Silly Zhu's Moving: The Old Neighbor's Nightmare

Upon returning to the Military Control Commission, Director Wang arranged for staff from the real estate department to accompany Sha Zhu to view the house.

The young man who went to look at the house with Sha Zhu was a young man in his late twenties.

His surname is Li. He looks tall and thin, a little handsome, and somewhat pretty. He must be very popular with girls.

Looking at the handsome young man, Sha Zhu felt a little jealous.

"Brother Li, can you do me a favor later?"

"What help do you need? I can't help with the house. As long as there aren't any major problems with your house, the price is basically fixed and won't fluctuate much."

"Even if your house is the best one in the yard, I can't give you much extra money within my authority," the young man said.

The young man thought to himself, "I've helped you, but what am I supposed to do? My salary is already low; I live off the meager bonuses I receive."

Without a chance to make a contribution, he couldn't even afford a cigarette. He was just thinking this when...

Sha Zhu pulled out a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes and handed it to the young man. "Brother Li, it's not about the price. When we get to our courtyard, pretend to be my friend and come to visit my house. Don't say you're here to see the house."

Sha Zhu, seeing the puzzled young man, continued, "Isn't it because of the housing shortage? Many of our neighbors in the courtyard also lack housing."

The family of five in the front yard—parents, child, and grandmother—all lived together in one room.

The Intermediate People's Court, a mother and son, the son is getting married, and they still live together.

There are seven or eight households in the courtyard, and housing is scarce. If someone sees my house for sale, they'll probably offer to sell it to them at a lower price.

I reckon there are plenty of people who would take advantage of my house for free.

Everyone wants a house; they're all neighbors, they all come to me. It's too much trouble.

The young man visibly relaxed and said.

"Hey, it's nothing, no problem. Your name is Zhuzi, right?"

I see that's how our Director Wang addresses you. When we get to your house later, I'll be your older brother, and you'll be my younger brother.

"It's not like anyone can say anything if the older brother comes to visit his younger brother's house," the young man surnamed Li said casually.

He opened the cigarettes that were being shoved into his mouth, took one out, lit it, took a deep drag, and said, "Zhu Zi, have one."

Seeing this, Sha Zhu quickly said, "Brother Li, I won't smoke anymore. I'm still young and don't have a smoking addiction."

The two chatted and laughed all the way to No. 95 Nanluoguxiang Courtyard. It was now mid-morning.

I guess the older women are all either shopping for groceries or cooking. There's no one at the gate either.

Teacher Yan wasn't standing guard at the gate at this time. Walking into the courtyard, wisps of smoke rose from the rooftops of several houses, and there were hardly any people in the courtyard.

In the middle courtyard, at the entrance of the Jia family's residence, Jia Zhangshi was sitting on a stool with a small basket on her lap.

Inside were some needles, thread, and scraps of cloth; one person was holding an old shoe sole and threading a needle.

Seeing Sha Zhu leading a young man in, he hurriedly asked, "Sha Zhu, didn't you go to learn cooking? Who is this young man?"

"Oh, Aunt Jia, this is one of my good brothers. I ran into him today. He's come over to my house to get acquainted with the place and have a look around."

Sha Zhu quickly changed the subject, "Aunt Jia, it's almost noon, aren't you going to buy groceries and cook?"

"What are you going to cook? Your brother Dongxu eats lunch at the factory and isn't coming back. I'll just heat up the leftovers from this morning."

After saying that, he didn't want to talk to Sha Zhu anymore. There was nothing to gain from it. He picked up the basket, turned around, and went back into the house.

What do you mean, "my brother Dongxu"? You shameless bastard.

Sha Zhu led the handsome young man to the front of his house, opened the door, and invited the young man from the real estate department to tour the house at his own pace while he quickly made tea and poured water.

"Is your house nice? Although the furniture is a bit worn, the house looks quite sturdy."

"A little repair to the walls, a leveling of the floor, and some new furniture, and it'll be a new house!" The young man carefully inspected the condition of the house.

"I was thinking of buying this house, but what a pity."

Sha Zhu brewed the tea and, hearing the words of regret, quickly asked, "Brother Li, what's the pity? Come and have some tea."

"It's not a secret, but I'm telling you anyway. Don't go around telling everyone."

