Chapter 6: Taking Advantage

Chen Jin’s eldest aunt, Chen Yun, and her mother were sisters. They owned three stalls in the clothing wholesale market in the West District, specializing in the clothing business. Her uncle, Gu Shunfa, ran a restaurant with his brothers, and the couple had only one daughter, Gu Minmin.

Her second aunt, Chen Kui, was a biological sibling of her third uncle. She had poor health and had no children.

The siblings of Chen Jin’s mother maintained good relationships, so the children of their generation often grew up together. For instance, her elder and third uncles entrusted their children to her mother for care. Chen Jin was ranked among her three cousins: two elder female cousins above her and one younger sister below her. Family members were accustomed to calling her “Third Sister”, and the villagers followed suit.

As soon as Chen Yun arrived, she started looking for “Third Sister.” Chen Wenqiang urged her to sit down, enjoy the fan, and have some fruit, but Chen Yun glanced around and asked, “Is Third Sister not home? How can she not be here for such a big deal?”

Chen Wenqiang was used to seeing his eldest sister always in a flustered state. He said, “The village head and the old party secretary called her to do something. Do you need to find her?” The last sentence was just a casual inquiry, but he thought to himself, what could Chen Yun possibly need to discuss with Chen Jin?

As soon as Chen Yun saw several brothers and sisters-in-law and her cousin present, except for her eldest nephew, she got straight to the point: “Our house is going to be demolished. How will we divide the old house left by my parents?”

Everyone turned to look at her, each with different expressions.

Chen Wenkang exchanged glances with Wei Xiuhe and Chen Kui. Although the siblings had a good relationship, they were from different branches of the family, and the old house left by their parents certainly had nothing to do with them.

Wei Xiuhe felt a bit displeased; as soon as Chen Yun returned, she brought up the old house. Who didn’t know that it had already been decided to leave that house to their third aunt, Chen Fang? Now that Chen Fang was gone, it would naturally go to Chen Jin. Chen Yun was pretending to be confused while fully aware of the situation.

Their family had the best relationship with Chen Fang and Chen Jin; they treated Chen Jin like their own daughter, which made Wei Xiuhe unable to stand Chen Yun.

“That house, well, our parents said it should be left to Chen Fang. At that time, it was all transferred to Chen Fang’s name. Last year, after Chen Fang passed away, it naturally went to Chen Jin. Earlier this year, the village head even asked Chen Jin to come back and issue a certificate, transferring the homestead and house into her name.”

Chen Wenqiang was in business, and Chen Wenhua worked for a government unit; both picked up on the implications of Chen Yun’s words.

She was actually trying to lay claim to the old house?!

He Jingxian and Liu Juan, the two sisters-in-law, exchanged amused glances. Both of them, as daughters-in-law, hadn’t even thought about fighting over the house left by their parents; instead, their sister-in-law, who had married out and hadn’t taken care of their parents, was trying to stake a claim. How shameless!

Chen Jin saw that she could receive a substantial amount of money, and it was impossible not to feel envious. A young girl in her early twenties could easily acquire enough wealth to last a lifetime. But they weren’t heartless; they all remembered the situation of the two elders at home. Moreover, He Jingxian and Chen Wenqiang had been busy making money, leaving all three children to be looked after by their sister-in-law.

Although Chen Fang was gone, the relationship was still fresh; it wouldn’t turn cold in less than a year.

Chen Yun frowned. Seeing that her own brother and sister-in-law were silent, she understood their stance.

She also knew she was in the wrong, but she couldn’t accept the idea of getting nothing. Her second brother had also moved his household registration, but their parents still allocated a piece of homestead land for him. Was she really the only one with nothing?

He Jingxian sat upright and casually glanced at Chen Yun. “The homestead and house were already promised to Chen Fang; the village head and the old party secretary certified it back then. You agreed to it, didn’t you?”

“What belongs to someone should stay with them. There’s nothing more to say.”

