Five years of marriage, always separated [1970s]

The Ye family members didn't expect that Ye Fan could be admitted to Peking University while working and taking care of the children, so they were surprised and happy when they saw the admission letter in person. No one cared that Geng Zhiye forgot to mention that he would study at the National Defense University for two years when he came last time.

Tao Chunlan wanted to give Ye Fan a snack, but the meat in the market was limited. Ye Jin and Li Mingyue rode their bikes to buy roast duck and roast chicken. On the way, they passed by the market and bought a big watermelon.

After lunch, Geng Zhiye said he was worried about Dabao and Erbao, so Tao Chunlan had to let her daughter and son-in-law go back.

On the way, Ye Fan asked Geng Zhiye: "Shall we buy a house?"

Geng Zhiye: "What did Aunt Yu say?"

"It has nothing to do with her. There are high schools and elementary schools near Beijing University. We can move there. Aunt Yu will send Erbao to school, and Dabao can go to the same school as Benben." Ye Fan calculated, "It doesn't need to be very big. There are three main rooms, the middle one will be used as a living room, Aunt Yu will live in one, we will have one, and one of the east and west wing rooms will be used as a kitchen. One will be converted into Dabao's bedroom, and one into Erbao's bedroom. Xiaoqin and Huihui will go back on weekends and share a room with Erbao. If Benben thinks his grandmother's family is too crowded, he can sleep in the same room with Dabao. There is also a room on the south side of the courtyard, which is perfect for storing sundries."

Geng Huihui and Geng Benben were raised by their grandparents. They prefer Geng's family and feel a bit uncomfortable as guests when they go to their grandmother's house.

Geng Zhiye: "Do we have that much money?"

"Houses in East City and West City are expensive, but those over there are cheaper. There are many teachers, and the units provide housing, so it's hard to sell private houses, and they're not as prosperous as here. I calculated that I can get one for 6,000 to 7,000 yuan." Ye Fan thought about it seriously again, "The house is well maintained, fully furnished, and made of good wood, so it's worth at most 10,000 yuan. I haven't touched your salary over the years, so I can't spend it all."

Geng Zhiye said, "Then buy it. Dabao and Erbao are studying here, and you live in the dormitory at Peking University. They often don't see you for ten days or half a month. Aunt Yu can't control them, so it's easy for them to go astray."

"Then why don't you and Benben take Dabao and Erbao to check out the area first? If someone asks you, just say that the educated youth who returned home have no houses to live in, and you heard that someone is selling a house nearby, but the alleys are winding and you seem to be lost, and then ask who is selling the house."

Geng Zhiye almost lost his temper: "You've even found a reason to respond? You're really calm! Where are you going?"

"Send your stepmother back to her parents' home."

Geng Zhiye shook his head: "Ye Fanfan, do you think I believe it? I'm not your mother - whatever you say is what it is."

"Plans, plans, may not always come true." Ye Fan pinched his waist, "Ride well!"

Geng Zhiye sighed helplessly: "I can ignore what you want to do, but there is a premise: don't get yourself involved."

"I'm not stupid." Ye Fan laughed, "Let's go to the store and buy you some sun hats."

Although he said a few, Ye Fan bought eight, one for each member of the family.

After Dabao and Erbao got the sun hats, they asked Geng Benben to go out and buy popsicles.

Geng Huihui was originally too hot, but with a sun hat with a large brim, she jumped up and down to go with the three of them. Yu Wentao said, "You are a college student, but you are still acting like a primary school student."

Geng Zhiqin: "College students should be steady? Mom, do you have to act like an old person when you get older?"

Yu Wentao wants to say that she is not old, but she has been receiving pension for several years.

Ye Fan: "Do you want to go to the store with Xiao Qin to buy some things? Let's take a bus from here directly to the bus station tomorrow?"

Yu Wentao asked: "Are you really going?"

"You've lived with me for half a year. Didn't you ask your brothers to see that you've become darker and thinner?" Ye Fan asked.

