In her past life, Xu Huiqing had never lived in this city, but she knew its real estate prices.
Back then, she had hoped Xiaoxi could get into a university in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Shanghai area. Afraid the Zhao family might not give Xiaoxi a single cent, she planned to buy apartments for her in cities with top universities there. H City was one of the cities where she had bought a place for Xiaoxi.
When she purchased that property, housing prices in H City hadn’t skyrocketed to the absurd levels they eventually would. Yet even then, prices in this district had already climbed to over twenty thousand per square meter, eventually peaking at seventy to eighty thousand. This entire area became the city center. Though she hadn’t chosen to buy here back then, she had thoroughly researched this shopping mall and the surrounding residential compounds.
One phrase perfectly described the shop units here: invaluable assets with no sellers.
The mall’s construction had only just begun. Xu Huiqing wanted to ask: Were the shops here available for pre-sale? What was the pre-sale price? How much was the down payment?
If she could buy a shop here, Xu Huiqing figured she should prioritize that over an apartment. She could delay buying the apartment for a while. If worse came to worst, she still had some Silver Dollars coins and ancient coins she could sell first.
Given this mall’s future explosive popularity, even if she just held onto the shop and collected rent, it would be a steady stream of income.
She circled the future mall. And she had to admit, there were reasons it would become so prosperous. First, its location was incredibly prime, right next to the Yinshan Community. That single residential compound alone covered hundreds of thousands of square meters. The population density was high, transportation was convenient, and the mall itself spanned one hundred fifty thousand square meters.
Everything here was still under construction. She couldn’t find anyone in charge, nor was there a pre-sale exhibition hall.
Just walking this huge circle, Xu Huiqing felt her legs were about to fall off. It was easily several kilometers. And the problem was, she wasn’t walking alone. She was carrying a three-and-a-half-year-old child. In other words, the entire time, she had been lugging extra weight on a sweltering summer day, basically road-walking.
That circle was enough for her, though. It let Xu Huiqing see the future commercial hub with complete clarity.
Besides backing onto the massive residential compound, a few li from the mall’s front entrance stood a temple with thriving incense offerings. Further on, past Old Canal Street, the surroundings were filled with densely populated old residential areas. And just three or four li to the east, there was a University City.
The more Xu Huiqing explored, the more she felt this mall was worth investing in. She wished she could lock down the shop purchase that very instant, just to avoid any sleepless nights.
Unfortunately, the compound was simply too big, and the mall footprint was massive. Halfway through, she could walk no more. She simply didn’t have the energy to explore the East Courtyard and North Courtyard of Yinshan Community. She could only carry Xiaoxi down the road cutting through the middle of the community’s East First Courtyard. By chance, she finally passed the police station Zhou Huaijin had mentioned.
It was noon, just about time to eat.
Carrying Xiaoxi under her umbrella, Xu Huiqing walked past the entrance to Zhou Huaijin’s workplace. Zhou Huaijin almost thought he was seeing things. A closer look confirmed it really was his new neighbor. Assuming she was here on some errand, and since he was off work and heading home for lunch, he jogged to catch up with her. “Xu Huiqing?”
New to this area, Xu Huiqing knew very few people. Hearing someone call her name, she turned to see Zhou Huaijin running toward her. A smile naturally lit up her face. “Little Comrade Zhou.”
“You here for an errand nearby?” Zhou Huaijin watched her holding the umbrella with one hand and Xiaoxi with the other. The hair at her temples was soaked with sweat, plastered messily against her cheeks. It made his fingers itch slightly.
“What a coincidence?” Xu Huiqing smiled, switching Xiaoxi to her other arm and shifting the umbrella to her other hand. “No errand. Just strolling around.”
Zhou Huaijin smoothly took the umbrella from her and held it over her.
Several times, Xu Huiqing wanted to let Xiaoxi walk by herself for a bit. But the girl’s little arms and legs were short, and the ground was baking hot. She desperately wanted to find a shop with an air conditioner nearby to rest. But finding a shop with air conditioning these days was too hard. She hadn’t spotted a single one the whole way. She just had to keep carrying her.
After giving birth, she was weak and sweated excessively anyway. Beads of sweat, large as soybeans, rolled down her back, and her arms were growing weak.
Zhou Huaijin reached out to take Xiaoxi from her arms, but Xu Huiqing refused. “Sorry, she’s just at the age where she’s shy around strangers.”
Zhou Huaijin then coaxed Xiaoxi: “Xiaoxi, be good. Look, your mom is already very tired. Can you walk by yourself for a little while?”
Xiaoxi looked at the sweat on her mother’s forehead. She wiggled slightly and then dropped to the ground, holding her mother’s little hand.
Xu Huiqing took back the umbrella Zhou Huaijin had been holding for her. “Thanks, I’ve got it.” She took it and angled it so half shaded herself and half shaded Xiaoxi’s head.
At high noon, the sun was directly overhead.
“Is Little Comrade Zhou off to eat?” Thinking of the help he’d given her last night, Xu Huiqing invited him: “Xiaoxi and I haven’t eaten either. Let me treat you to lunch!”
