Chapter 22
“Little one, we must survive, mother did us dirty and surviving is hell mode a few months from now,” I said softly. A sigh escaped me.
I have a few months left to be carefree, it would be best to celebrate as many festivals as I could and also stock up on some things. Enjoy the calm before the storm.
This body usually celebrates many festivals though a bit less lowkey since losing her status as heiress. The family fortune dwindled, but the traditions remained.
Qingming Festival falls in early April, typically around the 4th or 5th. I can use that occasion to properly worship the ancestors of this body, offering incense and paper money at their graves in the sprawling family cemetery. After all, it’s because of their lineage that I can live again in this world and have the chance to become a mother.
Labor Day is on the first of May, a national holiday usually celebrated with a three-day weekend, with parades and outdoor activities. The Dragon Boat Festival, with its delicious zongzi and exciting dragon boat races, is in late May or early June, depending on the lunar calendar. Mid-Autumn Festival, or Zhongqiu, with its full moon viewing and mooncakes, is in late September or early October, a time for family reunions and heartfelt wishes. And the Golden Week holiday, perfect for travel and relaxation, also falls in October, coinciding with National Day. I should visit some historical places to further enjoy myself because you know…what will happen later.
Even the poor know how to celebrate and by selling off some useless things, like those gaudy designer handbags, I can live well. It is best to figure out my living conditions and that cramped apartment is unworthy of me, especially with so many people inside one building. A sanctuary away from the chaos, a fortress against the impending doom.
Five hours did not take long to pass and as if on time two figures filled in. “Miss Mi, I am back,” Doctor Si said, her voice filled with a weary concern.
“Mm, come, I have some things for you to do,” I said, my voice still raspy from disuse.
“Yes, miss Mi.” As she slowly approached closer I began to speak. “I would like a phone with a secure line, check and see if the old house in the country is in need of repair, come back to me with the results.” I turned from doctor Si and turned to the other person, trying to remember who he was, “Miss, this is the accountant. He had said he wanted to come and congratulate you so I brought him here.”
“Alright, go and do what I have asked first and return as soon as you can, also inform your mother and have her come.” A meeting with the matriarch was long overdue.
“Yes miss Mi,” I watched her leave the room clutching her tablet which probably had all the medical records. She scurried away, her face etched with anxiety.
“Miss Mi, it is a pleasure to see you and congratulations,” Accountant Yen said, bowing respectfully.
“Thank you accountant Yen,” I replied with a nod. “Tell me what you want to say,” the middle aged man looked nervous, just like myself, my character loved beautiful, pretty and handsome people, if they had any flaws they were never to serve me. Perfection was a requirement, not a suggestion.
Accountant Yen had already began to have a receding hairline but he had decided to become bald, with his handsome face it gave him a more imposing look, adding to the fact he was 1.8 meters tall, broad shouldered with a fit form it made him pleasing to the eye which elevated my mood. I tapped my fingers impatiently, waiting for him to speak.
When he didn’t I decided to simply asked the pressing question first. “Tell me how much cash do I have on hand?”
“Miss Mi, you have exactly six hundred million yen in cash,” He rattled off the numbers, his voice barely above a whisper.
“The other assets?” I probed, eager to know the full extent of my resources.
“Well, the cars were sold, you only have two which are totaled at eight million, the two apartments in A city with the value presently significantly higher are now 600,000 yen for the two bedroom, three bathroom. 850,000 yen for the three bedroom with the lake view in C city. The investment in B city with Bokanna Jewelry has been good with a record high the last three months of nine million. Miss Mi, should I include the inheritance and the old house?”
“Yes,” I confirmed, my interest piqued.
“The inheritance was 6 billion worth of bonds and a hundred million of gold, the old house is valued at four hundred thousand, with about 50 acres of fertile farm land included it is valued at six hundred and fifty. Included is the apple, orange, strawberries, lemon, and peach orchard. If sold to the government again it should be six times that, since the value has risen because of the productional income from the orchards and it also includes some good sights.” An unexpected windfall.
I nodded feeling happy with this, if I go to the old house in the country it would be a safe haven when things go bad in a few months. The fruit orchards are good, which makes us have an income for a time, it is a pity that the plants will mutate. I bit my lip thinking that after the last harvest I would uproot them and later sow as to avoid such danger. The thought of those mutated fruits, grotesque and poisonous, sent a shiver down my spine.
To store them, a few months could work by placing them in a cellar separated from the other fruits and the majority can be dried and fermentated, as for the apples they can be stored with some sand and some straw, as for the strawberries sigh, they would have to be mostly preserved, those things rot quickly which is annoying anyway, sugar and honey works well with them, anyway all the fruits and nuts even vegetables can be stored or turned into something else; peaches to wine, jam, and the blossoms as well, and as for the excess they can be quickly sold off. Waste nothing.
Now I will also need transportation, trucks, tractors, trailers and even some mobile homes in case something dire happens and I have to flee though it should not be necessary as the house was on a hill. A contingency plan for the worst-case scenario.
Thinking about mobile homes, an off road camper, in my last life I had one which was used when travelling for book signing. A nostalgic reminder of a simpler time.
With this thought in mind I decided to sell the cars and apartments and invest it in repairing the property in the country, of course it has to be done so that it will become a mobile home and as such it will cost money and lots of it. It had been in the family for more than two thousand years so every possible part must be used and protected. A connection to the past, a legacy to uphold.
Ehm, I secretly patted myself for writing such nonsense even though everyone else almost drowned me in spit saying that what I wrote was not correct. Critics were always so quick to judge, so slow to understand.
Again guys, its fiction, as something made up with some few key names I can wing it until I fly like a true bird, ok. The rules of reality are flexible when you’re the author.
And thankfully I did, which gave me a beautiful fall back. Anyway in my original world and the previous one the development with motor homes were advanced enough to be used. I could not understand how people could rush to a base forced to bow their head and live below their means when they could have a motor home and a few capable people. Freedom over conformity, self-reliance over dependence.
This is the way it is supposed to be when—
Anyway, my son will be raised in danger so he will always know how to fight back and see the darkness of humanity when they lose all hope. A harsh lesson, but a necessary one.
Lolipops2Marsh 