Ping County, Jiangjiazhuang, inside a newly built 180-square-meter house.
Outside, the winter was bitterly cold, but inside, it was as warm as spring.
The indoor temperature was comparable to centralized heating in the city.
From the house's layout design to the choice of renovation style and effects, everything was meticulously planned.
Custom-made wardrobes, curtains, and appliances throughout the house.
This new home, built from scratch, had cost Xu Li a great deal of effort.
Xu Li was very satisfied with the house she had personally designed and quite fond of it.
Living in the village, daily necessities like clothing, food, housing, and transportation were actually quite manageable.
In many ways, it was similar to city life, and the cost of living was even cheaper.
Meituan Youxuan, Pinduoduo grocery shopping, and various express deliveries could all reach the supermarket at the village entrance.
Spring, summer, autumn, and winter brought seasonal vegetables grown in their own garden.
The only downside was education—compared to the city, it was far too lacking.
When Jiang Tao was a child, Jiangjiazhuang Primary School was still a full-fledged elementary school.
It had plenty of students, with twenty to thirty kids in each class from first to sixth grade.
Over the past twenty years, the number of students at Jiangjiazhuang Primary School had dwindled.
By last year, the total number of teachers and students combined was less than twenty.
Jiangjiazhuang Primary School was directly merged with a school in a neighboring village by the Education Bureau.
Even after the merger, each grade only had seven or eight, maybe ten students.
They couldn't even form a standard-sized class.
Jiang Xue was still in preschool this year, but next September, she would start first grade.
Xu Li and Jiang Tao planned to have Jiang Xue attend Dongjie Second Primary School, which was in her grandmother's school district.
This wasn't an easy arrangement, but it was doable.
Xu Li's cousin, Xu Kai, worked at the County Education Bureau, and her cousin-in-law, Gao Yunting, was the vice-principal of Dongjie Second Primary School.
Jiangjiazhuang was only a little over two kilometers from Dongjie Second Primary School, so there was no need to rent or buy a place in the county just for school.
That's why the couple had chosen to build their house in the village.
After getting up, Xu Li, wearing light pink pajamas with cute bears, went to the kitchen to make hand-pulled pancakes for Jiang Xue, her daughter's favorite.
She also heated a Half a Liter of fresh milk in a milk pot.
After preparing breakfast, she finally pulled Jiang Xue out of her warm bed.
While Jiang Xue ate breakfast, Xu Li called Sun Na on her phone.
She recounted everything Jiang Tao had told her that morning in detail.
"Your old Jiang dreamed that I won third prize? How much is the third prize worth?"
On the other end of the phone, Sun Na found Xu Li's words quite amusing.
Xu Li, munching on a slice of bread, said, "The third prize is a fixed 3,000 yuan."
"Hahaha… I have that kind of luck?"
"Then if I bet tens of thousands of times on this lottery ticket, wouldn't I become a billionaire?"
Sun Na, on the other end, clearly didn't take Xu Li's words seriously.
Xu Li said, "My husband told me not to get greedy and to bet no more than ten times. You too—if we bet too much, his dream won't come true."
"Look at you, talking like it's real. It's just a dream~ How could it be that accurate!"
"I've already sent you a photo of the lottery ticket. If you want to bet, go do it yourself. I'm not spending money on this nonsense."
"Darling, I've got to head out to work. Gotta go, let's chat tonight."
"Nana, you're really not betting? My husband's been pretty lucky with money lately."
"Nope, nope, I don't believe in this stuff~ Bye-bye, wishing you and little Xue a happy day~"
With that, Sun Na ended the video call.
With something like buying lottery tickets, Xu Li didn't feel right pushing too hard.
If they won, great. If not, it'd just be a waste of money.
In truth, she knew lotteries were all about metaphysics.
If it's meant to be, it'll happen; if it's not, don't force it.
Many lottery players had dreamed of winning.
But how could a person's dream affect reality?
After Jiang Xue finished her hand-pulled pancake, the mother and daughter each drank a cup of milk.
Xu Li quickly washed up, then rode an electric scooter to take Jiang Xue to Ping County's downtown area.
She went straight to the lottery shop where she often bought tickets and printed ten copies of Sun Na's randomly selected five-bet, 10-yuan lottery ticket, spending 100 yuan.
