Chapter 100
Even a small thing can bring about huge changes.
One day before New Year's Day, Xie Yiling had arranged to have dinner with a client in the city. After dinner, while strolling around, she was drawn to a brown Teddy dog in a pet store window.
It was snowing that day, and Xie Yiling seemed to need warmth more than usual, and the pet shop seemed to possess a magical warmth.
But the moment Xie Yiling stepped into the pet store, she still felt pretty silly. She had never done anything so silly or impulsive in her life. Even when she was studying in Japan and her family opposed her relationship, she never acted impulsively. But this time, she impulsively walked into that pet store and impulsively bought that brown teddy bear dog home.
This little guy is so adorable! But for Xie Yiling, who had never raised any animals before, raising a dog for the first time was really not easy. She even felt it was harder than raising a child: she had to train it to poop and pee in a designated spot, stop it from destroying things in the house, take it for vaccinations, and deworm it... But looking at that little brown ball of fur, Xie Yiling felt that all the effort was worthwhile.
"Lie down!" Xie Yiling, wearing slippers and sitting cross-legged on the carpet, commanded "Lucky," "Stand up, sit properly, good girl!"
Then she would rub Lucky's clean little belly, and it would obediently roll up its back and wave its paws, with a mischievous smile on its face.
"Lucky, you're such a good baby. Come on, let me ask you, do you love Mommy or Daddy more?" Xie Yiling played the most popular turtle soup game with Lucky. And for some reason, she always had endless questions for Lucky, and inexhaustible patience.
And it was this "Lucky" person, not Hu Yu or anyone else, who helped Xie Yiling get through this difficult winter.
When the Spring Festival was over and spring arrived, Xie Yiling's work became busy again. She felt her life had regained its vitality. However, she still faced a problem left over from the tragedy at No. 5 Napa Valley: how to sell this "haunted house"?
Strictly speaking, No. 5 Napa Valley can't be considered a haunted house. Moreover, Xie Yiling's concern wasn't actually about not being able to sell the house; she was afraid of seeing Chengshi during the process of selling it.
However, it seems that Chengshi also doesn't want to see Xie Yiling, so he has never returned to Central Park since he moved away. Instead, he entrusted the sale of the house to Xie Yiling by phone and the internet, and he doesn't care about the price of the house.
Regardless, Xie Yiling still needed to see Cheng Shi on the day of the Napa Valley No. 5 signing. So, she spent the entire night anxiously waiting for him. However, to Xie Yiling's surprise, dealing with Cheng Shi, the tragic male protagonist, wasn't as terrible as she had imagined. On the day of the signing, Cheng Shi was very polite and showed no signs of self-pity; even his speech was normal: "Long time no see, Ms. Xie."
Aside from a simple greeting, Cheng Shi and Xie Yiling didn't exchange many pleasantries. He quickly signed the house purchase agreement with the internet celebrity couple at the agreed price. Xie Yiling's employee arranged a time for both parties to go to the real estate transaction center, and of course, Xie Yiling, the big boss, didn't need to accompany them personally. So, after everything was settled, Cheng Shi left, and Xie Yiling felt that this matter could be put behind her now.
The next two months of busy work left Xie Yiling both exhausted and fulfilled: more and more old houses in Central Park were being put on the market, while more and more new houses were being built and launched throughout the Central Park area. More importantly, more and more respectable middle-class people were choosing to move from the city to large villas in the suburbs to improve their quality of life, which was a great thing that Xie Yiling was happy to see.
What made Xie Yiling even happier was that those respectable middle-class people, those beautiful men and women who deserved better housing, didn't haggle or haggle over prices. Therefore, this spring became the highlight of Xie Yiling's career. And seeing those houses find suitable owners, Xie Yiling felt a motherly pride in them.
Of course, Xie Yiling is now not only the "mother" of those vacant houses, but also the mother of Lucky—this little angel makes her even more reluctant to come home.
