RIRW – Chapter 86

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“Comrade Shen Yiming, it wasn’t easy for you to come here today and hand over your mother’s property deed to the bureau. On behalf of the bureau, I sincerely thank you.” Director Liu shook Shen Yiming’s hand happily.

Back in the day, Shen Yuehong was given a house as part of her promotion due to her outstanding performance. Even after she passed away, since her husband and son were still around, the house remained under her name. Later, when new staff members joined the bureau and needed housing, they still couldn’t touch that house.

But today, Shen Yiming had voluntarily given it up, solving a housing issue for another family.

Shen Yiming said seriously, “My mother was part of the bureau, and she was always dedicated to its work. If she knew about this, she would surely support my decision. However, since Comrade Wei Guohua is still living there, his situation needs to be handled by the bureau.”

Director Liu smiled. “Don’t worry, that won’t be a problem. The house was originally allocated to your mother for her marriage. After she passed, Comrade Wei Guohua was transferred to the provincial office, which is still within the system, so it was fine for him to stay. But now that he’s no longer part of our system and has even remarried long ago, there’s no reason for him to continue living there. As long as you agree, we can take back the house.”

Shen Yiming nodded repeatedly.

Director Liu continued, “Yiming, do you have any requests? You’re helping the bureau solve a housing issue—we can’t let you suffer a loss.”

“I have no other requests,” Shen Yiming said earnestly. “I just hope that people at the bureau will remember my mother. If this house is allocated to someone, I’d like it to be in my mother’s name as a donation.”

He couldn’t bring himself to exchange his mother’s belongings for personal gain.

“Of course, that’s no problem. The house originally belonged to your mother, and you voluntarily returned it to the bureau. If it is redistributed, it will be done under her name.”

After leaving the provincial cultural bureau, Shen Yiming went to the housing authority to complete the formalities. From that moment on, the house officially belonged to the city’s cultural bureau.

Returning home, he placed the donation certificate issued by the bureau next to his mother’s photo.

His grandmother wiped away tears as she looked at the photo of her daughter.

“It’s good to return it. Keeping it only makes people uneasy. We already have a place to live and don’t need it. It’s better to give it to someone in need. But I never expected that heartless Wei would try to use your mother’s house to exchange for a city residency permit for his child. Even if someone had to exchange for one, it shouldn’t be him.”

Shen Yiming put his arm around his grandmother and comforted her. “Grandma, don’t be angry. I’ll handle this. They won’t get what they want.”

His grandmother sighed. “Forget it. You’re about to get married—don’t cause trouble with them. No matter what, he’s still your biological father. If you go after him, people will say you’re heartless. Now that the house has been returned, let’s not worry about it anymore.”

Shen Yiming reassured her, “I won’t make trouble for them. I’m busy with work—I don’t have time to bother with them. Don’t worry.”

Hearing this, his grandmother didn’t argue further. She knew his temperament—there was no way he would just let this go. This child had never been one to be bullied. Back when Wei Guohua sent him to the countryside, he had managed to bring Wei Guohua down in return. Now that Wei Guohua wanted to use Yuehong’s house for personal gain, he was definitely in for another reckoning.

Still, as long as Shen Yiming had a plan, she wouldn’t interfere. She was getting old and couldn’t be of much help—at the very least, she didn’t want to be a burden.

Even without power or influence, they couldn’t just let others walk all over them.

At noon, Shen Yiming didn’t eat at home. Instead, he went to the power plant to have a meal with Xu Xiaoqiang.

The last time the two had gone to a restaurant together was before Shen Yiming was sent to the countryside. Back then, many people came to see him off, but they were so upset that they barely ate. After returning, Shen Yiming had been busy with work and never had the time to sit down for a meal with his friend.

Now that they could finally eat together, Xu Xiaoqiang was beyond happy.

“Brother, you must have a drink with me!” Xu Xiaoqiang shouted.

Shen Yiming waved his hand with a smile. “No way, I still have work in the afternoon. If I go back smelling like alcohol, my boss will punish me. Same goes for you—don’t give them an excuse to catch you.”

“Alright, alright,” Xu Xiaoqiang agreed immediately.

