Rebirth to Save Myself

The next day, despite her husband's reluctance, Chen Meili dragged him and Chen Wenwei to the Golden Coast that Chen Jianguo had mentioned. On the way, Chen Meili contacted Chen Jianguo through Chen Chunqi, who gave them a phone number and told them to call him when they arrived so someone could meet them.

"Hello, this is Chen Jianguo."

"Oh, it's the one Brother Chen was talking about. Where are you now? Do you need me to come pick you up?"

"We are now at the entrance of the sales office."

"Wait a moment, I'll be right out."

The three waited a short while before a man in a suit came out. Seeing them, he quickly stepped forward and said, "Hello, just call me Xiao Lin. I'll take you to see the apartment now. Is there any type of apartment you'd like to see?"

“We don’t know much about this either. How many different apartment types do you have?” Chen Meili asked.

"We have four types of apartments here: a 76-square-meter two-bedroom, one-living room, one-bathroom unit, suitable for young people; an 89-square-meter three-bedroom, two-living room, two-bathroom unit, suitable for a family of three; a 120-square-meter four-bedroom, two-living room, two-bathroom unit, which is larger than the 89-square-meter unit. Now that the two-child policy is about to be implemented, the rooms are just right, and it's also one of our best-selling apartment types; finally, there's a 150-square-meter unit, which is what Mr. Chen bought. Our designer has already designed this one, and it will be quite spacious and comfortable as a four-bedroom unit. But it can also be made into a five-bedroom unit, and we can partition off one room as a study. Your son is so refined; he'll definitely be a CEO someday." Xiao Lin led them all the way to the sales office, then took them to his office, and had his staff bring over various floor plans for Chen Meili and her companion to see.

It was only after a moment that Chen Meili realized that Xiao Lin was the sales manager here. After hearing him praise her son, she quickly said, "Thank you for your help. My son just got into university this year."

"No trouble at all, Brother Chen's friend is my friend. Brother Chen has always taken good care of me, and I am truly grateful." This Xiao Lin, also known as Manager Lin, was very polite and did not put on any condescending attitude.

"How did you and Chen Jianguo meet?" Chen Meili asked curiously.

"Oh, Brother Chen bought the apartment he lives in now from me. Back then, the area was undeveloped, and the surroundings were desolate. Many people came and were turned away. Brother Chen didn't hesitate and bought one on the spot. At that time, I was just a junior salesperson. My boss wanted to take the deal, but Brother Chen said he wouldn't have bought it if I hadn't been in charge. I got to the manager level thanks to Brother Chen's help." Manager Lin, being a salesperson, was very eloquent and never let the conversation get dull.

Chen Meili chatted with them for a while, and she preferred the 120 and 150 square meter apartment layouts. So Manager Lin didn't hesitate and took them to see the model apartments.

Since Chen Meili confronted him, her husband has been too afraid to say anything, while Chen Wenwei admires his mother's decisiveness. Every family needs someone who can make the decisions; his father was too indecisive and always overthinking things, so Chen Meili usually took the lead.

After they finished looking around, they returned to Manager Lin's office. Manager Lin looked at them and asked, "So, which apartment layout did you like?"

“I think 150 is great, it’s big and spacious,” Chen Meili said first, then asked the father and son, “What about you?”

"Isn't 150 a bit too much, and this amount of money is also a bit excessive?" Chen Meili's husband muttered softly.

"Don't worry about that. Since you were introduced by Brother Chen, I won't mince words. I'll sell it to you at the price Brother Chen paid, 10,000 yuan per square meter. We can also help you with loan processing. The interest rates are relatively low right now. If your down payment is higher, the loan repayment will be lower." Manager Lin directly offered a solution and had someone bring in the loan process and explanation for them to see.

Chen Wenwei carefully reviewed the documents and then looked at the apartment layout. He also thought the 150-square-meter layout was quite good. After he and Chen Yuan got married, there would be one room for his parents, one room for the child, one room for himself, and the remaining room would be just right as a guest room.

After doing some mental calculations, Mr. Chen realized that at 11,000 yuan per square meter, 150 square meters would cost 1.5 million yuan, not including loan interest. He had only earned 300,000 to 400,000 yuan over the years. If he used all his money as a down payment, he would still have over 1 million yuan to pay off. After thinking about it, he said to Chen Meili, "I think 120 square meters is not bad either. We don't need such a large one."

