Eldest Sister Chen Yao

When Chen Yao, the eldest sister, arrived, she naturally stayed in their small villa.

There was still a vacant room on the first floor, right next to Chen Qi's.

The villa wasn't particularly large, but even with over a dozen people living there, it still felt spacious.

On the way here in the Navigator, Chen Yao thought the car was nice. If she used it for ride-hailing, it could definitely be classified as a luxury vehicle—fares would be much higher.

Since the family rarely got together, Song Yanxi took it upon herself to cook, while Chen Pingsheng listened to his eldest sister talk about her life.

At her age, the most common topic was children.

For some reason, her two kids were incredibly gifted in academics.

Despite being from the same family, they had an innate talent for studying—consistently ranking in the top ten of their entire school without needing much supervision.

Their rankings had never dropped, something that left Chen Pingsheng envious.

He was this close to asking what they ate and drank every day.

Chen An'an, though still young, had already shown signs of her academic potential. But ranking near the top? Impossible.

Even making it to the middle of the pack would depend entirely on having good teachers.

The gap was just too wide!

"I say, big sis, how did you teach them?"

"I didn't really teach them. I only finished elementary school myself—what could I possibly teach?"

Envy. Pure, unfiltered envy.

His eldest sister had only finished elementary school, and his brother-in-law wasn't much different.

The two of them were barely educated, yet their kids were academic prodigies. Was this the legendary fate, luck, and feng shui at play?

Sometimes, no matter how superstitious it sounded, it was hard not to believe.

Chen Yao didn't think much of it herself. After all, her kids were still in elementary school.

There was still middle school, high school, and university ahead of them.

It wasn't until they excelled in high school and got into a top university that they could truly be considered talented students.

"You only have one kid, little bro? That's not enough."

"I'm definitely planning for another this year."

With the first child's talent being what it was, the only option was to roll the dice again and hope for a better outcome.

Meanwhile, Song Yanxi was cooking quickly. Just a few days ago, on September 15th, she received her semi-annual dividend payout.

It was the lowest amount she had ever received—only 130,000 after adding up all the store profits.

This was partly due to the newly opened Shijingshan store, but the bigger reason was that her husband had given away half of his dividend shares.

Just like that, their household income was slashed in half.

But while she earned less, the employees were absolutely thrilled.

The company had more than doubled their salaries overnight.

With all the bonuses and profit-sharing, their monthly income was now roughly two and a half times what it used to be.

Seeing the employees' happiness helped her come to terms with it a little.

Whatever losses she had here, she would just make up for by flipping real estate.

After more than a month of house flipping, she had actually developed her own set of business strategies.

So, during dinner, she shared her methods with Chen Yao.

Chen Pingsheng thought she was being unrealistic. If his eldest sister had the resources to flip houses in Beijing, she wouldn't have traveled all the way from Shacheng to rely on him.

"I say, Yanxi, are you addicted to buying houses?"

"Wrong." Song Yanxi refuted righteously. "I'm addicted to making money. You don't understand, big sis. Last month, I bought a 200-square-meter apartment in Dongcheng, inside the Second Ring Road, for 41,000 per square meter. Not long after, the prices in that neighborhood shot up by over 1,000 per square meter. I literally made 30,000 to 40,000 just by sitting at home."

"Our family is launching a major top-up event in October, and in November, we'll probably receive millions in dividends. When that happens, I'll definitely invest in more properties over there."

Chen Qi commented, "Sis-in-law, people like you are the reason housing prices keep rising."

"You don't get it." Song Yanxi rebutted. "We're nothing compared to the big corporations. Their primary businesses may not be doing well, but when it comes to flipping houses, they're absolute beasts."

The real estate market wasn't driven by actual homebuyers—it was fueled by investors like them, people who didn't even need a place to live but kept pushing prices up.

It was all just a financial game. Those who could afford to play joined the relay race.

The only ones truly suffering were the regular homebuyers, struggling to pay their mortgages.

The worst off were those who bought at the peak of the market.

By the end of dinner, Chen Yao deeply felt the massive gap between herself and her sister-in-law.

It wasn't that Song Yanxi was deliberately showing off—when the difference was this stark, even casual conversations could highlight it.

For Chen Yao, making a stable 10,000 to 20,000 per month was already pretty good.

For Song Yanxi, was 10,000 to 20,000 even worth mentioning?

She probably didn't even remember how to earn that kind of money the traditional way.

She only knew that buying a house at random could bring in tens of thousands in a month.

So, when she spoke about her business, she was being completely serious.

Chen Pingsheng, however, understood the situation clearly. If his eldest sister truly wanted to settle in Beijing, he would make arrangements.

If she decided to return to Shacheng, he would at least gift her a house.

He wouldn't give her a car, though. For most families, a car was just an expense—so long as it worked, that was enough.

No point in discussing comfort and luxury.

Chen Qi was different. She had her own ambitions—her sole focus was poaching talent for her beauty salon.

Once the salon was up and running, her income would definitely be solid.

In the afternoon, Song Yanxi took the Panamera and drove Chen Yao around Beijing.

The difference between a national capital and a provincial capital was obvious.

Nowhere was this difference clearer than in housing prices.

The small apartment inside the Third Ring Road had already been given to Chen Qi.

It was the last big gift from her elder brother.

With her housing and car situation settled, her quality of life in Beijing would be significantly better.

Calling it "small" was only relative to their villa.

Song Yanxi took Chen Yao to see it firsthand. The apartment was fully furnished and move-in ready.

In Beijing, where property prices were sky-high, homeowners rarely skimped on renovations.

The 80-square-meter, two-bedroom apartment had a spacious balcony, modern appliances, and tasteful decor.

If Chen Qi wanted to move in, she could do so at any time.

But Song Yanxi wasn't nearly as generous with her own sister.

A few million yuan for a property, just given away. And with housing prices still climbing, it could be worth ten million in the future.

Chen Qi had only been in Beijing for a few months, and she already had everything.

That's why she was hoping Chen Yao's family would move here too.

Life in Beijing was undoubtedly better than struggling to pay off a mortgage in Shacheng.

The Third Ring Road was already close to the city center.

Skyscrapers, luxury offices, and major corporations filled the area.

Tengsheng Group was still based inside the Fourth Ring Road for now.

But at their current growth rate, it was only a matter of time before they expanded into the Third Ring.

The ultimate dream? Owning their own corporate headquarters inside the Third Ring.

That would truly be a mark of prestige.

Chen Qi believed this day would come.

Song Yanxi? She wasn't thinking that far ahead—she just wanted to buy up an entire residential complex.

Chen Yao, on the other hand, was wavering.

Even if not for herself, she had to consider her children.

The educational resources in Beijing were incomparable to those in Shacheng.

The gap was enormous.