Wang Qiqi, though desiring a little more sleep, found her body clock, conditioned over the last six months, compelling her to rise early. "Well, the early bird gets the worm," she mused, "though the early bird also becomes someone else's meal."

Han Tao ran his usual route alone. He had waited downstairs for someone for a while, not seeing Wang Qiqi, and had assumed she was indulging in a lie-in. Yesterday, she had mentioned wanting a good, long sleep. However, just as he finished his first lap, Wang Qiqi caught up. "Not sleeping anymore?"

"I want to sleep, but the moment this time hits, my body clock insists I get up. I even managed to stay in bed a little longer today." Wang Qiqi thought people were truly contrary; she had intended to enjoy that lazy morning but failed spectacularly. "Let's go grab breakfast later."

Han Tao simply acknowledged with an "Oh," and added, "My treat." Han Tao knew that if he offered to treat Qiqi to something expensive or fancy, she would never agree, but asking her out for breakfast was something she wouldn't object to.

"Deal," Wang Qiqi agreed instantly.

"Soy milk and steamed buns?" Han Tao asked as they settled at the breakfast stall.

"Sounds good. I'll have one bowl of soy milk, one vegetable bun, one red bean bun, and one meat bun." Wang Qiqi had quickly glanced over and noted the buns weren't very large; eating three would be no problem.

Han Tao gave another "Oh," went over to the proprietor, placed the order, and returned with a few buns first. "The soy milk will take a moment; they just sold the last batch. The next one will be ready in five minutes."

Wang Qiqi took the buns and started eating. After running for so long, plus the walk over here, her stomach was growling audibly. "Did you know, yesterday, a parent from our class asked about you? They even mentioned wanting you to tutor their child."

"Not taking it," Han Tao stated flatly. "I heard that Hengli Group has set up a scholarship. If you score the top spot in the municipal science or liberal arts exams, it comes with a fifty thousand yuan prize." Compared to tutoring, the allure of this money was much stronger for Han Tao. Of course, with anyone else, Han Tao wouldn't be so direct, merely saying it was hard to achieve, that there were too many experts, etc. But in front of Wang Qiqi, Han Tao felt no need for modesty.

Wang Qiqi knew about this scholarship; Hengli Group had established it starting this year, and Han Tao had won the inaugural science prize. Naturally, she assumed this year would be no different for him.

"Well, congratulations then. By the way, what are your plans for the scholarship money?" Wang Qiqi asked, genuinely interested.

"Save it," Han Tao replied. He intended to set the money aside for his mother. He had already worked out his university tuition and living expenses; during the summer, he planned to take on several tutoring jobs to earn enough for the first year's tuition, and if things went well, perhaps a few months of living expenses too. Han Tao decided he would continue tutoring once he reached university.

Save it? Wang Qiqi thought that putting away fifty thousand yuan just like that was such a waste. She opened her mouth, about to say something, but an elderly couple sat down beside them, forcing Wang Qiqi to simply close her mouth and drop the subject.

Seeing that the soy milk was ready, Han Tao went to fetch two bowls. Since strangers were sitting nearby, Han Tao immediately resumed his cool demeanor, while Wang Qiqi kept stuffing buns into her mouth.

The two walked slowly back home. As they passed the fruit shop, Wang Qiqi stopped to buy some fruit, and Han Tao naturally took the bag from her to carry as they walked. Seeing Han Tao being so considerate toward a lady, Wang Qiqi wondered how long this chivalry would last. If it was ingrained deep down, then the girl who eventually became Han Tao's girlfriend would be very fortunate.

"Did you have something you wanted to say just now?" Han Tao asked, noticing there weren't many people around while carrying the fruit. He knew Qiqi would inquire about his plans for the scholarship money; she must have an idea. However, Han Tao figured the most Qiqi would suggest was depositing the money in a bank, perhaps buying some government bonds at most. If she had any real ideas, Qiqi wouldn't just stash away the compensation money her uncle’s family received either.

Wang Qiqi hummed in response. "Han Tao, I have a few problems I don't understand. Can you tutor me?" Wang Qiqi realized they were already near the bottom of their building and didn't want to discuss it outside. Even if it looked quiet now, you never knew where the neighborhood gossipers might be lurking.

"Sure," Han Tao readily agreed.

Wang Qiqi went straight into her apartment to change clothes, then turned on the oil heater. Although this wasn't as energy-efficient as air conditioning, Wang Qiqi appreciated how quickly it generated heat.

After placing the apples in Wang Qiqi's kitchen, Han Tao went back to his place to retrieve his study materials. Recently, Han Tao had turned down several tutoring jobs; he currently only had Shi Manjulina and one long-term client, whom he kept because he taught all three children. Otherwise, Han Tao wouldn't have continued that assignment.

"Aren't you going to class today?" Wang Qiqi returned after changing clothes, carrying two glasses of Gao Le Gao (chocolate milk). Seeing Han Tao already holding textbooks struck her as odd. On weekends, he always went out tutoring. Since he didn't go out earning money yesterday, and he wasn't doing so today, Wang Qiqi found it strange.