Yu Wentao wanted to say that they understood her and she would not abuse her. But her brothers and sisters were always worried about her. Yu Wentao stood up and put on her sun hat: "I'll go to the supply and marketing cooperative to take a look."

Ye Fan winked at Geng Zhiqin, which meant Wen Tao went back to her room to get the money. Ye Fan whispered, "Ask the director if he wants to rent a three-wheeled vehicle, and how much it costs for one rental and how much it costs for a month."

Geng Zhiqin: "When will you rent it?"

Ye Fan: "The supply and marketing cooperative will pick up vegetables and goods in the morning, right? Then we'll use them at four in the afternoon and return them before eight."

Geng Zhiye raised his eyebrows. Does Ye Fanfan want to set up a street stall?
This is what Ye Fan planned.

The next morning, Geng Zhiye stayed at home taking care of the children, while Ye Fan and Geng Zhiqin accompanied Yu Wentao to Yujia Village. Yu Wentao went to her brother's house, while Geng Zhiqin took Ye Fan for a stroll in the village.

After walking around the village, the two went down to the fields to see if there was water in the river and how the crops were growing.

Not long ago, Yujia Village implemented the household contract responsibility system. The people there took good care of their own land and were reluctant to leave any land empty. Ye Fan calculated the population of Yu Wentao's family and concluded that they could not finish eating all the vegetables grown on the land.

Yu Wentao was chatting with her sister-in-law and sister-in-law in the house, while the man of the Yu family was smoking a cigarette outside. When he saw Ye Fan coming back, he immediately put out the cigarette for fear that it would smoke Miss Ye.

Geng Zhiqin's uncle also asked his little daughter to go back to the house and move a stool.

Ye Fan waited for the stools to be moved over, then sat down opposite his cheap uncles and asked, "Are there enough vegetables at home?"

Geng Zhiqin's uncles thought Ye Fan was chatting with them, and pointed at the beans that covered the entire wall and said, "We can't finish them!"

Ye Fan smiled and said, "I see there is water in the river, are there fish and crabs?"

Geng Zhiqin's uncle: "Fish has a lot of bones, and crabs don't have much meat, so no one eats them. You ask - do you want to eat?" As he spoke, he stood up and said, "Then I'll go borrow -"

"Wait a minute!" Ye Fan stopped him, "Ask the village chief if you can catch fish in the river and sell them. Only catch big fish and crabs in the mud on both sides of the river. The village chief said they belong to everyone and we can eat them but not sell them, so forget it."

Uncle Yu: "Are you back to work at the supply and marketing cooperative?"

Yu Wentao came out of the courtyard at this time and said that Ye Fan was admitted to Beijing University. Her tone was the same as if she had been admitted herself.

Everyone in the Yu family was confused.

After a long time, they came back to their senses. They wanted to laugh and praise Ye Fan, but they were speechless for a while. Yu Wentao thought her brothers were useless. She had just heard what Ye Fan said in the yard, so she asked her eldest brother to ask the village chief.

The village chief did say that the river belonged to everyone and he could not make the decision. But he also hoped that the Yu family's business would be successful and that everyone would follow the Yu family to the city to sell vegetables, so he said he would give him an answer in the afternoon.

After Uncle Yu left, the village chief asked his son to find the team leader and call the elders in the village who had useful opinions. Everyone thought that the "contracting output to households" was instigated by Yu Wentao's brothers. The village really divided the land, and no one from the town government came to stop it. So they thought that they could listen to Yu Wentao's brothers this time.

That night, Yu Wentao's brothers woke up naturally and then got up to catch crabs.

An old man who couldn't sleep due to lack of sleep went over with a kerosene lamp to help.

In the morning, the younger generation of the Yu family cast a large net to catch fish. After lunch, Yu Wentao's sister-in-law and sister-in-law picked beans and vegetables and sorted them into four large baskets.

At half past four, Ye Fan came on his three-wheeled motorcycle, weighed the vegetables, fish and crabs, and then took them all away.

