It was also a matter of luck for the Lin family to have a building in Xicheng. Back then, grandfather Lin Aijun made a fortune by doing business in the spring breeze of national policies. After that, he did not continue to invest in becoming a businessman, but used most of the money to build it. This upstairs, and then started a rent-collecting business.
Although Xicheng is far from being able to compare with the super first-tier cities like the capital of the capital, it is also a leader in second-tier cities. In recent years, thanks to the ever-increasingly high housing prices in the past, it has gradually gained the confidence to compete for the new first-tier. There are many foreigners who come to work here every year. Grandpa Lin also specially selected a piece of land facing the main street, so he doesn’t have to worry about having no tenants at all, let alone too cheap rents.
Eight years ago, the old man died of illness, and the building was inherited by his only son, Lin Youyu. He and his wife Wang Xiuzhi not only continued to rent in front of their parents-in-law, but also occupied a shop on the first floor and opened a tobacco and alcohol store.
The couple's daily life is not too busy, not too busy nor too decadent, and the rhythm is quite steady.
"It's a pity that your grandfather's eyes are still not vicious enough." Father Lin muttered regretfully, turning his head to look across the street, "When you first picked the land, you should have chosen the one across the street."
On the opposite side of the car, there is a high-end community with a group of garden houses and an excellent environment. Further ahead is a bustling business district and a subway station that has been newly built for a year. The location is very good, and the security is tight at this time. From time to time, there are brand-name cars coming in and out at the gate of the community.
In contrast, on the Lin family's side across the street, except for the houses in the row that look good, there are a large number of private residences behind, all kinds of early low-rise houses and private buildings, scattered on the streets and alleys. There are bicycles and battery cars scurrying around, and from time to time, there are vendors who sell vegetables and meat, and they almost put their stalls in the middle of the road. The environment and the opposite community are almost the same.
For this kind of place, the Chinese people have a unified name - the village in the city.
Fifteen years ago, the situation on both sides of the street was the same. Unfortunately, the good policy of demolition was that it did not fall to the old Lin's side. Neighbors on this side of the street could only watch the old acquaintances on the opposite side holding the demolition money with a smile. And the allotted house suddenly developed, and there was nothing to do with jealousy.
Across the street, the fate is worlds apart.
Every time Father Lin thought about it, he felt extremely embarrassed.
"Okay, don't look at it." Mother Lin said to him with an angry face, "You still think about it after so many years, even if the government didn't choose our side, the days of the old Lin family will pass. It's not bad, and it's not short compared to the people living in those bungalows on the opposite side."
"Isn't it difficult for me?" Father Lin muttered dejectedly, then glanced at the high-end residential area opposite, and turned his head to talk to Lin Lan, "Lan Lan, let me tell you, if your grandfather took the small building It was built on the opposite side. Our family now has at least two buildings. This is still a small talk. I heard that there is a family surnamed Cheng on the opposite side. His courtyard-style residential house was demolished. , we must replace it with our old Lin family..."
"Are you annoying?" Mother Lin was really impatient, she raised her hand and slapped her husband, "Can you go upstairs and go home if you have something to say? Take Lan Lan's luggage with you! Mom is still there! Help me look at the pot."
After my wife spoke, Father Lin didn't dare to say more. He shyly mentioned the large and small bags on the ground, and the family of three walked to the stairs. No one in the canteen was watching. Even if the monitoring inside the store was not mentioned, even the store next door would take care of them. point.
All the things in her hands were snatched away by her parents. Lin Lan walked at the end empty-handed. Looking at her parents' hairline, which was nearly fifty but not stained at all, the quarrel of the couple could be heard from time to time in the stairway, and she couldn't help pursing her lips. Laughed.
Lin Lan's family lived on the third floor. When passing by the second floor, a woman was about to go down with a bag of garbage. She looked up and saw them and immediately greeted them with a smile: "Oh, Lan Lan is back from traveling! No wonder Lao Lin The two of you brought back the big and small bags, you bought a lot of things over there."
"Hello Aunt Yu." Lin Lan greeted with a smile. This is the family of Uncle Yu, the driver who helped her act together before. Their family is the oldest tenant in this small building. Grandpa lived there when he was there. It's a real neighbor who is more than ten years old, "Today is the weekend, should Lingling be on vacation?"
"It's a holiday, that girl looks like a pig when she's on holiday." Aunt Yu scoffed, "No, I've already made lunch and she's still lying on the bed, she's already in her second year of junior high, and she's still a little conscious. nothing."
"Don't talk about the second year of junior high school, even the second year of junior high school is still the same virtue." Mother Lin immediately answered the familiar complaint and looked back at Lin Lan, "Your family Lingling is like this, my family is a school student. It won't get any better for a while."
