Back to 1984: Earning Money, Raising Kids, and Keeping the Household Busy

Chapter 108 Self-Planning
The last one is located on the side of the road leading to Qingyun Temple.

Although this place is not in the city center, Qingyun Temple is still quite popular. The houses here are neither too expensive nor too cheap. A farmhouse courtyard costs more than 2,000 yuan, and you can renovate it yourself.

If they buy houses in all four locations, it will cost around 12,000, which the couple can easily afford.

When Chen Wenjun finished his work and came back, Lin Qin told him about it.

“I think the houses in these four places are all pretty good. The three shops in the city can be given to the three children, one for each of them. We can renovate the farmhouse near Qingyun Temple ourselves, turn the front into a shop, and live in the back. We can also build a courtyard around it. Most importantly, the house is by the water, and it doesn’t even take us five minutes to get there by boat. What do you think?”

Chen Wenjun met Lin Qin's expectant gaze and smiled brightly, "You manage all the money. Buy wherever you want; your judgment is impeccable."

Lin Qin blushed slightly and mumbled an explanation: "I was just thinking about things when I had nothing to do, how did that make me have good taste?"

Chen Wenjun sidled up to Lin Qin, getting very close to her, and teased her with suggestive breaths in her ear, "If you had bad taste, would you have married me?"

Lin Qin paused for a moment before realizing what was happening, then chuckled and playfully punched Chen Wenjun lightly, "Narcissistic!"

Chen Wenjun's gaze was intense as he looked at Lin Qin, but he dared not be too forward because of her pregnancy. He immediately changed the subject, saying, "If you're bored at home, you can go to Friendship Square and find your good friend Zhang Shujuan. You can learn to sew clothes from her. There will be someone to talk to you there, and you can also make some clothes for yourself and your child."

"Once you've learned how to sew, we'll buy a sewing machine for the family. Then you can make any clothes you want."

Lin Qin hadn't taken Chen Wenjun's words to heart at first, but after Chen Wenjun left, she started to think about it carefully and found the idea increasingly appealing.

People say that prenatal education is very important, so she can take the opportunity to enroll in a literacy class, go to school, and then go to Zhang Shujuan's place as an apprentice when she has free time. Her life can be fulfilling.

Just do it.

The next day, Lin Qin went to the city to find a literacy class.

At this time, literacy classes are usually held in the evenings or on weekends, with very few working hours. Only senior citizen universities hold classes during their regular working hours, and there is only one class at a time.

Lin Qin signed up for the class without thinking, thinking that there would be few people coming to learn literacy at this time, but she didn't expect the whole classroom to be almost full.

Most of the people here who are teaching literacy are elderly people in their fifties and sixties. They are really diligent and hardworking. Young people are actually in the minority. I guess everyone is busy making money.

She was a transfer student, but fortunately she had some basic knowledge, so she didn't fall behind.

After attending the literacy class for two consecutive days, Lin Qin finally adapted to the pace of the class before telling her family about it.

When Chen Wenjun found out, he brought back another bicycle the next day, so Lin Qin wouldn't have to walk to class every day.

With this bicycle, Lin Qin can finally put learning sewing on her agenda.

The scorching summer sun couldn't dampen her enthusiasm for learning.

Moreover, with a bicycle, Lin Qin could negotiate the purchase of a storefront all by herself.

Originally, the four properties were priced at around 12,000, but she bargained and managed to get the price down to 1,000. When she finally received the property certificates, Lin Qin was overjoyed. The first thing she did after leaving the Land Bureau was to buy a bunch of delicious food to celebrate with everyone.

As she passed by the vicinity of the Municipal Experimental Primary School, she thought about it and decided to go and wait for her child to get out of school together.

I happened to see a large advertisement for summer training courses hanging on the storefront outside the school gate.

Lin Qin's attention was instantly drawn to the billboard banner. Coming back to her senses, she quickly took out a pen and paper from her bag and carefully wrote down the address on it.

The bell rang shortly after. Lin Qin kept her eyes fixed on the school gate; before the child even came out, Lin Yi had already arrived.

Just as she opened her mouth, she saw her two children running towards Lin Yi.

The three generations of the family, heads bowed, chatted and laughed as they got on their bicycles and rode very fast.

Lin Qin abandoned her plan to call them and turned to look for that address.

If they can enroll students at the Municipal Experimental Primary School, the address can't be too far away.

Lin Qin asked a few people and found a small Western-style building.

She hesitated, unsure whether to go over and ask, but the woman trimming the greenery in the yard noticed her first and asked, "Is there anything I can help you with?"

Lin Qin quickly read the address on the paper aloud, "Excuse me, is this a talent training class?"

The woman's eyes lit up. She threw down the large scissors she was holding and excitedly came to open the door. "Yes, yes, yes! Are you a parent?"

Lin Qin nodded, then smiled somewhat awkwardly, "I wanted to ask what kind of training you offer here?"

The woman immediately and warmly invited Lin Qin inside, saying, "My surname is Bai, my name is Bai Linlin, and I am also the head of the training institution."

As they spoke, Lin Qin followed the woman into the hall and immediately spotted the striking piano. Next to the piano, a violin hung on the wall, and on the floor were a cello, a saxophone, a tuba, a trumpet, an accordion, and other Western musical instruments.

On the other side are antique-style instruments such as the guzheng, pipa, erhu, bamboo flute, long flute, and xiao.

These are the instruments Lin Qin recognizes, but there are also some niche instruments that Lin Qin doesn't recognize at all.

Bai Linlin invited Lin Qin to sit down and handed her a booklet to look at. "May I ask your name?"

"My surname is Lin."

Bai Linlin greeted her warmly, "Sister Lin, what special skills do you plan to cultivate for your child? Now that China is reforming and opening up, children in first-tier cities start learning various talents at a very young age. Our An City is relatively small, and we are currently the only training institution here. You could say that we have any talent you can think of."

Lin Qin was surprised by Bai Linlin's tone and subconsciously asked, "Do you have all the traditional arts of playing the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting?"

Bai Linlin's smile deepened, and she nodded heavily, saying, "Of course! As you can see, we have a large number of musical instruments here, and there are even some rare instruments with teachers, but they are not displayed."

The calligraphy classes include both pen and brush calligraphy, taught by a retired calligraphy professor whose skill is beyond question. The painting classes include sketching, Chinese painting, and oil painting, taught by top students from an art academy, whose abilities are also exceptional.

Lin Qin became increasingly surprised as she listened. "I was thinking you were art students who started a training institution?"

Now it was Bai Linlin's turn to be shocked. "Sister Lin, you're amazing! You figured that out!"

Bai Linlin said somewhat shyly, "Actually, I studied art, majoring in piano and violin. I studied abroad for a few years and just graduated this year. I returned to China and teach musical instruments at Anshi Normal College. It's summer vacation now, and I figured I had nothing to do anyway, so I thought I'd start a training institution. It would also be a good opportunity to find part-time jobs for the art students at the college."

By the way, here is my information. If you have any doubts, you can inquire at the teachers' college.

Lin Qin could tell at a glance that Bai Linlin was an ambitious young woman who was inexperienced in the ways of the world, so she naturally did not doubt her words.

They then inquired about some fees and course arrangements before leaving.

(End of this chapter)