Chapter 31: Tourism

The neighbors next door were only lively at the beginning, but after that, there wasn’t much movement. However, when Chen Jin went to the backyard to collect the blankets in the evening, she happened to see a group of people drinking tea in the open air in the backyard of the house next door. Since the railing didn’t block the view, they also looked over when they heard her.

The man who had whistled at her that morning waved and said, “Hello, neighbor of Shen Baichuan’s family.”

Tsk, how crazy, she didn’t want to deal with this person!

Was Shen Baichuan the name of the neighbor next door?

Chen Jin didn’t respond and went straight back inside with the blankets, locking the door to the backyard on the way.

Next door, seeing the girl run away as if she’d encountered a rogue, everyone complained: “Zhou Yi, can you stop embarrassing your cousin?”

“Exactly, otherwise the neighbor will think your cousin is also a rogue.”

Shen Baichuan, who had just come downstairs to grab some documents: What does this have to do with me again?

Zhou Yi grinned as he sat down next to Shen Baichuan and asked what the neighbor’s name was.

Shen Baichuan, looking at his documents, replied, “I don’t know her, and I don’t care. Don’t get any ideas; she’s not interested in you.”

Zhou Yi was clearly a spendthrift and hadn’t inherited much from the old man. The money he had likely didn’t compare to even a fraction of the neighbor’s wealth.

When this small villa was purchased, the assistant the old man had sent over to help with the paperwork had already done the research. The neighbors were demolition-evictees, with assets no less than those of the second-generation rich kids from families with established businesses.

“You don’t even know her, yet you know she’s not interested in me?” Zhou Yi snorted. “I didn’t even say I liked her.”

Shen Baichuan hummed, “Then save your energy. Don’t bother chasing her. You’re broke and a spendthrift, not a match for her.”

“Hahaha!” Their other friends laughed.

On the morning of the tenth, Professor Song’s family finally returned.

“We went back to our old home in Yun province. It’s been years since we last went, so while we’re still able to, we figured we’d better visit more often.” After returning, Professor Song gave Chen Jin a lot of Yun specialties, mostly food.

When he learned that Chen Jin would be going to Beijing with her relatives in a few days, he suggested she contact Xi Qinghe when she arrived. “He’s on winter break now and has plenty of free time. Let Qinghe show you around Beijing’s sights.”

Uncle Xi and Aunt Mei had flown back to Beijing on the day they returned, leaving Xi Qinghe behind to stay for a few more days.

But he would fly out a day earlier than her.

Since she was traveling with family, Chen Jin felt it wasn’t appropriate to bother Xi Qinghe, especially since her aunt had already made arrangements with a tour guide from a travel agency. So Chen Jin politely declined Professor Song’s offer.

“Hiring a tour guide from the travel agency is a good idea too. I also worry Qinghe wouldn’t even know which direction the Forbidden City is in. But if you need any help, feel free to contact Uncle Xi or Aunt Mei. You can also reach out to Qinghe. You young people…”

Xi Qinghe, standing nearby, couldn’t listen any longer. He was busy with schoolwork most of the time, but it wasn’t like he never left campus. He had visited all of Beijing’s landmarks before. However, his grandmother seemed to have different ideas. He quickly said, “Grandma, let’s head home now. You and Grandpa’s students are coming over later.”

Chen Jin didn’t linger on the conversation. “We live close by, we can talk another day. Professor Song, you should go home and host your guests. Oh, I hear something outside—could that be your guests arriving?”

“Oh, oh, I’d better go check. Xiao Jin, we’ll talk again another day.”

After sending off Professor Song and Xi Qinghe, Chen Jin looked at the tea, mushrooms, and other gifts on the coffee table and sighed. She decided to leave them there for now, not knowing when she would actually get around to eating them.

Ever since Professor Song’s family had returned, their house had been busy with a steady stream of visitors.

In the mornings, Chen Jin went out for makeup lessons, and in the afternoons, she stayed at home. There was a lot of traffic going in and out next door. This morning, her car had even been blocked in, and she had to ask someone to move their car before she could leave.

On the last day of the makeup training course, Chen Jin finally learned various skincare tips, the order of applying makeup, and how to properly remove makeup afterward. She followed the sales assistants downstairs and bought two big bags of skincare and makeup products. She also signed up for a membership card at the makeup store, which came with notifications for future makeup sharing sessions and two free skincare treatments per month.

Great, she had just spent most of this month’s rent at the makeup store.

After calculating, she realized she had already overspent in February, buying this and that. Fortunately, the interest from her three million yuan savings was enough to cover her expenses.

