Chapter 196: Unworthy

Chapter 196: Chapter 196: Unworthy

"Hey, it seems like they really do have a TV. I even heard some singing coming from there in the middle of the night..."

The shortest of the women craned her neck and added.

"Whoa, now that’s what I call rich!"

Someone couldn’t help but click their tongue in amazement.

A circle of heads around them nodded in unison.

Back when the country first opened up, everyone was getting by, clutching just a few small bills in their pockets.

Who would dare to fork over more than two thousand yuan for an icebox all at once?

But Song Yao and Li Hanchen did just that, and they did it without a hint of shame.

In an instant, the home of the newly arrived Director Li became the hottest topic of gossip in the family compound.

The news seemed to grow legs, and in the blink of an eye, it found its way to He Wei’s ears.

When she heard that Song Yao had actually moved a new refrigerator in, she couldn’t even swallow her dinner that evening. She went home and immediately let Yang Lei have it.

"They get to live in a big house and buy a two-thousand-yuan refrigerator like it’s nothing, so does that mean we’re supposed to just live on air?"

"Are you going to go find Tang Zhimin or not?"

Tang Zhimin was the head of logistics. Things like housing and appliances were all his call.

"If you’re in such a hurry, go yourself! Go find whoever you want, but I’m not going!"

Yang Lei’s head was throbbing from her nagging, and his tone hardened.

Furious, He Wei grabbed the wok and slammed it down on the stove.

"Fine! I’ll go! Isn’t that what you want? If something bad happens because of it, I’ll just count myself unlucky!"

Yang Lei’s face flushed red.

"Unlucky? I’m the one who’s unlucky!"

In the end, though, she didn’t storm the logistics department that day.

It was already pitch-black outside; they had locked up and gone home long ago.

But the next day was her day off. As soon as it was light, she tucked a bag of red apples under her arm and headed straight for the office.

The moment Director Tang saw her figure, his eyelid twitched.

But she was already standing in the doorway, and there was nowhere to hide, so he had to force a smile.

"Well now, Mr. Yang’s wife, you’re on a day off today?"

He Wei’s lips twitched into a semblance of a smile.

"That’s right. I’m taking the day off. I made a special trip to come and visit you."

Tang Zhimin looked at her stiff, smiling face.

His own smile felt strained, and he raised a hand dryly.

"Sit, sit..."

She placed the bag of apples on his desk.

Tang Zhimin glanced at it and decided to just lay his cards on the table.

"We’re all acquaintances here. If there’s something on your mind, just say it plainly."

He Wei maintained her lukewarm tone.

"You don’t have a clue why I’m here?"

Tang Zhimin picked up his teacup, took a big gulp, spit out the tea leaves floating on the surface, and then said slowly, "This time, I really can’t guess."

At that, He Wei couldn’t be bothered to beat around the bush anymore and slammed her hand on the desk.

"I’m here about the housing! That three-bedroom apartment, how many times have I asked you about it? And every single time you say we’re ’not qualified’!"

Tang Zhimin quickly waved his hands in dismissal.

"I’m not the one who said that! Back when the housing was being assigned, it was your Mr. Yang who personally agreed to it!"

Before the words had even left his mouth, He Wei shot to her feet.

"It’s still housing! I have two kids crammed into three small rooms. What’s wrong with swapping for a bigger place?"

Tang Zhimin just sighed.

"If we go by that logic, everyone would complain their place is too small and want to pick a new one. What would be the point of the waiting list? Or allocating housing at all? It would be total chaos!"

He looked down, rubbing his fingers together, then looked up and stared at He Wei.

"The moment you say something like that, you have to remember there are over twenty other families in line behind you. Everyone has their own standards, everyone’s running their own calculations. If we let that happen, won’t the rules just fall apart?"

"Besides, your three rooms are enough to live in!"

He reached out and tapped the desk twice lightly.

"A master bedroom, a second bedroom, and a kitchen with a small storage room. The doors face each other without obstruction, so the light and ventilation aren’t bad. It’s even half a square meter bigger than the one assigned to old Zhang from the tech department the year before last."

