Lu Jiaxin knew the detailed address of the house, but she was not familiar with the Forty-nine City and did not know the exact location. Fortunately, Lu Jiaguang and Lu Jiajie were very familiar with the area, and the two rode their bicycles to take her and Xue Mao there.
Liao Xiangmei had other things to attend to at home, so after getting the address clear, she went back.
Sitting on the back of the bicycle, Lu Jiaxin curiously observed the streets on both sides. The Forty-nine City of now was completely different from what it would be forty years later. Trees alongside the road were tall and lush, houses were low and run-down, and there were crisscrossing electric wires by the roadside. These were all marks of the era!
On the road, Lu Jiaxin did not see a single car; everyone was either riding bicycles or walking. She felt a bit regretful, thinking that if she had a camera, she would definitely take a picture of this scene, as these photos would become exceptionally precious forty years later.
As they passed by an elementary school, Lu Jiaxin exclaimed upon seeing its name—it was Radiance Elementary School. This school later became a key elementary school in the Forty-nine City, renowned nationwide. Parents who didn't want their children to fall behind at the starting line went to great lengths to get them admitted here.
Lu Jiaxin asked, "Big brother, my house is not far from here, right?"
"Not far, just a turn away."
As Lu Jiaguang had said, they rode forward for another two or three minutes and turned into an alley. Soon after, following the house numbers, they quickly found the house.
Looking at the clean exterior walls and the bright gate, Lu Jiaguang's face showed a puzzled expression, "Xinxin, is it really here? Are you sure you remembered it correctly?"
The house didn't look like it had been uninhabited for a long time.
"Mom told me this address, it can't be wrong."
Lu Jiajie said with a smile, "Xinxin, you take the keys to open the door. If you can open it, that means there's no mistake."
As it turned out, her original self did not remember the address incorrectly. She quickly opened the door, but as she pushed it open, her eyes went wide in astonishment.
What met her eyes was a courtyard, which by estimation was over thirty square meters. There was a path in the middle of the courtyard, with two patches of garden beds on the left where vegetables were planted, their green lushness pleasant to the eye; on the right was a date tree, under which were placed stone tables and stools.
Lu Jiaguang was also surprised to see this courtyard. Before, when Lu Jiaxin had said it was a small house, he thought it was just two rooms, and he hadn't expected it to be a siheyuan (courtyard house).
Seeing the ground clean and tidy, Lu Jiaguang said, "Jiaxin, did Third Aunt hire someone to clean this courtyard regularly?"
Lu Jiaxin admitted she didn't know, "Mom didn't tell me. But the courtyard was bought with the help of Madam Xie, so it's probably her who has people clean it."
Lu Jiaguang frowned, "Are you sure Madam Xie helped buy this house?"
Third Aunt had lost her life saving the only child of the Xie family; he didn't expect that after Third Aunt's death, they would never show their faces again. He felt the Xie family was cold and ungrateful and thought it was unfair to Third Aunt. But now, it seemed there might be things he didn't know about.
Lu Jiaxin knew he had misunderstood the Xie family, so she explained, "Big brother, before Mom passed away, she told me that if I ever encountered a difficult situation or one that related to life and death, I could seek help from the Xie family, but I should not associate with them on a regular basis otherwise."
Her original self was too young to understand, but Lu Jiaxin was aware of Mrs. Lu's well-intended concerns. Old Master Xie had by then cleared his name and was on the verge of rising again; if the two families interacted frequently, the beneficiaries would be Hongjun and the Lu family members.
The less one calls upon a favor, the more it holds its value. If the Lu family members used it, there might be no help for her original self in the future. But if they didn't keep in touch regularly and her original self ran into trouble, as long as it wasn't for legal or criminal issues, they would definitely help.
Lu Jiaguang was startled at first, but then quickly understood. His third aunt had indeed devoted herself to caring for her sister. Unfortunately, she passed away too early; otherwise, Xinxin wouldn't have had to suffer like this.
The house consisted of a main hall with three rooms, two side rooms on each the east and west sides, three backrooms, and one additional room on each side. There was also a woodshed and a kitchen. Such a quadrangle home would be worth millions in later times.
Xue Mao followed and took a look around, marveling to himself. He guessed the old landlords must have lived in houses like this, but such talk was taboo, so he only dared to think it, never to voice it.
Lu Jiajie patted Lu Jiaxin's shoulder, enviously saying, "Little sister, congratulations, you own such a large house at a young age."
It had been seven years since he started working in the factory and he still hadn't been allocated a house. His family of four was still living with his father-in-law. In the past years, his elder aunt and her husband would sometimes make sarcastic remarks, and since the father-in-law didn't take sides, he didn't mind it much. But recently, his father-in-law's attitude had changed, making it particularly uncomfortable to live there now. Ah, when could he have his own house like Jiaxin?
Lu Jiaguang, who had experienced much in life, reminded Lu Jiaxin, "Nowadays, everyone is struggling to find housing, and with your house being so large, it will inevitably attract others' interest. Xinxin, if anyone wants to rent or borrow your house, you must not agree. If it's difficult to refuse, just say it's up to me."
How could Lu Jiaxin possibly agree? What if relatives or friends came to stay and refused to leave? As for renting out the place, doing any business at that time was profitable; who needed the extra rental income?
Lu Jiajie thought even further, "Big brother, with the current chaos outside, Jiaxin's house is so large, it could attract the attention of people with bad intentions..."
Lu Jiaxin felt the issue was easy to resolve, "We can set up some traps and mechanisms under the corners of the walls. If they dare to climb over, we'll send them straight to jail."
In fact, she wasn't worried about being harassed by thugs, since the house was near an elementary school, the security would not be a concern in the future.
Lu Jiaguang thought it was a good idea and said he would find someone to take care of it when he got back.
Lu Jiaxin then said, "Big brother, we just need to clean up a bit and then we can move in. Look, can we move my room's furniture and bedding over today?"
Only the main house was furnished; the other rooms were empty. She had a place to sleep, but Xue Mao did not.
After mentioning this, she explained her urgency, "I've exposed everything Ding Jing and Zhao Siyi did, and now the entire family compound knows about it. Ding Jing hates me to the bone, and if we wait until tomorrow, there might be nothing left."
Lu Jiaguang thought about Lu Hongjun's attitude and also felt it was better to act sooner rather than later, "I'll go back and see if I can borrow a truck. If I can, we'll bring your things over this afternoon."
Lu Jiajie offered with a smile, "Big brother, I took the day off, let me handle this!"
He was just an ordinary worker in the shoe factory, unlike Lu Jiaguang who was a busy leader; taking time off was easy for him. Of course, he mainly felt there was no future at the shoe factory, so he wasn't working very hard there.
"Big brother, Fifth Brother, thank you," she said.
Lu Jiaguang felt a touch of heartache hearing that, "Silly girl, what's there to thank? I'm your brother, looking after you is what I should do."
Lu Jiajie patted her shoulder and said with a smile, "Don't say that anymore. It's too formal for family members to thank each other."
The two brothers left to help her move her belongings, while Lu Jiaxin and Xue Mao stayed behind to clean up.