The siblings all looked displeased. Liu Juan glanced around and broke the awkward silence with a laugh. “Big sister is worried that Chen Jin is too young to handle the money, right? She doesn’t have parents to rely on, so it’s normal for us, as elders, to be concerned.”

“However, Chen Jin is preparing to work. After studying for several years in college, she knows how to spend her money. Yesterday, when a tenant caused trouble, Chen Jin handled it very well. I think if she gets the money, she won’t spend it recklessly.”

Wei Xiuhua quickly chimed in, “That’s for sure. After Chen Fang’s left, the family’s house, the convenience store, and the orchard were all managed well by Chen Jin whenever she came back.”

With everyone chiming in, Chen Yun found it hard to continue speaking, her eyes reddening with anger.

They made it sound so easy; that was because each of them would be able to get a share of the demolition compensation, while she would get nothing. A wave of sadness washed over her as she thought, if only her parents were still around, there would definitely be a share for her.

Even her cousin, Chen Kui, though she wouldn’t receive compensation from Qiaodong Village, her in-laws were from Mutang Village, and they were also facing demolition.

The more she thought about it, the more wronged she felt. She usually sent clothes to Chen Ting, Chen Jin, and Chen Jia, especially to Chen Jin, because she was the daughter of her own sister’s family. Since both she and her cousin Minmin were only children, she often sent more to Chen Jin, thinking that she had no father to rely on.

Now, with the demolition compensation coming, each of them would transform into wealthy young ladies, while her own family, which had once been the best off, had become the least fortunate.

When they were all struggling, they showed true feelings, but now that they were about to become rich, those feelings seemed to vanish, and they began to calculate everything. They claimed that since she took care of their parents, she should get the old house. Hadn’t she helped them all these years? Now that they were prosperous, they wanted to cut ties with her, fearing she might want a piece of the pie.

Chen Yun only felt cold in her heart. She snorted softly, turned, and left, her high heels clicking loudly on the floor.

Chen Wenqiang and Chen Wenhua felt a bit uncomfortable in their hearts.

The old house indeed rightfully belonged to Chen Jin, but among the siblings, only Chen Yun had no share, which put them in a difficult position.

Liu Juan interrupted the brothers’ thoughts, “It’s only because they’re lucky to have this demolition opportunity that Chen Yun is thinking about claiming the old house. Why doesn’t she mention those three big stalls?”

Hearing about the big stalls snapped Chen Wenqiang and Chen Wenhua back to reality. Liu Juan continued, “Those three big stalls were bought with the money from selling a family heirloom bracelet. The eldest brother, Wenhua, and Chen Fang never used them. Chen Yun wanted to do clothing wholesale, so she took the three stalls for her business. Later, she paid for them, and they were transferred to her. At that time, each stall was only a thousand yuan, but now, they might not even be worth buying for tens of thousands. The value has increased so much, and we didn’t ask her for money; how can she come asking for the old house now?”

The two brothers fell silent.

When Chen Yun transferred the three stalls to her name, it had already been four years since she bought them, and the value had multiplied several times. However, Chen Yun only paid the initial purchase price. Back then, their parents had no objections, and they remained silent too.

“Forget it, let’s not talk about her,” Chen Wenqiang said, pinching the bridge of his nose. His younger sister had always been like this, strong-willed, and needing the family to support her. But even with that support, it was unacceptable for her to take all the advantages.

“Has Mutang Village put up the announcement yet? You have many people there; the demolition will be much more challenging than here.”

Mutang Village was a large village, with a population of nearly two thousand, divided among several surnames, unlike Qiaodong Village, which was entirely surnamed Chen. There were many internal conflicts in Mutang Village. About thirteen years ago, a violent brawl stirred up quite a commotion, with real weapons drawn; during the crackdown in ’83, the police arrested several people from Mutang Village, which quieted things down for a while.

Chen Kui gave a wry smile. “The demolition office only put up the announcement yesterday afternoon, and that evening, several families got into a fight over how to divide the money.”

