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She never imagined that one day she would be in this sales office, watching him swipe his card to buy a house for Haozi, whom she looked down on the most, and in full.

Although the bald man was unwilling, he knew he would only be embarrassed here today, so he tugged at her again: "Let's go, there's nothing to see here."

He pulled Qin Li out the door. The glass door closed with a soft click, shutting out the warmth from the sales office.

Haozi watched the door close, finally loosening his grip on the key and letting out a long sigh of relief: "Alright, you're finally leaving. I almost lost my temper just now."

"If you can't hold it in, just laugh." Lin Yanzhou handed the signed contract to the salesperson. "Your son will be living here from now on."

The contract was signed quickly. The total payment was 980,000.

The saleswoman couldn't stop smiling the whole time, and even the embarrassed receptionist came over to help her copy her ID card. She would occasionally steal a glance at Lin Yanzhou, her lips curving upwards involuntarily.

"Hey handsome, can I add you on WeChat? We can keep in touch."

Lin Yanzhou waved his hand and smiled, "My phone died, thank you."

As the male customer in the jacket next to the counter finished his paperwork and was leaving, he gave Lin Yanzhou a thumbs-up, chuckled, and went out without saying anything else.

When Lin Yanzhou swiped his card, Haozi stood beside him, his hands in his work pants pockets, his knuckles white from clenching his fists. When the POS machine printed the receipt, the saleswoman handed over the invoice and contract with both hands. Haozi's fingers trembled slightly as he took them.

The keys were a new set, hanging on a silver key ring; there were three keys—one for the security door, one for the unit door, and one for the underground parking garage.

"Take the keys first," Lin Yanzhou said. "Move them over when you have time."

Haozi clutched the bunch of keys, lowered his head, then looked up again: "Yanzhou, this money you have today—I mean, you really don't need it—"

"Haozi," Lin Yanzhou looked at him, "Do you remember the year my mother was hospitalized? You took out all eight thousand yuan that you had saved up for half a year. At that time, your monthly salary was only three thousand four hundred."

Haozi paused for a moment, then remained silent.

"When you paid my medical expenses, you didn't think about whether you could pay me back," Lin Yanzhou said. "Now that I'm paying for your house, I'm not thinking about asking you to pay me back either. I'll give you another 100,000 yuan for your moving expenses, um, consider it as me repaying the medical expenses you paid. I don't think we need to be so calculating between us."

Haozi sniffed and finally loosened his grip on the keys.

"Okay," he said. "I'll do as you say. I'll treat you to ramen another day, with two eggs."

"make a deal."

After leaving the sales office, Haozi's beat-up Jetta drove Lin Yanzhou towards the city center. The late autumn wind blew in their faces, and Haozi drove slower than before, one hand on the steering wheel and the other clutching the brand-new key in his pocket, touching it every now and then.

As they passed the telecommunications mall, Lin Yanzhou patted him on the back: "Stop for a moment."

"Buy a phone," Lin Yanzhou said. "Your screen has been cracked for six months, get a new one."

Haozi pulled the car over and followed Lin Yanzhou into the telecommunications mall. Lin Yanzhou stood in front of the counter for a while, then picked out three of the latest Apple phones—the white one for Xiaoya, the black one for himself, and the gray one for Haozi.

Haozi looked at it over and over several times, then carefully put his old phone with the cracked screen into his work clothes pocket: "This phone is more expensive than my car."

"Your life is worth more than mine," Lin Yanzhou said.

Haozi paused for a moment, then didn't say anything more. He carefully put the new phone into his pocket, patted it twice, and couldn't help but smile.

After leaving the mobile phone market, Lin Yanzhou told Haozi to go back to work at the factory first.

"You really don't need me to come with you?" Haozi asked.

"No need. I have something to do this afternoon."

"Okay." Haozi turned to look at him and said seriously, "Yanzhou, I'll remember what happened today."

"Remember what?" Lin Yanzhou waved his hand. "Damn it, you still owe me a bowl of ramen."

Haozi smiled, and the Jetta disappeared around the street corner.