Lin Lan suddenly coughed hard and lengthened her voice: "Mom—"
This appearance made the adults in the stairs laugh, and Aunt Yu waved her hand: "Hey, young people are like this now. Don't say it, you are busy, I have to call that little ancestor to get up for dinner after throwing out the garbage."
After a greeting, the two sides said goodbye, and the Lin Lan family quickly went up to the third floor.
The third floor of the small building is the floor of the Lin family's own residence, and it is not rented out. The layout of the three suites on the first floor was divided when Mr. Lin was still alive. One set belonged to him and Grandma Lin, and the other set belonged to Dad Lin. Lin Ma, the rest will belong to Lin Lan.
The plan was very good, but when he passed away, Grandma Lin would not like to stand alone in the empty house without a wife, and would rather stay with her son and daughter-in-law. She usually spends three meals a day and daily at her son's house, and only goes back when she sleeps at night. . Lin's father and Lin's mother have no objection to this. After all, it is just two more steps to go to the next door, and it is very convenient to take care of the old lady.
As for Lin Lan? She lives with her parents, and her house is still in the initial plain clothes and no one has ever lived in it. When the old Lin family is waiting for their daughter to get married, they will use this as a wedding room and renovate it well.
The three of them walked to the door of the suite in the middle. Before anyone could open the door, the door was opened from the inside. An old grandmother in a thin jacket and waistcoat stood there, with white hair and a tough figure. He smiled at them with a spatula: "I heard the movement at the door before, but I'm back."
"Grandma!" Lin Lan was the first to pounce, hugging the old man happily, "I'm back!"
"Come back, come back, grandma's little baby, let grandma take a look!" When the beloved granddaughter came back, Mrs. Lin smiled and supported her to look up and down, and then felt a little distressed. There used to be meat."
"Is there? I ate a lot of seafood in Greece." Lin Lan replied with a smile, "By the way, grandma, leather jackets and shoes are very cheap there. I bought them all for you, except these. I bought a lot of olive oil and castile soap over there, and I'll open it up and show you!"
"Really?" Grandma Lin didn't complain like Mother Lin did when she heard that the child spent money on so many things, she just followed with a smile and squinted her eyes, "I'll take a good look at that later. Let’s talk about it after eating. You must be hungry after sitting in the car for so long, and there is one more dish that will be ready to serve.”
"Don't tell me, grandma, I'm already hungry! I smelled my favorite braised pork ribs as soon as I walked in the door, and I'm dying of hunger!"
The family happily entered the house, and as the door was closed again, all the sounds in the house were cut off, and only the red couplet on the door was extraordinarily peaceful and bright.
After dragging her luggage into the room, Lin Lan took off her windbreaker jacket and changed into lighter home clothes. After washing her hands, she helped with the bowls a few times, and the dishes were all on the table.
Sitting in her usual seat, she suddenly let out a comfortable sigh.
"Is it better to be at home?" Mother Lin smiled as she looked at her daughter, and her unfinished words ended on a piece of braised pork ribs.
Lin Lan didn't answer, and hummed her mother's words, "I persuaded you to find a job in your hometown at the beginning, but you have to go to North, Shanghai and Guangzhou, how are you doing now?" Yan Gu said, "Where's the snowflake? Why didn't you see it?"
"I went out for a walk in the morning, and I haven't come back yet." It was Grandma Lin who spoke, and the old lady raised her chopsticks and ordered the cat food bowl in the corner, "The big bowl of cat food I just put in this morning, I didn't eat anything left. It had been raining in Xicheng a while ago, and it finally cleared up for the past two days, but I ran out and didn't know where the cat was basking in the sun."
"It seems that I can't see it today." Lin Lan was a little disappointed, her big white cat either didn't go out, and once it went out, it was a whole day, and it didn't come back until midnight.
Snowflake was a little stray cat that Lin Lan accidentally discovered four years ago on a day approaching New Year's Eve. At the time, only three months old, it was hidden under a broken water pipe in half-dry and half-wet ice and snow. It would definitely freeze to death if left alone. . She couldn't bear to take it back, and it took a lot of effort to warm it back up and clean it up. If the family members who didn't keep pets were about to see the New Year, they didn't want to throw it away, so they kept it like this.
That's how Snowflake got its name.
I didn't know if I didn't have a pet before, but when I got a cat in the house, the old Lin family realized that the fun was really not something they could experience by hearsay, and even slowly changed the relationship between parents and mothers Lin, who rented a cat, and brought pets here. The attitude of tenants living in rented houses has gradually increased in the past four years.
