A lot has happened in the past few years.

For example, with Hong Kong's return to China last year and the Asian financial crisis this year, Shenzhen's housing prices also plummeted. Xia Jianguo and Li Chunmei took this opportunity to buy three storefronts of a small supermarket and plan to rebuild it this year, planning to build a five-story building.

The one million yuan that Xia Minmin saved when she won the lottery, plus the high interest over the years, has now become 10 apartments in various districts of Shenzhen, which are now rented out.

Xia Xiaomei also bought two small apartments in remote locations, which can be considered as settling down in Shenzhen. Encouraged by Xia Minmin, she went to night school to study accounting. Now she has graduated and works part-time as an accountant at Xia Jianguo's small supermarket. Once Xia Minmin no longer needs to pick her up and drop her off, she will officially start working there.

Li Zhonghua and his wife also bought two small apartments in Shenzhen to transfer their two daughters' and their own household registrations there. Xia's maternal grandparents also came to Shenzhen with them.

For example, Xia Minmin, through her own efforts, qualified to skip a grade at the age of 7, and had to take the grade skipping exam before the start of the second semester of fourth grade.

...

Xia Minmin said indignantly, "Mom, I'm not a child anymore. I don't need my aunt to take me to and from school every day. My classmates all laugh at me for being a little brat who hasn't been weaned."

Li Chunmei said expressionlessly, "You've always been just a little kid!"

“Mom, I can get home by myself. It’s only a hundred meters away. I promise I’ll go straight home after school!” Xia Minmin held up three fingers.

“No, I mean no! There’s no room for discussion! Don’t make your dad and me worry. We’re building a house right now, and your dad and grandpa are helping out at the construction site. Your grandma and I are managing the small supermarket.”

Two weeks ago, the small supermarket moved next door, and Xia Jianguo bought the original site and is currently renovating it.

"Okay, when can I go to and from school on my own?"

"At least 8 years old!" Xia Minmin nodded, meaning she could wait until next year.

Xia Minmin took a flyer out of her schoolbag. "Mom, I want to learn this!"

Li Chunmei was shocked. This was the first time Xia Minmin had asked to learn something else. In the past, when she tried to enroll her in a training course, she absolutely refused to go.

Li Chunmei took the flyer—Sanda! "Alright, I'll have your aunt sign you up tomorrow! Be good for the next few months, and after your parents finish building the house, we'll take you to Beijing for winter break."

"Yay! Thank you, Dad! Thank you, Mom!" Xia Minmin cheered immediately.

Seeing this, Li Chunmei smiled. She had been so busy these past two years that she hadn't had much rest, and she wanted to take a good rest this year.

"Xiaomin, did your teacher mention whether or not we need to take math olympiad classes during the summer vacation?"

"I said I need tutoring." Xia Minmin felt utterly hopeless just thinking about having to take math olympiad tutoring!

Xia Minmin is only considered slightly above average in the math olympiad class. Her teacher said that her thinking is more suited to exam-oriented education and is suitable for exams, but not for math olympiads.

"Mom, I don't want to go to the math Olympiad class this year. I want to learn to swim during the summer vacation!"

"Alright!" Ever since the teacher said that Xia Minmin was not suitable for math olympiad, she had discussed it with Xia Jianguo. There was no need to force her to stay in the math olympiad class, so as not to put too much psychological burden on the child.

For the next few months, Xia Xiaomei took care of Xia Minmin. On weekends, after Xia Minmin finished her Sanda (Chinese kickboxing) lessons, she would go to the small supermarket to play.

The house near the small supermarket was finally built and renovated before Xia Minmin's seventh birthday.

The first and second floors were a small supermarket, but now it should be considered a large supermarket, covering an area of ​​about 500 square meters, with a total area of ​​more than 1,000 square meters across the two floors.

The third and fourth floors are rental units with 16 rooms on each floor, each with a kitchen and a bathroom.

The fifth floor is half occupied by the owner and half is a balcony.

At Xia Minmin's insistence, an architect was specially hired to design the house to withstand typhoons and magnitude 8 earthquakes. The construction team was also a qualified construction company, and each floor has fire hydrants and escape staircases.

"Happy birthday!"

"Thank you, young lady."

Happy birthday, Xiaomin!

"Thank you, Uncle and Aunt."

Happy birthday, little one!

"Thank you, Grandpa and Grandma."

Today is Xia Minmin's 7th birthday party, held at her new home. In a few days, we will welcome the year 1999.

The meal was ordered from a restaurant; all we need to do at home is plate it.

Li Zhonghua, acting like a master of ceremonies, said, "Today is Xiaomin's seventh birthday, and also the day that Jianguo and Chunmei's house is finished being renovated. I propose that we raise a glass and drink to this!"

"Jianguo, say a few words too."

“I’m really, really happy today. Although this house cost all of Chunmei and I our savings, it’s a testament to our abilities that we were able to build such a big house in Shenzhen. With this house, Chunmei and I can finally slow down and go out to see more of the world,” Xia Jianguo said, his eyes reddening.

Li Zhonghua comforted him, "Jianguo, the rent from the third or fourth floor of your house is enough for you and Chunmei to live on, not to mention that your supermarket with Chunmei is making a steady stream of money."

Xia Waigong asked, "Jianguo, when does the supermarket plan to open?"

"Dad, the day after tomorrow. We consulted a fortune teller to choose an auspicious date."

Grandma Xia said, "Jianguo, I see the supermarket hasn't stocked the shelves yet. Is there enough time? And what about the surveillance cameras and computer checkout?"

"There's plenty of time. All the goods will be on the shelves tomorrow, and the supermarket's surveillance cameras will be installed tomorrow. We just need to do some cleaning the day after tomorrow, and we can open the day after that. There's plenty of time."

Sun Erni said, "Once the surveillance and POS systems are installed, things will be easier for you. You won't need two people guarding the store every day."

Li Chunmei said, "Yes, and it can completely avoid errors in manual calculation. It's just a bit expensive, but there are no other drawbacks."

"You get what you pay for!"

...

"Hey, did you hear? The discount supermarket is having a grand opening sale the day after tomorrow, 15% off."

"This is the first time they've offered such a low discount! Let's go check it out together this weekend."

“Great, now the boss is really rich. We all came to Shenzhen in 1994. I worked for them while they set up stalls. Now I'm still working for them while they own a building.”

"It's infuriating to compare yourself to others, but the owner's stuff is both good and cheap, no wonder they're so rich!"

"Yes, when I first came here, I went to their store to buy shampoo and soap. They probably noticed that I didn't have any money, so they gave me a discount. Later I found out that they only have discounts on Sundays."

“The boss and his wife often do this. Once, I didn’t have enough money to buy something, and they waived the fee for me.”

"This is probably what it means to exchange sincerity for sincerity!"

"Am I planning to rent a place from my boss?"

"Rent a house? They have houses for rent?"

"Yes, the third and fourth floors have about thirty rooms, each with a kitchen and a bathroom. The price isn't too expensive, similar to the surrounding rental properties. I forget the exact number."

"I'll go check the bulletin board later to see what's going on. I don't want to stay in the factory dormitory anymore; it's too noisy at night and keeps me awake."

"I want to cook for myself because I eat a lot. The factory cafeteria is expensive and, more importantly, not enough to fill me up. Eating out every day is too expensive."

A crowd gathered around the notice board at the discount supermarket, discussing rental prices.