Chapter 7: An Unexpected Windfall
Perhaps afraid that Su Ruizhe might go back on his word, Chen Huizhen quickly prepared all the documents required for the child’s household registration transfer. Two days later, she left Su Ruizhe a note, asking him to go to the Household Registration Office at three o’clock the next afternoon to handle the relevant procedures.
The next day, after selling vegetables in the morning, Su Ruizhe took the household register with him and went to the registration office as agreed. There, besides Chen Huizhen, he also met his cousin Su Qiang, his cousin’s wife Lin Xi, and his little nephew Su Chenguang.
“Little Zhe, long time no see. We really have you to thank for today,” Su Qiang said. About 175 centimeters tall, with fairly regular features and a well-proportioned build, he looked quite presentable in a suit. Working in a government office with a stable job and enjoying good family conditions, it was no wonder he had managed so smoothly to marry a beauty like Lin Xi.
Lin Xi was dressed head to toe in designer brands, exuding a distinctly petite-bourgeois air. It was said that she worked as an executive assistant at a private company. When Su Qiang greeted Su Ruizhe, she also wore a polite smile and nodded slightly at him. It looked as though she was simply shy and therefore didn’t strike up a conversation with Su Ruizhe directly, but he knew all too well what kind of proud and selfish person his cousin-in-law was. If it weren’t for the child’s household registration and the demolition compensation involved, she probably wouldn’t even spare a second glance at a poor relative like him.
Little nephew Su Chenguang was only six years old, but he was exceptionally fair and adorable. Dressed in a well-tailored little suit, he looked just like a tiny gentleman. Seeing him softened Su Ruizhe’s heart. The child was still young, cute, and pure, and every time they met, he would obediently call him “Little Uncle.”
It was just a pity… such a little angel would become one of the first to turn into a monster when the apocalypse arrived…
He hadn’t even been given a chance to choose.
But perhaps it was for the best. At least when this lovely child left, he felt no pain at all, and the apocalypse was never a place suitable for children to survive in.
For this child’s sake, Su Ruizhe was willing to show this family a bit more tolerance before the apocalypse arrived. As for afterward, he had already made up his mind that he would no longer have any ties with them.
Suppressing the complicated emotions surging in his heart, Su Ruizhe smiled and greeted them as well.
At this moment, Chen Huizhen suddenly stepped forward, pulled Su Ruizhe aside, and said in a lowered voice, “Little Zhe, about this demolition… I heard the compensation is calculated per person. Do you think you could also transfer your cousin’s and cousin-in-law’s household registrations in as well? You’re in urgent need of money too—if there are three more people counted, you’d get a bigger share, wouldn’t you?”
Hearing this, Su Ruizhe’s heart stirred, but he asked calmly, “Auntie, what do you mean by that?”
“Well, you see… if A Qiang’s and Lin Xi’s registrations are transferred in as well, that would make four people registered in the old house. At 300,000 yuan per person, that’s 1.2 million in total, right? When the compensation comes, our two families can split it evenly. That way, A Qiang wouldn’t be taking advantage of you. What do you think?”
Split evenly? That would be 600,000 yuan! What an unexpected windfall!
How many things could he buy with 600,000 yuan?! Su Ruizhe used all his self-control to keep himself from laughing out loud.
Chen Huizhen had no idea how thrilled Su Ruizhe was inside. Seeing that he kept a straight face, she worried he might be unwilling and quickly added fuel to the fire.
“Besides, once the old house is demolished, you won’t have anywhere to live. The school dormitory can only solve things temporarily—there will still be holidays, after all. Wouldn’t it be better to use the compensation money to buy a smaller place? At least you’d have a home of your own.”
Su Ruizhe put on the appearance of being locked in an “intense” internal struggle, and only after a long while did he nod in agreement.
Chen Huizhen finally breathed a sigh of relief. She hurriedly led Su Ruizhe and her son’s family into the registration center. Su Ruizhe noticed her giving Su Qiang and Lin Xi a meaningful look, and the smiles on their faces instantly deepened.
Since they were related by blood, the household registration transfer wasn’t too troublesome to begin with. On top of that, cousin Su Qiang had already greased the wheels, so the entire process was greatly simplified. Even so, this time Su Ruizhe kept a firm hold on the household register, carefully checking every procedure and every form, leaving them no opportunity whatsoever to transfer the status of head of household.
