The idea that a young woman should own her own home is a scam.
This was the phrase Su Ying had heard most often, but she didn’t really care.
Gold had soared from 400 to over 600; countless people had called it a scam, claiming it was bound to crash sooner or later. Su Ying didn’t care; if she had the money, she would naturally buy it.
Houses are no different. For those who grew up under the care of their parents and grandparents—those who held property deeds bearing their own names before they even understood what a property deed was—it is, of course, impossible to comprehend those who struggle desperately to buy a home.
Su Ying understood. Although she wouldn’t struggle desperately to buy a home, if she had the money, she would buy one too.
‘Security’ can be summed up in just three words, yet the depth of meaning behind it is far too complex to be explained in a few brief sentences.
She’d previously come across a comment from a ‘poor’ resident of Chun City: “Good heavens, it’s 2025 and there are still people without their own room? Isn’t it supposed to be one room for the parents, one for the child, plus a study and a guest room? For goodness’ sake, my family’s already poor enough as it is.”
Su Ying had originally intended to use her own account to refute a few of these points, but upon seeing the comments section filled with remarks like “Those claiming they don’t have their own room are obviously lying”, “If they’ve managed to elicit your sympathy, they’ve succeeded in stirring up trouble”, “Beware of malicious organisations”, and “Could you lot overseas keep up with the times before spreading rumours next time? Even my parents’ generation, born in the 90s, had their own rooms”… …
Su Ying felt a deep, indescribable ache as she read them. She even wondered if she hadn’t been born and bred in Chun City, perhaps she wouldn’t feel this way.
But she was, after all, from Chun City. She lived in the same city as this so-called ‘poor person’ from Chun City; it was even possible that they had passed each other at some street corner without either of them realising it.
The thought of buying a flat had taken root in Su Ying’s mind as a mere seed, yet it had instantly grown into a towering tree.
Before, she hadn’t had the means; now she did. Besides, property prices in Chun City weren’t particularly high. Having fallen from 2023 to 2025, prices in many older estates had practically halved. Even the listed price for Central Garden, right next to the Central Mall in Chun City’s central business district, had dropped to around 80% of its peak; a final sale price of 70% would be considered a good deal.
Almost the moment she arrived home, Su Ying fired up her mobile and frantically searched for second-hand property listings, not even bothering to unpack the parcels piled on the floor.
Never mind; she’d have plenty of time for that later.
Su Ying added an estate agent’s contact details on the platform; the agent’s profile picture showed her in a business suit, looking very professional at first glance.
They had a brief chat and agreed to view a property together the following day.
At nine o’clock the next morning, the estate agent appeared punctually at the foot of Su Ying’s block of flats.
The agent was a woman in her thirties, wearing a grey-and-white colour-blocked trench coat over a black suit. She had short, ear-length hair and slightly arched eyebrows, giving her an air of crisp efficiency.
“Hello, Ms Su. I’m your estate agent, Zhao Ling. You can just call me Sister Zhao. We spoke on WeChat last night.”
Su Ying nodded immediately, looking a little nervous.
As Zhao Ling guided Su Ying to the car, she said, “I’ve had a look at the properties we discussed last night. In the city centre, the only ones that meet your requirements are detached houses. Those in less desirable locations built after 2000 cost over 2 million yuan. If you’re looking at Yuehu Residence in the suburbs, they’re around 1 million yuan. I can negotiate the price down to 1.4 million at most. What do you think of that budget?”
Su Ying’s dream home was a two-storey detached house with a courtyard and a small garden—ideally, with gardens at both the front and back, one for growing vegetables and the other for flowers. The only properties that met her criteria were villas or resettlement housing in rural areas. However, as the rural resettlement housing came with limited property rights and was in a remote location, Su Ying ruled it out straight away.
But if a villa cost over a million…
Su Ying had already saved 2 million yuan in a large-denomination time deposit. A single trip to the provincial capital had cost her around 200,000 yuan, leaving her with 2.8 million. Buying a villa costing over a million yuan wasn’t out of the question, but what about the subsequent renovation? Having worked at a renovation firm herself, she knew full well that even a basic fit-out for a villa of that size would cost at least 300,000 yuan. If she wanted it to truly live up to the name ‘villa’—hiring a designer to create a bespoke scheme and properly landscaping the garden—that would start at 500,000 yuan.
It wasn’t entirely out of the question, of course; there were plenty of people earning a monthly salary of 4,000 yuan who used a down payment from their parents to secure a mortgage with monthly repayments of 3,000 yuan.
Su Ying, at the very least, could pay for it in full.
What’s more, after buying the property outright and renovating it, she’d still have nearly 1 million left over.
However, perhaps influenced by that post she’d seen on social media earlier, Su Ying was worried whether this sum would be enough to allow her to ‘lie flat’—so she was still more inclined to keep the money to pay herself a salary.
Su Ying felt a little embarrassed: “Some are rather expensive. Are there any cheaper options…?”
Zhao Ling paused thoughtfully: “Ms Su, what are your core requirements?”
Su Ying was momentarily taken aback; apart from the image of a two-storey Western-style house straight out of a fairy tale in her mind, she didn’t seem to have any concrete ideas about the property.
Drawing on her years of experience working at a renovation firm, she tentatively raised a few points she considered important: “Well… I’d like a spacious two-bedroom property around 100 square metres, with north-south ventilation. It would be even better if it had two balconies, and ideally three rooms facing south! The building shouldn’t be too old; preferably a block with a lift, and the floor level shouldn’t be too high or too low. The total price should ideally be under 500,000 yuan.”