“Your family…”

“Let them fight it out; how much they can get depends on the in-laws.” Her husband was the second son, a simple and honest man stuck in the middle, unable to fight with the eldest brother, who needed to support the family, nor compete with the youngest, who was favored by their in-laws.

She couldn’t have children due to her health, so she married Zhang Laoer, a widower with two children. Her relationship with her stepchildren was lukewarm; the money they fought for was theirs, so she didn’t bother to compete for it.

“I heard that after signing the agreement, we’ll have to move to the resettlement houses, and we might end up being assigned to the same place since our two villages are nearby.”

“Not necessarily. People like us might not need resettlement houses; we should just be able to take the money.”

“Once the measurements are complete, you’ll be able to choose your house. My father-in-law’s cousin said everyone is taking the money, and they’re planning to buy a plot of land in Qiaoxi Village to build a house.”

Chen Wenqiang also pondered whether to buy a piece of land in Qiaoxi Village. But upon thinking it over, he realized that they didn’t get along with the people there, making it difficult to manage any property purchased. Moreover, since there was no demolition happening in Qiaoxi Village during this large-scale project, he estimated that it would still be a long time before they had their turn.

Chen Jin had been busy all morning, organizing data on the sizes of the residential plots for each family in the village to facilitate verification with the demolition office. She was pulled away to help with counting and was spinning in circles with all the work. After returning home for lunch, she went to her room to take a nap. In the afternoon, when she woke up, the only sound in her uncle’s house was her cousin Chen Yongan playing video games.

“Sister, Sister!” As soon as Chen Yongan saw her come out, he immediately threw down the game controller and smiled ingratiatingly. “Sister, you’re about to be a rich lady, and here I am, still a poor kid…”

“What do you want this time?” Chen Jin had seen through his tricks long ago.

“Hehe.” Chen Yongan laughed foolishly. “I want a new game console. It’s not expensive… Hey, hey! Sister! Third Sister! Ah, no wonder people say the richer you are, the stingier you get. You won’t even buy me a game console.”

He played games at home all day, making her third aunt angry, so she refused to buy him one.

Their small shop was bustling with people, including her cousins.

As soon as Chen Ting saw her, she asked, “Chen Jin, what kind of compensation are you planning to get?”

“I don’t know how much I can get yet. I’ll wait until they come to measure before deciding.” Actually, she had thought it over; if she could get a house, she would take it all. Renting it out would provide some income, and the remaining money would be enough for her needs.

Chen Ting pursed her lips and asked again, “Are you going to buy a car?”

“A car? I don’t have a driver’s license and can’t drive. Who would buy it? Is it Eldest Brother or Second Brother?”

“Third Brother said he wants to buy one.”

“Oh.” Third Brother, Chen Yongfei, loved big cars, cannons, and planes. However, Chen Jin laughed and said, “I bet Third Uncle and Third Aunt won’t buy it for him.”

She remembered it was Friday. “Ting Sister, how many days off did you take?”

Chen Ting sighed. After graduating from the medical college, she was assigned to work as a nurse at the Women and Children’s Hospital in the Xicheng (West) District. She was always busy and found it incredibly difficult to take time off. “I only managed to get two days off. I have to go back to work tomorrow.”

She wanted to stay and keep an eye on the progress of the demolition, mainly to find out how much her family would actually receive.

Chen Jia took a big sip of the cold soda and sighed, “Good thing I’m still a student, hehe.”

Tian Miao sighed too, but hers was a worried sigh. She had finally gotten a job watching the small shop, and just six months in, it was about to end.

Chen Jin glanced at her, thinking about whether she could switch to another store. She still wanted to continue running a business. If finding a job became difficult, she might just open a shop at home.

Suddenly, the phone rang.

Tian Miao answered with a “Hello,” and after about ten seconds, she looked at Chen Jin and asked quietly, “It’s your dad calling. Do you want to pick up?”

“Tell him I’m not here.”

Tian Miao then spoke into the phone, “Chen Jin isn’t here. Call back later.” With a click, she hung up.