A life of success begins with being a landlord.

A sense of foreboding welled up inside me: "Chunyan, don't cry, what happened? Is it Sister Ling...?"

Since I met Chunyan, she has always been optimistic and has never cried like this before.

I'm worried that something might have happened to Sister Ling.

"My mom is fine, but my grandpa is dying, he's not going to make it..." Chunyan was still sobbing, "My mom and dad have to go back, and I have to go back too."

"It's okay, it's okay, don't cry. Where are you? I'll come find you." I breathed a sigh of relief.

The elderly will eventually leave this world; crying won't help.

Of course, I don't know Chunyan's grandfather, and I have no feelings for him.

Chunyan said, "I'm back now, in room 505."

"Don't go, wait for me." I hung up the phone.

He Tiantian glanced at me, saw me to the school gate, and asked in a low voice, "Is she your girlfriend? That... slightly chubby girl with a sweet smile?"

"It's Chunyan." I replied vaguely, waving my hand and saying, "I'll go back and check first. Call me if anything happens."

He Tiantian nodded.

I rode my motorcycle back to Building 27, parked it, and went to 505.

Old Xia, Sister Ling, and Chunyan were all there, each with a worried and sorrowful expression...

"What's going on, Sister Ling? Chunyan?" I gave Lao Xia a cigarette.

"Old Wang, something's happened at my house!"

Chunyan ignored her parents' presence, rushed over and hugged me, tears streaming down her face: "My house is on fire, Grandpa was burned and is dying. We have to go home, we have to go home right now."

Sister Ling was also sighing and secretly shedding tears.

"It's alright, it's alright. You two go back and take care of your family matters first, and then come back to work and earn money later..." I patted Chunyan's shoulder and helped her sit down: "Calm down, don't be too sad."

Chunyan wiped away her tears and nodded slightly.

Old Xia looked at me, his face flushed red, and suddenly bowed deeply.

I hurriedly helped Old Xia up: "Uncle Xia, what are you doing?"

"I have no money, and my house burned down. I don't even have money to go back and hold my father's funeral..." Old Xia said, tears streaming down his face. "I'm an unfilial son! I have no face to go back!"

I frowned: "Don't you... have a single penny?"

Sister Ling sighed, "I still have two thousand yuan here. I just sent two thousand yuan home a few days ago. Grandpa Chunyan was hospitalized for emergency treatment, and now we still owe more than twenty thousand yuan."

"It's alright, I'll get you the money." I thought for a moment, "I have 30,000 yuan here, you can take it back to settle your family matters first."

Sister Ling hurriedly shook her head: "No, 30,000 yuan is too much. I'm afraid I won't be able to pay it back in the future."

"It's okay if you can't pay it back yet, you can use it for now."

I waved my hand and said, "You guys pack your things first, I'll go get the money."

I'm out of cash and need to go to the bank to withdraw money.

It was almost time for the bank to close, so I hopped on my motorcycle, sped off to the bank, withdrew 30,000 yuan, and rushed back.

Sister Ling is cooking in room 505, and the room is filled with oil fumes and aromas.

"Yaozu, let's go back first thing tomorrow morning."

When Sister Ling saw me, she gave a bitter smile: "I'll cook dinner as a way of thanking you for lending me so much money..."

Old Xia also changed his clothes and bowed to me: "I'll go to Gangzhou Railway Station to buy tickets first, but I don't know if they'll be easy to buy."

"Wait a minute!"

I stopped Lao Xia and then called Ding Zhili: "Ding Zhili, could you drive Uncle Xia to Gangzhou Railway Station to buy tickets? Thank you for your trouble."

It's only 70 kilometers from here to Gangzhou.

It takes a little over an hour to get there by car.

Ding Zhili is in Hongxing Village; he promised to be there in half an hour.

Old Xia thought for a moment and went to room 604 to pack his things.

Liu Haomei also rushed back and comforted Chunyan.

Soon, Ding Zhili arrived and drove Lao Xia to Gangzhou Railway Station to buy train tickets.

