Every weekend, Jiang Lai would return home to live with her mother.
She was accustomed to taking the bus at the school gate on Friday afternoons, arriving home just in time for dinner.
Each time she went back, she brought delicious treats—sometimes egg tarts from the bakery at the school gate, sometimes frozen shrimp and pork ribs bought from the supermarket. Mingde Middle School was located in an affluent area, making it all too easy to purchase high-end ingredients and snacks.
Jiang Shan told her not to waste money, but Jiang Lai always said it was from her writing earnings—if she didn’t spend it, it would just sit there.
Jiang Shan’s complexion had improved slightly since the summer vacation. During dinner, the mother and daughter sat by the coffee table, eating while watching TV. Jiang Lai would pick out funny stories from school to share with her.
The day before the National Day holiday, Jiang Lai went to the mall and spotted a 55-inch LCD TV. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to buy a bigger one, but their home was too small.
The old TV at home was bought when her parents got married. Its screen was small, and the colors had turned yellowish. Every time Jiang Shan watched the news, she had to lean in close to read the subtitles. Jiang Lai took a photo of the price tag, planning to buy it during the National Day holiday. The reason she gave her mother was that she had earned two thousand yuan from her writing that month, and the appliance store was having a discount.
However, before she could buy the TV, on the first day of the National Day holiday, the doorbell rang.
Jiang Lai went to open the door. Standing at the entrance were two people with graying hair, their faces wrinkled and dried by the autumn wind. They were Jiang Wei’s parents, who lived in their rural hometown and usually only visited during the Lunar New Year.
“Grandma, Grandpa.”
The old woman didn’t acknowledge her, her gaze drifting past Jiang Lai into the house. “Where’s your mother?”
Jiang Shan emerged from the kitchen, still wearing her apron. She wiped her hands on the fabric twice. Seeing the people at the door, she paused for a moment.
“Dad, Mom.”
The old woman stepped inside but didn’t sit. The old man followed behind her, standing with his hands behind his back beside the coffee table, also refusing to sit. The four of them stood in the living room, the TV still on. Jiang Lai had turned the volume down earlier, leaving only a faint background hum.
“Dawei only told us recently that he’s been gone for over three months,” the old woman began. “He ran off, and you didn’t say a word. This house was the marital home we bought for Dawei back in the day.”
Jiang Shan’s face paled slightly, while Jiang Lai had sensed something was off the moment the two entered.
“We’re not here to cause trouble,” the old man took over, his tone slightly gentler than the old woman’s. “But the house belongs to Dawei. Now that he’s no longer living here, it doesn’t make sense for you to stay.”
Jiang Shan clutched the hem of her clothes. “So you want us to move out. Is that what you mean?”
The old woman glanced at her but didn’t answer directly. “We’re here to discuss it.”
“No need for discussion,” Jiang Lai said, pulling her phone out of her pocket. The screen lit up. “Grandma, Grandpa, you’ve come all the way from the countryside. Please sit first. The house isn’t big, but there’s still room for a cup of tea.”
The old woman remained standing, but Jiang Lai had already gone to the kitchen to bring out tea. Two cups, placed on the coffee table, the tea leaves still swirling at the bottom.
“You can take the house back,” Jiang Lai said as she sat down. “But if you’re going to drive us mother and daughter out, you can’t expect to do it without paying a single cent.”
Jiang Shan turned to look at her, her mouth slightly agape. Under the coffee table, Jiang Lai gently squeezed her hand.
The old woman clearly hadn’t expected such a quick response. After a moment of silence, she asked, “How much do you want?”
Jiang Lai pondered briefly. “Over the years, the furniture added to the house, the replacement of floors, doors, and windows, and even the fees collected for the exterior renovation of the residential complex—my mother contributed her share. Give us eighty thousand, and we’ll leave.”
The old woman bristled and immediately retorted, “You want eighty thousand for these worthless things? That’s daylight robbery!”
Jiang Lai, however, remained unhurried. She leisurely picked up her teacup and took a sip. “Then we simply won’t move. What can you do about it? My father may have run off, but he never divorced my mother. It’s perfectly reasonable for my mother and me to live here. If you insist on driving us out, I won’t mind asking my grandmother to make another trip to your village and stir up trouble.”
The grandparents exchanged a glance, still haunted by the memory of their in-law storming into the village years ago to force the marriage. “Thirty thousand. Move out immediately.”
Jiang Lai said, “Fifty thousand.”
The old woman slammed her teacup onto the table. “Forty thousand! Move out by the end of the week!”
“Deal.”
Jiang Lai hadn’t expected the notoriously stingy old couple to part with any money at all. She had deliberately started with an outrageous demand, so getting forty thousand was an unexpected windfall.
Currently, the System’s payouts were only in the range of a few thousand, so forty thousand was no small sum. Moreover, with this money, they could rent a place to tide them over for a while, and Jiang Shan would feel more at ease.
