Chapter 69: Chapter 69: Renting a house
On the day they received their report cards, Mei Qiuping and Feng Yiping went to school together.
Feng Yiping accompanied her to Lin Hui's house first. This year, he also bothered her family a lot. The two mothers seemed to have a lot to talk about. Fortunately, Teacher Wang was probably pretty busy too, so it wasn't a bad time.
Wang Yumin was indeed quite busy, and not just her. The homeroom teacher was busy all day. The comments on the report cards were for the parents' eyes only, and they were all clichés. Even for the student in the class who had performed the worst and whom she was most dissatisfied with, the comment was the same old New Year's speech: 'The student respects the teacher, is united with his classmates, studies hard, and loves to work.'
Therefore, every student who collected their report card had to say a few words, evaluate the grades, summarize the previous semester, look forward to the next semester, and also be reminded not to just remember to play during the summer vacation.
In addition, all the various items confiscated this semester must also be returned to everyone, and her desk is now full of them. A pile of books, a few pairs of table tennis paddles, a few sets of chess and military chess, a deflated broken basketball, a water pistol, a calculator... There are quite a few types.
When returning things, you also have to say a few words, 'Don't do this again next time,' and so on. In short, after spending almost the whole morning handing out report cards, smoke was starting to come out of her throat.
Feng Yiping was almost the last to collect his report card. When they met, Mei Qiuping showed great respect for Wang Yumin, and Wang Yumin was polite to her.
Feng Yiping was very proud of them. The results of this final exam were similar to those of the last one: first in the grade and tied for second in the county, but only three points behind the first place.
The first place was still taken by the County Experimental Middle School, and many of their teachers were involved in marking the papers, giving them an irreplaceable advantage.
Mei Qiuping praised the teacher, and the teacher praised Mei Qiuping's son. After a polite conversation, Mei Qiuping finally got to the point, saying that she wanted Feng Yiping to stop living in the school dormitory from the next semester onwards.
Feng Yiping saw this from the side, and Wang Yumin's smile on her face suddenly stopped. 'You are also not at home, so is it a good idea to let Feng Yiping live outside?'
Mei Qiuping gave Feng Yiping a hard stare, 'Teacher Wang, I know you are thinking of his best interests. From childhood to adulthood, this child of Yiping's, not to mention anything else, is honest and sensible, never causing adults any worry. He lives alone and can't do anything bad. As you also know, they are now at the time when they are growing rapidly, living outside, occasionally being able to cook a good meal, with better nutrition, and more energy for studying.'
In fact, there is another very important reason, which Mei Qiu Ping of course heard from Feng Yiping: her son's bedroom has cracked walls, but she didn't want to tell the teacher that, as it sounded like she was blaming him.
Wang Yumin didn't comment on these reasons and then asked, 'Is he living with Lin Hui's family?'
Mei Qiuping said, 'No, we're going to look in the countryside.'
'In the countryside? Lin Hui's house is pretty good, so close to the school.'
Mei Qiuping said, "We thought so too," and waved at Feng Yiping, 'You go out first, I want to talk to Teacher Wang.'
Feng Yiping obediently went out, knowing what his mother was going to say next. He leaned over the railing on the second floor and leisurely looked at the scenery.
The sun was blazing hot. It looked as if the ground of the playground was steaming, and he felt that his exhaled breath was also hot. Every now and then, a gust of wind blew, causing the leaves of the sycamore tree to rattle noisily, and the shadows on the ground danced along with it. Staring at it for a while, his eyes became dizzy.
Zhi was calling out again and again. Over there, in the third grade classroom, the second year students who would not officially enter the third grade until the start of the school year were having class. The sound of the teacher's lecture could be faintly heard.
It was all so peaceful, quiet and familiar.
Some students who had received their report cards were still lingering in the school. A few of them were not paying attention and were making a lot of noise. A teacher came out of the classroom immediately, holding a piece of chalk in one hand and an eraser in the other, and scolded them, 'What are you making all that noise for? Can't you see that there are still students in the classroom?'
The students who had been scolded immediately became as quiet as quails.
Feng Yiping watched and couldn't help but smile.
After a while, he was called in. The two adults seemed to have already come to an agreement. Wang Yumin said to him sternly, 'Feng Yiping, your mother is here. In front of her, you promise us that you will never fall behind in your studies again. If you don't come in first place in any monthly exam, you will immediately move back to the school!'
'Huh?' Hearing this, Feng Yiping felt a little bitter. Teacher Wang really knows how to seize the moment to threaten. But at this time, he had to agree, otherwise how could he reassure his mother.
'I promise!' he said very firmly.
'That's good,' Wang Yumin got up to show them the door. Feng Yiping added, 'Teacher Wang, if by any chance I get sick during an exam, like a bad cold or something, then it doesn't count.'
Wang Yumin thought about it and realized that it was a real possibility, "We'll see about that then, we'll consider it.'
That's good, at least there's a loophole.
Before they left, Wang Yumin asked, "Have you found a place yet?'
Mei Qiuping hesitated for a moment, 'Not yet, I'll find one in the next two days.'
'Oh, then Feng Yiping, let me know when you've settled down outside, and I'll go with your teacher Zhu to take a look.'
'Okay, Mr. Wang, you stay here,' Feng Yiping obediently said.
