The job transfer was finalized, which meant they would truly be settling down in the capital.

One couldn’t keep changing their mind, wanting to stay in the capital one moment and return to their hometown the next.

Though Mother Shi was a rural woman with blind eyes, her heart wasn’t blind—she understood the reason. The government wouldn’t arrange for martyrs’ families to work in the capital. When representatives from Shi Kai’s unit and county leaders had visited to offer condolences, they had discussed employment matters with Mother Shi, explaining that such situations typically involved local placement.

Mother Shi didn’t want to leave her roots behind either.

Shi Kai was still buried in their hometown’s martyrs’ cemetery. At home, she felt she could still watch over her eldest son.

In the capital, she might not even be able to visit his grave every year.

She could still move around now and take the train.

But what would happen when she couldn’t even manage train travel anymore?

Moreover, their situation in the capital wasn’t earned by their merit but through troubling Zhou Cheng, something Mother Shi couldn’t accept.

She had discussed this several times with Wei Juanhong, but Wei Juanhong always avoided engaging with the topic. Mother Shi, considering that her son was gone and her daughter-in-law had to raise two children alone, didn’t want to push her too hard.

But she was truly anxious inside!

When Xia Xiaolan came to visit, Mother Shi was nearly in tears as she spoke:

“You’ve all helped so much, how can we ever repay this…”

To help Mother Shi accept this so-called assistance more easily, they just needed to tell her the truth.

Wei Juanhong wouldn’t allow it to be discussed, and Xia Xiaolan couldn’t understand Wei Juanhong’s thinking.

“Auntie, please don’t worry about it. Everyone needs help sometimes. Once Sister Wei and Brother Shi Ping secure their jobs in the capital, things will gradually improve.”

Mother Shi’s gaze swept across the courtyard.

The house was rented by Zhou Cheng, and such a large courtyard in the capital couldn’t be cheap.

Mother Shi held Xia Xiaolan’s hand and asked quietly, “I can’t convince Juanhong, but I’ve heard city people get housing allocated by their work units, from the government. If Juanhong and Shi Ping work in the capital, will they be allocated housing?”

Would they be allocated housing?

That would depend on the work unit.

Some units were already short on housing for their staff, and allocation required certain qualifications. Couples working in the same unit would be prioritized, those with higher education would be placed ahead of those with lower education, and those with longer service would be ahead of those with shorter service. By these standards, even after Wei Juanhong and Shi Ping secured their jobs, they wouldn’t have any advantages in housing allocation.

Their only advantage was their status as a martyr’s family, which the unit would have to consider.

“Auntie, housing allocation will happen eventually, it’s just a matter of time. Don’t worry about it. Staying here is quite good—”

Mother Shi’s face filled with shame, and Xia Xiaolan’s words came to an abrupt halt as she suddenly understood the meaning behind Mother Shi’s question about housing allocation.

Mother Shi wasn’t being greedy.

On the contrary, she was being too modest. Living in Zhou’s rented house made Mother Shi deeply uncomfortable.

If Wei Juanhong and Shi Ping secured their jobs, regardless of which unit allocated housing, the Shi family could quickly move there. The housing might not be as spacious as their current place, but others lived, and the Shi family would live the same way—that would give Mother Shi peace of mind.

Xia Xiaolan didn’t know what to say.

She had seen plenty of calculating people from poor backgrounds.

Not just among the Xia family, but even in Seven Wells Village, which generally had good community spirit, there were bad apples like the Tian family. When everyone was poor, some people remained honest, but once you became successful while they remained poor, there would always be those who became jealous and resentful.

Mother Shi’s type—poor but unwilling to take advantage of others—was rare whether in the countryside or city. No wonder she had raised a son like Shi Kai. Xia Xiaolan naturally respected such people.

She sat with Mother Shi for a while, encouraging her to feel at ease about their living situation, but noticed Wei Juanhong’s absence throughout.

Mother Shi explained that Wei Juanhong and Shi Ping had taken the children out, and they hadn’t returned by the time Xia Xiaolan left.

Kang Wei hadn’t gone inside at all.

He shared similarities with the Shi family, being from a martyr’s family himself.

His mother Xie Yun had finally pulled herself together, and though she was more talkative now, it was better than when she had been completely disconnected before! Kang Wei worried that too much interaction with the Shi family might affect his family’s atmosphere.

Half an hour after Xia Xiaolan and Kang Wei left, Wei Juanhong returned home carrying the children.

Seeing the items still on the table, Wei Juanhong patted her child’s back and asked, “Mother, who visited today?”

“The Squad Leader Zhou’s partner. Today was the first time I could see what she looks like—she’s beautiful and kind-hearted… Juanhong, Squad Leader Zhou has taken care of us so much, we can’t keep taking advantage. Have you looked at any houses? We may be poor, but we can’t lose all our dignity. We should use Kai’s pension to pay Zhou Squad Leader for the rent.”

Wei Juanhong interrupted her mother-in-law, “Mother, have you counted how many rooms this courtyard has?”

Mother Shi froze.

The courtyard had eight rooms in total, large and small combined.

The courtyard was so spacious that Mother Shi had her own room, Wei Juanhong shared with the two children, Shi Ping had his own room, the helper had one room, and they still had space for a living room and kitchen.

“I’ve asked around. For a courtyard like this, each room costs seven or eight yuan per month. Renting the entire courtyard would cost no less than 50 yuan monthly, that’s 600 yuan a year. Mother, how many years could Shi Kai’s pension cover?”

Wei Juanhong’s few sentences made Mother Shi jump up.

“How expensive! Juanhong, we can’t stay here.”

Wei Juanhong had just gotten the child to sleep and placed them in Mother Shi’s arms, leaving her unable to move.

“Mother, we can stay. You want me to pay rent to the Zhou family, but they won’t accept it.”

Just because the Zhou family wouldn’t accept rent, did that make it right for the Shi family not to offer?

Mother Shi held her young grandchild, feeling indescribably disappointed. They hadn’t been in the capital long, yet how had her daughter-in-law changed so much?

…

Xia Xiaolan was unaware of the argument between the mother and daughter-in-law after she left.

The modified jeep drove smoothly, but Xia Xiaolan couldn’t drive it back to school. So Kang Wei accompanied her back, and halfway there, Xia Xiaolan spotted a familiar face and quickly hit the brakes.

Kang Wei was about to explain something on Zhou Cheng’s behalf, but Xia Xiaolan had already opened the driver’s door and gotten out.

“Sister, you—”

He looked up, and the rest of his words caught in his throat, as if frozen in place.

Xia Xiaolan walked over, “Senior Shan, what happened?”

From a distance, Xia Xiaolan had thought the figure looked familiar, and as they drove past, she confirmed it was Shan Yujun, who had been responsible for receiving new students during the start of term.

Shan Yujun smiled while holding her bicycle, “Got a flat tire. It’s good you came by. If you’re not busy, could you watch my bike while I look for a repair shop nearby?”

Shan Yujun had some books in her bicycle basket, explaining she had been to the Xinhua Bookstore when she got the flat tire.

This area was somewhat remote, and Xia Xiaolan doubted Shan Yujun would find a repair shop.

“Kang Wei, don’t just stand there staring, come help. We’ll give Senior Shan a ride.”

The Jeep 212 was large enough—with the trunk open, they could easily fit Shan Yujun’s bicycle. Shan Yujun turned to look as Kang Wei, wearing his cap, clumsily climbed out of the passenger seat.