Rebirth from the Ashes

“You want to give me gifts, yet you don’t want me to read them?”

“They aren’t enjoyable and you won’t like them for sure. I just want to let you know that I wasn’t bluffing. The novels I wrote got published.”

“Alright.”

“It’s a deal, then. You’re not supposed to read them, or else, I won’t give them to you.”

“Deal.”

Following that, Shen Xi lowered the basket filled with her books.

“Brother, these books have my autograph and they’re all out of print. I’ve never sold autographed books before. I don’t sign books even though the publishing director asks me to. Once I’ve become famous, the autographs will be much more valuable.”

Li Yuan took the books and carefully placed them on his lap. He looked at her. “Get some rest.”

Shen Xi watched as the man wheeled himself away and asked him persistently, “Brother, don’t you have anything to say to me?”

Li Yuan’s charming, husky voice resounded in the air. “I wish you all the best tomorrow.”

Shen Xi made a hand heart gesture at his back and chirped pleasantly, “Thank you, Brother!”

Li Yuan placed the books on the most visible section of his desk, treating them with utmost care.

There were a total of eight books of medium length. They were styled in a manner befitting a teenage girl. A huge pink ribbon had been tied around the stack of books by the girl.

“Kun Lun,” Li Yuan called.

Kun Lun entered the room and was bombarded with the sight of a stack of brightly-colored books placed on an ash gray desk. The pink ribbon on the books made them look extremely out of place. “Boss?”

“Find another set of these books,” Li Yuan ordered.

Kun Lun replied, “Yes.”

Had the boss not promised the girl that he would not read the books? Had he wanted to read the books after all?

All these teen novels talked about were romances between the hottest boy and the prettiest girl in high school, about how much they loved each other and could not bear to be apart, or about complicated love triangles.

Was the boss sure that he wanted to read about teen romances made up by a young girl?

When Shen Xi got down from the wall and returned home, she overheard Shen Zhangqing speaking on the phone. It was something related to arrears and property.

“Dad, listen to me, buy the building.” Shen Xi was firm in her decision. “Trust me, this district will sell.”

“But what we need now is money.” Shen Zhangqing was hesitant.

“Money’s not an issue. We can get a loan from the back, but we must buy the building. In fact, not only those eight buildings, but we ought to buy the entire district.”

“That district is dead and filled with abandoned buildings, so what’s the point in buying it?” Shen Zhangqing wanted her to get some sleep. “You have to head to the company tomorrow. Get some rest, don’t bother yourself with these adult matters.”

His boss, who ran away with the money, had been arrested. However, he was broke and the only things left with him were the buildings he owned. Thus, he wanted to settle his debt with the eight buildings.

However, the buildings were located in a suburban district far away from the city. Development in that district went on for eight years before everything folded up two years ago. Other developers refused to take up that project and the district was abandoned.

“Dad, you gotta believe me. I’ve done the calculations and this district has excellent feng shui. It will sell like hotcakes one day.” Shen Xi tugged at her father’s arm. “Even if you aren’t interested in the buildings here, he has no money to pay you. Property development is doing very well these days and the city will extend towards the suburbs.”

Shen Zhangqing said, “Go to sleep.”

Shen Xi wanted to cry. “If you aren’t interested, do you believe me if I tell you that I’ll borrow money from my big brother and buy up all of those buildings?”

She had heard of this small district known as Jin Shui Garden. It used to be a dead area populated by abandoned buildings.

One day, the government introduced a new policy and turned that place into a historical district for tourists. Development boomed and the abandoned buildings were suddenly in high demand.