At first, she felt a little guilty about spending so much money, but after seeing the way the older women in her class were buying things with abandon, she felt like her spending didn’t even count.

Sister Zhao, whose family was rich on both her husband’s and her own side, had plenty of personal assets. When she bought things, she would just point and say, “Give me three of these and three of those.”

Then, adjusting her sunglasses, she’d laugh and say, “I’m bringing some for my other friends too.”

Once the training course ended, the little group of “Chen Jin and the wealthy sisters” was set to break up. Chen Jin and the women exchanged contact information, although there might never come a day when any of those numbers were actually dialed.

After loading the two heavy bags of skincare and makeup products into the trunk, Chen Jin thought for a moment and decided to drive to Wanmin Plaza to see if there was anything else she wanted to buy. After all, she was going away for ten days, and the weather in Beijing was much colder than where she was.

The warm down jacket and boots had long been prepared. After walking around the plaza, she only bought a red scarf. Then, she wandered over to the camera counter and bought a Phoenix 205. The staff showed her how to use it, explaining how to adjust the ISO, aperture, and focus, which felt like opening up a whole new world.

No wonder her cousin Chen Jiaxin loved taking photos so much. Even before their home was demolished, she had asked her family for money to buy a camera and took pictures everywhere. Looking through the viewfinder of the camera felt like seeing a dreamy, real-world scene.

Seeing that she liked cameras, the salesperson recommended several other imported models to her, which were several times more expensive.

Chen Jin: “… I’ll practice with this one first, and then think about changing later.” She had the money to buy them, but she wasn’t foolish enough to spend it recklessly!

The night before the trip, Chen Jin checked her suitcase over and over—clothes, shoes, makeup, documents…

Before going to bed, she double-checked her alarm clock, then finally lay down, relieved. She was a bit excited and couldn’t sleep, tossing and turning, humming an unfamiliar tune, and gradually drifting off to sleep.

In the morning, before heading out, she checked the water and electricity in the house once more, then slung a small bag over her shoulder, pulled her suitcase, and left. She ran into her neighbor next door, and they passed each other without a word.

She had just started her car and, from the rearview mirror, saw her neighbor following behind. They drove in a line to the western district, where she turned toward Hanlin Garden while her neighbor continued straight ahead.

After parking, she didn’t go upstairs. Instead, she waited downstairs at the adjacent building for over ten minutes until her aunt came down with her suitcase. Then, their second cousin, Chen Yongxin, arrived to pick them up. Their eldest aunt was already in the car and had even brought breakfast for everyone.

It took about an hour and a half to drive from the western district to the airport. At first, Chen Jin, sitting in the passenger seat, chatted and joked with her cousin, but soon she was too tired to stay awake. She leaned back and fell asleep.

She had been too excited to sleep well the night before, and in the morning, she got up early to do her makeup. But if she hadn’t done her makeup, she would’ve felt that the seven days of her beauty course had gone to waste.

From the backseat, her eldest aunt commented to her aunt, “Look at the third sister. Once she’s all dressed up, she looks completely different.”

Her aunt laughed, “She really does. I almost didn’t recognize her when I saw her this morning. I’m so used to seeing her with her carefree attitude, it feels a bit strange.”

Her second cousin suddenly burst into laughter, recalling how, six months ago in Qiaodong Village, his sister had been parading around in a brightly colored floral shirt, beach shorts, and a pair of yellow flip-flops, clomping around the whole village. Now, looking at her like this, who could imagine what she used to look like?

At the airport, Chen Jin and her two companions, along with her third uncle, third aunt, and third cousin Chen Yongfei, met up. Chen Jia was brought over by her second uncle and second aunt, who took a taxi back after dropping her off.

Their younger cousin, Chen Yongan, still needed to continue his tutoring sessions, but their third uncle and aunt weren’t comfortable leaving him home alone. So, their second uncle and aunt would head to Rose Garden later to bring him back to stay at the Meteorological Bureau’s family compound, which was closer to his tutoring center anyway.

Chen Jin guessed that her cousin was probably at home enjoying himself, celebrating being the only one there. Haha, once their second uncle and aunt arrived, he definitely wouldn’t be laughing anymore!

No one in the group had ever flown before, but Chen Jin had prepared in advance. She looked up how to check in, handle luggage, and went around holding a little notebook, checking everything. If she couldn’t find something, she asked the staff for help.

Chen Yongfei: “It’s nice having two college students with us. We just have to wait and follow them.”

