"The cicada senses the autumn wind before it even blows."
Listening to Lin Sen's report, Su Ning smiled and said, "The world is getting worse. It's fine for people like us, but the people at the bottom know just how severe the situation is."
"In order to survive, sentiments and the reluctance to leave one's ancestral home are not worth mentioning."
Lin Sen felt a bit ashamed.
Having lived a few good days with the young lady, he had forgotten the times when his own life was precarious. If it were him back then, he would probably have done the same.
"As the saying goes, saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. By buying their houses this time, Miss, who knows how many lives you will save in the future. Your merits are boundless."
He took the opportunity to flatter her.
"It was just a casual effort."
Su Ning accepted the compliment with a smile. That's right, she was just such a great and kind person.
Next, the neighbors around the Guan family happily moved away one after another within a few days. At first, the Guan family was completely baffled.
When they found out it was Su Ning's doing, they were almost mad with anger.
They even sent people to question those neighbors.
Because their attitude was so poor and entitled, the neighbors' initial guilt and embarrassment vanished entirely. They rebuffed them and threw back a single sentence:
If they wanted them not to sell their houses, would the Guan family make up for the money?
The Guan family couldn't even protect themselves, so naturally, they had no money.
No money, no talk!
With the blessing of money, these neighbors moved at an unprecedented speed. When Lin Sen reminded Su Ning that she could find people to start construction, she was quite surprised:
"Are you sure they have all moved out completely?"
After receiving an affirmative answer, her thoughts drifted in an unspeakable direction.
Anyone with moving experience knows that when you live there normally, it feels like you have nothing. But once you move, you realize this isn't broken and can be taken, that isn't worth much but was only bought half a year ago, maybe it can be used in the new house, so should it be brought along or not?
Just agonizing over this can take three or four days.
Therefore—Assistant Lin couldn't have used some forceful tactics to coerce them, right?
Lin Sen: ...
He explained that first of all, even a poor home is worth a lot to its owners, so these people wouldn't even consider leaving anything behind; they would pack up everything and take it.
Secondly, they had a lot of people.
They simply hired freight carriages and rickshaws to help with the move. The drivers and laborers in Beiping City were overjoyed these past few days.
With this, the speed was naturally fast.
After understanding this, Su Ning nodded indifferently. She glanced at the long string of reward notifications on the system panel, but her gratification didn't last long.
She saw the blood-red spending task box jumping back and forth.
She looked at the remaining number.
What a coincidence, it was a round number—four million!
Su Ning had a bit of a headache. She casually asked Lin Sen if he could hire people as soon as possible and start construction now... On the one hand, it could put pressure on the Guan family; being a holdout is not a pleasant feeling.
On the other hand, it could also increase the speed of construction.
"Of course."
Lin Sen did not hesitate at all.
It was true. Although the hiring conditions set by Su Ning were extremely strict, with restrictions on experience, age, and even zodiac signs, she was generous!
Fifty cents a day.
The advertisement placed in a small column was fully recruited by early the next morning.
Those who came a step late crowded the alleys. Upon learning that the quota was full, their sighs echoed to the sky. Seeing them like this, those who were lucky enough to be selected felt nothing but gratitude.
When they worked, they wished they could use up all their strength.
Working in three shifts was met with no objections either.
It only made the Guan family suffer.
The blueprints weren't out yet. Fortunately, the initial stage only required clearing the original buildings. Every day, it was either smashing walls or drilling into the ground, accompanied by the shouts of the laborers. In short, everyone in the Guan family, from masters to servants, was tormented until their eyes lost focus.
They wanted to surrender and yield to Su Ning.
But they couldn't even see her.
Their awkward dilemma, fueled by certain people, completely reached Guan Xiunian's ears. On the surface, she remained indifferent and even scolded them for not acting sooner.
In reality, she was also anxious.
...
The Jin family.
The atmosphere in the mansion had been very strange these past few days. The servants walked on tiptoe and spoke in hushed voices, afraid that the slightest mistake would spark the masters' anger.
The other masters were fine; it was mainly the head of the family, Jin Feng, who was emanating a low-pressure aura.
He couldn't figure it out.
How could this happen?
He had just acknowledged a wealthy niece, and both sides intended to get closer. What a great thing this was.
The niece wanted to buy a house, which exactly solved the urgent needs of their in-laws. By acting as a middleman, the family could earn favors from both sides. It should have been a win-win for everyone.
How did it end up in this awkward situation!
Jin Feng was furious. He wanted to reprimand his daughter-in-law, Guan Xiunian, but he couldn't disregard the face of his eldest grandson, and his unlucky son also sided with his own wife.
His words, both implicitly and explicitly, made excuses for Guan Xiunian.
With anger that couldn't be vented, how could the atmosphere in the Jin family be any good?
On this day, he was pondering over finding a good new mansion for Su Ning as an apology. This time, Jin Feng wanted to do it himself and absolutely would not trust anyone else.
Suddenly, the butler ran in, sweating profusely. Before Jin Feng could speak, he shouted loudly:
"Master, Lin, Assistant Lin is here!"
