October 11, 2023 – 2:47 PM
Lin had barely stepped through the farmhouse door when her mother looked up.
"What did you buy?"
Lin stopped.
Helen smiled.
"You have that look."
Richard lowered his newspaper.
"What look?"
"The one she gets before spending money."
Lin pointed at both of them.
"I haven't bought anything."
Richard folded his newspaper.
"Yet."
Claire laughed behind her.
Lin turned toward her.
"You're enjoying this far too much."
"A little."
Helen looked between them.
"What's happening?"
Lin dropped her keys onto the counter.
"I'm looking at a building in town."
Richard's eyebrows lifted.
"Another building?"
"A shop."
Helen stared at her.
"A shop?"
Lin nodded.
"General goods. Farm supplies. Basic groceries. Coffee. Small food counter."
Richard leaned back.
"And when did this become necessary?"
"Today."
"Naturally."
Lin ignored him.
"It has living quarters upstairs."
Helen glanced at Claire.
Then back at Lin.
She understood.
"For Claire."
"For staff."
Helen smiled.
"Of course."
Lin pointed at her.
"Don't start."
"I didn't say anything."
"Your face did."
Richard chuckled.
"This family has a lot of conversations without words."
Lin looked at him.
"You raised us."
"Fair."
Lin's phone buzzed.
She checked it.
The realtor had sent photographs.
She opened the first one.
The storefront had faded lettering above the entrance.
The windows were dirty.
The paint was peeling.
One side of the roof visibly sagged.
Lin smiled.
Claire looked over her shoulder.
"Oh."
Lin glanced at her.
"That's your professional opinion?"
"It looks..."
Claire searched for the word.
"Terrible."
Richard leaned closer.
"How much?"
Lin told him.
He studied the photograph.
"That's why."
"Exactly."
Helen looked at Claire.
"Would you actually live upstairs?"
Claire nodded.
"If it's safe."
Lin zoomed in on the second photograph.
"The realtor says the structure is sound."
Richard immediately said,
"A realtor saying that means absolutely nothing."
Lin smiled.
"That's why you're coming."
Richard looked at her.
"I am?"
"You're an engineer."
"Retired."
"Still an engineer."
He sighed.
"Fine."
Lin looked at Helen.
"You too."
Helen shook her head.
"I'm a veterinarian."
"You know when something smells rotten."
Helen smiled.
"That is unfortunately true."
Claire laughed.
The front door opened.
Lucas walked in.
Lin looked up.
He glanced around the kitchen.
"What's going on?"
Nobody answered.
He looked at Lin.
"Why does everyone look guilty?"
Lin picked up her phone.
"I'm buying a store."
Lucas stopped.
"What?"
"Maybe."
"A store?"
"Possibly."
He looked at Claire.
She shrugged.
"I was offered a job."
Lucas turned back to Lin.
"You offered her a job?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
"The store."
"What store?"
Lin smiled.
"The one I haven't bought yet."
Lucas stared at her.
Richard quietly reopened his newspaper.
Helen suddenly found something very interesting in the cupboard.
Lucas rubbed his forehead.
"Lin."
"Lucas."
"You can't keep buying things every time you have a problem."
Lin folded her arms.
"I don't."
He stared at her.
"You bought a hotel."
"That was different."
"A farm."
"Part of the hotel purchase."
"Livestock."
"Necessary."
"Fifty-nine cameras."
"Necessary."
"And now a store."
Lin smiled.
"Also necessary."
Lucas looked at Claire.
"What did you do?"
Claire raised both hands.
"I only said I didn't have money."
Lin pointed at her.
"Exactly."
Lucas stared at Lin.
Then, unexpectedly, he laughed.
"You're unbelievable."
Lin smiled.
"Thank you."
"That wasn't a compliment."
"I'll take it anyway."
The realtor's message arrived.
PROPERTY ADDRESS — 3:30 PM SHOWING CONFIRMED.
Lin slipped her phone into her pocket.
"We're leaving in thirty minutes."
Lucas looked at her.
"We're?"
Lin nodded.
"You're coming."
"Why?"
"Because I need another pair of eyes."
He glanced toward Claire.
"And Jake?"
Lin looked toward the hallway.
Jake's voice could be heard somewhere nearby.
"He can come."
Lucas nodded.
Then he looked at Claire.
"You want to see it?"
Claire smiled.
"Very much."
Lin grabbed her keys.
"Good."
She headed toward the door.
Lucas followed.
"Lin."
She turned.
"What?"
He smiled faintly.
"You realize you just hired someone, found her housing, and started a new business in less than an hour?"
Lin opened the door.
"I work efficiently."
Lucas shook his head.
"That's one word for it."
Lin stepped outside.
"Get in the truck."
"Yes, boss."
She stopped.
Slowly turned.
"Don't call me that."
Lucas smiled.
"Yes, boss."
Then he followed after her toward the driveway.
October 11, 2023 – 3:28 PM
The realtor was waiting beside the old storefront when Lin's truck pulled up.
Lin stepped out first.
Lucas came around the other side.
