Chapter 66: Buying a House

This villa was situated at a river bend, with the river close by on both the left and right sides.

Willow trees were planted along the riverbank, which had a guardrail and open-air benches for resting.

The river was about a dozen meters wide, and twenty to thirty meters to the left front of the villa, a five or six-meter-wide scenic bridge connected to the opposite bank.

On the other side was a small river-heart park covering three or four acres, surrounded by water on all sides. It featured a pavilion, outdoor exercise equipment, and a cobblestone path.

Therefore, Chen Feng was immediately taken with this villa; the surrounding environment was simply too good.

Entering the villa, although it was only two stories, the area was not small, totaling 220 square meters, including the first-floor garage.

It came with fine renovations, which looked quite new. According to the description, the renovations were completed less than two years ago. The furniture and appliances were all there, and there were even two sets of brand-new, unused bedding and quilts, truly ready for someone to move in with just their luggage.

After looking over both floors, Chen Feng was very satisfied.

“This renovation looks quite nice. Why sell it so suddenly?”

Chen Feng voiced the question in his mind. He hoped it wasn’t a “haunted house” or something similar; otherwise, no matter how much he liked it, he definitely couldn’t buy it.

Xiao Ya explained, “This villa was originally a marital home. But the newlywed couple started fighting for a divorce not long after getting married and didn’t want to live here anymore, so they put it up for sale. The husband’s family is very wealthy; his father is the boss of a publicly listed company. So, they don’t like to haggle. The price they set is fifty-six thousand, and they don’t accept counteroffers. If you can pay in one lump sum, there might be a small discount, but not much.”

“Are the newlywed couple divorced?” Chen Feng asked with some curiosity.

Xiao Ya shook her head, looking a bit surprised, “That I’m not clear on.”

Chen Feng said, “Then I’d say there’s a high probability they are divorced. This suggests the house’s feng shui might not be very good, at least not conducive to marriage. I’m planning to buy it to live with my girlfriend, which makes it a bit difficult for me.”

Hearing Chen Feng’s words, although Xiao Ya was a bit skeptical of his financial ability, she still tried her best to make the sale. “This villa is in a great location. As you’ve seen, it’s right at the river bend. In feng shui, this is called a ‘jade belt wrapping the waist,’ which is very auspicious. Plus, they’re including the fine renovations and furniture and appliances, all less than two years old and very new.

“Also, the owner spent several million on the renovation. A single toilet cost over three hundred thousand, and with four toilets in total, that’s over a million. The bathtubs are also imported from abroad and are excellent. So, although the price of fifty-six thousand is slightly higher than the current market price, it’s not outrageously expensive.”

“I don’t really care about the renovation, and I might not even like their style. Maybe in the future, I’ll have to tear it all out and renovate again.” Chen Feng’s words were, of course, false. One of the reasons he liked this house was that the renovation was indeed very nice.

“Then… you’re not interested in this one either?” Xiao Ya asked with some disappointment.

“Not at all. Although it seems this villa has some issues, I still quite like it. The problem is still the price.”

The reason Chen Feng was saying so much was to haggle down the price.

Even though he had tens of millions, if this house cost over ten million according to the asking price, he would be doing himself a disservice not to bargain.

As for the owner not being short on money and not wanting to haggle, he would just listen and forget it. You’d be a fool to actually believe that.

In any case, it didn’t hurt to make a counteroffer.

Xiao Ya said with difficulty, “But the owner said no bargaining. Someone else was interested in this villa before, but when they tried to haggle, the owner refused to sell.”

“The owner really won’t bargain? How many people have tried to haggle before?”

“I’ve brought five or six people to see it before. Three of them were also interested, but when they tried to bargain over the phone, the owner refused to sell.”

“Did those three people offer to pay in one lump sum?”

“No, they didn’t.”

“Well, there you have it. Tell the owner that I’ll pay in one lump sum, but the price needs to be appropriately discounted. After all, the feng shui of this house might be a bit problematic. Otherwise, why would he move out, right?”