Chen Jin was busy handling the formalities and snapping photos for everyone, buzzing around like a spinning top. But her mood was excellent, completely unlike when she was so sleepy in the car that she could barely keep her eyes open.

During the two-hour flight, Chen Jin couldn’t sit still for even half a minute. She looked here, looked there, and snapped photos left and right.

Once they landed, they didn’t have to think much about the rest of the trip. All they needed to do was follow the tour guide. It wasn’t all about visiting tourist spots either—after all, the main reason their eldest aunt had come was to check out how the high-end clothing stores in Beijing were decorated and the styles they preferred.

“It’s a pity we missed the snow,” Chen Jin said, a bit disappointed. Not only did it not snow, but there was also a strong wind that left her feeling a bit dazed.

Still, in the six days they spent in Beijing, they visited all the landmarks she’d only ever read about in books or seen on TV. She took tons of photos and felt very satisfied.

Anyway, she could always come back again someday.

She felt a bit reluctant when it was time to leave Beijing, but once she arrived in Shanghai, that reluctance vanished completely.

For the next three days in Shanghai, they spent all their time shopping. Chen Jin and Chen Jia became human mannequins for the three older women, constantly being urged to try on clothes. In the end, they didn’t spend a single cent and still ended up with a pile of new clothes.

The older women had considered that Chen Jia didn’t have much pocket money and didn’t want her to feel left out, so they dragged Chen Jin along when they bought things. Chen Jin didn’t mind spending a little, and their eldest aunt certainly didn’t either, so there was no need to be stingy.

“This money really doesn’t last long,” Chen Jia sighed after getting a new bag. Her parents had given her 5,000 yuan to spend, but their aunt had already spent 5,000 just on bags for the two of them.

Chen Yongfei chimed in, “We’re not spending too much. The tour guide in Beijing said some people come specifically to buy property. After hearing him, I felt like buying two apartments in Beijing myself.”

“Me too,” Chen Jin said. “But then I thought, I definitely don’t plan on living in Beijing or Shanghai in the future. I just want to stay in Rong City. If I buy a property, I’d have to manage it, which wouldn’t be easy.”

The truth was, she simply didn’t have enough money. She needed to save some for when her nine resettlement apartments and shops were handed over. She’d have to spend money on renovations; otherwise, they’d be hard to rent out.

Chen Yongfei: “That’s what my parents say too. If they buy property, it’ll just sit there unused. Renting it out would be too much trouble. But they’re tempted.”

“Why? Because the tour guide said it’d be easier for future kids to move their household registration there and get into good universities?”

“Something like that,” Chen Yongfei laughed. “But if the kids take after me, no matter how good the household registration, it won’t help. Let’s not bother. I think staying in Rong City is just fine.”

That was classic third cousin—always so good at convincing himself.

Chen Jin hadn’t fully convinced herself though. Even though she hadn’t bought anything, she was still thinking about it.

“When I used to live in Qiaodong Village, I thought Wanmin Square in the western district was already so prosperous. But after seeing Shanghai, I realize I’ve still seen too little.”

She suddenly felt like she should make time for a trip to the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone.

“That whole Lujiazui area in Shanghai—it’s going to be incredible once it’s fully developed. Third sister, take a photo of me here as a keepsake. In a few years, I’ll come back and see it again.”

“Third sister, I kind of regret applying to NTU (Nanjing University) back then. Why didn’t I think about checking out schools in Beijing or Shanghai?”

When they left Shanghai, the three young people still felt like they hadn’t had enough. However, the schedule in Shanghai had been too packed, and the elders couldn’t handle it. As they boarded the return flight, Chen Jin saw that they finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Third uncle: “In the future, you youngsters can go on your trips, and we older folks will form our own group.” Basically, they didn’t want to stick with the young ones anymore, who seemed to have boundless energy.

It was impossible to say they weren’t tired. Eldest cousin and second cousin drove to the airport to pick them up. When Chen Jin returned to Hanlin Garden, she was too tired to drive back to her little Western-style house, so she decided to stay the night at the house in Hanlin Garden and only drove back to her place the next morning.

As for the gifts for the elders, she had already distributed them. The ones for her eldest uncle’s family were sent back with second cousin, the ones for second uncle’s family were given to Chen Jia to take, and the gift for Chen Yongan was handed to third cousin.

Everything was arranged perfectly.

Oh, and the gifts for her eldest aunt and cousin Gu Minmin would have to wait until another day.

It felt as if the ten days away were just a long dream—rushing to see sights, buying things, and then coming back. It wasn’t until she returned to her little Western-style house that she felt her mind and body were finally back to normal.

