A Day Out with the Little Rich Woman

After driving Guo Zihang away, Jiang Qin left the beef noodle shop as well. He headed to Jizhou City Library, picked up his financial backer, the Little Rich Woman, and took her to Small Commodity City.

Feng Nanshu was wearing a Floral Dress that seemed to carry an ethereal air of its own today. A small black purse hung diagonally across her body, and she wore brown Small Leather Shoes with a short stretch of lace-trimmed sheer socks showing above them. She looked every bit the young girl.

From the perspective of his greasy thirty-eight-year-old soul, Jiang Qin had only one comment: she was so tender she practically looked like water could be squeezed from her.

She strolled along the narrow pedestrian lane, her clear, bright eyes drifting everywhere, filled with curiosity about the goods displayed at the stalls.

This Small Commodity City was fairly well-known at Chengnan High School because it mostly sold knockoffs. The prices were low, and the selection was extensive.

Students really were poor.

Especially day students, who ate breakfast and dinner at home and had barely any pocket money.

So whenever the weekend came, they would arrive in groups of twos and threes to browse around, though what they bought was usually useless junk that looked good but served no purpose.

Feng Nanshu had probably heard people at school talking about this place, which was why she specifically asked to come.

"Why do they have so many car keys?"

"Uh... those are actually lighters."

"Do you need to take an exam for a Beauty Certificate? I want to get one."

"That's fake. It doesn't mean anything. If you want one, just buy it. One yuan each."

"Jiang Qin, I'm thirsty. I want Sprite."

"You saw it wrong. That's its sister version, Lei Bi."

"These underwear are split right down the middle. Why are they still selling them?"

"Uh, you're still young. Don't ask too much about adult matters."

Three minutes later, Feng Nanshu stopped in front of a shop around the corner, seemingly unable to move her legs any farther.

In front of her was a Hello Kitty-shaped Shaking Car. It flashed with lights and cheerfully called out for little friends to come play.

Feng Nanshu turned her head and looked quietly at Jiang Qin. A flicker of determination shone in her cool gaze, leaving Jiang Qin utterly baffled.

"Don't tell me you want to ride that?"

"Young Miss, listen to me first. This thing is for children under eight."

"You're already eighteen. If you ride that, you'll die of embarrassment on the spot."

Jiang Qin tried to persuade her to give up. The toy might light up, move around, and even sing, but anyone who no longer wore split-crotch pants had no business riding it.

Yet three minutes later, a lovely song drifted from the entrance of the shop around the corner.

"What Is Dad's Dad Called? Dad's dad is called Grandpa..."

The beautiful young girl sat atop it, her expression cool and calm, but there was unmistakable delight glimmering in her eyes.

Jiang Qin weighed the change he had gotten from the shop in his hand and could not help laughing. Then he leaned his shoulder against the shop's doorframe and quietly watched her.

That day, he had happened to see a laminated schedule in Feng Nanshu's bag. In the morning, she practiced piano and violin. At noon, she studied ballet and judo. At night, she watched the news and read financial newspapers. Only in the afternoons could she catch her breath at the library.

The Little Rich Woman probably hadn't had much of a childhood...

That was why she had no friends and could not socialize. She had become socially anxious instead, only to be mistaken for aloof.

Jiang Qin smiled and stopped paying attention, casually pulling the contract from his bag instead.

He now had four relocation apartments of varying sizes, for which he had spent a total of 2.73 million from his card.

The compensation plan for the redevelopment of Jizhou City's old district had not yet been announced. He had not seen it in his previous life either, but judging by the compensation his third uncle's Lian Qiao had received, the compensation in Fanhua Neighborhood should reach 1:2.8. Xingfu Community and Hongyun Community were in relatively remote locations, so their compensation would not be as high—at most 1:2.1.

He did not know much about Rongcheng's situation, but it should reach 1:2.4.

Jizhou City was not Kyoto or Shen City. Getting rich overnight through demolition was practically impossible. Reaching ratios like these was already rare enough. What more could he ask for?

After all, Former Eight Villages on North Second Ring Road had also been included in the demolition zone in 2018, but its compensation ratio had only been 1:1.3.

What did that show? It showed that demolition was like love—the order really mattered.

Once the compensation money arrived, Jiang Qin would repay the money Feng Nanshu had lent him. By then, he should still have one or two million left in hand, plus four apartments.

Of course, he could choose cash instead of apartments, but direct cash settlement would definitely fall short of market value. The best option would be to sell them himself after taking possession, though that would depend on the exact location of the resettlement housing. If it was in an area that would soar in value later, he would definitely keep it.

And while waiting for the compensation money, Jiang Qin did not plan to sit idle.

He would withdraw another 270,000 and use it to do a little business.

Buying relocation apartments was opportunistic no matter how he put it, but real entrepreneurship was entirely different. If he wanted to quickly enter the mindset of an entrepreneur, he had to become familiar with business procedures and tricks.

So he would use the 270,000 as startup capital and do something small in Jizhou City, treating it as a trial run before officially starting a business.

Just as he was thinking, the music beside him abruptly stopped.

The rocking time was over.

But Feng Nanshu remained seated on the Hello Kitty ride, unwilling to get down, with a lingering gleam still shining in her eyes.

Jiang Qin smiled helplessly, took a coin from his pocket, and placed it in her palm.

"Come ride with me." Feng Nanshu pointed at the other machine beside it.

"Me? I'm a grown man. Mr. Valiant, an unrivaled macho man. Don't joke around..."

Three minutes later, a duet of "What Is Dad's Dad Called?" rang out at the entrance of the little shop.

Jiang Qin sat in a cabin that clearly did not fit his size, swaying back and forth with Hello Kitty, astonishment appearing on his face.

This thing...

Was actually fucking fun!

After rocking for quite a while, the two crazed Hello Kitties finally stopped. The shop owner came out as well, his brows knitted tightly and his eyes brimming with killing intent.

How much does a kid weigh?

How much do you, a big, tall young man, weigh?

Don't you have any fucking self-awareness?

But Jiang Qin did not notice the shop owner's expression. Instead, he reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out the Nokia his dad had finished using.

While riding the Shaking Car, he had kept feeling something ringing. Only after opening his phone did he realize it was a QQ message alert—the 2008 version of "Fall in Love with Mobile QQ." It was retro as hell.

"Jiang Ge, guess where this class reunion is being held!"

"Alright, alright, I won't keep you guessing. The reunion is also in City Within a City. Isn't that a coincidence?"

"Qin Ziang booked the class banquet at Dragon Might Hotel nearby. I'm heading there now. Today, I'm definitely going to eat that dumb dog bankrupt!"

"Oh, right. Aren't you near City Within a City too? I'll come find you after we eat, and we can go home together!"

Guo Zihang's profile picture was a long-haired man wearing sunglasses, with an overly saturated filter added to the image. It was the very picture of a non-mainstream wannabe.

Jiang Qin found it hard to understand. Guo Zihang himself was short, fat, and dark-skinned, yet he insisted on using a skinny guy built like a chick as his profile picture. What kind of move was that?

I'm currently...

Fuck, this nine-key physical keyboard was way too damn hard to use! Jiang Qin directly pressed the hang-up key and returned to the home screen, completely lacking the patience to reply.

"Little Rich Woman, where do you want to go next?"

"Let's eat junk food!"

Feng Nanshu stretched out her hand and pointed with her pale, jade-smooth finger at the snack shop ahead, her eyes sparkling brightly.