Chen Meili glared at her father, then said to Manager Lin, "Excuse me, could we discuss this privately?"

"Sure, feel free to use the office. I'll go out now, call me when you're ready." Manager Lin said, getting up and going to the door, thoughtfully closing it behind him.

His subordinates, seeing him come out, couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Lin, who are the guests today that require your personal attention?"

"A client recommended by my older brother."

"oh oh."

In the office, Chen Meili looked at her husband with a disgraceful expression and said, "It's not like we can't afford the 150 size, why do we need to buy the 120 size?"

“That 120 can be converted into four rooms, which will be enough for Wenwei to get married and have children. Besides, we only have three or four hundred thousand yuan on hand right now. Are you going to put it all down? This place is in the middle of nowhere. What if it doesn’t develop as Chen Jianguo said? You believe everything Chen Jianguo says? Be careful, he might team up with this Manager Lin to swindle you.” Chen’s father started speaking softly, but later became more and more confident, and his back straightened up a bit.

"We can earn more money, but are you really going to stick to this three or four hundred thousand for the rest of your life?" Chen Meili was really exasperated. After taking a few deep breaths, she continued, "Chen Jianguo has a huge business empire. What does he need your little bit of money for? Do you know how much he earns every year? Last year, he almost broke 100 million. He doesn't care about your little bit of money!"

"Wenwei has just started university, you should leave some money for him to use!" Seeing that he couldn't argue with Chen Meili, Chen's father brought up Chen Wenwei, hoping to get some effect.

"You can rest assured, I saved up the money for Wenwei's schooling separately," Chen Meili said irritably.

"Dad, I support Mom on this point. Uncle Chen has no reason to rip us off when it comes to buying a house, and since Mom and Aunt Chen are good friends, she's even less likely to let us fall into a trap. Also, as for my school money, I was planning to work part-time after college, so you don't need to worry about me. I'm a grown man, I have hands and feet, why would I starve myself!" Chen Wenwei quickly jumped in to say something when his father brought him up.

These words calmed Chen Meili down a bit. Even if her husband was useless, her son was still reliable. So Chen Meili asked Chen Wenwei to call Manager Lin in, and they immediately decided on a 150-square-meter penthouse apartment, to be registered in Chen Wenwei's name.

After returning from the sales office, Chen Meili immediately decided to buy some fruit and milk and go to Chen Chunqi's house again. Her father didn't understand, so Chen Meili said, "They introduced you to someone they know, and they gave you such a big discount. Shouldn't you thank them?"

"That was our own money, not theirs."

"Didn't you see it yourself? Other people are buying there, and the starting price is 13,000 per square meter. You're so good at math, why don't you calculate how much of a discount you actually got!"

Looking at her father, Chen Meili couldn't help but wonder how she could have ever fallen for this indecisive man! He chickened out at big things, complained endlessly at the first sign of trouble, and even hindered her from getting things done. This only strengthened her resolve to find a job in the provincial capital; staying there was a thousand times, ten thousand times better than staying in her hometown.

Chen Wenwei's family arrived at Chen Jianguo's house, where Chen Jianguo was picking up Su Xia and Chen Yuan to take them home. The two of them had another long trip outside, but this time the trip was shorter, so they didn't have much stuff.

Chen Yuan's eyes lit up when she saw Chen Wenwei come in, but Su Xia had to nudge her to stop her from doing anything out of line. Although Chen Yuan had already graduated from high school and was preparing to go to university, she and Chen Wenwei had been dating since high school, and if Chen Jianguo and Chen Chunqi found out, she would definitely get a scolding.

"Oh my, is this Yuanyuan? She's grown so much, a beautiful young lady now." Chen Meili entered the house and saw Chen Yuanyuan wearing a light blue short skirt and a ponytail. After a month and a half of travel, she had seen a lot of the world and looked even more elegant. Su Xia had just come from the balcony into the kitchen. She was wearing a dark green short-sleeved shirt and shorts, and her hair was all pulled back and tied in a small bun.

"Hello, Aunt Chen! Hello, Uncle Chen!" Chen Yuan quickly sat up from the sofa to greet them.

"Hello Aunt Chen! Hello Uncle Chen!" Su Xia also came over to greet Chen Meili and her husband.

