Only then did Lin Wan remember that since she’d arrived, she still hadn’t gone over to take a look.

"These few years—how many exactly? Yang Kui Bao, do you have a precise number?" Lin Wan blinked and asked.

"I heard it’ll be within three to five years."

"Three to five years, huh, that’s quite a while. Xiao Dung, how about you find someone to help me renovate it? That way when it gets demolished later, I can negotiate a good price."

"Sure, leave this to me. I’ve got all the keys anyway, you don’t need to worry about this. Once I’m done, Saozi, you can go over and take a look."

"I’m not going over in person, but the money has to be in place. The renovation cost, I’ll give it to you all together later, okay?"

"For this little bit of money, how could I let Saozi pay? Saozi, aren’t you looking down on me? If Mom finds out, she’ll definitely give me a beating."

Lin Wan shot him a sideways glance. Hu Dong had become much more mature now, and he’d really learned to talk; dealing with all kinds of people every day had trained him up.

"Oh right, you’ve come so many times, how come I’ve never seen that girlfriend of yours?"

Hu Dong suddenly frowned, scratched his head, and muttered, "She went abroad to study."

Lin Wan was a bit surprised and wanted to ask more, but she saw that Hu Dong didn’t want to talk about this topic anymore and quickly changed the subject.

Lin Wan didn’t ask further. As long as he knew what he was doing, that was enough.

The two days of judging were extremely busy. She was so swamped she couldn’t even answer Han Yi’s calls. But once the rush was over, their results turned out great—they won the annual grand championship.

This was a tremendous honor, a real treasure for them. With this award, their factory’s reputation nationwide rose to a whole new level.

From now on, orders would only increase, and Lin Wan herself had leapt into the spotlight as a rising star in the design world. Her future designs would no longer be something you could buy at ordinary prices.

Lin Wan had just stepped off the stage when a business representative came over, took a liking to her entire series of outfits, and offered three hundred thousand to buy it out.

Lin Wan agreed without hesitation. It wasn’t that she wasn’t looking out for the factory, but since this design had already appeared in the competition, plenty of businesses would definitely start copying it. If that was the case, she might as well design a new one.

"Xiao Wan, that’s amazing—three hundred thousand! Just these four or five pieces, and they can sell for that much? Having an honor and not having one, the difference is like heaven and earth." Su Ling was especially shocked.

Pei Bai was even more regretful. "If I’d known, I would’ve listened to you and joined too. Even if I didn’t get first place, just a second or third prize would’ve raised my value. Xiao Wan, Su Ling, we really have to participate in more events like this from now on. That’s the only way to develop better. Don’t you think so?"

"Yeah, but behind that honor is a lot of hard work. You two never saw me buried at home designing all day, hair a mess and looking filthy, totally unfit to be seen. I even locked myself up in a little dark room for over a month."

"Exactly. No pain, no gain—it’s proportional. I say we don’t rush back. Let’s have a good look around here and celebrate a bit." Su Ling chuckled.

"Mm, okay, I like that idea." Lin Wan and Pei Bai both chimed in.

After the event was over, Lin Wan finally had some free time and called Han Yi to share the good news.

"Mom, you’re amazing! Dad and I are waiting at home for you to come back so we can celebrate with you." When Lin Wan called, Little Star happened to be at home.

"Okay." Lin Wan replied with a smile.

"Mom, Mom, don’t forget to buy a toy car for Dingding, okay? And a gun!" Dingding squeezed in next to Little Star and pressed close to the receiver.

"Okay, Mom knows."

"You can only have either the car or the gun, not both." Han Yi frowned on the side. Dingding immediately became obedient, turned to Han Yi and said, "Dad, then tell Mom to buy me a gun. Fatty already has one."

"Mm, that’s fine. Go tell your mom."

With Han Yi’s permission, Dingding hurriedly squeezed back to the phone and told Lin Wan again that he wanted a toy pistol, even carefully describing what Fatty’s gun looked like.

The two kids chirped on and on for ages before it was finally Han Yi’s turn.

When he heard that Lin Wan had won first prize, he was genuinely happy for her. It was just that with the kids around, Han Yi couldn’t say anything too affectionate.

"I’ll probably have to stay here a few more days. Xiao Dung said the place where we bought the house is going to be redeveloped in a few years. I want to renovate the house first so we can get a good price when we negotiate with the developer. I’ll also take the chance to look around here for a couple of days."

"Okay. Be safe. If it’s inconvenient to stay at the hotel, just stay at Hu Dong’s place."

"Mm, got it. Don’t worry, I’ll arrange everything. Oh right, the kids all got their gifts, what do you want?"

Han Yi couldn’t help laughing when he heard that. "Anything is fine. As long as you buy it, I’ll like it."

Lin Wan chuckled at the cheesy line. "We’re an old married couple already and you’re still saying this kind of sweet stuff. Aren’t you afraid the kids will hear you now?"

"They’ve all gone back to their rooms. I can say whatever I want." Over on the phone, Lin Wan gave him a sidelong look. Even though Han Yi couldn’t see it, after living together so many years, he knew her little habits.

