"Auntie, I can take a bath by myself. You can help me get dressed."
"Then I'll wait for you at the door, okay? Otherwise, I won't feel at ease."
"good."
Xia Xiaomei waited at the bathroom door with clothes in her hands. She originally wanted to help Xia Minmin take a bath, but Xia Minmin refused, so they had to compromise.
Xia Minmin emerged from the shower, still damp from the water. "Auntie, I told you it would be fine! Believe me or not, I'm a big girl now, I can take a shower on my own, it's just that I might need some practice getting dressed."
"Yes, yes, it's because Auntie underestimated our Xiaomin." Xia Xiaomei dried Xia Minmin's body and helped her put on her clothes.
"Your hair is still wet, why don't you sit in the chair for a while?"
"Okay, Auntie, go take a shower yourself!" Xia Minmin dragged the chair to the window and stood on it to look at the street scene of Shenzhen. The neon lights made Shenzhen look very beautiful and dazzling.
Recalling the events of the afternoon, Xia Minmin truly felt that she was exceptionally lucky, and that she had also been very lucky before the age of 12 in her previous life.
She often won more than ten drinks in a row. When she was in elementary school, the small shops outside the school had lottery cards that cost one yuan to draw once. Every time, she would win the first prize of 50 yuan. She also found things like gold rings.
I never thought about buying lottery tickets, but that was the case back then. Nobody in my family believed in lotteries; we preferred to make money honestly and practically.
Xia Xiaomei is the same. Her regular income is always poor and her job doesn't make money, but she has great luck with windfall gains. After get off work, she likes to play cards and wins eight out of ten times. She wins more money in a month than she does at her regular job.
"Xiaomin, what are you looking at?" Xia Xiaomei came out, drying her hair.
"Auntie, look how beautiful Shenzhen is outside. It's completely different from our hometown."
Xia Xiaomei also leaned closer to the window, "Yes, it's completely different. At this time of day, there are basically no people on the streets of my hometown, and there aren't so many colorful lights."
"Auntie, I love it here. Winters here are so comfortable. I don't have to wear so many clothes, and my hands finally don't hurt so much!" Xia Minmin stretched her arms.
"Was it caused by wearing too many clothes?" Xia Xiaomei touched Xia Minmin's arm but didn't find any injury.
"Yes, it's uncomfortable when you wear too many clothes and your hands can't move freely."
“Once your parents buy a house in Shenzhen, we won’t go back in the winter anymore. We’ll go back when the weather gets warmer! I probably won’t go back much in the future either. I must buy a house in Shenzhen so that I can have my own home.”
Looking at her aunt, who was now full of fighting spirit, Xia Minmin realized how different she was from her listless self in her previous life. She liked this aunt even more; she was so energetic and happy.
"Auntie, you already have 210,000 yuan. With interest rates so high these days, if you save it for a few more years, you should have enough. If you need more then, I can lend you some! I have a million yuan!"
"Thank you in advance, Xiaomin! After this one-year fixed deposit matures, I want to renew it for a three-year fixed deposit, which has an interest rate of 12.98%."
“Auntie, let’s go together then. I’ll also ask my dad to help me transfer the three-year deposit.”
Xia Xiaomei touched Xia Minmin's hair, which was already dry. Her own hair was thin and had dried long ago. "We can go to sleep now. We've been so tired these past two days. You were the only one who slept well on the train. Your parents and I didn't sleep at all."
"Hehe, you guys can sleep in tomorrow, no need to get up early."
...
After taking a shower, Xia Jianguo and his wife lay in bed chatting.
"Jianguo, do we really want to buy a house in Shenzhen?"
“Well, Xiaomin will be going to school in a few years. She can’t go to school without a house. I think we should buy a small one first. Houses in Shenzhen are too expensive. We can buy one to live in first and then upgrade to a bigger house when prices drop.”
"That's right. We came here so that Xiaomin could have a better future. And after buying a house, we'll have a home. We won't have to worry about the landlord kicking us out or us having to move frequently."
Are we going to look at houses tomorrow?
"We'll sleep in tomorrow and then have breakfast, or as the driver would say, 'dim sum,' so let's enjoy it! We'll go look at houses this afternoon. I'm turning off the lights."
Xia Jianguo turned off the light, just beginning to feel sleepy.
"Jianguo, do you think my little sister can take good care of Xiaomin?" Li Chunmei tossed and turned in bed.
"Oh dear, don't worry about it. Your daughter is easygoing, don't worry!"
"Jianguo, why does this feel so unreal? We really have 1.6 million!" Li Chunmei suddenly sat up excitedly again.
"Chunmei, this is all real! It's not a dream!"
"I'm so excited! That's 1.6 million! I can't sleep just thinking about it."
"Chunmei, I'm sorry I didn't discuss the 1 million with you beforehand."
"Jianguo, you're overthinking it. This money never belonged to either of us. We're only able to buy a house now thanks to Xiaomin. Xiaomin is really lucky. Do you think we can buy it tomorrow? I want to try it too."
"You forgot that the deadline is 5 p.m. today."
"It seems we have no choice but to make money honestly and practically."
“Chunmei, actually I’ve had a feeling of unreality since the twelfth lunar month. Xiaomin seems to have suddenly become smarter, and our family’s life has been getting better day by day.”
"Perhaps it's your parents' blessing on us, or maybe our hard times are finally coming to an end?"
As night deepened, a clear difference emerged between the upstairs and downstairs areas: the upstairs was quiet, while the downstairs was bustling with people.
...
The old Li family residence is hundreds of kilometers away.
Grandma Xia: "Old man, do you think Chunmei and her family have arrived in Shenzhen? They haven't even called back?"
Grandpa Xia smoked a cigarette he had rolled himself from tobacco leaves he had roasted. "Don't worry, Jianguo has it with him! No need to fret! He might call tomorrow."
"How can I not worry! They went to such a far place, a mother worries when her son travels a thousand miles, do you understand? All you do is smoke!! Last time when you went to the county town for a checkup, the doctor told you to smoke and drink less."
Grandpa Xia muttered, "I didn't smoke during winter break!"
“If Xiaomin and Xiaoqing hadn’t refused to stay with you because of the smell, you wouldn’t have stopped smoking. Only your granddaughter and granddaughter can keep you in check.”
"After Jianguo calls, let's quickly mail the money to them. I'm always worried that it will be stolen if we keep it at home like this."
“I’m home every day, what could a thief possibly steal? I’ll just go to the backyard for a smoke.”
Grandpa Xia took a cigarette to the backyard, squatted down, and looked up at the sky. He was still worried, but he couldn't show it so his wife wouldn't worry.
...
The Xia family's old residence.
Chen Chunhua said, "Jianshe, I'm sorry. I went too far before, and I will change in the future. I will apologize to my second brother and younger sister when they come back this year."
“It’s not just your problem, my problem is bigger. I didn’t do a good job as an older brother, and I’m the one who made them suffer.”
"We will make serious changes in the future, and one day they will see it and forgive us."
"I hope so! I wonder how they're doing in Shenzhen?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com