USWHC -Chapter 209 Sold by Someone Yet Still Counting the Money (Part 9)

The vermilion gate was half-closed, and white jade-like courtyard walls enclosed a large compound. Through the crack in the door and over the top of the wall, one could vaguely glimpse the scene inside—magnificent houses standing tall, with red bricks and green tiles. The buildings rose more than a zhang high, leaning against the mountain, imposing and majestic.

Wait… what?

Wasn’t this the same little courtyard that looked like it would collapse with a single gust of wind? In just a little over a month it had become like this? Th-this couldn’t be the same place… had they moved somewhere else?

“Yi… Yi, you built this house?” Old Master Ji began to doubt his own eyes, his voice trembling as he spoke.

Ji Yi merely smiled calmly. “Friends helped out.”

“Since when did you have such capable friends?” Eldest Brother Ji said, dumbfounded. Even as he spoke, he was already impatiently stepping inside.

The moment he entered, he began exclaiming nonstop, “Oh my! It’s even better than the houses in town. Anyone who didn’t know better would think they’d walked into a landlord’s estate!”

The rooms were spacious and bright, their walls plastered smoothly with white lime. Seeing how clean and neat they looked, Eldest Brother Ji couldn’t help reaching out, wanting to touch them.

“Whoa! Your walls are smoother than a woman’s skin!” he exclaimed in amazement. Turning his head, he suddenly noticed the Eight-Treasure table and grand master chairs placed in the main hall. “Oh! What kind of wood is this?”

He leaned forward and sniffed hard. “It even smells fragrant?”

Zhu Jie was slightly surprised as well. It wasn’t that she had never seen such good things before—weren’t they just a few redwood tables and chairs? But for redwood furniture to appear here was truly strange. Even if Ji Yi had a bit of private savings, he shouldn’t be able to afford furniture this high-end.

“They weren’t being used at a friend’s place, so they’re temporarily stored here. You could say they’re helping me fill out the house with some furniture,” Ji Yi said casually again.

Eldest Brother Ji could no longer restrain himself. He strode straight through the hall into the inner rooms, heading toward the back.

Behind the house, three large rooms were arranged in a fan-like formation. Each room contained redwood wardrobes and beds. In truth, the house didn’t have that many rooms—at most it counted as a three-room suite with a hall—but for the Ji family, this was already incredibly impressive.

Especially the large bed boards, decorated with light gauze curtains and warm drapes. Eldest Brother Ji could no longer hold back and plopped down onto one of the beds.

“Ah! This bed is really comfortable. It doesn’t even shake when you lie down on it! Must be great to use at night!”

He kept exclaiming, “Yi! How did you manage all this?”

“This courtyard was originally like this,” Ji Yi said with a smile. “It just hadn’t been repaired for years, so it looked shabby. My friends simply helped tidy it up a little and added some furniture. Now it looks decent to you.”

Heh.

Zhu Jie genuinely laughed to herself. It wasn’t like she hadn’t seen the original house before—this kind of renovation was a massive project! How could a few friends casually tidying things up turn it into this? If that were the case, he might as well gather those friends into a construction team and start a renovation business!

“Yi… you see, separating you to live on your own like this—you must feel pretty upset about it, right?” Suddenly, Eldest Brother Ji said with a face full of emotion.

Zhu Jie froze instantly. What was going on today? Why did Eldest Brother Ji seem like a completely different person? He even knew how to show concern for others now?

Before Ji Yi could answer, Eldest Brother Ji continued, “Leaving the old house… you must feel really reluctant, right?”

Hearing this, Ji Yi didn’t respond immediately. Instead, he simply looked at him with a faint smile, as though waiting for him to continue.

Eldest Brother Ji swallowed hard, then said with an awkward grin, “How about this—you go back and live at the old house, and we’ll move here?”

Pfft.

Zhu Jie nearly choked on her own saliva. She had truly never seen someone this shameless—never forgetting to grab benefits for himself. The moment he saw someone else’s house was nice, he immediately started plotting again!

“That might not be appropriate,” Ji Yi said this time, no longer so easygoing. Still smiling, he added, “Father and Mother want to live with you. I’m afraid there wouldn’t be enough space here.”

“No problem. After Meizi gets married, our whole family can move in,” Eldest Brother Ji said brazenly.

Ji Yi put on a puzzled expression. “But after Meizi gets married, won’t you all move to town to live in the big courtyard there?”

“That’s right! After Meizi gets married we’ll live somewhere even better than this!” Eldest Brother Ji suddenly seemed to remember and slapped his thigh, bursting into laughter. “Look at me—what a memory!”

Then he stood straight up from the bed.

“The place we’ll live in later will be far better than this, Yi. When the time comes, don’t get jealous!”