Chapter 379: Preparing for Marriage

After the summer rain, everything was clean; the sky revealed its deep blue original color, and a cool breeze blew against the face, carrying a refreshing scent that lightened the mind.

Li Ye and Wen Leyu walked down an alley just behind the Forbidden City, gazing at the weather-worn blue bricks beneath their feet, as if seeing the historical traces of nearly a century of change in this residential neighborhood.

A while ago, Wen Leyu had told Li Ye that a courtyard perfectly matching his requirements was for sale, though the price was a bit high, and asked if he wanted to take a look.

When Li Ye asked about the location, he didn't hesitate for even a fraction of a second—he told Wen Leyu to secure it immediately.

Now, standing at the street corner and looking back, you could faintly see the shadows of red walls and yellow tiles—this location was already as good as it could possibly be!

At this location, only someone like Wen Leyu could step in to buy it; if Li Ye tried himself, he'd avoid the hassle—soon a bunch of old men would come knocking to buy your house, and would you be annoyed or not?

But when they arrived, Wen Leyu glanced left and right, then said with slight dissatisfaction: "Li Ye, this alley seems narrower than the ones near Zaojunmiao!"

"If Little Yue comes over to visit, parking her car will block the whole road—why didn't I notice this before?"

"That depends on your sister's parking skills," Li Ye smiled. "Besides, the most important thing about a house is location—this is three times closer to your home than Zaojunmiao. Tell me, is it worth it?"

"Oh~~"

Wen Leyu suddenly understood, nodding vigorously: "Now that you say it, it really is worth it—I'll make sure my sister practices her parking skills."

Which girl doesn't want to live close to her parents' home? It'd be perfect if you could turn left twenty meters and go over for a meal!

So once Li Ye said that, Wen Leyu instantly stopped seeing the narrow alley as a problem—it became a parking skill issue.

What she didn't know was that the location Li Ye meant was actually the exact center of Beijing.

In Beijing's real estate market, location trumps everything—"I have a house in the Second Ring Road" is more attractive on the matchmaking market than "I have a three-bedroom in Yanjiao."

That's why, in later years, every local Beijing driver in the hutongs mastered the art of "if the width isn't enough, make up for it with skill," overcoming the narrowness with sheer determination.

Wen Leyu led Li Ye to a courtyard gate, her expression suddenly turning strange.

Li Ye was puzzled too: "Xiao Yu, is this the place? The door number matches—why is the gate still open? Did Tan Qin get here already?"

"It's No. 17. Let me check."

Wen Leyu stepped a few paces into the courtyard, then stepped back out.

"It's not Sister Qin—I saw furniture still inside, like they haven't finished moving out."

"Not finished? That doesn't make sense. Look at this!"

Li Ye spotted something, stepped forward two paces, and pointed toward a lock on the gatepost behind the main gate.

The lock looked brand new—but it had been smashed.

"What did Qin get done?"

Wen Leyu was upset—yesterday, Tan Qin had clearly told her the previous tenants had fully moved out and even replaced the lock, which was why she'd excitedly woken Li Ye up early to come see the house.

And now this was what she showed him?

Li Ye had gone out of his way to ask her to handle something, and she'd made him look bad.

"Don't touch the lock—wait a bit."

Li Ye looked around, found a broom and dustpan, covered the broken lock with it, then pulled Wen Leyu away from the gate of No. 17.

A few minutes later, Tan Qin arrived.

"Xiao Yu, you got here early! My son kept me up all night—I'm exhausted. I woke up at eight this morning, sorry for keeping you waiting!"

Tan Qin hurried out of her car, waving cheerfully from afar to Wen Leyu.

Li Ye, who'd met Tan Qin once before, couldn't help but be surprised.

He'd met Tan Qin when he first came to Beijing and had a minor clash with Bao's second son—she'd mediated and taken him and the Wen siblings to watch a modeling team practice, leading to his later acquaintance with Ning Pingping, Kong Moli, and others.

Since it had only been two years, Li Ye noticed Tan Qin had transformed from a vibrant young girl into a sharp, capable young wife.

Her former delicacy was gone; now she was noticeably fuller, completely changed in charm.

【Marriage really is a woman's third transformation!】

Li Ye glanced at Wen Leyu, feeling eager about the future.

Under Li Ye's guidance, Wen Leyu already showed signs of ripening fruit on slender branches—once she filled out a bit more… he was eager, very eager.

Tan Qin walked up beside them and smiled: "Come on, Big Writer—I only just heard from Xiao Yu that you wanted to buy a courtyard. You should've said so earlier!"

"Look at this courtyard—though the gatehouse isn't tall, it's a three-hall courtyard inside."

"A few decades ago, this was a standard wealthy household—you two could raise your kids here… hmm? What's going on?"

Tan Qin also saw the open gate and the furniture scattered in the courtyard.

Only then did she realize Wen Leyu's sour expression wasn't because she was late—it was because something was wrong.

Tan Qin's face instantly turned cold, and she stepped into the courtyard.

"Whose furniture is this? Why is it in someone else's courtyard? Get it out right now!"

Tan Qin's tone instantly gave Li Ye a familiar feeling—the kind where you have a thousand reasons, but one "rule" shuts you down.

Li Ye whispered to Wen Leyu: "What's her rank? She's got serious authority."