Having said this, Su Ying felt her demands might be a bit too high. Surely the estate agent wouldn’t think she’d come to make a wish…
Zhao Ling listened, looking increasingly bewildered. Finally, she slapped her thigh and exclaimed excitedly, “Well, isn’t that just lucky? I’ve just received a listing that meets all your requirements perfectly. The owner is asking for 680,000, but don’t worry—there’s plenty of room for negotiation.”
Su Ying frowned at this. As an outsider, she knew full well that property prices would continue to fall, but as the buyer, she feared she couldn’t just make such a drastic cut straight away.
“Well… cutting the price by a third straight off? Would the landlord accept that? They wouldn’t think I’m here to ruin the deal, would they…?”
Zhao Ling gave a hearty laugh. “The owner’s in a hurry to sell, so it’s negotiable. Let’s go and have a look first.”
The property Zhao Ling mentioned wasn’t in the West District, where Su Ying usually spent her time, but in the more bustling East District. The East District was the most developed part of Chun City; government offices, the best schools, hospitals, and the liveliest shopping centres and pedestrian streets were all located there.
The car drove into a residential complex called ‘Xingfu Li’. There was a security guard at the entrance; you had to register to get the barrier raised. The guard was a man in his fifties—he was just about capable of handling the registration, but it was still a vast improvement on the unmanned resettlement housing where Su Ying currently lived.
Zhao Ling didn’t drive straight to their destination, but instead circled the complex, explaining to Su Ying as she drove: “This estate was handed over around 2005. It’s certainly a bit old, but the build quality was actually quite good back then. Most new-builds these days use sea sand, so they aren’t as well-built as these older properties. The landscaping is nothing special, but someone does tend to it; and as you can see, the paths are spotless—someone’s keeping them clean. You can rest assured about the property management. And most importantly—”
Zhao Ling kept her audience in suspense; only when she saw Su Ying turn to look at her did she speak slowly: “The estate has just had new lifts installed, so you won’t have to worry about lift issues for at least the next 15 years.”
Su Ying nodded; that was indeed a plus.
After the tour, Su Ying had a general understanding of the estate. It wasn’t particularly large and had once been staff accommodation.
It was a 12-storey mid-rise building, with each block featuring one lift serving two flats: the east-facing units were spacious two-bedroom flats of 105 square metres, whilst the west-facing units were three-bedroom, two-bathroom flats of 139 square metres. The communal area charges were minimal—almost non-existent.
Given that these days, 99 square metres is considered a three-bedroom flat and 87 square metres is the absolute limit for a four-bedroom flat, this combination of size and layout was indeed a rarity.
The flat Su Ying was viewing today was the 105-square-metre two-bedroom unit, with three south-facing rooms and a prime location on the seventh floor.
Zhao Ling remarked, “Seventh floor is excellent—’seven up, eight down’—your career is bound to go from strength to strength.”
The lift stopped on the fifth floor, but Zhao Ling’s introduction continued uninterrupted: “What’s more, as this was formerly company-provided housing, the residents generally maintain a high standard of living.”
The two stepped out of the lift and took the stairs instead. The landing was clean and tidy, with no cluttering pet cages, rubbish bags or cardboard boxes taking up space, nor were there any electric scooters or illegally strung extension leads in sight.
As soon as they reached the 7th-floor landing, a door swung open. A woman stood in the entrance hall, her hand still on the door handle. She was dressed in a slightly business-like suit and wore her hair in a sleek ponytail.
“Viewing the flat?” she asked warily.
Zhao Ling quickly stepped forward and said, “Yes, yes, I’m Zhao. I spoke to you on the phone earlier.”
The woman pursed her lips and said nothing. Just as Su Ying was beginning to feel puzzled, the woman let out an almost imperceptible sigh: “Come in.”
Zhao Ling took some shoe covers out of her bag and helped Su Ying put them on before leading her inside.
The guest bedroom was right by the entrance hall. After checking with the female homeowner, Zhao Ling led Su Ying inside. The guest bedroom was very spacious, larger even than Su Ying’s current master bedroom, which included an en-suite bathroom.
It appeared to be a man’s room, with dark-coloured computer equipment and a collection of trainers piled almost halfway up one wall.
Stepping out of the guest bedroom and continuing further in, the space suddenly opened up. Su Ying immediately spotted a middle-aged man in a black jacket sitting on the sofa in the living room; upon seeing Su Ying and Zhao Ling, he merely nodded silently.
Su Ying awkwardly scratched the back of her head and quickly looked away.
To the north was the dining room, which faced the U-shaped kitchen directly to the east, separated by a glass door. Outside the dining room was a utility balcony.
To the east lay the living room, which opened onto a very large balcony. According to the floor plan, it was 1.5 metres wide. The owner had created a garden there; even though it was the depths of winter, it remained lush and green, clearly showing that the owner had put a great deal of effort into tending to it.
The layout was open from north to south and featured two balconies, which was quite rare for a two-bedroom flat.
The bathroom is adjacent to the kitchen and is a neat rectangle. The shower area is sufficiently spacious; Su Ying is even considering installing a bathtub.
The master bedroom is larger than Su Ying could have imagined; the space would easily accommodate two smaller bedrooms without looking out of place. What delighted her even more was that there is actually a large terrace outside the master bedroom!
This isn’t just a two-balcony layout—it’s a three-balcony one!
She’s really struck gold!