CHAPTER 625: 【619】ORPHAN’S COUNTERATTACK 88 (1ST UPDATE)

Zhou Yiyi had saved three hundred thousand before going abroad, and during her years in M country, she hadn’t been idle; because she started by cooking Chinese food, she often visited various neighbors’ houses to cook, and over four years, she indeed earned quite a bit of money. She not only supported herself (she refused Zhou Mo’s care from the first semester of the second year) but also saved an additional fifty or sixty thousand RMB. Plus, she never stopped her writing throughout these four years, and now she is an author of ’godlike’ status on internet writing platforms.

Between 2005 and 2010, a period when online literature boomed rapidly, her monthly income increased from over ten thousand yuan to now thirty or forty thousand, even fifty or sixty thousand, seventy or eighty thousand, and she now wears the halo of a ’million-author’.

Additionally, because her Chinese calligraphy was exceptionally good, just by writing abroad, she sold over one million M gold coins, so today’s Zhou Yiyi was already worth tens of millions, which didn’t even include her part-time work related to the Computer Department.

Obsessed with buying property, by 2010, she had already acquired eighteen properties for herself. It can be said that her tens of millions in assets were now all invested in real estate. She had Lin Mu help her buy most of these houses; most were in the Haidian District and were school district houses.

In 2010, the price of houses in Haidian District rose to thirty-four thousand per square meter, and she earned seventy or eighty thousand RMB in rent alone each month, not to mention that her properties were all bought in full without any loans. Lin Mu even said to her, "All your wealth is tied up in real estate."

So much so that he too couldn’t wait to follow her lead in buying properties. Now Lin Mu himself owned twenty to thirty houses in Beijing, making him a capitalist.

With such achievements in her life, Zhou Yiyi was already very content. Salary, manuscript fees, rent, tuition—a total income of nearly one hundred and fifty thousand each month—was enough for her to lead a good life in Beijing.

In 2009, her ancestral home was demolished, and the compensation for the house alone was two hundred thousand. Along with the land usage fees and the rent from over the years, it added up to around two hundred and fifty thousand yuan.

Mr. Zheng passed away in 2008, and she was only informed after his death. At that time, she was still abroad and did not go back, which became a lifelong regret.

She donated the two hundred and fifty thousand yuan to the village, asking the village chief to use it to build a road and install streetlights.

Zhou Yiyi’s household registration wasn’t transferred from her hometown to Beijing until 2010. Although she owned eighteen apartments, she still lived in her very first one, leaving early and returning late, working diligently like a busy bee.

Zhou Songlin knocked up a girl classmate during his sophomore year and then vehemently denied it, was beaten into disability by the girl’s family, and would be infertile for life. At this time, the child in the girlfriend’s womb became the Zhou Family’s only hope. Unfortunately, the girl resolutely went to the school and aborted the baby. Since then, Zhou Songlin disappeared in Beijing, never returning to his hometown for years. Rumor had it he was working in an electronics factory down South, whether true or not.

Zhou Songlin was once the hope of the Zhou Family, but due to his own lack of effort, he ruined his future. The Zhou elders had always favored their younger son. After he ran away from home, they wanted to rely on Eldest to support them. However, because of their earlier wrongdoings, the Eldest’s wife harbored resentment towards them and wouldn’t entertain their wishes. Later, the family moved South and hadn’t appeared for years, becoming unreachable.

Zhou Yu and Zhao Cuilian, though they had two sons, ended up pitifully without support in their old age, especially since Zhao Cuilian became paralyzed. It could be seen as retributive justice; even without Zhou Yiyi’s revenge, they received their due punishment. And in Zhou Yiyi’s memories, they simply didn’t exist.

Currently, she earned between one hundred and two hundred thousand a month, of which at least one hundred thousand yuan was donated to Han, a celebrity’s charity, a cause Lin Mu introduced her to. During the summer and winter vacations, she would also engage in this charitable work and, during these times, she could see Lin Mu without the celebrity aura.

As successful as Lin Mu was in the entertainment circle, he faced immense pressure; after all, the competition to remain a top celebrity was fraught with traps.

He was admitted to Ren Yi, prepared to retire from the entertainment circle at any moment. At least, if he were no longer famous in the future, he would have a stable backup plan for survival.

After years of experience, Lin Mu had lost the simplicity and kindness of his sunny boyhood and became someone who was exceedingly cautious and prudent in his interactions, leaving no handles for others to grab. Such a change made Zhou Yiyi feel heartache.

"Will he come back?" After returning from Tibet, they found a private restaurant and sat down for a gathering.

After a glass of wine, Lin Mu looked at Zhou Yiyi’s increasingly thin face with deep concern.

Zhou Yiyi shook her head, "I never knew he was a workaholic, always swamped with endless work. Sometimes, when I go to see him at school, all I’m left with is a view of his back. I’ve waited year after year, and I don’t know if I’m still a girlfriend to him. I know he can’t help it because that’s his job, but Lin Mu, I feel that such love is a burden, so I came back,"

"Didn’t you discuss it with him?" Zhou Yiyi shook her head, "No, I didn’t. Heh, I don’t even know when he’ll realize that I’ve returned to the country."

Lin Mu was surprised, "Really? He doesn’t even know about that?"

"I no longer care whether he knows or not. His heights are no longer something I, Zhou Yiyi, can reach. I desired an ordinary life, but his life is destined not to be simple. Even Hua Yang can’t match him,"

Time had washed away her youthful naivety, and Zhou Yiyi had become more intellectually beautiful. Whether it was a Qing University student or a calligraphy class child, they all affectionately called her Teacher Yiyi. Her age would make her the youngest teacher in the Computer Department, yet her educational qualifications were nothing short of remarkable. After all, not everyone could instantly earn dual bachelor’s degrees from Tsinghua or master’s and Ph.D. degrees from Columbia University. Thus, at only 23, she commanded respect within the Tsinghua Computer Department, especially when mentioned in association with Zhou Mo, her boyfriend.

Zhou Yiyi was unsure whether her position at Qing University owed something to Zhou Mo’s influence, as his celebrity was too immense, so much so that she even feared facing his parents in case others accused her of social climbing or in case Zhou Mo no longer wanted her, she didn’t know how she would face his parents.

Hence, after returning to China, she still refrained from visiting Zhou Mo’s parents. No matter how busy she was, she made sure to send gifts every Mid-Autumn Festival and Spring Festival.

Previously, she would send foreign cosmetics and luxury goods. Now, perhaps, it would be domestic items.

After drinking a bit with Lin Mu and feeling slightly dizzy, he offered to drive her home, but she wanted to take a bus and claimed a bit of cold air would clear her head.

Lin Mu was worried, but Zhou Yiyi said, "Following me is the real danger, big star. Call me when you get home. Bye-bye."

With that, she hopped on the bus heading toward Wenhua Road. Lin Mu, still concerned, had his agent follow the bus in a car until he saw Zhou Yiyi wobble into her residential complex. Then he finally breathed a sigh of relief, "Let’s go, we’ll head back too!"