A lavish property priced at 126 million left the young master of the Feng family utterly stunned!

Last time, he had asked Ge You to help find a house. Unexpectedly, Ge was so quick that he had already picked out three properties and was just waiting for Cheng Xueming to go to the affiliated high school so they could go see the houses together.

But since then, Cheng Xueming had vanished without a trace. Knowing that his sister-in-law Feng Jiayou was also in her senior year at the affiliated high school, he couldn’t wait any longer and followed over himself.

He arrived just in time to enjoy a grand meal with Cheng Xueming!

“There's a unit in the Overseas Chinese Apartments?”

At the dining table, Ge You mentioned two courtyard houses arranged in a traditional two-entrance style, and another unit in the Overseas Chinese Apartments, all near Yanda University.

Cheng Xueming and Feng Jiayou had already seen the courtyard houses near Yanda. They were mediocre, nothing special, so they weren’t keen on buying them for now.

But the Overseas Chinese Apartments Ge You spoke of caught Cheng Xueming’s attention, prompting him to ask more questions.

Regardless of the "overseas Chinese" label, the mere word "apartment" was enough for Cheng Xueming to want to take a look.

“Are you talking about the Overseas Chinese Apartments near Yanda, around Huayuan Village?”

“I’ve heard the apartments there are very upscale, built long ago for returning overseas Chinese. The layouts and decor were modeled after those in developed cities like England and America!”

“They must be expensive, right?”

Ge You was a native of old Yanjing, and so was Feng Jiayou, having grown up there. She recalled her parents telling her that the construction of the Overseas Chinese Apartments had caused quite a stir back then.

Her mother had dreamed of owning a unit there, but they were simply not qualified — those homes were reserved exclusively for returning overseas Chinese.

Only returning overseas Chinese could buy there, hence the name Overseas Chinese Apartments.

Since these apartments were meant for overseas Chinese, even if someone wanted to sell, the price would certainly be high.

“I’m not sure about the price. The landlord wants to discuss it in person, so this afternoon I’ll take you over to have a look first!” Ge You nodded. He had inspected the place himself and it was really excellent. The price was probably not cheap either, but he wanted to ask the landlord discreetly. The landlord refused to disclose any price information, saying they’d only talk once they met the buyer. That irritated Ge You, feeling looked down upon—was he not even worthy of knowing the price?

So Ge You insisted on bringing Cheng Xueming to see it. He was curious about the house—and how much that lady wanted for it!

“What about the other two courtyard houses?”

Feng Jiayou nodded and asked about the other two.

“One of those courtyard houses is terrible—old, dirty, and messy just looking at it. But the other one, which might be next to the Overseas Chinese Apartments, looks okay—clean and tidy,” Ge You said while sipping his soup, chatting eagerly.

“Alright, after school this afternoon wait for me. We’ll check out that Overseas Chinese Apartment first!” Cheng Xueming nodded, having a rough idea. He’d planned to go right after eating but had to deliver a manuscript to Elder Ba, so he couldn’t delay.

“Old Cheng, don’t you have time this afternoon? I’m ready to skip class, but you want me to wait around—how boring!” Ge You said with a surprised look. Cheng Xueming usually skipped classes all the time, so why was he suddenly busy when he was prepared to accompany him to see the apartments?

“I’m not that free! I have to deliver a manuscript this afternoon. Wait for me there!” Cheng Xueming instructed Ge You to wait near the affiliated high school.

After the meal, Cheng Xueming took Feng Jiayou to her dorm to rest, then hurried to the gatehouse to find Elder Tang.

“You’re here!” Elder Tang, basking in the sun, didn’t bother to stand but pointed at the table. “I’ve finished reading the manuscript. It’s pretty good!”

Cheng Xueming nodded, parked his bike, and picked up the manuscript from the chalk box. Flipping through it, he was puzzled. “Elder Tang, didn’t you say you’d help polish it? Why is it blank?”

He scanned it, seeing no corrections at all. Cheng Xueming wondered if the old trickster had actually read it.

“Blame me? You didn’t leave a single typo for me to fix, so how can I polish it?”

“Go on, deliver it to Elder Ba! This manuscript is flawless—Elder Ba won’t find a single fault. Go, go, go!” Elder Tang waved him off impatiently.

“...Did you even read it?” Cheng Xueming was dumbfounded—there wasn’t a single typo?

That couldn’t be right! How could a retired Yanda professor, a respected elder, only look for typos when polishing a younger writer’s work?

“I didn’t read? I’ve read it three times. How else should I read it?”

Uh-oh! Cheng Xueming hadn’t expected the old man to overhear his muttering. Startled, he gathered the manuscript, hopped on his bike, and quickly left.

“That kid’s manuscript is indeed good, just a bit dumb!” Elder Tang squinted and smiled watching him flee.

Cheng Xueming pedaled toward the city center. Elder Ba was staying not at a guesthouse, but at the Qianmen Hotel.

