The Little Life of a Big Landlord

Chapter 51 Godfather

(Too lazy to split into two chapters, just read it as two chapters. I'm doing a survey, I hope everyone will support it, it's just a matter of clicking...)

"What did you just say? Where do you want Bao'er to go?" At this moment, Aunt Liu came in, carrying a steaming basket of mooncakes, and lifted the curtain.

"It's nothing, we're just planning a trip for the village. We'll pay for it, and everyone will go to Hawaii for a month. There's no spot for you, only for seniors," Yang Ming said with a smile.

"Hawaii? It's in America, right? Spending a month there would cost a lot of money. Why did you suddenly decide to take everyone on a trip abroad?" Aunt Liu placed the mooncakes on the kang table.

Each of the four people took a piece of mooncake and ate it.

"It's nothing to tell you, but actually, the reason Zheng Yu is so busy getting married and having children is because Yang Ming came up with this terrible idea..." Wei Qingqing said, then rolled her eyes at Yang Ming.

"Uncle Zheng Yu's marriage is a good thing, how did it become a bad idea?" Aunt Liu asked, somewhat puzzled.

"His advice to people was to get married quickly, have children, and then dump the child at Grandpa Zheng's doorstep, as if returning a child to him..." Wei Qingqing rolled her eyes.

"Cough cough cough..." Aunt Liu choked on her mooncake, coughing incessantly. Pointing at Yang Ming, she said, "So that's what happened? No wonder Uncle Zheng Yu was in such a hurry to get married. How could you give him such a suggestion? Third Uncle and Third Aunt have been desperately wanting a grandson all these years. If their precious grandson is lost like this, how can the two old people live on?..."

"I was just talking about this too, so we came up with a plan: to let the two old folks travel abroad together, and then we'll perfectly resolve the conflict within this month..." Wei Qingqing repeated the plan they had just discussed to Aunt Liu.

"That's somewhat plausible." Aunt Liu nodded, glaring fiercely at the culprit, Yang Ming. How old is he? He's still so unreliable.

"Hehe, Aunt Liu, you agreed to what we discussed at your house. Let's ask Xiao Bao'er's opinion again here," Wei Qingqing said with a smile.

This question piqued the curiosity of both Yang Ming and Xiao Bao'er, and they asked together, "What is it?"

"Little Bao'er, do you want a dad...?"

Little Bao looked at his uncle and aunt, then at his mother, and nodded: "Yes!"

"How about letting Uncle Yang Ming be your dad?" Wei Qingqing asked.

"Is Uncle Yang Ming going to marry Mommy?" Little Bao asked innocently.

Xiao Bao'er's words made Aunt Liu blush deeply. She scolded him sternly, "What nonsense are you talking about? It's about recognizing a godfather..."

"He's my godfather," Wei Qingqing quickly added.

"I'd love to, and it would be even better if he were my biological father..." Little Bao cheered.

"Be my biological father? You might be willing, but I'm not..." Wei Qingqing pinched Xiao Bao'er's little nose and glanced at Aunt Liu with a hint of sourness.

"Okay, from now on, Xiao Bao'er will be my daughter..." Yang Ming quickly agreed.

"Bao'er, come down and kowtow to your father..." Aunt Liu pulled little Bao'er down from the kang (a heated brick bed).

After Xiaobao kowtowed to Yang Ming, Aunt Liu took her daughter and left. Xiaobao was a child and spoke without thinking, saying things that were too embarrassing. She couldn't stay there for even a quarter of an hour; her face was burning.

"Hey, you haven't even kowtowed to your godmother yet, why are you running off? Don't let Bao'er spread what we talked about today..." Wei Qingqing called out from behind.

"Hehe, I suddenly have such a big daughter..." Yang Ming was feeling great, experiencing the feeling of being a father.

"Not your daughter, but your goddaughter. And Aunt Liu, she seemed to have said 'your dad' instead of 'your godfather' just now. Does she have something on her mind about you?" Wei Qingqing glared at Yang Ming with an unfriendly expression.

"I don't know if she has any thoughts about it, but I don't. I'm not going to talk to you anymore. I'm going to make the bed..." Yang Ming started moving the quilts and making the bed.

"You're not allowed to sleep until you explain yourself clearly..." Wei Qingqing pouted and clung to Yang Ming's arm.

"It was quite clear before, but if I were to explain it, it wouldn't be clear anymore. Don't you know what it means to make things worse by trying to explain it?"

"So there really are things you two don't understand?"

"So, I'll tell you or not?"

"..."

Wei Jianguo and Xue Hua felt like they were dreaming. In the morning, they were living in a dilapidated resettlement house, and in the evening, they were living in a spacious and luxurious apartment building. It all felt so unreal.

