She Only Cares About Cultivation
Chapter 96: 【096】90s cook 96

Chapter 96: 【096】90s cook 96

So, Gong Mingxia now had in her possession one shopfront property, one new house, three old houses, three Beijing properties, plus the Old Lady’s property. Although it wasn’t hers, it still counted as part of the Cao Family assets. After she married Cao Yuan, their wealth was shared. With such assets, she could live comfortably without working in the future.

The Cao family didn’t quite understand why Gong Mingxia was so obsessed with buying property, relentlessly acquiring one after another. Gong Mingxia just smiled and said,

"Houses have great potential for appreciation." Unfortunately, the Cao family still didn’t understand just how significant this potential had to be considered substantial.

Wasn’t keeping money in the bank and earning interest appealing?

Had Gong Mingxia heard this, she would have seriously replied, "It’s really not appealing. No matter how much the interest, it’s not as good as the rise in housing prices."

In September, Xiao Xiao started school and became a real primary school student. She now had a mom, a dad, a grandma, and a brother, blissfully happy.

Eventually, Gong Xiaoyan changed her surname because Gong Mingxia felt that without the change, it made the child seem more like an outsider in the family. If she had her own children in the future, they would undoubtedly bear the surname Cao, making Xiao Xiao’s situation even more challenging. Thus, changing her surname naturally gained the family’s full support, and from then on, Gong Xiaoyan became Cao Xiaoyan.

At the end of the year and the beginning of the new year, many joyful events took place. First, they purchased commercial housing, and second, Meng Xiuying’s novel "Cook" entered an intense phase of creation. The novel had a total of just over 600,000 characters, and she had already completed half, which was quite an impressive pace.

Moreover, she was now writing articles for magazines intermittently, and the money she earned each month was enough to support her and her daughter.

Liu Xueliang was released from prison in 1999 and even went to Beijing to look for Meng Xiuying’s brother, finding his workplace, and stationed himself outside the door, causing a significant disturbance.

However, ultimately her brother called the police, and Liu was detained for a few days; following that, he resorted to stalking, fortunately, her brother and Meng Xiuying had instructed not to return to their mother’s home.

Liu Xueliang continued stalking for a week without any progress. Penniless, he couldn’t survive in Beijing.

Adding to that, he had a history of incarceration and could only take the lowest tier jobs in society.

He stayed in Beijing, but Meng Xiuying and her maternal family hadn’t been in contact for nearly a year, and even if they were in touch, it was over the phone. Being a homebody, apart from taking her child to play in the community or shopping at the supermarket, she hardly went out, which made it even harder for Liu Xueliang to find her.

According to Meng Xiuying, it might be two to three years before she saw her parents again. She knew what this man was like; if he found her, she wouldn’t have any good days. As for her family, having phone contact was enough.

Whether or not Liu Xueliang could stay in Beijing permanently was uncertain, but under the current circumstances, not meeting him was the best self-protection.

In early 2000, unable to set up a street stall, Gong Mingxia ultimately decided to attend culinary school for certification. This year she didn’t have much income; the only income was from the old houses’ rental, which annually amounted to 12,000 yuan. Combined with Cao Yuan’s salary, it was enough to cover daily family expenses.

Starting from the year 2000, Gong Mingxia began to focus on some impoverished children in mountain villages, continuously sponsoring ten children’s education. In her view, rather than spending money on medical treatment, it was better to use it for children’s education, so her sponsorship focused entirely on supporting impoverished students, garnering strong support from Cao Yuan.