WRS – Chapter 89

That evening, He Yan met up with Yang Yingxiong and his younger brother, and the four of them had dinner together.

During the meal, Yang Chaoying couldn’t hold back his excitement and said to He Yan, “We’re getting ready to buy a house. We’re going to look at one tomorrow. Once we buy it, we’ll finally have a home.”

He Yan didn’t think too much about it and happily said, “Congratulations! I’ll be coming over to freeload meals from now on.”

But Jin Xiuzhu, after hearing this, couldn’t help asking, “Where are you planning to buy a house?”

Yang Yingxiong looked a little embarrassed. “We’re planning to buy an old house in the city center. I heard they’re going to build some kind of commodity housing there now, but supposedly the price is really expensive — several hundred per square meter. And even then, there are a lot of people waiting in line to buy it. There’s no way we can afford something like that. We just want a place of our own, something we can live in. After we earn more money in the future, we can spend a bit to fix it up.”

After saying that, he added, “We’re not very familiar with this area either. We figured the city center is convenient for everything and close to the school.”

Jin Xiuzhu nodded.

He Yan curiously asked, “How much is it? Our houses back home cost several thousand.”

Yang Yingxiong said, “It’s still expensive, but we don’t have much money, so we can’t buy anything too good. We’re looking at those mud-built houses in the city center, the ones people built themselves. We’re planning to go check it out tomorrow. If it seems okay, we’ll negotiate further.”

Then he suddenly lowered his voice. “Now that the country has opened up its policies, a lot of people want to go to Hong Kong or abroad, so they don’t care much about these older houses. If they can sell, they sell. But the people living in buildings or old landlord houses won’t part with those.”

Hearing this, Jin Xiuzhu actually became more interested. “Are there other houses for sale in that area?”

“Yeah, plenty. That area used to be just a village. They call it the city center, but it’s only because it happens to be close by. All the houses are self-built. Now that the east side is developing well, lots of people want to move there instead.”

Jin Xiuzhu asked a few more questions about the area, then finally said to Yang Yingxiong, “How about this — I’ll go with you tomorrow.”

Thinking she didn’t trust them, Yang Yingxiong immediately said, “Auntie, we can manage on our own.”

“I don’t have anything to do anyway,” Jin Xiuzhu said. “I’ll just go with you.”

He Yan was a little confused. “Then what about me, Mom? Weren’t you going to take me to school?”

“Oh, we’ll stop by and check on you before you leave.”

He Yan was speechless. “You really are my biological mom.”

Jin Xiuzhu snorted, then picked up some food for the two brothers.

School hadn’t officially begun yet, so mother and son were staying at a guesthouse near the school.

They walked side by side carrying big bags of things.

Yang Yingxiong and his brother went in the opposite direction. When they had gone some distance, Yang Yingxiong even turned his head to look back.

The younger brother walking beside him couldn’t help asking, “Big brother, didn’t Brother He Yan say he’s not Aunt Jin’s biological son? Then why did he say ‘you really are my mom’ at the dinner table? I’m getting confused — I’m starting to wonder if Brother He Yan is actually her real son.”

Yang Yingxiong was silent for a moment before replying, “Maybe, in his heart, he already sees Aunt Jin as his real mother.”

Yang Chaoying’s eyes widened slightly, then he said with envy, “Then Auntie must be especially good to him. Just like you are.”

In his heart, his brother was also “real brother” level.

Yang Yingxiong rubbed his younger brother’s head.

Yang Chaoying was considerate and never asked about his own mother. He had never met her since he was little; he figured that if she abandoned him, she must not love him — and so he didn’t love her either.

Without expectations, there was no disappointment. But seeing Aunt Jin and He Yan playing around happily together stirred a faint envy in him — something he had never experienced.

The next morning, He Yan shouldered his big bags and headed to school to register, while Jin Xiuzhu went to meet the two brothers.

The three met at the bus stop and, after greeting each other, went straight to the house Yang Yingxiong had mentioned.