However, besides playing with Lucky with Hu Yu every day, Xie Yiling also assembled a renovation team and took on some simple renovation work in Central Park, truly turning her real estate agency into a vertically integrated business—who says a retired woman can't build a successful career?
"This looks so beautiful!"
One weekend evening, Xie Yiling sat on the sofa sewing little clothes for Lucky; Hu Yu had been scrolling through his phone for ages and was now feeling a bit tired, so he was gazing out the window at the green trees, giving himself some eye care; while the adorable Lucky lay contentedly at Hu Yu's feet, playing with its little dog, Abebe.
"It feels so good to use my phone after a long day of thinking," Xie Yiling remarked, busy with her hands. "Old Hu, would you like a cup of tea? Or perhaps another piece of cake?"
"No, I need to drink a glass of milk before going to bed."
Xie Yiling carefully trimmed the loose threads on the dog's clothes with scissors, saying, "Old Hu, I can't even begin to describe how much I love that little villa at No. 5 Napa Valley. Do you remember how terrifying it looked in winter? Every time I walked there, I felt a chill run down my spine. To be honest, it was practically a place of eerie winds, giving me the creeps. But now, it feels different when I pass by. The villa is vibrant again, clean and bright, with lights back on. I'm so happy! And those two internet celebrities, 'Pipi Lu's Pi and Luxi Xi's Lu,' their names are hilarious. Lu Ning, the lady of the house, although I didn't think she was pretty at first glance, she's quite attractive, and she's also very witty. And Pipi, this..." There aren't many surnames, but his surname really is Pi. He's not a talkative person, but I heard he's quite influential in the directing circle. Old Hu, let me tell you, you can't compare people. Listen to what Director Pi said to me: 'Sister Lingzi, we really don't know how to thank you enough for getting this house at such a low price.' Look at this kid, so polite. Of course, we're not in business asking for thanks, but hearing his words warmed my heart. And Old Hu, you know what? I've been thinking, for so many years I've really loved that little villa at No. 5 Napa Valley, and only now have I found it a suitable owner—I mean, a good owner, just like finding a good mother for little Lucky!"
Hu Yu, seemingly lost in meditation, replied to Xie Yiling without any apparent reason, "Oh, you mean besides Xiao Cheng's family, right?"
"I'm talking about genuinely good-natured people, meaning people like us. Sigh, I actually quite like Xiao Cheng and his wife, but I think they're a bit... how should I put it? Too... too young, too rebellious, too immature, right? Don't you think they're both a bit neurotic? That's what I don't like about them. I haven't told you much, but they're actually quite difficult to please in many ways, and dealing with them is exhausting. The reason why such a nice house like No. 5 Napa Valley took so long to sell is because they devalued that villa. Putting aside whether it's a haunted house or not, they never properly maintained it. The walkway was only half-finished, the window in the second-floor children's room is almost falling off, there's graffiti on the walls upstairs and downstairs, and the basketball hoop in the backyard probably falls apart at the slightest touch. Lao Hu, can you imagine anyone ruining their own house like that? Of course, anyone who buys a house will definitely renovate it, but you can't just destroy it like that. And their problems don't stop there; there are many more outrageous things they've done."
Xie Yiling paused here, putting the needle and thread back into the box. Then she frowned, as if searching for the right words to express what she wanted to say.
"Anyway, I think that couple is really strange, they have absolutely no sense of responsibility. And they always look at people with such wary eyes, even when they talk to them, how should I put it? It's like they're not quite mentally sound. Oh, and I just remembered something, do you know what I saw in their storage room? A huge box of lotus plants, all dead. I bought those for them last spring, I spent ages at the flower market choosing the best-growing shoots, and then I personally put them in the most suitable soil. Old Hu, you know, if someone puts so much effort into giving you such a good plant, and it's a gift that can grow and has life, you should at least..."
But from that moment on, Hu Yu couldn't hear anything. He put on his in-ear headphones and happily started watching videos.
Hu Yu then entered his joyful online world.
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