Chapter 398
“He Xingzhi!” Jiang Yexun roared with a cold, menacing voice.
He Xingzhi jumped in fright, quickly picked up He Hongni, and tightly covered her mouth. “Brother Ye, Sister-in-law, I’m really sorry! But Hongni is still young, we will definitely teach her properly.”
“How is her being young any of our business?” Jiang Yexun retorted coldly.
Aunt Guo, standing nearby with a stern expression, added, “Xingzhi, it’s true you and Yexun are good friends, but Xiaoxiao hasn’t done anything wrong. Why should she suffer? Besides, think about how much Xiaoxiao has had to endure because of your sister. I understand you care about your sister, but I care about my daughter-in-law, and Yexun cares about his wife. We promised Xiaoxiao and her family that she would never be wronged.”
During their earlier hunting trip up the mountain, everyone was just companions, with no one really helping anyone more than the other. Her son simply had a quicker mind, helping the group find better solutions. Though He Xingzhi had helped find clues later, that led him to his long-lost sister, so it all balanced out. There was no reason for Xiaoxiao to put up with this.
What if He Hongni was a child? Other people’s children were not worth as much as even a single finger of her Xiaoxiao.
He Xingzhi flushed with embarrassment as Aunt Guo’s words stung. He hurriedly apologized, “I’m really sorry! I know it’s my and my sister’s fault! Brother Ye, Aunt Guo, don’t worry, tomorrow I’ll go out and find a place to rent. Once I find one, I’ll immediately move out with my sister. Until she improves, I won’t let her show up in front of you again.”
Jiang Yexun knew that He Xingzhi was sincere, but he also knew that their brotherhood had reached its natural end. Even if He Hongni didn’t improve and remained as bad as ever, He Xingzhi wouldn’t betray him. But Jiang Yexun wasn’t willing to keep a ticking time bomb by his side. Even if she did improve, he wouldn’t trust her. People could pretend, and there was no reason to trust someone who had harbored deep hostility toward his future wife.
“Alright, if you need anything, just come find me,” Jiang Yexun replied indifferently. After all, they were in Shanghai, and He Xingzhi was unfamiliar with the area. Since he had brought him here, he would make sure he left safely as well.
“Don’t worry, Brother Ye, I’m a grown man; I’ll be fine.” He Xingzhi smiled sheepishly, but the little girl in his arms struggled and looked at Jiang Yexun with tearful eyes, pleading.
However, Jiang Yexun didn’t even glance at her, instead turning his attention to Su Xiaoxiao, wanting to know if she was satisfied with this solution.
Su Xiaoxiao pursed her lips, her eyes showing a trace of hesitation. In the end, she suggested to He Xingzhi, “Actually, I think instead of renting, you should consider buying a place in Shanghai.”
In her previous life, He Xingzhi never betrayed Jiang Yexun, and in this life, he had even helped her. Though she knew from Jiang Yexun’s character that he would likely drift away from He Xingzhi in the future, she still wanted to leave their brotherhood on a good note. At the very least, when they looked back, it wouldn’t just be memories of a rushed departure.
“If I bought a small house at market price, it would cost around three thousand five hundred yuan. That would use up more than half of my savings, leaving me with less than two thousand… I’m afraid things would be tough afterward,” He Xingzhi said, a bit troubled. He didn’t want to buy a house because he knew his sister’s stubborn nature and deep attachment to the spies, and it would likely take three to five years before she could truly change. Over the years, he had been making good money following Brother Ye and had no desire to go back to working in the fields.
But Su Xiaoxiao continued, “We’re in the most prosperous area of Shanghai. If you buy a small two- or three-story building here, it will be easy to rent out. You could make at least twenty-five yuan a month, and maybe even thirty or thirty-five. That rental income would be more than enough to support you and your sister. Even if you get married and have children, with twenty-five yuan a month, you could live comfortably in the brigade.”
This area wasn’t just prosperous now; it would only become more valuable in the future. The small houses here would be worth millions or even billions in twenty or thirty years. Even fifty or sixty years from now, selling them for one or two billion would be easy.
Seeing He Xingzhi’s interest, Su Xiaoxiao continued to persuade him, “Plus, after you buy the house, you’ll have steady rental income. If you ever face an emergency, you could sell the house for much more than what you paid. Isn’t that a better investment than keeping your money in the bank? Three thousand five hundred in the bank wouldn’t earn you thirty yuan a month in interest. In fact, if you needed to withdraw the money all at once, the interest wouldn’t compare to the value increase of the house.”
He Xingzhi calculated the numbers carefully and his eyes lit up. “Sister-in-law, you’re right! I’ll go buy a house tomorrow, right here in the area, to be close to you. That way, I can’t go wrong!” He said excitedly. Then, after thinking it over, he added, “Brother Ye, I’ll try to negotiate and maybe buy two houses. I might need to borrow a bit of money from you, but don’t worry, I’ll rent both houses out and pay you back in no time.”
“Alright,” Jiang Yexun agreed without hesitation. He wasn’t a stingy person, and he had no major conflicts with He Xingzhi, so there was no reason to hold back.
Still, he suddenly wondered if they should buy a couple of extra properties as well. If they each had one under their names—him, Xiaoxiao, his mother, and his sister—that would be like each of them having a stable job. However, he quickly dismissed the idea. They were about to get married, and his future father-in-law’s affairs hadn’t been made public yet. Especially with his brother-in-law’s promotion not finalized, it wasn’t the right time to make big moves and risk drawing unwanted attention.
At dinner that evening, He Xingzhi quietly took his food and headed back to his room. He didn’t dare bring his sister out again, lest she ruin everyone’s appetite.
However, He Hongni wasn’t one to stay quiet. While He Xingzhi was washing the dishes, she snuck out and knelt beside Jiang Yexun’s leg.
Jiang Yexun instinctively wanted to kick her away but held back, reminding himself she was only six years old. He didn’t want to accidentally injure her.
But in the next moment, He Hongni clung tightly to his leg and started crying, “Big brother, please don’t send me away. I know I was wrong, and I promise to behave from now on.”
“He Xingzhi, come get your sister,” Jiang Yexun shouted, not bothering to engage with the little girl.
Hearing the commotion from the kitchen, He Xingzhi nearly dropped the bowl he was washing. He rushed out, wiped his hands, and forcibly pulled He Hongni away.
“You can’t keep acting like this! If you do, we’ll stay in the brigade forever and never come back out,” He Xingzhi growled through gritted teeth, clearly at his wit’s end.
The defiant He Hongni immediately quieted down, red-eyed and tearful. However, no one sympathized with her—least of all Jiang Yexun and Aunt Guo, who were both firmly on Su Xiaoxiao’s side. If not for her being He Xingzhi’s sister, they might have already physically removed her.
Once He Hongni was taken back to her room, Su Xiaoxiao sat with Jiang Yexun and Aunt Guo for a bit, watching TV, before being escorted back to the Su family home.
It was eight o’clock, and the compound was quiet, with everyone already home from work. The cold weather kept even the usual evening strollers inside.
As they reached the last corner before Su Xiaoxiao’s floor, Jiang Yexun grabbed her hand. The dark, quiet night and the feeling of their fingers intertwined sent a jolt through Su Xiaoxiao, her body tingling as if electrified.
She swallowed nervously, the sound loud enough for both of them to hear. Jiang Yexun’s suppressed laughter rumbled from his chest.
“What are you laughing at? I was just startled because you grabbed me suddenly!” Su Xiaoxiao exclaimed in frustration, playfully swiping at him, but only managing to hit his thick cotton jacket.