Rebirth after the college entrance examination

Chapter 171 Returning on a Snowy Night

Agnes Chow is here to buy a house.

Originally, buying a property in Binhai for my daughter was just a casual plan, but after noon, it became a necessity.

The dowry is used to enhance a daughter's image, ensuring that the daughter won't lose money when buying a house.

On her way here, she called Le Yuqun, and the couple talked for a long time about Xia An's situation in great detail. Le Yuqun's attitude remained the same: let things take their course and see how things unfold.

"There's no need to make a big deal out of it so far in advance."

"You know nothing!"

Zhou Ting got angry and hung up the phone immediately.

I learned about Haiyun Lantian from my daughter's classmate. She asked the taxi driver and confirmed that it was indeed one of the best available ready-to-move-in apartments in Binhai.

After mentally calculating the price, she realized that with all her family's savings, she could buy a 120-square-meter apartment outright, but since she couldn't afford to pay for it all, she decided to take out a mortgage in her own name.

Then, upon entering, I saw Xia An, and her daughter excitedly showing off the contract in her hand.

Two units, one floor, totaling 200 square meters. The best location, the best floor.

The daughter's name is listed in the co-owner column.

At this moment, Zhou Ting, who was usually eloquent, froze, unable to say anything. As a woman herself, having lived to this point, she even felt a little envious of her daughter.

This house was bought last week, before the 300 million yuan was even reached. Perhaps, with a cash reserve of 10 or 20 million yuan, Xia An spending over a million yuan to buy a house for her daughter is nothing, but it represents a rare attitude.

Just like that public kiss earlier that morning, this boy was making his stance clear.

Women in love are driven by sight and sound, rarely by reason. Then, as time passes and the passion fades, women begin to question the correctness of their initial choices, making comparisons…

This is the desire and impulse etched into the genes of female animals, choosing a better mating partner, like a lion on the savanna, where the lioness lies aside watching several male lions fight, and the winner is killed—that is, admiring the strong.

Selective breeding is for the benefit of the next generation.

Zhou Ting, having been through it all, finally admitted that Xia An was a very good young man in every respect.

Without a saleswoman leading the way, Xia An personally took the mother and daughter to see the apartment and offered some decorating advice.

"I'll design the master bedroom, you guys decide on the rest. Decorate it however she likes."

Standing in the empty, unfinished hall, Zhou Ting declared, "We'll cover the renovation costs."

Xia An looked at Xiao Le Ning and smiled, saying, "I've prepared a renovation budget in advance. Auntie, you just need to keep an eye on it."

Zhou Ting hesitated for a while, then nodded and said to her daughter, "I'll give you the card when we get back. You can use it as part of your dowry, or spend it however you want. It's going to be yours anyway."

Dowry… Le Ning blushed, a rare sight for her.

On the way to pay the deed tax, Zhou Ting looked at the interior of the Range Rover from the back seat. She recognized what kind of car it was. After hesitating for a moment, she asked Xia An, "Is this the car you bought?"

Looking in the rearview mirror, Xia An shook her head: "It's a friend's."

Le Ning knew whose it was, and secretly nuzzled his nose at him.

Zhou Ting breathed a sigh of relief. "With your current net worth, buying a nice car is no big deal. After all, you need to show off. But I advise you, these things are ultimately consumables. Don't get addicted. I've heard that boys like to play with cars."

Xia An smiled and said, "I'm fine. I don't really feel anything about this thing. It's convenient on windy and rainy days."

Le Ning turned around in the passenger seat and said to her mother, "During the holiday, he was worried that we wouldn't have enough money in the future and that I wouldn't be happy. I told him that it would be fine for him to pick me up from get off work on his bicycle."

Looking at her daughter's radiant smile, as bright as a blooming hibiscus, Zhou Ting suppressed the faint bitterness in her heart. What else could she say now? How long could she endure such a life? Poverty-stricken couples face a hundred sorrows.

