As she spoke, she raised the back of her hand and slowly dabbed at the corner of her eye.
Bai Wanwan immediately picked up where her mother left off, choking back sobs as she spoke: “Now that brother is gone too, we… don’t even have a place to call home. Maybe I should take Mom and go back to the countryside—we can’t keep burdening you… Dad, it’s all my fault. If I hadn’t caused so much trouble, the family wouldn’t have ended up like this.”
As she spoke, she kept her head lowered, shoulders heaving up and down.
“That won’t do!”
Qiao Dehai’s anxiety flared the moment he heard this. He stepped forward, his voice rising.
“If you two leave, who’s going to look after this house? Rongwei is still lying in the hospital. If you go, what am I supposed to do all alone?”
“Then what do you suggest we do?”
Wu Xiufang immediately seized the thread of conversation, speaking faster than before.
“We don’t have a single cent to our names. Rongwei’s face is ruined, and those debt collectors are going to break Rongze’s hands! Are we just supposed to sit here and wait to die?”
The mother and daughter traded lines back and forth, coordinating flawlessly, driving Qiao Dehai to wipe sweat from his forehead.
In the middle of speaking, Wu Xiufang deliberately let out a sigh.
“Both sons are lying in the hospital, and the medical bills go up every day. The savings we have won’t last much longer.”
Qiao Dehai sat in his chair, fingers unconsciously picking at the seam of his trousers.
At that moment, Qiao Qingyan felt the timing was right. She gave a light smile.
“Dad, how about… we sell the house?”
“Sell the house?!”
Qiao Dehai’s head shot up, his eyes red-rimmed.
“This is the ancestral home passed down through generations! If we sell it, where will we live?”
“I’m about to head to Hushi to develop my career anyway. There aren’t many of you left—you can make do renting a tiny place.”
Qiao Qingyan spoke with thoughtfulness.
“Saving your two sons comes first. Besides, my younger brothers aren’t pushovers. If things truly hit rock bottom, would they really abandon you? Times are a bit tough right now, but you’ll get through it.”
She paused, then added: “I heard recently that Third Brother wants to learn to drive and get his license—that’ll cost money, won’t it? Saving lives matters most right now. We can worry about everything else later.”
That was true—no matter how tough she talked, she was still his own daughter, and the older sister to those boys.
If the family truly collapsed, could she really stand by and watch?
She still had a thousand yuan tucked away in her pocket. She wouldn’t let her own father and brothers end up sleeping on the streets and eating wind.
Wu Xiufang saw his resolve wavering and pressed the advantage while the iron was hot.
“Old Qiao, Yanyan makes a good point! This old house isn’t going to lay golden eggs. Can keeping it put food on the table? Do you want to wait until one son is crippled and the other is in prison before you regret it? As long as the children are safe, what does anything else matter!”
She wiped the corner of her eye as she finished, whether genuine or not.
“Besides, a house can be earned back. But if a person is gone, everything is lost.”
When she finished, she stared hard at Qiao Qingyan, her gaze heavy with meaning.
Hidden in that look was both probing and warning.
Qiao Qingyan pretended not to notice, smiling warmly at Qiao Dehai.
“Dad, you all talk it over among yourselves. I still have things to do, so I’ll head out first.”
After a round of soft persuasion and relentless coaxing, the last shred of Qiao Dehai’s resolve was ground to dust.
His whole body seemed to cave in, his voice hoarse.
“Fine… then… let’s sell it…”
The three of them immediately sealed the decision and went straight to the street office that very day to handle the paperwork.
The old house was in a decent location, and since they were eager to unload it quickly, they priced it low—buyers came knocking soon enough.
Within half a day of the news spreading, someone came to view the property.
The man was in his thirties, surnamed Guo, looking like some minor cadre at a nearby factory.
He walked in with a shrewd air, clearly sensing the Qiao family’s urgency to cash out. He didn’t say much, just paced around the house a few times, knocking on the walls here, running his hand over the doorframes there, his face full of disdain.
“The walls are cracked and peeling—repainting won’t cover that up.”
Mr. Guo frowned, his gaze sweeping over the mottled walls.
“The mortar between the bricks is loose. This house is too old—I doubt the load-bearing structure is sound. And that roof—once the rainy season hits, it’ll definitely drip.”
Qiao Dehai’s forehead beaded with sweat, his fingers unconsciously picking at his trouser seams.
Wu Xiufang jumped in immediately: “Mr. Guo, look at how convenient this location is—a stone’s throw from your factory. Think how much time you’d save on your commute. If we weren’t desperate for money, who would bear to sell their own home? Where else can you find a spot like this these days?”
“Oh, desperate for money, are you?”
Mr. Guo raised an eyelid, his gaze drifting, fingers tapping lightly on the edge of the tea table.
“Then we’ll have to haggle over the price. People who need money can’t exactly be picky.”
Bai Wanwan’s heart tightened. Her nails dug into her palms, her breathing growing heavier.
Damn it. Looks like they wouldn’t get a good price after all.
“This house is worth at least three thousand five hundred.”
Wu Xiufang forced herself to name a price, setting her cup down with a thud on the tea table.
“That’s already with the odd change knocked off as a favor to an acquaintance. If you went around the market, you wouldn’t get it for under three thousand eight hundred.”
Mr. Guo waved a hand dismissively.
“Three thousand five? You’re telling me that price because you think I’m easy to fool, right? This old, run-down place—cracked walls, leaking roof—you’d have to renovate the whole thing after buying it. Just replacing the roof and patching the foundation would cost a fortune. At most, eighteen hundred. Can’t go any higher.”
“Eighteen hundred?!”
Qiao Dehai’s temper flared, and he shot to his feet.
“This house can’t… we paid twenty-two hundred when we bought it! Over six years ago, and with this location—not even counting appreciation, you’re cutting the price in half?”
“Dad!”
Bai Wanwan grabbed his sleeve, the fabric bunching into wrinkles under her grip.
She said in a low voice, “Why don’t you step outside for a bit and catch your breath? Let me and Mom handle it. The more you talk, the more stuck things get, and we won’t make any progress.”
Qiao Dehai glared, opened his mouth as if to speak, but finally turned and walked out.
Only the mother and daughter and Boss Guo remained in the courtyard, and the air grew stiff.
The steam from the teacup had already faded.
Wu Xiufang brought over a cup of hot tea.
“Boss Guo, you’re a businessman yourself—you know this price is really too harsh. Our family does need money, but we can’t sell everything we own just to hand it over to you, right? The house may be old, but the land is solid. Eighteen hundred wouldn’t even cover the materials.”
“Then you tell me a number you can accept.”
Mr. Guo picked up the cup, didn’t drink, just held it in his hands to warm them.
“Three thousand. Not a cent less.”
Wu Xiufang straightened her back.
“That’s our absolute bottom line.”
Mr. Guo blew on his tea, took a slow sip, his Adam’s apple bobbing.
“I don’t have that much cash on hand for three thousand. If you’re not willing, then let’s drop it.”
With that, he stood up, smoothed his clothes, and made as if to leave.
Bai Wanwan’s eyes darted, and she quickly spoke up: “Then… how much can you actually pay right now?”
“A thousand in cash.”
Mr. Guo picked up his backpack and unzipped it halfway.
“But I do have an idea—see if it works for you.”
Wu Xiufang exchanged a glance with Bai Wanwan, nodded, and lightly touched her daughter’s hand under the table.
“I’ll pay a thousand in cash first, and the rest in monthly installments.”