CHAPTER 122: CHAPTER 99: ZHOU JIAO’S DECISIVENESS (PART 2)

Has Xiao Wu seen Xiao Fei’s aunt? She’s the deputy of the Art Troupe in the Northern Military Region. People like her can’t go to Beijing without approval. That day when she went out with me, she also had to report to the troupe leader to get permission.

Soldiers just don’t have freedom. But if you want to move out, you should be able to apply, right? Once it’s approved, you should be able to live outside. I don’t know either. I haven’t met anyone living in the Big Courtyard who wants to move out; wouldn’t that be foolish?

Without a certain rank, you can’t even move in. Everyone’s trying to squeeze in, and no one moves out. If someone does, it’s because something big happened and they got disciplined."

Zhang Guoqing and Zhou Jiao both laughed heartily; they found it hilarious.

Lin Lishan laughed for a while, then continued, "The military has farms, fish farms, and breeding areas. Life supplies in the Big Courtyard are more abundant than outside. On every holiday, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, rice, flour, and meat are distributed. Inside, there’s a living area, cafeteria, service agency, auditorium, club, swimming pool, health center, transport team, and schools from kindergarten to high school—everything’s there. You can watch special films every week. When our Little Ping’an grows up, he can play basketball and soccer. No one wants to move out. Without a pass, you can’t even enter the Big Courtyard. With such conditions, when you go home, don’t think about living outside; it’ll be laughable. Your little aunt wants to live in the Big Courtyard so much she could cry. She and your little uncle have to live in the suburban military family compound, and it was out of necessity they bought a small courtyard."

Zhang Guoqing nodded as he listened. He generally understood, but not in such detail, and he feared that different times might have different requirements.

"The relationships inside shouldn’t be too good, right? People with higher positions all live there, so wouldn’t everyone speculate about who’s closer to whom? Is there factionalism? Nepotism? I guess everyone knows but keeps quiet, and relationships are tense."

Lin Lishan recalled with some doubt, "I really didn’t notice. After all these years, I haven’t stayed in the Big Courtyard for many days. Thinking about it, there’s probably some truth in what you said. Except for the men, women only nod to each other. Look at me and Fang Jianmei; we both live in the Big Courtyard and work in the same unit. She was just polite to me, but Xiao Fei and Victory are like brothers. Your little aunt spent the most time in the Big Courtyard, but she didn’t seem close to anyone either. Let’s not worry about that and just live our own lives."

Zhang Guoqing nodded at this, as this wasn’t something he needed to worry about yet. He just spoke casually. "Mom, we already have our marriage certificate; where should Ping’an’s household registration go? Jiao Jiao’s is in Beijing, and given our current plan not to return for two years, is it better to move the registration or not?"

Lin Lishan touched her head, feeling a headache, "Your aunt said when processing the marriage certificate, why not move your registration to Beijing with Jiao Jiao and the child. When Jiao Jiao turns 18, the contract for that house will expire, and if you move out, there will be no registration on it. Who knows what policies will be in the future?

Or move Jiao Jiao’s registration to you in the Northeast along with Ping’an. What if they don’t allow you to move your registration to the capital in the future? I didn’t think too much back then and just said to first get the marriage certificate done.

Now that Ping’an is born, we need to register him. If you plan to register in Beijing, that needs to be processed. You two need to discuss whether you still want to rent out the house next year. If not, it’s fine. But if you do, how long do you plan to rent it? You need to tell Mom now, while your aunt still has authority. If your uncle gets transferred elsewhere, she’ll have to go too, and asking for help then won’t be as good as having your own aunt help.

If not, next year just don’t rent it out, leave it empty, since the rent is too low, and you can occasionally return to Beijing to look. Or keep renting it out to the Women’s Federation, but then don’t live there. On holidays, we’ll stay in the big place, and if it’s too conspicuous, I can buy a smaller courtyard for you in Xiao Wu’s name, so no one knows. How about that?"

Zhang Guoqing and Zhou Jiao laughed heartily, with Zhou Jiao quickly comforting her, "Mom, don’t worry. The house isn’t that important; calm down first. By June next year, I’ll definitely go back to Beijing to sort out the rental issue. Right now, the question is whether to transfer my registration. For instance: first, if Ping’an and I are registered in Beijing, all rations and supplies are there, but Xiao Wu works here for rations; second, if Xiao Wu and Ping’an are both registered in Beijing, our rations are all there, meaning Xiao Wu can’t work here. So it concerns Xiao Wu’s job. Brother, what do you plan to do now?"