Courtyard House: My Wife is Xu Huizhen

Page 303

"Alright, the neighborhood committee and the street office have agreed to the divorce in principle. Today, you can discuss the division of your family property. Based on the principles of fairness and justice, everything should be divided in two."

Yi Zhonghai nodded and said, "That's only right. She gets her own room, can choose the furniture, and has control over the money she saves."

Aunt Jiang didn't say much. The agreement had already been reached, the furniture had been distributed, everyone's clothes were their own, and some small items had also been allocated.

"These things have already been divided, but I don't want this house anymore."

Two rooms, one for each person, that way the two of them will be neighbors with adjacent doors, wouldn't they be able to see Yi Zhonghai's sullen face every day when they go out?

Yi Zhonghai said, "How about this, when you get the 200-plus yuan, I'll give you the house and keep it."

The two of them have a little over 400 but less than 500 yuan in savings. If each person splits it in half, that's less than 250 yuan, which is about the same as the price of a house, though slightly higher.

Yi Zhonghai was very generous and offered to use his share of cash to exchange for the remaining room.

Aunt Jiang actually wanted to transfer this house to He Yuzhu, since it was connected to Yushui's house by a wall. After He Yuzhu bought it, he could turn Yushui's room into two rooms.

After thinking for a moment, Aunt Jiang nodded and said, "Okay."

The rest was simple. Aunt Jiang took the money, Yi Zhonghai left two rooms, and Tian Zao saw that they had discussed and divided the tasks amicably without any conflicts between them, so today's task was considered complete.

"Since you two have already discussed it, then go to the neighborhood committee tomorrow and complete the formalities."

"Okay, thank you for your help, Director Tian," Yi Zhonghai said.

“There’s nothing to worry about. I didn’t expect you to go this far.”

Tian Zao left those words behind, then said goodbye to He Yuzhu, declined his offer to stay, and went back.

Grandma Long leaned on her cane and said, "Everyone, stop looking. If there's anything interesting to see, just leave."

Then, looking at the somewhat envious Aunt Jiang, he said, "Why don't you live with me for now?"

Jiang Dama, Jiang Liqin, nodded and brought out her clothes and other belongings. He Yuzhu called on Yan Jiecheng and the other teenagers to help carry the things she had been given over.

After the move was finished, each person was given a dime, which made Yan Jiecheng and the others very happy. They said thank you and then dispersed.

Aunt Jiang said, "Zhu Zi, thank you for your trouble."

"The auntie is being too polite with me. It's just what I should do."

Aunt Jiang said, "Zhu Zi, do you think there are any opportunities to be allocated housing in our neighborhood?"

The two rooms were originally purchased after they got married and were their private property.

Right now, Aunt Jiang wants to move out and stop living in this courtyard house. Nowadays, it's rare to see private houses for sale; they're usually sold to friends or relatives.

Buying a private house is not easy, and most people don't have this channel.

The rest is renting a house from the neighborhood. There is a special housing management office in the neighborhood that is responsible for providing residents with housing rental and maintenance services.

Aunt Jiang was thinking that if there were any rental houses available, she would rent one so that she could have her own place in the future.

Grandma Long heard this from inside the house and said, "Qin, I have two rooms here, why are you spending money to move out?"

"Grandma, I was just worried about troubling you."

At this time, Grandma Long was only in her fifties, not yet sixty, and still very robust.

“What trouble is there, old woman? I’m all alone. You can live with me here from now on. When I get old, you can bury me in the ground and leave this house to you.”

The deaf old lady was a lonely elderly woman who had always worried about her old age. The person she liked the most in the entire courtyard was Yi Zhonghai, and she had been helping him all along, hoping that he could lend her a hand when she got old.

Now that Yi Zhonghai and his wife have suddenly divorced, it's a good opportunity for me to live with Yi Zhonghai's wife, Jiang Liqin, so that I'll have a companion to take care of me when I get old.

"This...but..." Aunt Jiang hesitated.

“You said you moved to a courtyard house, but you’re still living alone. Life is still hard. Why don’t we just make do with each other?”

"Okay, ma'am, I'll take care of you in your old age from now on."

After saying that, he looked at He Yuzhu and said, "Zhuzi, I'm really sorry to have troubled you with this."

If He Yuzhu hadn't found her a stable, formal job, she wouldn't have been able to make up her mind to divorce Yi Zhonghai.

"You're too kind, ma'am. Please let me know if you need anything."

"Thank you, Pillar."

In the west wing of the courtyard, Granny Zhang sat at the table, cursing and swearing. Jia Dongxu came in from outside and asked in surprise, "Mom, what happened?"

"It's all because of your master's divorce."

"You mean this? Why are you cursing again? That's my master! I thought it was something else entirely."

Granny Zhang said angrily, "Aren't you stupid? What good will it do you to get them divorced? How can you be so brainless?"

Jia Dongxu asked curiously, "I think it's good that my master got divorced. From now on, I only need to take care of my master."

