Volume One, Chapter 32: Seizing This House

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“The Jia family’s uproar was all part of a plan cooked up by Yi Zhonghai and me!”

“Once they started making a scene, I went straight to Director Li at the subdistrict office. After all that commotion, there was no way the house could remain as it was.”

“When the time comes, the house will naturally belong to our family!”

Liu Haizhong’s face was full of smug satisfaction. He took another sip of water, only to find that it tasted strangely off, as though someone had tampered with it.

Liu Guangfu noticed at once that the water looked wrong, and his expression changed dramatically.

“Dad, let me get you a fresh cup. That one’s what Big Uncle left behind.”

The moment Liu Haizhong heard this, his face went deathly pale. He roared:

“Get out!”

…

The furniture factory stood in a corner on the eastern side of the courtyard compound.

It was not that the factory was unwilling to relocate. It was simply that in those days, people were still struggling to keep food in their stomachs and clothes on their backs. Where would they find spare money to buy furniture?

Thus, the area in front of the factory was deserted.

“Brother Jianshe, let’s go somewhere else. Nobody comes here. I’m afraid the furniture won’t be any good,” Chu Yan said worriedly as she gazed at the empty entrance.

After all, furnishing a home was no small expense.

Just then, the young saleswoman at the entrance noticed customers coming to look at furniture. Delight immediately bloomed across her face, and she hurried out to greet them.

“Are the two of you here to choose some furniture? This way, please. We have a wide variety inside, with all sorts of styles. Take your pick!”

She courteously led Su Jianshe and Chu Yan into the factory.

Chu Yan carefully browsed the selection, while Su Jianshe examined the furniture from the 1960s with considerable interest. Most of it looked bulky, with clumsy yet endearing designs, but it possessed a distinctive charm unique to that era.

The saleswoman was introducing a long sofa to Chu Yan.

“Take a look at this one. It’s wonderfully spacious. Even four or five people can sit on it without feeling crowded. The fabric feels excellent, and it’s exceptionally comfortable. Why not try it?”

Su Jianshe did not interrupt Chu Yan, but suddenly remembered that he had not yet obtained furniture coupons. In this era, everything from small items such as meat and candy to major purchases such as bicycles required ration coupons. Furniture was no exception.

Watching Chu Yan immerse herself in her selection, Su Jianshe smiled and decided to go home for money and furniture coupons. To him, those coupons were merely a matter of spending a little extra cash.

After saying goodbye to Chu Yan, Su Jianshe headed straight home.

“I’d better find a ruler and measure the rooms first. I don’t want to buy furniture that’s too large!”

“I should also get a few workers to move the bed and see what else is missing. I might as well buy everything in one go!”

As Su Jianshe calculated what he needed to purchase, he also considered which coupons he would have to exchange for.

“Things will be much better in the future. None of these hassles will exist anymore. I have to speed up development!”

Just then, he heard two people ahead discussing something about the courtyard compound.

“Have you heard? That fierce woman from the neighboring courtyard actually went to the subdistrict office and caused a huge scene, trying to have someone else’s house registered under her family’s name!”

“Really? How could someone else’s house possibly be given to her?”

“Who knows? But she’s already made a terrible commotion at the subdistrict office. Let’s hurry over and take a look. We’ll miss the show if we’re late.”

The two people hurried along, their voices fading in and out.

Su Jianshe’s hearing was exceptionally sharp, and he heard every word clearly.

“Is this the sort of thing those two troublemakers from the courtyard would do?”

Could it be that stubborn old woman, Jia Zhangshi?

Two figures surfaced in Su Jianshe’s mind. In the entire courtyard, only those two women could truly be called shrews.

He secretly congratulated himself. Fortunately, his younger sister had considered the matter of the house beforehand. Even if someone made a scene, it would not affect his family.

“Come on. Let’s go take a look!”

Curious, Su Jianshe ignored the saleswoman’s resentful glare, took his sister by the hand, and hurried in that direction.

He wanted to see whose house those two shrews had set their sights on.

“Could they have their eyes on Silly Zhu’s house or Liu Haizhong’s?”

“If they can’t get meat, they’ll settle for a house? Tsk, tsk.”

“With Jia Zhangshi’s temperament, that’s entirely possible!”

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“I’d like to see how they turn on each other.”