After paying the taxes, Xia An could get the property certificate in a few days. She handed all the paperwork to Le Ning and told her to pick it up herself.

Zhou Ting also needed to go back to Dongshan to discuss some things with Le Yuqun, so he decided to hitch a ride with Xia An. Xia An took Le Ning back to school, and in front of Zhou Ting, Le Ning kissed Xia An before getting out of the car, skipped away, ran into the convenience store, and came back with a bag of food and drinks for them to have on the way.

Zhou Ting felt that sitting in the back seat would make her look like a boss, so she got into the front passenger seat.

During the evening rush hour, a long line of red cars stretched for several kilometers on the ring road. As the cars swayed back and forth, Zhou Ting gradually fell asleep. Xia An turned up the air conditioning temperature and turned down the music volume, and they slowly drove out of the city.

A few hundred meters ahead, in a taxi, Ma Xiaowen, Zhou Yitong, and two other colleagues who were sharing a ride home from get off work chatted idly.

Ma Xiaowen is a chatterbox, and her topic of conversation always revolves around that handsome rich guy from today.

"At this age, giving away two houses is, to be honest, worth it even if things don't work out in the future."

A colleague said, "It's definitely not going to work out. I've met rich people before, and they all get bored after a while. He's still so young; marriage is a long way off."

Another colleague remarked, "I'd be willing to pay him to sleep with me."

The driver glanced at the rearview mirror but didn't say anything.

The other person who remained silent throughout was Zhou Yitong, who was sitting in the passenger seat.

Did he break up with Miss Tang?

Or... another girlfriend on the side?

A pair of slender, fair hands held the phone, repeatedly navigating through the contact list.

There were two numbers in the contacts labeled Ms. Tang and Mr. Xia, but she never dialed them.

She regretted it lately; she should have made the payment once. For them, it was just a matter of transferring assets, but for her, it would have meant two completely different lives.

Zhou Yitong is very dissatisfied with this outcome.

The colleagues behind her started discussing dinner. The other two people lived in a rather remote place, so they always preferred to eat at Ma Xiaowen's house.

One person said, "How about the hot pot? I remember the leftover broth from last time we ate there is still at your house."

Another person said, "Yes, let's eat hot pot. It's cold, so we should eat hot pot. I want to eat meatballs and baby bok choy."

Ma Xiaowen said, "Anything is fine with me. You guys go buy the groceries in a bit, and I'll go back and find the pot."

One person said, "Doesn't Yitong have the Jiajiale universal membership card that the bank used to issue? She can just go and buy it."

Another person said, "It's been renamed Candy Supermarket now, Yitong, can you still use your card?"

Zhou Yitong: "Yes, I'll go buy it in a bit."

Ma Xiaowen rolled her eyes and secretly texted her: "Are you stupid? They're just taking advantage of you."

Zhou Yitong glanced at the screen, shook her head slightly, and didn't turn around.

It's all just small gains, why bother arguing?

At six o'clock, the car radio broadcast the evening news.

{A recent case of wealth creation through a domain name transaction worth 300 million yuan, which has garnered widespread attention both domestically and internationally…}
Momo, the popular host of our city's economic channel, conducted an on-site interview with him at Binhai University this morning.
{A freshman from Dongshan District, the provincial capital…}
{Xia An}
There was a three-second silence inside the car.

A colleague asked Ma Xiaowen, "What's the name of your handsome client again?"

Ma Xiaowen was stunned: "Xia...Xia An..."

Zhou Yitong lowered her eyes, pursed her lips, gripped the phone tightly, her knuckles turning white, her mind racing with thoughts.

She still wants to go back to the bank and doesn't want to sell houses anymore.

……

Candy supermarket, Binhai Yujing Community Store.

Zhou Yitong pushed a cart in the fresh produce section on the second floor and picked out a bag containing three of the best-looking baby bok choy.