"I told you you're brainless, and you still won't admit it. Didn't your master have two sons with the White Widow outside?"

Jia Dongxu said happily, "Isn't that even better? Then I won't have to take care of Master in his old age."

"I think you're a pig-brain. Before, when his two children weren't around, he could still take care of you when he had extra money."

Old Mrs. Zhang said with a hint of exasperation, "Now that he's divorced the old hen that can't lay eggs, do you think he'll marry the White Widow and then raise those two little rascals right in front of him?"

Jia Dongxu had never thought of this before. Yes, now that his master and his wife are divorced, will his master marry the widow Bai?

After all, the White Widow had given birth to two sons for her master, so if they moved into the courtyard house...

If Master will only favor their two sons from now on, won't I, as their disciple, no longer be able to benefit from Master's favor?

Thinking of the serious consequences, Jia Dongxu felt a chill run down his spine. He felt a cold air rise from his tailbone and spread throughout his body, causing him to shiver.

"What? What should we do?"

"Although you are also..."

She was only halfway through her sentence when Granny Zhang suddenly realized she had almost let something slip, so she quickly stopped and said:

"Since ancient times, a disciple has never been as close as a biological son. From now on, our family's life will be difficult."

Jia Dongxu felt a pang of sadness when he thought about how his master had left all the money he earned to his son and the widow.

What are we going to do from now on?

Unable to come up with any ideas for the time being, he sat there sighing.

Granny Zhang was also worried. For her son's future, she had no choice but to continue her affair with Lao Yi.

Since He Yuzhu had returned, he didn't leave. After helping Aunt Jiang, he went home, spent time with Yushui, played with his younger siblings, and had dinner together. Because he had drunk a few too many drinks, he stayed.

Although He Yushui has a room, she doesn't usually live there. Instead, she lives in the house left by Qian Datong in front.

Since the other side was more spacious, the single room was converted into a guest room, and He Yuzhu slept in the northernmost room of the east wing.

Old Mrs. Zhang had something on her mind, so she lay in bed without closing her eyes. When the night was deep and quiet, she got out of bed, put on her clothes, and tiptoed out the door.

Outside, the moon was bright and the stars were few. After adjusting her posture for a moment, Granny Zhang headed straight for the east wing across the street.

Today, Aunt Jiang has moved to Old Lady Long's room in the backyard, and only Yi Zhonghai is in the room, so Granny Zhang is acting much bolder.

He knocked on the door, and soon Yi Zhonghai was awakened, asking, "Who is it?"

"I."

Hearing it was Granny Zhang's voice, Yi Zhonghai was surprised, but he still got dressed, got out of bed, opened the door, and frowned when he found that only Granny Zhang was there. He asked:

"what's up?"

"Let me in first." Granny Zhang stepped forward and squeezed into the room through the gap.

Yi Zhonghai peeked around to make sure the courtyard was quiet and there was no one else there before taking a step back and closing the door.

Granny Zhang had already turned on the light, and the 25-watt bulb emitted a light that was extremely dazzling to both of them.

Yi Zhonghai asked, "Didn't I tell you not to secretly look for me?"

Granny Zhang said, "You're divorced, and that Jiang fellow has moved to the backyard, so why can't I come?"

Yi Zhonghai said, "But you can't keep your promise to me that you can't secretly contact me anymore."

Granny Zhang rolled her eyes and said, "The past is the past, and the present is the present. Back then you weren't divorced, but now you're an old bachelor. Why can't I come to you?"

“If you say no, then no. If others find out about that, how will I ever have the face to live in this courtyard again?”

Granny Zhang said anxiously, "You, surnamed Yi, do you still have any shame? When you got drunk and pinned me to the bed back then, didn't you think about having any shame at all?"

"What are you yelling about? Do you want everyone to get up and laugh at you?"

"You're the one who's heartless, what's wrong with me making a fuss?" Although Granny Zhang's tone was unfriendly, her voice was much softer than before.

He Yuzhu slept in the next room. After the change of environment, he slept very lightly. In addition, he had martial arts skills, so he would not be awakened by the slightest noise.

The two of them spoke a little louder, and He Yuzhu woke up from his sleep.

He shook his head, and after regaining his senses, he could vaguely hear voices coming from the next room.

He was very puzzled. Hadn't Aunt Jiang moved to the backyard? Logically speaking, there should only be Yi Zhonghai alone in the next room. How could he be talking to someone else in the middle of the night?

Could it be that Yi Zhonghai has developed sleepwalking disorder, or is he temporarily possessed by someone due to the shock of his divorce?

He Yuzhu used his mental energy to check, and was startled. He picked up the watch next to his pillow and checked to confirm that it was already 11 p.m.

To everyone's surprise, Jia Dongxu's mother, the plump woman, appeared at Yi Zhonghai's house, and the two were arguing about something.

Unfortunately, mental energy only has the function of detection to identify who it is, but it does not have the ability to receive sounds. It can only sense that they seem to be arguing, but it does not know the specific content.