Ye Fan did not go to the supply and marketing cooperative or the vegetable market, but parked the car at the entrance of an inconspicuous alley with many elderly people. Geng Zhiqin and Geng Huihui were already waiting there.

Ye Fan had found this place specifically this morning.

Probably the three female comrades were not in any danger, so even the old men and women who were taking shelter in the shade in the alley dared to approach them and ask about the price.

Ye Fan, Geng Zhiqin and Geng Huihui did not look like poor people, and they could not say that they had no money, so they said that they were selling the fruits for their poor relatives in the countryside. This year, the village implemented the household contract responsibility system, and they were allocated a section of the river, where they grew vegetables and used nets to raise fish and crabs.

The aunties were all shrewd people, and they had no worries in their own territory. They asked directly: "Girl, if you sell all these things, how much can you earn?"

Ye Fan: "Excluding the car rental fee, 30%!"

"That's not much."

Ye Fan: "My relatives worked hard to grow this, and my family is not short of money, so why should I ask them for this money?"

"Where do you work? Today is not the weekend." The implication is that he has no job but dares to say he is rich and is trying to fool the old lady.

Geng Huihui said quickly: "My aunt is a student from Beijing University."

Students from Beijing University are rarer than vegetables. The grandpas and grandmas who were watching the excitement from a distance came over to ask Ye Fan how old he was, whether he was married, and what kind of partner he wanted to find. Later, they learned that Geng Zhiqin and Geng Huihui were also college students, and the three of them were a family. The grandpas and grandmas couldn't help but give a thumbs up.

Perhaps they thought that the children would be smarter if they ate the vegetables bought by Ye Fan, so they all asked Ye Fan to weigh some for them. Those with higher pensions bought fish, crabs and vegetables, while those with lower pensions bought eggplants and beans.

The food was sold out at half past six.

The aunt, who was a step late, asked Ye Fan: "Girl, will you come tomorrow?"

"There will be vegetables and melons tomorrow, but not necessarily fish." Ye Fan said.

Aunt: "At this time today?"

Ye Fan nodded. The aunt was very satisfied. When she met the neighbors, she said that the college student would come again tomorrow and they should not go to the vegetable market because the vegetables were not fresh and they were not allowed to pick and choose. The vegetable sellers were like big shots and were even more arrogant than the college student.

Ye Fan returned the car to the supply and marketing cooperative. The new director of the supply and marketing cooperative asked, "Where did you sell it? It was sold so quickly."

"It's not nearby. It won't steal the business from the supply and marketing cooperative." Ye Fan never said where he would set up the stall.

The new director of the supply and marketing cooperative was a good person, so he didn't continue asking: "Can we go directly into the village to collect the vegetables?"

"We've already started reform and opening up, so why can't it be done?" Ye Fan was afraid that someone from above would ask about this matter, but the director pushed it onto her and didn't answer directly, "Please study the reform and opening up policy carefully."

The director was both angry and amused. Accountant Ye was really a fool. He never said a word of truth. "Can you sell anything?"

Ye Fan: "If you produce it yourself, you can. If the law prohibits you from selling it, you can't. Check the car."

The director was still thinking about the first two sentences. He glanced at the tire and saw that it was fine, then raised his hand and let her go.

Ye Fan told the old man and his wife that "30%" meant giving 30% to Yu's family, because Ye Fan wanted to keep enough money to replace the tire if it was damaged.

When he got home, Ye Fan took out the original capital, took out 30% from the Yu family, took out 50% for himself, and gave the rest to his sister-in-law, asking her to split it equally with Geng Huihui.

Geng Benben saw his sister had a bunch of money in her hand and wanted to help his aunt sell vegetables. Ye Fan said: "It looks like a lot, but it's actually just change, not much."

"That's money too." Geng Benben said.

Geng Zhiye said sternly: "Do your homework at home. If you pass the college entrance examination, ask your aunt to help you sell vegetables. If you fail to pass the college entrance examination, find a way to make money to support yourself!"

Geng Benben did some calculations: "What will I get if I get into university?"