After they finished eating, Shen Yiming told Xu Xiaoqiang about his plan. When Xu Xiaoqiang heard that Shen Yiming had given the house back, he was shocked. “Brother, how could you just give up the house like that? That’s such a huge loss!”

Shen Yiming smiled slightly. “It’s not a loss. It was originally assigned by the bureau anyway. By donating it in my mother’s name, whoever moves in will always remember the kindness of my mother.”

Hearing this, Xu Xiaoqiang realized there wasn’t much to argue about. For most people, a house was a big deal, but for Shen Yiming, it really wasn’t.

“Brother, no problem with what you asked. When they come back, my aunt will tell them exactly what you said. If they can’t produce the property certificate, they have to write a transfer statement. Once the new property certificate is reissued, they can exchange the statement for the certificate. In the end, the housing bureau has the final say. If the culture bureau agrees, then there’s no issue on our end. If there is a problem, it won’t be our fault.” Xu Xiaoqiang promised confidently. He had done his fair share of handling tricky situations, and what Yiming asked was a piece of cake.

Shen Yiming raised his water glass. “I can’t drink, so let’s toast with tea instead. Next time, when your sister-in-law arrives, if she allows it, I’ll have a proper drink with you.”

Xu Xiaoqiang immediately winced. “Brother, what happened to you…”

Shen Yiming wasn’t ashamed at all; in fact, he looked slightly pleased with himself.

Before leaving, Shen Yiming confirmed, “Du Juan said it was the provincial coal yard, right?”

Xu Xiaoqiang nodded. “Yeah, she said she was transferring the house to a coal yard worker. My aunt wasn’t sure about your stance, so she strung her along and told her to bring the coal yard worker with her next time. Du Juan actually agreed.”

After Xu Xiaoqiang went back to work, Shen Yiming took a bus to the coal yard and met with Xu Dapeng, who was now in the production department, working in an office.

Seeing Shen Yiming, Xu Dapeng immediately gave him a bear hug. “What brings you here?”

“Came to chat with you and meet your uncle.”

“Perfect timing! My uncle has been talking about wanting to meet you. You really helped his nephew out of a tough spot,” Xu Dapeng said, patting himself on the chest with a grin.

Shen Yiming laughed. “Alright, alright. Stop going on about it already. It’s just a small matter. Hearing you say it so much makes me embarrassed. But seriously, I might need your uncle’s help this time.”

“No problem! He has some pull in the mining committee.”

Shen Yiming patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry, it’s not a big deal. I won’t make things difficult for him.”

Xu Dapeng didn’t care about that. Right now, Shen Yiming was his brother. If his brother needed help, that was that. Without hesitation, he led Shen Yiming straight to the mining committee office.

After spending over an hour there, Shen Yiming finally left the provincial coal yard and headed to the provincial post office.

At the communal housing block, Wei Guohua had searched everywhere but couldn’t find the property certificate. Only then did it dawn on him—he had never actually seen the certificate before.

Du Juan panicked. “You already made a deal with them, but without proof, how are they supposed to process it?”

“No proof? This house is mine. I’ve had the keys for so many years,” Wei Guohua said, annoyed at how anxious Du Juan was acting.

Hearing this, Du Juan asked, “Back when the bureau gave you the house for marriage, why didn’t they issue a certificate? I heard from Jingren that Shen Yiming said this house was assigned to his mother, Shen Yuehong.”

Wei Guohua immediately became irritated. “Impossible! I may not remember the property certificate, but I know whose house this is. When I married Shen Yuehong, she told me herself that the bureau assigned this house to me for our marriage.”

He moved in with Shen Yuehong on their wedding day. At that time, she told him the house had been assigned to him for marriage. He never questioned it. After all, the bureau usually assigned housing to male employees, not female ones. Women simply moved into their husband’s assigned housing after marriage.

Besides, Shen Yuehong was a sharp woman who had never let herself be taken advantage of. She had no reason to lie to him about the house.

But now, without the property certificate, Wei Guohua wasn’t so sure anymore. “Even if it was assigned to Shen Yuehong, I was married to her. I still have authority over the house.”

