Just like an auction, the highest bidder wins—whoever has the means takes it.
Ever since that day they ate Chao Tian Guo, their boss had made a decision to develop in this small county town.
So during this period, even if he was dying of heat, he’d been frantically searching for properties outside.
Starting a business for the first time was never that simple. No matter how much money you had, you still had to take it step by step from the beginning.
“Sir, didn’t you already buy a property over there? Why not let this one go to us? We’re just ordinary folks without much money to buy—we can only rent. We were just about to sign the contract. Shouldn’t there be some order of priority? With your wealth, you can buy anywhere. Isn’t it unfair for you to come and snatch it from us like this?”
Gu Huaichuan carefully weighed his words before speaking.
He felt that reason should prevail—they were there first, and it wasn’t right for someone to just swoop in with a higher offer. No matter what you did, shouldn’t there be some consideration for others?
Unexpectedly, Nan Si just chuckled lightly: “Young man, there’s no such thing as first come, first served. This world is only about the strong preying on the weak.”
“If you want this property, then come up with a higher price to buy it.”
Nan Si’s tone was casual, but his eyes held a domineering sharpness.
In the face of profit, there’s no room for sentiment.
With that, he brushed past Gu Huaichuan and walked into the house, his retreating figure as arrogant as could be.
Watching his back, Gu Huaichuan clenched his fists until they cracked. Just moments ago, he had thought that, at the very least, they were acquainted. Given Nan Si’s friendly attitude last time, he had believed that if he just spoke up, Nan Si would surely yield the property to them.
Though Li Yue was inside the house, she stood near the doorway and naturally overheard their conversation.
This was the difference between having money and not having money.
There was no fairness—only who had more and who had less.
“Let’s go, we’ll keep looking.” Li Yue stepped forward and patted the young man’s shoulder.
It was meant to comfort him, but it also served as a lesson—the first lesson in entrepreneurship: starting with setbacks.
It was clear that Gu Huaichuan, as an enthusiastic young man starting his first business, still lacked inner resilience.
Just being rejected was enough to shake him.
“Xiao Yue, I’m going to make a lot of money in the future.”
“Mm.”
As they spoke, the two headed east.
Cars came and went on the road, bicycles occasionally ringing with clear bell chimes. The bustling streets were filled with laughter and chatter everywhere.
“Come on, don’t dwell on it. Let’s go eat first—my treat for noodles.” Li Yue said.
Gu Huaichuan was indeed affected. He swore to himself that he would earn loads of money and make that out-of-towner with the slurred speech eat his words.
Nan Si’s Mandarin wasn’t as good as Jiang Lian’s.
That was because Jiang Lian had spoken mainland Mandarin with his mother since childhood, while Nan Si only started following Jiang Lian when he was ten.
He was three years older than Jiang Lian and could never quite shake his accent. He could speak Mandarin, but not as precisely—at first listen, he sounded like a southerner.
In Gu Huaichuan’s eyes, he was just an out-of-towner who couldn’t speak clearly.
“Xiao Yue, if it really doesn’t work out, why not rent a place in the residential area?” He wanted to suggest she stay at his place, but he knew she definitely wouldn’t agree.
“Let’s head to the restaurant first and cool off under the fan.” Li Yue felt like she was about to melt from the heat.
It was already mid-September, yet the noons were still unbearably hot.
Wasn’t Lu Province supposed to be in the north? Why wasn’t it cooling down even in September? Li Yue grumbled inwardly.
The two of them went to the noodle shop.
Actually, choosing to eat ramen was also unusual. As soon as she entered, she felt the heat hit her face.
After hurriedly filling her stomach, Li Yue fled the ramen shop as if escaping.
The back of her T-shirt was already soaked through.
"Come on, I'll treat you to ice cream at the Western restaurant. It’s cool in there anyway."
Gu Huaichuan looked at Li Yue, her face covered in sweat and pale. He couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache. It was his own lack of capability—if he were more capable, they wouldn’t have to be out looking for a house in the middle of the day.
"Let’s go."
Western restaurant.
