Chapter 14: Sour

Chen Jin went out with her uncle again today.

Her second cousin wanted to tag along, but as soon as he brought it up, her elder cousin’s wife sensitively questioned what he would be doing with them. The tone of her voice suggested that her second cousin had some ulterior motive for wanting to go out with her and her uncle.

Annoyed, her second cousin ran his fingers through his hair, awkwardly smiled at her, and said he remembered he had an appointment with a client to discuss a collaboration, so he wouldn’t be going with them.

Her uncle’s expression darkened. Recently, his eldest daughter-in-law had been coming over with her child every morning, as if guarding against thieves, afraid that the parents would give all their money to the second son.

“Your aunt, humph.” Her uncle snorted and shook his head.

Seeing his quiet niece in the front passenger seat, he felt a mix of anger and amusement, sighing, “Children are a debt!”

While waiting at a traffic light, a couple walked past, pulling and tugging at each other, which made her uncle click his tongue in disdain. He turned to educate her, “Now that you have money, be more cautious when dating. Don’t learn from those lovey-dovey couples; love won’t fill your stomach. Especially those poor boys who come to you because of your wealth; once they make it big, they’ll start to despise you…”

While her uncle lectured her earnestly, sharing stories about a friend of his and a partner’s daughter, the central message was clear: don’t go for a “phoenix man” (a man who rises from poverty), and those who want to spend your money aren’t good people.

Chen Jin listened attentively, “Don’t worry, Uncle, I’m quite smart.”

Her uncle laughed heartily.

Among all the siblings, he favored Chen Jin the most—she was smart, sensible, and receptive to advice.

When they arrived at the housing authority, Professor Shen and another man in a suit had already arrived. As soon as the man in the suit saw her uncle, he went over to greet him, saying he was there on behalf of the boss to handle the transfer.

Professor Shen seemed a bit dissatisfied; he wanted to meet the new teacher who would actually be living there. However, the man in the suit repeatedly apologized, saying his young master had gone back home to pay respects to his ancestors and couldn’t make it.

Her uncle reassured Professor Shen that they were not some shady characters, which finally got him to go in to process the paperwork.

After paying the fees and deed tax, Chen Jin transferred 930,000 and received the new property certificate for the small villa on the right.

As soon as they left the housing authority, she and her uncle headed to Hanlin Garden next to Wanmin Plaza, the most prosperous area in the western district. It was said that all the residents of this community were wealthy.

Indeed, you get what you pay for; compared to Xiuli (beautiful) Community and Jinxiu (splendid) Community, Hanlin Garden was vastly superior. Just the landscaping and public recreational facilities were a cut above the rest. The downside was that it was both expensive and large.

Actually, her uncle had chosen another community for her, also located in the commercial center of the western district, but its environment and facilities didn’t compare to Hanlin Garden, although it offered better value for money. However, the man in the suit, Assistant Lin, learned they wanted to buy property in the western district commercial center and, after calling his boss for instructions, informed them that there were commercial properties developed by his boss available at a discounted price. So, he came along with them.

Thanks to her uncle’s connections, purchasing a house went smoothly.

Her uncle, impatient with her constant thanks, said that as long as these kids didn’t cause trouble, that would be enough to show him filial piety.

The smallest suite here was also 180 square meters, and living in such a large house would make it feel empty. Moreover, there weren’t many 180-square-meter units left, and the available floors were not ideal. If they were to buy, they would have to go for a 200-square-meter unit instead.

“What are you afraid of? If you think the place is too big, just call a few brothers or sisters over to hang out, or invite some friends,” Uncle said, quite pleased with the community. He whispered, “They gave us the internal price; it’s such a good deal!”

If it weren’t for the company needing cash flow, he would have wanted to buy two units.

Chen Jin followed to see an apartment on the 21st floor. This building has a maximum of 22 floors. Assistant Lin praised her for her good eye, saying that this floor was the best, with a wide view and plenty of sunlight. Both the living room and the main bedroom’s balconies overlook the Nanjiang River.

Chen Jin was still hesitating. Even at the internal price with a 25% discount, this apartment cost a million, which was 200,000 to 300,000 more than she had anticipated.

Uncle directly made the decision for her, “This one it is! The interior is already renovated, and we’ll move your things over in a couple of days. If you want to change the decor later, you can take your time.”

Whether she changed it or not didn’t matter. She liked the current simple and elegant decor.

Grinding her teeth, she paid another million and received a property certificate in return.

Assistant Lin stayed with them to finalize the details with the sales manager before leaving. Once he was gone, Uncle laughed, hands on his hips, “Good thing I asked a friend when buying the house. Look, they returned the favor the same day.”

Chen Jin was a bit confused; she thought Uncle had made it big in business and was now friends with one of the developers of Hanlin Garden?!

Seeing her expression, Uncle guessed her thoughts and chuckled, “I just helped a friend out; I’m not on speaking terms with the owner of that big company.”

“But you never know about the future.”

“Exactly! Uncle, you’re already impressive. Work hard for a few more years, and the company will definitely reach new heights…”

“Alright, alright, stop flattering me.” Uncle laughed heartily and waved his hand. Glancing at his watch, he said he had some matters to handle, “You can take the bus back. For the move, just contact the driver I arranged. Get your driver’s license soon; having a car will make it easy to go wherever you want.”

After sending Uncle off, Chen Jin went straight to Wanmin (Plaza) Square next to Hanlin Garden, ordered a KFC combo, and took bites of her burger and sips of cola. She was really feeling high; she used to only splurge occasionally on a burger, thinking it was delicious. Now that she could freely order a combo, she felt the taste was just average.

