Buy a house?

Xia Hongbing was exhausted and dazed, not comprehending at first.

Old Mrs. Xia repeated: “Buying a house! People say they found gold there, and some boss wants to build houses there. That little vixen is pushing Dajun to buy a house!”

Xia Hongbing finally understood.

“Where would Second Brother get money to buy a house?”

Buying a local-style single-story house, like the one they were currently renting, might only cost twenty or thirty thousand yuan.

But even for twenty or thirty thousand, Xia Dajun would need to save for over half a year. Xia Hongbing knew his second brother’s previous savings were depleted, and he couldn’t produce twenty or thirty thousand now, only having the last two months’ wages in hand.

But from what his mother was saying, was his second brother planning to buy an apartment built by some big developer?

Xia Hongbing worked in construction and while he didn’t understand much else, he had heard people boasting about the houses Hong Kong’s Boss Liu had built in Pengcheng before, selling for over 2,000 Hong Kong dollars per square meter. The exchange rate for Hong Kong dollars to yuan had dropped, and Xia Hongbing roughly calculated half, making it still over 1,000 yuan per square meter.

A house built by Hong Kong developers must be at least seventy or eighty square meters, right?

With his second brother’s salary, even without eating or drinking, it would take two or three years to save up.

Whether to buy a house wasn’t something to worry about now; he didn’t understand why his mother was so agitated.

Seeing her youngest son’s mild reaction, Old Mrs. Xia angrily pinched his arm: “Your second brother doesn’t have money, but his boss does! That little vixen is pushing your second brother to borrow money from his boss to buy a house at Golden Sand Pool. They say houses there come with household registration… She wants to become a Pengcheng resident!”

Become a Pengcheng resident!

Xia Hongxia, though tired as a dead dog, perked up at this.

Working in the city and being a city resident were two different things.

The former meant keeping rural household registration, while the latter meant urban household registration. Everyone knew urban registration was superior, bringing better treatment in job hunting and marriage. Rural registration faced discrimination everywhere, something Xia Hongxia felt deeply.

“Grandmother, can we get Pengcheng household registration?”

Converting rural to urban registration was extremely difficult.

One way was through university admission, with registration following the school and later transferring to work units.

The other was marrying a city resident and hoping to transfer registration to the husband’s family… University was the most reliable method, while marriage was uncertain – marrying someone useless without connections might mean waiting ten years or more for a registration transfer!

Though the state didn’t prohibit private property transactions, like returned ancestral properties or farmer-built houses, these could be bought and sold.

But returned ancestral property, even buying a courtyard house near the Forbidden City, had nothing to do with household registration transfer. There was no policy allowing registration through house purchase. Only in Pengcheng, when Liu Tianquan built “East Lake Beauty Gardens,” could apartments selling for over 2,000 Hong Kong dollars per square meter come with three Pengcheng household registration quotas per unit.

Buying commercial housing could secure Pengcheng registration!

East Lake Beauty Gardens was frantically grabbed up by Hong Kong buyers as soon as it opened.

Besides the relatively cheap prices compared to Hong Kong, many Hong Kong people bought these houses to settle with mainland relatives.

Some who had made fortunes after sneaking into Hong Kong still had many relatives struggling on the mainland and wanted to help them.

Xia Hongxia’s eyes brightened, but her father slapped her:

“Even if there’s a registration transfer, what’s it got to do with you!”

Xia Hongbing also realized why his mother was anxious. Each house had at most two or three Pengcheng registration quotas. Based on Hong Kong developer standards, with three quotas, his second brother would get one, Xiaoyu one, and the last would definitely go to his mother.

Others couldn’t benefit at all!

Moreover, developer-built apartments weren’t spacious like single-story houses with large courtyards where whole families could live together.

Who would move into the new house?

By Xia Hongbing’s calculations, it would probably be Xia Dajun with Xiaoyu, Old Mrs. Xia, and Xia Chanzheng’s son Xia Junbao.

