Chapter 7: Buying the Premier Building Outright! Goodbye, Tenement Block

The sales office lobby had a floor of cream-colored marble, polished so brightly that it reflected people's silhouettes. The central air-conditioning was cranked up to the fullest, making the lobby a completely different world from the sweltering June heat outside. "How large is your biggest floor plan?" The saleswoman paused for the slightest moment. Her smile did not change, but her eyes swept quickly over Mason Lyson and Mrs. Lyson. "Our largest unit is 256 square meters. It's a duplex in the Premier Building, with excellent north-south ventilation, a private study, and three bathrooms. However, that layout..." She paused, choosing her words carefully. "The average price is a little higher than our standard units, and only two are left." The implication was crystal clear. It was expensive. Were they sure they could afford it? River Lyson kept one hand in his trouser pocket. "All right. Take me to the actual model unit." "Of course. Please wait a moment while I get the keys." The saleswoman turned toward the bar, but she did not hurry. Her measured pace carried the loose indifference of someone who had dealt with far too many people who only looked and never bought. River paid no attention. As he lowered his head to examine the scale model, he caught sight of Renee Lyson standing on tiptoe beside the model in the center, the one marked Premier Building. Her finger hovered in midair. She wanted to touch it, but she did not dare. Then she quickly pulled her hand back. "Renee?" A girl's voice came from behind them, its rising lilt carrying the surprise of an unexpected reunion. Renee turned around. Her expression changed in an instant. First came the surprise of recognition, followed by a subtle, uneasy restraint. "Ti... Tina." The newcomer wore her hair in a half-up topknot. Her white dress clearly came from a recognizable brand, and her little white sneakers were spotless. A man and a woman in their forties followed behind her. The man wore gold-rimmed glasses, while the woman carried a brown leather handbag. They looked like the sort of family that lived comfortably. Tina Showyer's mother glanced at the school uniform Renee wore, its color washed pale from years of laundering. Then she looked at Mrs. Lyson standing stiffly nearby. The curve of her lips remained unchanged, but her eyes revealed far more than her smile did. "Oh, Renee. Your family came to look at the homes in Emerald Garden too?" She placed just enough emphasis on the word "too" for everyone to hear the meaning behind it. Tina tugged at her mother's hand. "Mom..." Her mother acted as if she had not heard. "This neighborhood really is excellent, though the prices are among the highest in River City. Old Showyer has been buried in business for more than half a year, but he finally managed to clear his schedule today. We came to reserve the 126-square-meter, three-bedroom unit." After finishing, she glanced at Mrs. Lyson again. Her voice took on an extra layer of artificial concern. "You could look at the smaller units. The 89-square-meter one is quite nice too. Two bedrooms should be enough for a family. I heard the down payment can be paid in installments, so the pressure won't be quite as heavy..." Mrs. Lyson's fingers twisted unconsciously into the hem of her clothes. Mason's face tightened. His Adam's apple bobbed once, and his lips pressed into a thin line. Renee lowered her head slightly. It was such a small movement that only River, standing beside her, noticed. She said nothing. She did not argue or show any visible displeasure. She simply lowered her head. But River saw it all. He did not know how many of these supposedly kind remarks his sister had swallowed over the years, or how many small, insipid humiliations she had quietly endured. River raised his head and looked at Tina's mother. "A 126-square-meter unit, huh?" He nodded, his tone as casual as if they were discussing the weather. "That should be plenty." He used almost the exact same phrasing she had used when she said two bedrooms should be enough. Tina's mother's smile froze for a heartbeat. River had already turned away. When he saw the saleswoman returning with the keys, he raised a hand to get her attention. "Take me to the 256-square-meter model unit. We'll see it right away." The saleswoman's eyelid twitched. She nodded and led the way. The smile on Tina's mother's face finally collapsed. Two hundred and fifty-six square meters? Wasn't that the Premier Building layout? The model unit occupied a separate space on the first floor. When the door opened, Mrs. Lyson nearly lost her balance. The 256-square-meter space was so large that someone could play badminton in the