174: Chapter 172: Midnight Call 174: Chapter 172: Midnight Call Compared to Jiang Meixian, Chen Zhonghua’s reaction was much stronger.
“Hai, since ancient times people have said that wealth should not be flaunted—so much money should be stored away first!”
After regaining his composure, he immediately zipped the backpack shut.
He let out a sigh of relief and continued, “It’s dangerous times.
Just the other day, Zhang from the next village sold a cow during the day and hadn’t yet had the chance to deposit the money when that night, his house was burglarized!”
“In the middle of the night, several masked men suddenly burst into his home.
When their theft was discovered, they resorted to outright robbery!”
“Zhang was unlucky; not only was the money from the cow stolen, but he was also stabbed several times and is still lying in the hospital.”
“With so much money at our house, if the word gets out, we won’t have a moment’s peace!”
With a complex expression, Chen Zhonghua looked at his son, Chen Hai, “I saw those bottles and jars you took last time when I was sweeping under your bed.”
“I was even thinking about using those small jars to hold salt and MSG, but I decided against it because of the small openings that would make pouring difficult.”
“Who would have thought that those little trinkets could be worth so much money!”
Chen Zhonghua felt embarrassed at the thought and couldn’t help but remark with emotion.
After a lifetime of hardship, barely seeing any money after a year’s toil, he was suddenly confronted with a pile of cash.
His heart was happy, yet at the same time, he was also filled with worry.
In this day and age, those who become wealthy are ruthless, and those who can keep their wealth are even more so!
Chen Zhonghua knew his own capabilities.
When he was poor, he wanted to become rich, but now that he was presented with a pile of money, he was anxious, fearing the money might bring disaster upon his family!
“Son, my money was all earned fair and square!”
“Now that we have money, you two should take good care of yourselves and enjoy your lives.”
“If you feel bored, you could go fishing, or hang out in the teahouse to pass the time, and try to avoid laborious tasks like chopping wood in the mountains from now on!”
Chen Hai tried to comfort his mother, Jiang Meixian, and his father, Chen Zhonghua.
As a son, as long as he was capable, he naturally wanted his parents to have a better life and did not want to see them suffer anymore.
Without directly responding to Chen Hai, Jiang Meixian and Chen Zhonghua looked at each other.
After a brief silence, Chen Zhonghua spoke, “Hai, with so much money, how do you plan to spend it?
Have you thought it through?”
“I heard that in our village’s credit union, if you deposit ten thousand yuan for a year, just the interest alone is over a thousand.”
“Why not deposit the money in the credit union!”
“Also, I think we could renovate our house.”
“Everybody is starting to build houses with bricks these days; our wooden house that was built decades ago just can’t keep up…”
Chen Zhonghua suggested, and Jiang Meixian voiced her support.
By the standards of this era, rural people’s way of thinking, their ideas were very normal and utterly reasonable.
Alas, that’s not what Chen Hai wanted!
After all, Wuyang Town was just a little township under the county.
And their Chenjiaping Village was a good ten miles from the town center.
The thought of constructing a new house in this location, not to mention other concerns, just the issue of transportation alone was enough to make Chen Hai feel miserable.
“Mom, Dad, haven’t you always wanted to move out of the countryside and live in the town?”
“Stop doing farm work at home.
When you have time, visit the county and see if there are any houses for sale.”
“Although it’s rare nowadays for people to buy and sell houses, as long as we are determined, we can definitely find one.
If it comes to it, we’ll just spend more money.”
“Once we have a house, we can spend a bit more to get two agricultural-to-non-agricultural household registration indicators, then you both will truly be townsfolk!”
…
In front of his parents, Chen Hai did not conceal his thoughts and roughly shared his plans with them.
Their conversation left Jiang Meixian and Chen Zhonghua looking at each other in astonishment.
Though they were temporarily silent, their expressions showed they were somewhat taken with Chen Hai’s suggestions.
“Hai, buying a house and changing the household registration, that must cost quite a bit of money…” After a long silence, Jiang Meixian finally spoke up hesitantly.