Wen Leyu whispered back: "Sister Qin is two ranks below my brother, but sometimes you need that kind of presence with certain people."

"Oh~"

Li Ye felt a pang of admiration—Wen Guohua, a youth fully backed by his family, rose faster than ordinary people could comprehend. He'd returned to Beijing later and started lower than Tan Qin, yet now he'd overtaken her.

Of course, the huge success of the Xiushuijie renovation plan had also been a boost Li Ye contributed.

Tan Qin, holding her small handbag, shouted into the courtyard—and immediately drew out seven or eight people.

These seven or eight people shouted louder than Tan Qin and carried even more intimidating energy.

"Who are you? Why are you yelling?"

"Did you get the wrong house this early? Who are you to tell us what to do with our courtyard?"

"."

The seven or eight people surrounded Tan Qin, hands on hips, sleeves rolled up—any ordinary woman would've been scared to tears.

But Tan Qin wasn't ordinary—she gave a cold smile and pulled a set of keys from her handbag.

"You say whose courtyard this is? Say it again for me."

"."

Everyone froze when they saw the keys in Tan Qin's hand.

Li Ye and Wen Leyu now noticed that every room door in the courtyard had a new lock—and the keys Tan Qin held were clearly those locks' keys.

A fifty-year-old woman stepped forward, puzzled: "Who are you to Liu Er?"

Tan Qin glanced at her coldly: "Don't ask who I am. Just answer—can you move the furniture out now?"

"We can't move it!"

An old man with completely white hair nearly jumped up, snarling: "We want to see Liu Er! That bastard tricked us—we're not done with him!"

"Right! We were promised the same price for the whole courtyard—why are our two families getting less? We're not done with him!"

"Call Liu Er out! If you don't give us an explanation, we won't move!"

Li Ye looked at the two families, each brimming with "reasons," and guessed the likely cause.

This house had once belonged to the housing authority, housing nine or ten families; later, under policy, it was returned to a Liu family original owner, and Tan Qin brokered its sale to Wen Leyu and Li Ye.

Originally, it was agreed that the original owner would clear the house before the deal closed—Li Ye and Wen Leyu didn't want to deal with the former tenants, so they hadn't even lowered the price much.

Wen Leyu had complained about this for a long time.

Everyone knew how hard it was to clear a multi-family courtyard—why not pressure the price down?

Others feared the hassle, but Wen Leyu didn't mind!

One call to her brother, a few favors called in—who'd dare refuse to move?

But in the end, Li Ye felt problems solvable with money shouldn't be solved by pulling strings and intimidating people—saving a few hundred yuan by owing several people favors wasn't worth it.

And what if one of the tenants turned out to be a "landmine" with connections? That'd be worse than the savings.

But now, Li Ye realized he'd hit the jackpot—he'd stumbled upon a "relocation household" with ideas.

It could be solved, sure—but it was like a toad crawling on your foot: annoying as hell.

"You won't move, huh? Then wait!"

Facing the seven or eight furious tenants, Tan Qin said nothing more—she turned and walked out the gate.

"Hey, we'll wait! If you don't give us an explanation, we'll wait till the end of time…"

"All that swagger—I thought you were someone big! Turns out you're paper-thin!"

"Even the biggest people have to be reasonable—we were living fine, and now you're kicking us out? Why?"

Seeing Tan Qin walk away, the crowd assumed their numbers had intimidated her—they beamed with triumph.

But an hour later, Tan Qin returned.

The original landlord, Liu Er, arrived too—along with neighborhood officials, police, and housing authority personnel.

Li Ye leaned close to Wen Leyu and whispered: "You dragged in so many people—how do you count that favor?"

Wen Leyu remained calm: "It's her own debt. If she messes this up, she loses face—she's even angrier than I am!"

Li Ye thought about it—Tan Qin had rushed to help Wen Leyu find a house precisely to earn a favor.

She'd even taken the keys—and now someone had smashed the lock. Of course she was furious.

"Xiao Yu, are you mad?"

Seeing Wen Leyu's grim expression, Li Ye comforted her: "Come on, don't be upset. I really like this house—some trouble is worth it for a good home."

"Mm. If you like it, once we clear up this mess, I'll get someone to fix up this old house properly—build you a dedicated study, convert that side into a bathroom, just like Zaojunmiao."

Women naturally loved designing homes—while the courtyard grew noisier around them, Wen Leyu and Li Ye discussed plans for their future home.

Wen Leyu had clearly thought deeply about it—even the children's rooms had her own ideas.

Li Ye believed she was seriously preparing for her plan: "graduate, then marry."

As Wen Leyu described it, Li Ye felt as if he were seeing his own future.

On a reclining chair, bearded Li Ye was dozing contentedly, when a mischievous child crept up with a dogtail grass stalk and stealthily prodded Li Ye's nose.

Li Ye feigned a swipe, and the child giggled as he dashed into the kitchen, vividly complaining to Wen Leyu that his father was abusing a child.

【Sigh, a happy life begins with having a small family!】

But while Li Ye and Wen Leyu were dreaming here, the tempers of the seven or eight tenants in the courtyard surpassed Li Ye's expectations—three times stronger than those "capable" people who hijacked seats on high-speed trains; after just a few words, things truly escalated.

(End of Chapter)