living room. The floor-to-ceiling windows stretched all the way to the ceiling, overlooking an artificial lake. Sunlight glittered across the water and spilled into the room, gilding the entire living room. The unit came fully furnished. There were hardwood floors, central air-conditioning, name-brand kitchen appliances, curtains, and light fixtures. Everything had already been installed. It was truly move-in ready. Mrs. Lyson stood in the middle of the living room, unsure where to put her hands. She instinctively reached out to touch the leather sofa, but halfway there, she pulled back and rubbed her fingers against her clothes. "How... how much does this cost?" she asked Mason in a lowered voice. Mason did not answer. He stood before the floor-to-ceiling windows, perfectly still, gazing at the brand-new neighborhood outside, where no one had moved in yet. His Adam's apple rose and fell twice. Renee pushed open the door to the south-facing study. The private room was a little over ten square meters, with an entire wall of bookshelves, a wide desk, and a window that looked directly onto the neighborhood's central garden. June sunlight filtered through the gauzy curtains, soft and quiet. She stood before the desk and ran her fingers lightly across its surface. Her fingertips came away clean. There was no dust. River leaned against the study's doorframe and watched his sister's back. Yet what rose in his mind was the cramped folding table buried beneath a mountain of textbooks in their old tenement block. Corrugated cardboard propped up its legs, and whenever someone upstairs walked too heavily, dust sifted from the ceiling onto the pages. "Do you like this room?" River asked with a smile. Renee turned around. Her lips moved, and her eyes reddened, but she fought the tears back and nodded. Just once. River patted the doorframe and headed back toward the living room. "What's the total price for this unit?" The saleswoman stood near the dining area, following them at a polite distance. The moment she heard the question, her professional training kicked in and she quoted the figures. "Two hundred and fifty-six square meters, Premier Building location, fully furnished. The average price is $280 per square meter, making the total $71,680. The parking spaces are separate, at $3,800 each. With two spaces, that comes to..." "$75,480," River finished for her. The saleswoman nodded and continued through the standard procedure. "We currently offer installment payments. The down payment is thirty percent..." "Cash." Two words. The saleswoman stood there with her mouth open, the rest of her sentence trapped in her throat. "Can we complete the paperwork today?" River asked, glancing at her. "I... Please wait a moment. I'll need to ask my manager..." She turned and hurried out. Her high heels struck the hardwood floor in a rapid clatter. Click, click, click. Three minutes later, the sales manager arrived in person. She was a woman in her early forties with a short haircut and an air of brisk efficiency. The professional smile on her face turned genuine the instant she saw River. It was not because River looked especially impressive. The receptionist at the front desk had already mouthed the reason to her. Cash. "Hello, sir. I'm Ms. Casson, the sales manager at Emerald Garden. If you're paying in full for the 256-square-meter Premier Building unit, I can apply for an additional one-percent discount. The parking spaces can also be sold to you at our internal rate. The total should come to around $74,500. What do you think?" "Fine." River did not negotiate. It was not that he could not. There was simply no need. "We'll sign the contract now. I want two parking spaces, and I'll settle the remaining balance in full today." Ms. Casson's smile had already evolved from customer service into VIP treatment. She personally poured two cups of tea and carried them to River's parents. When she set them down, she bent fifteen degrees deeper than she had when greeting them at the door. Mason's hand trembled for an instant as he signed. His eyes remained fixed on the figure printed in the contract. $74,500. Mrs. Lyson stood beside him with both hands clasped tightly together, her fingernails digging into her palms. Her lips trembled twice, but she made no sound. The entire process took less than forty minutes. They signed the contract, paid the balance, and completed the handover. Ms. Casson personally placed four keys into a velvet pouch and presented it to River with both hands, smiling so broadly that her eyes curved into crescents. When River's family left the signing room, Tina's family of three was still beside the lobby's scale model. Tina's mother was calculating the down payment on a calculator. The