Chapter 13 Record of Moving to the City in the 90s. 13

How else could they build the houses?

Wouldn’t one brick-and-tile house with a courtyard for each person do?

“Dad, I heard the factory buildings across from us were bought by some boss, and he’s planning to build a Film and Television City there. The Film and Television City’s grounds will stretch all the way to the other side of the river next to our home. That’s a pretty huge area, and construction might start as early as next spring. When that happens, never mind the construction workers, just think about the foremen. Won’t they want to find a nearby place with good food where they can eat and drink? And once the Film and Television City is up, it’ll be rented out to film crews shooting TV dramas and movies. You know all those TV shows we watch? They’re filmed in places like that. So in the future, there’ll definitely be plenty of people making a living there. And our courtyard is the closest one to the Film and Television City. It’s in a prime location. If you ask me, if the family’s short on money, we should still take out a loan and build the place up. We can make it into those small single rooms with bathrooms. Renting those out later would bring in a lot of money every year. As for my eldest sister’s courtyard, the bottom two floors can be made into a restaurant…”

The more Su Huandan spoke, the hotter Su Dakui’s heart burned.

Other than Jiang Chunhua, who didn’t believe a word her youngest daughter was saying, everyone else was stunned by the beautiful future Su Huandan had painted with her words.

If everything she said really came true, then once the building was up, they would never have to worry about food or money for the rest of their lives.

Second Sister Su Huanxia immediately grabbed Su Huandan’s hand. “Are you sure about this? If you are, then we really should take out a loan and build. No, forget that, I can transfer my tailor shop and free up three thousand yuan too.”

Second Sister Su Huanxia had stubbornly used her own money last year to rent a storefront on the street. She sold things like curtains, bedsheets, and quilt covers, making and selling them herself. Most of the time, though, she was hemming pants for people and sewing everyday clothes that didn’t require fitted patterns.

She could barely support herself with it, but after a full year, the fabrics and finished goods in the shop were worth about three thousand yuan altogether.

In Su Huandan’s memory, in her previous life, her second sister had also opened a tailor shop and often took jobs from the various film crews in the Film and Television City repairing costumes. The income had been steady, but the work was truly exhausting. If someone needed something rushed, her second sister would have to stay up all night after night.

That was all in the future, though, and could wait until later. Once her second sister saw how much money Eldest Sister and her husband could make selling boxed meals¹, she would probably find another way to make money herself. Thinking that far ahead right now was useless.

“The news is real. The vice principal’s grandson at our school brags all day that his family’s old house is worth a fortune now because someone’s requisitioning² it. Their old house is right in the factory district.” The moment those words came out, Su Dakui made his decision.

“We’re building. Don’t worry about the money, and no need for a loan. What I earned this time is more than enough. In the future, we’ll be landlords. Living off rent won’t be better than anything else?” At worst, he could just sell a little more gold.

A loan was still borrowed money, and Su Dakui had no desire to live with debt hanging over his head.

That autumn, in Yuanyi Village, the Su family became famous.

All these years, people in Yuanyi Village had rarely interacted with the Su family.

First, the Su family were outsiders.

Second, every household was busy thinking about how to make money and get by. Nobody had spare time to keep an eye on other people’s business.

Third, everyone knew the Su family had come from the countryside, so they were afraid that if they visited too often, they’d be hit up for help or handouts.

But that summer, Su Dakui brought a construction crew into the village and announced that all four courtyards would be rebuilt. There was a huge crowd of people bustling around, measuring, drawing up plans, asking how many stories to build, what the budget was, and whether they wanted to install elevators too.

Only then did the villagers who came to watch realize that the Su family had money.

Some spoke bitterly. “They’ve got money and still like pretending to be poor. Who knows what’s wrong with them.”

Who would be stupid enough to run around loudly telling the whole world they had money?

Some were jealous. “That money probably came from some shady source, right?”

Then go report it and see if it is.

Some were envious. “They really do know how to make money. Didn’t they buy four courtyards in one go back then too?”

Others had all kinds of little schemes brewing, wanting to find out how the Su family had made their money, and even hoping to become in-laws with them.

Lately, the women of Yuanyi Village had been driving Jiang Chunhua nearly crazy. “My eldest is already spoken for and getting married soon. The second one is still young, no rush. What era is this now? Even the country is encouraging late marriage and late childbirth³, so no rush, no rush. These days people care about freedom in love, that’s the phrase, right? They can find someone themselves. I’m not worrying about that. Once they’ve settled things and bring the person home, if it’s time to get married, then we’ll hold the wedding. That’s that.”

In a few quick words, she muddled her way past the whole matter.

Su Dakui, on the other hand, really did point people toward a way to make money. “At the start, all I did was buy goods shipped out from different factories and take them elsewhere to resell. But that line of work isn’t easy anymore. Too many people are doing it, so there’s not much profit left. Then I heard they’re building a Film and Television City across the river. In the future, there’ll be people coming and going over there all the time, so I figured I’d build houses and become a landlord. Then I won’t have to keep running around blindly anymore. Business is still too risky.”

From Su Dakui, the people of Yuanyi Village got two useful pieces of information.

First, Su Dakui had made his fortune by reselling goods.

They had heard before that reselling goods could make money, but not many people had dared to do it. So they weren’t too surprised that Su Dakui had gotten rich that way. They just felt he was capable enough to actually make the money.

Second, they learned that the factory district across from them was going to be converted into a Film and Television City.

A lot of people had no idea what a Film and Television City was, so Su Dakui explained it to them too.

As soon as they heard that, a lot of people started to think hard. Su Dakui wouldn’t go so far as to lie, would he?

Otherwise, why would he build four buildings?

How much money would that take?

How many people were even in the Su family?

If it wasn’t for making money by renting out rooms, why would they go to all this trouble?

Over the past two years, Yuanyi Village had only seen people move away, never move back. It was so desolate it could compete with the factory district across from it. It really didn’t seem worth building apartment buildings there.

But no one dared follow suit right away. They all wanted to wait and see first.

And while they waited, by the end of the year, the Su family’s buildings were already up.

It was unbelievably fast.

Su Dakui had the old foreman he used to work with help him find a construction crew, and he also hired designers and engineers to properly plan the buildings.

The buildings were eight stories tall, with almost no courtyard left. Every bit of usable space had been put to use.

The top floor was reserved for their own family to live in, and the rooftop was turned into a greenhouse, so later they could grow vegetables or flowers however they liked. The entire first floor was made into storefronts, and all the remaining floors were laid out in the exact same way, small single rooms with bathrooms.

Counting it all up, each courtyard could be divided into a little over a hundred single rooms for rent.

His eldest daughter Su Huanxia’s place had fewer, because both the first and second floors of her building were restaurants, and her family occupied the entire third floor as well, so naturally there were fewer rooms left to rent out.

After letting it dry out through the winter, they could do some simple finishing work the next year and start renting them out.

After seeing off the construction crew, Su Dakui looked at the four buildings his family now owned, filled with a deep sense of accomplishment.

How many years had it even been?

He was just a country man, yet now he already had four buildings in the city.

That year’s Spring Festival⁴, Yuanyi Village exploded with excitement.

The villagers had heard the news from other places too. The land across from them really had been sold, and a Film and Television City was going to be built there.

The Su family home instantly became lively.

Quite a few people knew Su Dakui was well informed and came to ask what exactly was going on, while a smaller number came hoping to borrow money.

To those asking questions, Su Dakui told them only what he knew. As for borrowing money?

“Sorry I took out loans for all this. How would I have any money to lend you?”

Translator’s Notes