people mention this city.

Eight out of ten fresh graduates were engaged in sales, and one made fraudulent calls in Optics Valley, and only the last one found a suitable position.

In fact, it's not just Jiang Xia.

The so-called new first-tier and second-tier all over the country are like this. There are high-rise buildings everywhere, but there are no supporting industries to keep up, and there are not enough jobs, just like a beautiful empty shell.

This is the evil result of using real estate as a pillar industry.

High housing prices have become a cancer, destroying the dreams of young people, reducing the desire to consume, and raising the rent of facades.

In order to reduce the cost caused by excessive rents, shops have to increase product prices and reduce labor costs.

The consequence of this is the housing prices and consumption of the first line, and the wage level of the second line.

Ouyang Rui and Liu Ting were considered to be the better-off freshmen.

Amazon's e-commerce operation is not a very good job, but it is more than enough than the bottom.

It's better than wearing a suit and riding an electric car to show people the sales.

"I think being a part-time delivery rider is actually quite interesting."

Ouyang Rui smiled at Liu Ting, riding a rented electric scooter and wearing the work clothes of a delivery rider.

"At night, especially on rainy days, it costs a few dollars per order."

"If you run a few more orders, you can earn a lot of extra money."

It rained again that night, Liu Ting looked at the rain falling outside the window, and couldn't help feeling a little worried.

"Be sure to pay attention to safety."

"Well, don't worry, I will pay attention."

Ouyang Rui smiled slightly, put on his helmet and raincoat and went out.

The order at night is indeed more valuable, because there are fewer people delivering it, and there are even fewer riders when the weather is bad.

Ouyang Rui was still cautious when crossing the road at first, waiting for the traffic lights.

The experienced old riders scoffed at this. At night, there was no one, and they went straight to the red light, and they went the wrong way.

Because I have just started working, I am not familiar with the road conditions in the city.

Visibility is not high at night, and it is difficult to find the building and unit number of the corresponding community on the takeaway list after entering some communities.

Ouyang Rui delivered orders very slowly, often received reminders, and had to call customers to apologize cautiously.

The words of some female customers were very acrimonious, and the swearing was also harsh.

Ouyang Rui just smiled helplessly, not daring to speak back, a lot of money would be deducted for a bad review.

After a few hours of work, I went home in the early hours of the morning.

Ouyang Rui was very happy to see the income after delivering a few orders.

Work during the day and deliver food at night.

Work two jobs and work hard with Liu Ting.

After working hard for several years, he should be able to own a house of his own in this city.

On the way home, when passing the pizza place.

Ouyang Rui saw that the lights in the pizzeria were still on, and stopped.

Thinking of the look in Liu Ting's eyes before, he went to the store and bought a pizza and two egg tarts for 50 yuan.

The money he earned from delivering food was spent all of a sudden, but he didn't feel sorry for it.

When I got home, the rain had stopped, and the tall buildings in the distance were lit with neon lights, dazzling in the dark night.

The wind blowing head-on was a bit cold, and the raincoat was full of clear rain.

But when going upstairs, Ouyang Rui felt that his breathing and heartbeat were hot.

The pizza was still hot, and through the lunch box, it exuded a temperature that made him feel at ease.

"came back?"

The light in the room was still on, watching Ouyang Rui enter the door, Liu Ting's hanging heart finally fell to the ground.

The weather outside was bad, and she hadn't come back for a long time, she was really afraid that something might happen to Ouyang Rui.

"Give."

Ouyang Rui took out the box of pizza and handed it over.

Liu Ting took the pizza from him, obviously she should have laughed, but for some reason suddenly burst into tears.

　Supporting characters also have their own emotional lines

　　
　
(End of this chapter)