moment she looked up, she saw the sales manager personally escorting River's family to the entrance. The obsequious bowing and nodding looked nothing like the way she had treated Tina's family earlier. Then she heard the saleswoman speaking to her colleague at the front desk. "The 256-square-meter Premier Building unit. Paid in full, more than $70,000. He didn't even blink." The calculator fell from Tina's mother's hand and struck the edge of the scale model. Clack. When Renee passed by, she did not look at Tina or her mother. That afternoon, the family moved. River did not hire movers. There was not much worth moving anyway. Standing inside the old room in the tenement block, he surveyed the place. The iron bed, the folding table, the peeling wooden cabinet, everything had been used for more than a decade. Taking it along would only waste space in the new home. "Mom, take the clothes and bedding that are still usable. Leave the pots, pans, and dishes behind. The kitchen in the new place has everything brand-new. Bring Dad's tea set. Pack all of Renee's books and study materials." River pointed to each item as he spoke. "Everything else stays." Mrs. Lyson drew a pained breath. The enamel washbasin was still perfectly good, and the bamboo chair could still be used after a little repair... But when she saw the certainty in her son's expression, she swallowed the words before they left her mouth. Half an hour, three cardboard boxes, and one trip later, they were finished. The entrance door of the old tenement block slammed shut behind them. Bang. Mrs. Lyson glanced back, her eyes reddening again. River did not turn around. Eight-thirty that evening. Emerald Garden. The entire nightscape of River City spread beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows. City lights unfurled beneath them, while cargo ships moved slowly across the river, their red and green navigation lights drawing slender trails across the dark water. The central air-conditioning was set to twenty-four degrees, just right. Mrs. Lyson sat on the genuine leather sofa, sinking into its cushions. One hand rested on the armrest, and her expression still held a dazed, unreal quality. Every so often, she ran her fingers over the marble coffee table or looked up at the crystal chandelier. She repeated the same sentence under her breath. "This is really our home..." Mason sat in a reclining chair on the balcony, holding the enamel cup that was one of the few old belongings the family had brought from the tenement block. Tea steamed inside it, but he had not taken a sip. He simply held the cup and gazed at the city lights in silence for a long time. Renee carried a stack of books into the south-facing study. She placed *Five Years of College Entrance Exams, Three Years of Mock Exams* on the brand-new desk, then arranged her scratch paper and pencil case one item at a time. After that, she pulled out the chair, sat down, and switched on the desk lamp. Eleven that night. River lay on the large bed in the master bedroom with both hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling. The room was perfectly quiet. There was no television blaring through the wall, no slippers dragging across the floor upstairs, and no dust drifting down from the ceiling. The family had settled in. Renee's College Entrance Examination was little more than ten days away. In late June, the Economic Development Zone would begin clearing the machinery factory site. Thirty mu of land and the buildings on it would bring compensation of at least $5 million, conservatively speaking. If everything went well, the figure could reach $8 million. That money would be his starting capital. Once he had it, what would come next? Possibilities began turning over in his mind. It was late May 2000. Fleetcom had nearly been sold that year, with a valuation of only a few million dollars. Pony Mabre had searched everywhere for someone willing to take the company over, but no one wanted it. Hennessy XO's stock price was languishing below $3 a share. People everywhere believed the liquor industry was in decline. The property markets in Newhaven and Marina were still in their infancy. A home in Fairfield cost less than $200 per square meter, while Backwater was still nothing but wasteland. The dot-com bubble had only just burst, leaving stock holdings everywhere selling for ten cents on the dollar. He had missed all of it in his previous life because he had lacked money, courage, and vision. But this life was different. River rolled over and picked up a pen from the bedside table. With no paper nearby, he wrote two words on the back of a cigarette packet. "Head south." The pen paused for a second before he added a smaller line beneath it. "Newhaven first."