Zhou Huaijin, however, was considering her situation: a young woman alone in the city with a child, no job, just rented a place and bought a lot of things. She couldn’t just drain her savings. So he smiled. “How about this, once you’ve finished tidying up your place, you can invite me over then.”
He had a refrigerator at home. Every morning, there were vegetable sellers at the compound gate. When he went for his run, he’d conveniently pick up some groceries on his way back. Living alone, making his own meals, everything was easy enough.
He saw she was exhausted, drenched in sweat, her face flushed red from the sun. Several times, she stopped to rest under the shade of a tree, her eyes dazedly scanning the surroundings, yet the heat forced her to quickly keep moving, clearly desperate to get home and rest. He said, “I bought some groceries this morning. If you don’t mind my poor cooking, you can make do with a couple of bites at my place.”
“Then I won’t stand on ceremony!” Xu Huiqing laughed.
She never imagined that her biggest challenge after being reborn into her youth would be the difficulty of going from luxury to frugality.
When they reached the bottom of the apartment building in the compound, the cleaning auntie from yesterday was standing at the corner store entrance chatting. Seeing them return, she hurried over. “Last night I told you I’d come this morning to help clean your place. I waited all morning and didn’t see you come down. I thought you’d gone looking for a job. If you hadn’t shown up just now, I would’ve gone home for lunch!”
Xu Huiqing hadn’t expected the under-construction mall to be so enormous. Halfway around its perimeter, whether she turned back or pushed forward, it was still several li either way. She’d originally thought going forward and looping around might reveal a shortcut so she could get back faster. Who knew that one full circle would nearly make her pass out from the heat!
She said apologetically to the Cleaning Auntie: “Auntie, I’m so sorry. After breakfast this morning, I saw a mall being built nearby and walked around it. Who knew I’d end up lost and couldn’t find my way back?”
The auntie’s face showed an expression of pure shock. “In this heat? You took your child and walked all the way around? No wonder you couldn’t make it back! Why didn’t you take the bus? Or at least ride a bicycle! Relying on your own two feet, no wonder I waited all morning without seeing you!” She pointed at the bus terminal outside the compound. “Next time you want to explore, take the bus from here. Take the No. 5 bus. It loops all the way from here to the East Courtyard. Get off there and transfer to the No. 11 bus going this way. Get off at the West 8th Courtyard stop.” She turned to Zhou Huaijin. “Little Xu just arrived and doesn’t know the way. Officer Little Zhou, you should explain it to her. Carrying a child in this blazing sun and walking such a huge loop—before the child gets overwhelmed, you’ll be overwhelmed! Silly girl!”
She’d known since last night that Xu Huiqing wasn’t Zhou Huaijin’s girlfriend.
Xu Huiqing just smiled. “Thanks for the advice, Auntie. I’ll know better next time.”
The auntie emphasized, “Remember: take the No. 5, then transfer to the No. 11.”
Seeing Xu Huiqing and Zhou Huaijin open the building’s security door, the auntie watched them go inside while waving her arm at Xu Huiqing. “Then I’ll come back at 3 PM and continue cleaning for you!”
She needed to go home and rest at noon anyway. The sun was way too strong for her as well.
Xu Huiqing smiled and nodded, then, after thanking her, led Xiaoxi upstairs.
By the time she climbed the seven stories, she couldn’t say another word to Zhou Huaijin and just opened her door.
Zhou Huaijin was also opening his door. He looked at her flushed face. “Cool off in front of the fan for a bit. I’ll call you when the food is ready.”
Xu Huiqing looked back. “Thank you.”
She had boiled hot water in the morning. Before going out, she’d poured some into a cup to cool. Now it was lukewarm. She poured some for Xiaoxi and then gulped down two large glasses herself. She also poured some hot water into the baby bottle to mix with the cooler water, made milk for Xiaoxi, so the little one could tide herself over.
Back in her room, she turned on the fan and collapsed onto the bed, unwilling to move. Her head was heavy and dizzy. She also felt nauseous and wanted to vomit.
Xu Huiqing touched her forehead. No fever, just dizziness. She figured she most likely had heatstroke.
She reached for her phone, wanting to call a delivery guy to bring some Huoxiang Zhengqi Water up. After fumbling around on the bamboo mat, she remembered: She’d been reborn into the 90s. She didn’t have a phone.
Not long after, the door was knocked on.
For a fleeting moment, she felt incredibly grateful that her neighbor was a warm-hearted police officer.
She got up and opened the door.
Outside stood Zhou Huaijin, wearing an apron.
Xu Huiqing’s eyes lit up. She looked him up and down, and even her head didn’t feel so dizzy anymore.
She already knew Officer Little Zhou was a handsome, sunny guy with a great physique. She just didn’t expect that in an apron, he’d have such a uniquely gentle ‘house husband’ kind of charm.
She couldn’t help but ask, “Little Comrade Zhou, do you have a girlfriend yet?”
Zhou Huaijin’s heart suddenly skipped a beat. Forcing himself to stay composed, he raised an eyebrow at her. “No. Why do you ask?”