A life of success begins with being a landlord.

"Why are you blushing, Yaozu?"

Chunyan's mother wrapped my face in gauze and touched it, asking, "Are you very hot, or did you drink too much?"

"Auntie, I can't hold my liquor. When I drink... my face turns red." I sat on the edge of the bed, too afraid to move.

"Then drink less in the future. Drinking isn't a good thing."

Chunyan's mother patted my head: "Let Chunyan bathe you and change your dressing. I'm going back now."

Chunyan had already washed the dishes and came over: "Mom, wait a moment."

Chunyan's mother turned around: "Is there anything else?"

Chunyan said, "There are too many people living in our place, the toilets are overcrowded and smelly. Why don't you wash your hair and take a shower here and get clean before you go back?"

"My clothes aren't here, how am I supposed to take a bath?" Chunyan's mother shook her head.

"Change into my clothes!"

Chunyan pointed to the clothes rack on the balcony: "All my clothes are here, I'll give you a set."

"This..." Chunyan's mother hesitated, then looked at me.

I quickly said, "Auntie, please take a shower here. It's very convenient."

"Alright then, I'll take a shower here."

Chunyan's mother said shyly, "There are too many people living in room 604. Taking a shower is like a battle, every second counts. Sometimes, while I'm showering, there's a knock on the door..."

Chunyan brought over a change of clothes, handed them to her mother, and said with a smile, "Take your time washing, beautiful lady. Wash yourself clean and smell nice, then you can go out and fool a husband..."

"You brat, you're asking for it!"

Chunyan's mother blushed with embarrassment and raised her hand to hit him.

Chunyan laughed and hid behind me, sticking out her tongue and making a face: "You're a beautiful woman, aren't you happy?"

"I think you deserve a beating."

Chunyan's mother blushed and took the clothes to the bathroom.

I turned around and said, "Chunyan, you're being ridiculous, joking with your mom like that."

"What, you don't joke around with your mom when you're at home?"

I shook my head: "If I said that about my mom, my dad would break my legs."

The social atmosphere in my hometown is very conservative; I've never seen any of my children dare to talk about their mother like that.

Outside, Sister Li dresses like a vixen and spouts nonsense. But when she gets home, she behaves herself.

Chunyan lay on the bed, her head resting on my lap: "Hey, when Sister Li comes back, you should move to 508 and live with us. I've already got the room ready."

I held Chunyan in my grasp, controlled her, and savored her youthful beauty, but my mind was elsewhere:

"Let's talk about it when Sister Li comes back. I'm afraid that if I move there, you and Liu Haomei will both be at work, and I'll be left all alone."

Sister Li has everything here; it's very convenient to watch TV and DVDs. Room 508 only has two rickety beds that creak and groan.

Chunyan grabbed my hand and giggled, "If you don't go, I'll find a man to keep me company."

"Little girl, can't you live without a man?"

I got angry and rolled over to pin Chunyan down.

"You son of a bitch, are you trying to kill me? My mother is here..."

"It takes your mom half an hour to wash her hair and take a shower."

I had been drinking, and I didn't care anymore; I insisted on having it.

"Why don't you... close the door!" Chunyan said, half-heartedly pointing to the door.

boom!

I kicked the door shut.

"You beast, turn off the lights..."

"Don't shut it down!"

Weren't you calling me an animal? What animal is so smart that it can turn off the lights?

Half an hour later, Chunyan's mother came out of the shower, her hair still wet.

She changed into Chunyan's clothes, a short-sleeved top and a skirt. The clothes fit well, though they were a little loose.

After her bath, Chunyan's mother, with her bare face, possessed a natural and simple beauty, and her whole being seemed to exude a refreshing aura.

"Old Wang, blow-dry my mom's hair."

Chunyan took the clothes into the bathroom, then handed me the hairdryer and comb: "I'm going to take a shower."

I rubbed my face and picked up the hairdryer: "Auntie, let me dry your face for you..."

I just fooled around with Chunyan, and now my legs are a little weak and my back is sore.