He took a few steps forward in a daze, then suddenly stopped, opened his phone, gritted his teeth, and pulled up two numbers for "Mr. Xia." One was saved when he was at the Dongshan branch of China Construction Bank, and the other was noted down from Ma Xiaowen's contract a few days ago.

Repeatedly move it up and down.

The old number was ultimately sent to Dongshan.
-
--bite
A sound came from the passenger side glove compartment. Xia An glanced at Zhou Ting, who was still fast asleep with his arms crossed.

I have to say it, but my mother-in-law is really fierce.

He had plugged the old Dongshan phone into a spare phone, which had always been kept in his dormitory closet. He only took it out yesterday when he overheard Liu Fei's conversation, and then left it in the car without moving it.

While looking ahead, he leaned over and opened the hand-operated briefcase. With a snap, the lid popped off and hit Zhou Ting's knee.

He opened his eyes hazily, and Zhou Ting, seeing his movements, immediately became alert. "How can you drive like that? It's too dangerous. What do you need? I'll help you get it."

“There’s a backup machine,” Xia An said, sitting up straight.

While Zhou Ting kept nagging him about driving safety, she took out the Nokia 1110 and was about to hand it over when she quickly took it back. "You can't look at your phone while driving. Is there something you're hiding? I can help you answer it."

Only my high school classmates and family know about this old account; what secrets could it possibly hold?

"It's okay, just help me see who posted what."

Zhou Ting opened the text message; it was from an unknown number.

Then she read it to him: "Hello Mr. Xia..." She smiled and glanced at him strangely, "It should be from the bank. I'm being transferred to another job recently, and the paperwork for the gold you purchased may be handed over to another colleague. If it's convenient for you recently, could we meet? I can explain the deposit and withdrawal process to you."

Xia An didn't quite understand the ins and outs of this, so after thinking for a moment, she said, "Please reply for me. I'll be in the provincial capital this week, so please make an appointment a day in advance."

Zhou Ting answered the phone, put it aside, and asked curiously, "Are you still buying gold? Are you waiting for it to appreciate in value?"

Xia An answered truthfully: "I bought Ningning a million yuan worth of China Construction Bank gold before."

As she spoke, she turned her head and saw Zhou Ting's astonished expression, then laughed, "Auntie, gold has a price, but people are priceless." Zhou Ting: "..."

After taking a deep breath, she rolled her big, bright eyes and smiled, "Come over for a meal this week, depending on your schedule. Your uncle wants to meet you too. I'll cook you something delicious."

Lin Jiajia, who quit her job, took her grandmother to Dali for a trip. Zhang Chunmin led a team to accompany Tang Wan on a morning flight to Yanjing to meet with the China Banking and Securities Regulatory Commission for an unknown duration.

Currently, only Su Yi remains in Dongshan to look after Zhou Zhou.

These next few days will probably be pretty boring...

After thinking for a moment, Xia An said, "Okay, I'll have a drink with Uncle."
-
Okay, Mr. Xia.

Taking a step back is an abyss, taking a step forward is rebirth.

Zhou Yitong bit her lip and gently waved her little fist in the vegetable section. Her fair face was no longer clouded, but full of excitement and joy.

With light, carefree steps, I picked up three large boxes of premium braised pork belly, paid the bill, and went home.

Shoes were scattered haphazardly at the door, and the small rented room was messy and filled with steam.

Women can be a million times dirtier than men when they get dirty.

During the two weeks she stayed here, Zhou Yitong was exhausted, both physically and mentally. No matter how much she tidied up, she couldn't keep up with the amount of food Ma Xiaowen and her colleagues who came to have meals with her every day.

"Yitong, you've struck it rich! You bought so much stuff?"

"My card was about to expire, so I bought a few more."

After putting down two large bags of ingredients, Zhou Yitong walked to the balcony amidst their surprise.

