Siheyuan: Starting from 1958

For Qin Huairu right now, the most pressing need is time.

Tomorrow is the final deadline for paying Bang Geng's fine, and she must seize every moment to raise the three thousand yuan fine for Bang Geng.

Seeing Yi Zhonghai nod at her, indicating his willingness to help, Qin Huairu didn't waste any words and said directly, "Old Yi..."

"I want to mortgage the house we live in now..."

"Given the current housing prices in Beijing, this house is worth at least 1,800 yuan. I'll use the house as collateral to borrow 1,600 yuan, and pay back 1,900 yuan in two years..."

"This way, we can help Bang Geng raise 1,600 yuan for the fine."

"As long as the police release Banggeng, he can find a job and earn money again in Beijing."

“I can also go out to work and earn money. Even if I can’t become a permanent employee, I can still earn thirty or forty yuan a month as a temporary worker.”

"With the wages I earn from the pigeon, I'll definitely be able to save up 1,900 yuan in two years to redeem the mortgaged house."

Yi Zhonghai was stunned. He never expected that Qin Huairu's request for his help would involve mortgaging the house.

My first reaction was to refuse.

Since the house I'm currently living in no longer belongs to me, it's impossible to mortgage it.

More importantly, even if he still owned the house, he didn't want to mortgage it for the sake of a kickback.

Qin Huai made it sound so nice that she would go out and earn money with Bang Geng after he was released by the police, and they could pay back all the money they borrowed by mortgaging the house in two years.

That's what they say, but it's very difficult to do.

Let's not even talk about whether the two of them can save up 1,900 yuan after deducting living expenses from their wages.

Even if he could, given Qin Huairu's selfish nature, he would first repay the more than 1,000 yuan he borrowed from Old Wang's family in the front yard by the end of the year; otherwise, the Jia family's house would be occupied by Old Wang's family in the front yard.

By the end of the year after next, they simply couldn't come up with the money to repay the loan they had borrowed by mortgaging their house.

It's possible that Qin Huairu never intended to repay this money in the first place.

After all, this house has nothing to do with Qin Huairu.

Even if she really is gone, she can move back to the Jia family home with Banggeng.

It's a bit crowded, but not to the point of being homeless.

Meeting Qin Huairu's expectant gaze, he immediately refused: "I disagree..."

"This house is my last resort for retirement, and I absolutely cannot risk mortgaging it."

"If I fail to repay the loan on time and someone comes to take over the house, I won't even have a place to live."

Yi Zhonghai dared not admit that the house no longer belonged to him and had been sold to Wang Dong.

The reason Qin Huairu didn't divorce him and promised to support him in his old age was not only because she was after his meager pension, but also because she was after the house he was currently living in.

As her legal husband, as long as the house remains in her name, Qin Huairu can successfully acquire it as the first heir after her death, and no one will have anything to say about it then.

If Qin Huairu finds out that the house he schemed for no longer belongs to him, but has been sold to Wang Dong, and that his retirement savings have been wasted because of Bang Geng and Xu Damao's smuggling activities, Qin Huairu, with her selfish nature, will definitely kick him out immediately.

In this situation, the only reason Yi Zhonghai could think of to refuse Qin Huairu's proposal was to link the house to his retirement, using the excuse of being destitute in his old age. However, Qin Huairu was clearly prepared and did not give up on this idea because of Yi Zhonghai's refusal.

Instead, he knelt down in front of Yi Zhonghai with a thud, his face contorted with grief as he pleaded, "Old Yi..."

"This is the only way I can think of to raise funds for the fines..."

"If you don't agree to mortgage this house, Bang Geng really won't be able to get out..."

"If Bang Geng is sentenced to prison, even if he is released in the future, he will still have a criminal label on his head. Not only will he not be able to find a wife, but he will also not be able to find a decent job."

“We will have to rely on Banggeng for our old age in the future. What if Banggeng can’t earn money or get married after he gets out of prison? How will he support us in our old age?”

"I swear……"

"As long as you are willing to mortgage the house and help Banggeng collect the 1,600 yuan fine, once Banggeng is released by the police, all the wages Banggeng earns and all the money I earn will be given to you for you to save. When you have saved enough money to borrow from the mortgaged house, you will not have to hand over your wages."

“I can also sign an agreement... I will definitely take good care of you in your old age. If I fail to keep my promise, you can take the agreement and sue both me and Bang Geng.”

Qin Huai had already said all that, even kneeling before him, swearing a solemn oath, and agreeing to sign a retirement agreement. If Yi Zhonghai still didn't agree, then it would be his fault.

However, Yi Zhonghai was unable to produce any property ownership certificate for the house at that moment.

The day after deciding to sell the house to Wang Dong, he transferred the ownership to Wang Dong.

This resulted in him not having the property certificate for the house at all.

Even if there is one, the property certificate will be in Wang Dong's name.

Unless Wang Dong shows up and gives his approval, even if Yi Zhonghai and Qin Huairu take the property certificate to the local street office, they won't be able to mortgage it.

But he couldn't tell Qin Huairu that he had already sold the house to Wang Dong, otherwise Qin Huairu would break up with him before he could even rescue Bang Geng, and would no longer take care of him in his old age.

Faced with Qin Huairu's gaze, his mind raced, trying to think of a way to break the deadlock and hopefully get away with it.

Finally, he did think of one, and immediately asked Qin Huairu, "Huairu..."

"Even if I mortgage the house and borrow 1,600 yuan, I'll still be 1,400 yuan short of the 3,000 yuan fine the police are demanding..."

"If I can't raise 1,400 yuan, it won't help even if I borrow 1,600 yuan."

Qin Huairu, unaware of Yi Zhonghai's ulterior motives, quickly replied, "Old Yi..."

"I've taken care of the rest of the money."

"My mom and I pooled all our savings and managed to scrape together a little over three hundred yuan."

"Guihua took two hundred yuan of her own money, and sold the radio at home, her mother's gold ring, and the bicycle she had bought before. She could still scrape together more than two hundred yuan, which brought her to about seven hundred yuan."

“My mom and I found a boyfriend for Kuihua. If we take Kuihua to register the marriage tomorrow morning, they will agree to give us 800 yuan as a bride price.”

"If you borrow the 1,600 yuan back, you can not only pay the 3,000 yuan fine for Banggeng, but you'll also have more than 100 yuan left over..."

"Kuihua has already agreed to get the marriage certificate with him tomorrow, all that's missing is the 1,600 yuan you have here." (End of this chapter)