Free Web NovelChapter 216: Chapter 216: This Is Our Ma Family’s Ancestral Home
As she walked around the area near Xilin Alley, everyone who saw Su Qing greeted her kindly.
The surrounding neighbors all knew that Aunt Jin was selling her courtyard house. After all, they had been neighbors for decades. They had all seen Aunt Jin leave today, and when they saw Su Qing enter the courtyard afterward, they naturally figured out she was the one who had bought it.
Since they would all be neighbors from now on, they were naturally willing to foster a good relationship.
After a full loop with no news of other houses for sale, Su Qing headed back to Changle Alley. It wasn’t far, anyway, and it was a good chance to check on the courtyard and think about how she wanted to renovate it.
"Who are you?" As she approached the gate of her own courtyard in Changle Alley, she saw a man and a woman loitering outside.
Hearing Su Qing’s voice, the man turned to look at her. A flash of admiration crossed his sleazy eyes, but it was quickly replaced by disdain. "None of your business. We’ll stand where we want."
"I don’t care where you stand, but not in front of my house," Su Qing said coldly.
"What? This is your house?" The other woman looked Su Qing up and down and frowned. "You’re the one who bought this courtyard?"
Su Qing had a very bad feeling about the pair. "Please leave immediately," she said, her voice icy.
The moment Su Qing finished speaking, the woman stepped forward and said in an entitled tone, "Since you’re the one who bought this place, this is perfect. Let’s get things straight. It’s useless for you to have bought this courtyard. This is our Ma Family’s ancestral home. My uncle had no right to sell it. So, I’ll give you two choices. Either you return the courtyard, or we’re all moving in. You pick."
Hearing the woman’s words, Su Qing arched an eyebrow slightly and sneered. "I purchased this courtyard through all the proper legal channels at the Housing Management Office. Even if this was your Ma Family’s ancestral home, the property deed is in my hands now. This courtyard is mine, and it has absolutely nothing to do with your Ma Family. Get lost, or I won’t be so polite."
"What, you want to hit me?" the woman shot back, taking a few steps closer. "Go on, hit me. I dare you."
With that, the woman lunged toward Su Qing. "Hit me! Let’s see you try!"
Su Qing deftly sidestepped, casually pulling a tiny pebble from her dimensional space and flicking it at the back of the woman’s knee.
"Ouch!" The woman felt her knee give way and she fell, THUD, to her knees. Her momentum sent her sliding more than a meter forward. freeωebnovēl.c૦m
Spring had already arrived, so everyone was wearing lighter clothes. The woman felt a raw, stinging pain as her knees scraped against the ground. Instead of getting up, she sat right there, slapping her thighs and wailing, "Ouch! This is unbelievable! She hit me! Is there no justice in this world!"
"Pah! You think we’re blind?" The argument between the three had already drawn a crowd of neighbors. Su Qing’s move had been so subtle that no one had noticed it. All anyone saw was the woman falling and sliding on her own. Seeing her try to blame the victim, someone spoke up indignantly. "You’re the ones who came here to cause trouble, and now you’re blaming the young lady for your own fall? Have you no shame?"
"She did hit me! Why else would I have fallen?" the woman insisted, shooting a venomous glare at Su Qing.
Su Qing stared back coldly, making the woman shudder for no reason. ’For a second there,’ she thought, ’it was like she was looking at a dead person. I wonder if I was just imagining things.’
"Stop making a scene. We all saw it. You fell on your own," the onlookers said, looking at the woman with contempt.
Su Qing said calmly, "Are you sure you want to keep this up? If you do, that’s fine. We can go have a nice chat with the police officers and see what they think about this whole situation."
"You!" The woman was about to jump up and argue with Su Qing, but the man suddenly rushed over and clamped a hand over her mouth. He then smiled at Su Qing. "Sorry, sorry, it was just a misunderstanding. A misunderstanding. We’ll leave right now."
"Zhao Sanzhu!" The woman was furious. ’This isn’t what we agreed on when we came here,’ she fumed internally. ’Why is he being such a coward? I don’t believe the two of us can’t handle this little brat. So what if the police come? This is our Ma Family’s ancestral home!’
"Alright, let’s just go back for today," Zhao Sanzhu whispered to the woman.
"Hmph. You’d better explain yourself later." The woman was Ma Shanshan, the cousin-niece of the courtyard’s original owner. When the house had been taken over by the state, it was difficult for her to make a fuss. But now that it had been returned, it had to belong to everyone in the Ma Family. No single person had the right to decide its ownership.
"Okay, okay, let’s just leave first," Zhao Sanzhu whispered to Ma Shanshan. He then turned back to Su Qing with a smile. "Sorry about that. We’re leaving now, we’re leaving."
With that, Zhao Sanzhu quickly pulled Ma Shanshan away.
Watching Zhao Sanzhu and Ma Shanshan leave, Su Qing smiled at the neighbors. "Thank you all for speaking up for me just now."
As she spoke, she took a handful of candies from her backpack and passed them out to the people there.
The crowd hadn’t expected to get candy just for saying a few words in Su Qing’s defense, and they all thanked her.
Su Qing smiled. "From now on, we’re all neighbors. I hope you’ll all look out for me."
"Of course, of course! You’re a young woman on your own. If you ever run into any trouble, just come find us neighbors. We can’t help with big problems, but we’re always here for small things like speaking a word for you," one of them said with a friendly laugh.
Su Qing thought for a moment, then smiled. "Actually, there is something I’d like to ask. Do you know if there are any other houses for sale around here? A friend of mine is also planning to buy a courtyard house in Beijing, but we don’t know where to find one for sale."
"Oh, I haven’t heard of any around here," a neighbor said. "If your friend wants to buy a courtyard in Beijing, she could try asking at the neighborhood committees in different districts. The people at the neighborhood committees are usually the first to know when someone wants to sell their house."
Su Qing’s eyes lit up when she heard this.
’That’s right, the neighborhood committee! Why didn’t I think of that?’ she thought. ’If you want to know who has the best information, it’s definitely the aunties at the neighborhood committee.’
"Thank you! I’ll tell my friend to go and ask," Su Qing said, thanking them profusely.
"Hey, don’t mention it, don’t mention it."
After chatting a bit more with the neighbors, Su Qing went into her courtyard. She stayed for a little while, and seeing that it was still early, she left without a moment’s rest to visit other alleys and ask the ladies at the neighborhood committees for information.
Meanwhile, Ma Shanshan, who had just left, was relentlessly demanding an explanation from Zhao Sanzhu.