"You might as well think about what 'welcome gift' it will bring you the next day." Father Lin teased his daughter, "Every time you come home, it will give you something good, and the whole family will be alone. one."
Although it was a joke, Lin Lan swore that she saw jealousy on Dad's face.
"Dad, you like me to give it to you." Lin Lan was very calm, and replied very calmly, "Remember to eat all its face."
Mother Lin and Grandma Lin on the table burst into laughter. Snowflake's "gift" is really not a kindness that anyone can afford.
Naturally, Lin Youyu also retreated. The head of the family immediately changed his face and changed the subject: "Let's not talk about Xuehua, Lan Lan, you shouldn't be leaving this time, right?"
Lin Lan paused while holding the chopsticks: "It should be." Her voice was still a little confused. She was dizzy when she was cheated on by Shao Xiuye. She resigned in a rage and spent a lot of time planning that scene. revenge.
Now that people have finished taking revenge, they have also traveled to relax. After so many days, it is impossible to say that you will not regret losing your job at all. But it's done, and it's too late to say anything now.
"Let's see." After taking a bite of vegetables, Lin Lan lowered her head to plan the rice, "Let's rest for a few days, and then I'll have to find a job." She knew that relying on the rent of this building, she not only did not worry about food and drink, but also the expenses. It's more comfortable than when I was at work, but such people will be abolished. Lin Lan thinks it's better to find something to do.
For this, the old Lin family is all supportive. Don't look at the fact that the family has a building to support it, but it really makes them panic when they eat, sleep, sleep and do nothing all day long. Otherwise, the couple wouldn't set up a tobacco and alcohol store. , is afraid of being too idle.
After eating, help clear the table together. Lin Lan took out all her Greek trophies in a hurry. In addition to the specialties she told Grandma Lin before, she also bought two exotic local hand-woven blankets, one large and one small. It can be hung on the wall or spread on the ground, and the small piece is bought for the cat snowflake at home.
"It's just right on the cat climbing frame's nest." A blanket the size of a square towel was spread on the highest point of the cat climbing frame, and Lin Lan was very satisfied with the high fit, "I bought it after checking the size. "
In this way, the family and the cat will have gifts.
"Be careful that it is used to sharpen claws." Father Lin said very carefully.
"would not!"
The meal was eaten and the gifts were received. Someone had to go downstairs to guard the store. As usual, Mother Lin would go there to watch the store, because it would be convenient for her to follow the drama later; while Father Lin would go to the Wutong in the back street. Playing chess with people under the tree.
Lin Lan sent her grandma downstairs to the elderly activity center. The old lady also has her own hobbies. Their elderly activity center is rehearsing some performances such as the sunset red fan dance and the two-person dance, and they are now in full swing.
"Lanlan, you're not in a hurry to find a job, it's okay to take a little more rest." At the door of the activity center, the old lady patted her granddaughter's hand with pity, "Grandma knows you've been hurt for a while, so she won't mention anything to you. , anyway, you are still young, you will always meet better."
"Grandma, I'm letting you worry. Don't worry, I'm fine now." Lin Lan smiled at grandma, "That dog man can't beg for anything, and the rich girl who robbed him is at most playing with him. Now I I'm too lazy to follow her, I think she will soon lose interest and throw him away." Just like a toy in a child's hand, it is a treasure that other children value, if no one looks at him, he will play for a while and quickly It's boring.
Just as disliking the poor and loving the rich has never been a women's patent, neither is it a man's talent.
Grandma Lin looked at the smart and charming granddaughter in front of her, and sighed softly: "You have ideas since you were young, and grandma is very at ease with you. Now that you are home, you can think about the future, even if you don't want to be me. I have nothing to do with your parents."
"I will seriously consider it."
After watching her grandmother enter the activity center, Lin Lan turned around and returned. She didn't want to face the old men and women crowded inside, and her scalp would explode when asked.
Stepping on the curb and walking back alone, Lin Lan looked at the surrounding environment. Compared with the last time she left, there was not much change in this area. A row of sycamore trees built on the side of the road from time to time blew yellow leaves with the wind, and when you step on it, you can sometimes hear a fine sound.
Just as he was gazing aimlessly, there was a familiar screeching sound and the rushing sound of hooves running wildly from the non-motorized vehicle lane behind him.
"Yes! Cola, that's it! Go ahead! You'll be home soon!" The young man raised his voice without shame, attracting the attention of many passers-by, and Lin Lan also turned around unexpectedly.
Heading to the head, I saw a husky running with its mouth open, a man in casual sportswear behind him pulling the dog leash in one hand, and stepping on a skateboard under his feet to control the direction from time to time.
One dog, one person, one skateboard, I can't tell whether it's a dog or a dog.
