Reaching the age of thirty, my income randomly doubled-Chapter 820 - 625 Little Third Chen Lu

Mr. Pidai has been living the high life these past few years.

No matter where he goes, there’s always a large entourage leading the way, and various big projects flourishing nationwide.

Even when building a football stadium, he invests billions to make it the largest in the world.

The fact that things are collapsing now actually isn’t surprising.

It’s just that when his bubble bursts, the number of people involved might be unimaginable.

"These days, the housing business really is full of risks,"

Chang Fu sighed. "Who could’ve thought that the most profitable business now is live-streaming and selling stuff? This industry doesn’t even have the slightest entry barrier."

"Didn’t two of our classmates open a restaurant just these past couple of years? Ended up losing everything—wife and kids left."

At their age, there’s no youthful recklessness left, only a steady maturity.

If someone fails at business at this age, it could genuinely result in a broken family.

The old friends’ café barely had any business, mostly just meeting up with a couple of buddies each day for nostalgic chats about the past and discussions about the present.

By 9 PM, if still no customers showed up, they’d generally just close the place, and Chang Fu would suggest hitting a foot massage parlor.

The high-end type. Chen Pingsheng thought about it and didn’t refuse.

The foot care business was still thriving, but with the advent of live streaming, women working across various industries were gathering into that domain.

Apart from some high-end parlors where you might still find a couple of decent-looking women, the lower-end ones were really disappointing.

The two lay back in a private suite, where Chang Fu brought up a recent observation.

It was about the phenomenon of Magic City’s respectable women "going to sea."

What did it mean?

Quite a number of women from good households in Magic City, who used to live fairly decent lives, were now forced to earn quick money.

No choice, with the economy declining, many people are losing their jobs, yet monthly mortgage payments remain due.

In Magic City, even a random apartment easily costs tens of millions, with monthly interest payments alone reaching nearly ten thousand, plus some principal.

For those owning a house, if monthly income is less than 20 or 30 thousand, it’s virtually impossible to support a family’s expenses.

Hence, this phenomenon of respectable women going to sea to earn quick money emerged.

Gao Hu was the one who discovered this first. Although he didn’t mess around much anymore, he still had needs to deal with.

Every time, he’d spend about a thousand or eight hundred to settle it, and through that, he encountered quite a few "respectable women."

The most awkward instance was when he ran into the wife of someone he knew.

Damn...

The two exchanged glances, their embarrassment beyond words.

These transactions were handled privately, not through shady red-light businesses.

Each "session" ranged between 1,500 to 2,000, considered high-end consumption.

If these women took on two clients a day, they could easily earn 20 or 30 thousand a month.

Such high rates obviously required them to look stunning.

Typically, women involved in this kind of work were those who married into Magic City from outside.

Local women rarely have mortgages, and even if they do, it wouldn’t lead to such phenomena within just a couple of years.

The real trouble lies with those outsiders who drained three generations’ savings to buy a house.

Talking about these things, Gao Hu couldn’t help but sigh. After finishing his story, he even called Xiao Danchun.

He offered to pay her 20 thousand in monthly child support, but Xiao Danchun refused.

She had her own car and house, plus more than 10 million in savings. Though her job was ordinary, together they still earned 20 or 30 thousand.

Her life was stable and solid. She had always been a simple-minded girl who didn’t have high demands.

Naturally, she wouldn’t accept Gao Hu’s money, especially since he still owed over 1 billion.

If he managed to pay it off in three to five years, that would already be impressive.

Chang Fu sighed, "Old Chen, according to you, the economic downturn has only just started. Over the next four or five years, things will only get worse. So many people are already unable to hold on now. Do you think there will be more and more of cases like this in the future?"

"That’s unlikely,"

Chen Pingsheng replied. "But I do believe the short-video industry will have an explosive growth. Those unable to hang on first will undoubtedly be the ones who once took pride in buying a house. If you bought early, it’s fine. But if you purchased within the last couple of years, you might not make up for the losses, even after ten years of earning."

"How did it come to this?"

"Decades of reform and opening up leapt through what would’ve taken others centuries—a natural product of forced acceleration."

Chang Fu understood what forced acceleration meant—it was undoubtedly a housing issue.

Upon digging deeper into the housing market, it becomes clear—it’s a form of anticipatory consumption, costing ordinary people decades of future resources.

Look at the Americans: on average, it takes four years and two months of work, saving every penny, to afford a house in full.

In comparison, China’s average is 29.5 years, and with bank interest, the timeframe extends to 50 years.

This calculation even assumes middle-class income. Fifty years—a person can only actively work for so many years in this lifetime.

Steel and cement sped up urban development, but simultaneously weighed down the lives of ordinary people for a lifetime.

If housing collapses, how many families would dare to spend again?

Not to mention the decades-long mortgages hanging over people’s heads.

Economic problems come like a gust of wind—they pass. But housing issues aren’t like that. If they falter, the impact is catastrophic.

Luckily, they themselves weren’t affected much. Chang Fu had talked big about leaving Tengying Group to start afresh.

Yet here he was, spending his days frequenting foot spas, drinking beer, eating barbecue, and traveling.

Living life carefree, without a hitch.

After finishing up at the foot spa, as Chen Pingsheng drove his Bugatti home, Song Yanxi had been waiting upstairs.

She shared a concern with him, "Old Chen, Su Xiaoxi’s parents invited Little Third Chen Lu over to play again, and even let him spend the night. When I went to bring him back, the kid didn’t even want to leave."

"You’re worried the Su Family might use this connection to ask us for money?"

"Aren’t you concerned?"

"What’s there to worry about? First of all, Little Third is still so young. Even if the Su Family dared to ask, I wouldn’t lend a dime."

"Sigh… I looked into their situation before. They don’t owe much money, really—just a few billion. By the standards of large real estate firms, it’s not even high. It’s their scheming ways I’m worried about—it might affect Little Third."

"Your worries are pointless,"

Chen Pingsheng shook his head, unwilling to dwell on it. Little Third was still just a kid—if he misbehaved, his two older sisters could easily keep him in line.

Nights always ended with tea before bed for him, Song Yanxi joining him with a couple of cups as well.

Ever since they became wealthy, schemers attempting to take advantage seemed plentiful.

Her son enjoyed hanging out with Su Xiaoxi, and she didn’t mind initially. But she hadn’t expected him to like playing with the little girl this much.

Seeing her persistent concern, Chen Pingsheng said directly, "If you’re really worried about Su Family having bad intentions, why not have Er Ya bring Little Third along?"

"Can Er Ya handle Chen Lu?"

"Of course she can. Er Ya is far smarter than you give her credit for; she just doesn’t spend much time at home."

Er Piya was indeed clever—she’d inexplicably built up an explosive success with snacks.

If she were willing to take Little Third Chen Lu under her wing, she’d undoubtedly whip the boy into shape.

Song Yanxi’s biggest fear was the prospect of their son growing up to become a doormat for someone—now, that would be unbearable.