Rebirth Counterattack with Space
Chapter 126 - 122 Making Friends

Chapter 126: Chapter 122 Making Friends

Starting school, with a new floral cloth backpack that Xia Yuan had made, Lu Yun was about to become a brand-new first-grade student. The excitement and anticipation that real children possess simply eluded her.

If there was any feeling at all, it was a deep resignation.

The ancients spoke of enduring ten years of bitter study, but as a child, from elementary to middle school, and then from high school to university, it was far more than just ten years, wasn’t it? Not to mention the additional years it would take if one wished to pursue further education...

Just the thought of starting all over made Lu Yun shiver with dread.

Look, even before the formal start of school, Xia Yuan had solemnly announced new rules at home.

From now on, except for the weekends, Lu Yun would say goodbye to the "good times" of sleeping in as late as she wanted. She had to get up at six o’clock sharp. Even in order to ensure she had enough sleep, the family’s study time was strictly restricted to end at eight thirty in the evening.

Facing everyone’s unanimous agreement, Lu Yun was utterly despondent. She desperately wanted to vote against it, but her vote would likely be ignored by everyone anyway, and besides, six o’clock wasn’t really early since the school gates opened at seven thirty. Sobs...

Fortunately, with the presence of a tricycle, the task of dropping off and picking up Lu Yun from school became much simpler. Otherwise, she would probably have to wake up at five thirty every day.

Every morning, Lu Aiguo and Shitou would send Lu Yun to the school gates on time, then load the tricycle beneath its tarp with goods. They would return at noon to take Lu Yun back home.

After lunch, everyone could rest for a bit, then take Lu Yun to school again, load up the goods, and continue their deliveries and sales, making sure to pick up Lu Yun when it was time to return home.

Even with the additional trips to fetch Lu Yun, when they did the math, Lu Aiguo and Shitou’s daily efficiency actually increased, roughly equivalent to a day and a half of their usual work.

This clearly showed the importance of transportation.

Of course, there were limitations. Initially, with the tricycle, the two could travel further to expand their potato chip business and street hawking. But because they needed to pick up Lu Yun at specific times every day, they couldn’t venture too far, and thus they had to let go of those opportunities.

There were solutions, of course, and they had thought about getting another tricycle. But for one, getting two tricycles at once would be too conspicuous, and secondly, the small courtyard where they lived simply couldn’t accommodate another vehicle.

And so, inevitably, the issue came back to housing.

Everyone in the family was anxious to find a new home, but no matter how anxious they were, there were no new developments. Xia Na and Gu Tianming also had no good news to share.

In fact, Lu Aiguo and Shitou had found a few families willing to rent out their houses, but most offerings were like Xia Na’s place - a small room of less than twenty square meters in an old-style siheyuan courtyard, sharing an outdoor yard with many other households.

Aside from being closer to the school for Lu Yun, those houses weren’t really better than their current dwelling.

But perseverance paid off, and suddenly progress was made with the land allocation for building houses.

Lu Aiguo and Shitou, who ran around all day long, gradually increased their contacts through their efforts. Being clever and active, they managed, as they had hoped, to get acquainted with Zhou Yi, the head of Jingtou Village nearby.

Jingtou Village was what would later be commonly known as an "urban village," and it was even closer to Haicheng No. 6 Elementary School than their current rental location, by nearly ten minutes.

Knowing the location, Lu Yun eagerly encouraged her father and Shitou to do everything possible to secure a plot of land. Without any hope of buying a house or even finding a suitable rental, Lu Aiguo, Xia Yuan, and Shitou were all the more eager to have their own private space, a home that belonged solely to their family at the earliest convenience.

Once they had the right connections, things became much easier.

Deliberately forging a relationship, Lu Aiguo quickly warmed up to Zhou Yi over a few drinks, and after hitting it off, they even began to address each other as brothers.

Next, he and Shitou began to visit Zhou Yi’s house every so often, never empty-handed. They started with gifts of wild mushrooms, wood ears, yams, wild rabbits, and gradually brought more, including wild boar meat, pheasants, and ducks.

Zhou Yi’s family initially declined, but they couldn’t resist as the two men quickly dropped the goods and ran faster than rabbits. Eventually, they accepted, and Zhou Yi and Shitou began to accept their offers to stay for a meal, a drink.

Finally, during one satisfying meal when they felt the time was right, they broached the topic of seeking land in Jingtou Village with Zhou Yi, who laughed heartily at them, "Ha-ha, I thought it was something serious! I knew you two weren’t bringing me stuff for no reason; you must be asking for a favor. Alright, I won’t beat around the bush. I can allocate you two plots at most. Just bring five hundred yuan to the village, and that’s it."

"How could our little intentions ever deceive you, Brother Zhou? But we truly do consider you as a brother," Lu Aiguo and Shitou said, unable to hide their excitement at how smoothly everything was going. Of course, their words were not entirely flattery. Through their interactions, they could tell that Zhou Yi was a forthright person and a good match for their temperament. He did not seem to be the kind to be insatiable with greed. Otherwise, they wouldn’t find themselves agreeing on so many things and having drinks together so often. Lu Aiguo genuinely wanted to be friends.

Now that the matter was settled, he couldn’t let Zhou Yi run around without compensation, so he took out a thousand yuan he had prepared in advance and pushed it across, "We had this money ready a long time ago."

Zhou Yi counted out five hundred yuan and pushed the rest back, holding the five hundred in his hand, he said to them, "What do you take me for? It’s already a bit much to accept your gifts, to take more money on top of that... You boys would have to visit me in prison next time. This five hundred is for the village; if it were someone from our village, it’d be less. But since your household isn’t from here, we have to charge a bit more."

"Brother Zhou, we mean no offense. The extra is actually meant for treating the village officials to a meal as a token of thanks. You wouldn’t understand as someone who’s never had to rent – without a place of your own, even keeping the lights on a bit late can bring the landlord knocking and scolding in the middle of the night," Lu Aiguo said with a wry smile, making no move to take back the money from the table.