Chapter 15: I Can’t Afford Anything

Chapter 15: I Can't Afford Anything

Xiao Jiliang, seeing her son lying on the ground screaming, was startled and quickly pushed Zhao Long away, crawling over to Zhao Daxing.

"Daxing, Daxing, are you okay? Where does it hurt?"

Looking at the sweat on Zhao Daxing's forehead, Xiao Jiliang didn't dare to touch him, unsure of what to do.

She turned her head and glared at Su An with a fierce expression.

"Bitch, what did you do to my Daxing?"

Su An, recalling the memories from her past life, when she was beaten to the point of being unable to stand up, and this old woman would stand by, mocking her pretense.

She raised an eyebrow and mimicked Xiao Jiliang's tone, speaking sarcastically.

"Is your son putting on an act? A grown man, how could he be like tofu, ready to fall apart with just a touch, acting as if he's on the verge of death. Tsk, tsk~ That pretentious manner, he must have been an actor on the stage in his previous life~"

As she spoke, Su An walked over and kicked Zhao Daxing in the waist.

Zhao Daxing grunted, clenching his teeth as he glared at Su An with hatred.

"Zhao Daxing, you cowardly weakling, stop pretending. Can't you see your old hag of a mother is about to lose her mind with worry? Get up, you're a man, not made of mud, why all the useless screaming and shouting~"

Zhao Daxing, holding his twisted and deformed arm, trembling, managed to turn over and sit on the ground, the pain causing the veins in his neck to bulge.

"Ahhhhhh, my arm, my arm~"

Xiao Jiliang finally noticed Zhao Daxing's drooping arm and felt a rush of blood to her head, nearly fainting.

"Oh, heaven above, Daxing, your arm~"

"Su An, you damned hag, how dare you strike so viciously? If anything happens to Daxing's arm, I swear, even if it costs me my life, I will not let you get away with this!"

Zhao Daxing looked up at Su An's dark expression and felt a sinking sensation in his heart, pulling on Xiao Jiliang's sleeve to stop her from cursing further.

At this moment, if they provoked Su An again, they would have no ability to resist.

Gritting his teeth in pain, he said, "Mom, stop cursing. We need to get to the hospital now!"

"If my arm is ruined, we might as well all stop eating!"

Xiao Jiliang finally came to her senses, hurriedly going inside to grab a bag, and supporting Zhao Daxing as they left the house.

The three children watched as their grandmother and father walked away, then at the woman standing in the room like a vengeful spirit, and quickly ran after their grandmother.

"Dad, Grandma, wait for me~"

"And me, and me~"

Su An looked at the now empty house, her thoughts drifting, standing still as if in a trance, wondering why it didn’t seem so hard after all. Why had she let herself end up like that in her past life?

After a while, she gently touched her stomach and walked towards the kitchen.

The Zhao family's standard of living was quite high. The kitchen was stocked with rice, flour, and freshly bought eggs, tofu, and meat.

Skillfully turning on the gas valve of the coal stove and placing a pot on it, Su An deftly cooked herself a hearty farmhouse-style dish.

In her past life, she cooked every day, but never got to taste the good food herself.

Every day, the Zhao family made it clear to Su An that she didn’t truly belong to their family, as she had been brought into the Zhao household.

After a satisfying meal, Su An grabbed the keys from the cabinet near the door and headed out.

This set of keys was left by Zhao Daxing when he came in, and it included not only the key to the bicycle downstairs but also the keys to the main door and inner rooms of the Zhao family’s house.

Finding the bicycle, Su An rode away.

Lately, the Zhao family’s mother and son were too busy to pay her much attention. She had to use this time to look for a suitable house and find a way to separate her and her brother’s household registration from the Su family.

In 1981, the first housing reform in the country had been implemented. Within just one year, housing started to move towards commercialization, and it quickly began to be promoted nationwide. A three-tier housing purchase system for employees was introduced.

What is the three-tier system?

In the past, employees' houses were either allocated for free by the housing authority or built by the work unit and distributed to individuals. Now, the allocation system was gone, and employees had to purchase houses themselves.

However, there were discounts for employees. If an employee managed to get a purchase quota, they could buy the house at a reduced price, paying only one-third of the total cost, with the remaining two-thirds split between the government and the work unit.

Most people ignored the houses on the market. They still waited for free public housing allocation and didn’t want to spend their own money to buy houses.

However, in the following years, public housing allocation was gradually canceled in various regions, shifting to a market-based supply. With the policy being trialed and very favorable, many people who didn’t meet the housing allocation conditions sensed a business opportunity and started applying for purchase quotas from their work units.

As the first batch of people made their moves, soon those who had good conditions, larger families, and wanted to improve their living environment but couldn’t get a purchase quota also started to act.

Therefore, when Su An thought about buying a house, the first project that came to her mind was the upcoming golden real estate development, "Longxiang Mansion."

Longxiang Mansion was one of the first residential complexes in City A to offer privately owned homes, and the first phase was currently completed and on sale.

Su An remembered that the final phase of Longxiang Mansion, the 12th phase, was completed just a few years before her death.

Thanks to its prime location, comprehensive amenities, and size, Longxiang Mansion’s prices had skyrocketed, reaching a height that was unaffordable for most people.

Su An knew this well because the Zhao family had bought a house in the third phase of Longxiang Mansion.

After coming out of the steel factory, Zhao Daxing had an incredible stroke of luck and started working for the successor of the developer of Longxiang Mansion.

As Su An cycled to Longxiang Mansion, her initial excitement quickly gave way to disappointment.

“The smallest area is this 52 square meter two-bedroom? Is there nothing smaller?” Su An asked the staff again, unwilling to give up.

The housing sales staff was very polite, “Yes, comrade, as you can see in the introduction, Unit 1 has 52 square meters, 72 square meters, and 88 square meters. The 52 and 72 square meter units are two-bedroom, and the 88 square meter unit is three-bedroom. The top floor unit is 145 square meters, with five rooms including a study. There are only two such large units in the building. Most of the other units are 72 and 88 square meters.”

“And currently, the stock of houses is running low. You can sign the contract, pay, and get the keys for renovation immediately…”

Su An looked at the price list and couldn’t help but silently criticize in her heart. The cheapest option was 98 yuan per square meter. Even if she picked the worst floor and the smallest 52-square-meter unit, it would still cost over 5,000 yuan.

There’s no way I can afford that.

Although she knew she was far from having enough money, when the staff gave safety helmets to the visitors and led them to view the model units, Su An was more enthusiastic than anyone else.

She decided to check it out and then figure out how to get the money or a purchase quota from the Zhao family or her work unit.