“It’s okay, Mom, an agricultural-to-non-agricultural household indicator might cost around three or four thousand!”
“In the county town, even the modest houses can be bought for just a few thousand yuan.”
“And for those independently built houses with their own courtyards, at most, they’d cost twenty to thirty thousand yuan!”
“I’ve left you a hundred thousand, that should definitely be enough for you to manage this!”
With money in his bag and his heart at ease, Chen Hai gestured grandly upon hearing his mother Jiang Meixian’s probing words.
“This…
Hai, your dad and I need to discuss it first,” Jiang Meixian responded.
Buying a house and moving household registration were significant matters at that time; naturally, she couldn’t decide immediately.
“Alright!
Mom, if you and dad move to the county town, at most you’ll just stop farming.”
“In other respects, whatever you want to do, it’ll definitely be a lot more convenient!”
“Have a good talk with dad, I believe you’ll figure it out soon!”
Chen Hai nodded and said with a smile.
He placed the money-filled backpack inside the cabinet for safekeeping.
His parents, heavy with thoughts, left the room and went to the hall to start discussing earnestly.
Rarely returning home, Chen Hai stayed in for the day and didn’t go anywhere!
After dinner, the family just chatted briefly, and before they knew it, it was already dark.
He watched TV with his parents for a while until around ten o’clock, when he finally returned to his room.
That afternoon, he had taken a short nap at home, and now he was feeling quite energetic; he couldn’t fall asleep for a while.
“Why not let my Divine Soul depart and wander around in the mountains for a bit?”
“Maybe if I’m lucky, I might encounter some weak little demons?” After pondering for a while, Chen Hai thought to himself.
Their area was actually part of the hilly region.
Small hills like steamed buns could be seen everywhere near Chenjiaping Village, but there were no real big mountains in sight.
Years ago, wild boars were still common in the area, but now, the only prey left were some rabbits.
His Divine Soul possessed a Devouring Characteristic that allowed it to absorb demon souls to strengthen itself.
But whether he could find any demons in the nearby mountains was still a matter of luck.
“Whoosh…” A cold wind swept up, and his leech-like Divine Soul sprang out of his body.
Tonight’s sky held only a crescent moon, and there were hardly any stars visible.
With Chen Hai’s current strength, his soul departure didn’t affect the area a few miles around his physical body.
However, if he wanted to venture further, the connection between his Divine Soul and his physical body would weaken, making him feel light and as if he might be carried away by the wind.
With the speed of his Divine Soul, he had already strolled back and forth around the area several times in a blink.
He had found several lairs of wild rabbits and venomous snakes, but he hadn’t seen a trace of any demons.
“According to my theory, demons tend to stay in remote places with sparse human activity.”
“While Chenjiaping isn’t too remote, the area definitely qualifies as chilly and desolate.”
“Having roamed around here for half the day with no findings, is my luck just not good today?”
Feeling somewhat helpless, Chen Hai sighed internally.
But when he first started his cultivation, he encountered a Snake Demon that helped him enter the Night Tour Realm.
Later, at the pond, the Toad Demon he encountered not only led him into the Day Tour Realm but also brought him a fragmented Turtle Shell capable of Divination and Kan.
Overall, every encounter with a demon seemed to bring him considerable gains.
Specifically letting his Divine Soul out to wander around these mountains near his home, Chen Hai was actually holding some slight hope!
“Chen Hai, Chen Hai…” Just as he was about to give up and head back home, a faint calling suddenly echoed by his ear.
Hearing this sound, his eyes brightened.
His leech-like Divine Soul hovered in the void, and following the direction of the call, he looked over.
At that spot, he didn’t see anyone, only a large pagoda tree, as thick as a water barrel, appearing before his eyes.
“Who is calling me?
Show yourself…” With a twist and a sway of his body, the next moment, Chen Hai was near the large pagoda tree.
With his fierce ten compound eyes, he scanned the area and then shouted softly toward a certain spot at the base of the tree.