"Auntie Wang, that building you bought..." Fatty Lai said to himself: that block had only just gone on the market; apart from the one unit sold to your family, not a single one had moved — where would any leftover stock come from? But since Mother Tang had asked, he answered, "There might be. Shall we go and have a look in a while?"

"Then let's buy in that building, all right? It's close to our place too, and Yun'er and Xiaofen get along so well — if the two of them are there together, they can see each other whenever they like!" said Mother Tang.

Fatty Lai brought Xiaofen's mother, Wei Zhao and the others to the building Mother Tang had bought in earlier. It had excellent light front and back, and ranked among the finest blocks in the whole compound — how could it have any poorly placed units?

But since Mother Tang had spoken, Fatty Lai simply picked out a somewhat smaller apartment, a top-floor one, and led Xiaofen's mother and Wei Zhao up with him.

This sort of little two-bedroom, one-living-room place: the living room was a touch small, barely more than forty square meters in all, yet the layout was good, the feel warm and homely, the light fine as well. Xiaofen's mother fell in love with it at first glance. "Mr. Lai, how much is this one?" she asked.

"This... for this layout the original price is 380,000 yuan, but this one is on the top floor and has a cold outer wall, so it comes cheaper — right now it's only 300,000 yuan," Fatty Lai said.

"Ah! Only 300,000 yuan?" Xiaofen's mother was thunderstruck. Their old broken-down thirty-square-meter place had brought in 180,000 in compensation, and now this new apartment of over forty square meters cost a mere 300,000? That was far too cheap!

As for the top floor, the cold wall and the rest of it — none of that was any problem at all for Xiaofen's mother. Their old home had been a top-floor corner unit as well, and the heating had been poor, and still they had lived in it.

A building with central heating was bound to be far better than their old place, and the workmanship looked genuinely solid besides; so Xiaofen's mother fell for this apartment on the spot.

"Yes, only 300,000 yuan." Fatty Lai nodded. "Top-floor units like this are usually sold at a discount."

"Then wonderful — we'll take this one." Xiaofen's mother nodded, and with that the matter was settled.

Xiaofen's mother now had 680,000 yuan in hand. The apartment cost only 300,000, which would leave her 380,000 — more than enough for furniture and appliances.

Fatty Lai telephoned the sales manager, who came over and signed the contract with Xiaofen's mother. The money was paid, and the apartment was now registered under Xiaofen's mother's name.

Xiaofen's mother had never expected that buying a home she liked could go so smoothly. She thanked Tang Yun's mother and Wei Zhao a thousand times over — without them, where on earth could she have found anyone to sell her such a fine house at such a low price?

Tang Yun understood perfectly well that Fatty Lai's selling Xiaofen's mother an apartment so cheaply was entirely out of regard for Wei Zhao. This was hardly some unsellable leftover unit! In both layout and light it was quite excellent; getting it for only 300,000 — it could not possibly have been cheaper.

Xiaofen too looked at Wei Zhao with gratitude. Her mother might not understand, but how could she not? She knew all about Fatty Lai's earlier plea for Wei Zhao to treat his father's illness; this was surely Fatty Lai, grateful for Wei Zhao's kindness, selling her family a home at such a low price.

"Chief, thank you!" Kang ** said to Wei Zhao in a low voice. "Today I've truly been given face!"

"Heh..." Wei Zhao smiled faintly. "You and Fatty Lai both call me Chief — so the two of you ought to be helping each other."

Wei Zhao's words moved Kang ** deeply in that instant; to be a chief the way Wei Zhao was — that was rare indeed. Kang ** did not feel he had given much of anything. All he had given was a moment's hot blood when Wei Zhao first arrived, and the impulse that made him rise and stand with Wei Zhao when Zhong Yongliang came looking for trouble. And for that he had won Wei Zhao's recognition and friendship.

With Xiaofen's family's home settled, Mother Tang could not wait to go and see her own place; according to Fatty Lai, the renovation had begun the day before.

Xiaofen's mother wanted to go along with Mother Tang to see how the Tang family's renovation was coming along, so she would have something to compare against.

The Tang family's apartment was spacious and bright, fully three times the size of Xiaofen's. Yet Xiaofen's mother no longer envied them: that her own family could afford even one such home was an unexpected joy, and what use was envy now?

Still, over Mother Tang's winning of the grand prize, Xiaofen's mother could not help nursing a little hope. "Mr. Lai, can I still join the draw? Mine is a discounted unit..."

Fearing that because she had bought a discount apartment she might be barred from the draw, she asked rather nervously.

"Of course you can. When you get to the sales office later, you can have one draw — two, if you like." Fatty Lai laughed.

Looking at the expectation brimming on Xiaofen's mother's face, Mother Tang could not help sighing inwardly. She knew perfectly well how she had won the grand prize; how could Xiaofen's mother's luck possibly win anything?

Thinking of her own good fortune, Mother Tang felt a little sorry for Xiaofen's mother. She glanced at Wei Zhao and her daughter, then at the beaming Fatty Lai, and could not resist saying, "Say, little Lai — could the leftover materials from our renovation go to Xiaofen's mother's place?"

Mother Tang wanted Xiaofen's family to save a little money. If her own household had bought materials in excess, giving them to Xiaofen's family could ease their burden somewhat.

"Ah? That..." Fatty Lai could not help looking at Wei Zhao again. How could a renovation leave leftover materials? Everything had been prepared to fit the area of the present apartment; there would basically be nothing left over.

Wei Zhao turned his head aside, privately amused. Left over or not, why do you keep looking at me? What am I supposed to say?

Only when Wei Zhao raised no objection did Fatty Lai say, "All right. Later I'll have a word with the man in charge — if there are leftover materials, we'll use them to finish Xiaofen's mother's place as well, and no charge for the labor. I can see there's quite a lot of material; it's more than enough for two apartments. That one's small, so we'll simply do it at the same time."

"Oh, how can we..." Xiaofen's mother had never expected that one sentence from Mother Tang would save her so much money — she would not even have to pay for the renovation! This Mr. Lai was far too accommodating.

"Come now, little Lai has already said it, so don't refuse." Mother Tang felt she had a great deal of face; with a single sentence she had spared Xiaofen's mother the renovation costs.

Watching from the sidelines, Tang Yun grew somewhat angry and stamped her foot in secret vexation. She was not a petty person, but she knew Fatty Lai had said all this purely for Wei Zhao's sake, and she did not want to owe Wei Zhao too much. Every single time she troubled Wei Zhao; now even Xiaofen's family's affairs were being laid at his feet. How was she to face Wei Zhao from now on?

For the fastest updates, please read without pop-ups.