I Returned to the Day He Brought His First Love Home-Chapter 129: Village Entrance Intelligence Station, House Viewing
After his talk with Grace Winslow, Gregory Winslow reverted to his usual self. He didn’t mention a single word of their conversation.
After resting for a moment, Grace took the two of them to a state-run restaurant to eat.
Coronet was developing much faster than Prospera Town. You could already see small street vendors selling things.
Most of them were selling snacks.
Irene Lynch was tempted by the sight and couldn’t help but suggest to Grace, "Grace, we have limited money. Why don’t we learn from them and set up a small stall to sell some food every day?"
"We might not make a lot, but the costs would be low."
"I see what they’re selling—things like that fermented bean drink and fried dough sticks. They don’t seem too hard to make. I’m sure I can learn."
Grace shook her head. "Mom, we’re not doing that. You’d have to wake up before dawn every day and be out in the elements. At your age, I don’t want you to go through such hardship."
"But..." Irene Lynch started to say.
Grace cut her off. "Mom, listen to me. Besides, if we buy a storefront, even if we decide not to run a business later, we can still make money by selling it after its value goes up."
"One of these little stalls... if you decide you’re done with it, you won’t get more than a few bucks for it."
Irene Lynch thought about it and realized it made sense.
She didn’t quite grasp the concept of investing yet.
But Grace was well-read and had seen more of the world. Listening to her couldn’t be a mistake.
After dinner, Grace also bought some fruit and pastries on the way back.
The beds at the guest house weren’t comfortable, and the soundproofing at night was poor. All sorts of noises came through, but Grace found it very comforting.
She lay in bed, listening to the sounds around her, and gradually drifted off to sleep.
She slept well that night.
Early the next morning, Grace got up and went downstairs to buy steamed buns, fried dough sticks, and some soy milk. When she returned, she found Irene Lynch and Gregory Winslow were already awake. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺
"Grace, why didn’t you sleep in a little? Your dad and I were just talking about going down to buy something to eat," Irene Lynch said with a smile, taking the things from Grace’s hands.
"Yeah, I woke up early." Grace nodded and followed Irene Lynch and Gregory Winslow into their room.
"After we eat, do you guys want to visit some of Coronet’s attractions first, or should we go look at houses?" Grace glanced at the time. It was only six o’clock.
’It’s too late to see the flag-raising ceremony, but we can still visit the Great Wall and the Forbidden City.’
’One day should be just about enough.’
Irene Lynch waved her hand dismissively. "There’s no rush for that. Once we live here, we can go see them whenever we want, can’t we?"
"Let’s take care of the important business first. Otherwise, my mind won’t be at ease."
Grace thought that made sense, so she didn’t object.
After breakfast, they went downstairs to ask the guest house receptionist.
"Buying a house? I don’t know about that. I haven’t heard of anyone selling a house around here. You’ll probably have to ask around yourselves."
"Go to the park at the end of the street. There’s more news floating around there. Ask the old folks who are chatting. It’s best to bring them something. If you don’t go empty-handed, they’ll surely answer your questions properly."
Grace thanked the receptionist, and then went with Irene Lynch and Gregory Winslow to a nearby supply and marketing co-op to buy some sunflower seeds, peanuts, cookies, and candy. Then, they carried the bags to the public garden.
There were a lot of elderly people there. Many were strolling with their grandchildren, and some old men were out "walking" their birds in cages.
When Grace and her parents arrived, it was just past seven. The sky had just brightened, and the public garden was already bustling.
There were even stalls set up in the park selling things.
Little trinkets, like hair ribbons and fabric flowers, as well as small toys for children.
Grace took one look and pulled Irene Lynch toward a crowd of old ladies.
As everyone knows, the local aunties and uncles are the masters of information. If you want to find out what’s going on in a place, they’re the best ones to start with.
With Irene Lynch in tow, it only took Grace a moment to blend right in with a group of aunties.
"Did you hear? The Aldridge family next door is emigrating. Why didn’t someone beat them to death back in the day?"
"You can’t say that. The old Aldridges never did anything to you. And their old matriarch was always quite nice to people."
"Their house was confiscated back then and divided up among several families. They only just got it back recently."
"I guess what happened before was too much of a blow. The old lady passed away, the old man is gone too. The ones left don’t want to live here anymore. The place just brings back painful memories, so they want to leave."
"But they shouldn’t be going abroad! How can we go around fawning over foreign things?"
The aunties chattered on, gossiping about this and that.
Grace managed to extract some useful information from the conversation.
’The Aldridge family is going abroad, so they’ll definitely have to sell their house.’
’Besides the Aldridges, two other families have similar plans.’
Grace prepared to go ask about them in a little while.
She passed around the sunflower seeds and peanuts. "Aunties, it’s been a pleasure chatting with you. We might even become neighbors soon. I’ll be busy with school, but my parents will be living here. I’d appreciate it if you could all help look out for them."
"Oh, of course, of course! We’ll definitely take good care of them for you." Having accepted Grace’s snacks, the aunties agreed with wide, happy smiles.
Grace pulled Irene Lynch away to regroup with Gregory Winslow.
Gregory Winslow had been playing chess with the old men all morning and was still scowling.
"Those old geezers have no shame. They take back their moves, and when they lose, they start cursing you out. It’s infuriating," Gregory grumbled, his face dark.
Grace couldn’t help but find it funny. "Dad, did you find anything out?"
"I did. They said there’s an Aldridge family that’s going abroad, and a few other families are planning to sell their houses to get cash and move elsewhere to start over."
When they exchanged information, they realized Gregory Winslow truly lived up to his military background. He was much better at prying information out of people than Grace and her mother were.
He had even gotten a lot of details that Grace hadn’t managed to hear.
"Come on, let’s go get lunch first. After we eat, we’ll go check out those houses and see if any of them suit us." With a grand wave of her hand, Grace led Gregory Winslow and Irene Lynch to another restaurant.
After lunch, with no time to go back and rest, the family of three headed straight for the Aldridge family’s house that the old folks had mentioned.
The Aldridge family had once been well-off, living in a two-courtyard siheyuan, but it had been ruined over the years.
Grace frowned the moment she stepped inside.
’It’s such a shame this house was trashed so badly.’
Irene Lynch looked around. What should have been an entrance garden was now almost completely destroyed. The ground was haphazardly planted with various melons and vegetables. Chickens had clearly been raised here; the ground was covered in droppings that hadn’t been cleaned up, and the air stank.
Further inside, a room that was once a living space had been converted into a kitchen. The walls were black with soot, which had even stained the ceiling beams.
The floor was covered in a layer of black grime—it was hard to tell what it was, but the smell was foul.
Irene Lynch immediately lost any good impression she might have had of the house.
