Rebirth: A Cinderella's Counterattack

Chapter 104: Chapter 98: Real Estate Investment

Mother He had prepared breakfast early the next morning, waiting for the Luo family to come downstairs to eat. She looked at the woman laying out new shoes and sternly said, ”Keep them to wear for the New Year.”

He Wenyu pouted but obediently put them away. She had no choice but to refrain from making a fuss since Qianqian had mentioned that recently the adults were probably all feeling anxious. As a child, she ought to be as sensible as she could.

Mother He was surprised at the girl’s compliance today, but then she saw Luo’s Mom arriving with the two children, opening the door and entering the house. Luo’s Mom said, ”It’s so cold, you didn’t have to keep the door open. You could just knock; it’s letting in a draft.”

”It’s no bother, it was only open for a short while,” Mother He said with a smile. ”Come on, let’s eat. After we finish, we can head out early.”

After a comfortable breakfast, the group took a bus to the shop. Luo Qianqian and Luo Shufan both silenced their phones to prevent their parents from worrying too much. Luo Qianqian couldn’t help but marvel that nowadays a phone could last nearly half a month on a single charge.

The shop was well-located, with a steady stream of customers coming from both north and south. Luo Qianqian internally calculated the renovation costs when she suddenly noticed the rent and sale prices of the shop next door, shocked at how cheap they were. She began to consider whether to buy the two shops, thinking about the red envelope from her grandfather and the remaining savings between her and her brother.

”Mom, do all these shops have the same owner?” After visiting several shops with rental and sale signs listing the same contact person and phone number, she became curious.

”Indeed, we had to persuade and negotiate quite a bit just to rent this one, and we even signed a three-year contract to secure it. The owner wants to sell, but there hasn’t been a buyer,” Luo’s Mom said, pursing her lips. ”With such high prices, who would buy them?”

Luo Qianqian looked down silently. The asking price would barely cover a month’s rent a few years later.

Therefore, she said, ”Xiao Yu, you stay here. I’ll go buy some water with brother. What would you like to drink?”

”Just water is fine,” He Wenyu nodded. With the family facing financial difficulties, she couldn’t afford to be extravagant.

”Calling me out to buy water?” Luo Shufan looked at his sister’s calculating gaze and knew there was more to it.

”Brother, let’s buy the shop,” Luo Qianqian suggested, making sure Luo’s Mom was out of sight before speaking seriously to Luo Shufan.

”Ah? Okay,” Luo Shufan said, then his eyes widened as he exclaimed loudly, ”What did you just say???”

Seeing the eyes of those around them, Luo Qianqian pursed her lips. Was her brother slow on the uptake? She then softly said in a volume only the two of them could hear, ”I said let’s buy the two shops.”

”Where do we have the money?” Luo Shufan had become accustomed to letting his sister manage the money, only holding it himself when they went out.

”We do have it. Our savings might not be enough, but have you forgotten the red envelope from Grandpa?” Luo Shufan had handed over the red envelope to his sister as soon as he received it, a habit developed over the year.

”Red envelope, there’s that much in it???” Luo Shufan widened his eyes, somewhat frightened. He had actually let his sister carry so much money. What if something went wrong... Thinking this, he shook his head, refusing to believe something would go wrong.

”Yes, and I calculated that if we reserve half in case of emergencies, we can buy three shops. But the only problem is, we don’t have IDs to transfer ownership.” Luo Qianqian paused, then suddenly remembered the apartment Second Uncle had gifted them, which was registered under her and her brother’s names.

Thus, she pulled out the phone hidden under layers of clothes and called Luo Yanran, ”Fourth Brother, do you know how Second Uncle managed to buy the apartment for us?”

”Hmm?... Qianqian?” Luo Yanran, who had been busy all night and had just fallen asleep, was woken by the phone call. Recognizing the familiar voice, he sat up, ”The apartment? My dad has friends working over there, and the information on your household registration isn’t exactly a secret,” he said with a yawn.

”Then I can’t help from here,” Luo Qianqian sighed and said, ”Then you go ahead, bye.”

Luo Yanran, hearing the beeping sound from the phone, was momentarily stunned. He had answered the phone without complaining only to be hung up on? As he lay back down to continue sleeping, he sat up again after a while, resigned, and made a call.

Luo Qianqian, holding her phone and feeling anxious, saw the screen light up with an unfamiliar number. After hesitating for a moment, she answered, ”Hello, who is this?”

”Qianqian, where are you?” Bai Yixian’s irritable voice, clearly not yet fully awake, came through.

”What for?... I’m on Victory Street,” Luo Qianqian was about to hang up but then thought better of it, realizing her number must have been given to him by someone asking him to find her.

”Alright, I’ll be there soon. I’ll call you when I arrive.” The call ended immediately after.

