Chapter 35
When the first batch of residents moved into Central Park a little over 10 years ago, Hu Yu and Xie Yiling moved from the city. At that time, their son Hu Zhizhi was studying for his undergraduate degree at MIT in the United States, so Hu Zhizhi did not participate in this "big event" of moving.
However, moving wasn't really a big deal for the Hu family, as they had moved roughly every two or three years before moving to Central Park. Hu Zhizhi did experience his first major breakdown when they moved for the first time as a child, but he gradually got used to it. Since he was a boarding student, moving or not moving, or where they moved to, didn't really matter to him. However, this resulted in Hu Zhizhi having a very vague concept of "home."
The reason the Hu family moved so frequently was not to escape any gangland feuds. Their consistent explanation to the outside world was this: Xie Yiling was very talented in buying and selling real estate. She could always buy a house that didn't seem very good at the time for a very low price, and after living there for two or three years, the property prices in that area would skyrocket for various reasons. Then they would sell that house at a high price, and the difference in price alone would be enough for them to buy the next house.
However, Xie Yiling's feelings about her current home at One Beverly Hills are very different from those she has lived in before. After living here for almost five years, she decided that she would never move again, just as she often says: she has fallen in love with Central Park.
Central Park was one of the earliest real estate projects to market itself as targeting the "middle class," and over a decade ago, it certainly lived up to its reputation: at first glance, it was practically a replica of American suburban villas, featuring not only rare detached houses but also gardens and garages. Anyone could immediately recognize its status as a symbol of the middle class.
Because she had always been interested in buying and selling real estate, Xie Yiling specifically researched American real estate when she accompanied her son to university interviews in the US, and even considered buying property there. For this reason, she immediately fell in love with the Central Park project, which was only on a model at the time, and also with the Beverly Hills No. 1 villa they now live in—it had a better location than other villas, a more optimized layout, a larger area, and even its separate two-car garage was more impressive than others.
Unlike the later phases of Palm Beach and Napa Valley, which were built with shoddy construction and skimped on materials, the Beverly Hills area was different. In Xie Yiling's eyes, the apartments in the later phase two could barely be considered middle-class, while the third phase was simply a laughable display of nouveau riche wealth disguised as middle class. However, this mindset did not prevent her from successfully reselling her properties by labeling them as "middle class."
However, Xie Yiling just couldn't stand the residents of Phases 2 and 3, especially Phase 3. She often privately referred to Phase 3 Napa Valley as "the poor people's valley." But when she was working, she had to venture into the "enemy camp," standing smiling in those ugly duplex and small lower-level houses, dealing with those nouveau riche, and constantly on guard against their unruly children's scooters crashing into her or spilling their trashy drinks on her clothes.
However, Xie Yiling now prefers to think about problems from a different perspective—it is precisely because of those annoying homeowners in Phase 3 that she feels the joy of coming home more when she gets off work—she often drives her Wuling Hongguang Mini Macaron through the driveway in Central Park because she likes the crisp sound of the tires rubbing against the gravel, and she likes the feeling of parking her little electric car in her detached garage and charging it at her own charging station. At this moment, she is always filled with a romantic feeling—this is the feeling of "home"!
The past day was truly grueling. While "Golden September and Silver October" is the busiest season for the real estate industry, the months surrounding summer vacation are also very busy for suburban villa areas like this. This afternoon, even more annoying than the busy work was that Xie Yiling had to drive her massive, cumbersome Lexus into the city alone. Ever since she got used to driving a small electric car in Central Park, Xie Yiling no longer wanted to drive such a large and heavy vehicle. But going into the city meant looking like a city dweller, especially when going to the hospital; she needed to project an image, so driving a Lexus was more befitting of her status than a Wuling Hongguang.
Although she was going to the hospital, Xie Yiling wasn't actually there for a medical checkup or to visit her son, Hu Zhizhi. She only visited her son when Hu Yu was with her; otherwise, she felt afraid. Today, Xie Yiling was going to meet with Hu Zhizhi's attending physician.
However, meeting with the doctor always made Xie Yiling feel very irritable and anxious.
In Xie Yiling's view, shouldn't psychiatrists be gentle, rational, and seemingly professional and reliable people? But why is her son's attending physician such a... more like a lunatic? Xie Yiling always gets stuck in a quagmire because of this question.
Hu Zhizhi's attending physician's surname was Zhang, and his name was Zhang Yongsheng—what an overestimating name, Xie Yiling always thought, wondering how crazy the doctor's parents must be.
