Chapter 1 — After Seeing Through It, I No Longer Love You

"Ninh Ninh, take this card first, the password is your date of birth."

At dinner, my father pushed a very ordinary looking bank card towards me, his tone indifferent as if he was just casually mentioning about overtime today. I was picking up a piece of stir-fried vegetables. When I heard that, I was stunned, my chopsticks stopped in mid-air.

“Dad, this card is…”

“There are 500,000 yuan in there.” My father took a sip of soup, looked up at me, "consider it the dowry I prepared for you."

Click. The chopsticks in my hand fell onto the table. I widened my eyes, my lips slightly parted, but for a long time I still couldn't say a word. 500 thousand yuan? It's not that I never thought my father would support me a little, after all, my family's conditions have always been good. My father opened an electricity and water installation company in Hangzhou. In recent years, business has been quite good. In the past, when house prices were still low, he bought a few small apartments and saved them until now, his family seems to be well off. But in my heart, I calculated that at most it was only a few hundred thousand yuan, if there was more, it would be as high as one hundred thousand yuan. This number of 500,000 yuan is completely beyond my initial imagination.

“Dad… don't scare me, okay?” My voice trembled slightly, "So much money? Our family..."

“Dad, I'm not threatening you.” My father put down the bowl of soup, his expression remained calm, but his eyes were extremely serious. "A few houses in the old area were bought before, last year they won the planning for the new metro line, the clearance compensation has all been received. Thinking back, you are also of marriageable age, this money is better left at your place than at my place."

He stopped for a moment then looked at me:

"You and that guy, Tu Ngang, seem to be compatible now. But I've been through a lot of things, and I understand that when a woman has a little money in her hands, her heart will be at peace. This money is given to you, you decide for yourself, you can spend it however you want. Just don't let Tu Ngang's family think this money is easy to get, understand?"

My heart was pounding. When my fingertips touched that cold card, I felt like I was electrocuted. 500 thousand yuan. I worked for more than three years and saved up with Tham Tu Ngang, our entire savings combined was less than 200,000 yuan. That was the deposit for the small two-room apartment in the suburbs that we saw, the total price was more than 2000,000 yuan. Each month the installment payment is more than 10,000 yuan. He and I have already calculated that after paying the rent, life will have to tighten our belts. But now—

"Dad, it's too much..." My voice was still floating, "Didn't you and mom keep any of it back? As for my younger brother..."

"Your younger brother is only in his first year of college, let's talk about that later." My father waved his hand. "Your mother over there has already discussed it, she has no opinion. This money is for you, please feel free to take it."

Seeing that I still hadn't recovered, he added:

"But you must remember what Dad just said, don't tell it everywhere. Especially Tu Ngang's family, don't say specific numbers right now."

I nodded vigorously, clutching the card tightly in my palm. My palms were sweaty. After the meal, returning to the single apartment I rented in the riverside area, my whole body was still lightheaded. I sat on the sofa, took out the card, turned it over and looked at it. A very ordinary blue bank card, with the bank logo printed on it, looks nothing special. But inside was 500,000 yuan. I took my phone and opened the banking app line, slightly trembling fingers enter the card number and password. Balance lookup. A long series of numbers appeared on the screen. Units, tens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, ten thousand... I counted each number backwards, until I got to the seventh number and almost stopped breathing. It's actually 500,000 yuan. My whole body leaned back, sinking into the sofa, staring at the ceiling, suddenly bursting into laughter. Laughing for a moment, tears fell again. It's not self-pity, but a feeling that's hard to put into words. It was like a breath that had been suppressed for a long time in my heart, finally being released. Tham Tu Ngang and I have been together for three years and have started talking about marriage and housing. He was also considerate of me, remembering my physiological date, ordering late-night food when I worked overtime, and preparing small gifts on the anniversary. But there are details, I still see clearly. Every time he talked about the future, about buying a house, about having children in the future, there was always a little tension in his words that was hard to detect. He said, the house price in Hangzhou is too high now, the best school district house is seven or eighty thousand yuan per square meter. He said, his parents' pension was not high, his health was not good, and in the future the pressure of retirement would all fall on his shoulders. He said, Ninh Ninh, we have to try ourselves, don't ask our family for everything. Every time I nodded and said okay, let's try together. But I know, in his words, he actually hoped that my family would spend a little more. Now, that “more” has arrived. Moreover, it is at a level that Tham Tu Ngang simply cannot imagine. I wiped my tears, sat up straight, my mind began to spin very quickly. 500 thousand yuan, how should I arrange it? Deposit money to the bank to earn interest? Too wasteful. Invest? I don't know, the risk is big. Change car, buy luxury items? Totally not my style. Dad told me to make my own plans and use it however I wanted. I suddenly remembered last weekend, when I and Tham Tu Ngang passed by a new project in the center, he pointed to the giant poster in front of the sales area and said, half jokingly, half seriously:

"If I could live here, I would be really happy. The school district is Duc Tai primary school and Hang Chau No. 2 high school, all top schools. Unfortunately, we probably won't be able to reach them in our entire lives."

At that time, I just smiled and did not respond. That project I know is called Giang Duyet Phu. View of the first river, the top of the school district, the smallest apartment is more than ninety square meters, the price is more than seventy thousand yuan per meter. One base costs more than six hundred thousand yuan. But now, I have 500,000 yuan in my hand. A thought like a weed silently grew in my heart. What if... I directly buy out a school district property? I don't have to pay the debt every month, I don't have to look at the bank's face, the house book only has my name on it. That will be my pre-marital assets, legally completely separate. When you have children in the future, you can go straight to the best schools. The pressure of life for me and Tham Tu Ngang will immediately be much lighter. Once this thought appears, it cannot be extinguished. My heart was beating rapidly, I opened the real estate website and searched for "Giang Duyet Phu". The page shows that there are still a few units for sale, including a high-floor unit, 98 square meters, square layout, all south facing. Total price 680 thousand yuan. It's a bit over the top, but if you collect more you can carry it. I stared at the photo of the model apartment for a long time. Living room included a glass wall close to the ground, outside is the surface of the Tien Duong River and the lights on the other bank. Open kitchen, main bedroom has private bathroom. The office window looks straight down to the Duc Tai elementary school yard. I can almost imagine the future where I, Tham Tu Ngang and our children will live there. Sunlight poured into the living room, the child sat in the study doing homework, and he and I cooked in the kitchen. No more burden of paying debt, no need to browse news about the school district every day. Everything becomes simple. I didn't hesitate for too long. I have a bit of determination in my bones, otherwise I wouldn't be able to survive in the internet operations industry. The next day was Sunday, I went directly to Giang Duyet Phu's sales department. The person who received me was a female consultant in her thirties, surnamed Chu, who spoke clearly, not because I was young. After seeing the model house, I went to see the actual house. The more I looked, the more I liked it. Ms. Chu realized that I really intended to buy, and the questions were all about the one-time payment process, and her attitude was clearly more enthusiastic.

"Miss Lam, this apartment is very hot right now, the floor and layout are both popular. If you decide, it's best to lock the apartment today, I can keep it for you."

I stood in front of the office window, looking down at the green lawn of Duc Tai elementary school below. The children were studying physical education and could faintly hear slogans shouting. I turned around and said to Ms. Chu:

“I buy, pay once.”

A flash of surprise flashed in Ms. Chu's eyes, then quickly returned to her professional smile:

"Okay Ms. Lam, then we sign the purchase agreement in advance, you pay a deposit in advance. If you pay once, the process will be very fast, about two weeks to complete the transfer and get the certificate of ownership."

After signing the agreement, swipe the deposit.