Chapter 1489: Western-Style House

Ye Yaodong slung a burlap sack over his back, the thing clanging loudly with every step, and he walked fast and urgent, making the sack clang even louder; wherever he went, people turned to stare, his head-turn rate maxed out.

The others lagged behind him, whispering about what treasure might be inside, though they all probably guessed already—just hadn't dared say it back at the dock with so many people around, and they wanted to complain a bit anyway.

They hadn't expected that as soon as they left, Ye Yaodong had already gotten it done.

Ye Yaodong clanged and clattered back to the guesthouse room, dumped the sack onto the floor with a heavy thud, and wrinkled his nose in disgust.

Should've just hidden the sack inside clothes and quilts.

But he was tired of hiding things in clothes and quilts, wanted to try a new trick—he figured nobody would ever think to hide money inside pots, pans, bowls, and ladles, of all things.

Because Fatty had set up a canteen, the pots, pans, bowls, and ladles he'd brought up to feed the workers were useless now; he'd just set up a small stove, occasionally boiling noodles or late-night snacks.

All these items were to be taken back for the New Year, to avoid cluttering up the space, so they'd been packed and shoved into every corner of the room, even stuffed under the bed.

He pulled out each pot, pan, bowl, and ladle one by one, the clanging echoing again and again, until he finally fished out a bundle of cash from the soup pot—dense and heavy—and his face lit up with joy.

"Pink's prettier, and smaller too."

But this was newly printed, brand-new, and the high-denomination bills stacked compactly, so their volume was small—anyway, better than the old days when the largest bill was only the big united one, avoiding piles of loose change that were a pain to hide.

He took out the cash in stacks, counted it all—no more, no less—exactly forty stacks, four hundred thousand yuan.

Later, I'll take out half and hide the rest back inside the pots, pans, bowls, and ladles.

"Ye Yaodong phone call, Ye Yaodong phone call…"

Before he could finish sorting and hiding the cash, he heard the front desk downstairs shouting his name—he jolted upright, ran to the door, and yelled back.

"Coming!"

He forgot about splitting the cash now, shoved it all back in, then clanged and clattered as he stuffed every pot, pan, bowl, and ladle back in, tied the sack shut, locked the door, and rushed downstairs.

It was Director Zhang calling—he said the contract was ready, and Ye Yaodong should come right over to sign.

Ye Yaodong happily agreed, saying he'd leave immediately and catch the bus.

He glanced at his wristwatch—it was nearly three. If he rushed over now to sign, he'd make it in time to submit before closing; tomorrow would just be paperwork.

"Dongzi? Who called you?"

He glanced at Ah Guang and the others at the stairwell, walking over as he said, "Didn't you guys take a nap?"

Ah Zheng: "You're right next door, clanging and clattering like crazy, then downstairs yelled your name for a phone call—how were we supposed to sleep?"

Xiao Xiao: "Why did you even rent us a separate room? Can't we just share one?"

"My room isn't a dorm—it can't fit four. Better to rent another and avoid the hassle. Is this extra cost really that much?"

Ah Guang: "Are you going out? Did Director Zhang give you an answer?"

"Yes. Yesterday we checked out the house, the shop, and the farmland. Today the contract's ready—I'm going to sign now. Want to come along? Or should we leave someone behind to guard the luggage?"

Xiao Xiao: "I'm not going. It's still scorching hot outside—someone's bound to get heatstroke."

Ah Zheng also said: "I'm not going either. We woke up too early, I'm dead tired. Let Ah Guang go with you."

Ah Guang had no objection. "Fine."

"Alright, wait for me a sec."

Ye Yaodong brought only fifty thousand yuan—he'd pay that right after signing, and pay the rest tomorrow after notarization, as agreed yesterday.

He'd spend a bit extra so Director Zhang could arrange for someone to handle all the procedures in one go tomorrow, while they just waited back at the unit.

He'd run back and forth, hustled for two days, and finally got all the paperwork for the house, the shop, and the farmland done.

Personal-to-person transfers weren't complicated—some people transferred property and land to relatives due to emigration or other reasons.

The delay came entirely from bureaucracy: even after they received your documents, they didn't process them immediately—might have to wait in line, or they'd sit on them for days before getting around to it. That was normal.

He just paid two hundred extra, and everything went smoothly—he got the freshly stamped documents by afternoon the next day.

Ye Yaodong was ecstatic, but kept his face calm, forcing his lips down hard.

After leaving the office, he thanked the old lady, then thanked Director Zhang, handed each of them a red envelope he'd prepared ahead of time.

The old lady was stunned. "For me?"

"Yes. A lucky gift—wishing you good health, long life, and smooth travels."

