One of the 11 cannon fodder characters from a bygone era tries to rewrite their life. Please add this to your favorites...

Both houses needed major repairs. Han Xiao had limited vacation time, so Chen Xia decided to stay in Beijing and return to Northeast China after the courtyard house was renovated.

Chen Xia had very high standards for the renovation. Han Xiaofa had studied architecture in elementary school, and the master craftsman he helped hire had ancestors who had worked in the Imperial Household Department—a legitimate craftsman. Chen Xia had no shortage of money, and the space was full of good materials.

After Chen Xia told the craftsmen about her requirements, the master craftsmen carried out a major renovation of the courtyard house according to her requirements. There were many problems to be solved. First of all, the house needed to be reinforced. Lighting, ventilation, moisture-proofing and insect-proofing were also crucial.

The completed courtyard house retains the ancient charm of old Beijing courtyard houses while adding the comfort and livability of modern living.

When Han Yue and Han Chen returned home for the weekend and saw the completely transformed new house, if it weren't for the rule that freshmen must live on campus, they probably would have already made arrangements to move back home.

The house here has just been renovated, and Chen Xia has finally found a suitable two-courtyard siheyuan (traditional courtyard house) that she had been searching for. This siheyuan is located in Xicheng District, less than one kilometer from the Forbidden City. What's most remarkable is that this small courtyard with red walls and green tiles is well preserved. Although the garden, rockery, and pond are abandoned, the basic structure is still there, and it can be moved into without major repairs.

The original homeowner was in a hurry to leave the country, and Chen Xia was willing to use gold for the transaction. The original homeowner then lowered the price of the property even further. After the handover was completed, Chen Xia left with her suitcase without looking back.

To avoid troubling two clients, Chen Xia hired the same group of experienced craftsmen as before to renovate the courtyard. Chen Xia explained his requirements, and the craftsmen knew exactly how to renovate the courtyard.

Han Xiao waited and waited, but Chen Xia never returned to the Northeast. Finally, he made a desperate move and started to try to get transferred to the Beijing Military Region.

He finally understood. Chen Xia would likely be staying in Beijing for a long time from now on. She had raised the two children single-handedly, and she definitely wouldn't want to leave them in Beijing. They had already bought a house; it couldn't just stay empty forever. Well, after all these years in the Northeast, it was time to move around.

During a break from renovating the house, Chen Xia went to the family compound where the original owner lived to inquire about how the family was doing.

It turned out that Chen's parents had passed away many years ago. When the aunties and grandmas at the gate of the residential compound heard that she was a distant cousin of Chen's mother and had come to Beijing on a business trip to see her aunt, they started gossiping about the Chen family.

The incident started because Chen's father was unhappy with Chen's mother's constant financial support for Chen Yang, so he stopped giving her his salary and bonuses. With no money in hand, Chen's mother naturally couldn't continue to support Chen Yang, which led to Chen Yang going back to her parents' home and having a big argument with her mother.

Without her mother's financial support, Chen Yang's status in her husband's family plummeted. Later, unable to get along with her mother-in-law and sister-in-law, Chen Yang urged her husband to rent a place to live.

Not long after moving out, Chen Yang became pregnant. She experienced severe pregnancy symptoms and had to return home to recuperate. She had hoped her in-laws would treat her better because of her pregnancy, but her mother-in-law ignored her completely, offering not even a word of comfort.

Chen Yang tearfully complained to her mother, who couldn't bear to see her daughter suffer. She took out all her savings for her future husband's funeral and came to Chen Yang's rented apartment every day to do all the laundry, cooking, and cleaning.

After finishing their work, they didn't even have time for a hot meal before rushing home on an empty stomach. Yet, Chen's mother didn't see anything wrong with it. In her words, her son-in-law was the sole breadwinner, barely making ends meet; how could she add to their burden by eating at her daughter's house?

Chen Shan's wife, Yu Lili, was very dissatisfied with her mother-in-law's behavior of favoring outsiders. She didn't care about the children or do housework, and instead focused on taking care of her sister-in-law, Chen Yang. The key point was that after doing chores at Chen Yang's house, she would still run back to eat.

Chen's father and Chen Shan were also extremely dissatisfied with Chen's mother, but no matter what anyone said, Chen's mother did as she pleased, focusing solely on taking care of Chen Yang. That day, Chen's mother spent the whole morning at Chen Yang's house, preparing lunch for him, and then hurried home hungry. Halfway there, she suddenly felt dizzy and collapsed to the ground.

Chen's mother's illness wasn't serious; it was just low blood sugar, purely from hunger. But she was unlucky. When she fell to the ground, her head hit a stone on the side of the road. It was cold and the road was slippery. By the time she was found and taken to the hospital, it was too late to save her.

Because of this incident, Chen Shan and Chen Yang became enemies and fought each other at Chen's mother's funeral. Chen Shan angrily accused Chen Yang of killing Chen's mother and kicked her out of the funeral.

Chen Yang was not one to be trifled with either. He turned the tables and pounded on his mother's coffin, crying his heart out. While crying, he complained that Chen Shanba was a good-for-nothing who had forgotten his mother after getting married.

Enraged, Chen's father cursed Chen Yang as a debt collector and told her to get out. Chen Yang cried and sobbed, "I know you've fallen for someone else, Dad, and have long hoped for my mother, your wife who has shared so much hardship, to be abandoned. I can endure whatever you and my brother do to me, but I have only one request: please, for the sake of my mother's hard work in managing this family all these years, even if she hasn't done anything particularly meritorious, please let her leave in peace!"