Du Juan was still worried. “Should we go to the bureau and get a replacement certificate?”

“I’m not going!” Wei Guohua’s face turned red with anger. “If you want to go, go yourself. I won’t! I still have my dignity. I won’t make a fool of myself at my old workplace!”

With no other choice, Du Juan went to the culture bureau herself. However, as soon as she brought up the topic, she was told that only the owner could request archival records and issue a new certificate. Otherwise, if anyone could just waltz in and check records, they’d be overwhelmed.

Du Juan was furious. Back in the day, if she had walked in here, everyone would have welcomed her with a smile. Now that Wei Guohua had fallen from grace, they were treating her like this…

Now that Wei Guohua absolutely refused to go in person, there was no way to get the certificate issued. Du Juan had no choice but to go to the Housing Authority to inquire about the situation and see what could be done.

Upon hearing her request, the staff at the Housing Authority went to consult their deputy director, Vice Director Xu. Before long, Du Juan received a response—there was no need for a certificate from the original work unit. As long as they could confirm that the house was currently under Wei Guohua’s ownership, he only needed to bring his household registration booklet and sign a guarantee letter and a transfer document. Later, the Housing Authority would coordinate with the Cultural Bureau to verify the records and issue the certificate. As long as everything was in order, they would process a new property certificate for them.

Hearing this, Du Juan finally felt relieved. She hurried back to find Wei Guohua, preparing to go to the coal yard to bring people over to sign the transfer certificate. The sooner they could bring the children back, the sooner she could have peace of mind.

After Du Juan left, Vice Director Xu glanced out the window and smirked mockingly. Fortunately, Yiming took after his mother and not Wei Guohua. Otherwise, Shen Yuehong wouldn’t have been able to rest in peace. Thinking of Shen Yuehong, she felt a pang of regret. Shen Yuehong had been such a remarkable woman back then, yet she had chosen Wei Guohua. Xu recalled that she and Shen Yuehong hadn’t been particularly close, but she had heard that Shen Yuehong admired Wei Guohua’s stern and serious demeanor. She probably never expected him to be so rigid that he would send his own son to the countryside.

Before long, Du Juan returned with the necessary people to sign the documents.

With Vice Director Xu’s approval, everything went smoothly, and the documents were issued quickly. After receiving the ownership guarantee letter from Wei Guohua, the Housing Authority informed them that all formalities were complete. Once they coordinated with the Cultural Bureau to issue the necessary records, they would finalize the new property certificate and notify them.

Hearing this, the Zhou family elders from the coal yard finally felt reassured. When Du Juan suggested that they should exchange household registration spots before vacating the house, the Zhou family elders discussed it briefly and agreed.

After all, everything was for the sake of their eldest son’s marriage—he needed a place to live. Giving up a job position was a small price to pay. Besides, they only had daughters, and there was no point in keeping the job for them. In the future, it would be their son who took care of them in old age.

Thus, they went together to the coal yard’s mining committee to apply for early retirement and transfer their jobs to Du Juan’s two children.

The mining committee had never encountered such a case before—someone willingly giving up a job position to an outsider. In this era, jobs were precious. Many families had fallen apart over disputes about job inheritance. However, since the Zhou family agreed, the mining committee had no reason to object.

Deputy Mine Director Li, however, was concerned that they might regret their decision and cause trouble later. He said, “Think carefully—once these positions are officially transferred to Wei Xiaojun and Wei Xiaohong, the mine will issue their employment letters. At that point, the jobs will have nothing to do with you anymore. Even if they don’t take the positions, you will still not be entitled to them since you have already retired.”

The Zhou elders had no objections. The house was already theirs, so they no longer cared about the job positions.

“Let’s proceed,” they said.

Deputy Mine Director Li had them write a guarantee letter to be kept in the records, and he said no more.

Once the Zhou family members’ early retirements were finalized, the mine issued the official transfer notices in the presence of both families. As soon as the local government offices received the notices, they could arrange for Wei Xiaojun and Wei Xiaohong to return to the city and complete their employment procedures. At that point, they would officially become employees of the provincial capital’s coal yard.

