Chapter 724: Chapter 492: All for the Sake of the Child!
Xiao Yu’s family prospered, and they wanted to invite the elders from their hotown to travel to Hanwu.
Master’s wife didn’t want to go at first, but the Liang family people called several tis a day. Not going would make them unhappy, and since Old Qian also urged her daily, she had no choice but to join the tour group.
Old Ge, having stepped back but not retired, instead of contributing in the developnt zone, insisted on joining the trip. He even ran around busily as if he beca the tour group leader, making it seem like the whole thing was related to him.
But he is a director, and has been the head of the Transportation Bureau, both Li Weiguo and Captain Wang could only yield, obeying his commands.
Mrs. Han also received an invitation. She, too, didn’t want to go, worried about her grandaughter.
Han Yu and Han Xiangning thought about how she had worked hard sailing most of her life, visiting many places but never really went ashore to have fun. Considering that Master’s wife and Li Weiguo’s spouse were going, they decided to let her take Little Han Han, as there would be many people to help look after the child along the way.
Although the tour group had left, the residential area of Bailong Port Passenger Pier was not quiet.
Dongdong was in his second year of middle school at Four Factory, and Han Ning rode back every day on a light motorcycle after work.
Master Han and Nurse Chief Xiang seed to have gotten used to visiting Bailong Port to see their granddaughter, or perhaps they missed their vegetable patch by the river and the hens laying eggs at the mother-in-law’s place; they made trips to Bailong Port whenever they had ti.
Han Yu and Han Xiangning returned to Bailong Port after a busy day, Nurse Chief Xiang was in the kitchen preparing dinner, and Master Han went with Boss Han to the shipyard to check on the new ship being built.
Zhang Jiangkun had already picked up Dongdong, watching him do howork in the dorm.
Chen Zikun and his family returned to the city. Zhang Ping and his spouse were ho, chatting with Nurse Chief Xiang in the kitchen and assisting her.
"I’m really not used to Han Han not being at ho."
"Director Xiang, missing your granddaughter?"
"I even dreamt of Han Han last night. How could I not miss her?"
Han Yu entered the kitchen and said with a laugh, "Mom, if you miss her that much, you can call her later."
"No use, long-distance is expensive. They’ll be back in a few days, and if we keep calling, your mother won’t have the mood to enjoy herself."
"I wonder if Han Han, being so young and traveling so far, might get sick from the unfamiliar environnt."
"Children adapt better than adults. I’m not worried about whether Han Han can adapt; I’m more worried about Director Ge."
"What’s there to worry about Director Ge?" Han Xiangning squeezed in and asked.
Nurse Chief Xiang prepared the soup and turned to sigh, "He doesn’t know how to take care of children, yet he likes to. You haven’t seen him holding Han Han in one arm and playing mahjong with the other!"
Han Yu asked subconsciously, "Is it bad to hold Han Han while playing mahjong?"
"Having Han Han watch them play mahjong every day, what good can she learn from that in the future?"
"Thinking about it, that’s true. I don’t want Han Han to beco a little gambler. I won’t let Director Ge hold her while playing mahjong anymore."
Han Xiangning thought it over and then said, "San’er, when your mom cos back, you should have a word with her too. It’s okay to take Han Han out, but she can’t keep watching others play card gas."
Bailong Port isn’t as bustling as it used to be. The store owners around, including Chen Zikun’s wife, would all gather to play cards whenever they had the ti.
Han Han couldn’t stay still at ho and insisted on going out to play.
Apart from taking Han Han to watch others play cards, where else could our mother take her?
Han Han’s upbringing is an issue, but there’s an even more troubleso problem.
My mother-in-law is retiring next year, she no doubt wants to take care of Han Han, and she’d certainly do a better job than our mother. But since our mother has been taking care of Han Han since birth, she definitely won’t want to hand her over to the mother-in-law...
For the entire crew of China Fishery Administration’s Vessel No. 23, fishing rights an mariti rights!
For our family, custody of Han Han is akin to sovereignty.
Han Yu realized that the mother-in-law would soon bring up next year’s discussion about who would take care of Han Han and hurriedly changed the subject: "Instructor Zhang, why did Captain Chen think of going back to the city today?"
"He’s going to transfer the household registration."
"What household registration?"
"Not transfer, but to relocate it."
"Where to relocate?"
