CHAPTER 78: CHAPTER 78: HOUSE FOR RENT

Lin Qingxiang understood Lin Qin’s situation and said no more, only mentioning, "It seems like your big nephew is about to discuss marriage. His match seems to be from the farm side. These days Lin Zhi and his wife are quite pleased, but I heard from Old Bie’s wife that your brother wants to take your house for living, saying there’s not enough room at home."

The layout of Lin Zhi’s house is exactly the same as Lin Yi’s. Lin Yi has two daughters, and Lin Zhi has two sons.

The eldest son’s marriage certainly requires a new house, either getting a plot of land approved by the village to build a house or trying to divide the space. Either way, it costs money. The easiest solution is to let the younger son move into Lin Yi’s place, and their shack house can then accommodate the eldest son and his wife, just perfect.

Lin Yi’s face instantly turned dark, "I disagree, can they just take it by force?"

Lin Qingxiang shook his head, "That’s definitely not possible, even if they wish for it, the brigade leader won’t agree! But they will surely start bad-mouthing you all over the village."

Lin Yi shrugged, "Haven’t they gossiped about me enough all these years? Anyway, if they ask you, just say I don’t agree... Forget it; I’ll have Wenjun accompany me back there once."

Lin Qingxiang said nothing more, focusing intently on his work.

A hundred-odd squares of floor tiles take two or three days to carefully lay down.

These days Lin Qingxiang has been leaving early and returning late, and even if Lin Zhi wanted to confront him, he couldn’t catch him at the right time.

Before Lin Zhi continued to show up, Lin Yi and Chen Wenjun went back to Shanglin Village together.

Lin Zhi and his wife got the news and rushed over immediately.

Upon entering, without greeting or checking Lin Yi’s injury, they blurted out, "Brother, Jianqiang is currently discussing marriage, and the girl’s side insists on us building a house. He is your big nephew; you can’t just ignore it!"

Chen Wenjun found it all a bit ridiculous.

Lin Yi showed no pleasant expression towards Lin Zhi at all; he didn’t even look at him, just asking for help like Lin Yi was nothing.

"If they told you to build a house, then build a house; it’s no use asking me."

Seeing Lin Yi’s straightforward refusal, Lin Zhi was immediately displeased, "Brother, you have no son. In the future, it’ll be Jianqiang and Jianguo performing your funeral rites. You can’t just ignore everything and yet hope for nephews to take care of you, can you? These things just don’t happen in this world!"

"Exactly!" Li Lian chimed in, indignant.

Lin Yi chuckled out of anger, "Did I ever say that Jianqiang and Jianguo would do my funeral rites? Did I ever say I planned to rely on them in the future? I haven’t said anything, but you’ve already planned it all for me!"

Lin Zhi had a matter-of-fact look, "If you don’t count on my sons, then who? Lin Ying and Lin Qin are already married off; who will care for you!"

Chen Wenjun immediately spoke up, "I will."

Lin Zhi glared at Chen Wenjun with dissatisfaction, full of disdain in his eyes, "What does it have to do with you? This is a Lin family matter!"

Lin Yi instantly got angry, standing up and cursing, "This is my son-in-law, how is it not his business? Lin Zhi, I’m telling you now! In the future, even if I sell my things, I won’t give them to you; stop imagining things!"

Lin Zhi’s face changed dramatically, jumping three feet high in anger, "If you dare sell them, you will be a traitor to our Old Lin family!"

"I dare! It’s none of your business!" Lin Yi shouted, full of righteousness.

Lin Zhi and his wife never expected the usually reticent Lin Yi to be so forceful; they were burning with anger but couldn’t do anything about Lin Yi.

After being chased out by Lin Yi, the more they thought about it, the less willing they were to accept it, so they turned around to find the brigade leader.

"Brigade leader, my brother must have lost his mind, actually being instigated by his son-in-law to sell the house and land. If in the future his son-in-law doesn’t care for him, won’t we still have to support him? You can’t just stand by!"

Lin Zhi and his wife looked worried, as if genuinely concerned about Lin Yi.

The leader, upon hearing, got anxious too and hurried to Lin Yi’s house.

Seeing Lin Yi sitting on the door stoop, his injured leg stretched out straight.

The leader noticed Lin Yi’s leg first thing, quickly asking, "Has your leg healed?"

Lin Yi’s eyes reddened, filled with emotions, "Leader, you have a kind heart. Since I came back to the village, among the visitors, you’re the only one who still remembers my injury."

With those words, the leader and Lin Zhi’s expressions were particularly colorful.

Lin Yi didn’t bother with them, pulling a bench for the leader to sit.

The leader sat down heavily, glanced at Chen Wenjun who was busy in the shack, and asked quietly, "I heard you’re selling the house and land?"

"Who said that?" Lin Yi retorted.

The leader immediately turned and glared angrily at Lin Zhi and his wife.

Li Lian, hands on her hips, shouted in exasperation, "You just said you were going to sell the house and land."

Lin Yi sneered, lowered his gaze, "I remember my exact words were don’t think about my house and land; I’d rather sell them than give them away cheap. What’s the problem with that?"

The leader understood, secretly sighing in relief, "As long as you’re not selling. Having a house and some land in the village is a good thing; when you’re old, you’ll have a place to live, right?"

What he said was quite indirect, but Lin Yi understood.

"Don’t worry, leader. I have it all figured out!"

This time, Chen Wenjun brought out the packed items. Seeing the leader, he nodded at him and said, "Dad, your clothes and thick quilts are all here, along with Ah Qin’s things, packed into a big bag. We’ll need a cart to take it back later."

Seeing this, the leader became unsettled, "What’s happening? Moving out?"

Lin Yi, barely restraining his pride, explained with feigned modesty, "My son-in-law just finished building a two-story house, and now they are decorating the second floor, specially leaving me a room, wanting me to move over.

I initially didn’t want to, but they kept persuading me. This time I’ve come back to pack things and plan to rent my house out."

Lin Zhi and his wife, upon hearing this, were both jealous and angry.

"Brother, what do you mean? Your big nephew doesn’t have a place to live for his wedding; you have a house but won’t give it to him, but plan to rent it out instead! How could he have such a cold-blooded uncle!"

Li Lian accused Lin Yi in fury, jealousy twisting her expression.

Lin Yi had no intention of wasting words with her; he instead explained to the brigade leader, "Leader, after all, I’m just Wenjun’s father-in-law, not his biological father; I can’t live at the son-in-law’s place for free, so I want to rent this house out, give the rent money to Ah Qin. This way, we won’t have to worry about idle gossip, right?"

The leader deeply agreed, looked again at the silent Chen Wenjun, paused, and patted Lin Yi’s shoulder, "These days, I’ll help you ask around if anyone wants to rent it. This kind of rental might be long-term, at least six months, maybe three to five years."

In the village, many families like Lin Zhi’s struggle with housing. It’s not that people don’t want to build houses, but they can’t come up with that kind of money. Some don’t want to borrow money, or they can’t borrow enough. Renting can ease the situation somewhat.

"Just set the rent according to the village standard. I’ll give you the key, and you can help me rent it out and collect the rent. I’ll come to you for it later. Would that be okay?" Lin Yi laid out his plan without giving Lin Zhi any room for argument.