“Comrade Shen Yiming, what have you been busy with? I called you, but you weren’t there again! Do you know how hard it is for me to call you? Every time, I have to travel a long way just to make a call, and you’re never around!” Zuo Dan complained over the phone.

Leaning back in his office chair, Shen Yiming listened to her voice and imagined that if she were in front of him right now, she’d probably be hitting or pinching him.

“Comrade Zuo Dan, I have good news for you. If everything goes as planned, Zuojiatun will soon have its own telephone line. And it will be installed in your house! Then we can call each other anytime.”

“Really?” Zuo Dan asked in surprise.

“What do you think?”

“I don’t care if it’s real or not. Since you’ve said it, I’ll take it as the truth. But if it doesn’t happen… hehe, I’ll make sure to scratch you real good!”

Hearing her words, Shen Yiming immediately recalled how her small hands would roam under his clothes, making him break into a sweat. He crossed his legs where he sat.

When she didn’t hear his response, Zuo Dan grew dissatisfied. “Where are you? Why aren’t you saying anything?”

Shen Yiming took a sip of cold water and said happily, “Comrade Zuo Dan, let’s make a deal. If this really happens, you can still scratch me. Scratch as much as you want, wherever you want.”

Something about his words felt off. Zuo Dan narrowed her eyes, thought for a moment, and then her face flushed. This rascal, Shen Yiming!

Still, she wasn’t one to be outdone. Her eyes twinkled with mischief as she playfully lowered her voice, “Alright then. I’ll scratch you exactly where I did last time… Oh wait, where was it? Your little green bean? Your ribs? Your chicken breast? My hand is moving now, scratching and scratching—can you feel it?”

“…No!” His voice was suddenly tense.

Zuo Dan grinned triumphantly. You want to tease me? Hmph, I’ll make you suffer instead! You can hear me but can’t touch me—deal with it!

After hearing him gulp down water on the other end, she leaned against her desk and said, “Shen Yiming, be serious now. I have something important to tell you. A few days ago, Comrade Zuo Huan and Comrade Yang Wenxin got married. They originally wanted to invite you to their wedding banquet, but you weren’t reachable. Such a pity. But if they come to find you with wedding candies later, don’t be surprised.”

Shen Yiming drank a large glass of cold water, finally quelling the fire in his heart. “I also have some good news to share with you. In a few days, the provincial coal yard will issue a notice for Wei Xiaojun and Wei Xiaohong to return to the city and take over jobs at the coal yard.”

Zuo Dan’s eyes widened. “That good of an opportunity?”

“Yeah, so later, have Secretary Zhang take a call. I need to discuss this great news with him.”

Zuo Dan looked displeased. “How can the coal yard steal people from our village? They’re key figures in our rural development. Even the Chairman said that everything is for the sake of rural construction. As a grassroots cadre, I must take a stand. I don’t agree with this! I can’t let our village lose such valuable talents. You talk to Secretary Zhang first, and I’ll go discuss this with the old team leader.”

Placing the phone on the table, Zuo Dan hurried outside to call Secretary Zhang, who was smoking.

At that moment, Zhang Baoshu was chatting with Secretary Zhang outside. When Secretary Zhang went inside to answer the phone, Zhang Baoshu looked at Zuo Dan with a grin. “Comrade Zuo Dan, it seems like you and Comrade Shen Yiming have a pretty good relationship. But let me tell you, many men say one thing over the phone and do another behind your back. You should start planning for yourself. You’ll be nineteen after the new year, right…” He gave her an up-and-down look, his gaze a bit suggestive.

Zuo Dan immediately got goosebumps and felt utterly disgusted. “Director Zhang, my personal matters don’t need your concern. But speaking of concerns, a former educated youth left some words for your wife. I’ll find time to chat with her about it.”

Hearing the hidden meaning in her words, Zhang Baoshu’s smile stiffened slightly, but he forced another grin. “My wife is very busy and doesn’t have time. If there’s anything, you can just tell me, and I’ll pass it along.”

Zuo Dan merely smiled without saying a word.