"Hey, Cola, what's wrong? Don't run on the sidewalk!" The Husky suddenly changed course and rushed towards the sidewalk, leaving the young man in a hurry. Fortunately, the dead dog gradually slowed down and even stopped. Made him a lot easier.
When he raised his head and saw the broken dog pounce on passers-by, his face was panic-stricken and angry, and then he saw who it was and showed surprise: "Oh, isn't this the young master's house! Why did you come back suddenly when you have time? "
Lin Lan, who was patting the head of the enthusiastic dog, smiled helplessly: "I said earlier, don't call me that, Comrade Xu Xiangfei."
"No problem, I rent your house. You are the landlord and I am the housekeeper. It's very appropriate to call him the young master." He picked up the skateboard and walked towards Lin Lan with the dog leash in his other hand.
This is a tenant on the fourth floor, a single young man who has raised a husky named Coke, and has lived here for two years. It is said that I work in a big company in the city center, commute from 9 to 5 with weekends, and the single dog's life is happy and arbitrary.
In order to prevent Erha from tearing down his home, he referred to the Internet to devise such a skateboarding method. Every day after get off work and on weekends, he would lead the dog and take the skateboard out to enjoy the thrill of "ride".
From the words and deeds of this guy, it can be easily seen that he definitely has a place in the crowd of contemporary teasing young people.
But although humans and dogs are funny...
Lin Lan looked down at the Erha who was wagging his tail and showing his tongue in front of her. This was a beautiful big dog with light gray coat, gray and white, and the coat color was very beautiful, especially the heart-shaped dog on the dog's face. Beautiful pointed eyes and big almond eyes, even the long eyelashes are fully visible.
I have to admit that even a dog is so pretty these days that people can't help but forgive him for exchanging his IQ for his looks.
Just as he was about to raise his hand to slap two more dog heads, the husky suddenly jumped up like a convulsion, and ran to a plane tree, screaming loudly.
"Coke, what are you doing!" Xu Xiangfei was pulled a few steps in that direction by it.
Lin Lan followed the dog's line of sight, only to realize that a wild cat had climbed up on the sycamore tree that was being stared at. meowing and gasping.
"Coke, stop, you scared the kitten!" Xu Xiangfei dragged Erha hard to let it go, and looked at Lin Lan next to him in embarrassment.
But Lin Lan didn't pay attention. She was staring at the cat on the tree in amazement. There were sharp meows in her ears, but at this moment, her mind automatically understood and translated Become an understandable person.
"Meow woo woo-ha!" (Get away from the stupid dog! I'll be welcome if you come again!)
"Wow! Barking!" Erha Cola's barking continued, but in Lin Lan's ears it was a simple bark.
Can be changed to the wild cat above: "Ha!" (Don't approach! Last warning, don't approach!)
The wild cat has changed its posture, from fleeing and defending at the beginning, to a fierce posture that will attack the dog at any time. Lin Lan couldn't help reaching out and helped Xu Xiangfei hold the dog leash, forcibly dragging this provocative fool away.
Sure enough, as soon as the dog was far away, the cat's mood eased a lot. Seeing that it was still in a frightened confrontation with the dog, Lin Lan couldn't help but say to it, "It's alright, it can't catch up, run away! "
The wild cat immediately raised his head and glanced at her. When Lin Lan thought it would bark two more times, it ran away.
"This bastard dog always likes to invite cats to tease dogs!" The wild cat ran away, and Erha returned to calm, but Xu Xiangfei patted the dog's head heavily, laughing dryly and looking for something to say.
Lin Lan lowered her head and glanced at Erha, then looked at Xu Xiangfei, and suggested with a serious look: "I think Coke's energy is still a little too high, why don't you take it for two more laps?"
Makes sense!
Doubiu took his Erha and walked on the skateboard again, while Lin Lan continued to walk slowly on the road. After a while, he returned to the front of his small building.
The first floor of the small building is divided into six shops. In addition to the tobacco and alcohol shop opened by parents, there is also a clothing store, a snack shop, a milk tea shop, a snack shop and a pet clinic. The business is good and bad. Lin Lan, who had seen many store changes, would not comment.
At this time, she just glanced at it quickly, thinking about the cat meowing she heard before.
Just as he was about to go upstairs to go home, there was a rather miserable cat meowing in his ears.
"Meow-meow-meow!" (Help! Help! The shit shoveler is going to take me for an injection again!)
Following the voice, Lin Lan saw a nearby passerby walking straight to the door of the pet clinic with a pet box.
Staring at the pair of fluffy claws that were desperately pulling from the ventilation hole, Lin Lan was stunned, but also lowered her head and fell into contemplation.