A single moisture-proof mat was laid on the floor. The rented room was a one-bedroom apartment with a living room. At first, Ma Xiaowen asked her to sleep in the same bed with her. After two nights, Zhou Yitong couldn't stand her classmate's teeth grinding and farting anymore, so she moved to the living room to sleep on the floor.

He squatted there, packing his things into his bag.

Ma Xiaowen, wearing only a T-shirt that covered her underwear and buttocks, walked over and asked curiously, "Are you going out?"

Zhou Yitong smoothed her hair, looked up and smiled: "I just got a call from home, something came up and I have to go back. I've asked my manager for leave."

Seeing her about to leave with her bag, Ma Xiaowen tilted her head and said, "Aren't you going to eat?"

Zhou Yitong stood up, carrying a large gym tote bag, and said casually, "You guys eat well. Oh, right, I also bought a bottle of red wine, it's in the bag too. It's not very good, but you don't need to decan it, you can just drink it straight away. I checked the time, it'll be just in time to catch the night train."

He put on his shoes and left.

The door closed, and standing in the dark corridor, Zhou Yitong heard voices coming from inside the room.

A colleague said, "Xiaowen, your old classmate is cold-hearted and aloof. She's not warm to anyone and has too high an opinion of herself."

Another person said, "It's because she's so beautiful. Manager Bai stares at her every day, his eyes practically glued to her."

The first one said, "A princess's heart, a maid's fate."

Ma Xiaowen said unhappily, "Yitong used to be a manager at the bank. She's fallen on hard times, so it will take her some time to adjust. You guys are always gossiping, who wants to talk to you?"

Zhou Yitong wrapped her down jacket tighter. The elevator doors opened, letting in a beam of light; then closed, revealing complete darkness.
-
A sudden blizzard struck the Taishi section of the Dongbin Expressway at kilometer 280.

Under the headlights, the Range Rover appears to be traveling through a thick white veil.

—I think I can get used to living alone, erasing your promises from my memory…

Xia An sang along with the music, and when she heard him sing off-key, Zhou Ting, who was eating a sausage next to her, would smile.

During the two hours they spent alone together, she really started to like this outgoing and generous guy.

He can talk about anything, and he's quite humorous, unlike other young men his age who are silent and resentful in front of their parents and elders.

Zhou Ting was happy to chat with him, turned on the Gatorade and handed it to him, saying, "Your throat is hoarse, have a sip."

Xia An took it, took a swig, and grinned, saying, "It's been a long time since I sang for an hour straight. My voice hasn't warmed up yet."

Zhou Ting covered her mouth and laughed, "You sang quite well."

Xia An said, "Auntie, you were in a dance troupe when you were young, why didn't you let Ningning learn to dance?"

Thinking about how smoothly Xiaoyouzi unlocked the gesture, he missed Xiaoyouzi a little.

Zhou Ting sighed, “Dancing is too tiring, it’s hard to stick with it, and it’s not easy to get ahead. I picked out a few musical instruments for her at the time. She chose the flute herself, and later she also fell in love with the piano and harp.”

Xia An praised, "Learning dance and music cultivates a girl's temperament, and Ningning is just like you in that respect."

Zhou Ting smiled, feeling happy inside, but dared not say a word.

Xia An asked, "Why did you stop dancing later? I heard you joined the provincial theater troupe."

Zhou Ting sighed again: "Her father is from a wealthy family, so I have to take care of the daily necessities. A flute costs 30,000 to 50,000 yuan, a piano costs tens of thousands of yuan, a harp... In short, what you said in the interview is right, it is difficult for a family with nothing."

The idea of ​​raising a daughter with abundance is often misunderstood by the public. In fact, it means more about "innate temperament." "Innate" refers to spending money every day, and "temperament" refers to the result of spending money to cultivate temperament.

No matter how well a girl takes care of herself, her hands will still be rough if she kneads dough and washes dishes every day.

Perfect girls do exist, but most people never see them. Beauty and poverty have always been a recipe for tragedy; if they aren't properly protected during puberty, they're almost guaranteed to fall into depravity, because there are too many predators.

