Chapter 164 The House Was Sold

Since losing her job, my eldest sister has been staying in town in place of my grandfather every day. She goes to the fields early in the morning and returns late at night, watering, weeding, fertilizing, and turning over the sweet potato vines. It's very hard work, and she's gotten quite tanned. I feel sorry for her and don't want her to be so tired, but she continues as before because she wants to repay my kindness.

The sisters are all grateful. They had no choice but to rely on the Tao family in the first place. They were fortunate that the Tao family was kind and did not think of them as a burden. Now, their only valuable asset is their strength, so they naturally have to take care of the work in the fields for their parents.

When outsiders came to see the house, the eldest sister wasn't home. Tao Tao took out the grain from her spatial storage and used it as the pocket money her eldest sister had secretly given her over the years to buy the house. Of course, she put the grain directly in the kitchen because her grandfather rarely ate there, while her eldest sister and brother often did, which saved everyone some grain.

Grandpa didn't return to his home in town until after dark, along with Dad. Dad and Grandpa went home together to discuss things with Grandma.

This has been the Tao family's tradition since ancient times. Even though Grandma is a woman, she naturally holds a pivotal position in the family because she is Grandpa's pillar of support.

Seeing this, Tao Tao knew that the house was most likely going to be sold.

Although it will be inconvenient to go to the fields after selling the house, you can rent a house. After all, when there is a famine, no one will want to buy a house, let alone three thousand. Even if you sell it for one thousand, no one will be interested. People will use that money to buy food. Who would buy a house?

What kind of house can't you live in? Even renting one is better than buying the whole thing.

It was clear that Grandpa was still reluctant, but they had no choice but to do so in order to raise money to buy more food on the black market.

Another thing is that Grandpa is scared. He's afraid that in a few years, the house will not only be unsellable, but will also be snatched away by someone else. Rather than that, it's better to convert it into cash now.

No matter how reluctant you are, you will eventually succumb to reality.

They have land to cultivate now and food to eat for the time being, but when famine comes, they won't be able to buy any.

While it's still possible to buy them on the black market, raising money is the top priority.

My parents, who lived in the county town, had a clearer understanding of the current situation. After the state implemented the unified purchase and distribution system, people who needed grain but didn't have grain coupons had no choice but to take risks and find other channels to obtain grain. This is how the black market emerged.

After the emergence of the black market (free market), speculation and profiteering became prominent.

You could have just made money off the common people, but some people are so greedy that they've tried to take advantage of public funds.

What are the consequences of profiting from huge price differences in all aspects of life, including clothing, food, housing, and transportation, and even engaging in disguised monopolies?

The crime of speculation and profiteering came into being, completely blocking the path of these people.

They used to dare to operate openly, but now that's out of the question, right? They can only resort to underground transactions, hiding and running away.

Tao Tao wasn't in a hurry to exchange the supplies in her space for money, since she hadn't reached the point of desperation yet.

Over the years, she has been going up and down mountains, digging for wild vegetables, catching fish, and stealing bird eggs. Do you think she was just playing around?

No, she was practicing her escape skills so that one day, if she really encountered a commando team, she could at least outrun them.

She tries her best to reduce her dependence on space, constantly motivating herself to adapt to the current environment. She also wants to cultivate her own spirit of hard work and perseverance. Since she was born in this era, she should naturally have the spirit and aura of this era.

The house was eventually sold. My father took three days off. Because there was land in the town and it wasn't time for reform yet, he rented a small, dilapidated but sturdy courtyard house in the town for two yuan a month.

It's called a small courtyard, but there's really only a shed for storing firewood and cooking. There are three main rooms: the middle one is the main hall, and the two on either side are bedrooms. The younger one can only stay here occasionally. Most of the furniture has to be moved back to the old house in the countryside. This temporary residence in the town is just for convenience when looking after the land.

People are moving during the National Day holiday, so they need to move gradually before then.

The house has been transferred and the money has been paid. After some bargaining, it was finally sold for 2,800 yuan.

The sale of the house was conducted quietly. The middleman received a commission of fifty yuan, and with the transfer fee and other miscellaneous expenses, it amounted to several tens of yuan, bringing the total to approximately two thousand seven hundred yuan.

After each truckload of goods was loaded, the Tao family would stand in the yard for half a day and watch it go. Xiao Jiu knew that this was their way of saying goodbye to the house.

Life is full of ups and downs; a tree dies when transplanted, but a person thrives. There are losses and gains.

This is something Grandma often says: "Think about what kind of life we ​​lived back when we played Dou Dizhu (a card game). That's about enough. Once you compare, you'll know that this choice was absolutely right."

From now on, they should honestly be farmers and take pride in their poverty for the rest of their lives. Let's see who dares to label them again in the future.

Actually, Xiao Jiu didn't care whether the houses were sold or not. In her opinion, these houses were not their future home.

Whether it's a town or the countryside, with the abilities of these siblings, they would never be confined to this small county.

She came from a big city and, although she likes rural life, that's only true for now, when she's young and doesn't understand things.

If she has the opportunity in the future, she will definitely move to the city, because only the city can provide you with a stable life, medical care, education, and retirement.

She used to only know that people born in the 1950s and 1960s suffered from famine and hunger, but their suffering only lasted for a few years.

After the reform and opening up, things got better year by year. When we were in school, we were assigned jobs, and when we got a job, we were allocated housing. Even if we were laid off later, we still received subsidies. Moreover, the policies during those years of reform and opening up were so good that basically as long as you weren't lazy, you could make money.

But looking at the 80s and 90s generations, they were truly hit hard by this realistic society.

From education to healthcare, from healthcare to housing, from housing to the pace of life, and even to retirement issues, it all involves how many years of pension contributions have been paid and whether the investment will ever be recouped.

So Tao Tao is also very realistic. When she was Ning Meng, she didn't have the chance to prove her suffering, but now that she's Tao Zi, she has to study hard, get assigned to a good job, and then start her ordinary yet extraordinary happy life.

She came here for this slow-paced life, where everyone is at a similar level – family background, salary, housing conditions – everyone goes to get off work happily and leaves happily. If you get sick, your employer will reimburse your medical expenses. If you have children, your employer will help you take care of them. You have a pension for retirement. Education is encouraged to be joyful. If you can study, study; if you can't, you can work or do manual labor. There's always one that suits you, right?

However, compared to the life she experienced in the future, Tao Tao chose to remain silent and didn't even want to recall it. She preferred to suffer here rather than return to the future and endure mental torment.