In the afternoon, she browsed all four floors of the mall in the square and even watched a movie. Satisfied, she boarded the bus back to splendid Community.

The temporary housing was clearly cleaned up thoroughly by Tian Miao again. In half of the living room, three shelves and a freezer had been set up, making it a makeshift convenience store.

Upon returning, Chen Jin went up to the third floor to have dinner with her third uncle’s family. She told them she had bought an apartment in the city center at an internal price, which was quite a steal.

Third Uncle, Third Aunt, and her cousins, as well as Tian Miao, were all astonished, mouths agape: “A million is considered very cheap?”

However, since Chen Jin had just ordered a million-yuan small western-style-building (small villa) yesterday, they weren’t too surprised. They just felt that the West District commercial center was indeed very valuable.

Third Aunt said, “Zhou Xiangxiang’s family has completely split up; the village head oversaw it, and it caused quite a stir. They even hired a lawyer to notarize it.”

“What was the final outcome?” Chen Jin asked curiously, her chopsticks pausing in mid-air.

Third Aunt smiled, “They were arguing at home yesterday, and it was settled this morning. Zhou Xiangxiang’s family got one million in cash and six sets of resettlement houses, plus a shop. The remaining three hundred thousand is all left to Chen Sanye .”

Tian Miao said indignantly, “Uncle Wenxing’s family took a huge advantage; Aunt Zhou and Uncle Wenming really lost out!”

But Third Uncle and Third Aunt had a long-term view, meaningfully saying, “It’s too early to say who lost and who gained. How long can they spend the money? Zhou Xiangxiang might even be happy now; she won’t have to worry about her in-laws’ retirement anymore. As for Chen Wenxing, while the old couple has money, he’s dutiful; once the money runs out, just wait and see how dutiful he’ll still be.”

Moreover, Chen Sanye and Chen Sanpo love to show off whenever they have a little money. They’re biased toward Chen Wenxing, and they’ll pay the price sooner or later.

“Just this morning, they notarized the division of assets, and by the afternoon, Chen Wenxing took the old couple to the city to buy a house—a big one for 800,000.” Third Aunt clicked her tongue in disapproval.

Cousin Chen Yongfei glanced at his parents, “Chen Sanye bought Uncle Wenxing a car worth over 400,000.”

“Hiss.” There was a collective intake of breath at the dining table.

Although they thought Chen Jin spending a million on a city-center apartment was expensive, at least the property would appreciate! Unlike cars, which lose value over time. Someone actually spent over 400,000 on a car?! They really must have too much money to burn! Plus, that money doesn’t seem to last long!

Chen Jin sighed, “I thought I was good at spending money.” She didn’t expect there were people who could spend even more.

“You’re nothing compared to them.” Cousin Chen Yongfei had a look that suggested, “You haven’t seen much yet,” “The village head and the former secretary both bought three big houses in the Xicheng (West) District commercial center, each costing over 800,000, for themselves to live in. Last night, when they heard we bought a house in Xiuli (beautiful) Community, they asked Uncle for a discount and went to buy one today. The village head and the former secretary each bought an entire building! The houses in beautiful Community are almost sold out.”

“Everyone really has money.” Chen Jin felt envious.

Even though Chen Jin had over 8 million in cash, it didn’t place her in the top three in the village. The village head’s eldest son had set up his own household early on, contracting over 70 acres of land for fruit tree cultivation and even running a small processing factory in the village. Although the factory only had five employees, it was a legitimate factory, undoubtedly the biggest beneficiary of any future demolitions. The village head also had more land than Chen Jin.

Moreover, the eldest son of the former secretary’s family had also set up a separate household. They contracted two fish ponds, and the rental houses they built were well-decorated, fetching high compensation during demolitions.

“They are demolishing Qiaodong Village, and the eighteen households in the village will receive at least over a million in compensation and a few sets of resettlement housing. In contrast, although Mutang Village is a large village with many people, only two or three families are involved in contracting, while the strong laborers from other families prefer to work in factories in the suburbs.”

“As for renting? Very few options.

It takes over forty minutes to take a bus from Qiaodong Village to Mutang Village, so very few people look for houses to rent in Mutang Village. Moreover, there are many locals in Mutang Village, and some families have enough members to fill their own homes, leaving no vacant houses for rent. Therefore, the compensation from the demolition is much lower, and when divided among individuals, it’s really not as much as what Qiaodong Village residents will receive.

For instance, like the husband’s family of sister-in-law Chen Kui are one of the contracting families.

‘Starting tomorrow, I still have to go back to the village during the day to keep an eye on things. If any tenants find a house, they’ll prepare to move out early.’ Most of the villagers who moved here will also go back to prepare for the relocation of their ancestral graves. The village temple has been rebuilt under the village chief’s leadership, and before moving the ancestral graves, the people from the old Chen family have to return.

My third aunt asked Tian Miao to go back with her, as she wasn’t comfortable leaving her here alone.

They really do need to go back and prepare the funds, as each family has to refund one another.

Sigh, she signed up to learn to drive with her second cousin and third cousin, but she hasn’t been to driving school in a day. The exam materials are still lying in the box and haven’t been taken out. So when she was packing her things at night, she brought the materials along, thinking she’d review them when she got back.

But when she returned to the village, she found out just how much gossip there was!

Help! Who can even focus on studying with all this happening?!

It’s so exciting.”