The few who wanted to sell their houses last time, she still remembered their faces; she had paid specific attention to them and knew which part of the city they lived in and which houses belonged to them.
Of course, she didn’t feel like she had snatched someone else’s opportunity because, at the time of the demolition, there were very few original villagers left. She didn’t know where the word had come from, but almost all the land had been bought up, and very few of the buyers were local residents. This caused regret to those who had sold their homes, regretting beyond consolation.
But what could regret do? It’s not like you could get it all back.
Qin Xiangnuan simply used her chance at rebirth, seizing these opportunities at the right time into her own hands.
When Teacher Wang came over for tutoring that night, she casually mentioned it. In fact, she did it intending to help Teacher Wang, because relying on their porridge sales, it was uncertain when they could save enough money for a house. Now was an opportunity, and if not seized well, it could lead to a lifetime of regret.
Of course, whether they were willing or not was their business.
Teacher Wang went back and discussed it with Xie Yonghong, who never relaxed her brow upon hearing it.
"Is the information reliable?" she asked Teacher Wang cautiously.
Teacher Wang hesitated for a moment, "I’m not entirely certain, Xiang Nuan mentioned it; she heard it from the elderly who come for morning exercises. The thing is, all the money we currently have may still be less than US$5000, and that’s our savings for emergencies. We could use it to buy a small place, but if the information is false, we’ve essentially wasted our money."
"It’s not a waste," Xie Yonghong had already made up her mind.
"I’ve thought it over. We should buy that house regardless; sooner or later, that area is bound to be demolished. Look around, it’s all building construction nowadays. That place, although it doesn’t look good now, might be surrounded by high-rises in the future. And after buying, we could live there ourselves."
"Keeping this money idle is not much use; let’s just go ahead and buy a house in that place. If we are short, we can borrow some from Zhiqing."
Teacher Wang, being an intellectual, held himself with the dignity of a learned man, but in the end, he clenched his teeth and decided to go for it. He would swallow his pride and borrow the money. If Zhiqing didn’t have it, he would borrow from Xiang Nuan—whatever it takes, they must get the money.
Teacher Wang indeed went to Jian Zhiqing to borrow money. Jian Zhiqing agreed without hesitation, although he didn’t lend much because he had also bought a place and his finances were depleted recently. First, he bought a Siheyuan and hadn’t recouped that investment, then he bought another apartment spending over US$10,000.
He lent Teacher Wang US$3,000, and with bits and pieces gathered here and there, Teacher Wang came up with US$5,000 and bought a slightly smaller house. The whole family moved in, and although it was older, somewhat broken, and noisy, at least it was their own. The whole family spent several days cleaning up, and after planting some flowers and plants in the house, it looked somewhat presentable.
Because they suddenly owed thousands of dollars, which amounted to more than a year’s salary for the whole family, Xie Yonghong now worked even harder. If it weren’t for the limit in customer flow, she would be willing to sell porridge all day long.
Qin Xiangnuan put down her pen and squinted at Jian Zhiqing, who was all dolled up in front of her. He did indeed look every bit the part, but she still begrudged the fact that some people, no matter how they dressed, even if wearing a pot-lid, would look dashingly attractive.