Rebirth: CEO's Sweetheart Reaches the Life Pinnacle!-Chapter 83 - 80: Selling the House

Zhang Meihua came out carrying a dish and immediately saw a few people sitting there, visibly dispirited and sighing heavily!

"What’s going on?"

Li Fei picked up a piece of food and put it into her bowl, her tone tinged with schadenfreude: "My aunt got fired by someone, that’s all!"

"You clueless child, just focus on eating!" Zhang Meihua was quite annoyed with her daughter’s obliviousness. Everyone in the house was worried sick over this matter, yet here she was, treating it like entertainment.

"Ugh, like I care about all this mess! I’m full, I’m going out for a bit!" Li Fei impatiently put down her chopsticks, grumbling under her breath. She went back to her room to change clothes and then left.

Watching Li Fei leave, Zhang Meihua glared at her, then plastered a smile on her face and said, "Mom, Dachuan, you shouldn’t take this to heart. Fei’er is really spoiled because of me!"

"It’s nothing! Sister-in-law, kids are all like this nowadays. My Xiao Yue is exactly the same at home! They’re single children after all!" Wu Dachuan waved off the issue indifferently.

Hearing this made Zhang Meihua feel better, and her smile grew wider: "You two stop talking and eat some food. It won’t taste good once it gets cold!"

"Alright, sister-in-law, but don’t overwork yourself! Sit down and eat too!" Li Guozhi picked up her chopsticks to eat a few bites, but she couldn’t continue. No matter how delicacies were served, everything tasted flavorless to her right now.

After the meal, the group sat together to discuss how to resolve the issue.

Grandma Li remained silent for a long time, then gritted her teeth: "If this doesn’t work out, we’ll go find Little Li Si again and ask the child to help mediate. After all, wasn’t her job obtained with just a word from her?"

"Mom, I think this is unlikely. After what you said to her the other day, how could that child not hold a grudge?" Li Guozhi sighed deeply. What happened that day was too sudden; she was caught off guard too. And when her second brother, second sister-in-law, and her own husband were reprimanding Li Si, she didn’t help out the child at all. She figured even she was probably resented now.

"Then what do you suggest we do? Even if we go to the restaurant to make a scene, they won’t take you back! Soon this family’s going to be relocated, Xiao Yue is entering high school, and everywhere there’s a need for money! What do we do? Where can we find enough money to manage all this?" Wu Dachuan scratched the back of his head in frustration. The difference between one person earning money and two is definitely huge.

Wu Dachuan initially thought his wife earned a decent amount, and with combined incomes, the household would be more comfortable during the relocation process. Who would have guessed that her stable job would just vanish into thin air?

Inwardly, he harbored some resentment toward his mother-in-law. If the kid wasn’t their biological child, why didn’t she mention it when his brother-in-law passed away? There were both properties and savings left behind back then—what had she been thinking?

And now, nearly a year had passed before she brought it up. If it was solely for the sake of that house, then her actions seemed incredibly shortsighted!

Zhang Meihua scanned the varied expressions on everyone’s faces and came up with an idea. Her eyes gleamed as she said, "Mom, since this has happened, it’s happened. Us sitting here sighing won’t solve anything! How about you let me share my thoughts—see if it’ll work or not?"

"Speak up, second daughter-in-law!" Grandma Li looked at her expectantly. Her daughter-in-law had always been resourceful, and she hoped she might come up with a solution.

Wu Dachuan and Li Guozhi shared eager looks, their gazes focused on her.

Zhang Meihua smiled faintly and began: "The solution is nothing major! Didn’t Li Si relinquish the keys to the house? We can just sell the house, split the proceeds among the family, and at least ease some of the pressing needs!"

Grandma Li’s expression froze: "But I promised the child that we wouldn’t touch the house for now!"

"Mom! How can you be so straightforward? I think, since she’s not even part of the Li family, isn’t the house rightfully ours? What does it matter what she investigates? What if she spends three or even five years trying to find answers? Would the house just sit there empty in the meantime? And don’t forget, heating fees alone for the year are no small amount! When the time comes, who in the family will foot the bill?" Zhang Meihua continued pressing her point.

Grandma Li’s demeanor softened slightly; what Zhang Meihua said did make some sense.

Seeing an opportunity, Wu Dachuan chimed in to persuade further: "Mom, my second sister-in-law is right. You’re just stating a fact—it doesn’t matter how thoroughly she investigates. She’s just a foster child; the property has nothing to do with her! Why bother holding on so stubbornly?"

"Mom, tell us truly—is Li Si really a foster child?" Li Guozhi was tempted as well. The house was on the third floor in a good location. If sold, it could fetch several thousand yuan. Even if the proceeds were split among several families, she could still get thousands out of it to cover Xiao Yue’s tuition.

But deep down, she couldn’t shake her doubts—Li Si seemed too much like she was genuinely part of the Li family.

"How can you still ask that question? Guozhi, let me tell you—use your brain for once! What are you thinking about every day?" Wu Dachuan berated her angrily. Her job loss had already left him simmering inside. Were it not for Grandma Li possibly solving the financial issue, he would’ve confronted her long ago.

"Enough! Stop yelling. And Guozhi, I’ve said this once already, how could it possibly be false? Fine. Since you all have difficulties, I’ll make the call and sell this house!" The three of them lit up with joy—this meant money would soon be distributed!

"But the sale proceeds must be kept with me for now. If any of you have urgent needs, I’ll dole out funds at that time!" Grandma Li had her own considerations. She was growing older each year, and there was no pension in rural areas. The land they rented annually hardly brought in anything. Keeping the money herself gave her some leverage.

The three were stunned, but Zhang Meihua reacted quickly: "Mom, the house is yours to decide! My brother happens to be looking for a property. How about I take him to see it one day? If he likes it, it’ll be easier to negotiate since we’re relatives!"

"That sounds fantastic—relatives make everything simpler!" Each of them started pondering different personal agendas.

Mid-July, Li Si traveled to Shanxi with Leng Mochen.

Jiang Feng, in the process of investigating Mr. Li’s classmates, came across some information: Mr. Li used to secretly date a girlfriend. Back in the 1980s, relationships of this nature were treated with utmost seriousness, and only a few close classmates knew about it.

Among Mr. Li’s closest classmates was someone living in a county town in Shanxi. Jiang Feng went through considerable effort to locate the man, whose name was Zhang Tianbao. After hearing Jiang Feng’s story, Zhang Tianbao took out an old photo he had treasured for years. In the picture stood Mr. Li, himself, and a woman.

Jiang Feng instantly felt there was a resemblance between Li Si and the woman. He quickly found a print shop in the county town and had the photo scanned and emailed.

Li Si and Leng Mochen were astonished the moment they saw it! Even though it was a scanned old photo with poor resolution, the facial contours of the woman—her forehead and eyes—bore a striking resemblance to Li Si.

"Could this woman really be my mother?" Li Si covered her mouth with her hand, unable to describe what she felt inside—a mix of emotions, bittersweet and complex. (To be continued. If you like this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation or monthly tickets. Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com for reading.)