Geng Zhiye nodded.

Geng Benben: "Starting tomorrow I will do my homework well!"

Ye Fan looked at her two treasures and asked, "What about you?"
Dabao and Erbao also promised to do their homework well, and Ye Fan gave them 50 cents pocket money each. Dabao wanted to buy popsicles after getting the money, but Ye Fan stopped him, "Buy them tomorrow at noon!"

Dabao doesn't dare to argue with his mother, otherwise he will be locked in the room by his father tomorrow and may even lose his pocket money.

The next afternoon, the sun was not so scorching, so Ye Fan rode his bike to the supply and marketing cooperative, checked his three-wheeled motorcycle, refueled, and went back to the countryside.

We arrived at Yujia Village at around four o'clock, and the brothers of the Yu family had already prepared the fish and crabs.

Ye Fan asked: "Are the fish and crabs from your family this time?"

The Yu family is not very kind, but they don't take advantage of others. Uncle Yu said, "It belongs to all of us in the village. The money we earn belongs to the village. We'll use the money to buy sickles when we harvest beans in a few days, and each family will get one."

Ye Fan said: "Then we should go by the price at the purchasing station?"

There is no need to deliver the goods in person, nor do they have to be picky about the purchasing stations. Even if the price is a bit low, the villagers of Yujia Village have no objection.

Seeing everyone nodding, Ye Fan said, "In the future, you can buy less fish and crabs. Not many people in the city are willing to buy fish and crabs every day."

Uncle Yu smiled and said, "There aren't that many big fish in the river for us to catch every day."

Ye Fan: "Then weigh the fish and crabs first. I'll see how the dishes are."

Geng Zhiqin's aunt said that there were not enough vegetables. Ye Fan asked her to pick out the long, thin and tender beans and the beautifully shaped tender eggplants and peppers. After picking them, two baskets became one and a half baskets. Ye Fan said to put them aside for now and she went to the house to drink some water.

Her aunt immediately took her into the house and said there were some melons picked from the fields.

Ye Fan went in and gave her the money for yesterday's food first, "We agreed to give you 30% of the profit. This is the profit."

The eldest aunt didn't want to take the money she earned, saying that she wanted to buy popsicles for Dabao and Erbao. Ye Fan stuffed it into her hands and said, "There are too few vegetables. Ask your relatives to pick two and a half baskets to make four baskets. There will be more varieties. Tomorrow, I will buy them at the price of the purchasing station, and I will return 30% of the money from the sale of vegetables to you and your uncles. If you can't finish the ones that are not good in quality, pack them up and I will take them away to give to those who buy more."

In fact, last night and this morning, someone asked Aunt Ye Fan if she would come. Because Geng Zhiye was not a nephew of the Yu family, Aunt Ye Fan did not dare to order her nephew and his wife to come, so she said she didn't know and it depends on Ye Fan's mood.

Hearing that she could give an explanation to relatives and neighbors and help them make money, my aunt was very happy and said, "Fanfan, take a rest for a while, I'll go ask."

Ye Fan wasn't tired from driving and it was cool outside, so he went out with her.

When the villagers outside heard that they still needed vegetables, they asked Yu's aunt to go to their house to pick them.

In the end, Ye Fan took away four baskets of vegetables, half a frame of crooked melons and cracked dates, two buckets of various river fish, and a bucket of crabs tied with straw ropes.

When they arrived at the place where the stall was set up yesterday, the old men and women came over, and the children also gathered around to watch the fun. Ye Fan gave the crooked fruits and vegetables that his aunt had given him to the children.

The old men and women who bought crabs, fish and vegetables got a handful of green onions, or a handful of amaranth that the farmers had enough of, or wood ear vegetables and fennel.

The old men and women liked Ye Fan more and more. When they met neighbors when delivering vegetables to his home, they would remind them to go buy some quickly.

When Ye Fan was closing his stall, an old lady pulled Ye Fan aside and asked quietly, "Are there eggs in the countryside?"

