Chapter 122 - Keep Your Enemies Close (3)
The man looked at Shu Yan and the two children who had walked inside the house and sighed. “It’s not unreasonable, but my hands are tied. My wife gave me her final order.”
Alright, so he was a man who was deathly afraid of his wife. Apparently now that his wife had told him that he must take the house back, her being upset at him wouldn’t change anything. This was his house. Even with a contract, there was not much she could do when the landlord wanted to take the house back. Such was the tragedy of renting.
“Alright. I get it.”
When it rains, it pours. She has been busy with matters in the shop lately, and she has two children with her. With this new issue about where they would be staying, Shu Yan didn’t feel like cooking anymore. She quickly ate something with the kids and kept on thinking about what options they had when she did the dishes.
“Mom, we can’t stay here anymore?”
Seeing the worries in her daughter’s eyes, Shu Yan recollected herself; she did not want the kids to feel the weight of the issue. She put on a smile and said to her, “Everything is fine. Mom bought a house next to your school. Remember we have looked at it before? It has already finished remodeling and we will be able to move in after the new year.”
“Aren’t we going home for the new year?”
Shu Yan paused for a little. It took her awhile to realize that when she said “home” she was referring to their house back in City Xi.
Ye Jingjing was older than Tianbo and remembered and knew a lot more than him.
“You want to go back?” ask Shu Yan directly.
“No, I don’t want to,” said Ye Jingjing as she shook her head. Back in the village, her grandmother always called her worthless. Neither her father nor mother paid her any attention and doted only on her brother. Now that she has been with her mother, her mother was equally good to both her and brother, and sometimes treating her even better than her brother. She had made a lot of new friends there. All of them were clean and polite. None of them ever cussed. This was heaven to her comparing to where she had been. She never wanted to go back to that old place again.
“Mmm, Mom doesn’t like it either. So this will be our home from now on. The other place… let’s just say it's Mom’s mother’s home. We will be like distant relatives in the future.” She said that both to herself and to Ye Jingjing.
She needed to move for sure. After all, it belonged to someone else. Not to mention that she was a woman with two children and not a local. They didn’t stand a chance fighting with the landlord. Luckily, she had only planned on staying here temporarily and didn’t buy too much stuff. She could throw some of them away and the rest could be sent over to their new house first. Their possessions weren’t a big deal; a bigger question was what to do with her two children.
Ye Jingjing was in first grade and was already behind. She didn’t want her to fall further behind. Last time Shu Yan went to pick her kids up she saw some students staying over at the after-school place. Perhaps, some parents had the teachers look after their children for them. Shu Yan planned to find out more details; she might be able to have Ye Jingjing stay with her teacher for a month.
***
“I only have one extra room here, and I have two boys staying there already. I won’t be able to accommodate Ye Jingjing. You can go ask Teacher Liu though. She has a male student too, but she has a room for her daughter. It has been vacant since her daughter has gotten married. One month shouldn’t be a problem. “
Teacher Liu was Jingjing’s English teacher. After hearing Shu Yan’s request, she said, “Not a problem. I can take care of her for you for the time being. My daughter doesn’t come home very often. Jingjing can stay in her room.”
“Thank you so much, Teacher Liu. I really have no other options. We were renting this place and the landlord wanted it back last minute. My own place is still being remodeled. The fume is not good for the kids’ health, so I dare not move in just yet. Which was why I had to ask you for the favor.”
“What is wrong with these landlords nowadays? That is so unreasonable!” Teacher Liu seemed to be very upset about what had happened.
“Who knows? But not much I can do about it. Thank you so much for looking after Jingjing for me for the month.”
Shu Yan took Jingjing to her school, squatted down, and talked to her. “You stay at Teacher Liu’s for a month. Mom might even come and pick you up in less than a month. Mom will come and visit you often during this time. You must tell Mom if there are any issues, okay?”
“Okay, Mom. Don’t worry,” said Ye Jingjing as she gave Shu Yan a big smile.
How was this kid so mature!
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