The couple lay on the large four-poster bed in the master bedroom, neither of them speaking, simply enjoying the tung oil scent of the new furniture.

"Jianguo, is this really true? I feel like I'm dreaming. This son-in-law is too rich! He bought two houses. Is it really okay for us to live here? If our colleagues find out, will they say we're shameless, like we're living off our daughter's wealth..." After a long silence, Xue Hua spoke first.

"Qingqing and Yang Ming are legally married, so how can you say she's marrying a rich man? We only have one daughter, and he married her, so it's only right that he supports us. We're just living here; we don't want his house," Wei Jianguo said.

"That makes sense, but I still feel we're a bit too young, we're still capable of taking care of ourselves..." Xue Hua said.

"I don't like hearing that. Do we have to be paralyzed or bedridden before they'll support us? Our son-in-law has plenty of houses, and it's fine for us to live here. Qingqing's face is better now, and we have enough to live on our own salaries. What else can we ask for?"

"That's true, we have our own salaries, we can support ourselves." Xue Hua was relieved. "By the way, what did you and Yang Ming talk about this afternoon? You two seemed to be getting along quite well."

"It's nothing. Yang Ming and Qingqing bought a house in the countryside. They're living a quiet life in a small mountain valley, raising cats and dogs. It's quite interesting. They even leased two mountains and created a hot spring in them..."

"Really? There are hot springs too? We should go check them out when we have time..." Xue Hua was quite tempted.

"Isn't there a seven-day holiday in October? Yang Ming and Qingqing are getting married and they want to go to QHD for a trip. We can go to the countryside to look after their house."

"Okay, let's talk to them when they arrive tomorrow," Xue Hua said energetically. It's said that women of all ages have a special fondness for hot springs.

"If they had a yard in the countryside, it would be much better. Our pomegranate tree is over ten years old, and it grows several hundred kilograms of big pomegranates every year. It would be such a waste if the demolition crew cut it down. We'll dig up the pomegranate tree tomorrow and have them take it to the countryside." Xue Hua was already reluctant to part with the big pomegranate tree in her yard, but she thought that there was no place to plant it in the apartment building, so she reluctantly gave it up. Now that she heard that her daughter and son-in-law had a yard in the countryside, she immediately had an idea.

"Okay... if they don't like planting it in the yard, let them plant it on the mountain." Wei Jianguo was also reluctant to see his pomegranate tree be cut down.

Pomegranates are a symbol of many children and many blessings, a beautiful meaning. Most families will plant two pomegranate trees at home, hoping to have more children and blessings.

ding dong ding dong...

Just then, the doorbell rang.

"It must be Fangfang, I'll go open the door..." Xue Hua sat up from the bed, put on his slippers and went out to open the door.

Wei Jianguo also sat up, put on his shoes, and followed him out.

The person who came was not Sun Fangfang, but Zhao Fen, who was holding her grandson. Zhao Fen worked in a state-owned factory. State-owned factories were relatively relaxed in terms of management, and Zhao Fen was considered one of the older employees in the factory, so no one cared if she brought her grandson to work. Even if the leaders saw her, they were too embarrassed to say anything to her. At most, they would mention it in a subtle way, but it was nothing serious. Who would pay attention to you?

"It's Sister Zhao! Please have a seat..." Xue Hua led Zhao Fen to the sofa in the living room and then went to make her tea.

The sofa was made of wood with only one small cushion, but it was quite comfortable to sit on. Zhao Fen sat down with a smile. "Don't bother, little sister. We'll be neighbors from now on, so we should visit each other more often." She had come with a purpose today.

"Yes, didn't the skit say that city people like to look at people through the peephole and look down on them? We're old acquaintances, so we should keep in touch so we can help each other out if anything happens." Xue Hua smiled as he placed the fragrant tea on the coffee table, its aroma wafting through the steam.

"I like hearing that. My daughters, Yangyang and Fangfang, are both very carefree and can barely take care of themselves. Now that we have another child, I have to run around every day. It's such a hassle..."

"Sister Zhao, how many years until retirement? If you ask me, the wages in a state-owned factory aren't high, so why not just retire and go home to take care of your grandson? Spending every day having fun with him would be such a wonderful life!" Xue Hua said, keeping Zhao Fen company.

"My husband says the same thing. He's been retired for several years now, and he spends all his time going for walks with a bunch of old men and women. You guys can just hang out, why do you have to invite a few old ladies along? Aren't they ashamed? Thinking back to when we were young, men and women would blush for ages just to say a word to each other. Unlike now, men and women are just joking around in the street, even swearing brotherhood or sisterhood. My Fangfang is pretty crazy..." Zhao Fen said seemingly casually.