The demolition compensation and resettlement agreement had to be signed by the head of household in person, and the compensation could also only be collected by the person himself. As long as he remained the head of household, the money would never end up in someone else’s hands. He had absolutely no trust in Chen Huizhen, that selfish and greedy woman.
With all the paperwork in order—and since it was a transfer within the same city—all the procedures were completed on the spot. Three new names were added to Su Ruizhe’s household register.
Carefully putting the register away, Su Ruizhe declined his aunt’s and cousin’s invitation to go back and have a meal together, said his goodbyes, and left.
Hahaha—now all he had to do was wait for the demolition notice to come down, and then he could take his 600,000 yuan and go on a buying spree!
Checking the time, it was only a little past five. He could still catch the evening rush and sell another batch of vegetables. Luckily, he had a storage space—everything he needed for selling vegetables was stored inside.
After earning another sum, Su Ruizhe packed up his stall, completely satisfied.
In particularly high spirits, he decided to treat himself that night to an all-you-can-eat hotpot. He knew there was a buffet hotpot restaurant on the west side of East Street—cheap, with pretty decent flavor. It cost 78 yuan per person, with free soft drinks. He had heard his classmates mention it many times before, but back then his family was really struggling and he never had the chance to go. Today, he was finally going to see whether it was really as good as his classmates said.
After taking a seat inside the hotpot restaurant, Su Ruizhe ordered a yin-yang pot. The clear broth had been simmered with bones and was especially fragrant; as for the spicy broth, there was no need to say more—it was fiercely hot. He ordered more than a dozen portions of both vegetables and meat and tossed everything into the pot. Once the food was almost done, Su Ruizhe dug in with gusto, washing it down with iced sour plum juice. It was bliss, like living the life of an immortal.
Once he started eating, he couldn’t quite stop. By the time Su Ruizhe had eaten and drunk his fill, the hotpot restaurant was nearly closing. When he walked out, it was already past ten at night. Most of the shops along East Street had shut their doors; only the night stalls near the head of the street were still open, while the far end of the road lay almost completely in darkness, lit only by a few dim streetlights.
This stretch of East Street was bustling during the day, but late at night it wasn’t nearly as safe—after all, quite a few street punks prowled around here, making night walks rather risky. Fortunately, Su Ruizhe wasn’t nearly as weak as he looked on the surface. He was confident that even if he ran into trouble, he could handle it.
Just as he was about to head home, however, he heard a commotion and the sounds of fighting coming from the distance. Su Ruizhe hesitated for a moment. Thinking back to how Zhan Yun had come to his aid the last time he ran into trouble, he decided to go and take a look. If some passerby was as unlucky as he’d once been and had been targeted by thugs, he’d help if he could.
What he didn’t expect was that the fight involved a group of people—or more precisely, a large group attacking a much smaller one.
Those few people were cornered in an alley and being beaten up. Though their moves looked fairly decent, their opponents outnumbered them and were armed with sticks and other weapons. No matter how capable they were, two fists couldn’t fend off four hands. They were clearly at a disadvantage.
Suddenly, one of the people being beaten looked up in his direction.
That single glance made Su Ruizhe freeze on the spot. He never would have imagined that the person being cornered and beaten would be Zhan Yun.
Zhan Yun was bent forward, shielded by his brothers, yet he had still taken quite a few hits. His handsome, swordlike brows were tightly furrowed as he mouthed the words “Go—now” to Su Ruizhe.
From the look of him, Zhan Yun was injured! How could Su Ruizhe possibly leave?!
A surge of anger welled up from the bottom of his heart. He directly pulled a semi-automatic toy gun out of his storage space, then took a handful of the plastic bullets the seller had thrown in and loaded them into the magazine. Though the bullets were plastic, the impact force of an air gun was no joke—it still hurt badly when it hit. Angry as he was, he still had some rationality left. This wasn’t the apocalypse yet; he couldn’t use his special bullets. If someone died, he’d be in serious trouble. But using a toy gun with toy bullets was another matter altogether.
Once the magazine was loaded, Su Ruizhe charged out and began spraying the crowd with the toy gun.
The attackers were completely unprepared. When they heard the gunshots, their legs went weak with fear. It never crossed their minds that someone would shoot at them with a toy gun. When their bodies were hit, the pain made them think they were done for. They immediately dropped their weapons and fled in all directions, wailing in panic.
Su Ruizhe quickly grabbed Zhan Yun and the others and pulled them along, running away at once. While those people were still too shocked to react, it was best to leave this trouble spot as quickly as possible.
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