average american beauty

"No. 25, No. 27... No. 31, this is here."

Caroline reconfirmed the address in her hand. This was already the third house she had looked at today.

The two places she looked at in the morning were on Dull Street and Walbots Street. The first one was an apartment similar to Minnie and Hanson's house. It had one bedroom and one living room, with bare lime walls inside and no furniture. Friday block rent.In terms of advantages, the only advantage is the location, which is less than 10 minutes' walk from Debone Street, where Caroline works.

The latter room was much more attractive.A two-room apartment with wooden floors and new wallpaper on the walls. Both rooms have built-in wardrobes. This is nothing. The most important thing is that the apartment is newly built and has a separate bathroom with toilet and bathtub. wash room!

The last point alone was enough to attract Caroline, but for the time being, no one shared the rent with her, and she couldn't afford the price of [-] yuan a week.

Renting a house alone is really troublesome and uneconomical.

Caroline counted the rental information she compiled from the newspaper.Excluding those single-family houses and only looking at apartments, a single room with a bathroom or a one-bedroom suite is the most expensive on average.

If you double the rent for a one-bedroom apartment, you can almost get a three-bedroom apartment.Even so, small apartments are still the most sought-after, because most families cannot afford to rent a larger house.

Many people will go to a middleman directly when viewing a house. They usually know many landlords and know the first-hand news of the neighborhood, similar to the real estate agency later.

Caroline also has this plan, but she is free this Sunday, so she will first understand the situation by herself.This was the last of the three apartments she had selected from newspaper advertisements for inspections on Sundays.

The appearance of the apartment building looks good. When the landlord published the newspaper, he only stated that the room was a one-bedroom apartment, without any details or rent. He didn't know what was going on inside.

As Caroline stepped on the stairs, she wondered if anyone she knew could be her roommate.To be honest, apart from her colleagues on the first floor of the shopping mall, she really didn't know much, and none of the girls seemed to be planning to change their residence recently.

The stairs and hallways were carpeted, and there were only three households on each floor, and Caroline suspected she couldn't afford to rent the place.She found the innermost 2-C according to the address, stepped forward and knocked on the door, waited for more than ten seconds for no reply, and knocked a few more times.

Suddenly there was a creaking sound of the door opening.

"Are you coming to see the house?" An old woman stood at the door of a nearby house.

Caroline nodded and smiled politely at her. She guessed that this was probably the landlady.

"I'm afraid you have to come back at night. That girl has gone out with her suitcase on her back. She won't be back until evening."

Caroline hesitated, "May I ask who 'she' is?"

"That's the person you're looking for. She's lived here for several years and she's never at home. She's a weird girl." The old woman seemed unwilling to talk to Caroline, she nodded to her and closed the door .

"Interesting..." Caroline looked at the number plate of 2-C. She noticed the difference just now. The original metal characters on it were mostly covered by the color of the paint, and two black and white stripes swirled from the right side of the number plate. It has a modernist aesthetic.

After admiring it for a while, Caroline turned and walked down the stairs.Before leaving the apartment gate, she thought for a while and ran back.He took out a small notebook for taking notes from his bag, and wrote a note with a pencil.

"Hello, I'm Caroline M. I'm very interested in your apartment. I hope to come to visit around six o'clock tomorrow afternoon. Thank you very much."

Although Caroline felt that she probably couldn't afford the rent here, she still wanted to get to know the owner of this apartment, and she thought it would be an interesting person.

Now that she has a basic understanding of rental apartments, Caroline doesn't want to waste any more time on them. She plans to go to the mall tomorrow and ask Joanna and Anne if they know a reliable middleman. The two just changed apartments together a few months ago. .

……

"I've had enough, Han Sheng, I've had enough! Can you say a word!"

Caroline had just returned to the door when she heard Minnie's voice in the room.Although the walls of the simple apartment were made of mud bricks, the door was made of wood, and the sound insulation was not very good. Caroline stood a little awkwardly, not knowing whether to knock on the door.

"Don't do this." Han Sheng's voice was hoarse.

"It's the second time. You've been working in the company for two full years, so it's your turn!" Minnie's voice turned into tears.

Caroline didn't want to get involved in the quarrel between husband and wife, so she didn't listen any longer, and went downstairs for a walk, bought some bread before returning, and stepped on purpose when going upstairs.

When Minnie came to open the door, her face was still stained with tears, and the fine lines around her eyes seemed more obvious.

Caroline was a little distressed, and Minnie was only 27 years old, but a hard-working life left marks on her face and hands early.