This Dr. Zhang Yongsheng was a short man with frizzy hair, bloodshot eyes, and a habit of cracking his knuckles. He always wore glasses held together with transparent tape, and whenever he met Xie Yiling, he would absentmindedly talk while typing on his computer with one finger. Moreover, he could never remember whose family member Xie Yiling was.
Thankfully, this awkward meeting is finally over, and Xie Yiling can finally go home.
"Old Hu! I'm home!" As soon as she entered the entrance hall, Xie Yiling greeted her husband loudly, because she was very sure that Hu Yu was in the living room watching videos on his phone.
However, Xie Yiling didn't stop chatting with Hu Yu; instead, she went straight into the kitchen. Aunt Wang, who came to help every day, had already prepared the ingredients for dinner according to her request. The clean, neatly chopped ingredients looked so pleasing!
The Hu family's kitchen was even bigger than Cheng Shi's DK, and it had a large floor-to-ceiling window facing the backyard, providing excellent natural light. All of this made Xie Yiling feel very peaceful, as if she had returned to her childhood – although material life was scarce back then, people's hearts were pure, unlike the restlessness she felt now.
However, Xie Yiling sometimes reflects on whether her ability to calm down when she returns home is simply due to her emotional attachment to the house. If she could be more honest, could she admit that her reluctance to move again is simply because she's old, tired, and unwilling to struggle against fate anymore? But whenever she thinks about this, another thought always secretly pops into her mind: No, I'm not old! I believe I still have the ability to manage this home!
This is precisely why Xie Yiling feels she has undergone profound and positive changes since moving to Central Park. Because now she can always try to look at her past life from a completely new perspective.
"Why should I quit my job? I love my job!" Many years ago, when Hu Yu angrily told Xie Yiling to quit her job and stay home to take care of their son's life and studies, that's what she said.
"What's the point of your job?" Hu Yu, who once held a high position and earned a generous annual salary, asked her sarcastically. "Besides, our family doesn't need the little money you earn. I earn enough to support you and our son. Why can't you take care of the family and our son? He's so young. Can you really bear to send him to boarding school?"
But no matter what Hu Yu said, Xie Yiling's answer was always the same: I like it!
"You like your lousy company? You enjoy being a scumbag? How can someone be so despicable?"
"I just like it! Hu Yu, let me tell you again, our company isn't a lousy one, it's a well-known Japanese company, and I'm not some nobody, I'm the deputy director. I have nothing more to say to you, anyway, you just look down on me, in your eyes I'm inferior to you in every way, and I'm only fit to stay at home taking care of the kids and cooking!"
In reality, Xie Yiling was just putting on a brave face of rationality and composure. She couldn't explain to Hu Yu, and even she herself couldn't understand, that what she actually liked wasn't her job. To her, any job was the same, and what she liked about this job wasn't that it allowed her to be independent.
What Xie Yiling likes and needs is actually the work itself.
That said, Xie Yiling's insistence on going to work was actually a way to leave herself a way out. She knew that if she and Hu Yu really couldn't make it and had to get a divorce, even if Hu Yu gave her a sum of money and the house could be left to her, having a job was of course more important. During that time, her marriage with Hu Yu was indeed on the verge of collapse, and the seemingly honest and upright Hu Yu was having an ambiguous affair with his subordinate.
Therefore, Xie Yiling preferred to believe a saying her father often told her: "Hard work is the best investment, whether it's for men or women." Xie Yiling firmly believed in this statement.
It is precisely because of this family tradition that Xie Yiling enjoys the tense atmosphere in the office. She enjoys the challenges at work, the exhaustion from working overtime, and the relief of kicking her high heels off the floor when she gets home at night. By then, she is often so drained by work that she only has enough energy to eat a quick bite or two, take a barely hot shower, and then rush to bed. The intensity and pressure of work in Japanese companies, especially the exploitation of women, is indeed unbearable for ordinary people.
Therefore, Xie Yiling, who has no hobbies, spends all her free time looking at houses. This is a way for her to relieve stress, and it also brings her unexpected added value: she makes correct decisions based on her own judgment, which makes her feel the vitality of life and her own value.
Xie Yiling loves this tangible feeling: it's her job and owning a house that help her cope with the pressures of marriage and parenthood. As she often says, without a job and her own house, she would have gone crazy long ago.
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