Yang Yingxiong walked ahead, leading Jin Xiuzhu through an alley behind the bus station, around a bend, and then rows of small standalone houses came into view. These houses were built with no particular pattern — most made from stones mixed with mud — but at least the roofs were tiled, so leaking during rainy days wasn’t too big a worry.

He led her to a particularly old-looking house. It seemed no one had lived there for some time — knee-high grass grew at the entrance.

“This is the one.”

He looked around and explained, “The owner hasn’t arrived yet. We’ll wait a little.”

Jin Xiuzhu hummed in acknowledgment.

After about ten minutes, a middle-aged man hurried over. When he saw Jin Xiuzhu, he was momentarily stunned, then seemed to understand — she must be the adult. He had wondered why two kids were buying a house.

After greeting one another, he took out the key to unlock the gate. The lock was rusty and took several tries before opening. When he pushed open the gate, the courtyard inside was small — just a tree stump and a single room.

The man explained, “This tree broke during a typhoon before and crushed half the house, but the owner repaired it afterward. The inside is all fine.”

He then opened the door. As soon as they entered, it was the living room. There were rooms on the left and right, and the kitchen was at the back. “If you plan to live here yourselves, just get someone to connect the water pipes and wiring. Clean it up a bit and it’ll be livable. There are tables and beds too. Three thousand is really a good deal.”

Jin Xiuzhu asked, “From what you’re saying… you’re not the owner?”

The man politely replied, “No, I’m not. But I’m also from this village. There are several families here selling their houses. If you’re not satisfied, I can take you to look at others. But I’m a man of conscience — at this price, you won’t find anything better in the village.”

Jin Xiuzhu nodded and looked around the house.

Yang Yingxiong followed behind her. He originally wanted to say something, but seeing that Auntie wasn’t speaking, he kept quiet and looked around with them.

Jin Xiuzhu touched the wall, her frown growing deeper and deeper. The man noticed her expression and quickly asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Master Lin, you’re not being honest. This house is far too flimsy. I poked it lightly and made a hole. It’s as crumbly as tofu. I’m afraid that if the two boys live here, one day it’ll just collapse on them.”

“Truth be told, we’re buying this house mainly for convenience. My husband and I are both busy with work — he’s a soldier, and I’m a reporter at a newspaper. We’re hardly ever home. Before this, the two kids were always left with their grandparents in the countryside. Now that the older one has been admitted to the local university, we’re worried about leaving the younger one alone in the village, since his grandparents can’t really discipline him. So we thought we’d buy a temporary place here so the two brothers can look after each other.”

Hearing this, the man finally understood. No wonder Jin Xiuzhu looked so beautiful and refined, yet the two boys were skinny and dark — they’d grown up in the countryside.

He also realized she was bargaining. And since her husband was a soldier, he thought for a moment and said, “Ah, so you’re a military family. Then I won’t take advantage of you. Two thousand five. That’s already the lowest I can go.”

Yang Yingxiong’s eyes lit up at that.

Jin Xiuzhu made a sound of acknowledgment, then said, “Fifteen hundred. If you agree, I’ll buy three more houses.”

When the man heard fifteen hundred, he almost changed his expression on the spot. But hearing what came after, he forced himself to hold back and looked at her in confusion.

He wondered why she wanted so many houses, but if she really bought four in total, the price was acceptable. After all, nobody wanted these houses.

Jin Xiuzhu calmly explained, “I have several friends whose children also got into universities here. They asked me to help them find houses. Compared to living in the dorms with other students, they’d rather live alone.”

The man considered her identity again — a military wife and a newspaper worker. Their family conditions must be good, and the people they knew were unlikely to be average.

After hesitating a moment, he said, “But the other houses aren’t as clean as this one. The weeds are taller than people in some places.”

“That’s fine. As long as the plots are big enough. We’re buying the land more than the buildings. We’ll get people to rebuild them.”

The man clenched his jaw. “Alright. But don’t go back on your word.”

