Chapter 16 — Want the house to be named after your father? So You Pay The Money

She walked around the living room

"I saved for several years to have enough money for a deposit. At first, my parents did not agree, saying that buying a house alone in another city would be very difficult... but I still wanted to try."

I looked at her, as if I saw myself again.

“It's definitely hard work.”

I smiled slightly

“But when I first stood in front of the red book with my name written on it… everything was worth it.”

On the day of transfer, we stood in front of the real estate center and signed the papers. She held the small book in her hand, carefully opened it, saw her name in the buyer's section, her eyes immediately turned red.

“Thank you for selling this house to me.”

She spoke very softly.

“I have to thank you too.”

I received the pen back and signed my name on the last line

“Thank you for accepting it.”

At that moment, my heart suddenly felt indescribably light. I'm not giving up this house, but giving a kind of power... to someone else. Money from selling the house is quickly returned to the account. When the bank message appeared, I was sitting in the back seat of the taxi, outside the window the sunset on Lo Island was about to fade. The long string of numbers with a few zeros after it... made me momentarily bewildered. For many people, this money can be exchanged for a better car, a bigger house, or take life to a new level. I held my phone and thought for a long time, then finally reopened a page I hadn't touched for a long time. It's a charity organization I accidentally followed. They built libraries for children in the mountains, repaired dormitories, and distributed toiletries to girls. I contacted the person in charge, confirmed some details via video.

“Miss Chu, are you sure?”

She on the other side of the screen confirmed again

"This amount of money is enough to implement a complete project in three districts, and can even build an additional female dormitory."

“I'm sure.”

I nodded

“You don't need to write my name down.”

“We will send you the project progress and full financial report.”

She said seriously

“And I will also tell you that there was a sister who helped you build these things.”

“No need to say names.”

I spoke softly

“Just saying… there was an older sister who really wanted a house… and gave you a library.”

Turning off the video, I placed the phone face down on my lap. The car slowly crawled on the overpass, the city lights gradually brightened, like a glowing river. At that moment, I suddenly realized that in the past, I was stubborn about that wedding house... not just because of a roof, but because under that roof, I thought I would find my own value. Now I understand. The value does not have to be written on the red book. It may also be located elsewhere. The pages of the book were turned until the edges were frayed. In my youth, someone picked me up. Leaving Lo Island, I returned to the old city and continued to work as a designer. Work gradually stabilized, I started participating in bigger projects. Once, I participated in a plan to rebuild a coastal town. That is a place that was devastated by a storm, many houses only had half their walls left, the other half fell into the sea. I stood on the overturned roof, broken bricks and wet wooden planks under my feet, the sea breeze hitting my face in waves. An old woman in the village pointed out into the distance

"That place used to be my niece's room. Last year there was a big storm and it was all gone in one night."

I looked in the direction she pointed, only an empty house remained.

“When the new house is built, you will have a room new."

I told her. She smiled, the wrinkles on her face were covered with a soft layer of light by the sunlight. That evening, I sat in a temporary house made of corrugated iron, editing drawings. Outside the window was the steady sound of waves like a heartbeat. I was suddenly sure of one thing. In the future, I don't just want to design beautiful, easy-to-sell houses. But I want more people... to have a place that is truly sheltered from the wind and rain. That place is called "home". Years passed like that. I went from being an ordinary designer to being in charge of the project, from drawing on other people's drawings... to signing my own drawings. My name started appearing on industry forums, young people made friends, said they had seen my projects and were very inspired. I still live alone. Sometimes I go on business trips, sometimes I stay at home drinking wine, reading books, and watching old movies. Not that there are no suitors. Colleagues, partners, even familiar bosses in the project... have all expressed this. One time, an architect partner invited me to dinner. He is divorced, has a daughter in elementary school. Halfway through his meal, he suddenly asked seriously

“Do you still hope for marriage?”

I put down my chopsticks and thought for a few seconds.

“But I won't enter a relationship just because of the word 'marriage'.”

“So what for?”

“For ‘living together’.”

I replied

“I want that person to be willing to do very specific things with me. Eat many meals together, watch the sea many times, argue many times, and raise a pot of dying plants picked up from the flower market."

“That doesn't sound very romantic.”

“But very real.”

I also laughed

“There can be romance, but it can't just be romance.”

We weren't together after that. It's not because he's not good.