"I don't have class until this afternoon," Han Tao explained. "I only have two clients right now, and yours is one of them."

Wang Qiqi hadn't realized Han Tao was so concerned about the fifty thousand yuan. Then again, considering how much he earned from tutoring over a year, it made sense. "I’m betting you feel certain about getting that fifty thousand, but once you have it, saving it in the bank isn't the best course of action."

"If not the bank, then..." Did this girl really have a better idea than putting it in the bank? "You’re not thinking of putting it into a collective investment, are you?" That carried quite a high risk; even if the interest was good, Han Tao didn't want to risk losing the principal if something went wrong.

"Buy property," Wang Qiqi suggested. Sighing, she thought she was a genuinely good person, acting as someone's financial consultant. Although given Han Tao's future prospects, even without her suggestion, he would eventually earn enough money for one house, or even several.

Buy property? Han Tao hesitated. "My family already owns a house." There was no need to buy another one when they already had a place to live.

Wang Qiqi smiled. Indeed, the mindset of many people then was that if you had a house to live in, why buy another? There was also the old belief that work units would allocate housing, so very few people considered purchasing property. Consequently, they wouldn't buy when prices were low. When people finally became interested in housing, they would see the prices had risen, causing many to back down, reminiscing about how much the same property cost before, deciding that saving in the bank was better—thus missing the best opportunities to invest in real estate, again and again.

"My parents’ compensation money was split between cash and housing," Wang Qiqi said quietly. "I did some minor renovations on those houses, bought some inexpensive furniture and appliances from the second-hand market, and the monthly rent is five hundred yuan."

"That’s six thousand a year in rent," Han Tao quickly calculated. "But the issue is, buying a house costs fifty thousand, right? Renovations and appliances another thirty thousand? Eight thousand deposited in the bank would yield several thousand in interest in a year."

"But I bought my properties only half a year ago, and the price has already increased by one hundred yuan per square meter. And have you noticed? Property prices in Shencheng have risen by over a thousand yuan in the last three years." This wasn't Wang Qiqi exaggerating. When Wang Dajun was alive, he often brought home newspapers, and the Shencheng Daily was a must-read. Wang Qiqi sometimes noticed Shencheng property prices when glancing at the paper. She remembered one development's unit price was over five thousand yuan. At the time, it seemed quite expensive, but in ten years, buying that kind of property for five thousand would mean going way out to the suburbs, perhaps not even securing a place close to the area between Pudong and Puxi.

"Is that so?" Han Tao truly hadn't considered this. He wasn't someone who read newspapers often; if he did, he only skimmed the news. He never paid attention to things like housing prices. "But isn't buying property a bit risky for you? You don't lack housing, and isn't it better to keep some cash on hand?"

Wang Qiqi looked at Han Tao, who still seemed largely unconvinced, and sighed. "Think about your parents' income three years ago versus now, and think about the price of green vegetables three years ago versus now."

Hearing Wang Qiqi put it that way, Han Tao understood. Yes, in three years, his parents' income had increased, and the price of vegetables had also risen, and faster than his mother’s pay raises. "You mean..."

"Right now, people don't think about buying houses, so prices are cheap. But the crucial point is that work units no longer provide welfare housing, and families with sons will need to buy apartments for their boys to get married if they are well-off. Won't prices surge then? Plus, the city established a new development zone, bringing in more and more people from out of town. They need places to live, so they’ll rent," Wang Qiqi continued with examples. "I rent out the few properties I have to those out-of-towners. And when the cost of living rises, rent rises too."

Having said this, Wang Qiqi stopped. If Han Tao could figure it out on his own, he would understand everything based on the little she had said.

Initially, Han Tao didn't fully grasp it. While he knew having property sitting there was good, he felt their family situation was only average. Even if they had money, it was better to keep it for emergencies, to avoid being caught flat-footed. But after listening to Qiqi, he suddenly realized: yes, if they bought a property, did minimal renovations, and rented it out, the annual rental income wouldn't be insignificant. However, whether to buy or not was something Han Tao still needed to discuss with his mother. Even though his mother often said he was grown up now and needed to support the family, he couldn't make a decision on such a major issue alone.

But Han Tao finally understood why people thought Wang Qiqi was frittering away her fortune while she remained so relaxed, never worrying about money. "Buying property is really that good?"

"Of course, it's good. The reason my mother spends money so freely is because of the houses my maternal grandfather left my grandparents. The annual rent is enough to cover our family's expenses," Wang Qiqi explained indirectly why she was so interested in property investment.

Han Tao was speechless. Hadn't some people rumored that Auntie was a spendthrift, blowing through her parents' inheritance? Turns out that wasn't the whole story. Moreover, Qiqi was quite capable; she had managed so much work without revealing the family's full assets to Wang Dagui. Even if the compensation money had been entirely taken by Wang Dagui and his wife, Qiqi wouldn't have ended up destitute.