Not expecting this, Ye Fan was stunned for a moment before answering: "I have to ask. Chicken eggs and duck eggs are easy to sell. They can be sold at the agricultural and sideline products purchasing station. They may not be available."

"You ask. Just ask the same price as the supply and marketing cooperative. Auntie won't ask you to go cheaper."

Ye Fan nodded: "I'll ask tomorrow." The weather was hot, and the villagers were afraid that the eggs would go bad, so they didn't dare to store them. It took more than a dozen families to collect 100 eggs. Ye Fan drove very carefully, so he didn't arrive at the stall until almost six this time.

The uncles and aunts were well-informed and said that Ye Fan must have bought eggs since he came so late.

Ye Fan took the eggs from the basket and the aunt squeezed over. Ye Fan quickly reminded her: "The eggs raised in the countryside are big and small, so don't sell them individually. We weigh them by kilogram. They are all eggs from the past two days."

The eggs came in all shapes and sizes, and the aunties knew at a glance that they were not just eggs laid by a few hens, so they believed what Ye Fan said. But they still pushed forward, because there was no limit on the fresh eggs, and some people wanted five kilograms.

As soon as the person who wanted five kilograms finished speaking, the old men and women pushed him aside and asked Ye Fan to weigh one kilogram and then carefully put it in the basket they brought.

In the summer, there was too much food in the countryside to eat. The pigs wouldn't grow fat if they were fed to them, and the vegetables couldn't be dried for the winter, so they were all given to Ye Fan. Ye Fan was not stingy either, and the old men and women who bought eggs also got a handful of amaranth or black fungus.

The uncles and aunts were very happy.

Geng Zhiqin and Geng Huihui were also very happy. They could get 10% every day, so they were very active and never asked Ye Fan to do any work when they got home.

In the evening, Geng Zhiye asked: "Ye Fanfan, are you tired?"

"To be honest, I'm not tired. I went to the village to help the uncles and aunts of the Yu family weigh and move the vegetables. When we got to the stall, Xiaoqin and Huihui helped. If I had to be tired, it was chatting with the uncles and aunts." Ye Fan was tired only by his mouth. "Have you found a house?"

Geng Zhiye nodded: "Three. I didn't expect someone would actually sell their ancestral home."

"Chen Xiaohui said her classmate's relative was going to sell his house and go abroad, so I expected that more people would want to run away this year."

Geng Zhiye: "If you have a chance, will you go out?"

"Going out to play?"

Geng Zhiye: “Settle down!”

Ye Fan sneered, "I can walk around freely in the capital, but you want to be someone's grandson outside? You must be crazy." He rolled his eyes at Geng Zhiye.

Dabao and Erbao giggled.

Geng Zhiye asked: "Why aren't you two sleeping yet?"

The two children were lying on their parents' bed playing, and Geng Zhiye didn't know what they were playing. Dabao sat up and said, "It's not nine o'clock yet."

Geng Zhiye picked him up and threw him into his nephew's room, then came back to grab his daughter and threw her to Geng Huihui. Geng Zhiye closed the door and lay down next to Ye Fan, "When are you going to check it out?"

"Have you negotiated the price?"

Geng Zhiye: "We negotiated the price you mentioned last time, but they thought it was too little, saying that it was a lot before the founding of the People's Republic of China. I was too lazy to argue with them. Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, when Chiang Kai-shek was in power, what was money? Even ghost money is more valuable than the money he printed!"

The reform and opening up has been going on for less than two years, and the special economic zone is not in the capital. People with stable jobs are waiting for housing, and people who are idle in society have no money. Ye Fan is not worried about the soaring housing prices for the time being: "Let's take a look tomorrow morning. If the furniture is worth a few hundred yuan more, I'll take it. If it's a few thousand more, forget it. Bring your documents and passbook, and we'll transfer the ownership after we agree."

"So urgent?"

Ye Fan: "You decorate. After the 20th, you go to school to report. What if you stay in school directly? I will decorate?"

Geng Zhiye laughed angrily: "You are really good at planning, Ye Fanfan."

