Chapter 31

The beautiful woman was dressed in work attire, a small blazer paired with a matching skirt, and underneath was a formal white shirt with blue stripes, which added a touch of solemnity to her.

Zhang Dong's pupils constricted; he had run into an acquaintance!

The beautiful woman in front of him was none other than Li Menglin, the most reserved class beauty during their high school days.

Li Menglin came from a wealthy family, making her a classic example of a rich and beautiful girl, and her academic performance was also top-notch.

However, unlike other rich and beautiful girls who were often arrogant and domineering, she was always gentle and quiet, and was known as the most reserved beauty in the entire school!

Later, Li Menglin was admitted to a finance university. Not long ago, Zhang Dong saw someone in the class group discussing that Li Menglin was working at a bank in the county, and it seemed she was doing quite well!

He just didn't expect to run into her in such a way!

Li Menglin clearly recognized Zhang Dong as well, her gentle eyes filled with surprise.

"Wow, what a coincidence, Li Menglin! You're shopping here too!" Zhang Dong smiled and greeted her.

Instinctively, he glanced down at what Li Menglin was buying.

When he saw what it was, he was momentarily stunned.

In Li Menglin's hand was a pack of sanitary pads!

It seemed she had suddenly gotten her period and had forgotten to bring pads, so she had run to the supermarket to buy some.

Noticing that Zhang Dong was staring at the sanitary pads in her hand, Li Menglin's face instantly turned bright red. She quickly hid the pads behind her back with both hands, like a schoolgirl who had made a mistake, and greeted Zhang Dong with a lowered head and a red face.

"Y-You... you're here, Zhang Dong!"

At that moment, Zhang Dong also felt a bit awkward.

"Cough, cough." He cleared his throat and stepped aside, saying, "If you're in a hurry, go ahead and check out first! I have a lot of things to buy, so it will take a while to check out!"

"Okay, thank you!"

Li Menglin lowered her head and walked past Zhang Dong, quickly paying the cashier, who gave her a teasing look. She then mustered the courage to look at Zhang Dong again.

"Zhang Dong, thank you!"

With that, she didn't wait for Zhang Dong's response and turned to run away, leaving Zhang Dong with a smile.

During high school, he always thought that the rich and beautiful Li Menglin must have a proud personality, but now it seemed that she was not only not proud, but also exuded a certain cuteness.

After paying and leaving the supermarket, Zhang Dong, feeling quite generous, directly called a taxi and paid 80 yuan to have the driver take him home.

When he arrived, Aunt Niu was both angry and moved to see Zhang Dong bring so many things.

She was angry that Zhang Dong had spent money recklessly, but moved because he was a grateful person, and this brother and sister were definitely worth befriending!

After tidying up the things, Aunt Niu teased him,

"Dongzi, you've prepared half a year's worth of supplies for Aunt Niu! We won't need to buy rice, flour, or oil for half a year! If we make these pork into cured meat, Aunt Niu can eat it for two years!"

Hearing this, Zhang Dong smiled, "Aunt Niu, I still think it's not enough! I'll buy more ingredients when the construction team starts building our house in a few days."

This made Aunt Niu even more touched. She was the first to know that Zhang Dong was going to build a two-story house, and she was so surprised that she couldn't speak for a while.

The poor brother and sister had finally made it!

Aunt Niu was genuinely happy for them!

That night, Wang Youcai sent a photo of the model of the small villa. The two-story house in the photo combined Chinese and Western features, making it unique in their village.

According to Wang Youcai, such a small villa was usually only found in the suburbs of big cities, and it was more expensive than a regular two-story house, costing about 180,000 yuan.

Zhang Dong showed the photo to his sister and Aunt Niu, and both said it was beautiful.

So, he directly messaged Wang Youcai.

"Brother Wang, let's go with this one! 180,000 yuan it is! Let's build this 180,000 yuan small villa!"

When Wang Youcai received the message, he was both surprised and delighted.

He had been worried that Zhang Dong might think it was too expensive and wouldn't want to build such a villa.

Now it seemed that Zhang Dong had definitely made a fortune and was quite wealthy!

To be honest, building such a villa didn't earn Wang Youcai more money than building a regular two-story house; in fact, it earned him less.

But he had always wanted to build such a villa. When he worked in the big city, he specialized in building these small villas.

Unfortunately, when he returned to his hometown, no one was willing to spend so much money, so he could only recommend cheaper two-story house designs to them.

Excited, Wang Youcai went to purchase the materials the next day. Zhang Dong trusted him completely, as he had always been responsible for both the labor and materials when building houses in the village.

When the materials were delivered, and the tractor brought truckloads of sand and cement to Zhang Dong's doorstep, the neighbors all came out to see.

"Zhang Dong's family is rebuilding their house! Where did he get so much money?"

"Who knows? But didn't Zhang Dong pay back 10,000 yuan to Yang Dabiao without hesitation last time? Maybe he's had a bit of good fortune recently."

"Building a house costs about 50,000 yuan. If they save a bit, 45,000 yuan should be enough. They'll definitely build the cheapest one!"

...

The neighbors chattered, all thinking that Zhang Dong was only building the cheapest house.

But after a while, they gradually realized something was off.

There were too many materials!

So many materials, enough to build not just one but two houses!

At this moment, Wang Youcai, the construction team leader, walked over. Someone with good eyesight immediately offered him a cigarette and asked, "Old Wang, are you building a house for Zhang Dong's family?"

Wang Youcai took the cigarette and nodded, "Yes, it's for their family!"

"Why so many materials? Is there someone else in the village building a house too?" the person continued.

Unexpectedly, Wang Youcai sneered, "What? Looking down on people? Why can't Dongzi build a two-story house?"

Upon hearing this, the onlookers were all stunned, as if struck by lightning.

The person who asked the question was dumbfounded, looking incredulous, "Old Wang, are you kidding me? Zhang Dong and his sister couldn't even afford to eat properly before. How could they have the money to build a two-story house?"

"You! You always look at people with old eyes! Let me tell you, Dongzi is very different now!" Wang Youcai shook his head.

"How different?" another neighbor asked.

Wang Youcai looked around, put the cigarette in his mouth, and gazed at Zhang Dong's yard.

"Dongzi is willing to spend 180,000 yuan to build a small villa that's only found in big cities. What do you think?"

If the onlookers were just stunned before, now they were completely speechless, as if they had been hit by a thousand-year-old curse!

Finally, one of the neighbors broke the silence with a trembling voice, "1... 180,000 yuan?"

This question was like pouring cold water into a pot of hot oil, causing a huge commotion.

The neighbors were all in a frenzy, discussing the matter.

"My God, 180,000 yuan! That's enough to build three houses!"

"Has Zhang Dong really made a fortune? How could he come up with so much money?"

"Of course he's made a fortune! 180,000 yuan, do you think an ordinary family can afford that?"

...