Claire stayed in the truck for a moment, looking through the windshield at the building.
It was worse in person.
The storefront had once been painted a cheerful cream color, but years of weather had reduced it to patches of peeling paint and bare wood. One of the front windows was cracked. The sign above the entrance had lost several letters.
The grass along the sidewalk had grown waist-high.
Lin stared at it.
The realtor smiled cautiously.
"Well..."
Lin looked at her.
"Don't say it."
The realtor laughed.
"I was going to say it has character."
Lucas looked at the building.
"It has termites."
The realtor's smile disappeared.
Lin glanced at him.
"You're supposed to be helping me."
"I am."
He pointed toward the roof.
"That's going to cost you."
Lin looked back at the building.
She didn't mind.
The location was good.
That mattered more.
Across the street was a small playground.
Behind it was a municipal parking lot.
Free parking.
People could walk from the playground straight toward the storefront.
Farmers could park nearby.
Families could stop without worrying about finding a space.
Lin looked down Main Street.
The town wasn't large.
But traffic passed this corner regularly.
She turned to the realtor.
"How much?"
The realtor hesitated.
"The asking price is eighty-five."
Lin looked at the building again.
"No."
The realtor blinked.
"No?"
Lin pulled her hands into her jacket pockets.
"Sixty thousand."
"Lin—"
"Cash."
The realtor stared at her.
Lin pointed toward the roof.
"The roof needs work."
Then the windows.
"Windows."
She pointed toward the side wall.
"Electrical."
Then the door.
"Plumbing."
Lucas quietly added,
"Probably foundation drainage."
Lin glanced at him.
"Thank you."
The realtor sighed.
"There are other interested buyers."
Lin nodded.
"Then sell it to them."
The realtor looked surprised.
Lin continued calmly.
"Sixty thousand cash, and it's yours to sell."
She gestured toward the building.
"I'm not asking you to fix it."
"I'm taking it exactly as it is."
"No inspection negotiations afterward."
"No repair credits."
"No asking the seller to replace anything."
The realtor crossed her arms.
"That's a big discount."
"It's a teardown."
The realtor looked offended on behalf of the building.
Lin shrugged.
"I'm being generous."
Lucas looked at the storefront.
"She's not wrong."
The realtor gave him a look.
"Whose side are you on?"
Lucas smiled.
"Hers."
Lin looked at him.
She tried not to smile.
Failed.
The realtor walked toward the front door.
"Let's at least go inside."
Lin followed.
Lucas stayed close behind.
The key fought the lock.
The realtor jiggled it twice.
Then once more.
The door finally opened with a long wooden groan.
Dust hung in the stale air.
Lin stepped inside.
The smell hit her immediately.
Old wood.
Damp plaster.
Dust.
Something faintly resembling mildew.
She looked around.
The sales floor was enormous compared with what she expected.
Shelving had been removed years ago, leaving pale rectangles on the walls.
A counter remained near the front.
The back held a narrow doorway leading toward what looked like a kitchen.
Lin walked farther inside.
Lucas followed.
"Floor's solid."
He stamped once.
The wood answered with a dull thud.
Lin nodded.
She looked toward the staircase.
"Upstairs?"
The realtor nodded.
"Two bedrooms."
They climbed.
The stairs creaked.
Lin didn't care.
The second floor had two small rooms, a bathroom, and a tiny kitchenette.
One window overlooked the playground.
Lin walked toward it.
From here, she could see the entire front of the property.
The playground.
The parking lot.
The road.
The storefront entrance.
She smiled.
"This is perfect."
Lucas stood beside her.
"For Claire?"
"For Claire."
He looked outside.
"And the store."
"Exactly."
Lin turned toward him.
"She'd be five minutes from us."
Lucas nodded.
"Maybe less if Jake gets his way."
Lin laughed.
They went back downstairs.
The realtor watched Lin carefully.
"So?"
Lin looked around once more.
Then pulled out her phone.
"Sixty thousand cash."
The realtor sighed.
"You're serious."
"Very."
"The owner wants seventy-five."
Lin shook her head.
"The owner has a building nobody wants to maintain."
She pointed outside.
"I'm giving them cash and taking the headache away."
The realtor considered it.
"Sixty-five."
Lin shook her head.
"Sixty."
"Sixty-two."
"Sixty."
The realtor laughed.
"You don't negotiate very much, do you?"
"I already decided what it's worth to me."
Lucas looked at Lin.
There was something almost amused in his expression.
The realtor sighed.
"I'll call the owner."
Lin nodded.
"Tell them sixty thousand cash."
She looked through the window toward the playground.
"And tell them I'm not asking for repairs."
The realtor pulled out her phone.
"If they accept?"
Lin smiled.
"We start cleaning tomorrow."
Lucas looked at her.
"Tomorrow?"
Lin turned.
"You heard me."
He laughed under his breath.
"Of course."
Lin looked upstairs.
Then at the playground.
Then at the parking lot.
For sixty thousand dollars, she wasn't buying a pretty building.
She was buying a location it was one of her eariest lesson she learn form being William Zhao's executive secretary.