Feeling awkward, Zhang Baoshu let out a dry laugh. “I still have work at the coal yard, so I’ll head back first.” If he hadn’t known that Zuo Dan would be here, he wouldn’t have come over in the first place. Who knew this girl would be so difficult to deal with?

Just as Zhang Baoshu was about to leave, Secretary Zhang walked out of the office with a slight smile on his face. “Baoshu, don’t go yet. I have something to discuss with you.” Then, he turned to Zuo Dan and said, “Comrade Yiming is still on the line. He has more to say to you. Go back inside.”

Zuo Dan quickly went into the office, wondering what kind of benefits Shen Yiming had promised Secretary Zhang.

“Shen Yiming, what did you just say to him?” she asked.

“Oh, I just discussed the coal yard recruitment with Secretary Zhang. If those two from your village can’t return to the city, we can transfer someone internally and send Comrade Zhang Baoshu from your commune’s coal yard to the provincial coal yard instead.”

Zuo Dan was immediately frustrated. She was still feeling disgusted by Zhang Baoshu’s behavior just now! “Shen Yiming, why did you give him such a good opportunity? He was just being gross to me.”

Shen Yiming’s eyes narrowed slightly, and he smirked coldly. “Comrade Zuo Dan, people need to be nearby so I can properly ‘take care’ of them.”

Hearing this, Zuo Dan instantly understood. She put on a serious expression and said, “Comrade Yiming, your awareness and commitment to looking after local comrades are commendable. This is excellent and deserves praise.”

When she left the commune, Secretary Zhang personally saw her off. It wasn’t until she had driven her cart away that he returned to the office.

Inside, Zhang Baoshu was still excited. “Uncle, is this real? I can really go to the provincial capital?”

“Comrade Shen Yiming said it, so he wouldn’t lie to me. You’d better change your attitude and stop causing trouble. Work properly once you get there. If you weren’t the eldest son of the Zhang family, you wouldn’t have gotten such a good opportunity. And from now on, behave yourself around Comrade Zuo Dan. Don’t provoke her!”

“I know, I know,” Zhang Baoshu replied quickly. The provincial capital was full of beautiful girls—he didn’t need to think about Zuo Dan anymore.

After speaking with Shen Yiming, learning about a few good things, Zuo Dan was in a great mood. She hummed a tune as she drove her cart back to the village.

Once she arrived, she went straight to find Old Team Leader Zuo Shuisheng to report the good news.

Hearing that Shen Yiming had pulled some strings to get a telephone installed in Zuo Family Village, Zuo Shuisheng was so shocked that he nearly dropped his tobacco pipe.

His old face was filled with excitement. “Dandan, are you talking about the same telephone they have at the commune? The one where you can talk to someone far away through a little box? We’re really getting one?”

“Yes, that box! Secretary Zhang said that because our village has consistently performed well, as a reward, they’re installing a telephone here. It’ll help us report our work and thoughts to higher-ups more conveniently.”

“Alright, stop feeding me nonsense. That’s what we’ll tell outsiders, but we know the truth. There’s only one phone in the whole commune—there’s no way Secretary Zhang would just give us one.”

Zuo Shuisheng grinned from ear to ear. “A telephone! Our Zuo Family Village is getting a telephone!”

After his excitement subsided, he said, “Dandan, I think we should credit your father for this. Once the telephone is installed, we’ll tell everyone it was your father who approached the leadership to discuss our village’s difficulties, and that’s why the higher-ups arranged for the phone to be installed. If your father gets us a phone, no one will question his qualifications to be the brigade leader. If anyone complains, they’ll have no right to use the phone!”

Zuo Dan immediately gave him a thumbs-up. “Old Team Leader, you’re brilliant! Truly brilliant!”

Zuo Shuisheng laughed happily. “It’s all thanks to Yiming’s abilities. If he couldn’t get this done, I wouldn’t be able to say such things. By the way, how did Yiming manage to pull this off? This must’ve been a difficult thing to arrange.”

“He didn’t say.” She realized she hadn’t asked—she had been too busy being annoyed at him. But thinking about Shen Yiming’s usual way of doing things, she suddenly had a suspicion. Two job positions at the coal yard had been given out. One went to Zhang Baoshu… but who got the other one?