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  Chengzhou held a deposit slip in one hand and a pen in the other, calculating on his notebook. The more he calculated, the uglier his face became, as if he could squeeze out juice from his expression.

  He who has never raised a child does not know the hardships of raising one. He had no idea that having multiple children would bring so many more troubles, it's not just as simple as adding another name to the household register.

  Registering a child brought back from abroad is a big hassle. However, at least it's just a hassle, because with the complete procedures provided by Country J, he was able to get the child's household registration done without spending much money.

  Having a household registration is just the beginning, but afterwards, there are more and more annoying things, especially when the numbers on the bankbook become less and less, making him feel anxious, heartbroken, and uncomfortable to the point where he can't wait to pack up that child and send them back to J country if possible.

  He remembers it was easy to raise him when he was a kid, why is it so expensive to raise a child now?

  Just buying the kid the necessities for daily life, his savings were reduced by a fifth. This was just buying a bed, several quilts and blankets, clothes, shoes, socks, etc.

  Because he had heard colleagues mention that children's milk powder is now very expensive, he was still celebrating that Hongye had passed the age of drinking milk powder, but when he came to his senses, he realized that the child didn't need to drink milk powder anymore, but he has to go to school!

  Just go to school, it's just a kindergarten, right? He didn't take it seriously at first. But he was shocked when he asked and found out the truth.

  When did reading in kindergarten become so troublesome?

  What is a kindergarten? What is a private higher kindergarten? What is the garden sponsorship fee? If you cross the district, do you need to pay the cross-district fee?

  Tuition, book fees, entertainment expenses, plus five lunches and afternoon snacks per week, even if it's just an ordinary kindergarten, the annual cost adds up to around 20,000. A slightly better nursery is more expensive, and if it's a full-time boarding school, 30,000 or 40,000 is considered cheap.

  Cheng Zhou Ben Zi Yi Re, Bu Suan Le.

  Anyway, no matter how you calculate it, his money is absolutely not enough to spend. It's better to let the child be taken care of by his grandparents, but the problem is how he will bring this up with his mom?

  Cheng Zhou couldn't help but think of his mother's potential reaction and felt a massive headache coming on.

  According to Central Television Station, this hurricane will be in...

  "Always with me, happiness is at this moment, welcome to watch..."

  "Latest Song Chart..."

  "Halt! Who is this wicked creature from where?"

  "Red Leaf!" Cheng Zhou couldn't take it anymore. He was already annoyed enough, and now he had to add the daily noise torture on top of that.

  "Turn off the TV for me!" The old man's loud roar.

  What's the point of this? Poor guy hasn't even had a taste of women, and now he's got a burden to carry? How is he going to talk about love or marriage with anyone in the future? Is there any man more unfortunate than him? At least let him experience how that seed was sown, maybe then he won't be so resentful.

  "I'm hungry." A childish voice shouted in a high-pitched tone.

  "Turn off the TV first." Cheng Zhou tried hard to suppress the blue veins bursting out of his forehead.

  "I want to eat! Eat while watching TV." A small, fluffy head walked in front of Cheng Zhou with hands on hips.

  "Tomorrow I'll take you to your grandma's place!" Cheng Zhou gritted his teeth.

  The kid snorted, "You don't have the guts to tell her."

  I want to boil this kid alive, who will help me hold the pot?

  "Hurry up and cook dinner." Little Red Leaf commanded, raising her small head.

  "Don't go, turn off the TV first."

  "Not on your life!" Little Red Leaf's small head held even higher.

  "This is my room." Cheng Zhou couldn't bear it anymore.

  "This is also my room!" The little demon shouted even louder.

  "Your room is outside."

  "That's the living room! I don't want to sleep outside, you sleep outside. Stinky old man, abusing kids!"

  "Smelly, smelly...... Smelly old man? You, you, you......" Cheng Chou was about to be driven mad by this son.

  "Hurry up and go cook! If you don't, I'll tell the police that you're abusing children." Hong Ye was very pleased with herself.

  I'm so angry! I'm so angry! Who's bullying who here?! Waaahhh!

  The grown-up father who didn't dare to bear the crime of child abuse could only walk towards the small kitchen with tears.

  The following days...

