However, this was not unbearable for Xu Anran. After paying a down payment of 300,000 yuan, she took out a loan to buy a two-story villa in the middle of the town.
Next, Xu Anran began working on the renovation. She found a professional renovation company and made a series of specific requests. First, she wanted underfloor heating throughout the house. In addition, she wanted a large fireplace in the living room to fill the room with warmth. The kitchen and dining room should be combined into an open-plan kitchen, with a traditional earthen stove installed to warm the entire house by burning firewood or coal. Finally, she requested that the bedrooms on the first and second floors be connected to the earthen stove and fireplace to create a heated platform bed, allowing people to comfortably rest in bed during the cold winter.
In addition to these basic renovation requirements, Xu Anran also emphasized the villa's insulation performance. She requested the renovation company to use the best insulation materials and implement three layers of insulation to ensure the indoor temperature would not be too low.
At the same time, the roof should be reinforced with thick steel plates to prevent the house from collapsing under the weight of snow. The yard outside the villa should be enclosed with one-way bulletproof glass to ensure security while allowing the owner to see outside, but preventing outsiders from seeing inside.
In addition, the courtyard wall should be thickened and heightened to increase security. Finally, the villa's main gate should be replaced with a thicker steel gate to improve its anti-theft capabilities.
When they heard Xu Anran's unusual requests, the people at the renovation company were quite confused and bewildered. However, Xu Anran didn't offer much explanation. The company's employees were only responsible for completing the task and receiving payment, so they didn't ask any further questions.
Xu Anran paid a deposit of 200,000 yuan without hesitation, expressing her hope to start construction as soon as possible.
She comes to check on the progress of the project every one to two days.
Next, Xu Anran began buying various items to prepare for the upcoming extreme cold weather. She bought snow shovels, snowboards, hats, down jackets, thick quilts, cotton pants, and so on.
Since there was already a large amount of food stored in the space, Xu Anran decided not to buy any more, but she still bought a lot of frozen food so that it could be preserved even if the extreme cold came.
Meanwhile, Xu Anran actively prepared supplies to cope with the extreme cold weather. She contacted a local coal mine, ordered a large quantity of coal, and rented a large warehouse to store it. In just a few days, she successfully purchased 100 tons of coal, spending a total of nearly 100,000 yuan.
After that, she bought a lot of timber to use as fuel. Every day, she used her spatial ring to transport the timber and coal she bought to the basement of the villa and locked it up.
Xu Anran knew perfectly well that this fuel was extremely important to her, enough for her to use for a year or even longer.
Time flies, and three months have passed in the blink of an eye. After all this time of hard work, Xu Anran's house has finally been renovated.
The villa's perimeter wall was raised to two meters high, and was fitted with electric fences and broken glass. A very heavy-looking gate was installed on the outside. The entire yard was enclosed by one-way bulletproof glass, making it impossible to see inside from the outside.
Upon entering the villa, one must first pass through a thick gate, as sturdy as the courtyard itself. Inside, on the first floor, there is a large sunken living room with a large fireplace mounted on one wall, next to which are several bundles of firewood, creating a warm and inviting atmosphere. Next to the living room is the kitchen, one wall of which is entirely covered by an earthen stove. The floor is made of high-quality fire-resistant material, and the bathroom is adjacent to the kitchen.
Upstairs on the second floor, there are three bedrooms and a bathroom. In the center of the three bedrooms is a small square hall. A fireplace is also mounted on the wall of the hall. The earthen beds in the three bedrooms are connected to the earthen stove and two fireplaces in the kitchen, which helps to better maintain the indoor temperature.
The entire villa's floor was covered with off-white tiles, and the walls were painted a creamy yellow, making the whole house feel very warm and comfortable.
Xu Anran was very satisfied after the inspection and gave the other party a final payment of 200,000 yuan.
Then she went to the mall to buy furniture. She first bought a large sofa and a thick carpet to put in the living room. Then she picked out bedding and kitchenware, and then went to buy air conditioners, water heaters and other appliances. She spent another 100,000 yuan in miscellaneous expenses.
Just a week after Xu Anran had bought everything and moved into the villa, she discovered that the villa right next to hers had also been bought and was being renovated. Coincidentally, the renovation company the other party had hired was the same one as hers, and even their renovation requirements were exactly the same.
That afternoon, Xu Anran was exercising in the yard when she suddenly heard a knock on the door. She put down her dumbbells, went to the door, and looked out through the peephole. She saw a middle-aged man in his fifties standing outside.
He had a buzz cut and was a bit taller than Xu Anran, about 1.75 meters. He was very dark-skinned and looked very strong and upright, giving people a sense of righteousness.
Xu Anran opened the door and looked at the uninvited guest with some suspicion: "May I ask what brings you here?"
The middle-aged man smiled, revealing a set of white teeth: "I just bought the house next door and wanted to say hello to my new neighbors. I hope you'll take care of me in the future!" As he spoke, he extended his hand and shook hands with Xu Anran.
Xu Anran smiled and replied, "Oh, you're a new neighbor! Welcome, welcome! We're neighbors now, so please let me know if you need any help."
After chatting for a while, Xu Anran learned that the middle-aged man's name was Li Yugang and that he was a policeman.
Li Yugang smiled slightly and said he had something he wanted to discuss with Xu Anran. Xu Anran invited him to walk to the stone table and benches on the left side of the courtyard, and then they sat down to talk.
Li Yugang nodded and then walked towards the stone table first. After they were all seated, Xu Anran quietly looked at Li Yugang, waiting for him to state the purpose of their visit.
Li Yugang didn't waste any time and went straight to the point about why he was there: "The main reason I'm here is to tell you something: I know your true identity." Hearing this, Xu Anran's heart tightened, but she didn't show any outward reaction, simply asking calmly, "Oh? What is your identity?"
Li Yugang continued, "Actually, you and I are the same kind of people, or to be more precise, I used to be the same as you."
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