"Alright, alright, you two are both grown up now!" Chen Meili smiled, then gestured for Chen Wenwei to bring the things up and said to Chen Chunqi, "Thanks to your son Jianguo yesterday, we went to see the house today and were very satisfied, so we placed an order right away."

"Why are you being so polite with me? That's what Old Chen should do. You're just being distant with me." Chen Chunqi pretended to be annoyed and looked at Chen Meili.

"Who's being polite with you? When I settle down in the provincial capital, I'll be coming all the time to visit you. Don't find me annoying and try to avoid me then," Chen Meili said, clinging to Chen Chunqi's arm.

"That's right, Yuanyuan, Xiaxia, you two are in charge of entertaining Wenwei." After saying that, Chen Chunqi led Chen Meili to the master bedroom.

“Okay,” Chen Yuan and Su Xia agreed.

This wasn't Chen Wenwei's first time here; he'd even stayed for two days last time he came to the provincial capital for a competition. But he hadn't seen Chen Yuan in a long time; they usually only talked via video call. Chen Yuan felt the same way; she was a little shy about finally seeing him in person.

Su Xia stood between the two, looking at one and then at the other, and couldn't help but sigh inwardly, "The stench of love!"

"Yuanyuan, why don't you two go down to the convenience store and buy some drinks?" Chen Jianguo said to them.

"Then you two go ahead, I just remembered I still have some things to pack," Su Xia said to Chen Yuan and Chen Wenwei.

Behind Chen Jianguo's back, Chen Yuan gave Su Xia a thumbs-up, then said to Chen Jianguo, "Dad, give me the money!"

“Your little stash is bigger than your dad’s, and you still ask your dad for money.” Chen Jianguo said this, but his hands didn’t slow down as he took out two pink bills and handed them to Chen Yuan.

"Thank you, Dad!" Chen Yuan happily accepted the gift, then took Chen Wenwei out the door.

In the elevator, Chen Yuan suddenly felt a little awkward, not knowing what to say to Chen Wenwei. Chen Wenwei spoke first, saying, "My family bought a house in the provincial capital today."

"Really? Where did you buy it? Is it near my house?"

"The area near your home is very expensive now. We bought a house in the High-tech Zone called Golden Coast."

"Well, my dad bought this house too. He didn't say how much it cost, so I don't know much about that."

"It's okay, I didn't mean to blame you. I just thought it was a good thing and wanted to share it with you."

"Hehe, of course it's a good thing! By the way, why are you always so slow to reply to my messages?"

"Because we've been staying at my uncle's house for the past few days, my aunt isn't too happy about it, and she's also been quite busy looking at houses around."

"Okay, okay, I forgive you. Do you still have to go back to your hometown?"

"I have to go back; my mom is planning a celebration for my college admission."

"My dad's the same, he's probably already booked a hotel. If you're not in a hurry to go back, you can eat before you leave."

"It probably won't work. We've booked tickets for tomorrow."

"So rushed?"

"Yes, because the start of the semester is approaching, and I need to go back and pack my bags."

"Then we'll be in a long-distance relationship again."

"School's starting soon, and we're in the same school, so we'll have plenty of opportunities to see each other then."

"Okay, then come to the provincial capital and come with me. I'll talk to my dad when I get back, and he'll agree."

"Aren't your uncles and aunts going to take you to register?"

"Because Xiaxia and I go to different universities, my parents felt we couldn't go together, fearing that everyone else would have their parents take them together. Plus, we went out to play on our own for so long during the summer vacation, so they decided to let us go by ourselves."

Did you have a good summer vacation?

"I'm so happy! Xiaxia and I went to so many places and took so many photos. At first, I wasn't quite used to it, but Xiaxia said that while we're still young, we should take more photos to commemorate the occasion."

"Yes, I saw your posts on WeChat Moments. Lots of fun places and delicious food."

"Yes, let me tell you, that place..."

Chen Yuan excitedly recounted her trip with Su Xia, even though she had already shared these experiences with Chen Wenwei. However, Chen Wenwei didn't interrupt her. Instead, he looked at her, listened to her, and occasionally chimed in with a question, just in case Chen Yuan felt he wasn't paying attention.

The two men were chatting and laughing, carrying drinks and a large bag of snacks home, when they were stunned to see Chen Meili! Chen Meili felt a little uncomfortable under their gazes, and then asked Chen Wenwei, "Does Mom look strange?"