240: Chapter 236 New Home 240: Chapter 236 New Home Five million yuan, for someone who can only earn a few yuan a day, was a truly astronomical figure that was staggering to hear.
When Chen Zhonghua saw his son, Chen Hai, mentioning five million with such a nonchalant demeanor, he opened his mouth but ultimately no sound emerged.
In his eyes, having five million in hand could get you how many wives?
But now, just for an engagement alone, his son was actually planning to spend such a huge sum of money; his heart ached to the extreme.
However, when he thought about how all this money was earned by his son and that he and Jiang Meixian hadn’t spent a penny of it,
Chen Zhonghua, even if he wanted to say something, simply did not know how to begin!
“Hai, you’ve grown up now, and you should make your own decisions about your affairs.”
“Your mom and I have been scraping a living from the soil for most of our lives and haven’t seen much of the world—we truly don’t know what it’s like out there!”
“If you feel that spending so much money to get engaged to that girl is absolutely necessary, then you see to it yourself!”
With a heart full of melancholy, Chen Zhonghua sighed.
The cigarette in his hand had just been finished when he immediately took out another and lit it up again.
Just moments ago, he and his wife, Jiang Meixian, were still feeling proud that this month’s income might exceed five hundred yuan.
But in the blink of an eye, after learning from his son that he might spend five million just to get engaged,
His feelings at this moment were so complex that even he himself struggled to find the right words to describe them.
“Head of the family, Hai, dinner’s ready…” came Jiang Meixian’s timely call from the small restaurant.
It was just two or three dishes, simply heated up, which naturally didn’t take much time.
Because the restaurant was too crowded, Jiang Meixian simply moved the small dining table outside the shop.
“Qingqing, come here, have some meat, look how skinny you are…”
According to the old generation’s thinking, girls needed to be robust to bear children, which is what Jiang Meixian originally intended to say.
Unfortunately, Chen Hai stepped on her foot hard under the table, causing her to swallow back her words.
The plate of stir-fried pork with green peppers mostly contained green peppers with hardly a few slices of meat.
Jiang Meixian’s chopsticks picked out the slightly larger and more intact pieces of meat and put them into Ye Qingqing’s bowl.
“Thank you, Auntie!” smiled Ye Qingqing, quickly expressing her thanks.
“Chen Hai, you have a big appetite, you eat the meat!” The meat that Jiang Meixian had given her, she transferred to Chen Hai’s bowl, keeping only a few slices of green pepper for herself.
The cuisine here in Xiangnan is known for its heavy use of oil and spices, a stark contrast to the milder dishes of Yuedong.
Ye Qingqing quite liked Xiang cuisine, but she really was not accustomed to eating large chunks of fatty meat.
“Auntie, your cooking is really good; these green peppers are tasty!” While picking at her rice, Ye Qingqing almost forgot to compliment Jiang Meixian.
“Like it?
Then eat more…”
Hearing this, Jiang Meixian’s mood brightened, and after a few more chopsticks’ work, the plate of stir-fried pork and green peppers was nearly empty, with most of the green peppers ending up in Ye Qingqing’s bowl.
As for the two men, Chen Hai and Chen Zhonghua, being male, had no such privileges…
There was only one meat dish and one vegetable dish, plus some pickles.
These days, with most families being poor, just having a meat dish on the table could be considered a feast.
If Chen Hai hadn’t been coming home, it would have just been Jiang Meixian and Chen Zhonghua at home.
Even now, with their financial situation having improved somewhat, their frugal habits would probably have them eating meat only every three to five days.
Apart from the few pieces of meat his girlfriend had given him, Chen Hai was at least able to pick up a few chopsticks full of green beans.
As for Chen Zhonghua, he was left with a pile of pickles to gorge on to his heart’s content.
Ye Qingqing didn’t eat much, whereas Chen Hai devoured his food like a whirlwind, at incredible speed.
In less than fifteen minutes, the two of them had finished their meal.
“Zhonghua, you haven’t been to the house we bought yet,”
“I’ll take the two of them over to see our home and tidy it up a bit.”
“Just keep an eye on the shop for me…”
Having also finished her meal, Jiang Meixian stood up and instructed her husband.
Logically, as soon as her son had come home, she should have taken them to see the house.
But since the food was already prepared, and she was worried that her son and Qingqing might be starving after their journey,
So she waited until now to bring up the matter.
“Sure, Meixian, you go ahead; I’ll watch the place here!” Chen Zhonghua nodded and agreed.
As for Chen Hai and Ye Qingqing, they naturally had no objections.
Through phone calls, Chen Hai had already learned that his family had bought a house in the county town, but what the house looked like was something he was very curious about.
Following behind his mother, Jiang Meixian, they entered the Wenchang Pavilion Community and walked for another five or six minutes.