After printing the tickets, Xu Li rode the electric scooter with Jiang Xue toward her grandmother's house.
"Mommy, when is Daddy coming back? It's been so, so long since I've seen him in person. I miss him so much."
On the back seat of the electric scooter, Jiang Xue, wearing a pink helmet, hugged her mom's waist and asked in a sweet, childish voice.
"Soon, soon. Daddy said he'll be back in five or six days, and then he'll take little Xue to the amusement park and the zoo~"
"I miss him so much."
"Mommy misses him too~"
…
Beijing.
After selling a 20,000-yuan scratch-off lottery ticket, Jiang Tao had originally planned to continue wandering around.
He wanted to expand his range of activities and visit more places.
The chances of picking up valuable information would likely increase.
However, while waiting for the bus, he got a call from his landlord, Old Lü Qian.
Lü Qian asked him to help Ma Dongmei move some things.
"Sure thing, Old Lü. Are you and Sister Ma starting your sweet cohabitation life?"
At the village entrance where Jiang Tao parked his truck, he saw Lü Qian already waiting there and teased him with a smile.
Today, Lü Qian was once again cosplaying as Xu Wenqiang, standing out as the flashiest guy on the street.
"Hahaha, not quite, not yet~"
"Little Mei's been renting alone in Baigezhuang, where the conditions are much worse than here."
"I just had a tenant move out, so it's perfect for her to move in."
"Let's go, Little Jiang. Mei's already waiting there. Let's head over."
Lü Qian's face was beaming with a happy smile, like a young man in love.
"Keeping her close to win her over—Old Lü, that's a brilliant move!"
Jiang Tao gave Lü Qian a thumbs-up with a grin.
"You and your big mouth! Here, take a pack of cigarettes to shut you up."
Lü Qian laughed, pulling out an unopened pack of Huazi cigarettes. He lit one for himself, then handed the whole pack to Jiang Tao.
"Got it! Baigezhuang, right? I know the place. Brother Lü, hop in!"
Jiang Tao didn't stand on ceremony. With a grin, he took the Huazi, lit one for himself, and stuffed the rest in his pocket.
The two climbed into the truck, and Jiang Tao drove toward Baigezhuang.
After about ten minutes of driving, the truck arrived at the old site of Baigezhuang Village.
This was already a demolition zone, with relocation starting three or four years ago.
The village was filled with ruins and rubble destroyed by excavators.
Only seven or eight holdout households remained, their buildings standing alone amidst the wasteland.
Ma Dongmei's rental was in one of those holdout buildings.
The conditions here were indeed much worse than in Xiaoshahe.
Under Lü Qian's guidance, Jiang Tao drove the truck to the building, where Ma Dongmei was already waiting.
Ma Dongmei was wearing a brown, long down jacket, her slightly graying hair neatly combed.
Though she didn't say much, her face always carried a warm, comforting smile.
When Ma Dongmei saw Jiang Tao, she smiled and waved to greet him.
She had a good impression of Jiang Tao and was grateful to him for introducing her to Lü Qian.
Lü Qian's smile never faded when he saw Ma Dongmei.
After gesturing with Ma Dongmei for a bit, he called Jiang Tao to follow him into the building.
The building was old, dark, and damp.
But Ma Dongmei's room, like her, was tidy and spotless.
Ma Dongmei had lived here for over ten years, but there wasn't much stuff in the room.
The three of them cleared out all of Ma Dongmei's belongings in one trip.
After moving, Lü Qian called Ma Dongmei's landlord to inform him that she had moved out.
For such an old, rundown tenement, the landlord didn't bother coming back to check, and there was no dramatic "lantern inspection" for damages.
After the call, Jiang Tao drove Lü Qian and Ma Dongmei back to Lü Qian's small building in Xiaoshahe.
Jiang Tao helped move the things into a sunny room on the first floor.
The busy morning passed quickly.
At noon, Lü Qian treated Jiang Tao and Ma Dongmei to a meal at a small restaurant in the urban village.
It was both a thank-you to Jiang Tao for his help that morning and a celebration of Ma Dongmei's move.
During the meal, Lü Qian insisted on giving Jiang Tao 1,000 yuan as a labor fee.
Refusing would mean disrespecting Old Lü!