Seeing her mother like this, Ni Yang chuckled and said, "When I start making money in the future, I'll definitely buy you a television."
In this era, a black and white television costs around 500 yuan. Right now, her purse was thin, so she couldn't afford it yet.
Ni Cuihua immediately waved her hand, "We don't need that! It's too much of a waste of money! Yangyang, if we have money, I would rather send you to school than buy this useless thing. It can neither fill your belly nor keep you warm. What's the use?" Studying was the only chance for a rural person to rise above the masses.
Ni Yang smiled slightly and stopped talking.
Ni Cuihua continued, "You quickly teach me how to turn on this television."
Ni Yang taught Ni Cuihua to switch on the television and change the channels. At this time, televisions didn't have remotes and all the buttons had to be manually pressed.
Although Ni Cuihua had never been to school, she was very smart. Ni Yang taught her only once and she got it.
That night, Ni Cuihua sat on the bed and watched TV until late. Ni Yang, on the other hand, went to sleep early.
The next day, just as the sky was lightening, Ni Chenggui, who lived next door, came knocking at the door.
"Yangyang, I'll take you all out for a special Beijing breakfast. We can set off after eating."
Ni Chenggui was still dressed stylishly today. Compared to Ni Cuihua and her daughter, they were worlds apart.
However, even though Ni Yang was dressed shabbily, standing in front of Ni Chenggui, she did not seem inferior at all.
Usually, clothes make the man, but in her case, it was just the opposite. Even in ragged clothes, the aura around her was not obscured.
The four of them set off to have breakfast.
At this time, Beijing still wasn't as prosperous as it became later, and the management wasn't as strict either. Many places were still undeveloped, and both sides of the road were lined with vendors selling breakfast. It was very lively.
For breakfast, they had fried cakes and soybean milk, which tasted very authentic.
After breakfast, the three adults and one child got on the trackless trolley and set off for Ni Chenggui's home in the suburbs.
The trackless trolley was similar to the modern-day bus, offering scheduled station stops.
Although the traffic in Beijing at this time wasn't congested, the buses were still filled with people, almost standing toe-to-toe.
After changing buses several times and travelling for nearly two hours, they finally reached Ni Chenggui's home.
The place was located on the northwestern edge of Beijing, bordered by Yanjiao Province in the west and Wujin City in the east. Transportation was convenient and it only took half an hour to get to the city by trolley.
Compared to the hustle and bustle of the city, this area was not much different from the countryside, except for its convenient transportation.
Surrounded by mountains on all sides, people supported themselves by farming.
"Yangyang, Yangyang's mother, this is my home," Ni Chenggui pointed to the four-courtyard house behind him.
The four-courtyard house seemed quite old, with pink walls and grey tiles, and looked very quaint.
"Chenggui, your house is really grand." Ni Cuihua looked at the four-courtyard house in front of her, eyes full of astonishment.
Previously, the Mu family was considered well-off in Dam Village, but they only had five brick houses. A fancy four-courtyard house like this must be worth quite a lot of money.
When she saw the four-courtyard house, Ni Yang momentarily gave up her idea of buying a house. She only had a thousand yuan on her, nowhere near enough to buy a four-courtyard house. She decided to think about the matter when she had some spare cash on hand.
Ni Chenggui responded with a faint smile, a hint of melancholy flashing in her eyes, "What's the point of having a house when there's no one left?" Switching her tone, she added: "Let's go, I'll show you around."
The courtyard was vast, and there were over a dozen rooms inside, wrapping around nearly a thousand square meters.
Ni Chenggui pointed to the main house in the north and said, "I usually live on this side, you two figure out whether you want to live in the east, south, or west. Each side, including the kitchen and toilet, has five rooms. The rent is the same for each, 15 yuan a month."
15 yuan?
So expensive!
Ni Cuihua gasped, she knew Ni Yang had the 1,000 yuan given by Zhou Changzheng, but they had already spent nearly 200 on their trip to Beijing. If they continued spending like this, not even a thousand yuan, but even a pile of gold could be burned through.
"Yangyang," Ni Cuihua tugged at Ni Yang's sleeve; she had instinctively started to rely on Ni Yang to take the lead.
"I have a plan," Ni Yang reassured her by patting her hand.
Fifteen yuan was indeed relatively high, but from another perspective - 15 yuan for rent of five rooms, and that too, in Beijing - it did not seem too expensive.
"Auntie Ni, I'll take the house. Let's pay a year's rent upfront." Ni Yang took out 180 yuan from her pocket and handed it to Ni Chenggui.
Ni Chenggui was astonished at how quickly Ni Yang agreed. She had assumed Ni Yang would bargain, after all, 180 yuan was no small amount.
Who would ordinarily rent a house on the outskirts of town? To Ni Chenggui, Ni Yang was akin to the God of Wealth, this was essentially free money.
"Okay," Ni Chenggui chuckled as she received the money. "You two can start cleaning up your rooms. You can use everything in the east rooms. If you need anything, just let me know." Now that Ni Yang had been so straightforward, she couldn't be stingy.
"Thank you Auntie Ni," After expressing her gratitude, Ni Yang, with Ni Cuihua, entered the eastern rooms.
The eastern rooms were clearly uninhabited for a long time, with all the furniture piled up under a layer of dust and a web of spider webs.
Ni Cuihua first sorted out the bed for Ni Yun to sleep on and then began to clean up the room with Ni Yang.
"Mom, you're still in postpartum confinement and can't touch cold water. I'll handle this." Women during this era were truly strong. Ni Cuihua had birthed five children, and not once did she go through postpartum confinement. The scenario would simply be unthinkable in modern times, it could potentially cause significant health issues.
"I'm not made of glass," Ni Cuihua responded as she cleaned a table. "I've managed so far, haven't I? Also, I can't let you be the only one cleaning these five rooms. That would take ages." As a mother, Ni Cuihua already felt guilty about not being able to protect her daughters; she didn't want to be a burden now.
Ni Yang could only let her have her way.
The mother-daughter duo busied themselves all day, only having biscuits for lunch. By evening, they had managed to clean up all five rooms.
The five rooms were interconnected; the middle one was the living room, two others were bedrooms for Ni Yang and Ni Cuihua, and then there was an empty room on the side.
"You two are certainly hardworking. In less than a day, you've transformed this place!" Ni Chenggui arrived at the doorstep with a plate in her hands and said, smiling, "These are steamed buns I made. I brought them for you to try."
Ni Yang, brimming with smiles, took the plate from her and said, "Thank you, Auntie Ni, could you do me a favor tomorrow? Could you take me to the village committee? I need to file some paperwork."
After moving from an outside enclave, they aimed to stay here for a long time. Naturally, they needed to notify the local leadership and fulfill necessary formalities to smooth out future cooperation.
Having been a boss, Ni Yang knew well to pay attention to such details.
"Sure, no problem," Ni Chenggui replied, smiling, "I'm scheduled for a day off tomorrow anyway. I can take you there."
"Thank you, Auntie Ni."
Just then, Ni Cuihua came out of the kitchen with a bowl of noodles, "Chenggui, haven't had dinner yet, have you? We're having noodles tonight. Please join us."