Caroline thought that if Minnie wanted to, they could talk after dinner, but she didn't expect that she would be pulled into a chair as soon as she entered the door and heard the full version of the story.

Brother-in-law Han Sheng has been working as a cleaner for the refrigerated trucks in the farm for the past two years, with a weekly salary of ten yuan, and the salary has not been raised once in the two years.

Recently, their original team leader changed companies, and the boss decided to promote someone from among the old employees to make up for it, and the team leader's salary will naturally increase.Colleagues thought it was Han Sheng, because he usually worked hard and was never late.As a result, someone sent a message to Han Sheng in the afternoon, and the boss unexpectedly appointed a young man who had only been here for more than six months, and he would announce it as soon as he went to work tomorrow.

"You don't know, Carrie, the last team leader was the one who joined the company with him, but now it's a good thing, that guy went to work in the cannery, and his salary may have been more than doubled, but look at your brother-in-law, in the end it's still worth it." Can't compare to a later child!"

Han Sheng sat on the side, with today's newspaper in hand, and still didn't say a word.

Caroline didn't know what to say.In the past, she had no sisters, and no friends who were familiar with this step. Even her parents broke up peacefully at the beginning and never quarreled in front of her.So Caroline could only pat Minnie on the back to help her feel better, and poured her another glass of water.

The sleeping child was finally awakened by the sound, but instead of crying, he sat up on the edge of the cradle, turned his head curiously, and looked back and forth at the people in the room.

"I read the newspaper again, I read the newspaper every day, and I didn't see what you saw." Minnie glared at her husband, picked up the child and went into the kitchen.

The pie that was supposed to be dinner was battered, so Caroline followed into the kitchen, sliced ​​the bread she had just bought, and scraped off the unbattered vegetables from the pie under Minnie's command, and sandwiched it in the kitchen. In the bread, everyone reluctantly ate it with pumpkin soup.

After dinner, Han Sheng carried the child back to the bedroom, still silent.

Although Caroline doesn't have much experience in the workplace, she can see Han Sheng's problems - working hard, not talking, and never expressing herself.

If this kind of honest person is not a genius in research, it is not easy to get ahead in any industry. If he meets a good leader, he will be praised more. If he meets a leader who doesn't care about his subordinates, he may not even remember his name.

She usually had little communication with Han Sheng, so she told Minnie her thoughts.

"Sometimes I often wonder if I am too dissatisfied." Minnie was wiping the dining table angrily, although the table had been wiped a dozen times.

"I used to work in the factory every day until my eyes became dark. At that time, I thought, after getting married, I will never live such a life again." Uneasy. It’s the same for Han Sheng. I don’t know what kind of person he is? But I’m always glad that he’s not one of those bastard husbands who spend money on smoking, drinking and playing cards, and complain that he doesn’t seek to improve himself.”

"No one is perfect, Minnie, but life can always get better." Caroline reassured, she knew this feeling, life does not go well will make people feel insecure, excessive anxiety, not herself Is that so?

Minnie threw the rag on the table and sat down, "I don't know what's wrong with me..."

"Han Sheng is a down-to-earth person. He can read, write, and count. As long as he is a little flexible, he will have a chance of promotion sooner or later." Caroline and Minnie sat down face to face, "It's just Minnie, do you have a chance?" Have you thought about continuing to work by yourself?"

Minnie's expression froze.

"I don't know...I mean, maybe." Minnie's eyes were full of confusion, "But, what can I do? The child is still young, what should I do if I go to work?"

Caroline doesn't know the answer to this question, or rather, it doesn't have a perfect answer.Even in another 100 years, it will still be a problem.

Caroline once knew a senior who was a few years older than her and left her job after giving birth to two children in a row.The reason is simple, the cost of the childcare center is too high, the senior sister with the lowest salary among the two resigned.She is at home during the day, and every night after her husband comes home to take over, she spends a few hours doing online tutoring.Senior sister's greatest wish is for her two children to go to school as soon as possible so that she can resume normal work.

"Is there any work that can be done at home?" Caroline scratched her head, not thinking of it for a while.

"The neighbor's wife does needlework for others, but it must be a good job." Minnie said with a sigh.

Caroline has seen Minnie's embroidery work, the stitches are fine and neat, but the quality of the products is really not good enough.

"Don't worry, talk to Han Sheng carefully. He must be as upset as you about work. I will go to work tomorrow and ask everyone. If there is a suitable job to come back and tell you, let's rest now."