Since ancient times, it has always been easy to turn connections and influence into money, but much harder to turn money into connections.
If they could really get themselves connected to the Xiao family…
Lin Xi watched Lin Jianguo’s expression from the second floor and immediately knew he was tempted.
Of course he was. This old geezer had already gotten results from taking the easy way out and living off a woman when he was young.
Once someone has taken the shortcut, human nature makes them want to take it a second time.
“Dad.”
Lin Xi spoke at just the right moment.
The three people downstairs looked up, and she slowly walked down the stairs.
Stopping in front of them, she rubbed her earlobe and asked, “Did I hear that correctly? You want to give the money my mother left behind to this money-losing daughter as her dowry?”
“What did you just call me?!” When it came to actual money, Lin Ran could no longer tolerate it.
Lin Jianguo grabbed her wrist and pulled her behind him.
He had thought through what Li Yufen had just said.
That was right. The most important thing right now was Lin Ran’s marriage to Zhao Mingze.
They absolutely could not let anything go wrong at this point.
Especially not anything involving Lin Xi.
Zhao Mingze had specifically named Lin Xi as the woman he wanted to marry. If Lin Xi also stubbornly insisted on marrying him, everything would be ruined.
So Lin Jianguo took a deep breath and endured it.
“Xiaoxi, you heard wrong. We’re not giving it to her. We’re lending it to her.”
Afraid Lin Xi would make another scene like she had that morning, Li Yufen quickly nodded along.
“That’s right, that’s right. We’re lending it.”
“How could your father and I possibly touch the money your mother left you?”
That hypocritical smile made Lin Xi sick.
She snorted.
“Is that so?”
“Of course!” Li Yufen immediately pulled Lin Ran out from behind Lin Jianguo and gave her a meaningful look.
“Xiaoran, you tell your sister yourself.”
Lin Ran was a thousand times unwilling, but for the sake of the money, she swallowed her resentment.
“Sis, just think of it as helping me this once. Once I marry into their family, I’ll pay you back immediately.”
Lin Jianguo kept a stern expression.
He was too proud to lower himself and beg his daughter.
After waiting for a while, he finally put on his fatherly authority again, disguising harsh words as gentle ones. He gave a forceful cough.
“Enough. Your Aunt Fen and your sister have both asked you. What more do you want?”
Nothing, really.
When negotiating conditions, it was always better to wait until the other side ran out of patience.
The timing was right.
Lin Xi swept her gaze over the three of them, raised her hand, rubbed at her fingernails, and sighed.
“Fine.”
“Then I have a condition too.”
The moment he heard there was a condition, Lin Jianguo’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.
“Borrowing money comes with conditions?”
Lin Xi laughed.
“Even a bank loan requires collateral. If you could just borrow money without any conditions, why don’t you go ask Aunt Wang next door or Aunt Li down the street? Why waste your time arguing with me?”
Lin Jianguo was immediately rendered speechless.
Whenever there was an argument in this family, Li Yufen inevitably came out to stir the pot.
This time was no different.
Li Yufen pinched Lin Jianguo’s arm, signaling him.
“Of course there should be conditions. Let’s hear what the child has to say.”
They had never intended to pay the money back anyway.
Sacrificing a small benefit in exchange for a much greater one—when Lin Jianguo thought about it, it seemed worthwhile.
“Fine. Go ahead,” Lin Jianguo said impatiently.
Lin Xi was concise.
“Transfer the house to me right now.”
“What?!”
This time, it wasn’t just Lin Jianguo. Li Yufen and Lin Ran both cried out in shock.
Once he recovered, Lin Jianguo immediately declared, “Impossible!”
“This is marital property belonging jointly to me and Bai Keling. I’m not dead yet, and you want the house? Dream on!”
Just as expected, getting him to hand over the house wasn’t going to be easy.
Lin Xi merely shrugged.
“Fine, then I’ll wait until you die. I’m not in that much of a hurry.”
Ignoring Lin Jianguo’s face, which had turned the color of pig liver from anger, Lin Xi casually glanced at Lin Ran before changing the subject.
“But let me make one thing clear. You earn sixty-five yuan a month. If Lin Ran’s dowry exceeds five hundred yuan by even a single cent, I’ll see you at the police station!”
Lin Jianguo, who had originally been counting on the fact that Lin Xi had been young when Bai Keling died and therefore didn’t know how much property the family actually owned, froze.
That was right!
Lin Xi might not know how much property the family had, but she knew the military factory’s salary!
This daughter had been willful and unruly since childhood. He had no idea when she had become so calculating.
They couldn’t agree on the conditions.
The living room fell silent.
“You three discuss it. I’m going upstairs to take a nap.”
Lin Xi yawned.
She deliberately gave the three of them time to agonize over the matter.
The moment she returned to her room, Lin Jianguo was so angry that he nearly smashed a cup.
“Oh, careful! That’s money!” Li Yufen hurried over and snatched it from his hand.
Everything in this house—from the food to the household items—consisted of old belongings left behind by the Bai family. They were all valuable, and she couldn’t bear to damage them.
Besides, Li Yufen said, “What if you make enough noise to wake Xiaoxi?”
“What then?” Lin Jianguo glared at her furiously. “Didn’t you hear what she just said?”
“That girl has the nerve to make such an outrageous demand. She immediately asked me for the house!”
Li Yufen said nothing.
She had lived with Lin Jianguo for more than twenty years and understood his selfish nature better than anyone.
If they wanted to give Lin Ran a dowry, the house would have to be handed over eventually.
But she couldn’t be the one to suggest it.
“Why aren’t you saying anything?”
Lin Jianguo sulked for a while. When Li Yufen still remained silent, he turned toward her.
Testing the waters, he said, “Isn’t Zhao Mingze somehow related to you? Why don’t you call him again and try?”
Li Yufen didn’t move.
Lin Jianguo impatiently furrowed his brows.
Only then did Li Yufen speak.
“Even if we’re related, that connection belongs to his mother’s generation. How old was he when Li Mei died? Why would he listen to anything I say?”
One person refused to marry, while the other demanded the house.
Between two bad options, they could only choose the lesser evil.
Li Yufen swallowed and tried to persuade Lin Jianguo.
“If you really can’t bear to give up the house, I do have a way to make sure it comes back to us very quickly.”
Lin Jianguo’s eyes immediately lit up.
“What’s your idea?”
Li Yufen said, “Didn’t I previously arrange a marriage for Xiaoran? The son of Regiment Commander Yu.”
Lin Jianguo knew about it and nodded.
“You mean…”
“I mean, why don’t we give that marriage to Xiaoxi instead?”
They hadn’t told Lin Xi about it at first because, according to Lin Ran’s prophetic dream, the Yu family wouldn’t fall on hard times until several years later.
That little wretch didn’t deserve to enjoy even a single day of a good life.
But now they had no other choice.
Li Yufen continued, “As long as we find Xiaoxi a husband from an even better family, I refuse to believe she’ll choose to stay in this house instead of moving into a military compound.”
“By then, once Xiaoran has established herself in the Xiao family, she can use her connections to put in a word with the property office. Then we can simply transfer the house back to ourselves!”
That was a good idea.
In the end, it would be as if they hadn’t lost anything at all.
And even if Lin Xi found out later, she certainly wouldn’t dare make a fuss.
General Xiao was someone even the Yu family couldn’t afford to offend.
“Then it’s settled!”
Lin Jianguo immediately made the decision.