Before the Reform and Opening-Up, the Qianmen Hotel ranked second among Yanjing’s top eight hotels, an international guesthouse following only the Yanjing Grand Hotel. Situated near Hufang Bridge, it was in the most bustling district of old Yanjing.

It attracted people from all over, and was the birthplace of Peking Opera’s Liyuan Theater, famed worldwide for its vibrant traditional performances.

Elder Ba loved opera, so he stayed nearby.

When Cheng Xueming arrived and found the room, Li Xiaolin was already packing to return to Shanghai.

“Xueming, just waiting on your manuscript. I figured you’d be here by now!” Li Xiaolin greeted him with a smile.

“Xiaolin, I was supposed to deliver it this morning but got delayed,” Cheng Xueming said apologetically, then asked, “Is Elder Ba not here?”

“He should be at Liyuan now. He’ll leave directly from there,” Li Xiaolin nodded. “Want me to take you to see him?”

“No, no, I won’t disturb his mood.”

“Why don’t you just let me look over your manuscript? If there’s anything to fix, I can do it here quickly!”

Cheng Xueming was eager to return and see the house, so he wasn’t in the mood to linger. If not for Elder Ba’s train tonight, he might have just brought it tomorrow.

“Alright, sit down for a bit. Sorry for the poor hospitality. When you go back to Shanghai with Jiayou, I’ll definitely treat you both!” Li Xiaolin said warmly.

“Thank you, Xiaolin, you’re too kind!” Cheng Xueming accepted and sat down as Li Xiaolin settled in to review the manuscript.

The manuscript wasn’t very long; he had already written about five thousand words of the beginning, with just over ten thousand more behind it. It didn’t take her long to read.

Cheng Xueming, meanwhile, didn’t sit but surveyed the suite layout of the so-called second-best hotel in Yanjing.

Not bad at all!

In fact, it was comparable to five-star hotels in the future, except lacking high-tech due to the era. The furnishings matched those in developed foreign cities, so Cheng Xueming grew even more eager about the Overseas Chinese Apartments Ge You had mentioned.

Those apartments, modeled after housing in developed countries, surely had amenities like private bathrooms and flush toilets—important to both Cheng and his wife.

“Xueming, you’re truly talented. To write so much so well in such a short time!” Li Xiaolin praised.

“Just like my dad said, you have the flair of the great author who once wrote thirty thousand characters a day!”

Li Xiaolin found no fault with the manuscript, only offering praise.

“I can’t compare. That master was a prodigy, speaking fluently and brilliantly. I’m nowhere near that,” Cheng Xueming modestly waved his hand.

“Don’t be modest. Jiayou told me when you started writing. Your talent is terrifying—my dad admires you so much!”

Li Xiaolin praised him without holding back, then added, “Your manuscript is great, hardly needs revision. At my level, I can’t find a single flaw.”

“So I’ll take it back to Shanghai. I’ll send you a sample copy and payment slip later, alright?”

“No problem, Xiaolin. Whatever you say!”

Cheng Xueming nodded quickly. The payment slip didn’t matter much; after all, it was just a short piece barely over fifteen thousand words. The main hope was that Elder Ba would accept the commission rather than turn them away disappointed.

“Alright! When you have another manuscript—”

Before Li Xiaolin could push for more, Cheng Xueming shook his head, “I probably won’t have time.”

“I understand, I understand! Your mother-in-law is pressing you hard, huh?”

“Let’s aim for a novella or novel next year, okay?”

Short stories didn’t quite suit them; the journal “Harvest” preferred longer works. If time weren’t so tight and the political tasks so pressing, Li Xiaolin would have preferred to wait for Cheng’s novella.

“No, no!”

“Alright then, I wish Xiaolin and Elder Ba a smooth journey. Next time you’re in Yanjing, be sure to visit me and Jiayou!”

Is the mother-in-law’s pressure on manuscript deadlines already known in the circle?

Seeing Li Xiaolin joke around, Cheng Xueming denied it repeatedly, then promised, “Next time I’m in Yanjing, I’ll definitely bring you a big novella!”

Always talking shop—typical of an editor.

“I’ll try my best!”

After a few polite exchanges, Cheng Xueming excused himself, not wanting to delay the packing for the evening train.

Exiting Qianmen Hotel, Cheng Xueming begrudgingly pedaled back, another hour or so ahead.

Tiring!

He began to miss his electric bike from his previous life.

Unfortunately, motorcycles and private cars wouldn’t be allowed for several years in this era.

Even bicycles were considered a luxury for ordinary folks.

In their hometown, the whole brigade had only one bicycle, cherished by the elders. Cheng Xueming had only borrowed it a couple of times.

Returning near Yanda, it was already past four. He picked up Feng Jiayou, who had been waiting, and headed back toward the affiliated high school.

