Li Chuchu had casually put the property deed into her spatial inventory.
She visited the store again and pasted a sign on the door that read, "Prime Store for Rent."
She had no intention of doing business herself. Not only was there no one willing to partner with her at the moment, but she also had a job as a radio announcer.
This store was her fallback plan for the future.
For now, she would rent it out. The location was good, and the store was rented out in just a few days.
The people who rented her store were a middle - aged couple. They looked kind - faced and clean - handed. They took a fancy to the store at first sight and paid six months' rent all at once, a total of 480 yuan.
Li Chuchu had told Sister Hui and the others that they could take the things in the store.
But they didn't take anything in the end. Maybe they didn't need those things for their street stalls.
...
Li Chuchu returned home with a pocket full of candies.
She had exchanged them from the system at one yuan per catty.
She saw Fang Ting standing at the door looking after her younger brother. She was still wearing the same old clothes as before. In contrast, her younger brother was dressed more neatly.
Li Chuchu gave Fang Ting two milk candies and also gave two to her younger brother.
The little boy's eyes were as black as grapes. He stared at Li Chuchu intently for a while, as if sizing up a stranger. Fang Ting quickly took her brother's hand and shyly whispered, "Thank you."
She secretly held the candies in her hand.
Li Chuchu looked inside the yard. "Hey? Where's Xiaojun?"
Hearing this, Fang Ting knew that Sister Li was looking for Xiaojun to give him candies. She quickly ran into the yard to call Xiaojun out.
Li Chuchu gave Xiaojun two candies.
Xiaojun's eyes lit up when he saw the candies in his hand.
Children living in this shabby courtyard rarely had the chance to see such delicate milk candies. Even the chance to lick a hard fruit candy only came during the Chinese New Year.
He swallowed his saliva and politely said, "Thank you, sister."
Hearing Li Chuchu's voice, Sister Ge also came out. Seeing Li Chuchu so generously giving the children candies, and such high - end White Rabbit candies, she exclaimed, "Oh, giving so many candies to the kids. It's such a waste."
"It's not a waste if they eat them."
Li Chuchu stood at the door and felt that her side seemed unusually quiet today. She looked back.
Sister Ge said, "Liu Xiaocheng's mother is here. She also brought her grandson, Liu Xiaocheng's younger brother's son. She said it's more convenient for the child to study in the city. It seems like they're going to stay here for a long time. Just now, the two of them almost had a fight outside. Liu Xiaocheng is not at home, and Luo Yingshu is sulking with her mother - in - law."
Sister Ge still held a grudge against Luo Yingshu for driving Xiaojun back last time, so there was a hint of schadenfreude in her tone.
Everyone said that Luo Yingshu had married well, but over the years, no one in the courtyard had been invited to a decent meal by her. Even the last time she entertained guests, they only had pumpkin shreds and radish shreds. And no one had ever seen her give candies to the children.
Li Chuchu was different.
She used to be naive before, but after getting a proper job, she had changed for the better, and everyone benefited from it.
Even the candies she gave were White Rabbit candies.
...
Li Chuchu chatted with Sister Ge for a while and then went back.
As soon as she stepped into the courtyard gate, Aunt Wang grabbed her arm and pulled her into their room. "Come on, I have something to tell you."
Once inside the room,
"Do you know? Luo Yingshu's mother - in - law is here!"
"So what? What happened?"
Aunt Wang waved her hand. "Oh, you're lucky you weren't at home just now. You don't know. That mother - in - law was acting like an emperor. As soon as she came, she walked around the courtyard with her hands behind her back, looking into every house. I guess she saw how nicely decorated your room is and asked Luo Yingshu how many people lived in your room and if they could borrow a room to stay in."
Li Chuchu smiled. "And then?"
"Luo Yingshu said that you and your husband live there, but she flatly refused to ask you for the room on behalf of her mother - in - law. Now her mother - in - law and grandson are in the room, looking listless."
Just then,
As if to prove Aunt Wang's words,
The old woman's voice came from next door. "Why are you so stubborn? If there's not enough room at home, you can find a place to stay outside. And I think your neighbor's place is nice. When we hold banquets in our village and there aren't enough rooms for the guests, we just borrow a room from the neighbors."
Luo Yingshu gritted her teeth and said, "They only stay for a day or two. How long do you plan to stay?"
As soon as Luo Yingshu refused to let her mother - in - law have her way, the old woman became furious. She shrieked in the room, "They say a man should marry a virtuous wife. I didn't agree to Liu Xiaocheng marrying you in the first place. Now look, we come here and you don't even arrange a place for us to stay."
Lian Jie stood by and watched his grandmother make a scene in the room.
He was about twelve years old, a bit older than Huzi.
People in the village got married and had children early.
They could barely get by with primary school education in the village, but there was no junior high school there. Now he had to come to the city to attend junior high school.
There were only two rooms in the house.
Even if Huzi squeezed in with them,
Lian Jie was too old to sleep with his grandmother. He had to sleep on the floor. But his grandmother felt sorry for her grandson and said that he was at a stage of rapid growth and she didn't want him to sleep on the floor.
It would be best if he could have a separate room.
But where could they find a separate room?
Luo Yingshu was angry at them. Part of the reason was that she felt sorry for Liu Xiaocheng.
Liu Xiaocheng was the eldest son in the family.
His mother had never cared about him before. Now that he was doing well, she clung to her eldest son shamelessly and asked him to support his younger brothers. But Liu Xiaocheng was as stubborn as his name suggested. He insisted on adhering to filial piety.
He would do whatever his mother said.
Luo Yingshu was constantly frustrated by them.
"Mom, I don't have a good relationship with the neighbors. They won't let us stay in their room."
She had no intention of taking any advantage of Li Chuchu. She just couldn't bring herself to do it.
Liu Xiaocheng's mother pretended to cry and scolded her again. "How do you usually conduct yourself? You don't even know how to get along well with the neighbors. Do you expect me, an old woman, to teach you how to be a decent person?"
Liu Xiaocheng's wife was really not up to par. She was not as considerate as the second daughter - in - law.
Luo Yingshu was extremely angry at the sight of Liu Xiaocheng's mother. But Liu Xiaocheng would be off work soon, and she had to cook. Otherwise, when Liu Xiaocheng came back, he would not only be bothered by the chaos in the house but also have no hot food to eat.
...
Li Chuchu heard that there was no more noise from next door.
Aunt Wang patted her on the shoulder. "It seems that Liu Xiaocheng's mother is a difficult person. I don't know how long they're going to stay. These days are probably going to be restless. You should be careful."
Li Chuchu never expected that while she was out, her home would be targeted by others.