Seeing that Chen Feng seemed serious about buying, Xiao Ya couldn’t help but feel a mix of anticipation and nervousness. She quickly asked, “Then what is your ideal price?”

“Let me calculate.” Chen Feng took out his phone, opened the calculator, and after a moment, said, “If it’s fifty-six thousand per square meter, this house would cost 12.32 million. How about this: if you can help me negotiate it down to 10 million, I’ll personally give you a red envelope of 100,000.”

“This…” Xiao Ya was instantly tempted. Although many real estate agents make a lot of money, even more don’t. She was a newcomer to the field, having been on the job for less than a year. Working hard all month, her salary and commission only added up to a few thousand yuan.

A red envelope of 100,000 was a significant temptation for her.

“I’ll give you 10,000 first as a deposit,” Chen Feng said decisively.

Xiao Ya hesitated for only a moment before shaking her head, “No need. I can help you contact him first and talk it over.”

“Good. Then give him a call now.”

“Okay, please wait a moment.”

Xiao Ya immediately took out her phone and walked over to the balcony to make the call.

Chen Feng didn’t follow her or try to eavesdrop. There was no need.

About ten minutes later, Xiao Ya returned with an excited look on her face and said to Chen Feng, “Mr. Chen, the owner said he wants to meet you in person to talk. He’s coming over right away. If you can really pay the full amount in one go, he might agree.”

Chen Feng nodded, “Alright, then let’s wait for him. Here or at your company?”

“Let’s just wait here. He said he’s nearby and will be here soon.”

“Okay. Then let’s wait.”

So, the two of them went downstairs and sat down in the first-floor living room.

To avoid awkwardness, Xiao Ya took the initiative to ask, “Mr. Chen, what do you do for a living?”

Chen Feng smiled, “I trade stocks.”

“Ah, then Mr. Chen must be very good at stock trading,” Xiao Ya said, looking at Chen Feng with a mix of surprise and admiration.

There weren’t many who could earn a fortune of tens of millions from stock trading, at least not among retail investors.

“Just so-so,” Chen Feng said truthfully.

“Mr. Chen, you’re too modest. Being able to earn enough money from stocks to buy this villa is already very impressive. What’s more, you certainly have more than just this amount.”

Chen Feng laughed and didn’t deny it.

Seeing this, the way Xiao Ya looked at Chen Feng changed. This really is a big shot.

“How long have you been working?”

Having nothing better to do, Chen Feng turned the question back on her.

“Uh, a year.” In fact, it had only been seven or eight months.

“Why did you choose this line of work? What university did you graduate from?”

Chen Feng asked naturally.

“I graduated from Donghai University of Technology. A senior I’m close with is in this line of work. She earned the down payment for a house after working for two years. So, I wanted to give it a try too.”

“What a coincidence, we’re actually alumni. I’m also from the University of Technology, class of ’08.”

Although their university had many graduates, to meet like this could be considered a kind of fate.

“Ah, really? So that makes you my senior.”

Xiao Ya was a little happy. She felt that their relationship had instantly become closer.

“That’s right, junior.”

They both couldn’t help but look at each other and smile.

“What was your major?” Chen Feng asked.

“Materials Science.”

“…That’s a really unpopular major. No wonder you’re doing this after graduation. At least I was in Computer Science back then.”

Xiao Ya smiled with some embarrassment, “I applied for it precisely because it was unpopular. I ended up scoring more than ten points higher than the cutoff. If I had known, I would have chosen a more popular major.”

“Sigh, that’s just fate. I chose Computer Science back then, and my major courses were pretty good, but in the end, I ended up doing clerical work.”

“Yeah. Many people’s jobs after graduation are different from their majors. It feels like the four years of studying the major were wasted.”

“If you don’t study, you can’t get a diploma, and it’s even harder to find a job.”

…

The two alumni immediately hit it off, gradually talking about their alma mater, the University of Technology. Many of the buildings and fun stories from their classes and school life hadn’t changed much, even though they were six or seven years apart.

This instantly gave them a common topic.