Chen Jin pushed her suitcase into the living room and collapsed onto the sofa. “Home is still the most comfortable place!”

After lounging at home for half a day, Chen Jin remembered the internship she was supposed to start at the city library, so she called her second uncle to ask about it.

“There might be some changes, it’s not certain yet. I’ll look into other places. By the way, keep an eye on the recruitment notices from your school.”

A bit disappointed, but Chen Jin felt it was a fairly normal situation. She thought, if she couldn’t go, that would be fine. She could spend the last semester revising her thesis and still have time to travel.

But she wasn’t sure if she’d find someone to travel with. She wasn’t comfortable traveling alone. Even though public security was much better than a few years ago, there were still unsafe places. Now that life was going well, she couldn’t afford to let anything happen to herself.

She lazily got up from the sofa to unpack her suitcase, took a gift over to Professor Song’s house next door, and ended up staying for dinner.

“Oh, by the way, your high school classmate, Li Xingyi, his family bought a house in the workers’ family building.”

Chen Jin glanced at Professor Song and decided to be honest. “I dated him for over two years, and he started seeing his current girlfriend without breaking up with me. I only found out by accident and then we broke up. So if he comes over to your house, please don’t invite me. I really don’t like him.”

“What?” Professor Song was stunned. She truly hadn’t expected this.

Even Dean Xi, who had been reading the newspaper, peeked out from behind it to look at Chen Jin: I never would have guessed!

“There’s nothing glamorous about dating him, so I didn’t feel like mentioning it,” Chen Jin said, scratching her nose. It was embarrassing even to talk about it: I dated that?

At the same time, she was relieved they had broken up when they did. Otherwise, she’d be annoyed now that Li Xingyi didn’t measure up to her.

Hmm, right now, no one measures up to her, the “wealthy lady Jin.”

Chen Jin also realized that Li Xingyi’s visit after the New Year was clearly aimed at Professor Song. She knew her words would affect the professor’s impression of Li Xingyi, but so what? She was just telling the truth. Why should she care about his fate?

Ah, it felt satisfying. After their crazy behavior in front of her teachers and classmates back then, now they’d finally hit a wall!

Since Professor Song now knew about this, she stopped bringing up Li Xingyi. She even started to rethink her impression of him—he had always seemed well-behaved and smart in front of her, but it turned out he was so clueless in relationships, even juggling two women at once.

Her original good opinion of him took a major hit.

Just as Chen Jin was about to change the subject, her male neighbor from next door suddenly showed up carrying a box of pastries?

Professor Song got up to greet him warmly, “I’ve told you not to be so formal, just come next time without bringing anything.”

Then she turned to Chen Jin and introduced them, “Xiao Jin, this is your neighbor from the other side, Teacher Shen Baichuan, a computer science teacher at NTU (Nanjing University).”

“Baichuan, this is Chen Jin, a senior in the Chinese Department at NTU. She lives next door. Is this your first time meeting? You’re about the same age, you should get to know each other and make friends.”

Chen Jin smiled, thinking, though we’re supposed to be friends, should I call him by his name or Teacher Shen?

“Hello, Chen Jin. I’m Shen Baichuan,” Shen Baichuan nodded at her and added, “Just call me by my name.”

“Hello.” Chen Jin scratched her face and looked at Professor Song.

It was so awkward. They weren’t familiar with each other and didn’t know what to say. They had been quite indifferent in their previous encounters.

Luckily, Dean Xi put down his newspaper at that moment and invited Shen Baichuan upstairs to the study for a chat.

Chen Jin secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Professor Song opened the box of pastries Shen Baichuan had brought—it was from Lao Youfu. Lao Youfu is an old brand in Rong City with only one store, located at the end of Liberation Road in the Eastern District.

“Xiao Jin, help yourself. I’m going to take some upstairs to them.”

“Baichuan’s been coming over a lot lately because the old man bought a computer and has been fumbling around with it. He doesn’t know how to use it, so Baichuan’s been giving him lessons.”

Chen Jin laughed. Seeing the way Dean Xi had acted earlier, she had thought they were discussing some top-secret research…

Chen Jin stayed at Professor Song’s house until around 1:30 PM, yawning twice in a row. She was too tired, so she said goodbye and went home.

By the time Shen Baichuan came downstairs, Chen Jin was already gone.

The last semester of senior year began, and all the students returned to campus for registration.

