Because Grandfather resolutely opposed, this matter later came to nothing. In He Kao's impression, Grandfather usually conceded to Grandmother in many things, but this time he was exceptionally firm, even shouting at Grandmother, "I'm not dead yet!"
Indeed, although Father had passed away, Grandfather and Grandmother were both alive, and He Kao's mother should also be alive, just out of contact... Under such circumstances, it was truly unreasonable to adopt him into Aunt's family.
After the adoption was canceled, Aunt Zhou Yan claimed that she had been firmly opposed from the beginning, but this was Grandmother's idea, and her husband He Changshan also wanted to do this.
Then she scolded He Changshan for having feudal thoughts, complaining that he despised her for not giving birth to a son... In short, she scolded him for a long time, and everyone in the village and even the whole town knew about it.
He Kao did not believe Aunt's version of events.
He Kao still remembered that Grandmother proposed this idea while Grandfather was out. Aunt and Uncle immediately took him to the police station to change his name, from Zhou Youzhi to He Kao. At that time, there was no sign of Aunt's reluctance.
Did He Kao just let them do it? He was only five years old, what could he do, but adults decided everything!
Why wasn't He Kao's name changed back later? Perhaps Grandfather was careless for a moment, or maybe both sides compromised and let it slide, or simply forgot?
It was said that the local police station seemed to have a rule at that time that minors could only change their name once.
The most credible reason was that it happened to coincide with He Kao starting school, so they registered him under the name He Kao for his student record, and later it was not changed... The longer it lasted, the more complicated it became to change it.
Nowadays, changing a name involves too many procedures and proofs, along with a series of documents and certificates. Forget changing a name, even changing a frequently used phone number is very difficult.
Therefore, He Kao has been called He Kao to this day, just a codename, he is used to it now.
Carefully observing He Kao's experiences, one would find a missing piece, which is the presence of his mother. It was said that she went abroad when he was three, to faraway America; for the first half year, there were still calls, but later there was no news.
His family rarely mentioned his mother, only Grandmother occasionally cursed "that xxx." This word cannot be written, it's a local dialect, very unpleasant.
A three-year-old child should have some vague memory, but there is no trace of his mother in He Kao's memory, not even a photo of her in the house.
Father did indeed leave a sum of money for He Kao, some said it was money Zhou Du earned over the years from doing business, others said it was sent from abroad by Zhou Du's mother; rural rumors claimed it was a huge amount.
Exactly how much was it? He Kao later found out it was over eight hundred thousand, which was not a small amount twenty years ago.
This money was always in Grandfather's hands, and now it's all spent. Grandfather was not skilled in business, much less savvy in financial management; with societal development and inflation, the "huge amount" effectively became less over time.
Besides covering Zhou Du's childhood expenses, the most important use of this money was to build this three-story small building.
The blueprints for the small building were left by Zhou Du. Zhou Du loved designing, and once designed a small building, including the front and back yard, saying that when his son married, he would build a new house like this.
Years after his death, the old father fulfilled his wish.
When the small building was completed, it coincided with the village being upgraded to a town, and relevant houses were subjected to ownership registration, where one could pay a sum to obtain a formal property certificate. The homestead registered under He Kao's name required about over twenty thousand.
Grandfather paid, and this homestead became formally registered under He Kao's name. Many townspeople didn't pay this sum back then, the houses and homesteads still belonged to them, but now they are called small property houses, a historical legacy issue.
After the new house was completed, Grandfather finally told He Kao that the money Father left him was over eight hundred thousand, most of which was already spent, and the remaining bit was for his college tuition and living expenses.
Grandmother passed away when He Kao was in high school, and Grandfather passed away the year He Kao graduated from college, at which time He Kao was already accepted for graduate studies. The old carpenter, born in the old society, believed his eldest grandson had become a great person.
There were rumors that this area would have urban redevelopment, and Uncle's family had been eagerly anticipating it, but after waiting for so long, there was no movement. Later, they found out that the district had changed its plan. Aunt was very angry and had gone to the district government with many townspeople to protest.
The change in plans was because the overall environment shifted; Qi Yuan City's urban construction expansion had reached a peak by the time He Kao went to college, and a subsequent decline in real estate development followed.
Grandfather's small building that he built for He Kao remained intact. But unexpectedly, years later, Uncle's family hid a large amount of illegal contraband here, almost dragging He Kao into trouble.
Reflecting on past events, He Kao walked into the hall room. Rural people building houses often make the hall room on the first floor the largest area, comparable to a small warehouse, and usually place a central table.
The central hall is a square table in the middle against the wall, flanked by chairs or stools, and people who pay more attention may hang a painting on the wall with couplets, placing some decorative items on the table.
At this moment, the hall was particularly messy, with the originally neatly arranged furniture pushed into the corners, and there were many traces left on the floor tiles, clearly indicating that a lot of things were piled here not long ago.
After exploring the first floor, and finding nothing new, He Kao turned around and went upstairs.
This building only has the first floor decorated, while the second and third floors remain rough veneers, only outside windows installed, with walls even unpainted, and various rooms without doors installed.
The reason for not being decorated was simple; Grandfather had little money left at that time, needing to handle property rights, and leave He Kao's college tuition and living expenses, saving wherever possible.
According to Grandfather's idea, the first floor was enough for He Kao to live on his own, until he succeeded and made big money, to decorate as he liked. Many rural buildings are like this, looking repaired on the exterior and windows, but inside might not be fully decorated.
During the two and a half years of graduate studies, He Kao had already managed to find a way through work-study programs, and the coffee shop downstairs in his company was precisely where he had worked before.
He first went to the third floor, where only some construction materials and miscellaneous items were scattered, and it was basically clear at a glance. He Kao went directly to the northwest corner room, this orientation wasn't very good, usually cold in winter and sunset in summer, but the room was very large.
Surveying the interior area, the north-south width was about five meters, east-west length about seven meters, with two windows on the north wall and one window on the west wall. This size and orientation would certainly be unsuitable for a bedroom, but could serve as an activity room.
This room was big enough for a billiard table, or could be turned into a gym, or a dance studio or something, but currently bare and empty, with a few wooden planks scattered on the floor, and two plywood sheets resting against the east corner.
Recalling the last visit, these two plywood sheets were both laid flat on the ground. He Kao went forward and laid the plywood flat, revealing a door, a mere door frame to be precise.
A rough veneer room, neither door nor door frame installed yet. He Kao opened his phone's flashlight and walked inside; this turned out to be a "hidden room."
Calling it a hidden room referred to its concealed design, but once the door opened, there was not much to make a fuss about; its function could be an ensuite bathroom, walk-in closet, storage room... all were possible.
Yet once the door location was blocked, it was difficult to discern there was a hidden space.
If someone bored had measured the building's east-west length, they would discover it was about fourteen meters; the north-facing third floor had two rooms, with inner east-west dimensions of seven meters and four meters, totaling eleven meters.
The remaining three meters included more than a meter for wall thickness and less than two meters for this hidden room's east-west dimension. Its north-south size matched the outside room, about five meters.
This was a narrow elongated room under ten square meters, without windows and only a door near the corner; without proper ventilation, closing the door could be suffocating.
Honestly, He Kao didn't know what this small room was meant for, but his father's original blueprint designed it this way, and Grandfather faithfully built according to the original plan.
**