The Sweetness of the Seventies
Chapter 855 - 824 "Celebrating a new house", Envy

Chapter 855: Chapter 824 "Celebrating a new house", Envy

In the evening, the family gathered outside to enjoy the cool air, munching on watermelon, when Jiang Lifang chuckled and said, "Ah, Tiantian, you don’t know how much more settled I feel now that we have our own place."

Grandma Wang listened and smiled to herself, understanding the meaning behind Jiang Lifang’s words.

Indeed, these years had been somewhat unfair to Jiang Lifang.

If Jiang Lifang had been the kind to keep score like Song Chunli, the family would have long since been riven with discord, leaving the siblings at odds and the parents heartbroken.

He Tiantian smiled and said, "I haven’t noticed much other than feeling the old house was a bit cramped. Our family has so many things, we just couldn’t fit them all. Now that we can afford it, it’s actually nice to move out. We’ll visit Grandfather and Grandmother at the old house on the weekends anyway—it’s all the same."

"Yes, no need to be all crammed together," Grandma Wang said with a laugh. "Old Madam is actually quite clear on this. Sometimes, even as elders, there are things you just can’t speak up about."

Jiang Lifang nodded and said, "That’s why I think moving out is good. When you’re young, you can put up with a lot. But now I have grandsons and granddaughters, and if we still had to walk on eggshells around others, life would be truly stifling."

"Mom, is there anything else our home is missing?" Huo Yingjie changed the subject, as Grandma Wang was present, and talking too much about such things might upset her.

"Everything’s ready, just waiting for the guests tomorrow," Jiang Lifang replied. After the guests arrived, this place would truly become their home.

Future visits to the old house wouldn’t have much to do with them.

In the meantime, Song Chunli, upon hearing of He Tiantian’s arrival, was bursting with eagerness. She scraped together eighty thousand yuan, hoping to ask for one more share. She had initially wanted to come by herself, but Old Madam Huo stopped her, saying they would discuss business after celebrating the new house.

For Song Chunli, those two days felt like years!

Finally, the weekend arrived, and the entire family rushed to the second wife’s home in Maoer Alley.

Getting out of the car, they were greeted by a freshly painted vermillion gate with a bright, orange lion-head knocker. "Oh my, what a grand house," Old Madam Huo exclaimed. "If this were the old days, it might have been a prince’s estate."

"Indeed!" Old Master Huo laughed. "Come on, let’s go in."

Huo Zheqian chuckled and said, "It’s a pity, the second brother isn’t back. If he were, we’d have three generations of our family here, and we could have a good drink together."

"Dad, your son will drink with you," Huo Yingjun said cheerfully. "Come on, let’s knock on the door and see Yingjie’s house."

Song Chunli was envious. Just the gate alone was this impressive, not to mention the courtyard inside, which was even more exquisite and spacious.

Although Zhao Huanhuan felt envy as well, she had a place to stay and didn’t harbor too many thoughts about it.

Huo Yingjie heard the noise outside and quickly ran out to greet them.

"Grandfather, Grandmother, Uncle, Auntie, Big Brother, Sister-in-law, please come in," Huo Yingjie said with a smile, moving forward to personally assist Old Madam Huo.

Following were Jiang Lifang and He Tiantian, also coming over to say hello.

"All right, let’s not stand around here, let’s go in," Old Master Huo said. "We want to have a good look at your courtyard."

Through the gate, they saw the second door.

"This indeed is an old mansion," Old Madam Huo remarked. "Not bad, not bad at all, you’ve cleaned up nicely."

"Mom, let’s go inside and talk, it’s hot out here," Jiang Lifang suggested. "My parents and my elder brother are also here—they’re waiting inside for you two!"

Old Madam Huo smiled and said, "The in-laws are here too? I must go and have a good chat. It’s been over half a year since our last meeting—I need to catch up with my old sister."

Upon entering the second gate, they arrived at the main courtyard.

In the main room of the main courtyard, many people were already seated.

Once word spread that Old Master Huo and Old Madam Huo had arrived, everyone inside rose to their feet.

After greeting them, they exchanged pleasantries, with He Tiantian and Qi Xiaoyan helping to entertain the guests.

Not only had the Jiang Family’s Main Wife come, but the Jiang Family’s Second Wife had also come.

Jiang Wenhui looked enviously at the new furniture in the living room, thinking that the set must have cost tens of thousands, her aunt’s family really was wealthy.

Compared to the furniture, the price for the whole courtyard must be hundreds of thousands!

For Jiang Wenhui, who only made a hundred or two hundred in wages each month, these figures were astronomical.

Oh, how she needed to cozy up to her cousin-in-law, and it would be even better if her cousin-in-law could help her make some money so she too could afford a nice house.

The elderly were having tea together, chatting away.

The younger folks, on the other hand, were chatting in the dining room of the east wing.

It was scorching hot outside, the sun searing the earth.

When Jiang Wenhui arrived at the dining room, she felt it was especially cool.

Though the large living room also had air conditioning, because it was full of older people, the temperature was set higher, and it couldn’t be considered cool, just not hot.

"Ah, cousin-in-law, cousin, you guys really know how to enjoy life!" Jiang Wenhui said with a laugh, "It’s so cool in here with air conditioning!"

Jiang Wenwen chuckled, "Wenhui sister, have some snacks, eat some watermelon."

"Thank you, Wenwen," said Jiang Wenhui, looking around, "Cousin-in-law, you’ve installed quite a few air conditioners around the yard, must have cost a good deal of money, right? And the electricity bill for just this month can’t be cheap."

"I’ve just arrived, so I don’t know about these things," He Tiantian said, "It’s all been managed by the kids’ dad."

"Ah, how could I forget that my big sister-in-law just arrived in Yanjing!" Jiang Wenhui exclaimed, "Cousin-in-law, are you going to settle down in Yanjing now?"

"Yes, the kids’ dad had his work transferred here. It wouldn’t be good to live apart, so we came over," said He Tiantian with a smile, chatting casually with everyone.

Jiang Wenwen saw her cousin’s eyes darting about, probably scheming something.

"Cousin, why didn’t your husband come with you?" Jiang Wenwen asked. Usually, her cousin liked to show off at her parents’ home how ambitious and capable her husband was, how quickly he was promoted...

"He was supposed to come, but he had a last-minute issue and had to visit his office," Jiang Wenwen said, "You know how it is, your brother-in-law is always busy with the foreign affairs department, dealing with foreigners, extremely busy."

"He must be very busy," said Jiang Wenwen, "Without being busy and performing well, how could he get promoted, right?"

"Exactly, that’s what I think too," Jiang Wenhui said, "Wenwen, you’re not that young anymore, it’s about time to talk about marriage. By the way, if you could find someone nice on your own, you could bring him home for us to meet! We could help you consider your options."

"Wenwen, are you seeing anyone?" He Tiantian inquired, "If you meet someone suitable, you might try dating a bit."

"Not yet, I’ve been quite busy recently," Jiang Wenwen replied, always busy with her clothing designs lately, she hadn’t had time to find a partner.

"Busy with what, your school is on summer break," Jiang Wenhui scoffed, then suddenly chuckled as if she thought of something funny, "Wenwen, don’t tell me you’ve been messing around at home with those odds and ends, trying to be a tailor?"