Chapter Six: Donating a House

Standing to the side, Xin Li watched the spectacle with a satisfied smile.

After the police took Xu Qingyu and Ji Yubai away, Li Xiuhui chased after them to her doorstep, but was stopped by Xu Changshan.

"Changshan, Qingyu is your daughter. Are you just going to stand by and watch her go to jail?"

"Right now, the more you talk, the more mistakes you'll make. If you make a big fuss about this, the whole city will know. Let's talk about it when we get home."

Xu Changshan couldn't afford to lose face like that.

"Wait." Xin Li blocked the doorway. "This is my home. What are you doing going in?"

"What did you say?" Xu Changshan was stunned, and it took him a long time to recover. "What are you throwing a tantrum about now? Don't you think the house is messy enough already?"

Is she throwing a tantrum again?

Xin Li curled her lips in disdain: "You and Ji Yubai are family, but when have you ever treated me like family? Ji Yubai's cousin even emptied the house. Who knows if Ji Yubai was behind it?"

“This family has always belonged to the Xin family, not the Xu family. Go back to where you came from.”

Xu Changshan grinned angrily: "Xin Li, I'm your father!"

“It hasn’t been like that since yesterday,” Xin Li smiled.

Xu Changshan took a deep breath and immediately understood what she meant.

He gave this girl a letter severing ties with her!

"Don't linger at my doorstep, or I'll call the police." Xin Li slammed the door shut, cutting off the two men's venomous gazes.

Li Xiuhui supported the swaying Xu Changshan, sobbing uncontrollably, "Changshan, what should we do now?"

"Back to the apartment." Xu Changshan felt uneasy; he needed to check all his belongings now.

"What about sunshine and rain?"

"What's there to be afraid of? At worst, we can just give up the land deed and go directly to Hong Kong."

"That brat, just wait until the movement hits her, she'll never be able to turn her life around."

Li Xiuhui blinked, realizing what was happening.

Yes, they'll all be leaving eventually, so who cares what these people think?

The couple were in high spirits and rushed to the apartment without stopping.

Xinli took her household registration book and land deed and went to the subdistrict office.

In the book, only three years after Xu Qingyu and the others left, the old house was confiscated by the government, and the entire area was demolished and turned into factories. The buyers bought the houses at half price, originally planning to make a fortune in a few years, but the movement turned against them, and they lost everything.

Since she couldn't keep the house anyway, and with the movement coming, she might as well donate it and actively respond to the call to contribute. Even if her identity is exposed later, it will provide her with more protection.

"Xin girl, you're going to donate the house!"

Liu Xi, the director of the subdistrict office, knew Xin Li and naturally knew that their family lived in a large detached villa. They were a well-known wealthy family in Shanghai!

"Yes, I'm getting married soon, so I won't be living here anymore. The house is just sitting empty anyway, so I might as well respond to the country's call and contribute to the people."

These words surprised not only Liu Xi, but also several of his colleagues around him.

"I never expected that this young comrade would have such a high level of ideological awareness at such a young age!"

"Isn't this Xu Changshan's eldest daughter? She donated the house; do you think her father would be happy about that?"

"No wonder Xu Changshan, that stingy bastard, would be happy. You don't know, Xu Qingyu and Ji Yubai eloped and even started spreading those poisonous ideas of feudalism, capitalism, and revisionism. Tsk tsk tsk, if I were Xin Li, I would have chopped them both up with a knife!"

"She even steals her own sister's man, how shameless!"

Upon hearing that the house might be involved, Liu Xi hesitated, asking, "Xin'er, what about your father's side?"

"Don't worry, Aunt Liu, this house was left to me by my mother, it has nothing to do with anyone else." Xin Li took out the letter of severance of kinship and her household registration book, meeting everyone's curious gazes. She lowered her eyes and secretly pinched her thigh.

"As you know, my dad has never liked me. This time, Xu Qingyu had an accident, and he insisted that I marry her in a swap marriage. What could I do? But it's fine this way. After I get married, I won't come back."

"So please, Aunt Liu, help me get this done as soon as possible."

She inherited her mother's beauty, and now, with her brows furrowed and her eyes misty, she looked so pitiful.

Aunt Liu heard about the exciting news about the Xu family as soon as she arrived at work early in the morning. After hearing what she said, she immediately agreed: "Okay, don't worry, I'll take care of it."

"It will only take half an hour at most. Wait here for a while, and I'll go get a form for you to fill out."

"Xin girl, you've really suffered."

"Thank you, Aunt Liu." Xin Li smiled, wiping the corner of her eye.

Does she want everyone to know what kind of people this family of three are?

Director Liu acted quickly; half an hour later, both parties signed their names and pressed their fingerprints, and the household registration was officially completed.

Just as Xin Li was about to leave, Director Liu and several subordinates grabbed her, put a big red flower directly on her, and even took photos outside.

"Xin girl, you are a role model for young people today, so we have decided to record your story and publish it in the newspaper. What do you think?"

"Sure, of course."

Xin Li really wanted to hug Director Liu and kiss her.

She desperately wants the whole world to know about her donating houses!

That way, even if someone tries to use her background against her, she'll have something to fight back with.

After leaving the street office, Xin Li went to the black market and exchanged the jewelry she had taken back from Xu Qingyu for some receipts.

She bought another 300 jin of rice, 100 jin of wheat flour, and 100 jin of cornmeal. These were all inexpensive, only 17 or 18 cents each. The cornmeal was a little more expensive, at 20 cents per jin.

Two hundred catties of sweet potatoes, sixty eggs, salt, soy sauce, and aged vinegar. In those days, transportation was underdeveloped, and these were necessities in case communication was lost.

Fifty cans of pork, fifty cans of fish, twenty cans of fruit, ten bars of soap, and fifty packs of wax-stemmed matches.

Coal blocks, honeycomb briquettes, kerosene lamps, and flashlights were all essential, and kerosene was also purchased as a backup.

The air is humid on the island, making these items the most sought-after.

She bought three of these items: a washbasin, a tea mug, and a winnowing basket, as they can be used for a long time.

She bought these separately; buying them all at once would easily arouse suspicion.

After arranging everything neatly in the space, Xinli set off for the train station.

In fact, the original owner had never met He Mingzhou from beginning to end. He only heard that this person was not very educated, had risen to the position of deputy division commander on the island, had a scar on his face, and was a rough and uncultured man.

In addition, Xu Qingyu and her mother belittled He Mingzhou all year round, which led the original owner to also think that he was not a good person.

After a seven- or eight-hour train ride and a long boat ride, Xinli finally saw the shore before evening.

The island was indeed quite large, and the shore was full of people who came to pick her up, but Xinli was all alone when she got off the boat.