The next day, I went to the ticket trading place and exchanged forty yuan for one hundred municipal feet of fabric tickets.
I ordered one hundred thirty meters of black polyester, one hundred meters of water-red polyester, and eighty-three meters of yellow cotton fabric.
Just from ticket trading, plus the money, I had already spent two hundred.
After getting the fabric, Lin Wan went directly to the new house and started cutting clothes according to the design she drew last night.
She cut thirty-two shirts from the water-red polyester, accidentally ruined one, so she turned it into a short sleeve for herself. Thirty-six pairs of black straight-leg pants and forty yellow short sleeves were cut.
"Xiao Wan, Brother Nan said there’s a house he found. He wants to know if you have time tomorrow to go have a look with us." Lin Yinghui informed his sister after coming back from the factory and passing by the place.
"Alright, I’ll take them to look at the house tomorrow."
"Wait for me at Grandma’s tomorrow. I’ll ride a tricycle to pick you up." Lin Yinghui checked the time and planned to pass by the store to pick Mom up and go home.
After a simple breakfast, Lin Wan went to Grandma’s the next day.
When she arrived, Grandma had already left for work.
Luckily, Lijuan and Xiao Dung were home. They got excited when they heard that Lin Wan had found a house.
Before leaving, Grandma pulled her into the room and specially gave her fifty yuan. "Take this. If the house is suitable, help your mom rent it."
"Grandma, I have money. Besides, Mom has money too. I can’t take yours. Keep it for yourself. We’re just going to look at the house. If it’s not suitable, we’ll have to come back." Lin Wan refused to take Grandma’s money and rushed out of the room after giving it back.
Fortunately, her brother was already at the gate. The siblings got in the car and said goodbye to Grandma and Sister-in-law before leaving.
The house was in the north of the city, close to the Industrial and Commercial Bureau of the northern district and Xiao Dung’s school, and not far from Grandma’s workplace. It was an ideal location.
"Cong Nan is busy hosting Brother Wu today and can’t come. I’ll take you to meet the family." Upon arrival, Lin Yinghui smiled and brought them to the door. "The family has only one elderly widow living in the house, located at the end of the alley. Her yard is large, and she lives in the back room with a door to the backyard, separate from your living space. The front yard has two living rooms and a kitchen, but only one bathroom. She mentioned that if you don’t want to use it, you can build a bathroom in the front yard. She’ll use a fence to enclose the back yard."
Answering the door was an elderly woman in her fifties. She didn’t speak but nodded to Lin Yinghui in greeting.
The yard was quite large, enough to raise chickens and ducks, though the house was a bit old. Fortunately, it was a tiled house with a large kang inside.
Lin Wan glanced at Hu Dong. "Perhaps you should call Mom over to have a look?" It’s hard to find a house, and this one’s pretty good.
"Alright, I’ll go call her now," Hu Dong said and hurriedly headed out, riding the tricycle to Mom’s workplace.
"How much is the rent for this yard per month, elderly lady?"
"Fifteen a month, payable monthly with one month as a deposit."
"Fifteen, huh." Lin Wan thought about the house they were renting for twelve a month. Her brother said it was because of Brother Li that they got it a few yuan cheaper.
Lin Wan saw the elderly widow likely lived off the rent and felt embarrassed to bargain.
Within half an hour, Grandma arrived and was quite pleased with the house. Actually, there wasn’t much to criticize. The houses here were much better than theirs.