Xue Hua had heard about Sun Fangfang recognizing Zhang Shufang as her godmother from her daughter. Now that Zhao Fen had brought up the topic indirectly, she understood why Zhao Fen had come today. She smiled and said, "Fangfang is a good girl. She and Yang Ming are like sworn siblings."

"You know too? I only found out today," Zhao Fen said with a look of surprise.

"Qingqing told me that Fangfang and our mother-in-law hit it off immediately, so they became godparents. Aren't she and Yang Ming now sworn siblings? What? Didn't Fangfang and the others tell you?"

"I'm not one of those gossipy old ladies. Why would they tell me this? I never inquire about their children..." Zhao Fen's expression clearly relaxed. It's no wonder she was like this; many of the current godparent relationships have changed.

Having gotten the answer she wanted, Zhao Fen chatted with Xue Hua for a bit, then took her grandson and said goodbye.

"Zhang Yang's mother is really funny..." Wei Jianguo walked out of the bedroom.

"You're a grown man, eavesdropping on us women's conversations, aren't you ashamed?" Xue Hua rolled her eyes at Wei Jianguo.

"I just find it amusing. She only got to meet you. If it were someone less perceptive, they wouldn't have been able to understand what she meant even after listening for a long time. Wouldn't that have driven this gossipy old lady crazy? Hehehe... You should have pretended not to understand and teased her instead..." Wei Jianguo laughed loudly.

"You're really wicked..." Xue Hua rolled her eyes at Wei Jianguo and laughed.

As the rooster crowed, a new day began in the small mountain village. The women in each household got up to cook for their husbands. The autumn harvest wasn't over yet, and there was still a lot of work to be done in the fields. These days, everyone was busy from early morning until late at night.

When Yang Ming got up in the morning, he first took out the gifts he would use to visit relatives today from the farm space and put them in the west room. These were fruits such as apples, peaches, watermelons, and grapes. He took out several hundred kilograms of each kind, which would be enough for his relatives back home. After thinking for a while, he also took out two large carp and put them in a large basin filled with water. These two large carp were about two feet long and weighed thirty or forty kilograms in total.

After finishing all this, they left the yard. Old Yang had arrived early and was waiting quietly by the car. Yang Ming and Old Yang unloaded the furniture and other items from the transport vehicle, placed them in the yard, and covered them with tarpaulins.

"Old Yang, come with me to move some things," Yang Ming called out, and went into the west room first, with Old Yang following closely behind.

After a long day of work, the two finally managed to load everything into the car.

"Old Yang is here quite early..." Wei Qingqing came out at this time and greeted Old Yang.

"Yes..." Old Yang nodded with a smile.

"Let's have breakfast in the car. It'll take us all day to get to Yangjia Village from here, but if we hurry, we can get there by noon," Yang Ming said.

Have you told your parents about moving?

"What are you talking about? Our house is newly built, it's neither for sale nor demolished, and we're going to hold our wedding there. My parents can just bring some clothes and things like that, and we can buy some daily necessities in the city."

"That's true, but why bring clothes? Why not just buy new ones in the city?" Wei Qingqing still remembered what happened last night and deliberately messed around with Yang Ming.

"I think your butt is itchy..." Yang Ming said, taking two steps forward and slapping her butt twice.

"Oh dear, you, in front of Old Yang..." Wei Qingqing immediately blushed and stole a glance at Old Yang, who was standing with his hands behind his back, craning his neck and watching the birds flying by.

"What are you looking at, Old Yang?" Yang Ming asked.

"Yellow birds, the yellow birds are almost out of season this month. Let's make a cage tomorrow and catch a couple to play with..." Old Yang said.

"We should go..." Yang Ming said.

"Okay!" Old Yang replied, then got into the car and sat in the driver's seat.

"Hmph, aren't you going to say goodbye to your 'dear' daughter?" Wei Qingqing came closer and gave a strange smile, emphasizing the word "dear".

"Are you up to your old tricks again? If your butt's itchy, just say so, I'll fix it for you. If I slap it until it's swollen, my mom'll be jumping for joy," Yang Ming laughed.

"I got beaten, and your mother was happy?" Wei Qingqing's eyes widened. "I don't think your mother is a wicked mother-in-law?"

"Women with big hips are more likely to give birth to sons."

"How annoying..." Wei Qingqing laughed and playfully punched him.

"It's so early in the morning, it's not appropriate for me to go, you go instead..." Yang Ming said. Aunt Liu is a widow, it would be bad for a grown man to knock on her door so early in the morning, and if people saw her, it would be even more complicated if Xiao Bao opened the door and called out "Daddy".

"Coward..." Wei Qingqing rolled her eyes at Yang Ming, a slight smile on her lips, and turned to go to Aunt Liu's house.

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