Lin Yanzhou stood by the roadside, took out his phone and sent a message to Lin Xiaoya: "Send me a bank card number."

Lin Xiaoya quickly replied with a string of numbers followed by a question mark: "?".

Lin Yanzhou didn't explain, only replying, "It'll be useful."

That afternoon, Lin Yanzhou went to the bank.

He sat at the counter and filled out a transfer slip: 7.2 million, payee Lin Xiaoya. The teller checked the amount and the account number twice, then looked up at him. "Mr. Lin, hello, I need to confirm your relationship with this Ms. Lin. Our bank's anti-fraud system needs to remind you to be cautious when transferring money to strangers." Lin Yanzhou remained calm: "Go ahead, no problem. Lin Xiaoya is my... my wife."

The moment the money was transferred from his card, he glanced at his balance. Hu Dahai had transferred nine million to him, today's house and parking space cost nine hundred thousand, three mobile phones nearly thirty thousand, seven million two hundred thousand had been transferred, and he would transfer another one hundred thousand to Haozi via mobile transfer later. He had less than eight hundred thousand left. Enough to buy supplies, enough to buy a diamond ring, enough to buy Xiaozhou's gift—a smart robot—last night when he searched for "gifts for little girls" on his phone, he saw an astronaut AI companion robot, and the comments section was full of parents saying that their children wouldn't let go after receiving it. He thought, regardless of whether Xiaozhou liked it or not, he wanted to buy her one.

He walked out of the bank, stood on the steps, and made a phone call to Lin Xiaoya.

"You transferred seven million two hundred thousand to me?" Lin Xiaoya's voice was clearly surprised. "Where did you get so much money?"

"I sold a piece of family heirloom jade at the antique market yesterday," Lin Yanzhou said. "Haozi knows about it."

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone: "How much did you sell it for?"

Nine million.

"So you transferred 7.2 million to me? I don't need that much money. Keep it for your business. I don't need it."

"I used the rest to buy Haozi a house," Lin Yanzhou said. "He also helped me with my medical expenses, you know. His family of three still lives in the village, and his child is about to start junior high, but the school isn't good enough. I bought him a ready-built house, 980,000 yuan, paid in full. The paperwork was just completed this morning. Um, I forgot to discuss it with you beforehand... Will you be mad at me?"

Lin Xiaoya was silent for a moment, then her voice lowered: "It's fine that you bought a house for Haozi. Without him, you might not be here today. He's your savior. If you don't repay Haozi, you wouldn't be who you are. But you transferred so much money to me... Why didn't you keep some for yourself?"

"It's enough," Lin Yanzhou said. "I still have things to do, so I'll keep the money for short-term use."

"Yanzhou—" she paused, "you're selling an heirloom jade, isn't that a keepsake you cherished?"

"Memories are meant to be left for others," Lin Yanzhou said. "I'd rather keep you all than keep that jade. Besides, there are some things I need to tell you slowly."

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone, so long that he thought the signal had been lost. Then Lin Xiaoya's voice came through, with a very faint nasal tone: "I'll keep that seven million two hundred thousand for you. But I won't spend it recklessly. I'll save it carefully, open a separate account, and keep it for Xiaozhou."

"That's exactly what I mean," Lin Yanzhou said. "You've been taking care of her for fifteen years, and I haven't given her anything. This 7.2 million isn't compensation; it's... what I owe you all these years, and it's also my plan for Xiaozhou's future. She can go to whichever school she wants, study whatever she wants, and do whatever she wants without being tied down by money."

"I know." Lin Xiaoya's voice carried a hint of amusement, though the nasal tone hadn't completely faded. "You... you might not say it, but you never hesitate to do it."

What time do you get off work tonight?

"5:30. Xiao Zhou got home at 5:00."

"Okay, I'll be there at six. I bought a small gift for Xiaozhou."

"What gift?"

You'll find out then.

After hanging up the phone, Lin Yanzhou stood on the steps in front of the bank, looking at the yellowing leaves of the sycamore trees across the street, and suddenly felt that this autumn was warmer than any other year.