Zhang Ping explained with a smile, "Didn’t his father-in-law buy them a house in East Sea? They got the keys a few days ago. Out-of-towners can acquire East Sea residency, sothing like a blue seal household registration."
Han Yu didn’t know what the blue seal household registration was, so he asked curiously, "But he’s a police officer for Changhang Bureau, can his household registration be moved to East Sea?"
"Yes, work and household registration don’t necessarily have to be in the sa place."
Seeing Han Yu skeptical, Zhang Ping continued smilingly, "Zhang Erxiao has a blue seal household registration of East Sea, and also transferred Master Gao’s household registration over there not long ago. Liu the accountant’s son from Bailong Port Village runs a small business in East Sea and bought a comrcial property there, and he’s looking to transfer his son, daughter-in-law, and grandson’s household registrations to East Sea."
Han Xiangning murmured, "Lin Xiaohui has a blue seal household registration of East Sea; Liu Xiaoi has one too. Last ti Liu Xiaoi said she’s planning to transfer Jiang Bin’s registration as well."
"So it seems we’re all surrounded by East Sea people!"
"That’s quite normal. This is Linghai. Who from Linghai wouldn’t want to go East Sea?"
"Chief Han is right. Just in Bailong Port Village alone, I know of seven or eight who have bought houses in East Sea and are transferring their registrations there."
When talking about transferring to East Sea household registration, becoming East Sea people, Xiang Fan sighed, "That’s East Sea, an international tropolis! Such policies weren’t there before; no matter how much money you had, it was impossible to beco an East Sea person. Now with this policy, if you buy a comrcial property, you can transfer your registration; who wouldn’t want to try if they have the ans?"
Zhang Ping, envious of people like Chen Zikun and Zhang Erxiao who beca "East Sea people," said with emotion, "The main reason is for their children."
"For their children?"
"Director Yu, think about it. If the children grow up with an East Sea registration, won’t finding a job in East Sea be easier than in Binjiang?"
"Indeed."
"I heard it’s also easier for East Sea kids to enter college compared to those from Binjiang, and other conditions are even better. I don’t have the money to buy a comrcial property, but if I did, I’d buy one in East Sea and transfer my children’s registrations first."
"Brother Zhang, you couldn’t be more right. It doesn’t matter where we live, but we can’t just think about ourselves—we need to consider our children’s future early!" Han Xiangning found the more she thought about it, the more convincing it was and turned to say, "San’er, you have many friends in East Sea, later on give them a call and find out the current price of comrcial properties in East Sea."
"Ningning, are you thinking of buying a comrcial property in East Sea?"
"How can we get Han Han a household registration in East Sea without buying a comrcial property!"
"But..."
"I only have one child, Han Han. I must consider her future. Besides, everybody else is buying in East Sea."
"I know, I also want Han Han to work and live in East Sea in the future, but the key point is how expensive the houses are there. Where would we get that much money?"
"You should at least ask around first, maybe you can find sothing cheaper."
Like the last ti he changed ships, Boss Han stubbornly refused to take his son’s and daughter-in-law’s money for the purchase, covering the shortfall by taking out a bank loan.
Xiang Fan thought of the fifty to sixty thousand his daughter and son-in-law had saved over the years, plus a little he had saved himself, and couldn’t help but smile, saying, "San’er, Ningning is right, we should ask around first, it doesn’t cost money to ask."
"Mom, we don’t need to ask about the housing prices in East Sea, even the cheapest will not be cheap enough for us to afford."
"If we can’t afford it, we can take out a loan. I heard now when buying comrcial properties, you can get a mortgage from the bank and pay back a little each month. Slowly pay it back, and it will be paid off in twenty or thirty years."
"To be paying it back for twenty or thirty years!"
"Are you scared?"
We’ve got a place to live, why buy a comrcial property, and especially go buy in East Sea...
Han Yu was terrified of poverty, didn’t want to carry a mortgage and definitely didn’t want to lose sleep over loan paynts for the next several decades. She urgently said, "Ningning, Mom, I think these mortgage loans were just invented because they’re worried they can’t sell the comrcial properties. If we truly get this mortgage to buy a house, we’ll be falling for their trap!"
"So you’re the only smart one, and everyone else is a fool?"
When it ca to her daughter’s future and her ability to live in a big city, Han Xiangning didn’t have the concept of money in her head at all, pulling him along, "Co on, I’ll go make the call with you, let’s just ask."
