People in the alley: A woman dressed as a man shouldn't be foolishly filial, Zhuang Chaoying

Chapter 373 Two Residences Outside the East Gate of Suzhou

The next day, Zhuang Chaoying and Huang Ling took leave and went with A-Quan to look at houses, intending to buy them directly if they were suitable.

Unexpectedly, Engineer Lin and Song Ying also went along.

Huang Ling looked at Song Ying with surprise. "Song Ying, you and Engineer Lin are also planning to..."

Song Ying looked at her and nodded. "Sister Ling, Wu Feng and I trust Teacher Zhuang's decision."

Lin Wufeng discussed this matter with Song Ying when he got home last night. "Song Ying, Teacher Zhuang wants to buy a house in the eastern suburbs of Suzhou."

Song Ying paused while wiping her face, then immediately sat down next to Wu Feng. "Why buy a house in the countryside? What's the point of going to that godforsaken place? Wu Feng, does Teacher Zhuang have too much money to burn?"

Lin Wufeng put down his mechanical engineering textbook. "Song Ying, I think Professor Zhuang must have his reasons for buying the house. Housing is very scarce in the city now, and if you want to improve your living conditions, you have to build an apartment building."

Song Ying immediately spread the face cream evenly and then leaned closer to him. "Wu Feng, how about our family buys a house? I'm getting a little anxious about the rising prices."

After saying that, he quickly went to the cabinet to get their family's bankbook and looked through the handwritten numbers. "Our family has 96,000 yuan now, Wu Feng."

Lin Wufeng took the savings book. "Then let's buy a house, then take out 30,000 yuan to buy gold, and keep the rest for family emergencies. Dongzhe is graduating from university and doesn't know where he wants to work yet. Once he decides, we'll buy him a house."

Song Ying looked at the numbers on the bankbook. "Wu Feng, I really can't believe it! Our family used to have to save up for a whole year just to buy a TV series, and now we have so much money. I, Song Ying, am so lucky!"

Lin Wufeng put his arm around her shoulder. "We're both lucky."

. . . . . . . . .

Three motorcycles, five people, and two bags of luggage set off for Jinku Village.

After leaving Xiangmen, the dirt road was a bit dusty, and dust flew up as the motorcycle passed by. We arrived at Jinku Village.

After viewing the house, Zhuang Chaoying and her two brothers solemnly signed the sales agreement at the village committee office and affixed the bright red official seal.

Huang Ling readily took out two hundred yuan from her bag and stuffed it into A Quan's hand. "A Quan, thanks! Consider this money as a treat from your brother and sister-in-law for your meal."

Ah Quan didn't refuse and took the money directly into his pocket. He thought to himself that he had indeed owed a lot of favors to get this done, and this money would be perfect for repaying those favors and treating people to a meal.

To Zhuang Chaoying's surprise, Engineer Lin also bought a two-story house not far from their home for 15,000 yuan. It was larger than the house he had bought and belonged to an older man who was going to Shenzhen to live with his son. So he sold the house.

When they came out of the village committee office, holding the file fee in their hands, Zhuang Chaoying patted Lin Gong on the shoulder. "Lin Gong, I don't know if we've made the right move."

Lin Wufeng reached out and patted his waist, looking at the neatly arranged paddy fields. "Teacher Zhuang, we trust your decision. I think it won't be long before these paddy fields are filled with buildings."

Turning these low-lying areas into buildings? That's just a pipe dream!

But seeing Zhuang Chaoying and Engineer Lin's confident demeanor, A-Quan swallowed back the words he was about to say.

The group mounted their motorcycles, the engines roared to life, and they sped off towards the city. The future of Jinku Village was just beginning.

Back home, Huang Ling put the sales agreement and land use certificate into the metal box in the wardrobe. Even after buying the house, Huang Ling still didn't understand why Chao Ying wanted to leave the city and buy a house in the countryside. This place was just outside the city gates, all paddy fields and low-lying areas, nothing there. In her opinion, this place was no better than the city environment.

