Back to 1993: The family splits up at the start, and the ingrates regret it so much they cry.

"Pengdi, try my fried rice." Li Fang brought two bowls of fried rice into the house.

Wang Peng put down his English book, scooped up a spoonful to taste, and laughed, "It tastes good, about 80% of my skill."

"Really?" Li Fang was overjoyed. "When will I be able to learn all of your skills?"

"Take your time, no rush." ​​Wang Peng handed her two hundred yuan. "This is your wage for watching the melons."

"No, thank you." Li Fang put her hands behind her back, looking a little shy.

The shoes she wore, the clothes she was wearing, and the meat she had been eating during this period were all bought by Wang Peng, so she was too embarrassed to ask for wages again.

"Take it." Wang Peng placed the money on the table.

In his past life, he owed his cousin more than 30,000 yuan to buy life-saving medicine, and he never paid it off before he died.

"Pengdi, do you have enough money for school?" Li Fang still didn't want to take the money.

Wang Peng opened his wallet, took out several hundred-yuan bills, and had several dozen yuan in change in his pocket.

His four mu of melon fields yielded 9,000 jin of watermelons, which was about what Du Geda had estimated.

The watermelon was priced at 30 cents each, and the total income was 2,700 yuan. After deducting food and clothing expenses, only 2,300 yuan was left.

"Cousin, guess how long this two thousand yuan will last me?" He shook the hundred-yuan bill in his hand.

Li Fang chuckled and put the two hundred yuan on the table into her pocket.

“That’s right, even brothers should keep clear accounts.” Wang Peng stood up. “Let’s go, come with me to the county to rent a house.”

"Rent a room? Why rent a room?" Li Fang hurriedly persuaded, "You can live on campus at No. 1 Middle School. When you're on vacation, you can stay at my house."

"I don't want to live on campus," Wang Peng said with a look of disgust.

In his past life, he had delivered a quilt to Wang Cheng at No. 1 Middle School and had entered the boys' dormitory.

The small room was filled with bunk beds, and the aisle between the beds was only fifty centimeters wide, so big people had to squeeze through sideways.

In his past life, his fourth sister killed someone in a car accident, and he took the blame and served a year in prison. Surprisingly, the prison cell was better than the school dormitory.

"Don't rent a place outside. Rent in the county is definitely not cheap. You have to learn to save money."

Li Fang was anxious, "Food costs money at school, stationery costs money, and it's getting cold, so we need to buy cotton clothes and quilts..."

"Alright, sister, stop talking." Wang Peng had a headache.

Having been given a second chance at life, my primary task is to live a carefree and refined life.

Why be so frugal?

"What are your plans for the future?" he asked Li Fang in return.

Li Fangzhen had never considered this question and fell silent.

After a long silence, she said, "I plan to go to the south to work, save up my dowry, and find a good man to marry."

“Instead of going to work in the south, you might as well work for me. At least I won’t deduct your wages,” Wang Peng said.

"Stop joking." Li Fang rolled her eyes. "You're starting school soon, what kind of work am I supposed to do for you? Be your nanny?"

“Being a nanny isn’t out of the question,” Wang Peng laughed. “I’m planning to sell fried rice with eggs near the school gate, and you can help me out.”

Li Fang was completely stunned; the CPU instantly overheated.

"Your main task is to study, don't do business," she said weakly.

"So I need to rent a place. Let's go, sister." Wang Peng got up and went outside to wash the dishes.

Li Fang paused for a few seconds, then quickly snatched the rice bowl away. "Pengdi, are you serious?"

"Nonsense, go wash the dishes," Wang Peng said.

……

Ping'an County No. 1 Middle School is located on Huanghe Road in the county seat and covers a large area.

The siblings walked deeper into the campus and saw the honor roll for new students posted on the wall.

The first place was Wang Peng, and the second place was Li Mengjiao, both of which were girls' names. He was too lazy to look at the other rankings.

When I arrived at the boys' dormitory building, I looked through the windows and smelled a sour smell and the stench of feet.