The old lady's eyes crinkled with delight. "You're such a polite young man—so thoughtful at your age, it truly makes me happy. I was a bit reluctant before, even regretful—but now I'm rooting for your success."

Director Zhang, clutching the thick red envelope, was thrilled too—his efforts these past few days hadn't been in vain.

He smiled and said, "I've never met a young man so generous, so capable, and so articulate. Most youths today are so restless."

"Exactly. When I get back, I'll have my kid send you a red envelope too—can't let you work this hard for nothing."

"No need, no need…"

The two exchanged polite refusals, while Ye Yaodong waited patiently until they finished, then gave them Fatty's phone number before taking his leave.

"Holy shit! Dongzi, you've got a Western-style house now!"

"Take us to see it!"

"You've got a Western-style house—you're basically a Shanghai resident now?"

Seeing how excited they were, Ye Yaodong waved his hand. "Come on—I'll treat you to a taxi ride to your new Western-style house."

"Big Brother Dong is so generous, hahaha~"

"Did the old lady move out?"

"She doesn't live there—she's got an ancestral home, lives there now. It's run-down, and she won't sell it—just leaves it empty."

"Then let's go, let's go—I've never ridden in a car in my whole life."

This Western-style house had an excellent location, near the bustling Nanjing West Road, yet cleverly avoided the noise.

Nestled beside a quiet street shaded by sycamore trees, lined with weathered shikumen buildings and Western-style villas, each etched with the marks of history.

None of them had ever been here before; as they gazed at the row upon row of Western-style houses, they all exclaimed "Wah!"

Ye Yaodong swung a keychain in his hand, leading them to the villa's front gate—rusty iron railings dripped peeling paint, yet held a brand-new lock.

Standing at the entrance, they could see the courtyard—overgrown with weeds, littered with trash, clearly neglected for a long time.

"This… doesn't quite match my idea of a Western-style house?"

"Feels pretty run-down, Dongzi."

"Is 100,000 yuan too much for this? Back in our village, it'd be worth a few thousand at most."

"Maybe no one's lived here for a long time, so no one maintained it—it's just been abandoned."

"I heard when the state took it back, they relocated many families here; only when they returned it to the old lady did they move everyone out and relocate them again. The old lady didn't seem to care much—she just stayed in the ancestral home, so this house sat abandoned all this time, which is why she wanted to sell it before leaving the country."

Ye Yaodong learned this from Director Zhang.

If this house had been properly maintained, the owner probably wouldn't have wanted to sell it.

But he didn't mind—the overgrown weeds? He'd hire someone to pull them. The trash? He'd hire someone to clear it.

The iron gate was rusted, the exterior walls peeled and chipped, the roof leaked, the windows were broken—none of it mattered.

As long as it was a Western-style house, located in JA District, with all the paperwork complete and recognized by the state, those repairs could all be hired out for a few thousand yuan.

"Could there be snakes in these weeds…?"

Everyone looked around left and right when Zheng suddenly blurted this out, freezing them all in place.

"Snake your head—I came here just two days ago."

"But that doesn't guarantee you didn't see one. It's summer now—snakes love hiding in weeds like these."

"Then what are you scared of? Guang's here."

Zheng immediately grabbed Guang and shoved him forward. "You go first."

"Damn!"

"You walk ahead, we follow behind—it's safer."

Guang turned and glared at them, then resignedly walked ahead as their scapegoat.

Inside, a musty, decaying air hit them.

The living room was empty—no furniture at all. The floor was laid with dark solid wood, but covered in dust and worn marks.

On the walls hung several oil paintings of old Shanghai, their figures and streets seeming to whisper tales of the past.

"Dongzi, I think you got ripped off!"

"Still time to back out, right?"

"You paid 100,000 yuan for this? We should've come with you first before deciding."

Everyone was deeply disappointed. They'd imagined touring a beautiful Western-style house—they'd even planned on their way here: each picking a room to stay in for a few days, just to brag about it.

They never imagined it'd be like this?

"But the other Western-style houses nearby looked perfectly fine…"

Ye Yaodong wasn't like them—he was satisfied. "The other houses nearby are lived in and maintained—that's why they look good. This one may look old and run-down, but with some repairs and new furniture, it'll be fine."

"You're just too rich," Xiao said, shaking his head. "You'd spend 100,000 yuan here? Give me a ten-percent discount, and maybe I'd take it."

"Don't underestimate this place—it's Puxi. Don't even talk about outsiders—people from Pudong are fighting to get here. Even a broken house on the edge here costs twenty or thirty thousand, let alone this entire area—a three-story Western-style house with a garden? Just spend a bit to clean it up, and it'll be just like the others."

Guang agreed: "Dongzi's right. It's just been unoccupied and lifeless, so it's fallen apart. Once repaired, it won't be bad at all."

