"Xiaoxian…" Liu Xinyao couldn't stand it anymore and stopped her, "Stop shouting! This is a hospital!"
"Xinyao, who is this person?" Yang Xiaoxian said angrily, "He has no manners at all!"
Liu Xinyao said calmly:
"Oh, a classmate. We were discussing a paper together when I suddenly fainted."
Yang Xiaoxian's eyes darted around, and she looked at Liu Xinyao, saying, "By the way, Xiao Lei said a boy carried you to the hospital. Could it be him?"
Yang Xiaoxian looked at Liu Xinyao with a strange expression. She knew that Liu Xinyao usually hated interacting with boys. As far as she knew, Liu Xinyao had never even touched a boy's hand. Today, she was being carried by a boy…
Liu Xinyao felt inexplicably irritated and uncomfortable all over. She hadn't felt anything when she fainted, but now, thinking back, she remembered being unconscious on Chen Yang's back, and his hand must still be supporting her… there. The thought made Liu Xinyao's buttocks itch, and she felt uneasy all over, involuntarily shuddering.
Irritated, she waved her hand dismissively and said,
"Ugh, stop talking! It's so annoying!"
"Fine, fine! I won't say it!" Yang Xiaoxian said casually, then muttered, "It was just a little bit of carrying, it's not like he slept with me…"
"Yang Xiaoxian!" Liu Xinyao glared at Yang Xiaoxian, scolding her, and made to sit up in bed.
"Okay, okay! I won't say it!" Yang Xiaoxian waved her hands repeatedly to stop Liu Xinyao, afraid that she might touch the IV needle if she moved again.
"Xinyao, you really need to take care of yourself!" Yang Xiaoxian sat down on the edge of the bed, earnestly advising, "Try not to stay up too late. Your grades are already good enough, why are you working so hard?"
Liu Xinyao had been working day and night these past few days, researching and racking her brains to perfect her thesis, just not wanting to be outdone by Chen Yang. Although she knew that Chen Yang's level was far superior to hers, at least on the Du Island project, her competitive nature prevented her from admitting defeat.
Liu Xinyao naturally wouldn't voice these thoughts, only nodding silently. She couldn't be as indifferent to her best friend's concern as she was to Chen Yang.
"Let me peel an apple for you!" Yang Xiaoxian said casually, noticing a large bag of fruit on the bedside table.
Upon seeing the fruit, Liu Xinyao's mind flashed back to Chen Yang's seemingly innocent face, and the scantily clad girl in the MMS message she had inadvertently glimpsed that morning. Liu Xinyao felt a sudden surge of irritation and shook her head, saying,
"Don't bother, Xiaoxian, I really have no appetite."
Yang Xiaoxian sighed and said,
"Okay, you rest for a bit, I'll bring you lunch later!"
Liu Xinyao nodded silently. Yang Xiaoxian looked at Liu Xinyao worriedly, then shook her head helplessly and left the ward.
...
Hongguang Road, Zhonglou District.
This is the traditional city center of Rongcheng. Although with urban expansion, commercial districts and city squares have sprung up everywhere, and the former prosperity is long gone, in the hearts of the old Rongcheng residents, this will always be the heart of Rongcheng.
On the west side of Hongguang Road is a residential area, old and dilapidated, a stark contrast to the bustling traffic and towering buildings just across the street. The residential area has a nice name, Phoenix Community, but its appearance is somewhat misleading.
Chen Yang was walking through a narrow alley called Hengxiang in the Fenghuang community. The alley was paved with bluestone slabs, and the walls of the houses on both sides were mottled with black water stains. Overhead, a tangled web of electrical wires stretched out, and the utility poles were plastered with flyers.
As he walked, he frequently saw elderly people with white hair sitting listlessly in front of their homes, old Min opera playing weakly from their radios. Occasionally, a few children would chase each other through the alley, stopping to stare curiously at Chen Yang's unfamiliar face.
It had rained the night before, making the alley wet and slippery. Chen Yang walked carefully, avoiding potholes filled with murky mud.
What would make most people frown, Chen Yang found increasingly appealing.
The worse the environment, the more confident he would be when haggling over prices! He was there to look at apartments. In Chen Yang's memories of his previous life, a month later, all the residents of Hengxiang would receive demolition notices from the government; the area was included in Rongcheng City's 10-year urban renewal plan. Chen Yang wanted to take advantage of the confidentiality period to buy an apartment at a low price and profit from the difference in demolition compensation.
Following the map, he arrived at a house. Chen Yang knocked a few times on the rusty iron gate and stood quietly at the doorway.