After seeing the two off and closing the door, Jiang Shan stood silently by the coffee table for a long time. The laughter from the variety show on the TV only made the living room feel even quieter.
“Mom, it’s fine,” Jiang Lai said, pouring the cold tea into the kitchen sink. “There’s no need to cling to this shabby house.”
Jiang Shan murmured blankly, “It’s all so sudden. But where will we find a place to live?”
Jiang Lai replied, “We’ll rent a place near my school. That way, it’ll be convenient for you to take the bus to work, and I’ll be closer to home too.”
The next day, Jiang Lai took the bus alone to a residential complex with elevators near Mingde High School. It was the only small-sized apartment building in this affluent neighborhood.
She had passed by this complex a few times before—its cream-colored exterior walls, the security booth at the entrance, and the neatly trimmed holly bushes in the green belts. She had already looked up rental listings on her phone beforehand: a two-bedroom, one-living-room apartment, eighty square meters, fully furnished, with a monthly rent of four thousand.
The agent was a young woman in her early twenties who showed her two units. Jiang Lai chose the south-facing one—it had good natural light, a bay window in the master bedroom, a gas stove and range hood in the kitchen, and a separate wet and dry area in the bathroom.
“One month’s deposit and three months’ rent upfront. If you sign the contract today, it’s settled.”
Jiang Lai nodded.
When she returned home, she gave Jiang Shan a different version of the story.
“Mom, I found a place. Two bedrooms, one living room, elevator building, just two bus stops from my school. You can take a direct bus to work.”
“How much is the rent per month?”
“One thousand.”
Jiang Shan was stunned. “So cheap?”
“It’s a spare apartment belonging to one of my classmates. Her parents are away on business, and the place is just sitting empty. They want someone to look after it, so they’re offering it cheap.”
She pulled up photos she had taken in advance on her phone and showed them to Jiang Shan—the bay window, wooden floors, white kitchen tiles, and a view of the complex’s garden from the window.
Jiang Shan zoomed in on the photos, examining each one carefully, and remained silent for a long time.
“Lailai, this classmate of yours…”
“Mom,” Jiang Lai took her phone back, “don’t worry. Connections from this elite school come in handy. Rich people like them don’t care about such a small amount of money. We still have a few days left of the National Day holiday—perfect for packing up. We can move in right away with just our belongings.”
The move took only two days. Most of the things in the old house were left behind—the yellowed television, the worn-out sofa, Jiang Wei’s old belongings—all remained in place. Jiang Lai only packed the clothes for her and her mother, the pots commonly used in the kitchen, and the desk lamp on the bedside table in Jiang Shan’s room.
The new home had a keypad lock. Jiang Lai registered Jiang Shan’s fingerprint, and as the door swung open, the afternoon sunlight streamed in through the living room window, casting patches of light on the wooden floor.
Jiang Shan stood at the doorway for a long while, and Jiang Lai didn’t rush her.
“Mom, come in and take a look.”
She walked through every room. The bay window in the master bedroom was covered with a light gray cushion, which Jiang Lai had arranged for cleaning the night before. The kitchen counter was spotless, the gas stove ignited smoothly, and the range hood operated quietly. Two new bath towels, one beige and the other light blue, were neatly folded in the bathroom.
Jiang Shan stood at the entrance to the master bedroom, gazing at the bay window.
“Lailai, this place is too nice. When you have time, you must invite that classmate over for a meal. I’ll cook something delicious to thank them.”
Jiang Lai brushed it off with a laugh, “Well, they’re really focused on studying, attending evening self-study sessions every day. We’ll talk about it later.”
Jiang Lai dragged her suitcase into the master bedroom. “From now on, you won’t have anything to do with Dad’s relatives. This apartment is close to my school, so it’ll be easier for me to come back on weekends. We’re going to live a better life from now on.”
Jiang Shan sat on the bay window for a while, her hand resting on the light gray cushion as she watched children playing on the slide in the community garden outside.
Jiang Lai went to the kitchen to boil a pot of water. It was the first time using the new kettle, and the bubbling sound filled the entire house.
On her phone, the agent sent a message, “Hey, have you settled in? If you or your mom have any issues, just let me know anytime.”
When viewing the apartment, the agent had asked Jiang Lai about her requirements. She mentioned that it was just her and her mother living there, with no men in the household, so safety was a priority. The agent’s gaze had held a hint of sympathy at the time.
[Keyword detected, Compensation triggered. WeChat payment received: 8,000 yuan.]
Two months’ rent, secured.
Outside the window, a row of streetlights in the community garden lit up, casting a warm yellow glow over the empty slide. Lights gradually turned on in the windows of nearby buildings—someone was collecting laundry on their balcony, while another kitchen’s range hood vented steam outside. She stood by the window for a moment, then drew the curtains.
The trauma from her family of origin had somehow been transformed into a secret recipe for wealth.