This metal box now holds four courtyards.

She locked the metal box, put it back in the cabinet, and sat down next to Zhuang Chaoying.

"Chaoying, house prices are ridiculously high these days. Even in the suburbs, they're going for 13,000 yuan a month. The two houses we live in now cost less than 10,000 yuan a month in total. Are you planning to retire and live in the countryside? Let me make this clear: I don't want to go. I want to stay in the city."

Zhuang Chaoying put down her pen, turned around, rested her arm on the back of the chair, and patiently explained, "Ah Ling, this is actually a kind of investment. Do you remember the Yunyao Ancient City that Tu Nan went to before?"

Huang Ling rested her chin on her hand, recalling. "Of course I remember. They said they were going to protect ancient buildings. Tu Nan was gone for a month, and they thought he had gone to mine coal. When he came back, he was so black he looked like he had crawled out of a coal mine."

Zhuang Chaoying looked at Huang Ling.

"Most of the buildings in our Suzhou city date back to the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China period, and there are also many from the Ming Dynasty, which also need protection. But young people who have gotten married need housing, and where in the ancient city can we find a place to build new houses?"

Huang Ling's eyes lit up, and she sat up straight. "Build houses on vacant land outside the city!"

“That’s right!” Zhuang Chaoying nodded.

“Building a new district can solve the housing problem for young people, promote urban expansion, and provide a place for factories to set up shop. I think the vacant land in the east of the city has huge potential and will definitely see great development in the future. At that time, our two houses may be able to be exchanged for many apartments. You can rent them out or sell them if you want.”

That vacant lot in the east of Suzhou will become the most successful Suzhou Economic Development Zone in the future. He has caught up with the dividends of the times. There are no clear regulations yet that say urban residents cannot buy rural homesteads, so he has taken advantage of the time gap.

. . . . .

In late December, just before New Year's Day, a sudden outbreak of hepatitis A swept through Shanghai.

Previously, the blood clams consumed by Shanghai residents were all transported from coastal cities. However, Qidong, the local area, had a bumper harvest of blood clams, so gradually they stopped importing them from outside.

Unexpectedly, the culprit was the blood clam. Due to pollution from human and animal excrement, not only was the water quality damaged, causing the Qidong blood clam to become contaminated, but the transport vehicles had also previously carried excrement, further exacerbating the pollution.

Many citizens who consumed blood clams unfortunately contracted hepatitis A, plunging the entire city into a tense atmosphere.

Due to the impact of the pandemic, the business of selling plastic bags had to come to a standstill.

Despite this, Pengfei still managed to save up a considerable amount of money during this period.

He mailed 500 yuan home, and to put his parents at ease, he specifically explained in the letter that he had earned the money by working part-time selling plastic bags.

In addition, he picked out a new leather briefcase for his eldest uncle, bought a cashmere sweater for his aunt, a beautiful wool scarf for Xiaoting, and two thermos cups for Tunan and Dongzhe.

After the final exams, the school was on holiday, and the group of them agreed to take a bus back together.

Zhang Wanqing registered a day later than Pengfei. Her parents took her to school, and Zhang Wanshu went to Jiaotong University to see her younger sister off, so she never met Pengfei.

When the two met at the entrance of the bus station.

Pengfei looked at Sister Wanshu in surprise, then at his classmate Zhang Wanqing, and suddenly slapped his forehead. "Oh dear, how could I not have thought of that? Wanshu, Wanqing, it's just one character different, you're Sister Wanshu's sister."

Zhang Wanqing linked arms with her sister and extended her other hand confidently. "Hello, Xiang Pengfei, it's nice to meet you for the second time."

Xiang Pengfei smiled and nodded, then reached out and gently touched her fingertips. "Hello, Zhang Wanqing."

. . . . . . .