Only men of strong will remain untainted by the mud. Once a girl falls into the mire, she is powerless to struggle; this is beyond her control.

"At the service area ahead, does the lady need to use the restroom?"

Zhou Ting glanced at the heavy snow outside the window, thought for a moment, and said, "I'm not going. I haven't had much water. You can go if you want."

Xia An shook her head: "Then let's not go. There are only 100 kilometers left. Let's get home as soon as possible."

As a result, just five kilometers past the service area, Zhou Ting screamed, "Slow down! The car in front has stopped."

Xia An steadily reduced speed and gradually came to a stop.

There's a traffic jam ahead.

It remained motionless for ten minutes, causing several cars from behind to crash into it.

Like the other drivers, Xia An got out of her car to check ahead. She came back shivering from the cold and said helplessly, "More than a dozen cars were involved in a rear-end collision. Auntie, we probably won't be able to get off the highway until the middle of the night."

Zhou Ting brushed the snow off his shoulders, causing his fair forehead to furrow and his brows to furrow slightly.

She regretted it and decided to go to the bathroom earlier.

Xia An glanced at the fuel gauge; half full, that was enough. He turned up the air conditioning, rubbed his hands together, and switched to the highway radio.

"Sure enough, the radio is broadcasting. The traffic police are coming this way; it shouldn't be too late."

An hour later, V5V5V5… The road police, leading several large tow trucks, drove away the private cars that were blocking the emergency lane and came from behind.

Xia An noticed that Zhou Ting was frowning and twisting his legs, almost unable to sit still.

Half an hour later, many people got out of their cars or urinated next to the median strip or over the fence on both sides of the road.

Xia An also felt the urge to urinate, but it wasn't nearly as severe as Zhou Ting's.

Women can't hold their urine as well as men. From Zhou Ting's posture and the fact that she hadn't spoken for a while, Xia An understood that she was... tightly clenching her bladder and using her mind to control it. Xia An couldn't help but find it amusing.

He emptied the bottle of Gatorade outside the window, then, after thinking for a moment, emptied Zhou Ting's bottle as well, thinking to himself, "That should be enough..."

Without a word, he placed the bottle on Zhou Ting's lap, blinked, and raised an eyebrow, as if to say: You know...

"Auntie, I'm getting off the bus to pee, you... please feel free to do as you please."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ting's oval face flushed bright red, her embarrassment becoming impossible to hide. She looked down at the bottle, biting her lip and remaining silent.

Xia An opened the door and got out of the car, reminding her before closing the door, "Auntie, go to the back seat, no one can see you there."

After walking five or six meters, he vigorously watered two withered shrubs on the median strip, and only returned to the car after Zhou Ting got out and threw away the two bottles.

Zhou Ting didn't say anything, but Xia An saw that she had put on a long coat and thought that she... must have wet her pants.

No matter what, even if you aim accurately, it's not something you can just clamp onto the bottle in the blink of an eye when you're switching bottles.

The atmosphere was slightly awkward.

"It might take a while, Auntie, if you're sleepy, go to sleep for a bit."

"Okay, I'm going to sleep for a while."

Then he leaned against the window, closed his eyes, tightened his clothes around his waist, clasped his hands together, and his eyes trembled slightly in the dim light.

At 10:30 p.m., after being stuck in traffic for three and a half hours, the vehicles started moving slowly.

After driving for a few kilometers, the traffic improved.

At midnight, Zhou Yitong got off the train, and Xia An got off the highway and dropped Zhou Ting off at the entrance of the residential area.

Before getting out of the car, Xia An could still see the deep embarrassment that Zhou Ting had hidden in her eyes.

"I'll prepare some groceries tomorrow, and you can come over on Wednesday?"

"Okay, see you the day after tomorrow."

Xia An nodded with a smile.

(End of this chapter)