Chen Yang's words tore away the secret and fig leaf that Chen's father had kept hidden for so long in front of everyone. The contemptuous looks from everyone made Chen's father faint from anger.

Chen Shan was so anxious that he yelled at Chen Yang, saying that she had made Chen's father faint. Chen Yang had been instructed by her husband before she arrived that no matter what Chen Shan said, she should not argue with him, but just keep crying and crying as hard as she could for Chen's mother.

Chen Yang's grief at the funeral was genuine. In this family, the person who loved her the most and spoiled her the most was her mother. Without her mother, it was as if she had no family to rely on.

When her father pointed his finger at her and told her to get lost, it completely broke her. Since her father was so heartless, she, as his daughter, shouldn't be blamed for being unjust.

She knew that Chen's father still harbored feelings for his first love, Widow Li from the next courtyard. The reason he had always been indifferent to Chen's mother was because his family had opposed his relationship with Widow Li, forcing him to marry Chen's mother out of necessity.

After Widow Li's husband died, Chen's father secretly began an affair with her, which was discovered by Chen Yang by chance.

Overwhelmed with rage, Chen's father fainted. He was taken to the hospital and survived, but his mouth was crooked, his eyes were slanted, and half of his body was paralyzed.

There's no effective treatment for Chen's father's illness; he can only be kept alive. Both Chen Shan and his wife have jobs and simply don't have the time or energy to care for him. Less than six months later, Chen's father passed away.

Chen Shan's family of three was doing alright, but Chen Yang's life was not so good. After Chen's mother died, no one helped her take care of the child, she could no longer work as a temporary worker, and no one supported her, so her life became increasingly difficult.

Knowing that the Chen family was not doing well, Chen Xia felt relieved. Chen's father and mother favored Chen Shan and Chen Yang respectively, and their current predicament can only be described as reaping what they sowed.

When Chen Yang saw the feature article in the newspaper about Chen Xia, the richest man in China, being interviewed by a reporter, she was so shocked that she couldn't speak. She rode her bicycle to Chen Shan's house as fast as she could, panting, and shoved the newspaper in front of Chen Shan: "The third son has made it big!"

Chen Shan nodded: "I know, the third sister has made it big, but we haven't been in contact with her for decades. What does her success have to do with us? You don't think she'll let you take advantage of her, do you? Wake up, Chen Yang. Have you forgotten how the third sister left home? How did you treat her before? Do you need me to help you remember?"

Chen Yang was furious: "She and I are blood sisters, blood is thicker than water. Just because of those little things in the past, does she think she can disown me as her sister?"

Chen Shan gave Chen Yang a disdainful look: "It's no use telling me this. Go tell Chen Xia. If she wanted to acknowledge us, she would have done so long ago. We haven't been in contact for so many years. You don't even have her contact information. What's the point of telling me this?"

It's impossible for Chen Shan not to be envious of Chen Xia's wealth and not want to benefit from it, but he was self-aware. Chen Xia left home decisively and never contacted them again.

If Chen's parents were still alive, they could have sued Chen Xia, as their daughter, for neglecting her parents. But now that Chen's parents have passed away, they are merely Chen Xia's older siblings, and Chen Xia has no legal obligations or responsibilities towards them.

Even if he and Chen Yang shamelessly went to his door, they would only be turned away. So why should he bother going through all that trouble?

Just like his wife said, although the couple's salaries were not high, they were enough to support the family. Their son was promising and filial, so why should he humiliate himself?

When Chen Yang couldn't persuade Chen Shan, he found Chen Xia's house on his own, but he was driven away by security guards before he could even enter.

Chen Xia lived to be eighty-nine in this small world. After handing the company over to her children, she traveled all over the world, and her space warehouse was filled with a lot of supplies. Before she closed her eyes, she divided her family property equally between her two children and left this small world amidst a chorus of cries.

Back in the system space, 996 eagerly came to greet him: "Congratulations, host, on the successful completion of your first mission world. Points +1000. Would you like to clear your emotions?"

"Clear it, 996, how many stars did the original owner give me?"

"Three stars. Although you didn't get the original owner's five-star rating, you've done a great job, especially since this is only your first mission."

Chen Xia didn't feel any regret. A five-star review wasn't absolutely necessary; as long as the task was completed, that was enough.

After clearing away the emotions from his previous life and resting in the system space for three days, Chen Xia entered the second mission world.

Perhaps due to her improved mental strength, her discomfort lessened after entering this world. 996 was very considerate; she arrived at night again this time. After absorbing the original owner's memories, Chen Xia felt a tightness in her chest, almost unable to breathe. She quickly bought a bottle of calming pills from the system shop, took one, and took several deep breaths to avoid being overwhelmed by the negative emotions left behind by the original owner.

"Ding! The host has one sign-in opportunity upon entering the new small world. Do you wish to sign in now?"

"yes"

"Ding, check-in successful. Congratulations, host, you have obtained the spending refund system plugin. Do you wish to install the plugin?"

Seeing Chen Xia's bewildered expression, 996 explained in detail what the so-called "money-back-refund plugin" was.

In short, she obtained a subsystem that allows her to get a refund for spending money by checking in. Of course, this system is a one-time use and can only be used in this small dimension.

All Chen Xia had to do was spend money according to the subsystem's requirements. The initial capital was 10,000 yuan, which had to be spent within a certain period. After spending it all, he would receive a tenfold return, and then he would continue to spend and receive returns, in a continuous cycle.

Chen Xia was excited when she heard this. Anyone can spend money; it's just a matter of buying things. But before that, she needed to change the original owner's college application choices.