Reborn as an 80s-aged woman, her unfilial son begs for forgiveness on his knees.

After hearing this, Zhang Wenying did some mental calculations and realized that a little over 30,000 yuan wasn't exactly cheap.

Although she doesn't have that much money on hand right now, she still earns money every month.

These courtyards will need to be repaired for at least a few months, by which time she should have enough money to cover the costs.

Zhang Wenying nodded and said, "Young comrade, the materials for the addition to my yard don't need to be too good, as long as they don't collapse."

The houses around here can be built with corrugated iron roofs; nothing too fancy.

Even if it's built beautifully, it'll be demolished next year anyway, so why waste the money?

Upon hearing this, Liu Wendong was slightly taken aback, then smiled and said, "Auntie, what you said is very true."

However, although tin-roofed houses are cheap, their roofs are easily blown off during strong winds.

I suggest you use asbestos roofing sheets. They're not much more expensive than sheet metal, but they're sturdy, durable, and give you peace of mind.

It's just too noisy, making a loud pattering sound when it rains, and it doesn't insulate against heat or cold.

But that's their business, and he can't interfere too much.

He just needs to do his job well and make sure no one finds fault with it.

Zhang Wenying waved her hand and laughed, "Asbestos tiles it is, you can decide what to do."

Anyway, no one lives in this house; it's just for storing odds and ends. As long as it's presentable, it's fine.

Liu Wendong nodded, took out a blue notebook from his canvas bag, turned to a blank page, and quickly drew a simple layout diagram with a pencil. As he drew, he explained to Zhang Wenying: "Auntie, you see, these twelve courtyards are arranged in two rows, with six houses in each row."

We will build each courtyard with houses back to back, so that each row of six courtyards will form three sets of back-to-back structures.

Since you don't want to renovate too much, we happen to have some old bricks and tiles left over from demolishing old houses nearby. I can give you a reasonable price.

I'll reduce the labor and material costs for each courtyard to under 1800 yuan. Is that acceptable to you?

This aunt is so strange; she's using money to repair houses in the south of the city.

The houses here are almost all stolen.

Also, she doesn't live in the house after it's been repaired. What is she trying to do?

Zhang Wenying didn't explain much, but simply took out a few neatly folded banknotes from her pocket, counted them, and handed them over: "This is a deposit of one thousand yuan. I'll pay you the remaining eight hundred yuan on the day we start work."

Liu Wendong took the money, counted it carefully twice, and checked the watermark against the light to make sure it was correct. Only then did he put the money into his inner pocket, take out a pen, write a receipt in his notebook, tear it off, and hand it to Zhang Wenying: "Auntie, this is the receipt. Please keep it safe."

The notice stated that a deposit of 1,000 yuan had been received from Ms. Zhang Wenying for the renovation project of twelve courtyards in the southern part of the city.

"Rest assured, I and my brothers will try our best to complete these twelve courtyards within four months."

Zhang Wenying did some quick calculations.

"It would be best if it could be completed within three months."

"About three and a half months, I'll try my best to get ahead."

When Li Xiaojuan heard that her mother was going to put money into that courtyard, she was completely distraught.

Is Mom possessed by an evil spirit?

Although she and her mother earn money easily, they shouldn't waste it like this.

She was trying her best to stop her mother from making a mistake.

"Mom, that house is so dilapidated, and that place is so unsafe, why do you want to repair it?"

"It would be better to keep the money and buy another shop in the city to open a branch; that would be a more practical thing to do."

It's better to put it in the bank and earn interest than to leave it in some lousy place.

Zhang Wenying glanced at her daughter, her eyes filled with a certainty that Li Xiaojuan couldn't decipher.

She didn't answer directly, but simply put the remaining banknotes back in their place, then gently patted her daughter's hand, her tone calm yet undeniable: "Juan'er, there are some things I can't explain to you right now, but you'll understand in a few days."

Mom knows what she's doing and won't waste money.

Li Xiaojuan wanted to persuade her mother again, but seeing her mother's confident expression, she had no choice but to swallow back the words she was about to say.

Once Mom has lost all that money, she'll know how much it hurts.

Zhang Wenying, however, showed no mercy when it came to spending money.

These courtyards all bear her name.

Once she gets the housing and the money, even if others are envious, they can't do anything about it.

As for helping her daughter and older brother repair their house, that was voluntary on her part, and it was also a way of making amends to her daughter and older brother.

Once the houses in the south of the city are repaired, the compensation after the demolition will be much more than just that small amount of money and two houses.

Although my daughter is divorced, she will definitely remarry in the future.

People's hearts are fickle, especially when it comes to money.

As long as the daughter has money and a house, she can live a comfortable life even if she doesn't look for another man.

Even if the houses over there aren't demolished, once they're repaired and rented out, it will still be a stable source of income.

Zhang Wenying pondered to herself that although the southern part of the city looked dilapidated at the moment, the pace of urban development was very fast, and it might be included in the planning red line one day.

At that time, those twelve courtyards will be twelve money trees.

The more she thought about it, the more she felt that the money was well spent.

Recently, an old man has been coming to eat at the restaurant quite often.

After finishing his meal, he didn't leave. He just sat in the shop and casually chatted with her.

I heard that the old man was a cadre before he retired, and he had a rather large courtyard in Wenshu Lane, which was also an old house.

The old man is fifty-six years old this year. His surname is Zhou. Before retiring, he was in charge of urban construction in the district.

Old Zhou would come to the shop every few days, order a bowl of braised pork rice, and eat slowly while chatting with Zhang Wenying about everyday matters. At first, Zhang Wenying treated him as just an ordinary customer and responded politely, but gradually she realized something was amiss—he had actually developed feelings for Zhang Wenying!

"Comrade Zhang, I see that it's not easy for you to run this shop by yourself. My yard is just sitting empty anyway. If you'd like, you can move in there."

To be honest, my wife passed away early, and in recent years all our children have gone to work in other places, leaving me all alone at home.

I don't lack money, I just lack someone to talk to.

You're a capable and reliable person; I like you from the start.

The old man's blunt words caught Zhang Wenying off guard. She put down the rag in her hand, smiled, and said in a neutral tone, "Brother Zhou, I have never thought about remarrying in this life."

I appreciate your kind gesture. At our age, whether we have a spouse or not, we should just live our own lives well.

"Excuse me, Brother Zhou, you're welcome to dine at my restaurant, but we won't go into anything else."

After Zhang Wenying finished speaking, she turned around to greet other guests, her attitude polite but with obvious distance.

Old Zhou wasn't annoyed. He just smiled, picked up the bowl, ate the last bite of braised pork rice, wiped his mouth, and said slowly, "No rush, no rush."

There's plenty of time, take your time to think it over, I won't rush you.

I like the braised pork rice at this shop, and I'll come here often in the future." After saying that, he got up, put his hands behind his back, and strolled out of the shop.