Chapter 6: Sell the House

After Su Ruo made up her mind, she went to her parents' room, rummaged through boxes and cabinets, and quickly found an iron box under the bed; opening it, she saw besides a property deed, there was also a stack of money and tickets.

Su Ruo counted and found the money amounted to three hundred, and there were several dozen tickets, which was also an unexpected joy.

But Su Ruo thought, her parents were both dual-income workers, earning only a few dozen each month, yet after so many years they had saved only this little; she didn't know where the money went, but it certainly wasn't spent on her.

People say there are no parents who don't love their own children, but foster parents are an exception; they treated Su Ruo so badly it could be described as vicious.

Although the family's living conditions were fine, Su Ruo often went hungry and underdressed, frequently suffering from hunger and cold, and was often beaten and scolded at the slightest provocation.

Moreover, starting at age six, Su Ruo began helping with household chores—washing clothes, cooking, essentially taking on all the housework—but even so, her parents never gave her a pleasant expression.

In this family, Su Ruo lived worse than a baby bok choy.

Previously, Su Ruo didn't understand, thinking her parents disliked her because of her unlucky constitution; now it seems they likely knew long ago that she wasn't their biological daughter, or perhaps they orchestrated this themselves.

While Su Ruo was thinking and sorting things, a photo fell out of the envelope at that moment.

Su Ruo picked up the photo; it looked somewhat aged, already a bit yellowed, but it was well preserved without any creases.

The photo shows a little girl about five or six years old, with a high ponytail, wearing a snow-white princess dress, standing in front of Kyoto's most famous building, smiling with a bright, sunny face.

Upon seeing the photo, Su Ruo faintly suspected that this might be the girl who swapped identities with her and stole her fortune.

Otherwise, it would be hard to explain why her parents cherished a photo of a stranger girl so much, even placing it together with the property deed.

Su Ruo looked at the scenery in the photo and recalled what she had heard—that her 'mother' had a difficult labor when giving birth to her and went to Kyoto to deliver; she guessed that her biological parents and the girl who stole her identity lived in Kyoto.

But Kyoto is huge, and after so many years the girl's appearance must have changed; relying solely on this photo to find her biological parents would be difficult.

This matter cannot be rushed; fortunately, Su Ruo has plenty of time to investigate slowly.

After Su Ruo carefully put away the photo, money, tickets, and property deed, she went to the black market; she still had three days before going to the countryside and needed to prepare many things.

The black market was in a concealed alley, with a fierce-looking man standing at its entrance.

As Su Ruo approached, the man stopped her: "What do you want?"

"I want to go in to sell some things," Su Ruo said without hiding anything.

The man looked at Su Ruo's only small satchel, frowned, and asked: "What are you selling?"

"Selling a house," Su Ruo said; fearing the man wouldn't believe her, she took out the property deed from her bag.

The man took it, glanced at it, confirmed Su Ruo was telling the truth, and said: "I can't decide this myself; I'll take you to see our boss."

Su Ruo followed the man, winding through twists and turns, into a courtyard where a middle-aged man was lazily reclining on a chair; seeing the tall man enter, he asked: "What's the matter?"

"This little girl wants to buy a house!"

The middle-aged man chuckled upon hearing: "This little girl has guts! Buying a house is no small matter; can you make the decision?"

Su Ruo knew this wasn't the time to pretend to be timid and weak, so facing the man's question, she responded neither humbly nor arrogantly, briefly introducing her situation.

Then she said: "My family's situation is like this—my parents are gone, and I have to go to the countryside in place of my eldest cousin; if I don't sell this house, it would just be a bargain for my uncle's family, so if you want to buy it, name your price."

The middle-aged man felt nothing particular upon hearing Su Ruo's words; after all, there were many pitiful people these days, and he couldn't really help, but his tone softened a bit.

"Alright, I'll send someone to check it out; if you want to sell, come again tomorrow—I'll take this house for three hundred."

Su Ruo knew that even a small house now costs over four hundred.

This man buying her house for three hundred could resell it for a profit of over a hundred—pure profiteering.

Yet she readily agreed, first because she was about to go to the countryside soon and had no time to look for a buyer.

Moreover, if she sold the house, Grandma Su and her uncle's family would surely cause trouble; ordinary people avoid getting involved in disputes, so they naturally wouldn't buy it.

Therefore, after considering everything, Su Ruo decided selling to the person before her was the quickest method.

"Okay, I also need ten catties of cotton and two bolts of cloth; if you have them, I'll pay to buy."

"No problem!" The middle-aged man gave a signal to the tall man, who left and soon returned with what Su Ruo needed.

Su Ruo checked; the cotton and cloth were of the best quality, very soft, and the price was fair, so she paid and left.

After leaving the black market, Su Ruo found a deserted spot and stored these items in her system space.

Back home, Su Ruo took out the cotton and cloth, preparing to make a quilt.

In her previous life, she brought only a few sets of clothes and a quilt that had been used for years and offered no warmth, then went to the countryside.

As soon as she arrived, she encountered a violent storm with heavy rain mixed with hail that lasted several days.

Su Ruo's tattered quilt couldn't keep out the cold, and combined with her already weak constitution, she fell ill directly.

She ran a fever for several days straight, nearly dying; even after recovering was worse, often sick and lacking strength, thus giving those who bullied her an opportunity.

Having been reborn, Su Ruo now has money and will naturally not wrong herself again.

The winter in Black Province is extremely cold, so Su Ruo made the quilt as thick as possible; the new cotton and cloth quilt felt soft to the touch, utterly comfortable.

These tasks were things Su Ruo had done in her past life, so she finished a quilt in one afternoon.

After finishing, seeing the leftover cotton and cloth, Su Ruo made another, thinner quilt, since in this season, unless the weather is extremely harsh, a thick quilt would be overly warm.

Once Su Ruo had finished the quilts, outside it was completely dark; she casually had something to eat and then fell asleep.

The next morning, as soon as Su Ruo got up, she went straight to the black market; the tall man saw her and took her to see the boss.

The boss had apparently already inquired, didn't say much, and just produced three hundred dollars.

Su Ruo also didn't hesitate, took out the property deed, told Qiang Ge she still needed to stay two days, and asked him to collect the house the day after tomorrow; Qiang Ge had no objection, they signed an agreement, and with money and goods exchanged, the matter was settled.

After selling the house, thinking she now had an extra three hundred, Su Ruo's steps felt much lighter as she left the black market.

Su Ruo was in a good mood and didn't rush home; thinking of the supplies she needed for the countryside, which she hadn't prepared at all, she went straight to the department store in the city.

Contract signed.