Zhao Jianfei screamed in pain, startling Zhao Youcai once again.

Seeing his father raise his fist again, Zhao Jianfei jumped three feet high and quickly moved away from his father in danger.

"Dad, calm down, it's me, your beloved youngest son!"

Zhao Youcai had a string of curses in his mind, and he cursed Zhao Jianfei for more than half an hour without repeating himself.

Anyone would be furious in this situation.

I groggily opened my eyes and a huge face was right in front of me.

Its two eyes were bigger than a cow's eyes, staring unblinkingly. Who wouldn't be startled by that?

Cursing wasn't satisfying enough, so Zhao Youcai bent down, took off his shoe, and chased after Zhao Jianfei barefoot, hitting him with the sole of his shoe.

Zhao Jianfei was horrified to discover that his elderly father's physical strength was getting better and better.

Is this the same father who caused the family to split up back then?

He still remembered the time when they were fighting over dividing the family property; his father had only yelled at him a few times before he fainted from anger.

Now look at the current situation.

I was running ahead, panting, while my elderly father, carrying my shoes, chased after me with seemingly boundless strength, shouting as he did so, his breathing perfectly steady.

Zhao Jianfei was completely numb.

This is outrageous!

"Dad, I was wrong. Please don't chase after me anymore. I won't run anymore. Please don't tire yourself out."

Zhao Jianfei was afraid that the more his father chased him, the angrier he would get, and that when he could no longer run, his father would beat him mercilessly, like beating a drowning dog.

Zhao Youcai held up the shoe, unsure whether to hit it down or put it away, and was stuck in an awkward position.

That brat has a sweet tongue, but things are a bit strange right now.

"Let go! If you don't want to run, then don't. What's the point of kneeling in front of me and hugging my waist?"

Zhao Jianfei thought to himself: What could possibly mean? Isn't it just that they're afraid of getting beaten up if they kneel for too long?

This trick worked best when I was little; I always succeeded in framing my older brothers.

As long as she kneels down with her arms around her waist and says a few pitiful and aggrieved words, her father's heart melts completely.

As it turns out, this tactic worked just as well as ever.

Zhao Youcai silently lowered his arms, threw his shoes on the ground, and put them on.

But he's not the same person who used to dote on his son without any limits anymore. If that brat dares to scare him, he'll have to pay the price.

then--

Zhao Youcai reached out and gave the youngest son a sharp rap on the head.

Another wail rang out, and Zhao Youcai couldn't help but chuckle as he looked at his youngest son, Zhao Jianfei, wearing a mask of pain.

The wailing and howling successfully frightened several children in the neighborhood to tears, and soon after, several families began to shout in a fit of rage, their voices filled with vulgar curses that Zhao Youcai couldn't understand but knew were very offensive.

The father and son finally calmed down and went back inside to talk about serious matters.

Upon learning that his youngest son had made a special trip to the landlord's house to inquire about the house price, Zhao Youcai sat up straight.

"The landlord was very enthusiastic and even asked if I wanted to buy his house. After learning that I was interested but hadn't made a decision yet, he very actively introduced me to all the apartment types and prices in the vicinity."

At this point, Zhao Jianfei pulled out a map from his waist and quickly spread it out in front of Zhao Youcai.

"The houses at the alley entrance and those in this row facing the street have the highest prices. They are sold by the unit, regardless of size, and each unit costs 600 yuan."

It's clear that Zhao Jianfei is taking this very seriously, since he thinks his father is going to buy him a house, so he's putting in extra effort.

Zhao Youcai, on the other hand, was unaware of the little guy's ulterior motives.

In his opinion, the price of six hundred yuan was a bit high.

After all, Haishi has not yet developed, and there are no policies in place to plan for Haishi.

Six hundred yuan is enough for Zhao Youcai to buy more land in his hometown, or even half a street of houses in the town.

They might be taking advantage of the fact that they are all outsiders and don't know anything about these things, which is why they dare to ask for exorbitant prices.

Zhao Jianfei then pointed to a slightly remote area, saying, "The houses in this area are cheaper, but there are fewer residents and it's less safe compared to here. A house costs at most two hundred yuan, and they all have vegetable gardens and wells."

Zhao Youcai nodded slightly. It's good to have a vegetable garden and a well. Growing your own vegetables is much more cost-effective than buying them.

There are few residents, so there's not much to worry about. If you're worried about danger, just buy two large dogs and keep them in the yard.

It's not like she's a young girl living alone; what's there for a grown man to be afraid of?

And although it's a bit out of the way, it's actually not that far from here; it would just take an extra twenty minutes by bicycle at most.

That's fine too; consider it a form of exercise.

Look how out of breath my youngest son was just now; he can't be so frail.

However, a map alone is not enough to understand the situation. Zhao Youcai looked at the sky, thought for a moment, and decided to go and take a look there now.

What if someone else gets the idea to buy the house after just one more day of delay?

The longer the night, the more things could go wrong. Zhao Youcai didn't think that being a day earlier or later made no difference.

Before, when I wasn't in Shanghai, it didn't matter whether I could buy my dream house or not. But that doesn't mean that just because I'm here now, I can't miss out and regret it just because I'm lazy and plan to go a day later.

...

On the way, Zhao Jianfei saw that his father was in high spirits and felt a little uneasy.

"Dad, are you really determined to buy a house in Haishi? Actually, where I live now is fine, there's no rush to buy me a house."

Although he really wanted to own his own house, buying a house was still too rare these days, so Zhao Jianfei was a little apprehensive.

Zhao Youcai glanced at him, rolled his eyes, and said, "What do you know, kid? I call this investing!"

If you don't act now before the market develops, you'll regret it when prices rise later.

The two chatted for a while longer on the way.

Upon arriving at their destination, Zhao Jianfei led Zhao Youcai to the landlord.

Upon learning that someone had come to buy a house, the man who was entertaining Zhao Youcai and his son grinned so wide he couldn't suppress it.

"Feel free to browse, come in and take your time!"

The man was confident in his house, which was inherited from his ancestors and had been maintained and repaired over the years, making it arguably the best-preserved two-story house.

Zhao Youcai could tell the house was nice when he was standing outside the wall, but after entering the yard, he realized he had underestimated how much care the homeowner had taken to it.

“Even if someone wanted to buy it a month ago, I wouldn’t have been willing to sell it. After all, this place holds my memories from childhood. It’s just that I only have one daughter, and now that she has established herself in another province, she insists on taking us, the old couple, to enjoy our retirement.”

The man proudly showed off to Zhao Youcai, continuing to give Zhao Youcai a tour of the place inside and out.

Upon seeing the pavilion and a small artificial hill in the courtyard, Zhao Youcai was quite shocked.

This family is no ordinary family; their ancestors may have been officials.

Did they just forget about him when they were beating up the landlord? How could these things still exist?