"At the end of the year, the higher-ups are coming to specifically audit these special funds. I have to submit a copy of the property deed with your names on it to clear the books."
Chen Zhuo’s script was airtight, leaving no loopholes.
He perfectly leveraged his status as a minor, framing his parents’ enjoyment of the property as them simply holding it in trust for their son.
On the other end of the line, Liu Xiuying was completely bewildered by all these rules and regulations.
"Then... what if we don’t buy it?"
Liu Xiuying was still reluctant to part with the 500,000 in cash, making one last attempt.
This was the exact sentence Chen Zhuo had been waiting for.
He sighed, his voice laced with deep helplessness and gravity.
"If we don’t buy it, if it’s not converted into a property..."
"Not only will the money have to be returned in full, but Dean Fang—the one who’s mentoring me—will be in serious trouble. He bent the rules to approve the fund transfer back to our hometown. If his superiors investigate, he’ll be disciplined immediately."
Chen Zhuo lowered his voice, as if he were discussing an extremely serious political incident.
"And that’s not all."
"The higher-ups will think I have an ideological problem, that I’m not cooperating with the organization’s arrangements. It’ll go straight into my permanent record. Mom, this will directly affect my future studies, even my chances for promotions and securing important projects down the line. Everything will be ruined."
These words struck Liu Xiuying and Chen Jianguo’s hearts like heavy hammers.
For parents in China, they could endure a lifetime of hardship themselves, but there were two lines that could never be crossed.
First, they couldn’t bring trouble to a benefactor who was helping their child get ahead.
Second, they absolutely could not jeopardize their child’s future.
The silence on the other end of the line lasted less than two seconds.
Liu Xiuying’s defenses crumbled in an instant.
The textile worker who had just been nagging about a twenty-cent price hike on pork ribs now showed an unprecedented level of decisiveness.
"Buy it!!"
Liu Xiuying’s voice exploded through the receiver, filled with a do-or-die determination.
"Returning the money is a small matter, but getting your superior disciplined and hurting your future? Absolutely not! We can’t return a single cent of this money!"
Sitting in the cold wind, Chen Zhuo finally broke into a distinct smile.
He knew it had worked.
"A place downtown, right?"
Liu Xiuying hurriedly asked Chen Jianguo beside her, then shouted into the phone.
"Xiaozhuo, don’t you worry! First thing tomorrow morning, your dad will take a day off from the factory! We’ll go look at places downtown tomorrow! The most expensive ones! The kind with proper heating!"
"Right. And don’t worry about the cost."
Chen Zhuo added gently.
"If you don’t spend all the money, the books won’t balance, and Dean Fang won’t be able to explain it to his superiors."
"I get it! I get it!"
Liu Xiuying agreed readily.
"We absolutely won’t cause any trouble for your superior, and we absolutely won’t stand in the way of my son’s future! This house—even if I have to fight for it, I’ll secure one for you tomorrow!"
They were no longer buying a house; they were buying their son’s bright future.
This perfect transformation of their psychological burden not only eliminated any guilt they might have felt for accepting the money but also gave the old couple a sense of honor, as if they were completing a political mission for their son.
Chen Zhuo switched the phone to his other hand.
"Mom, there’s one more thing."
"Go ahead."
Liu Xiuying now hung on her son’s every word.
"When we buy a spacious, single-floor apartment downtown and get ready to move, the people at the factory and our relatives are definitely going to ask questions."
Chen Zhuo had anticipated his parents’ insecurity and the burden they would feel when facing their social circle.
For a family that had been poor their whole lives, a sudden windfall could attract deadly gossip.
"You’re right. Your dad was just whispering about that."
Liu Xiuying sounded worried.
"How are we supposed to explain it? If we say you, a student, earned it, people will definitely get jealous. They might even start showing up every day to borrow money."
Chen Zhuo gazed at the deep night sky in the distance.
"You don’t need to hide it. Just hold your heads high."
Chen Zhuo handed them a perfect conversational shield for social situations.
"If anyone asks, just tell them confidently that it’s a designated apartment for the families of expert researchers, provided by the state and the university. That the unit was assigned directly from the higher-ups."
"The more confident and matter-of-fact you are, the less likely they’ll be to gossip. If anyone presses for details, just hit them with one line: ’We signed a national secrecy agreement, so it’s not convenient to say more.’"
On the other end, Chen Jianguo had clearly heard this and was so excited he started coughing repeatedly.
"A secrecy agreement? Yes, yes, yes! That’s a great explanation!"
Liu Xiuying sounded relieved.
"Your dad loves watching those spy dramas. He’ll love using that line. With this, let’s see if those supervisors at the factory still dare to boss your dad around."
All their lingering worries, all their psychological barriers, were swept away.
"Alright, Mom, it’s getting late."
Chen Zhuo glanced at the sky.
"When you go look at places tomorrow, if you see one you like, don’t hesitate. Just put down the deposit."
Chen Zhuo laid out the final operational details.
"I happen to have no classes tomorrow morning. I’ll take my ID to a bank in Huizhou, go through the VIP channel, and wire the 500,000 directly to Dad’s ICBC passbook. You can use the passbook to pay in full in the afternoon."
"Okay! Okay! Make sure you eat well at school, and don’t overwork yourself!"
Amidst a flurry of enthusiastic and motivated reminders, the call ended.
The Nokia’s yellowish-green backlight flickered twice and went dark. The entire field returned to the chilly atmosphere of an autumn night.
Chen Zhuo sat on the steps, the night wind lifting the hem of his clothes.
He didn’t stand up, but simply stared at the phone in his hand, its screen now dark.
He felt no guilt for deceiving his parents, nor was he smug about successfully manipulating human nature.
He just let out a long, deep sigh of relief. It was a profound sense of release.
With one small, flawless lie, he had completely erased the hardships of his past life—his parents haggling over a few cents for vegetables, ruining their health to pay for his education. All of it, wiped clean on this autumn night.
They would live out their later years in a large, centrally-heated house downtown, enjoying the life they deserved with their heads held high.
"Dean Fang, my apologies."
Chen Zhuo chuckled softly to himself, head lowered.
"I used your name to scare my mom a little."
He sat there, still holding the borrowed Nokia phone.
Its dark blue shell, a mix of plastic and metal, had a solid, reassuring weight in his hand.
Chen Zhuo tossed the phone into the air and caught it steadily.
His gaze, which had been warm and filled with emotion, slowly returned to a state of calm.
He looked at the phone in his hand, and a question suddenly crossed his mind.
The card in his pocket still had 1.5 million in cash on it.
He couldn’t just run back to dorm room 216 to leech off Chu Ge every time he had something important to do.
Chen Zhuo stood up and dusted off his pants.
He clutched the Nokia phone in his hand and walked down the grandstand steps, one by one.
His thoughts quickly fell into place.
Tomorrow morning, he would go to the main ICBC branch downtown to wire the five hundred thousand to his dad via the VIP channel.
Afterward, he would stop and buy a phone of his own.

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