Lu Qing was having steak with a classmate. Her home had been chaotic lately, and she didn’t want to stay there. Unable to meet up with Gu Huaichuan, she invited Sun Yanyan, who lived next door to him.
It was Sun Yanyan’s mother who had acted as the matchmaker, introducing Gu Huaichuan to her.
Sun Yanyan was both her classmate and her close friend.
"Qingqing, why haven’t you been looking for Gu Huaichuan lately? I see him running out every day. My mom says he seems to be dating again."
Sun Yanyan stirred the iced juice in her cup and looked at Lu Qing across the table.
Lu Qing slumped listlessly: "Don’t even mention it. My family has been dealing with a lot lately. My mom has been sick for days, and my sister-in-law just cries all day—either crying or lying down. My second sister-in-law is never home; I haven’t seen her in days. No one’s doing the housework, so my dad makes me do it. I feel like a maid."
She spoke weakly, her face full of exhaustion.
It was clear she meant it.
Sun Yanyan felt sorry for her good friend: "If your sister-in-law is sick, why isn’t your second sister-in-law home either? Does she not do any work at all?"
"No, she doesn’t." Lu Qing nodded. She had grown numb to Li Yue’s sudden change in temperament and didn’t even realize anything was off.
"My mom said your mom hasn’t been to work for days. Is she really that sick?" Sun Yanyan’s mother worked at the Towel Factory, and her father worked at the County Government.
That was why her mother had acted as a matchmaker for Lu Qing.
Lu Qing replied listlessly: "Yeah."
Suddenly, Sun Yanyan pointed at the entrance and whispered in surprise: "Look, isn’t that Gu Huaichuan?"
Hearing this, Lu Qing’s dull eyes instantly lit up.
"Where? Where?"
Lately, burdened by family matters, she hadn’t had the energy to think about marrying into a "wealthy family."
All she wanted was for her mom to get better soon so she wouldn’t have to cook anymore.
Following her good friend’s pointing finger, Lu Qing saw Li Yue being escorted inside by Gu Huaichuan.
Her eyes immediately reddened.
That damned Li Yue—no wonder she was always thinking about divorce. She really was hooking up with her man.
Back then, she had wondered how Gu Huaichuan could be interested in a married woman.
But now, the way he looked at her made it clear he was interested.
"That girl is quite pretty. And her clothes are nice too. Hey, Qingqing, where do you think she bought her clothes? I haven’t seen anything like that sold around here."
Sun Yanyan didn’t know Li Yue and naturally had no idea she was Lu Qing’s second sister-in-law.
She just thought the clothes she wore were unique.
In fact, Li Yue was wearing clothes from her home that were meant to be thrown into the old clothes recycling bin.
As a child in the orphanage, she had always envied the adopted children who got to wear lots of new clothes.
As a result, after growing up and earning money, she went on a crazy shopping spree for clothes.
It wasn’t until she moved after buying a house that she realized even a walk-in closet could run out of space. She had no choice but to throw out the outdated clothes she no longer wore in batches, tossing them into the recycling bin.
Sun Yanyan didn't get a response from Lu Qing. When she looked over, she saw that Lu Qing was actually crying.
"What's wrong?" she asked anxiously, getting up and coming over to Lu Qing's side, using both hands to wipe away her tears.
Lu Qing's tears fell in a continuous stream, pattering down one after another.
"Yanyan, how could Gu Huaichuan treat me like this?"
"Oh, Qingqing, don't cry. Since he's already with someone else, you can just find someone better. It's not like there aren't people better than him."
Sun Yanyan thought of her own partner, and her expression grew even more tender and shy.
Seeing that she was about to start showing off again, Lu Qing quickly said angrily, "But the woman he's with is my second sister-in-law."
Hearing this, Sun Yanyan gently patted Lu Qing. "Who cares who she is? Honestly, I think Gu Huaichuan is just average anyway."
She was telling the truth—he wasn't good at anything and lacked ambition. While others went abroad to study, he went abroad and got beaten up, then came back.
Suddenly, as if she had just realized it, she exclaimed in shock, "What did you say? That's your second sister-in-law?"