Chapter 12: Demolition Notice
For reasons unknown, the weather kept getting hotter and hotter. At first, Su Ruizhe would rush home every noon to cook, but when Zhan Yun saw him coming back drenched in sweat and still struggling in the kitchen, he immediately felt distressed and forbade him from rushing back to cook anymore. Instead, he told Su Ruizhe to make more food at breakfast so he could just eat the dishes prepared in the morning at noon.
Su Ruizhe actually didn’t like the idea of Zhan Yun eating food that had gone cold, but Zhan Yun insisted that in such hot weather, eating cool food wasn’t a big deal. Su Ruizhe had no way of arguing with him and could only agree, so he began putting even more care into making breakfast.
As the weather grew hotter, running a street stall became more exhausting as well. Su Ruizhe changed his schedule, selling vegetables at the entrance of the Eastern Street market for an hour and a half in the morning and evening each day, staying at home during the hottest part of the afternoon. Although his stall hours were shorter and his income dipped slightly, the increased orders from Wu Qi and Xu Ji Restaurant ensured that his daily earnings continued to grow steadily. After closing his stall at night, he would always stop by the supermarket or the wholesale market, gradually stocking up on daily necessities. At the same time, he worked hard at studying recipes to make sure Zhan Yun received ample nutrition so his injury could heal as quickly as possible.
Zhan Yun recuperated quietly at Su Ruizhe’s home and occasionally ordered things online. In Su Ruizhe’s eyes, most of what he bought were electronic gadgets of little practical use, but as long as Zhan Yun was happy, that was all that mattered.
Days passed one by one. Then, one day, Chen Huizhen came by again, and only then did Su Ruizhe realize that more than half a month had already gone by.
Because Zhan Yun was at home, Su Ruizhe didn’t want him to overhear his conversation with Chen Huizhen, so he didn’t invite her inside. Instead, he stepped out of the house himself and closed the door behind him.
“Little Zhe, let’s go inside and talk. It’s really hot out here,” Chen Huizhen said. In the instant the door opened, she had felt a hint of cool air—Su Ruizhe had actually installed air conditioning at home? Where had he gotten the money?
“Aunt, I have a guest at home, so it’s not very convenient. Why don’t you just tell me what you came to see me about?” The weather was getting hotter by the day, and standing outside was uncomfortable. Chen Huizhen was already heavyset, and after walking over she was sweating profusely. She wanted to sit down and rest, maybe have some water, but realized that Su Ruizhe had no intention of inviting her inside. Her expression darkened immediately. Still, thinking of the demolition compensation, she could only swallow her slight displeasure.
“Little Zhe, I heard that the demolition notice is supposed to come out today. How about we go to the subdistrict office together to take a look?”
So it really was about this.
“All right, let’s go,” Su Ruizhe replied. To be honest, he was feeling impatient as well. The apocalypse was drawing closer, and there were still far too many supplies he needed to buy.
The environment in the apocalypse would be extremely harsh. The pleasant spring and autumn seasons would grow shorter and shorter, leaving behind only long stretches of scorching summer and bitter winter. At the hottest times, the heat would feel as if it were scorching one’s skin; at the coldest, it would be so frigid that even the blood seemed to freeze. Whether it was items to beat the heat or supplies to keep warm, everything had to be prepared in advance.
Su Ruizhe went back inside to say a few words to Zhan Yun, then left together with Chen Huizhen.
Chen Huizhen craned her neck at the doorway, trying to peek inside, but Su Ruizhe closed the door too quickly for her to see anything clearly.
Hmph! Why was this kid guarding against her like she was some kind of thief?
Did he really think she coveted his rundown, dilapidated house? What a joke! Too bad the kid was so shrewd—otherwise, they wouldn’t have lost out on three hundred thousand yuan!
When Su Ruizhe came out and saw the look on Chen Huizhen’s face, he didn’t care in the slightest. After all, there were only a few days left…
The two of them went together to the subdistrict office, and sure enough, the demolition notice had already been issued. It informed residents living in this small area to prepare for demolition and redevelopment. Residents who were willing could, starting from that day, have the head of the household bring their household registration booklet to the specially set up demolition office at the subdistrict to sign the contract. The houses in this area were very old, but the location was decent, so a developer planned to rebuild and redevelop it. The terms offered were quite generous: contracts would be signed before demolition, and the compensation payments would be transferred one by one into the household heads’ designated accounts, generally arriving within three to five working days.
Su Ruizhe and Chen Huizhen were overjoyed at once. Both of them wanted to get the money as soon as possible, but Su Ruizhe hadn’t brought the household registration booklet, and Chen Huizhen hadn’t brought her son’s bank card. After discussing it briefly, they decided to come back the next day to sign the contract.
When he got home, Su Ruizhe immediately shared the good news with Zhan Yun.
Zhan Yun, however, didn’t look nearly as happy. He asked in a low voice, “What about after the house is demolished? What do you plan to do then?”
What plans? What else could there be? Buy a huge amount of supplies to last them for several years, then run for their lives! What other choice was there?
Of course, Su Ruizhe couldn’t tell Zhan Yun any of that, so he said instead, “I haven’t really thought it through yet. Anyway, they won’t demolish it right away. I’ll see when the time comes…”
Zhan Yun spoke slowly, “I have a small place over on South Street. After your house is demolished, if you can’t find somewhere to live right away, you can come stay with me.”
Live together! Live together!
Su Ruizhe’s lips curved upward, and two little dimples immediately appeared. Zhan Yun was worried about him—and had even invited him to live together!
“Okay.”
Beaming with joy, Su Ruizhe went into the kitchen, planning to make a more lavish meal to celebrate. He intended to steam a fish, make shredded pork with green peppers, and simmer a pot of potato and pork rib soup.
He had even specially bought tools and dug a small fish pond in the open yard, stocking it with fry he’d bought from the seafood market. Not only did plants grow quickly in his space, but fish raised in its spring water also grew astonishingly fast—within just a few days they were already plump and big. He was sure Zhan Yun would like them.
While taking the meat out of the refrigerator to thaw, he directly retrieved a large fresh fish, green peppers, potatoes, and other ingredients from his space, quickly filling the entire countertop.
However, just as he was about to turn around to grab a knife to peel the potatoes, he discovered Zhan Yun standing at the kitchen doorway, his face full of shock.
Under Su Ruizhe’s careful daily care, Zhan Yun’s injuries had been healing quickly. He was already able to get out of bed and walk around a bit, though before the wound had fully healed he still needed to avoid large movements and strenuous activity. Seeing that Su Ruizhe was about to cook, he had come over to see if there was anything he could help with—only to witness this astonishing scene.
What on earth was going on?!
Su Ruizhe was frozen as well. Judging by the look on Zhan Yun’s face, he must have seen the scene of things appearing out of thin air from his space just now.
What was he supposed to do now?!
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