Li Fang frowned; the accommodation here was not even as good as the dormitory at No. 3 Middle School.

The siblings left school and began looking for housing in the nearby residential area.

While strolling around and asking around, Wang Peng looked at three or four houses, but he was not satisfied with any of them.

“Pengdi, the house you just saw was very clean, and the rent wasn’t expensive either.”

“We don’t rent apartments, so there’s nowhere to put our fried rice cart.”

"Pengdi, what's a fried rice cart?"

"You'll know then."

After a whole afternoon of searching, the siblings finally found a suitable courtyard.

Three dilapidated main rooms, a small kitchen, and a large enough yard to walk ten minutes to the school.

The landlords were a young couple; the man's name was Li Dashan, and the woman's name was Zhang**.

"Little sister, tell me the truth, what's your relationship?" Zhang** was worried that they were a couple who had eloped.

“We are really cousins. He calls my dad ‘Second Uncle,’ and I call his mom ‘Eldest Aunt.’” Li Fang was speechless.

This afternoon, four landlords asked her the same question.

Here, Wang Peng and Li Dashan reached an agreement: the rent would be 500 yuan per year, payable in one lump sum.

Wang Peng drafted the rental agreement and gave it to Li Dashan for review.

After reading it, Li Dashan thought it was fine and said, "Brother, let me write down your ID card."

"Don't misunderstand, brother." Seeing Wang Peng frown, he hurriedly explained, "Some time ago, my neighbor rented his house to a fugitive without his knowledge and was fined a thousand yuan by the police station."

“I have an ID card.” Li Fang took out her ID card. “My cousin just started high school and doesn’t have an ID card yet.”

"Oh, I understand." Li Dashan picked up his pen and wrote down Li Fang's ID information.

After making the record, he returned the ID card to Li Fang.

Wang Peng took out five hundred yuan. "Brother Dashan, your yard is nice. How much do you want to buy it?"

"Oh, you want to buy it?" Li Dashan laughed. "Give me 20,000 yuan, and the yard is yours."

Zhang** laughed, "Young man, you've got quite the nerve. But you'd better hurry, because I might not want to sell it anymore someday."

“Okay, I’ll buy this place next year.” Wang Peng thought the courtyard was worth buying.

The world may be vast, but everyone needs a place to stand. He didn't want to go back to that home.

“Brother, you’ve got guts. I’ll wait for you to pay up.” Li Dashan laughed heartily.

He thought it was a joke, but it wasn't.

Next year, the county government will move to the Yellow River, and various government agencies will also move there one after another.

By then, Huanghe Road will gradually become the main street of Ping'an County.

With the added benefit of being located in a good school district, this small, run-down courtyard will likely increase in value to 100,000 yuan in less than two years.

The key point is that you can get a county household registration by buying a house in the county town.

Li Fang felt sorry for him. "Pengdi, we should rent a house on the outskirts of the county town. It will definitely be cheaper than here."

Wang Peng shook his head, saying that paying more rent was fine, the main thing was that it was close to the school.

"Let's go, Sister Fang, let's go back to the Du family's house and get our things."

The siblings returned to Duzhuang and used a handcart to haul firewood, rice, oil, salt, pots, pans, and other supplies.

Passing by the People's Department Store, I bought two locks to change the locks in my rental apartment, and then bought bedding such as quilts, pillows, and sheets.

After spending another two hundred yuan, Wang Peng only had one thousand five hundred yuan left.

Li Fang was heartbroken. "Return the quilt and come to my house tomorrow to pick it up."

"Sister Fang, money isn't saved, it's earned." Wang Peng shook his wallet. "I plan to only pay for my studies abroad and spend the rest."

"Are you crazy?" Li Fang was terrified. "Don't do anything reckless. You still owe Master Du several hundred yuan."

"Oh dear, I almost forgot about that." Wang Peng scratched his head. "Tomorrow, I'll show you what a fried rice truck is all about."