"Yeah, I thought wrong."

"Dongzi buying a house is a big deal—especially in the Magic Capital! Man, he's basically become a superior being now!" Zheng said, already wandering around.

"Thinking about it like that, it really is impressive," Xiao said, nodding, then patted Ye Yaodong's shoulder. "Don't take it personally—I'm just feeling bad for you, not trying to ruin your mood."

"I know. You're just worried I got scammed, that I'm wasting money. Who doesn't know who? Let's all take a walk around, then we can head back early and buy our tickets—we leave home tomorrow morning."

Guang asked in surprise: "Leave tomorrow? Aren't you going to fix up the house?"

"Why rush? The house is already mine, all the paperwork's done—when I fix it doesn't matter. It's already this bad; it can't get worse. I'll send people to clean and repair it when I come back later."

He'd already stayed here over half a month. Now that everything was temporarily settled, he had to go back.

His father had managed things for half a month—he needed to return, check the accounts. His father couldn't read them.

"Alright, we leave tomorrow. When the village committee's notice arrives, we'll come back."

Zheng had already reached the third floor. "Dongzi, aside from everything else, the staircase is beautifully made—wide with a big turn. Just the paint's peeling and the wood's cracked."

"As long as the layout's good, the paint can be fixed."

"When you finally get this place cleaned up, we can come stay for a few days."

"Always welcome—just make sure you have time."

"Of course we have time. We'll just hire people to do it. Right now, all we need to do is settle accounts with you. Since you're handling all the sea cargo, I don't have to supervise—my dad's already there."

"Alright, now that we've seen it, let's go."

Guang was coming down the stairs. "Before you leave, shouldn't you replace all the locks?"

"No need to replace the room locks—I already changed the front door and the iron gate."

"Alright, then let's go."

Zheng was still grumbling. "I thought we'd move right in—I already planned to pack my bags and bring them back."

"Fine. Go pack your bags, come sleep on the floor, give my new house a blessing."

"No way. I'll come back only after it's renovated."

…

Laughing and chatting, the group took the bus back to the guesthouse. Ye Yaodong sent them off to buy tickets, then returned to his room to store his documents and check on his pots and pans.

With no one else in the guesthouse, he wasn't fully at ease—he couldn't guarantee staff wouldn't enter—but the pile of pots, pans, and rusty junk made too much noise. Anyone sneaking around would jump at the sound and dare not touch them.

Even ordinary people, hearing the noise, would lower their voices and tread lightly.

That was why he'd hidden his money inside the pots and pans…

After confirming the money inside was safe, he bundled all the property, shop, and land registration documents together, re-tied the sack, then stretched out flat on the bed.

"Life has no regrets~"

Ye Yaodong lay there and fell asleep in sheer bliss, only to be woken by urgent knocking and someone calling his name.

The room was pitch black; he realized it was already dark outside.

Someone had come to call him for dinner.

Ah Guang: "No sign of you for half a day; I thought you'd been murdered and robbed."

Ye Yaodong stretched widely. "I never showed off any wealth; being robbed of my virtue is more likely."

Xiao Xiao: "Stop blathering nonsense. Look at you now, all black from the sun; you don't look like the fair-skinned pretty boy you used to be."

"This is true masculine charm!"

Ah Zheng: "I only know that a man's true color is this. Go back and treat us to a massage!"

"Go tell your wife."

"Then I'll tell your wife too; we're all on the same boat!" Ah Zheng said, brimming with pride.

"Let's go. I'll treat you to a meal first; only when full and warm can one think of lust."

"We just came to ask you to treat us to a meal. Damn it, buying a boat ticket was so troublesome; we ran to multiple spots before finding out about tomorrow's tickets."

Ah Guang said, "It's more convenient with Ah Shang around; he's in freight transport, so asking him to help inquire about boat tickets is easier."

"As long as we bought them, that's fine."

The boat the next day was at 7 o'clock. The guesthouse was close to the dock, so they didn't need to get up very early.

When checking out and leaving, the front desk staff were quite reluctant to see them go. People like them, such big spenders, were rare; who stays at a guesthouse for nearly half a month? They were definitely big customers.

Ye Yaodong finally breathed a sigh of relief only after returning to the main base. A golden nest or silver nest is not as good as one's own dog kennel; staying at a guesthouse is nowhere near as comfortable and natural as staying in one's own dog kennel.

It was still midday with the bright sun high; no one was visible at the campsite. At this time, everyone was probably taking a nap or playing cards; no one was outside.

"Finally back; I'm heading straight upstairs."

"We need to take a shower too and go back to our room for a nap."

Ye Yaodong returned to his room, pushed the door open, and dropped the sack on his back onto the floor. With a loud clang, the huge noise startled Ye Father, who sat straight up from the bed.