The four of us had dinner in room 505.

"Chunyan, have a drink with Yaozu. You owe him so much again..." Sister Ling said, her eyes reddening as she lowered her head to wipe away tears.

Chunyan raised her glass, her voice choked with emotion: "Old Wang, thank you. I'll come back... I'll pay you back slowly."

"What do you mean 'yours' and 'mine'? It's just a few tens of thousands of yuan." I downed a glass, smiled, and shook my head. "You guys go home and take care of your business. I'll wait for you to come back."

Chunyan nodded and sat down.

Sister Ling asked me, "Yaozu, is it okay if we bring Chunyan's two younger brothers here to study in the future?"

"Sure, there's a gifted school here, we can just go straight in." I think it's no problem.

"I'm afraid if everyone came here, the living expenses would be too high, and we wouldn't be able to save a single penny," Chunyan sighed.

This little girl, at such a young age, already knows the hardships of life.

"No problem, I'll cover any shortfall in money." I readily agreed.

After dinner, Liu Haomei accompanied Chunyan to the hair salon for a haircut.

Ling and I were cleaning up the dishes and chatting in room 505.

After I finished tidying up, Sister Ling called to me, "Yaozu, come to my room, I have something to show you."

I nodded and followed Sister Ling into the room.

Sister Ling bent down, pulled a small leather suitcase out from under the bed, dusted it off, and took out the key to open it.

"Sister Ling, what kind of treasure is it?" I asked with a smile.

"I don't know either. My mother found it when she was little, and it was later given to me as part of my dowry." Sister Ling smiled and took out a small package from the suitcase, opening it layer by layer.

Could it be a gold ingot?

Seeing how cautious Sister Ling was, I couldn't help but start having all sorts of wild thoughts.

The package was opened, and inside was a white jade plaque, about half the size of a cigarette box.

One side is densely covered with characters, while the other side has patterns.

There's also a hole on top, so you can thread a red silk thread through it and wear it on your body.

"This is a jade pendant. I showed it to someone, and they said it's for warding off evil spirits and might be worth some money."

Sister Ling handed me the jade pendant: "I originally planned to save it for Chunyan as part of her dowry, and give it to her when she got married. Now that Chunyan is yours, I'm giving it to you first, which is also... an engagement between you two."

"Sister Ling, can I not accept this now?" I was a little touched.

Sister Ling is very romantic and cares a lot about Chunyan; she's very ceremonial.

"It's not safe for us to take the train back; it's better to leave it with you."

Without saying a word, Sister Ling pulled me aside: "Keep your head down, I'll thread the red thread and put it on you."

I had no choice but to bow my head and let Sister Ling put the jade pendant on my finger.

But we were too close. When I looked down, I saw... Sister Ling's collar.

Sizzle—snap!

Unfortunately, the power went out at that moment.

"What... is the power outage?"

Sister Ling's breathing was audible: "Don't move, I'll put it on for you in the dark, just tie a knot at the back..."

"Sister Ling, shall I... find a candle?"

"Where can I find one? I don't have any candles here."

Sister Ling's voice changed slightly, probably because of the heat, and she was also breathing a little heavily.

A night breeze blew in and drew back the curtains.

Tonight's full moon is big, round, and very white, shimmering with a mesmerizing glow.

I saw two white clouds under the moon, entwined together, gradually approaching each other, and finally merging into one, indistinguishable from one another.

It felt like a long time had passed, but the phone still hadn't come back on.

Sister Ling simply drew back the curtains, sat on the edge of the bed, looked at the bright moon outside the window, and smiled slightly: "The moon is so beautiful tonight, just like the one in my hometown. It feels like... I've returned to the past, to the time when I was a girl at home."

"The moon is beautiful, but... it's a bit hot."

I wiped my sweat and stroked the white jade that Sister Ling had given me: "Actually, Sister Ling is still like a young girl now, very beautiful and gentle."

I don't know what kind of jade it is, but it's really warm and smooth, like a baby's skin, and feels wonderful to the touch.