By the time Su Jianshe and Chu Yan reached the entrance of the subdistrict office, a large crowd had already gathered.

Men and women, young and old—even children—had come to watch.

After all, this was the first time anyone had caused such a disturbance at the subdistrict office.

The police station stood right beside it.

Very few people dared to act recklessly there.

Otherwise, being hauled away would bring no end of trouble.

Before Su Jianshe had even pushed his way into the crowd, he heard Jia Zhangshi’s heart-rending wails.

“Oh, heavens! You’re trying to drive us to our deaths! Five people from our family are crammed into one shabby room!”

“My son became disabled for the sake of his work, and now he doesn’t even have a room of his own. Is there any justice in this world?”

“You’re always talking about fair distribution, but where is the fairness for our family?”

“Somebody help us! Come and see for yourselves!”

A young woman with pleasant features stepped forward, attempting to stop her.

The onlookers, meanwhile, all retreated. Clearly, none of them wished to become entangled in the dispute.

Jia Zhangshi was a notorious shrew throughout the neighborhood. No one wanted to get involved with such an unreasonable woman.

“Comrade, please don’t make this difficult for me. That room has already been registered, and it never belonged to you in the first place.”

“You’re talking nonsense! I’ve already found out everything. That little brat’s family never registered it,” Jia Zhangshi snarled. “If you don’t register the house under our family’s name, I’ll make sure you regret it. Believe me, I’ll lie down right outside your home!”

The young woman’s eyes reddened with anxiety.

“How can you behave like this? Even if it had not been registered, regulations require waiting half a month. If you continue making trouble, I’ll call the police station!”

Jia Zhangshi, lying on the ground, let out a cold laugh and began cursing even more brazenly.

“Girl, I haven’t done anything to you. I’m merely lying here and talking to you. Even if you call the police, what can they do to me?”

“Is there any rule saying people aren’t allowed to lie on the ground and talk?”

Jia Zhangshi seemed thoroughly familiar with police regulations.

At that moment, she was lying some fifty meters from the subdistrict office.

Even if the police arrived, they would have difficulty finding grounds to punish her.

They could not even determine that she was disrupting the order of the subdistrict office, since she was not actually lying at its entrance.

That was precisely why the experienced staff at the office had sent this young woman to deal with her.

“There really is nothing I can do!” The young woman’s eyes were red, yet she still could not bring herself to take that step.

“The house has already been registered. Regulations require waiting fifteen days before it can be transferred, and an application must also be submitted!”

At this, Jia Zhangshi immediately began shouting abuse.

“Nonsense! Our family is already in dire straits. Can’t you make an exception?”

“Let me tell you, we have someone bedridden with paralysis. My grandson and I are disabled too—we can’t even move our hands! Can’t you show us a little compassion?”

Before coming here, Jia Zhangshi had deliberately gone to Su Jianshe’s home to make sure he was away. She had also learned from Liu Haizhong that as long as she kept her distance, even the subdistrict office would have no way to deal with her.

That was why she had dared to oppose the office so brazenly.

Even so, Jia Zhangshi remained somewhat uneasy. She feared that Su Jianshe might return at any moment and ruin all her efforts.

At that moment, Jia Dongxu—pushed over by Qin Huairu—saw his mother lying on the ground. He immediately sat up in his wheelchair and shouted at the office staff.

“My mother is elderly, and she’s disabled. So what if you approve the house for us?”

“Whoever lives there, lives there! Our family is in such difficulty. Why can’t you lend us a hand?”

The crowd began muttering inwardly.

Who had an easy life these days? Did being poor automatically make someone right?

But the thought vanished as quickly as it arose. Not everyone was as shameless and foul-mouthed as those two.

Besides, everyone knew something about Jia Zhangshi and Jia Dongxu.

Jia Zhangshi was a notorious shrew in the neighborhood—selfish and spiteful, and frequently abusive toward her daughter-in-law.

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Jia Dongxu, meanwhile, was a well-known cripple who depended entirely on his wife’s work at the steel mill to support him, yet he often beat and cursed her as well.

“Qin Huairu is such a beautiful woman. What a waste!” many unmarried men in the crowd thought privately, their feelings a confusing mixture of envy and anger.

Su Jianshe turned to a young man beside him and asked curiously, “Brother, what’s going on here?”

The young man was clearly fond of a spectacle. Seeing that Su Jianshe had spoken to him, he explained everything from beginning to end.