"Ah? Ah? What's wrong? What's wrong?"

"Ah? You were sleeping?"

"Are you talking nonsense? It's midday; if I'm not sleeping, what should I be doing? You came back without making a sound..."

"No, I came back with a huge noise..."

Ye Father blew his whiskers and glared; he had just been disturbed from a good sleep upon their return, and now Ye Yaodong was talking back to anger him.

"So you know you're back?"

"Of course I know; I came back as soon as the business was done."

"You should have at least called to say so."

"I finished the business yesterday and came back today; why make a phone call? It's a waste of money."

"You know it's a waste of money, yet you were out for so many days and stayed at a guesthouse; how much money did that cost?"

"Stop nagging; I'm exhausted."

Ye Yaodong took a washbasin and a Mao Jin and went out again.

Ye Father, curious about what he could have brought back, got up to look at his sack, but it was just those pots, pans, and bowls again, so he immediately lost interest in touching it.

"Ate too full, carried it back and forth..."

When he returned to the room again wearing boxer shorts with his bare torso, Ye Father launched into a series of further questions.

While answering, he tidied up the sack, and only then did Ye Father realize there was something else inside the sack.

Ye Yaodong explained again the twisted logic behind hiding things inside the pots and pans.

Actually, it sounded quite reasonable to the listener.

"Guilt-ridden!"

Ye Father had to admit that Ye Yaodong was quite clever when it came to scheming.

"So you've bought a Western-style house? That's amazing! A Western-style house in Shanghai, the big city? When will you take me to see it?"

"Call home later and say something; I guess your mother will be overjoyed. When will you bring her over to see the sights? She'll have bragging rights for the whole year."

Ye Yaodong smiled and said, "Not just a whole year of bragging rights; she'll have bragging rights for the rest of her life. And it's not just her; you will too."

Ye Father was somewhat excited. "I haven't even been to Shanghai yet. Is it as prosperous as people say?"

"Yes."

"We have truly broken free from being mud-legs now."

"Next time, send you home to report to the ancestors, so they can praise you for raising a good son."

"Good, good, good." Ye Father was extremely happy.

"By the way, Dongzi, so many of you went, but only you bought? Did the others not buy?"

"Not yet."

Ye Yaodong explained the complex situation to his father, clarifying that they now needed to wait for the data released by the village committee to prove that their village had fish sauce workshops and dried fish workshops.

Only then could he buy land in the name of the fish sauce workshop and the dried fish workshop.

Anyway, these two workshops were his; originally, they were affiliated with the village, and his big truck was also affiliated with the village. Officially, his two workshops belonged to the collective.

With many debts, one stops worrying; with many lice, one stops fearing. Buying two more plots of land would just be registered under the workshop's name anyway.

To get rich, one must always bear risks.

He could afford the risks now.

Overall, the return outweighed the effort; as long as it was worth doing, that was enough.

Everything carries risk; one cannot hesitate and waver just because of risk. Miss this village, and next time there won't be this shop.

Pudong was developed in the 90s; this year is already more than half over, and 1989 is coming soon. If he didn't get this done, he would be slapping his thigh until it was swollen.

Ye's father was somewhat worried about whether it would work out.

Ye Yaodong held the freshly obtained, still-warm filing documents, pointing at the official seal and fingerprint on them. "Can you say your son can't do it?"

"Fine, fine, fine. You can do whatever you want."

"Anyway, just wait to enjoy your fortune from now on."

"Who knows if I'll have a future, or if I'll be able to enjoy my fortune? I might work until I die."

"Since your awareness is already this high, I won't force you to enjoy your fortune anymore."

Ye's father was choked up and fell silent.

After Ye Yaodong packed everything away, he pushed the sack clatter-clatter under the bed, then lay down and let out a long sigh.

"Comfortable!"

Ye's father hurriedly lay down too, then began telling him about the deliveries he'd made during this period.

His mouth had gone dry from talking, yet he got no response, so he sat up to look.

"That rascal..."

He fell asleep without a word, wasting all his spit. He'd talked so much, yet he didn't know when the boy had drifted off; come night, he'd have to start all over again.

Helplessly, Ye's father lay back down, but the moment he thought of Dongzi running to Magic City and actually buying a Western-style house, a shop, and even farmland, his mouth couldn't help but split into a grin.

A Western-style house...

He's really made something of himself.

Western-style houses in big cities are no ordinary thing; he'd only seen them on television. Those magnificent, grand places were where the elite lived...

He didn't know how beautiful Dongzi's Western-style house was, or if it had sofas.

Ye's father's mouth was twisted into a grin as he automatically substituted the Western-style houses he'd seen on television into his mind.

(End of this chapter)