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

Sha Zhu glanced at the older woman, not knowing her name, and then addressed the neighbors who had gathered around.

"What new and old? These are all secondhand furniture, bought from the Dongdan Dadi Secondhand Market,"

The neighbors, not knowing much about antiques, lost interest after hearing from Sha Zhu that everything was secondhand, even though it looked quite nice and had some brand-new furniture. They started gossiping about it.

"He Daqing is gone, but his son is quite good at managing money."

Look at those newly built houses; they're all made from free city wall bricks. They just paid a small transportation fee to bring them over and use them.

They're so frugal, buying just a little furniture but not willing to build new ones. They really know how to live frugally.

"Hmph, I think he's just incompetent. He's stingy when building a house, and he even uses secondhand furniture. Who would marry him when he reaches marriageable age?"

He Daqing's son is not even 17 years old yet. By the time he reaches marriageable age, the house might have already collapsed.

"They're not that easy to collapse. Even if it didn't cost much to bring them back, they were old city defense bricks, and those bricks are very hard."

"What's so hard about them? These bricks are hundreds of years old. If they're so useful, why don't you go and get some more to renovate your house? Every time it rains, you just take a basin and pour water out of the house."

"My roof is leaking, not the brick wall. Why would I need to renovate it? Besides, it's none of your business what I do."

"What are you talking about? Who do you think wants to meddle in your family's mess? Every time it rains, your daughter comes into my house to seduce my son."

Don't think I don't know what you're up to. You want your daughter to marry into my family? Keep dreaming.

"Oh dear, you shameless old woman Zhang, you're just as shameless as Jia Zhangshi from courtyard number 95. Oh, Jia Zhangshi also has the surname Zhang, you two must be from the same family, both shameless."

Upon hearing the surname Zhang, the woman couldn't contain herself and started accusing her daughter of seducing her son. She broke down in her rage and, while still talking, rushed forward and began to fight with the woman surnamed Zhang.

When the neighbors who had been gossiping saw that things had escalated, they quickly stepped in to separate the two. They had been chatting and laughing just a moment ago, but now they were fighting.

Sha Zhu watched with great interest, almost bursting out laughing.

The driver, seeing that the older women had separated the two, hurriedly urged Sha Zhu to open the gate.

After Sha Zhu opened the door, he arranged for the servants to move all the furniture to the living room, except for a double bed which was carried into the east room, which did not have a heated kang (a traditional Chinese bed-stove).

He could arrange the rest himself. If it weren't for the neighbors coming in to visit, Sha Zhu would have just had his workers put them in the yard and put them away in his storage space.

"Zhu Zi, your yard is really big. It's a bit of a waste for just you and your sister to live there."

Sha Zhu ignored her.

The older woman's eyes were practically bulging with envy.

"Your yard is all paved with cement, it's so clean."

These neighbors may be visiting for the first time, or perhaps some of them came to see the house when it was being built.

Even the workers that Mr. Zhang assigned to supervise couldn't be on guard against these neighbors all the time.

A younger woman said, "Zhu Zi, why don't you build more rooms along the wall? The yard is just an empty shell. What's the point of putting stone tables and chairs there?"

Sha Zhu noticed that this auntie wasn't very old; she was much younger than the other middle-aged women.

She's probably not even thirty yet, with a slightly rosy complexion and a kind voice; she'll definitely be a beauty when she gets married.

Unfortunately, the hardships of life, the coarse clothes she wore, and the calluses on her hands had robbed this woman of her original beauty.

Although life is tough, this woman has a very positive outlook, which suggests she's full of hope for her new life.

Sha Zhu said, "Dad ran away. He doesn't have much money. Three main rooms are enough for me and my sister to live in."

An older woman who rushed into the house to look around exclaimed, "Oh my, Zhu Zi, your house has been divided into east and west rooms, so now there are four bedrooms!"

"You've renovated the roof too, is it to prevent leaks?" Several older women outside the courtyard heard this and ran inside to visit.

An older woman opened the bathroom door and went inside, looking at the sink and faucet.

I tried turning on the tap by hand, and the tap water gushed out.

She hurriedly and excitedly called out, "Sister Zhang, it's Old Wang's family! Come and take a look!"

I just saw a laundry sink in the yard, I didn't expect there to be another one inside the house. Everyone rushed into the bathroom. Sha Zhu facepalmed, why didn't they lock the bathroom door?

The woman called Sister Zhang is the one who was fighting outside. She was just saying that Sha Zhu is too old to get married and his house will collapse.

Then, he tested the faucet and said to Sha Zhu, who hadn't come in yet, "Zhu Zi, why did you install the laundry sink inside the house?"

"Isn't there one in the yard? This laundry sink is so small, you're not planning to use it for washing your hands and face inside, are you?"

Sha Zhu looked at the group of curious old women and said helplessly, "Yes, it's a special room for washing your face and brushing your teeth."

Upon hearing this, several of the older women showed pained expressions. "Zhu Zi, aren't you wasting the room? You could just buy a washstand. Installing a sink in the room makes it too damp and bad for the house."

Sha Zhu knew perfectly well that these neighbors were living in cramped conditions, with some families having three generations sharing a single room.

Seeing that Sha Zhu has even partitioned off a separate room inside the house for washing hands and face makes me uncomfortable.

Sha Zhu isn't going to put up with these old women anymore. I like it, what's it to you?

Like that person who argued with Aunt Zhang, what business is it of yours what happens in my family?

So Sha Zhu said, "After I move back, I plan to go to the secondhand market and buy a bathtub so I can take a bath here occasionally and won't have to go to the public bathhouse every day."

The neighbors were stunned. It turned out that this house was not only used for washing hands and face, but also for taking a bath.

The group of older women were incredibly envious. They called Zhang Jie around, "Look at this bathroom! Then look at the kitchen and laundry sink in the yard!"

Suddenly remembering a small house in the corner of the east wall, he asked Shazhu, "That small house in the corner of the yard, could it be a separate toilet?"

These old women are making connections: they have a kitchen, they have a bathroom, all they need is a toilet. Then they think of the room in the corner—that's it!

Sha Zhu didn't say a word, but you could tell from their expressions that they had already made up their minds.

The woman surnamed Zhang said, "Zhu Zi, is the toilet door open? Let's go take a look."

Sha Zhu laughed and joked, "Auntie, you can just look at the room. There's no way to visit the outhouse, and there's nothing to eat inside. Why don't you wait until I move it back to the storage point before you look at it?"

This time, Sha Zhu has really stirred up a hornet's nest.

"Hey, you brat, you're making fun of your old mother!" several middle-aged women shouted as they chased after him.

Sha Zhu had already slipped out of the living room and run into the yard.