"Is my home your home?"

Geng Zhiye hugged her and said, "I'll do the decoration, okay?"

"Go to bed!" Ye Fan signaled him to turn off the lights.

Geng Zhiye had to take care of three children by himself and look at houses. He was so tired that he only slept half an hour longer than usual during his nap, so he had no mood to bother her.

Silent all night.

In the morning, Geng Zhiqin and Geng Huihui were washing clothes. Ye Fan asked Benben to keep an eye on Dabao and Erbao, while she and Geng Zhiye went to look at houses.

Yu Wentao and the other kids went to play outside the door, leaving Geng Zhiqin and Geng Huihui alone in the yard. She asked quietly, "How much money did you make?"

Geng Zhiqin rolled his eyes at her. Yu Wentao patted her on the back and said, "I don't want yours."

"It's not much. Eggplant, peppers, and beans are cheap, while fish, crabs, and eggs are expensive. But there are more vegetables than fish and eggs, and the crabs are almost gone."

Yu Wentao went to the vegetable market every day to know the vegetable prices. She calculated the price herself, minus the gas and car rental fees, and said, "It's not that much. So what's your third sister-in-law doing?"

"We don't have any salary, so every penny we can earn is good." Geng Zhiqin said, "Can you give us half of your pension?"

Yu Wentao stood up and watched her grandchildren to make sure they didn't run onto the main road.

Geng Huihui made a face at her grandmother's back: "The old lady is so stingy!"

Geng Zhiqin nodded: "She is so stingy! Your grandfather's salary for these years has been in her hands. When your uncle and aunt wanted to look at a house, she didn't even offer to give them 2,000 yuan for emergency."

"My uncle and aunt are rich, right?"

Geng Zhiqin: "They have money and they won't ask for her money. What's wrong with her saying a polite word? She is petty! Don't blame Aunt Tao for being annoying. If Aunt Tao knew, instead of giving your aunt one or two thousand, she would also say that she paid for the TV, fan and refrigerator."

"Maybe that's what grandma planned."

Geng Zhiqin shook his head: "Just wait. Unless she envies others for having it, and your aunt doesn't have it at home, she said she would pay for it herself."

"Then you can also pull the things here over."

Geng Zhiqin suddenly realized: "How could I forget, if we move over there, we won't need the things here. Your grandma will definitely say, 'Fanfan, I didn't pay for your house, so I'll give you all these fans and rice cookers at home.'" He sighed, "It's still my mom."

Geng Huihui was amused by her aunt and laughed. Only her own daughter dared to be so rude.

Let’s talk about Geng Zhiye and Ye Fan. Ye Fan didn’t want to worry about the decoration, and Geng Zhiye didn’t want to worry about it either, so he first called the landlord on a public phone and took Ye Fan to the one with all the furniture.

The family lived in Dongcheng, farther away than Ye Fan and Geng Zhiye. They took the bus to the place and waited at the door for about ten minutes. Then a woman of medium build in her forties came.

The female comrade came up to look at Ye Fan and asked Geng Zhiye, "Your spouse? You two don't look like educated youth."

Ye Fan said nonsense: "I have been back to the city for several years."

"Can the educated youth afford to buy houses?" the female comrade curled her lips.

Ye Fan: "My parents' money and his parents' money. My family's old house and his family's old house were all given to his brother and my brother."

"No wonder." The female comrade pushed open the door, and saw knee-high weeds in the yard. "No one has lived here for more than ten years. But the walls are solid and the house doesn't leak. I often ask my head of the household to come and take a look."

Probably because they had been cleaned up temporarily, there was no dust on the doors and windows, but the color was old and looked dark red.

The female comrade opened the door of the east wing first. "The house here is a little longer than the one under the imperial city. There is an alley between the three wing rooms and the main house facing north and south. There is also an open space at the south end of the wing rooms. We used to grow vegetables and flowers on the open space. But it's all old news now."