"Enough? How is that enough!"

He Wei pointed out the window.

"The family on the right, they take up half the entire building! Their balcony is bigger than our living room, and the whole place is flooded with sunlight!"

She took a step forward, planting her elbows on the edge of the desk.

"I have two kids, one’s five and the other’s three. They have to get up at six in the morning just to squeeze in to wash their faces and brush their teeth. At ten at night, they’re still too scared of the dark to turn off the lights. In that tiny place, you even have to hammer a hook in the corner of a wall just to hang a single diaper to dry!"

Director Tang held up his hands.

"That doesn’t really count. We allocate housing to help families with their difficulties, not to see who can live more comfortably. Everyone thinks differently. We can’t just hand out benefits based on personal preference, can we?"

He opened the blue-covered registration book on his desk, his fingertip stopping on a page.

"Then how come the newcomer gets that apartment? On what grounds are you holding us back?"

He Wei’s voice suddenly rose a notch.

"Assistant Cheng just reported for duty last month. His family isn’t even with him, and he gets a four-bedroom, one-living-room apartment all to himself. He got the keys the same day! Our household registration has been here for six years, and our number on the waiting list is in the top three!"

Director Tang gave the same old spiel.

"This was all set down in black and white. How can we just change it on a whim? Without rules, how are we supposed to manage things in the future?"

He closed the registration book with a soft snap.

"The policy documents are posted on the third panel of the bulletin board. How many times have you read them from start to finish? When you signed and put your thumbprint on it, wasn’t it your own hand?"

He Wei felt her breath catch in her throat, and she nearly rolled her eyes.

She had heard this line about ’rules’ so many times her ears were growing calluses.

She took a deep breath and threw out one last line.

"I just have one question. If they are willing to swap with me themselves, you can’t stop that, can you?"

As soon as she finished speaking, she pulled a folded piece of paper from her bag and spread it flat on the corner of the desk.

"This is a letter of intent to swap houses, handwritten by Director Li. It’s signed and thumb-printed. He sent it over yesterday afternoon."

Tang Zhimin’s brow furrowed.

"What’s this?"

He leaned forward slightly, his gaze falling on the paper.

"This handwriting... it does look like his."

"My point is, they are willing to swap residences with us, to move into our place. You can’t possibly stand in the way of that, can you?"

He Wei pushed the paper closer to his hand.

"We’ll move into the apartment they’re vacating. We’ll follow all the procedures for the paperwork. All the materials are in order, and the time and place are all clearly written."

Director Tang’s face darkened.

"But you’re in the same building. You’ll see each other every day. You’re acquaintances..."

He paused, then added another sentence.

"Mr. Yang’s apartment is north-facing. Damp and cold in the winter. Your kids are prone to coughing."

"If you’re not going to process it, I’ll process it myself. Is there any need for you to find fault?"

He Wei tucked her bag under her arm.

"Tomorrow, I’m taking this letter of intent to the infrastructure department to get it filed, to the security department for a moving permit, and to the utilities department to record the handover. If you think any of it is against procedure, feel free to check at any time. Whatever’s missing, I’ll provide."

Tang Zhimin stared at her.

"Have you mentioned this to Mr. Yang?"

He tapped his right index finger on the desk three times.

"What did he say?"

"Of course I have! He’s not happy about it either, with two kids squeezed into a tiny room, having to tiptoe around wet diapers at night. We talked about this ages ago! How many times have we come to you people? You pass the buck, the leadership passes the buck. What am I supposed to do, just wait around and live on air?"

Her speech grew faster and faster.

"Last Wednesday, I stood outside the logistics office for forty minutes just to wait for you to get off work. The day the notice was posted last month, I sat in the duty office with my child until nine at night, and you said you were in a meeting and told me to come back the next morning."

Director Tang sighed.

"About the housing... there will be big changes in the future. You never know, you might get assigned an even better place someday."

He opened a drawer, took out an official seal, and stamped it heavily on a blank space in the registration book.

"However, this seal can only be used on an official application form, not on a letter of intent."

"But I need to swap now!"