“Old Cheng, you finally showed up! We’ve been waiting all afternoon!” Ge You appeared from nearby.

Cheng Xueming frowned. “You didn’t go to class this afternoon?”

“Hell no! I don’t want to go; it’s boring. I’d rather go feed pigs!” Ge You complained, pushing his bike.

“You want to go feed pigs?!” Cheng Xueming’s lips twitched. Ge You had been sent to the countryside in Changping County, Xingshou Commune for youth labor. Because he was skinny and weak, they assigned him to pig feeding!

Just after returning to the city and attending school a few days, he was already missing his pig pals?

“I just don’t want to study anymore. My dad’s trying to find me a way into the Trade Union’s Cultural Troupe. What do you think?”

Ge You probably wasn’t cut out for studying. No one knew how he got into Yanda’s affiliated high school repeat class—definitely not on merit.

But the Cultural Troupe was indeed his future path.

Starting there, Ge You would gradually rise and become one of the core members in the Beijing arts scene.

“That’s good!”

“Your performance talent is decent, Old Ge. You should definitely try the troupe!”

They chatted as they rode.

“My performance talent? If it weren’t for my boredom with school, I really wouldn’t want to join that damn Cultural Troupe!”

“Look, Old Cheng, this way—the Overseas Chinese Apartments are in that direction!”

Still complaining, Ge You led the way. At a fork, he pointed right.

About ten minutes later, he pointed to a lane ahead. “The better courtyard house is in there.”

“But let’s see the Overseas Chinese Apartments first. The environment there is really nice. If my dad had a place for me to live, I’d want to buy there too!”

Blowing smoke was harmless, right?

Cheng Xueming glanced but didn’t call out Ge You’s bluff, riding on until they reached the gate of the Overseas Chinese Apartments.

They didn’t enter immediately. First, they registered at the guardhouse. After stating who they wanted to visit, the guards called the landlord inside. Only upon confirmation were they allowed entry.

“That strict?” Feng Jiayou whispered, surprised that a visit required an appointment and landlord approval.

Harder to get into than ministerial compounds!

“The Overseas Chinese Apartments are managed very strictly. I heard it’s modeled after foreign property management systems, with monthly fees of seven or eight yuan—pretty pricey!” Ge You, having called ahead, started showing off.

“Did you see them call just now? I heard every unit has a phone installed!”

“That... that must be expensive!”

Feng Jiayou, once a modest wealthy girl, had thought any house in Yanjing was affordable. But hearing this from Ge You, she suddenly felt uncertain.

“I’m not sure. I heard from some folks that when they first started selling over a decade ago, the price was in the hundreds of thousands.”

Ge You wasn’t certain of the exact market price, only that the houses were good and that Old Cheng wanted quality, so he brought them to see.

“How much? Hundreds of thousands?”

Feng Jiayou was stunned but didn’t fall off her bike. A property costing hundreds of thousands? No wonder Cheng dared to bring them here!

She tugged at Cheng Xueming’s waist urgently. “Don’t look anymore. We can’t afford this!”

“Probably not that crazy,” Cheng Xueming said, also shocked. Hundreds of thousands a decade ago? Were those landlords trying to rip off the overseas Chinese?

Still, he had a rough idea. Even if not hundreds of thousands, several tens of thousands would be beyond their reach.

Even if affordable, there was no need to overpay for an apartment without land or foundation.

With that money, they could buy a dozen courtyard houses—large plots worth millions or even billions later on. That was far better.

In Cheng’s mind, he’d never pay more than ten thousand for a first home.

Of course, even ten thousand was a lot, so they had to see if the conditions matched the price.

After all, this was their first home. They didn’t care about appreciation; comfort was the priority.

“We’re here now. Sister-in-law, it doesn’t cost anything to look inside!”

Seeing Feng Jiayou hesitate, Ge You said casually.

“Old Ge’s right. We’re here, might as well take a look!”

Cheng Xueming nodded and led them inside. The environment was indeed nice, no worse than near Yanda—quiet, clean, and comfortable.

They found the unit: Building 2, Unit 3, on the third floor.

They met the landlord—a young woman in her early thirties with a blend of Chinese and Western style.

Seeing it was Ge You who brought them, she was upfront.

“I’m eager to sell. You can look, but I must say first: I only accept foreign exchange certificates. Do you have those?”

Clearly, seeing the three younger people, she didn’t consider them ideal buyers.

“Only foreign exchange certificates?!”

Hearing this, Cheng Xueming and Feng Jiayou were stunned. They had hoped to hear a price and negotiate, but the landlord had already set a non-negotiable condition.

“Yes, only foreign exchange certificates!”

“My mother bought this property for $10,000 back then. Now I don’t want much—if you pay 8,000 foreign exchange certificates, the house is yours!”

Whoa!

Cheng Xueming gasped. What could they do with so many foreign exchange certificates? It was totally impractical!

...