Chen Xiliang came with excitement but left with a heavy heart.
Xia Xiaolan didn’t rush him, as her schedule was quite full too. Manager Wu said the courtyard house in Nanluoguxiang had been reduced from 75,000 to 70,000 by the owner, who was in a hurry to sell because they needed to leave the country.
Xia Xiaolan still claimed it was expensive and mentioned the troublesome tenants. The owner caught her hint – those who complain about the merchandise are usually the real buyers. Would she be interested in buying?
When asked how much she was willing to pay, Xia Xiaolan only offered 60,000. The owner immediately refused to negotiate, and their business discussion ended there. Xia Xiaolan showed no urgency, at least outwardly.
As for the courtyard house near Shichahai, she directly offered 80,000.
Neither party could wait too long – the Nanluoguxiang seller needed to go abroad, while the Shichahai property had several siblings waiting to split the money. Finding Manager Wu had been the right move. If Xia Xiaolan were buying houses alone, gathering such information wouldn’t have been easy. While getting a lower price would be ideal, she would still buy even if the final price exceeded her offer.
Xia Xiaolan had considered the possibility of someone else swooping in with a higher bid, but matching others’ prices wasn’t her style. It was all a gamble, as business always is!
When Xia Xiaolan returned to her dormitory, Yang Yonghong put down her book and said, “Little Six, you’ve been out all day again. I’ve noticed your attitude toward studying has been a bit lax this week.”
As a responsible dorm head, Yang Yonghong arranged cleaning duties, often brought meals for everyone, and supervised the studying habits of Room 307. When criticized, Xia Xiaolan immediately acknowledged her fault: “I’ve been too busy this week, but I’ll take my studies more seriously from now on and won’t let down the organization’s trust!”
A gentle reminder was enough – once Xia Xiaolan recognized the issue, the dorm head wouldn’t pursue it further.
Xia Xiaolan still had two pieces of clothing to wash, so she carried her basin to the outdoor sink… Yes, despite dealing with a business worth around 100,000, she still had to wash her own clothes at school. There was no “laundry room” yet – even the wealthiest students had to wash clothes by hand.
Chen Yiyi, who usually maintained a low profile in Room 307, was also washing clothes. Seeing Xia Xiaolan approach with her basin, she showed slight concern: “You got scolded, right? The boss was just saying in the room that she needed to tighten the reins on you when you returned, and wouldn’t let anyone speak up for you… By the way, is your uncle better now?”
Xia Xiaolan spent half her time after classes visiting Tang Hongen, and the other half on personal matters.
Among all the dormmates, only Chen Yiyi was observant enough to notice the faint smell of disinfectant on her and learned that her uncle was hospitalized.
“He’s being discharged tomorrow. Thank you for your concern, Yiyi!”
Chen Yiyi smiled, her expression gentle.
Room 307 had eight people, each with different personalities. Chen Yiyi was truly gentle.
Xia Xiaolan would even lower her voice when speaking to her, afraid of startling Chen Yiyi. However, to others, Xia Xiaolan’s natural voice was already quite delicate, easily inspiring protective instincts.
That’s exactly how Ji Jiangyuan felt.
Xia Xiaolan’s personality was one thing, her external appearance another – she wasn’t exactly Ji Jiangyuan’s usual type.
She was particularly energetic, with a vitality that couldn’t be contained by rules and regulations. Although Xia Xiaolan seemed like other students, attending classes on time and actively aligning with the organization, Ji Jiangyuan felt she was different.
Ji Jiangyuan knew Xia Xiaolan had a boyfriend, and he didn’t consider his special attention as trying to steal her away.
There were too many mysteries surrounding Xia Xiaolan, drawing him to explore further.
Curiosity often leads to admiration – many people fall this way without realizing it, and Ji Jiangyuan was currently unaware. He was thinking about investigating the “Wang Jianhua” from the newspaper, who seemed mentally unstable.
Given that Ji Jiangyuan’s family had long-standing connections with Ning Xue’s family, the Ji family couldn’t be ordinary.
Ji Jiangyuan had returned to China with his mother because his maternal grandfather was in poor health, accompanying him through his final days.
After returning, he had difficulty adjusting.
Now he was gradually integrating into life at Huaqing University.
Ji Jiangyuan believed his concern for Xia Xiaolan was simply about unity and friendship among classmates. If there were any worries in his life besides his grandfather’s health, it would be his mother Ji Ya’s attitude… Ji Ya was a charismatic woman – when mother and son lived abroad, she attracted attention wherever she went, with Americans finding her full of Oriental charm.
While foreigners found Ji Ya attractive, Ji Jiangyuan admitted his mother was indeed beautiful.
But this beauty often became hysterical, which frightened Ji Jiangyuan somewhat.
After returning to China, his mother’s emotions became more unstable, recently interrogating Ji Jiangyuan about whether anyone had come looking for him at school.
Who would come looking for him?
Could it be his birth father?
Ji Jiangyuan’s impression of his birth father was faint. When he first arrived in America, he fell seriously ill from adjusting to the environment, and later, while adapting to the new surroundings, memories that weren’t frequently accessed gradually faded. Ji Ya’s hysteria usually involved his birth father, and Ji Jiangyuan didn’t dare ask. Slowly, this person became an unspeakable taboo in the Ji family.
Yes, not just Ji Ya, but the entire Ji family despised Ji Jiangyuan’s birth father.
Sometimes he was truly curious – what had that man done to earn such contempt from the entire Ji family?
He had a vague memory of his birth father letting him ride on his shoulders.
He must have loved him, right? At least at some point?
Why was there never any news afterward?
Ji Jiangyuan had wondered about this but, receiving no answers, pushed it to the back of his mind. Thinking of his birth father reminded him of Xia Xiaolan’s “uncle,” as they shared the same surname.
No matter how forgetful Ji Jiangyuan might be, he hadn’t forgotten his childhood name.
Back then, his surname was Tang.
Xia Xiaolan’s uncle was also surnamed Tang.
What a coincidence.
Ji Jiangyuan sat up in bed – why was his mother suddenly acting crazy again? Had someone upset her?
Who came looking for him at school? If someone had indeed seen him there, and they shared the surname Tang, wouldn’t it be Xia Xiaolan’s “Uncle Tang”?
Ji Jiangyuan had been asking around today, originally gathering information about Wang Jianhua’s background to warn Xia Xiaolan to be careful. Now another thought suddenly emerged that he couldn’t suppress.
Early Sunday morning, Xia Xiaolan was heading out again.
Today Tang Hongen would be discharged and return to Pengcheng. As Xia Xiaolan went downstairs, she ran into Ji Jiangyuan, who grinned at her:
“Classmate Xia, I suspect you’re being targeted by a dangerous person. I feel obligated to protect you… Don’t look at me like that, this is out of classroom friendship!”
Classroom friendship?
Xia Xiaolan felt a chill down her neck.
She and Ji Jiangyuan hardly had a deep classroom friendship – she shouldn’t have given him those dried shrimp!
“Ji Jiangyuan, I’m going to the hospital. It’s not appropriate for you to come along.”
Bringing Ji Jiangyuan to the hospital to pick up Tang Hongen?
That wouldn’t be a surprise – it would be a shock.
Tang Hongen’s stomach would hurt when he got nervous, and Xia Xiaolan worried he couldn’t handle such a big shock!