Chunyan's mother nodded, sat down on the sofa, and said with a smile, "It's so convenient here. If only we could have a house like this in Dongguan!"

"Auntie, this kind of apartment isn't expensive, is it?"

I turned on the hairdryer and started drying Chunyan's mother's hair, combing it as I did so.

Chunyan's mother turned her head slightly: "Not expensive? I heard it costs over 100,000. Even if you don't eat or drink, you can't afford it even after working for ten years. I also heard there's some kind of 'Hong Kongers' community,' where a house costs 500,000."

"It's so expensive!"

I gave a casual reply, but in my heart I thought, it doesn't seem that expensive!

Ding Zhili gives me 12,000 a month, which is 144,000 a year.

If I buy one property a year, and ten properties in ten years, I'll become a real landlord, hehe.

Back then, the rent from ten houses would amount to tens of thousands of yuan a year. Then you could use that money to buy more houses, earn rent, and so on, an endless cycle… Life goes on and on, every three years a new year!

When I'm eighty, all the houses in Sanlichuan will be mine!

Chunyan's mother touched her neck and twisted her waist: "Ouch... my neck is sore, but this hot wind feels quite nice."

"Auntie, let me blow on it for you a little longer. You must be very tired at your factory."

"Of course I'm tired. It's not so bad now that it's the off-season, but during peak season, I sit there for thirteen hours a day. My butt has developed calluses from sitting so long. Sigh."

As Chunyan's mother spoke, she leaned back on the sofa and closed her eyes.

I continued to serve him.

The hairdryer was blowing very strong air, and it kept lifting Chunyan's mother's collar.

She was wearing Chunyan's clothes, which were slightly too big, and when the wind blew, they were lifted up even more.

The living room lights were very bright, and I was looking down from above... Sigh, I didn't dare to look.

Not long after, Chunyan came out of the bathroom, and Chunyan's mother and I had also finished drying our hair.

Chunyan's mother got up, stretched her neck, and smiled at me: "It's quite comfortable, thank you, Yaozu."

"Of course, Auntie." I turned around and put the hairdryer and comb away.

Chunyan tugged at her mother's sleeve: "Mom, we're in apartment 508. I'll take you to see it. Oh, and Liu Haomei should be back by now."

Chunyan's mother nodded: "I'd like to go and see too."

I took the keys and accompanied the mother and daughter to room 508.

We had just gone downstairs and stepped out of the stairwell when we heard a scream from across the street.

"Murder! Murder! Murder—!"

Across the street, from building number 26, the man with the gold teeth, shirtless and clutching his stomach, staggered out of the stairwell, screaming like a pig being slaughtered: "Help! Help me..."

I frowned and thought for a moment, then took out my lighter and held it in my hand. I walked towards the gold-toothed man, instructing Chunyan, "Don't go there, stay here!"

Since the man with the gold teeth is a relative of the Zhan family, and I'm here, I'll just have to see what happens.

"Brother Zu, save me... someone's trying to kill me!"

The guy with the gold teeth rushed towards me.

I saw a fruit knife stuck in the gold-toothed man's abdomen.

The knife was probably halfway in, but the gold-toothed guy didn't have much blood on him.

The man with the gold teeth pointed behind him again: "A crazy woman, trying to kill me..."

A crazy woman?

Just as I was about to ask, a disheveled young woman, arms crossed and wearing only underwear, followed me out in a panic, pointing at the gold-toothed man and shouting:

"Rape! That beastly landlord... he raped me!"

I looked at the woman, then at the man with the gold teeth, and instantly understood.

This beast must have had malicious intentions towards the female tenant and tried to take advantage of her; but unexpectedly, the woman was very strong-willed and stabbed him!

Damn it, that was good!

Almost without thinking, I pointed at the woman:

"Don't run! You're going to get caught. Let me check on Gold Tooth first. Don't run, don't run! You're going to die, don't run!"

After saying that, I winked at the woman, then turned and walked towards the gold-toothed man, waving my left hand behind my back repeatedly, signaling her to run!