With a creak, the iron gate opened, and a middle-aged woman poked her head out, giving Chen Yang a suspicious look. She asked,
"Who are you looking for?"
Chen Yang smiled and said,
"Are you Aunt Zhou? This is Xiao Fang. We arranged to come and look at an apartment today."
Chen Yang's overly youthful face didn't look like someone with the financial means to buy a house. Aunt Zhou was also feeling uneasy, but since he had already come, she couldn't very well turn him away. So she opened the iron gate and said in a lukewarm tone,
"Come in then!"
Chen Yang entered and looked around. It was a three-story building with a yard in front. Chen Yang had learned online that the house didn't occupy a large area, with a building area of only about 120 square meters. However, Chen Yang estimated that this 120 square meters didn't include the yard, as the yard alone was about 30 or 40 square meters.
"Young man, feel free to look around!" Aunt Zhou said, then sat down on a bench in the yard and began preparing vegetables.
Chen Yang could tell at a glance that she clearly didn't trust him and thought that such a young man couldn't afford a house. He wasn't angry, smiled and nodded, then pushed open the door and went inside to look around.
The house was indeed very old; two alarming cracks were clearly visible in the floorboards, and clumps of water stains were faintly visible in the corners of the walls, indicating a leak.
Chen Yang didn't care about the house's condition; it was just waiting for demolition. However, he inspected it carefully, mainly to find problems to negotiate a lower price.
After leisurely walking around, Chen Yang returned to the yard. Aunt Zhou was still engrossed in her work. Chen Yang approached her and asked,
"Aunt Zhou, do you have both the property ownership certificate and the land use certificate for this house?"
This was very important. Demolition compensation relied on these two certificates to confirm ownership. Even if someone had lived there for generations, incomplete certificates would cause significant problems. Even if ownership was eventually confirmed, the demolition compensation would be much lower.
"Of course, otherwise how would we sell the house?" Aunt Zhou replied without looking up.
This land used to be collectively owned, and their family didn't actually have a land certificate. However, there were rumors of demolition a few years ago, so Aunt Zhou's family went to get one, incurring a land transfer fee. But five years have passed, and the demolition has yet to materialize.
This year, Aunt Zhou's son was getting married, but the bride's parents, upon seeing their current housing conditions, firmly disagreed, insisting they buy a new house first. However, Aunt Zhou's family are working-class, and with the current high housing prices in Rongcheng, they simply can't afford another property.
Unable to resist, they planned to sell their old house and buy a new one in a slightly more remote area. They've already found a house they like—a nearly completed apartment in Jin'an District, ready for occupancy in three months. But the old house is still unsold. Several groups of potential buyers have come to view it, but all have turned their backs on it after seeing the conditions and surrounding environment. Occasionally, one or two interested buyers have complained that their asking price of 550,000 yuan was too high, and no deal has been reached.
Actually, the price isn't expensive. Newer apartments in the surrounding area are nearly 6,000 yuan per square meter, while theirs is less than 5,000 yuan per square meter. However, the house is extremely old, practically a dilapidated building. And the surrounding amenities are very poor—to be precise, there are practically no amenities at all.
So Aunt Zhou is quite anxious and wants to sell the house as soon as possible.
"Aunt Zhou, could I take a look at those two certificates?" Chen Yang said. "Don't misunderstand, I just want to confirm something."
Aunt Zhou put down the vegetables she was holding and wiped the sweat from her face, a hint of hesitation in her expression.
Seeing this, Chen Yang smiled and said:
"I genuinely want to buy a house around here. Look, I even brought the deposit. If it's suitable, we can sign a preliminary transfer agreement today!"
With that, Chen Yang unzipped his bag, revealing several stacks of banknotes inside.
Aunt Zhou craned her neck to look; the bulging bag contained stacks of red Chinese yuan, easily tens of thousands of yuan! In an instant, her expression softened, and she quickly stood up, wiping her hands on her apron. "Alright! Young man, wait a moment! Auntie will go find it right away… Please sit on the bench and rest for a while!"
"Oh! Thank you, Auntie!" Chen Yang smiled and sat down, looking around the spacious courtyard. A grape trellis had been built in the yard, its lush green leaves covering the trellis. The vines were thick and robust, clearly old, and sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled patterns on the ground.
"Young man, both certificates are here. Take a good look." A moment later, Aunt Zhou came downstairs with the property ownership certificate and land certificate. As she handed the two certificates to Chen Yang, she went on and on, "Buying this house is definitely the right choice! The house is a bit old, but the location is first-class! And life is very convenient; there's a bus stop right outside the alley, connecting to all directions! This area used to be home to many important people!"