“I heard Jia Zhangshi had only just gotten out of the police station when she took a fancy to an unregistered house belonging to a neighbor and came here to make a tremendous fuss. I really don’t know who gave her the idea to act like this near the subdistrict office. Look—the police are standing right over there, looking completely helpless. They can’t do a thing to her!”

As he spoke, he pointed toward the nearby officers, his voice filled with contempt.

“That new girl is no match for a shrew like Jia Zhangshi!”

Su Jianshe frowned and interrupted him.

“Do you know whose house Jia Zhangshi and Jia Dongxu have their eyes on?”

“I honestly don’t know.” The young man thought for a moment and shook his head. “Don’t be fooled by how fiercely Jia Zhangshi carries on. She bullies the weak and fears the strong. It’s probably some unlucky family’s house.”

Su Jianshe nodded.

Just then, he saw the Deaf Granny approaching from a distance, accompanied by Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong. Both men wore grim expressions, clearly furious with Jia Zhangshi’s behavior.

Yet Su Jianshe felt that their anger ran deeper than that.

“So Yi Zhonghai, who has always supported the Deaf Granny as though she were his own mother, never truly intended to treat her like one.”

Su Jianshe watched Yi Zhonghai’s flushed face with interest. He even began to speculate: if the Deaf Granny ever became unable to care for herself, would Yi Zhonghai take advantage of the opportunity to throw her out and seize her house?

Liu Haizhong’s brow was tightly furrowed as the mixed stench of urine and feces wafted from beside him. He struggled to hold his breath and cursed inwardly.

“That hypocrite Yi Zhonghai is always claiming that he serves the old woman as though she were his own mother, yet he’s been plotting to get his hands on her few possessions all along. He won’t even change her trousers. Can he still call himself a man?”

Yi Zhonghai stood nearby, his face flushed purple.

He recalled the scene when he had rescued the old woman from the police station. Even then, he had heard that she had not relieved herself for several days. He had never imagined that Su Jianshe’s kick would be like opening a floodgate. Filth had poured out without end.

The household’s only three pairs of trousers had all been used up, yet the stench had grown even more intense.

“Granny, tell me—if Su Jianshe finds out that we’ve taken over his house, what do you think he’ll do?” Liu Haizhong finally spoke, forcing down his discomfort. Even now, he had not forgotten the purpose of their visit: to seize the room.

“Hmph! What can that boy do even if he finds out?” Yi Zhonghai sneered. “With my status as a martyr’s family member and a state-supported household resident, we’re taking that house for certain!”

“He isn’t here now. Once we register the house, even if he has the ability, he won’t be able to take it back! I’d like to see the look on his face then!”

At the thought of finally teaching Su Jianshe a lesson, the Deaf Granny’s face showed a trace of delight, which quickly twisted into resentment.

…

“Granny, there really is nothing I can do. The room you want has already been registered, and transferring it now would violate regulations!” The young woman’s eyes were red, tears shimmering in them.

Several unmarried young men nearby were burning with anger. But the moment they saw the shrewish Jia Zhangshi and Jia Dongxu still shouting from his wheelchair, their fury instantly died down.

“That Jia Dongxu is only relying on the fact that he’s paralyzed. If he dares insult Miss Liu again, I’ll punch him myself!”

“Exactly. If I weren’t worried about his vicious mother, I would have taught him a lesson already.”

Su Jianshe shook his head helplessly when he heard this.

Rescuing a beauty was supposed to be a fine deed.

But…

If you’re going to do it, then do it!

Su Jianshe decided to leave and give the young men present their chance.

As for the room Jia Zhangshi coveted, he had already made his own arrangements and was not concerned.

After all, the title documents for his family’s house were in perfect order, complete with the official seal.

“You insolent brat, you actually dare to come back!”

Before Su Jianshe had even reached his front door, he ran into the Deaf Granny, Yi Zhonghai, and Liu Haizhong hurrying toward him.

Liu Haizhong stared at Su Jianshe with a dark expression.

He had already regarded the house as his own. If Su Jianshe returned home now to retrieve the property documents and register it, all his plans would come to nothing.

“Move. You’re blocking the way!”

Su Jianshe was in a hurry to go home, get his money and coupons, and purchase furniture. He had no desire to waste time entangling himself with this group.

“You little brat! How dare you be so rude!”