Ye Fan went in and found that the two rooms were connected. The outer room opposite the door was like a living room for entertaining friends. Against the east wall was a Luohan bed with a square table on the bed. Against the north wall was a desk and behind the desk was a bookshelf. Both the desk and the bookshelf were empty.

The wall between the outer room and the inner room is actually a display cabinet with a round door in the middle. Opposite the round door against the south wall is a step-out bed. There is a long table under the west window, which may have been used to place vases or ornaments. There is a wardrobe on the north wall. There is nothing on the bed and the long table, and the wardrobe must be empty as well.

Before Ye Fan could ask, the female comrade stepped over the round door and opened the closet. It was indeed empty. The female comrade said, "It used to be my brother's room. My brother took all the valuables with him before he left with my father. The single room next door belongs to my eldest sister, and the layout inside is the same as this bedroom."

Having said that, she still opened the door and asked Ye Fan to take a look.

Opposite the owner's eldest sister's bedroom is the kitchen. The owner opened the kitchen door and said, "I took the pot away. The small items are all there. My husband's family has them. It's not worth it to break them." He opened the cupboard and found that "tableware is actually old, but it's from the late Qing Dynasty." He pointed to some bamboo weavings and said, "They are also old items."

Ye Fan: "Can the two rooms next door also be occupied?"

The female comrade closed the cupboard and took them to the next door. "This was originally my mother's and my house."

Ye Fan wondered why her mother didn't live in the main house.

The layout of these two rooms is similar to the young master's room opposite, but the furniture is obviously not as good as that one. The one over there looks like mahogany, while the one here looks like elm. There are also many small furniture in the room, including a desk for writing, a dressing table, round stools, and so on.

Ye Fan took a quick look and found that the furniture was usable and there was no sign of water seepage on the wall, so he went to check the main room.

The female comrade opened the main room. There was a long table against the north wall, a square table under the long table, and chairs on both sides of the square table. It was very similar to the outer room of the young master's room.

Ye Fan walked in. There was a wooden carved hollow wall between the living room and the east room. To the east of the wooden wall was the bedroom. A step-out bed was placed against the east wall, a desk and a chair were placed under the window on the south wall, and a wardrobe was placed against the north wall.

There is also a display case between the living room and the west room. There is a step-out bed under the window on the south wall. There is a large square table and a bench on the north wall, which seems to be a dining area. There is a cabinet on the west wall, which seems to be a cabinet for the family's treasures.

Seeing Ye Fan staring at the cabinet on the west wall, the female comrade opened the cabinet, and there were indeed many things inside. The female landlord took them out one by one, "These vases and porcelains are from the late Qing Dynasty, and they are not worth much. The pen holder belongs to my brother and sister, and there are also these miscellaneous jade carvings and inkstones. They told me that they are all good things. They really thought I had never seen good things. My father also said that they should not be sold unless it is absolutely necessary. He was reluctant to leave me any of the silver spoons, silver bowls, calligraphy and paintings, and jade pendants in the house. If these things were valuable, wouldn't they take them away? Look at this pen holder, it can be taken away by just shoving it anywhere, how much space does it take up."

Ye Fan took the pen holder and took a look at it.

Female comrade: "The carving is very good, but it can't compare to jade."

Ye Fan thought that bamboo carvings made by famous artists were more valuable than fine jade, and cultural relics were sometimes valuable not only for the materials, but also for the humanities and history. However, Ye Fan did not want to point this out, so he smiled silently when he gave it to her.

The female comrade thought Ye Fan didn't like her nagging: "Let's not talk about this. Just give me a price. I won't lie to you. The furniture in the room and in my brother and sister's room are all red wood. The furniture in my room is not valuable, so I'll give it to you."

Ye Fan: "You name a price. If I do, you will definitely scold me."

The female comrade asked: "How much do you think is appropriate?"

Ye Fan stretched out two fingers.

The lesbian exclaimed, "Eight thousand? Do you know how much these furniture alone are worth?"

Ye Fan smiled and nodded: "I heard from the older generation. But if someone buys something, it's valuable. If you can't sell it, gold is worthless. For example, in 1960, how many kilograms of rice could one ounce of gold exchange for? How much rice can it exchange for now?"