Our military control commission has too many departments and too many leaders.

Sometimes I don't know who to listen to, which makes things a bit chaotic. They're planning to cut a lot of departments, but I don't know where to move them.

"I might be able to discuss it with my family and get this house. Waiting for housing allocation would take forever. We've got a long way to go."

"Brother Li, is the Military Control Commission also moving away?" Sha Zhu asked hurriedly.

"No, it won't happen. It's just a makeover, not a relocation. It will be set up as a street office government office, also called a street government. I don't know if our housing department will have to move."

"Brother Li, let me tell you the truth. You absolutely mustn't move in,"

"Why?" Xiao Li asked.

"Hehe, I've been living here for quite a while. We're all neighbors, and everyone seems easy to get along with."

Over time, you'll realize that this courtyard is full of selfish people who like to take advantage of others.

If you eat some meat in your yard, you'll probably attract a lot of people who will criticize you and come to your house to borrow some oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar. If you don't lend them to them, they'll probably start arguing with you.

"After we finished arguing and you left, I turned around and sneaked into your house, then secretly took it and used it," Sha Zhu said.

Xiao Li said, "Isn't this normal? Our compound is like this too."

When we first moved in, it was fine. Everyone was polite and helpful to each other. But in less than two months, we all got to know each other and no one ever knocked before entering my house.

"Borrowing things from my house is commonplace, and they never return them. I'm used to it. Is your yard the same?" "Holy crap, that's acceptable."

"Brother Li, your courtyard, right? You should take advantage of it a little, it's nothing. In our courtyard, you can only survive by using cunning. Otherwise, you'll be left with nothing but bones."

"Oh, what do you mean? It's just taking a small advantage. I don't believe it. I'm a government employee, after all." Xiao Li said with a disdainful look.

"Brother Li, let me give you a simple example. If you live in this courtyard, everyone is a neighbor. If you exchange a few words with someone's daughter-in-law, then problems will arise."

"what is the problem?"

"If you have a good relationship with most of your neighbors, things should be better."

If you have absolutely no friends or acquaintances, well, the neighbors in the compound will gang up on you.

Slander and mudslinging are the least of it; they can infuriate you. In more serious cases, they can ruin your reputation and make your name the talk of the town.

Regardless of whether it's true or not, they'll frame you for everything. You'll then know what it means to be unable to defend yourself and to be condemned by everyone.

"No, is it that serious?"

"Hehe, it's not serious at all."

If it were anyone else, everyone would know to have some self-respect; their reputation is more important than their life.

This courtyard is a bit of an exception; most of the people there are shameless.

If you're not shrewd enough, you shouldn't even consider buying a house here.

Even if you find the police, sometimes it's useless. There are several long-time residents in this compound.

They are quite exclusive; by spending a little money, they can get everyone to agree and make it an ironclad case right in front of the police.

Even if the police are incredibly skilled at solving cases and you escape unscathed, your neighbors in the courtyard will hate you even more.

How are you going to survive? Are you going to confront them head-on?

Besides, with your good looks, it's hard to guarantee that the young wives and girls in the neighborhood won't have their eyes on you."

"Really? Now that you mention it, I really don't dare to live in your courtyard anymore. Hey, you said I'm handsome."

"Am I really that handsome? I didn't know. Tell me, what's so handsome about me? Are all the young wives in your neighborhood pretty?"

After saying that, Xiao Li struck a smug pose.

Is that the point? No, that's not the point, bro.

"Alright, Brother Li. I was just rambling. It's not good to talk badly about your neighbors behind their backs."

I didn't say anything just now, it was all a joke. Once I'm out this door, I won't admit to anything. That's all for now.

"I'll take you to see another small room and the cellar." As he spoke, Sha Zhu led Xiao Li to a small room in the east wing near the main room for a visit.

Xiao Li followed behind, thinking to himself, "You're just making things up. You haven't said anything and you still won't admit it. I despise you."

"Hmm, this little house is alright. If we tidy it up a bit, it could house a family of three," Xiao Li said.

Afterwards, Sha Zhu led Xiao Li to see the cellar, and without attracting the attention of the people in the courtyard, they left courtyard number 95 and returned to the Military Control Commission.