Hearing how happy the two were, Wu Xiuyue was a bit envious. âThe houses at Nanfu must be very pricey? I had wanted to get a 60 m2 unit, but my husband wouldnât agree to it. We wanted to wait for the house prices to drop a bit before we buy.â
Many in the country would always be on the lookout and wanted to wait to buy when the house prices dropped some. Shu Yan felt that that would be alright if it was for investment purposes, but if it was for themselves, they might as well just do it. The district that they were staying in right now was small and old. Wu Xiuyue had also mentioned that they were living with her in-laws. Exactly how crammed was that?
But the house prices would be plenty stable for the next few years until it drop quite a bit by 1997, which was why Shu Yan wouldnât try to talk her into buying. She didnât want her to blame her when that happened.
Lin Hui didnât say much either. Buying a house is a big decision and they have just met. It wasnât her place to comment on that.
Of the three of them, Shu Yan was the only one with two children. The other two women have one each. Both Lin Hui and her husband worked in the government assigned units, and there were rules that they couldnât have more than one child. Lin Xiuyue, on the other hand, had a boy already and the rule said she couldnât have another one.
âYou had it the best, a boy and a girl.â They were both envious of Shu Yan.
âOne is good too. Less stress.â If Shu Yan was having her own children, one would be enough. Luckily, she didnât need to be pregnant or give birth; she was already an instant mother.
After making plans to go shopping together over the weekend, Shu Yan went home with her kids. Shu Yan waited till they got home before she said to Ye Jingjing, âYou child, donât you know how to fight back when someone bully you? If it wasnât Wang Yitong helping you out together, were you just going to stand there and take it?â
âDonât be mad, mom,â said Ye Jingjing with her head lowered. âI wonât cause trouble next time.ân/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
Looking at her timid child, Shu Yan felt horrible all of a sudden. âWhat are you talking about? Mom isnât mad at you for causing trouble. Not to mention that you werenât the one at fault here. Mom is upset that you donât know how to protect yourself. Jingjing, mom canât be with you all the time and there will be time when I am not there. You will need to take care of yourself; otherwise, mom will be sad when you are bullied. You must tell mom what happens at school. As long as you werenât in the wrong, mom will also be on your side, okay?â
Ye Jingjing busted out smiling and nodded heavily.
âMom, I will be a good kid too. Donât be sad,â said Ye Tianbao all of a sudden from next to them.
Shu Yan couldnât help but rub him on his head, âYou are both momâs good kids. You must be hungry. Let me go start dinner.â
She wondered if rice cooker was available yet. She should buy one if it was. That way she could just start the rice before she went to pick up the kids, and all she had to do after she had gotten back was to fry up the dishes. It was very difficult making rice in a pressure cooker. The rice always came out either too hard or too soft.
Again, dinner was divided into two different shares. She was having seaweed soup herself. She had always liked seaweed soup, but seaweed soup with less oil and less sodium wasnât good at all. The feeling of hunger was awful, and one could always say itâs a torture. The voice in her head telling her to quit was growing louder and louder.