"We can ask tomorrow."
"What’s wrong with you, is Han Han not your daughter?"
"She is."
"Then stop dawdling and hurry up."
With no other choice, Han Yu had to brace himself and go to the Bailong Port Police Station office to make the call with her.
After asking three or four people, the housing prices in East Sea were indeed not cheap.
Han Xiangning listened very carefully, even taking notes and calculating.
She wouldn’t leave until she said so, and Han Yu thought again and called Shao Lei’s ho.
After Shao Lei understood the ins and outs, he chuckled, "Pu Xi is definitely not cheap. The highest-end elevator apartnts start at at least five thousand yuan per square ter."
Han Xiangning, looking at the speakerphone that was on, asked eagerly, "Brother Shao, what about the regular ones? We don’t necessarily need an elevator."
"Even ordinary slab buildings cost three to four thousand per square."
"Three thousand or four thousand?"
"That depends on the location. The properties near the city center that are nicer are expensive, the ones that are average are cheaper. Closer to the subway is expensive, further from the subway is cheaper."
Shao Lei paused, then half-jokingly said, "Ningning, if you really want to buy, you can co to Pudong, it’s cheaper here. Isn’t the market space in Lujiazui good? It’s just separated by the Huangpu River from the Bund. The comrcial properties newly developed over there only cost three thousand per square, plus you can get that blue-seal household registration you ntioned."
Do Pudong people count as East Sea people?
In the eyes of East Sea people, Pudong is just the countryside. East Sea people have always preferred a bed in Pu Xi over a house in Pudong.
Han Yu was mumbling to himself when Han Xiangning a bit embarrassedly asked, "Brother Shao, we don’t have the ans, are there any cheaper options in Pudong?"
"There are, right near my place, only two thousand per square."
"Can you get a household registration?"
"Yes, it’s just a bit remote. Not many people buy houses around here."
Han Xiangning had been to East Sea several tis, and in her mind East Sea was the Huangpu River, the Bund, the ten miles of foreign comrce — any place close to the Bund was a good place.
She weighed her options for a mont and decisively said, "Let’s buy the one in Lujiazui, it’s closer to the Bund. Anyway, there’s a ferry, it’s quite convenient to cross the river."
"Ningning, are you really planning to buy?"
"Am I pretending to plan?"
"Do we have that much money?"
"If we don’t have money, we can get a mortgage, at worst we pay it back slowly." Han Xiangning envisioned the wonderful future where she and her daughter, after dinner, would take the ferry to the Bund for a stroll, and said without doubt, "The family housing area of the People’s Hospital can’t get a good rent, and we don’t live there, we can ask if anyone is willing to buy it."
"Three thousand per square, even if we buy a seventy square ter two-bedroom it would cost over two hundred thousand. Our combined monthly salary is so little, you have to think this through."
"Now we have a child, we can’t just live carefree, we need to think for the child. We can save and work hard, once the loan is paid off, Han Han will have her own house by then!"
Afraid of any further objections from her junior, Han Xiangning spoke earnestly, "Also, it could get us household registrations. All three of our household registrations could be moved there. Think about it, a town household registration in Linghai even sells for seven or eight thousand a piece. An East Sea registration is worth more than Linghai’s. A house that cos with a registration, however you calculate it, it’s a worthwhile deal."
"Just having an East Sea household registration, what’s the use without a job in East Sea?"
"Why are you making such a fuss? I already said we need to consider for Han Han. If you object again, I’m going to be angry!"
"Alright, alright, you want to buy, then buy. Anyway, the money is all with you. It’s not like I’m the only one paying back the loan no matter how much we borrow."
"Now that you know, why say so much? You’ve saved up quite a bit of pocket money, haven’t you? Now everything is for Han Han, I won’t ask you for your pocket money, but I also won’t give you any pocket money this year."
"I haven’t saved much, I even treated Reporter Wang to beef noodles today!"
"..."
"Alright, if you won’t give, you won’t give, but don’t glare at
like that."
...
PS: I have deep feelings about buying a house. Won comrades generally have a stronger determination than n comrades, and they put their plans into action imdiately, completely ignoring whether they have the ability to pay back loans. But in the end, it turns out they were right about this issue.
Here, I want to thank my wife. If it weren’t for her insistence on buying a house back then, I would have to spend an extra two million for the house I live in now.
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