The female comrade couldn't help but sigh, because what Ye Fan said made sense.

"But I'm waiting for the money."

Ye Fan: "My son is getting married?"

The lesbian nodded.

Ye Fan couldn't help but ask: "You're selling your house to marry a wife?"

"My in-laws have a house that is more spacious than this one. My parents-in-law are gone now, and my sister-in-law is going abroad. I said I would give them 6,000 yuan and the house would belong to me."

Ye Fan asked: "Whose name is the property in?"

"I am the head of the family. My parents-in-law asked us to live with our two families. She won't leave unless we pay her. I can't chase her away."

Ye Fan: "Tell your son and daughter-in-law to get the marriage certificate and live in the company dormitory first. If you don't plan to go out, their family won't be able to stand you. If you can hold your temper, you can get rid of them with 3,000 yuan. Oh, and ask her and her husband to accompany you to notarize the marriage, so that they won't come back and blame you if they can't make it out there."

The female comrade smiled and said, "You have to add some points for giving me advice."

"You don't need so much money to marry a daughter-in-law." Ye Fan continued, "Why not say the house is shabby and sell it for five or six thousand. Didn't you just say your father didn't leave you anything good? I'll give you the money and you can go to a thrift store to buy something. You can buy a good piece of jade for a hundred yuan. When you are old, you can give it to whoever is filial to you. If you spend all your money on your daughter-in-law now, she might ask you to get out if you have conflicts with her in the future."

The lesbian still shook her head.

Ye Fan sighed, "These mahogany furniture in your house are worthless. My sister bought a few pieces before, but my mother was about to throw them away. If our house wasn't so spacious and we have two children, a boy and a girl, who can't live together, we could have held out for another two years and waited for my wife's company to allocate a house."

The lesbian was surprised: "You have a younger sister?"

Ye Fan nodded: "My wife also has a younger sister, who is in her twenties and has no partner. Otherwise, we wouldn't have to move out."

Geng Zhiye, who hadn't said a word the whole time, said, "Let's go take a look at the back. There are five main rooms over there. Although there are no furniture and the house is not as well maintained as here, it can be bought for twelve thousand."

The female comrade thought he said that on purpose and couldn't help but laugh: "Why are you comparing prices like you're buying vegetables?"

Geng Zhiye asked: "You lived here before you got married? Then you must know the family behind." Then he said the other person's name.

The female comrade was stunned for a moment.

Geng Zhiye saw this and knew that she knew him.

The lesbian knew that she had run into the old lady not long ago, and she said she regretted not leaving with her father, brother, and sister 20 years ago. The lesbian had no good feelings towards the foreigners who had burned, killed, and looted in the capital before, and she refused to leave, so her father left the house and the rubbish in it to her.

Lesbian: "That old lady is leaving?"

Geng Zhiye nodded: "There is also a family in the southeast corner who wants to sell. They say that this family has overseas connections. If the revolution is revived, he will suffer again. Have you suffered before?"

The female comrade shook her head and said, "My old man is smart. He said that the proletariat is the master of the family. In order to stabilize the regime in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, he would also give preferential treatment to workers, so he married me to a worker. My father-in-law's ancestors were craftsmen. The house was saved up bit by bit, not obtained by exploiting the working people. And because there are several brothers and sisters in the family, the neighbors did not dare to bully us in those ten years."

Ye Fan: "We won't hide it from you. After we buy a big house, our son won't have to buy a house when he gets married."

The lesbian in-laws' courtyard has five main rooms alone, so their grandson won't have to buy a house when he gets married in the future, so she believed Ye Fan's words, "But who would believe me if I told others that I sold it for five or six thousand yuan?"

Ye Fan: "Aren't you in a hurry to give money to your sister-in-law? If your sister-in-law asks, just say you are in a hurry to use the money and it is impossible to sell it at a high price. Unless by chance, the other party is also in a hurry."

(End of this chapter)