During the winter break, at a high school reunion, Chen Jin’s former classmates learned that her family had become rich after their house was demolished. The news spread quickly, and on the first day of registration, it had already reached Song Jiajia, who then told Qin Xuemei.

Qin Xuemei frowned as she returned to dormitory 405. Looking up, she saw Chen Jin’s bed was still empty, with nothing on it. She asked the other people in the dorm, “Have any of you seen Chen Jin come to register today?”

“Chen Jin? No idea. What do you need her for?” Do you want to get scolded?

Meng Shengnan thought to herself: When Chen Jin was in the dorm, someone kept Qin Xuemei in check, but now that Chen Jin isn’t living here this semester, Qin Xuemei has really reached new heights of troublemaking. The three of us left in the dorm are almost fed up with her.

Meng Shengnan couldn’t wait to graduate and get away from this neurotic Qin Xuemei.

It’s no wonder Chen Jin always called Qin Xuemei “crazy.” Normal people really aren’t like her.

“I heard from Chen Jin’s high school classmates that her family’s house was demolished. I heard she’s now living in a small villa near the West Gate and is even driving a luxury car.” Unable to find Chen Jin, Qin Xuemei directly asked Chen Lu, “You’re in the same group as her; you saw her when she came back to school last semester, right? Did Chen Jin’s family really get their house demolished?”

Chen Lu paused in her reading. Now she understood why Chen Jin had said last time that she was heading west when she went home. It seemed that when Chen Jin said she didn’t want to continue her graduate studies, she was serious. After all, she didn’t lack money; there was no need for her to give up her studies for work. So she must really not want to continue studying.

She and Chen Jin had been competitors since their first exam. She thought it was great that Chen Jin wasn’t continuing her studies; being constantly ranked second to Chen Jin was exhausting her. Thankfully, they wouldn’t be in the same race anymore.

Aside from their academic rivalry and not talking much, she had no prejudice against Chen Jin. Although she felt a pang of envy upon hearing that Chen Jin’s family had their house demolished and now owned a new house and car, no matter how much she envied or felt jealous, those things wouldn’t belong to her.

Compared to Qin Xuemei, Chen Jin was practically the perfect roommate: she didn’t cause trouble.

“I don’t know,” Chen Lu replied flatly before continuing to work on her thesis.

Qin Xuemei: “……”

Turning to the carefree Meng Shengnan and the quiet Liang Xiaoyu, who wasn’t saying a word, she realized there was no way they would have any information either. Remembering Lin Xinran, she hurried over to the neighboring dorm, 404, but was told that Lin Xinran wasn’t living on campus anymore either!

Meanwhile, Chen Jin returned to school to meet with her counselor for registration and received a form—a recruitment application for undergraduate student counselors from the college. Chen Jin started filling out the information in the office.

The counselor glanced at the contact address she wrote down: No. 7 Wutong Road, outside the West Gate of NTU, which anyone in the know would recognize as a small villa. He looked at Chen Jin again and, seeing that no other teachers were in the office, joked, “I heard your house was demolished?”

Chen Jin looked up, surprised. “Who told you that?”

“Is it not true? I heard it from your high school classmates; quite a few of them were saying it, and it made its way to me.”

“It’s true, but the compensation for the demolition was only a small amount, and I’ve pretty much spent it all,” Chen Jin replied earnestly.

The counselor: “……” You expect me to believe that?

No matter how the news circulated outside, it didn’t concern her. Chen Jin had come to register and submit the latest version of her thesis to Professor Jiang. She would return in two weeks to check the results of the preliminary selection for the college counselor positions. She wouldn’t be back at school during that time.

After filling out her information and double-checking it for any errors, Chen Jin handed the application form to the counselor. She then headed to Professor Jiang’s office, where she received new revision suggestions and a list of reference books, meaning she had to keep making changes.

Professor Jiang asked, “Has the college’s recruitment notice for counselors been sent out? Have you registered?”

“I’ve submitted the application form to the counselor.”

“Okay, that’s enough,” Professor Jiang said, taking a sip of tea. “Just focus on writing your thesis; don’t worry about work.”

Chen Jin’s eyes brightened. “I will! Thank you, Professor!”

Maybe today was a lucky day. Things were looking promising for the college work, and she received a call saying she would be selecting her resettlement housing and commercial property in Jinxiu (splendid) Community next Monday.

She would be getting nine apartments and one commercial space!

At that moment, her uncle called. “Third sister, are you free?”

“Yeah, what do you need, Uncle?”

“Just making sure you’re free. Come to my company tomorrow morning; I want to discuss the investment and housing construction we talked about last time.”