”Who was that?” Luo Shufan, seeing his sister’s perplexed expression, asked worriedly.

”Zhuzi’s brother.” Luo Qianqian returned to the store with Shufan, carrying water. Although she was a bit anxious, she still pretended to be calm and waited.

It wasn’t twenty minutes before they saw the black car from yesterday passing by. Luo Qianqian quickly made up an excuse to go outside with Luo’s Mom to check her phone, and sure enough, the screen was flashing.

”I’m here, where are you?” Luo Qianqian saw the car parked not far away, quickly hung up the phone, and ran over.

Bai Yixian looked at the hung-up phone, originally baffled, and only when someone knocked on the car window did he see the person on the other end of the call in front of the car.

”What’s up?” Bai Yixian opened the car door to let Luo Qianqian in.

”What the hell is with the ’Pale-faced Scholar’ setting up as the perfect house husband?” Luo Qianqian muttered under her breath, then looked around and saw that Bai Yizhu was not in the car, and asked, ”Where’s Zhuzi?”

”Tie Zhu is still sleeping. During summer and winter breaks, he only gets up when the sun is three poles high.” Bai Yixian yawned.

”Aren’t you afraid that your... gang will be wiped out while you sleep?” Luo Qianqian could never believe that this smiling, cunning-looking man was sent to watch over and protect them.

”That’s long gone, now it’s just me and Tie Zhu, depending on each other, making a living as bodyguards,” Bai Yixian said lazily, raising his eyebrows.

Luo Qianqian twitched the corner of her mouth: Bodyguards? Who needs bodyguards who aren’t big, hulky men, but instead this pretty boy type? She asked, ”Can my brother and I buy a house?”

”You don’t even have IDs...” Bai Yixian paused and then asked, ”What are you trying to do?”

”Buy the store my mom is renting as an investment,” Luo Qianqian smiled. ”Your uncle trusts you a lot, doesn’t he?”

”That black guy wouldn’t dare not... cough cough,” Bai Yixian started, then quickly coughed twice to cover up his embarrassment, and seeing that Luo Qianqian showed no unusual reaction, continued, ”He trusts me a lot, what about it?”

”You sign a contract with me and then help me buy the store,” Luo Qianqian said straightforwardly.

”Signing contracts...” Bai Yixian twitched his mouth. ”You think too much, okay, I’ll get a lawyer to write up a property transfer contract, and we can get it notarized after the new year, okay?”

”Mmm, make it quick, let’s settle this today, then call this person and say you want to buy the two rented stores and the biggest one. The two rented ones already have three years’ rent paid, don’t forget to bargain. I’ll get the bank card for you when I go home at noon, and we’ll talk on the phone then.” Luo Qianqian finished speaking and maliciously added, ”Actually, you could buy two units as an investment. They’ll definitely appreciate, trust me, and you can use them as your dowry in the future.”

Then she got out of the car and ran off.

Bai Yixian sat in his seat, stunned, because Luo Qianqian said they would definitely appreciate, or else he might buy some too? It would be a decent dowry when Tie Zhu gets married in the future.

He never really thought about the last thing Luo Qianqian said in a very soft voice.

”Mom, we’re going home at noon. We’re not much help here anyway.” Actually, Luo Qianqian was afraid of being discovered meeting Bai Yixian. She thought to herself, why does this feel like a young couple in love, meeting in secret because their families disapprove?

”Okay.” Luo’s Mom and Mother He were wearing dirt-resistant clothes, as they were meant for working, and the children were in clean clothes, moreover with all the chaos, she worried about them knocking into things.

”You can take them home at noon. Ever since the incident with Qianqian last time, I’ve always been uneasy about letting the kids walk by themselves.” Mother He stretched her waist while talking; even with the doors closed, Luo Qianqian could feel the cold in the room without heating or air conditioning, but both mothers were dripping with sweat.

”No need, my brother can take me to Beijing, how could I have any trouble in a city we’ve lived in for over a decade?” Luo Qianqian shook her head. Now that they had phones, they could just dial 110 if anything happened.

”That’s true,” Luo’s Mom nodded, turning to Mother He, ”They’ll be fine, there are three of them. Let’s push hard today to finish up so we can look into renovation details tomorrow.”

Mother He listened to Luo’s Mom and said nothing more.

For lunch, the three of them bought baozi, hot eggs, and milk for the two mothers and then went home. Luo Qianqian saw the message and went downstairs with her bank card.

”Aren’t you coming with me?” Bai Yixian laughed as he looked at Luo Qianqian’s indifferent attitude, ”Aren’t you afraid I’ll run off with the money?”

”You wouldn’t dare,” Luo Qianqian chuckled lightly. ”I am from the Luo family in the Capital City.”