The four would happily move into the new house, leaving Xia Hongbing’s family behind—Xia Hongbing and Zhang Cuixian had children whenever they pleased, with no family planning in earlier years, having one daughter and two sons, making their family five people total.

Xia Hongbing drew in a sharp breath—without living close to his second brother, wouldn’t their life become even harder than now?

“Mom, only you think about me…”

No matter where they moved, Xia Dajun couldn’t leave his birth mother behind. If Old Mrs. Xia wasn’t concerned about her youngest son, why would she tip him off?

Old Mrs. Xia hadn’t received much rehabilitation therapy after her stroke, and her facial paralysis symptoms hadn’t improved much. She still drooled when speaking, which Xia Hongbing usually found disgusting, but now he looked at his mother with warmth and gratitude.

Old Mrs. Xia’s lips trembled, “Of my three sons, I love you most. That little vixen has your second brother wrapped around her finger. Shameless little whore, sleeping with Dajun without even being married, how could she be any good?”

Without a marriage certificate, she wasn’t considered a daughter-in-law.

Sleeping with a man without marriage was shameless behavior!

Xiaoyu was skilled at being outwardly compliant while secretly defiant; Old Mrs. Xia had never gained any advantage trying to discipline her.

With this charming wife, Xia Dajun focused most of his attention on Xiaoyu, no longer following his mother’s every word as before. Old Mrs. Xia had bottled up so much frustration… She thought even Liu Fen, that barren one, was better as a daughter-in-law. Back then, when she told Dajun to go east, he would never go west; when told to catch chickens, he would never chase dogs!

An old rural woman used to ruling the household now found her words carried no weight. Old Mrs. Xia was incredibly frustrated.

Her current hatred for Xiaoyu exceeded that of Liu Fen!

If Xiaoyu wanted to leave the third son’s family behind, Old Mrs. Xia absolutely wouldn’t agree.

Firstly, she wanted to oppose Xiaoyu—whatever Xiaoyu wanted to do, Old Mrs. Xia opposed. Secondly, she truly loved Xia Hongbing, relying on Xia Dajun’s support while always considering Xia Hongbing’s interests—this was why Xiaoyu often cursed her as an old hag behind her back.

While Old Mrs. Xia had pure motherly love, Xia Hongbing was more selfish.

He saw things clearer than his mother—his second brother clearly couldn’t leave his new second sister-in-law. If he found a young and beautiful wife himself, he would listen to her too.

If Xiaoyu persuaded his second brother to buy a house, it would likely happen.

Xia Hongbing wanted to buy one too, but a house cost so much money, that even selling himself by the pound wouldn’t earn enough.

If a house came with three Pengcheng registration quotas, the second brother Xia Dajun would get one, Xiaoyu one, and who would get the remaining one?

His mother was old, what did rural registration matter to her?

Xia Hongbing most feared the remaining quota would go to his nephew Xia Junbao… given his second brother’s personality, he might do that! No, he had to get this quota for himself. Without any advantages, how could his second brother think of leaving them to live separately?

While Xia Hongbing was full of calculations, he didn’t know Xiaoyu had similar thoughts.

Xiaoyu didn’t want to squeeze in with the whole Xia family. Walking with Xia Dajun, she brought up the house purchase and registration transfer again.

Xia Dajun hesitated greatly: “Everyone’s talking about Golden Sand Pool, but no matter how good that place is, there’s no certainty about the houses yet. Aren’t we living fine here renting? The place is spacious, and the whole family can live together.”

Xiaoyu lowered her head, “Brother Dajun, I know you value family ties, and I also think it’s lively with family living together. I’m not being lazy about cooking for everyone, nor am I trying to drive a wedge between you brothers. I’m thinking about him—”

As she spoke, Xiaoyu took Xia Dajun’s hand and placed it on her belly.

Xia Dajun stood dumbfounded. Xiaoyu’s voice was always gentle, now even more melodious, and her words sent Xia Dajun floating on clouds:

“Brother Dajun, I checked at the hospital, the baby is exactly two months along.”