Yi Xinyi turned to look at her father, seeking his approval. He nodded and asked, "Do you like Big Sister Hu Qian? Do you want to sleep with her?"
"I do!" Yi Xinyi replied with a nod.
That night, Hu Jing was very proactive, as if to vent the grief from the loss of her relatives. She constantly took the lead until she was completely exhausted and fell into a deep sleep. Yi Anguo held her as well, and they slept until dawn.
After Hu Jing had left, his relationship with Li Sisi had progressed by leaps and bounds. They had become so inseparably close that Yi Anguo had subconsciously relegated Hu Jing to a forgotten corner of his mind.
Since Hu Jing returned to her hometown, the two had lost touch completely. Yi Anguo deliberately avoided thinking about whether she would ever come back, or if her claim about her grandfather being seriously ill was even true.
Three months passed, and Yi Anguo assumed Hu Jing would never return. Unexpectedly, not only did she come back, but she also brought her sister with her. In those short three months, Hu Jing had lost not only her grandfather but her grandmother as well. However, she chose to bear the pain silently and didn't call Yi Anguo to tell him.
Perhaps she didn't want to disturb his peaceful life. After all, telling him would only add to his worries, and the nature of their relationship was complicated, to say the least.
But after her grandparents passed away, not knowing where to go or what to do, Hu Jing still made that call. She had taken his 100,000 yuan. She felt she should repay him, not just disappear. So, she came back.
She could sense his kind heart. It might have been because he coveted her beauty, but there were plenty of women more beautiful than her. If all he wanted was a night of passion, 100,000 yuan could have gotten him many prettier women, even some minor celebrities.
Yi Anguo could feel Hu Jing's sincere affection for him. If it weren't for Li Sisi, being with Hu Jing would actually be quite nice, he thought. But now there's Li Sisi, which makes things a bit troublesome. If Li Sisi finds out I have another woman, Hu Jing, she probably won't love me anymore, will she?
After living with the Hu sisters for a few days, Yi Anguo still couldn't tell which was the older and which was the younger. However, he could distinguish them if they spoke. The other way to tell them apart was by looking into their eyes.
The eyes are the windows to the soul. The older sister, Hu Jing, looked at him with a gaze full of tenderness, while such feelings were naturally absent in the eyes of the younger sister, Hu Qian.
On the ninth day of the Lunar New Year, his Third Sister and Third Brother-in-law rushed back to Shenzhen with their son, Liu Senlin, and Fu Huanhuan.
Liu Senlin was six years old this year, the right age for preschool. After meeting his little cousin Yi Xinyi, the two quickly started playing together. With the two families living across the hall from each other, it would be very convenient for them to play together in the future.
"Why did you come back so early? I thought you'd wait until after the Lantern Festival," Yi Anguo asked with a smile.
"We would have come back even earlier if we could. Celebrating the New Year at home is pretty boring. The rent for the shop here is twenty thousand a month, which means we lose almost seven hundred a day. Every extra day we stay at home is a loss!" his Third Sister said helplessly.
"Third Sister! How about I don't charge you rent for this month, for the New Year?" Yi Anguo said with a wry smile.
"How could that be okay? You work for the boss too. If you lost your job trying to look out for us, that would be a real shame," she replied hurriedly.
"Back when I was a migrant worker, I always had to leave by the tenth day of the New Year at the latest. At most, we're just a day or two earlier this time," his brother-in-law said. "People who work away from home all leave around this time. It's rare for anyone to wait until after the Lantern Festival. The New Year's spirit isn't as strong as it used to be. The festive atmosphere fades after the first few days."
Yi Anguo chatted with them about New Year's celebrations back home. His sister and brother-in-law had even brought some local specialties for him, including a jar of aged wine that weighed a full 10 kilograms. Although these items weren't worth much back home, they were priceless here. Yi Anguo was delighted to see all these hometown specialties he loved. He sincerely thanked his sister and brother-in-law for going to so much trouble to bring everything.
There was cured meat, sausage, sesame oil, sesame cakes, handmade noodles, mold-fermented tofu, rice cakes, and so on. It was an extensive list. Even if Yi Anguo went home himself, he wouldn't bother bringing these things back. They were too much trouble and far too heavy.
His Third Sister and Third Brother-in-law had clearly brought all these local specialties for him because he hadn't been able to go home for the New Year. His eldest sister had also prepared some specialties for Fu Huanhuan to bring to her brother.
This was the benefit of having family around. Whenever they went back home, they would always bring back some local delicacies for you.
After eating and resting for a short while, his sister and brother-in-law left without delay to start stocking up, preparing to reopen their business. As for their son, Fu Huanhuan was looking after him, so there was nothing to worry about. Yi Xinyi was already bringing out all her toys to play with her older cousin.
On the twelfth day of the first lunar month, the first prospective tenant finally arrived. A group of six people came, and their first question was, "What's the largest apartment you have?"
Yi Anguo immediately showed them the largest unit: a 298-square-meter apartment with six bedrooms and three living rooms. The group was very satisfied and decided to rent it on the spot. They arrived in a luxurious seven-seater import SUV, clearly a family with money to spare. Yi Anguo didn't hold back and quoted them 10,000 yuan a month.
During a casual chat, Yi Anguo asked curiously, "You don't seem to be short on cash. Why would you rather rent than buy?"
"My job isn't very stable. Last year I was in Yangcheng, and this year I've been transferred to Shenzhen. How am I supposed to buy a house?" the man replied. "Besides, a large apartment like this one in Shenzhen is advertised at around 6,800 yuan per square meter. For nearly 300 square meters, that's almost 2 million yuan. Even with a thirty percent down payment of 600,000 yuan, the monthly mortgage for twenty-five years would still be over ten thousand. It would be another hassle if my job changes again, so it's just simpler to rent."
Yi Anguo nodded. "But property values can appreciate. If it's 7,000 yuan per square meter now, it might rise to fifteen or twenty thousand in a few years, or even higher! And even though your monthly mortgage is over ten thousand, the house is completely yours after twenty-five years. If you rent for thirty years, the house still won't be yours, right?"
"That's true in theory, but I can use that money to invest in other businesses and make a lot more!" the man said. "And yes, property values appreciate, but this is Shenzhen. Prices are already very high, and they haven't really risen much over the years! Ten years ago, housing prices in Shenzhen were already over ten thousand yuan per square meter. Then they kept falling and have only started to slowly rise again in recent years. They still haven't returned to the peak from a decade ago! In fact, the average housing price in Shenzhen in 2002 was even a little lower than in 2001."
Yi Anguo was only asking out of curiosity. Since the man preferred to rent, he certainly wasn't going to try and persuade him otherwise.
Starting from the twelfth day of the first lunar month, people gradually began to come and look at apartments. A fresh wave of newcomers was pouring into Shenzhen after the New Year, so there were plenty of people in need of a place to rent. Still, very few people were willing to rent the larger units. Fortunately, he was managing to lease out a few apartments each day. Sooner or later, they would all be rented out.
There are only about two hundred apartments. If I can't rent them all out in one month, I'll do it in two. If two months aren't enough, I'll take three. No matter how difficult they are to lease, three months should be plenty of time, right?