Knowing how things were on Lin Wan’s side, Han Yi felt relieved, hung up, and hurried to cook for the kids. In a bit Little Star still had to go to evening self-study.

Today he’d brought back two dishes from the canteen; he’d make a meat dish for the little one again. Dingding now couldn’t live without meat. He especially loved gnawing on big bones.

.....

That night, the event organizers hosted a celebration banquet and invited everyone who’d taken part in the competition.

This time, Su Ling really broadened her horizons. She’d come to learn their hospitality plan and reception procedures, and she was very satisfied with the standard the organizers showed today.

In the future, if the factory holds events, they can totally plan them like this.

Lin Wan kept a smile on her face the whole time, dealing with all sorts of people at the venue. She really wasn’t suited for this kind of setting; after more than two hours, she was more exhausted than from working a whole month. When she got back she fell into bed and slept, needing to recharge her brain properly.

Only at this point was their event truly over. Lin Wan finally had some free time. She’d been here over a month and still hadn’t gone to see Hu Dong. Now, taking Su Ling and Pei Bai over was just right.

To welcome them, Hu Dong had been getting things ready at home all morning. He was now living in a small detached courtyard house, and the surrounding environment was pretty good.

As soon as they walked in, they could tell it was a single guy living alone. The decor had almost no color.

"Xiao Dung, how much is the price per square meter for houses here?" Su Ling looked at this little courtyard house and liked it, so she casually asked.

"When I bought it, it was over two thousand. Now it should’ve gone up to over three thousand. Housing here is really tight now. You haven’t seen those families squeezed into tiny places; it’s about the same as how we were a few years back. The main thing here is just that housing is too expensive."

"Nice job. You’re an outsider and you can still buy such a big place. How are the locals supposed to live then?" Su Ling laughed and patted him on the shoulder.

Hu Dong smiled awkwardly. "There are plenty of people with houses and cars. I’m nothing special."

"Hey, Xiao Dung, tell Saozi, how many places have you bought here already?" Lin Wan knew Hu Dong and Lijuan best. Having lived through bitter days and days without a home, once they had money they were definitely going to buy big houses.

"Not many. Besides the one I live in, there are three more. All in more out-of-the-way spots."

"Good. Let Saozi tell you this: if you’ve got spare money in hand, invest it in housing. Around my place, see if there are any rundown courtyards—if there are, hurry up and buy one. When they really start developing it, within a few years you’ll earn at least a whole extra place out of it."

"I’ve been thinking about it." In fact, once he found out, Hu Dong had already started moving. He wasn’t just buying one; the savings he had were enough for him to buy two.

"Xiao Wan, you mean over by that place of yours, right? What, something’s going on there?" Su Ling and Pei Bai both knew that area. Over the years they’d followed her example and bought properties. And they each had at least two places that had already been included in upper-level development plans. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Whether it was getting new apartments or cash compensation, they’d made a tidy profit.

"This whole thing was something Xiao Dung mentioned. It’s not confirmed yet. You two want to buy?" Lin Wan said with a smile.

"If it can make money, of course we’d like to get one. We’ve saved up quite a bit these past few years." Su Ling and Pei Bai were both little rich ladies; they had the capital for this.

"If you two Saozis want to buy, I’ll ask around for you. I’ve got my eye on two places and I’m in the middle of the transfer these days. But I only glanced at their plans once. Whether there are still people in that area willing to sell, I really can’t say."

"It’s fine, someplace nearby works too. As long as that area gets developed, with its gradual growth it won’t be far behind." Su Ling saw it clearly. Investing in property is a long-term thing.

Now that commercial housing has appeared, prices keep going up. Plus, for city planning, the government will demolish and rebuild some areas.

"All right, Saozi, you two shouldn’t stay in hotels these days. A hotel is nowhere near as comfortable as a home. Just stay at my place for now. Wherever you want to go, just tell me—I’ll go with you the whole way and be your driver. If you’re free tomorrow, I’ll take you to see Saozi’s place. They’ve already started construction over there. You can’t see much effect yet, but it’s good for Saozi to go take a look. If there’s anything you’re not satisfied with, you can have them change it."

"Sure, tomorrow we’ll go take another look at Xiao Wan’s foreign-style building." Su Ling really wanted to go check out that property. If there was something available, she’d buy it on the spot and sit on it to appreciate. She’d made quite a bit of money off housing these last few years.

At the beginning, her family didn’t really agree with her buying so many places. Liu Wei couldn’t control her, and although her parents had a few things to say, they couldn’t really manage her too much either. After all, it was all money she’d earned herself; even if she spent it all, they had no real say.

In these few years, two of her places had been demolished. After the resettlement flats and compensation, her family felt she was incredibly sharp. They felt her property investments had been spot on—especially that place in the Capital City. Now Aunt Tang listened to the radio every day to keep up with housing prices. Property in the Capital City changed every year; the rise was crazy fast. Current prices there could buy two of the places her daughter-in-law had originally purchased. In just a few years, it had flipped completely.