Free Web NovelChapter 223: Chapter 223: The Interesting Grandma Dingzi
Gu’er had been racking her brain about the market stall, but even after they sold most of their goods in Harbin and returned to the city, she still hadn’t come up with a solution. After all, she’d only been to the Soviet Union once and had only learned a few phrases of the language from Dingzi. ’How could I possibly have a plan?’
"Alright, stop thinking about it. If we don’t have a stall, we don’t have a stall," Li Zhi said. "Besides, didn’t Wen Bin promise to get us one? So what if the location is a bit remote? Even without a stall, haven’t we been doing just fine?"
Li Zhi understood what was on Gu’er’s mind. But if he, Sun Jiaming, and Dingzi—three grown men—couldn’t do anything about it, what could Gu’er possibly do? Thinking too much about it would only be frustrating.
"Yeah, we’re making money this way too."
Dingzi chimed in with a rare word of comfort. After these last two trips, every one of them had made a good chunk of money—so much more than before.
Sun Jiaming looked at Gu’er, his gaze soft.
Gu’er sighed. ’I wasn’t like this before, but ever since I started this business, I feel like I’ve become a bit too ambitious. Before, I’d have been thrilled to make just a few yuan. Now, I’ve made tens of thousands on a single trip, and I’m still not satisfied. It’s true what they say—desire is a bottomless pit. It can never be filled.’ ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
Gu’er quickly adjusted her mindset. She started chatting with the others again, her mood returning to normal.
After heading back, they first went to the bank to deposit their money, then carried their things over to Sun Jiaming’s place, since Dingzi’s grandmother was there.
Grandma Sun and Grandma Dingzi were delighted to see them return. They pulled them over to the sofa, asking again and again if they were all doing well.
The group had some water and briefly explained how things went. Seeing that it was almost noon, Grandma Sun insisted they stay. Gu’er and Aunt Zhao prepared a meal, and everyone ate together.
After the meal, Dingzi took his grandmother home. Grandma Dingzi was very reluctant to leave.
"Why don’t we buy apartments near each other in the future?" Gu’er suggested. "That would make visiting more convenient. Our two grandmothers could live together, and it would be easier to take care of them."
Gu’er had said it on a sudden whim.
"That’s a great idea! I heard from my dad that a new building is going up in the city soon," Li Zhi chimed in. "The location is pretty good, and the apartments are big. Eighty or ninety square meters is nothing—some are over a hundred. I think buying together is a great plan. We could drop by each other’s places whenever. Dingzi and I wouldn’t have to cook anymore; we could just go scrounge meals off Gu’er every day. And when we’re free, we can even get a game of mahjong going. How great is that?"
Li Zhi was completely on board. Now that he was making money, he believed money was meant to be spent. He got along well with Dingzi and Gu’er, and Sun Jiaming was a good guy too. Living together would be nice.
Dingzi didn’t say anything, but the gleam in his eyes showed he was tempted. He had almost no friends to speak of, just Li Zhi. Now there was Gu’er and Sun Jiaming, and his grandmother got along so well with Grandma Sun. Living together would mean they could all look out for each other.
"Well, how much would that cost? It must be several thousand yuan, right?"
Grandma Dingzi was also quite tempted. ’When you get old, you fear loneliness. Having a companion is a wonderful thing.’ Besides, she thought these young ones were all good kids. If it didn’t cost too much money, living together would be fine.
"I’ll leave this matter to you."
The moment Dingzi saw his grandmother was interested, he agreed without a second thought and handed the task to Li Zhi. Why did he make money? Wasn’t it so his grandmother could live well in her old age? As long as she was happy, the cost was unimportant to him.
"Alright, leave it to me. I’ll go talk to my dad and see if we can get a discount," Li Zhi said, slapping his chest. "But each of you should be prepared to cough up at least fifty thousand yuan. And just to be clear, even fifty thousand might not be enough."
"H-H-How much?"
Grandma Dingzi thought she had misheard. She was so shocked she could barely speak. ’Even if they sold their little bungalow, sold me, and sold Dingzi, they might not be able to scrape together a few thousand yuan. Fifty thousand... how much was that?’
It wasn’t her fault, really. Dingzi hadn’t told his grandmother how much he’d earned on the last trip. For one, he wasn’t a big talker and wouldn’t bring it up himself. When his grandmother asked if he had made a few hundred yuan, he just nodded. So, the old woman had always thought he’d only earned a few hundred.
"Grandma, we have money."
Dingzi’s words were as concise as ever.
"Grandma has no money. Where would I get money?"
Grandma Dingzi didn’t understand.
"Don’t worry, Grandma. Last time, we each made over thirty thousand. This time, all told, the four of us each cleared over forty thousand. Fifty thousand is definitely enough."
Li Zhi laughed heartily. ’All that from just two trips! If I had a regular job, how many years would it take to earn this much?’
"Dingzi, Li Zhi, have you two been doing something illegal? You didn’t go over there and rob people, did you? Let me tell you, we can’t do that! Have you forgotten how much we hated those Japanese devils when they came here all those years ago, robbing us of our things and our people? And even though the Old Russians also stole a few things from us, they helped us fight the Japanese devils. We can’t go robbing them! We can’t do bad things! Let’s figure out a way to return the money. I don’t want these things either. Let’s send them back."
As Grandma Dingzi spoke, she began stuffing the gifts that Dingzi and the others had brought her back into the hands of Dingzi, Li Zhi, and Gu’er.
Everyone was stunned by her actions. But as they understood, their hearts felt a little sore. The old woman was just afraid they’d gone down the wrong path.
"Sister, don’t worry. They didn’t go off and do anything bad," Grandma Sun quickly explained. "They’re not those kinds of kids. They’re just selling our things to the Old Russians. The Old Russians love our stuff and are willing to pay a lot for it. Then they buy things from over there to sell back here. That’s how they make money."
"Really? Old Sister, can you really make that much money? How long has it been? And they’ve made that many tens of thousands?"
Grandma Dingzi still found it hard to believe.
"Yes, and don’t just look at how much they’ve earned. It’s not easy for them," Grandma Sun said to Grandma Dingzi. "Think about it. When they leave, they’re lugging huge bags. On the train, they have to stay alert and can’t sleep. Once they get there, they can’t even get a full night’s rest. They don’t speak the language, they’re afraid of being hassled when they set up their stall, and they get bullied by the locals because they’re outsiders. And it’s freezing cold in the winter. These kids are really suffering."
Grandma Sun said to Grandma Dingzi.
Grandma Dingzi nodded, looking at the group with a pained expression. They all smiled back at her, but what Grandma Dingzi said next nearly made everyone collapse: "You kids have suffered so much. Next time you go, take your grandma with you! Don’t mind that I’m old; I’m strong! I can help you carry a lot of things. This grandma can endure hardship much better than you can."
Grandma Dingzi’s words made everyone laugh. Who would dare take her? If something happened along the way, they would regret it for the rest of their lives. But Gu’er thought Grandma Dingzi was quite adorable. It was no wonder she and Grandma Sun got along so well.
Thanks to Grandma Dingzi’s interruption, the atmosphere lightened up again. They stopped talking about leaving right away and instead started discussing buying the apartments.
What had started as a bit of a joke—something Gu’er had just said off the cuff—was now being taken seriously by everyone. They were really planning on buying apartments together.
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Thank you to kaka.qdcn for the like. Half of my body is aching, so Xue is going to lie down and sleep.