  At half past six in the evening, Cheng Zhou, who could no longer work overtime to earn overtime pay, trudged wearily back home. As soon as he opened the door, he heard the sound of the TV coming from his own room, which was now shared with his father.

  Taking a look at the living room, it seemed to be still in order, and Cheng Zhou slightly let out a breath.

  The kitchen with only a place to stand was also just like when he left in the morning.

  What's it like inside the bedroom?

  Chengzhou slowly poked his head into the bedroom with a fearful heart.

  Who's going to shoot me now?!

  "Red leaves!"

  "What's wrong?"

  The kid sat on the sofa... in a pile of trash, watching TV and eating potato chips. His surroundings were filled with all sorts of food packaging bags.

  "Where did you get the money?" Cheng Zhou almost fainted. This kid can eat too much!

  Hong Ye raised her head, with an excited face: "Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, I found 1,000 yuan in one of your shoe boxes today. How lucky!"

  Cheng Zhou heard this and immediately fell onto the bed, losing consciousness.

  A rare day off.

  At 7:00 in the morning, Chengzhou was still immersed in a beautiful dreamland. There were no shared bedrooms with others, no shortage of cash, no annoying colleagues, and no household chores to do every day. Most importantly, there was no that terrifying little devil!

  The beauty leaned against him, gently rubbing against him. The tip of her nose rubbed against his nose, and her delicate fingers slid from his lips, chin, chest all the way down.

  Cheng Zhou lightly gasped, his right hand slowly reaching into his own underwear...

  "Hey! What are you doing?"

  The child's curious voice was followed by the quilt being lifted up.

  It's so cold! Cheng Zhou shivered and wondered why there was a child's voice.

  A child?... A child!

  "Ahhhhh!"

  Qing Chengzou noticed that his hand was on a certain part of himself, and the little ghost's eyes were wide open staring at something, when the poor man shouted and rolled off the bed.

  "Knock knock!"

  Cheng Zhou started looking for a real estate agency.

  He can't take it anymore and wants to separate from that little devil! Even if it's just a wall apart. In short, he wants a room of his own with a lockable door.

  Even if it would cost him all his savings!

  But finding a house was not as easy as he had imagined.

  If you want good conditions, the price will naturally be expensive.

  If you want it cheap, don't even think about choosing.

  At least two bedrooms and one living room, preferably three bedrooms and two living rooms. One room for the child's bedroom, one room for their own bedroom, and the remaining room can be used as a study. The living room can have a TV and a dining table.

  Of course, this is just a dream. Cheng Zhou hopes to find a small suite or a medium-sized one that will do. Two rooms, one large and one small, should be barely enough, and the price can also be much cheaper. Then there's the issue of location, wanting convenient transportation would mean the price would increase by twenty to thirty percent compared to the average. Wanting it cheap means he has to sacrifice sleep time, getting up early for work every day, and coming back home early after work.

  He took advantage of the rest day to run several intermediary companies in a row, and also found several owners directly from the internet to see houses, but none were satisfactory. Either the price couldn't be negotiated, or the conditions were too poor.

  On the way home, Cheng Zhou glanced at a notice board at the entrance of a medium-sized residential area and saw a rental advertisement posted on it. With a casual attitude, he stopped his bicycle in front of the gate.

  Hongye, who was sitting in the back seat of the car, got up from the back seat and put his arms around Chengchou's neck, leaning forward together to look at the rental advertisement.

  For Rent (House for Sale)

  San Yuan Street Jinbao Garden, 80% new suite one set.

  Three bedrooms, two living rooms, one kitchen and one bathroom, simple decoration, ninth floor. Good lighting and ventilation, energy-saving building, passed the national testing bureau quality inspection.

  Currently renting out (selling house), interested parties please negotiate price in person.

  Contact: Hu Zhijun

  Contact time: 24 hours a day

  "This must be expensive, just look at the appearance of the building in this neighborhood, and there's a security guard at the door. Forget it, wait until your old man wins the lottery, then we can consider buying a house like this." Cheng Zhou sighed, urging Hong Ye to sit down, planning to wait until next week's day off to go out and take a look around again.

  "Wait, why don't we give them a call and try? It might be very cheap!" Hong Ye pulled at Cheng Chou's hair and refused to sit down.

