"Don't object, either. If this kid moves into your house, it'll definitely cost more than two hundred a month. To put it bluntly, the house is under Chenchen's name. If he doesn't want to give it to us, we won't get a cent. If the siblings take the money and run, where are you going to look for them? Right now, they're willing to let you have it. You know the value of that house in your hearts. How much do you think you can split?
If you give two hundred a month, at most just for a year, how much money is that? Zhenzhen will be applying to college in a year. If she gets in, she'll work during college; if not, she'll go out and work and won't need our money anymore. Think over the math yourselves."
Of course they needed to think it over, but two hundred a month, it's not like they don't have their own families. "Sis, you mean we only have to care for Zhenzhen, but what about Chenchen? He's only three. When Zhenzhen goes off to school or to work, she can't possibly take Chenchen with her everywhere. What do we do about Chenchen then?"
Chenchen's so little, raising him will take years. Even if they wanted to wash their hands of him, they'd have to wait until Mei Mengzhen finished college. Over these years, that adds up to a decent sum. Besides, after Mei Mengzhen graduates, she'll need to work—she can't bring her little brother with her to the job.
They'd calculated until Mei Mengzhen graduated college, but she herself wasn't about to leave her brother in their house for that long either. It just wasn't the moment to bring that up, or the whole thing would get even messier.
"Let him stay at my house. I've thought about it. For now, I'll take charge of picking him up and dropping him off at kindergarten, it's on my way anyhow. Once Zhenzhen goes to college, Chenchen can come live with me. I'll look after him."
In a year, her own two kids would be graduating college, and then she'd only have to look after one child—the pressure wouldn't be as bad.
Mei Mengzhen was honestly grateful to Mei Yinan, truly. If there were any other way, Mei Mengzhen wouldn't want to trouble Mei Yinan like this.
Although she felt guilty, since Mei Yinan herself volunteered, the problem was naturally solved.
Mei Yinan's words were persuasive enough—the two kids' arrangements were handled, but two hundred a month still felt like a lot to everyone. Their Xincheng was called a city, but it was really just a rural county on the edge of a big city. They lived and worked here, the benefits were there, but wages really weren't high—a single person maybe made just over a thousand bucks a month; even with two incomes, household expenses were big. That two hundred every month was just money gone, never coming back. Why should they spend it on someone else's kids instead of their own?
But seeing how if they didn't agree, they'd get nothing from the house compensation, Second Aunt Mei Yifan gritted her teeth and said, "One hundred. At most, we can do one hundred a month, not a penny more."
Mei Yinan was getting pissed—just this little money and they still wanted to haggle. She was about to snap when Mei Yifan quickly said, "Sis, let me do the math with you. There are five of us siblings, two hundred each is a thousand in total, and if we're paying the utilities too, what would those two need a thousand a month for? In our little city, five hundred a month is more than enough for living expenses."
The rest all agreed fully with Mei Yifan's math. It wasn't like two hundred was impossible, but less is always better, right? You could survive on a hundred if you were frugal enough.
Watching them haggle back and forth, Mei Mengzhen chimed in at the right moment, a bit of a reminder in her tone, "How about this? You all give me the two hundred a month upfront as a lump sum—I'll treat it as a loan, and I'll write an IOU to every family. Once we get the demolition compensation, I'll repay you all at once. How about that?"
"Pay us back with the demo money?" Uncle Mei Yongfu asked skeptically.
They all froze. What was that supposed to mean?
Inside, Mei Mengzhen found them all a little ridiculous. Her parents died, but it wasn't like they didn't have kids. How come when splitting the demolition money, the brothers all acted like she and her brother didn't count at all? Sure enough, if she didn't bring it up, they'd just pretend the two of them didn't exist.
"That's right. Since the demo money's supposed to be split among all the siblings, and my dad had kids, then my family should get a share too, right? Isn't that only fair?"
Mei Yinan, just then snapping out of her anger, realized—yeah, the fourth kid's family ought to get a share too. With that money, Zhenzhen wouldn't need student loans for college, and she'd have enough to bring up her brother. Life would still be tight, but not desperate.
Mei Yinan was quietly pleased Mei Mengzhen was smart, but when she glanced at her younger siblings, she snorted, "You all didn't seriously plan to swallow Fourth Brother's share, did you?"
A few of their eyes shifty, because that's exactly what they'd been thinking. They figured if no one brought it up, no one would remember, and once something was signed, it'd be too late. Who knew the girl was this sharp.
Uncle Mei Yongfu put on an indignant act, "Sis, we're not that heartless. Fourth Bro isn't around anymore, of course his share should go to his kids." Since there'd be money anyway, they wouldn't need to give out living expenses. "If that's the case, and the kids want a loan, we'll give it to them in one go, and write out IOUs."
Mei Yongfu felt uneasy inside—if they didn't sign this deal soon, things were only going to get trickier.
But Mei Yifan was still unwilling to give in, wanting to see if she could turn things around, "Big Bro."
Mei Yongan straightened up, "Enough. That's the decision, then. Write everything clearly in the agreement—six brothers and sisters split the demolition money in six shares. What you do with your share is your business, but any living expense loans must be written out clearly."
"Fine, I'll go get pen and paper."
No matter what everyone else was thinking, once the agreement was signed, that was that—no take-backs.
Mei Mengzhen fetched paper and pen, wrote out the agreement, and specified in it: no rent, utilities at their own expense, and as for the living expense "loan," Mei Mengzhen slyly left that out—she genuinely didn't believe they'd ever lend her money.
The earlier clauses got written up clearly, followed by the demolition money distribution.
The demolition money was split into six portions, with all six people's names and ID numbers written clearly. Each person signed and left a fingerprint.
And when the whole process was done—once the agreement was written—Mei Mengzhen kept hold of it. No one else was thrilled about that, but neither would she let anyone else hold onto it.
In the end, a compromise: Cousin Mei Yinan would hold onto the agreement. After all, she was the eldest in the family, and her authority had been recognized since they were kids.
The house issue was settled, and the stone on everyone's heart was finally rolled away.
But with the house settled, who'd bother lending money anymore? Besides, no one ever agreed on when the money was to be lent.
Second Aunt Mei Yifan smiled meaningfully, then said, "Sis, since we've signed the agreement, we'll be heading out."
"Head out? Where to—and what about the money?"
Mei Yifan said, "Sis, our family's so poor, where do we have cash to lend? If we weren't poor, would we fight over this house at all? Lend money? We really have none."
Uncle Mei Yongfu echoed Mei Yifan, "Yeah, Sis, I've got two kids of my own, money's even tighter. Where do I have any extra?"
Mei Yinan looked to the eldest uncle and second aunt. "What about you two? Little brother and sister say they're short on cash—are you both strapped for money too? Or how about we just forget about splitting the house altogether, I'll tear up the agreement right now, and the money will just go directly to these two kids."