“There’s nothing to go back on. It’s all for the children. As long as they study well and work hard, spending a bit of money is nothing. But earning money is hard, so we can’t waste it. Fixing up just this one house will already cost at least a thousand or two.”

As she spoke, Jin Xiuzhu frowned and tapped the wall again.

The man saw her dissatisfaction, and hearing the hollow sound, he also knew the house was being sold purely for its location. The place really could collapse at any time. Feeling a bit guilty, he still said, “As long as the kids amount to something, that’s the biggest comfort. There’s also a younger one, right? Buying this house is worth it.”

“We can only think of it that way.”

“What about the other three houses?”

“Can we go look now?”

“Yes, yes, of course.”

The Yang brothers had worked as street vendors all summer, so they were good at reading the room. From the moment Jin Xiuzhu began speaking, they stayed silent the whole time. Even when they heard she planned to buy three more houses and were shocked, they didn’t show it — they just quietly followed behind her.

Then they watched as Jin Xiuzhu took the man straight to the bank. She took out a gold bar, exchanged it for cash, and the group headed to the neighborhood office to handle the ownership transfers.

The first house was transferred to the Yang brothers. Among the others, one was put under He Yan’s name, and the remaining two under Jin Xiuzhu’s.

The middle-aged man was familiar with the procedures here, so everything went smoothly. They finished within a single morning.

After seeing him off, Jin Xiuzhu took the brothers to eat at a nearby state-owned restaurant.

Yang Yingxiong and Yang Chaoying held their property certificate, looking at it from left to right, over and over again. Finally, Yang Yingxiong carefully folded it and tucked it into his shirt pocket.

He looked at Jin Xiuzhu and said, “Auntie, thank you for today.”

Then, checking the surroundings and seeing no one paying attention, he secretly took money out of his pocket, counted it, and handed her fifteen hundred. He had originally thought bargaining down to twenty-five hundred was already amazing — he never expected her to cut the price in half.

But Jin Xiuzhu shook her head. “You can owe this money for now. Auntie won’t charge you interest. Pay me back after you graduate. Use it to renovate the house and buy some furniture.”

Yang Yingxiong hesitated.

Jin Xiuzhu smiled. “I trust your character. Study hard. Auntie will be waiting for the day you make something of yourself.”

Yang Yingxiong bit his lip, then nodded firmly. “Okay. Thank you, Auntie.”

Jin Xiuzhu served the two boys more dishes. The atmosphere lightened again. After eating for a bit, Yang Chaoying couldn’t hold back his curiosity and asked, “Auntie, why did you buy three houses?”

Yang Yingxiong glared at him. “Chaoying.”

He thought it was rude of him to pry.

Yang Chaoying stuck out his tongue.

Jin Xiuzhu laughed. “It’s fine. I can tell you. Auntie bought those houses because that area will become valuable. Now that the country has opened up, this place will only get more prosperous. In most cities, the most prosperous area is the center. The houses there may be old now, but the future is hard to say.”

“As for buying three, that’s because Auntie has three children. One for each of them — fair and square.”

Yang Chaoying let out an “oh,” and sighed, “Being your child must be so lucky.”

Only Yang Yingxiong paused mid-bite. He, too, used to be Auntie’s child — but he had been the one who gave it up.

He recovered quickly and put another bite of rice into his mouth.

Jin Xiuzhu said gently, “But you have a good brother.”

Yang Yingxiong looked up at her warm gaze, his nose stinging.

In the afternoon, Jin Xiuzhu went to find He Yan. He knew she would come and had been waiting at the school gate for a long time. When he saw her, he stared resentfully. “You finally showed up. I’m telling Dad everything you did when I get home.”

Jin Xiuzhu snorted, took out the property certificate, and slapped it onto him.

He Yan instinctively caught it. “What’s this?”

“A house I bought for you.”

“…”

Jin Xiuzhu: My judgment is never wrong.

Jiang Mingchuan: I miss my wife.

He Yan: Someone please control her — my mom is unstoppable.

Fu Yanyan: You should be secretly delighted.

Liuliu: I love Mom.