  "You're really lucky! It's strange if this kind of house is cheap."

  "But I don't see how the people walking out of here are all rich either." Hong Ye curled his lip, not understanding what the difference was between the rich and the poor. In his eyes, these people looked no different from one another, whether they were born early or late, it was only a matter of a few decades.

  "What do you know? People who rent such a big suite usually have partners, three bedrooms and two living rooms, three white-collar workers or students sharing together, the bearing capacity is naturally reduced. And my old man, the cohabitant has one, unfortunately, it's a freeloader."

  "Who did you say is eating for free?" The child said discontentedly.

  Cheng Zhou smiled and turned around to pinch Xiao Mao's little nose, "Wait for you to support me in 20 years. If you dare not be filial, I will report to the police that you abuse your parents."

  The kid pouted, hugging Cheng Zhou's neck, "Yesterday and today we saw so many houses, not one of them you liked. What's the harm in seeing another one? It's just a dollar phone bill. Let's go take a look at what the house is like. Just think of it as a reference for when you buy a house in the future, okay?"

  Haunted by the little devil, thinking about it makes sense, Cheng Zhou took out his mobile phone.

  "Hey, have you heard? Someone died again in Building 13, Room 914!"

  "Really?"

  "Of course it's true! Am I going to cheat you? That old lady moved in less than half a month, and it seemed like she slipped in the bathroom. She wasn't discovered until several days later by her son. Remember those moving trucks that came two days ago? It was that house!"

  "Goodness, this thing is really uncomfortable to hear. When that migrant worker died earlier, it was a big fuss, with police coming to investigate every day. You know, there were ten people living in that house! That means there are nine suspects. I don't know how the landlord dared to rent it out."

  "Who knows? The landlord may not know either. But I heard that the migrant worker's death had nothing to do with his roommates, he seemed to have died from a sudden illness."

  "How did you know?"

  "Huh, how was I supposed to know? You didn't think about where that husband of mine is working either."

  "Oh! Look at my memory, I almost forgot that your family's porter works in the hospital. Speaking of which, it just so happens that I have a favor to ask of your family's porter..."

  "Excuse me, sorry, could you tell me which direction Building 13 is?"

  The two middle-aged women who were interrupted in their conversation looked up.

  "Are you looking for building thirteen? Well, it's the first one on our right hand side."

  The chubby woman who was distributing blessings was very happy. Just then someone came to ask her for directions, and she immediately smiled all over her face and pointed out the direction with a stretched hand.

  A fashionable middle-aged woman who missed a good opportunity to show off walked away with an expression of discontent, casting a sideways glance at the person asking for directions.

  "Thank you." A young man who looked like a student thanked him and walked towards that building.

  "What I just said..."

  "Oh dear, it's this late already. Sorry, I have to go back and cook dinner, if I don't leave now, when our daughter comes back she'll be hungry and throw a tantrum. Hehe." Before Fashionable Mother could finish speaking, Plump Mother waved her hand and quickly left with small quick steps, shaking her thick buttocks.

  Fashionable big mom looked at the back of fat big mom and gritted her teeth, muttering: Dead pig wife!

  Fashionable middle-aged woman with a belly full of fire and nowhere to vent, turned her head to see the young man not far away, her mouth involuntarily opened: "Hey, young man, are you here to find a house?"

  The young man turned his head and said, "Yes, but I've already made an appointment with the landlord to view the house." The young man thought that the old lady had a house to recommend to him.

  "Room 914?" The fashionable middle-aged woman guessed.

  The young man felt strange, but nodded anyway.

  The fashionable middle-aged woman immediately burst out laughing. But soon, she put on a worried look and deliberately lowered her voice to whisper: "That landlord is really ruthless, the person just died a few days ago and he's already renting out the house again."

  "What did you say?" The young man also turned his body around.

  "I'm telling you... be careful, that house is quite famous in this area."

  "What's so famous about it?" The young man was puzzled and his curiosity was piqued.

  Fashionable middle-aged woman tosses her hair, raises her head and blurts out: "Dead people die to become famous!"

  Seeing the young man's face turn pale and hesitant, the fashionable middle-aged woman finally left contentedly in her high heels.

  The young man stood hesitantly in front of the thirteen-story building, his eyes gazing into the distance.

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