Since his rebirth, he has been used to acting obediently in front of adults, and he now has a conditioned reflex. But in the eyes of adults, he is really a sensible and good boy.
The house had actually been found. Feng Yiping urged Mei Qiuping to find a house as soon as she returned, for fear that the homeroom teacher would lend her support and the parents, who were not very determined, would take the opportunity to back out or place him with Lin Hui's family. It would be safer to rent the house first and then find a teacher.
The two uncles found an acquaintance and finally found a reasonably satisfactory unit in the dormitory building of the township hospital. The landlord could also be related to the Mei family in some way. It turned out that he was the director of the office of the township hospital, and now he had been transferred to the town hospital to be in charge of logistics.
Feng Yiping and the others went to have a look. It was a small two-bedroom apartment of more than 60 square meters. Of course, it was an old building, but because it was a hospital residential building, it was still relatively clean and tidy, and the house was also well maintained. The rent was 400 yuan a year.
There are no property fees and the water is free, but Feng Yiping insisted on re-decorating the bathroom and kitchen, and then bought a gas stove, added a table, chairs and bed, which cost another two or three hundred yuan.
Mei Qiuping is generous with her son, but when she sees the money being paid out one hundred, one hundred, and one hundred again, her expression is one of anguish! Feng Yiping looks at her and sighs with mixed feelings, his heart heavy.
A person who values money above all else would spend a lot of money that they could have otherwise spared just to fulfil one of your requests.
But Feng Yiping had to insist on this request, especially as a mature person, he urgently needed his own space. At the same time, this request would cost extra money, but the amount was still within everyone's means.
Grandpa, the two uncles, Feng Yiping and his mother all pitched in, and it took a week for the five of them to get the house ready to Feng Yiping's liking. Apart from the technically demanding work, such as re-piping, which had to be done by professionals, everyone else did the work themselves.
The cleaned-up room was not even considered renovated, but it was bright, clean and tidy.
Because the windows were replaced and the only few pieces of furniture were bought new, it can certainly be called clean.
As for dry and tidy, the walls and floors were all redone, and no one has yet moved in, so there is no daily household mess, so it can certainly be called dry and tidy.
As Feng Yiping had requested, the kitchen and bathroom were the focus of the renovation. The floor was fully tiled, and he originally wanted to tile the walls in these two places as well, but this was unanimously rejected. It's good enough to tile the floor, but the walls? There's no need to be so fussy there.
The kitchen had a new concrete worktop and sink, which were also tiled, and the bathroom fixtures were replaced with new ones.
The original walls were very rough, so they were scraped, some plaster was used to level them, and then a layer of lime was directly painted on. This time, they were scraped again, putty was applied two or three times, some protruding places were sanded, and then a layer of latex paint was applied. In fact, it was also very rough, but the adults felt that this was already as fine as it could be. The eldest uncle also said that if he built a building in the future, he would do it the same way.
On the last day, Mei Qiuping went to town to buy all the things she needed for everyday use, and then bought some vegetables to cook a meal in the newly renovated house to treat everyone to a meal and warm up the house at the same time.
After that, Mei Qiuping took Feng Yiping back to Fengjiazhuang to stay for a few days. In these few days, Mei Qiuping was also busy, as she carefully looked over the fields on the mountain and the fruit trees by the fields.
There were many people working in the fields in the hot sun. This year there was a lot of rain, and there were an extraordinary amount of weeds in the fields. It would take more effort and energy to weed the fields than in previous years.
While she watched other people sweating in the fields, she went from place to place with her hands empty. On the one hand, Mei Qiuping felt as if it were a lifetime ago; last year at this time, she was also like this. On the other hand, she suddenly felt a little ashamed and hurried home.
On the sixth day of the sixth lunar month, Feng Yiping and her mother spent the day at her grandfather's house.
The sixth day of the sixth lunar month is also an important holiday in our country. Unlike other holidays, it is given different names and content in different regions.
In some places, it is called the Washing and Drying Festival. On this day of the year with the best sun, not only do people take a bath, but the family's cats and dogs are also washed, and the family's laundry is also washed and taken out to dry. In some places, it is called the Grain Sprout Festival, where people go to various villages to dance the straw dragon and pray for a good harvest. In some places, it is called the Maiden Festival, where married daughters are picked up and taken back to their parents' home on this day...
In their culture, the sixth day of the sixth lunar month is called 'half a year', meaning that half of the year has passed. It is taken very seriously, and there is even the saying that 'half a year' is more important than 'the year'. If the festivals of the year are ranked, it comes third, after the Spring Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival.
On this day, even the most difficult families will find a way to cook a delicious meal. In the evening, they celebrate the festival together with Mei's eldest uncle's family, which is very lively and the dishes are very plentiful. In fact, this is also the first time Mei Qiuping has celebrated a festival at her parents' home since she got married at the age of nineteen.
Mei Jianzhong sighed as he talked about it. Back then, she was a girl with two big braids, and now her children are already so big.
On the seventh day, they rested at her grandfather's house for a day. Early in the morning of the eighth day, Mei Qiuping took Feng Yiping to the town to catch the bus to the provincial capital together. There was no choice; Feng Yiping had been begging her to go to the provincial capital ever since she returned.