Finally, they stopped on the second floor of a five-story building.
“This is a funded housing project, built less than seven years ago, and the house is still quite new!”
“The inside has three bedrooms, a living room, and a dining room.”
“When we bought this house, all the furniture and stuff inside was given to us by the original owner!”
“But your dad said, sleeping in a bed that someone else has slept in isn’t very auspicious.”
“In the three bedrooms, we replaced all the beds with new ones, but the cabinets, tables, and such are still the original ones!”
…
Taking out the keys, Jiang Meixian opened the front door and led Chen Hai and another person into the house, where she pointed at various items and introduced them to the two.
Other things might seem quite outdated after seven years.
But calling the seven-year-old house eighty or ninety percent new would absolutely not be an exaggeration.
After walking around the house twice, Chen Hai was fairly pleased overall.
Truth be told, whether he dropped out or not, he probably wouldn’t spend much time at his old home in Liuyuan County.
With this apartment, apart from providing a place for his parents to live, it also meant he had a foothold in the county town of his hometown.
“Mom, how much did we spend on this house?” Chen Hai casually inquired.
“One hundred and twenty-some square meters, cost nearly twenty thousand yuan.”
“That previous owner, he was ruthless.
I haggled with him at length, but he wouldn’t budge an inch.”
“If it weren’t for Hai’s repeated instructions to get a place in the county town, for one or two thousand yuan, we could have built ourselves a small western-style house in our Chenjiaping hometown!”
With a face full of dissatisfaction, Jiang Meixian muttered.
“Mom, can the houses in the county town really compare with the ones back in Chenjiaping?”
“Living in the county makes it so much easier to do anything we want!”
“By the way, have you and dad’s rural-to-urban household registration been handled?
Has it been transferred over here?”
With a chuckle, Chen Hai suddenly remembered this matter and asked.
“Yep, it’s all sorted!”
Jiang Meixian was clearly thrilled when the topic arose, and after a slight pause, she continued, “The newly appointed Mayor Qian Feng, you know him, right?”
“He has asked about you in our presence, saying he wants to find an opportunity to properly thank you.”
“This Mayor Qian is incredibly enthusiastic, a man of integrity, a good person indeed!”
“With his help, the household registration matter went very smoothly; your dad and I wanted to give him a gift, but he wouldn’t accept it.”
“During our visit to his house, when we were leaving, he even gave your dad two bottles of good wine and a pack of quality cigarettes…”
It looked like his own mother had a very high opinion of this warm-hearted and capable mayor.
Whenever Jiang Meixian mentioned Mayor Qian in front of Chen Hai, she had nothing but high praise for him.
“Qian Feng?
The new mayor?
He didn’t end up sitting in the position Liu Dagui vacated.”
“Although he missed it by a bit, he still managed to move up a step!”
“Probably, the little schemes I pulled off for him that day must have had some effect!”
Frowning slightly, Chen Hai nodded silently to himself.
The saying goes, ‘Serve as an official for one term and bring benefits to the local community.’ This Qian Feng, despite having quite a few issues, was at least very perceptive as a person!
“Mom, it’s Qingqing’s first time visiting us here; I’ll take her around for a walk!”
Meeting with Qian Feng?
Chen Hai wasn’t too interested and, feeling somewhat bored after a brief stay at home, he spoke to his mother, Jiang Meixian.
“Alright!
Just be careful, and don’t get into trouble.
If you see others fighting, stay far away and don’t accidentally get involved!”
Jiang Meixian nodded, and after seeing Ye Qingqing looking out into the distance from the balcony without paying any attention here.
She pulled Chen Hai aside, mysteriously whispered, “Hai, we have three rooms at home, and your dad and I are using one.”
“Should I clear out the other two rooms or just prepare one of them?”
Her question was not explicitly stated, but the meaning was quite clear.
She was asking her son whether he and Ye Qingqing were going to sleep together at night or in separate rooms.
“Mom, clearing out both rooms would be a bit troublesome.”
“Just tidy up the larger room in the house, make the cotton quilts and sheets, and that’ll be fine!” After a brief thought, Chen Hai chuckled and replied.
“Got it!”
The smile on her face grew a bit wider, and Jiang Meixian took another glance at Ye Qingqing on the balcony.
She nodded and approached Chen Hai, whispering, “The two of you are still studying, so remember to be careful in certain areas.”
“Got it, Mom!” Chen Hai replied promptly, understanding full well what his mother was hinting at.
Seeing his mother busying herself, Chen Hai looked at his watch.
Unbeknownst to him, it was only seven or eight minutes until eight o’clock in the evening.
“Qingqing, let’s go out and have fun!” Chen Hai called out to Ye Qingqing, who was not far away on the balcony.