A single stone stirred up a thousand ripples.
Jin Feng could no longer sit still. He stood up and asked as he walked, "Is it just Assistant Lin? Is Niece Su here... Forget it, Assistant Lin coming is the same."
Both represented Su Ning's intentions.
There was no need to be on edge anymore.
The butler had just caught his breath and hurriedly caught up with his master's footsteps, saying hastily:
"Wait a moment, Assistant Lin said he is here to see the First Young Madam."
"What?"
Jin Feng was shocked and uncertain.
"He... he couldn't be here to condemn us, right?" Otherwise, why wouldn't he look for him or his son, but insist on finding the daughter-in-law surnamed Guan? Thinking of this, he felt a wave of bitterness in his mouth.
If he had known earlier, he wouldn't have gotten involved in this matter!
If his relationship with Niece Su was ruined because of the Guan family, he wouldn't be able to sleep for the rest of his life.
"It shouldn't be." The butler observed his expression and quickly comforted him:
"Assistant Lin had a smile on his face when he spoke. Coming to see the Young Mistress this time might mean there is good news."
It was indeed good news.
Guan Xiunian met with Lin Sen, and from his hints, she learned that Su Ning still valued this indirect relative relationship with the Jin family and intended to end this dispute.
"However, the young lady cannot be the first to step down."
Lin Sen said indifferently.
What was there not to understand? Guan Xiunian immediately took people to her maiden home. On the road she had walked a thousand times, the familiar houses were gone, leaving only ruined walls and working laborers.
The thought in her heart became even firmer—her family absolutely could not offend Miss Su!
Carrying the authority of a savior, she turned her maiden home upside down. After a long while, Master Guan said to his daughter with a weak breath, "Alright, what exactly do we need to do for Miss Su to calm her anger?"
"This is your business, why are you asking me?"
Guan Xiunian snorted coldly.
After letting them say all the good words they could and serving a fresh pot of tea, she finally slapped the table and said sternly:
"What matters is the attitude. A person like Miss Su suffered your grievances, so the family naturally has to return it with a thousand times the sincerity to calm her anger."
"But, that's what we've been doing these past few days."
Someone said weakly.
They had truly been very humble. Sending gifts, apologizing, asking people to mediate—they had done everything, but Su Ning wouldn't even see them.
"That's because you haven't hit the right spot yet."
Guan Xiunian leisurely looked down to sip her tea. Glancing around the room, her gaze finally landed on Guan Jixing, who was standing at the very edge. The others followed her line of sight.
"Hmph, the main culprit is still perfectly fine."
"Where is the sincerity in that!"
These two chilling remarks made Guan Jixing's brain buzz. He cursed his eldest sister thousands of times in his heart, knowing well that he would not get through this easily.
Sure enough—
"Indeed, Jixing has been hiding all this time. He didn't come with us to plead for mercy and apologize. He really thinks he's so precious. No wonder Miss Su can't calm her anger."
Second Uncle Guan took the lead, his tone sarcastic and mocking.
"Well, who told him to be a university student, a great scholar? He has a boundless future ahead of him. Naturally, people with cheap lives like us are only fit to be his stepping stones."
"Heh heh..."
The others were not to be outdone.
Some sneered, others made snide remarks. Even Mrs. Guan did not dare to speak up for her son—mainly because she couldn't stand it either; the noise outside had been so loud she couldn't even sleep well.
Guan Jixing could only compromise, his heart filled with deep hatred.
He hated his arrogant, troublemaking eldest sister Guan Xiunian, and he hated Su Ning, who backed her up, even more. Why? Why did heaven give such people such good fates?
So much money falling into the hands of wicked people.
It would only be used to bully and persecute good people like him!
No matter how much he hated it or how angry he was, under the pressure of the whole family, he could only let Guan Xiunian manipulate him. And this domineering lady really showed no mercy, directly ordering him to follow the ancient rites.
What ancient rites?
Naturally, it was the famous act of carrying thorny branches on one's bare back to plead for punishment.
It had historical significance and showed utmost sincerity. The only drawback was that it was the dead of winter right now. Stripping off his clothes to stand outside would freeze a person to death—Guan Jixing's face turned completely pale.
The other members of the Guan family, however, flatteringly supported Guan Xiunian. One by one, disregarding their status as elders, they praised her to the skies. Not to mention, some of their compliments were actually quite creative.
As for whether Guan Jixing would suffer?
Heh heh, it wasn't them carrying the thorns to apologize anyway, so whatever happened to him was fine.
Meanwhile, at this very moment.
Inside the Grand Hotel of Peiping, Su Ning could no longer focus on her studies. The ding-ding-ding sounds in her mind practically never stopped. She rubbed her temples and said wearily:
"Who got provoked by me this time and suddenly went crazy?" Being rich was truly difficult; the slightest carelessness would pierce the fragile little hearts of certain plot characters.
Damn it, she really didn't want money. Money, just go away.
The system popped up, its tone strange:
"How about you first ask what your capable subordinate just did?"
Su Ning... ???
What did Lin Sen do behind her back?