It wasn’t until the sound of a car came from outside, followed by someone walking in, that the two of them paused their conversation.

The person who came in was the owner of this villa, Cai Zhixin. He was about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, tall and thin, with a fair complexion, dressed in stylish casual clothes.

The large watch on his wrist was particularly eye-catching, clearly a very expensive one.

After shaking hands and a brief introduction, Cai Zhixin got straight to the point.

“You said you can pay the full amount in one go, right?” Cai Zhixin asked with a very serious expression.

Chen Feng nodded, “Of course. If you sell me this house for ten million, I can pay it off immediately.”

“Ten million is impossible,” Cai Zhixin shook his head. “The cheapest I can give it to you for is eleven million, saving you over a million. But you must pay the full amount in one lump sum.”

“Eleven million is not a good deal for me,” Chen Feng also immediately shook his head. “After all, this house was your marital home, and you started fighting for a divorce not long after moving in, right? I plan to buy it to live with my girlfriend. If it affects our relationship, that would be very bad. So, if you can do ten million, I’ll take the risk and buy it. If not, for the same price, I could even buy a brand-new villa.”

Cai Zhixin stared at Chen Feng for a while, pondered for a long moment, then nodded with a somewhat gloomy expression, “Alright. Ten million it is. However, after signing the contract, you must transfer the full amount to me within two hours, or the deal is void. Is that acceptable?”

Hearing this, Chen Feng was overjoyed. This was a saving of over two million, which was equivalent to a top-quality commercial apartment in his hometown.

“Deal. After signing the contract, I’ll take you to the bank to make the transfer immediately.”

The other party was straightforward, and so was Chen Feng.

Cai Zhixin suddenly sighed, “To be honest, this price is really a bargain for you. If I weren’t in urgent need of money, I would never sell it so cheaply. I can only say, your luck is really good.”

Chen Feng smiled slightly, “My luck has been quite good recently.”

“Alright then. Let’s go, let’s go sign the contract.”

Cai Zhixin was very decisive, perhaps, as he said, he was in urgent need of money.

Chen Feng and the clearly excited Xiao Ya were, of course, also eager to complete the transaction.

Thus, the three of them got into Cai Zhixin’s car, a Cayenne that didn’t quite match his status.

A true second-generation rich kid like him should have a sports car worth tens of millions as standard, but instead, it was this one-million-plus Cayenne.

This also served as indirect proof that he was in urgent need of money.

They got in the car and soon stopped at the entrance of the real estate agency.

Then, Xiao Ya, somewhat flustered, prepared the contract for the two of them. When her colleagues heard that she had closed a big deal, they were all envious, and it even alerted their manager.

With the manager’s help, the contract was quickly prepared.

After both parties had carefully reviewed it and confirmed there were no errors, they each signed.

Then, it was off to the bank to transfer the money.

This time, Chen Feng drove his own Encore, and Xiao Ya went with him.

The bank was nearby, and they arrived quickly. In the VIP room, Chen Feng conveniently transferred ten million to the other party.

After another round of procedures, the house was transferred. The transaction was officially completed.

Chen Feng now owned this detached villa in Red Villa Bay.

The whole process was remarkably smooth, which was probably due to Chen Feng’s current good luck buff.

After completing a big deal, Xiao Ya and the people at the real estate agency were all very happy. The manager even invited Chen Feng to a meal.

But Chen Feng did not agree. He only added his alumna and junior, Xiao Ya, on WeChat and then left coolly.

Watching Chen Feng’s departing figure, Xiao Ya reluctantly wanted to chase after him several times, but in the end, she didn’t.

He seems to have forgotten the 100,000 red envelope he promised!

Although it seemed she hadn’t put in much effort to close this deal, just making a phone call, the other party had still agreed to the ten-million offer in the end, right?

This was 100,000 yuan!

Xiao Ya’s heart ached, but she couldn’t bring herself to ask Chen Feng for it directly. After all, she didn’t have the confidence.

Just as she was feeling down, her phone suddenly dinged.

She opened it and looked at the notification message. Her eyebrows twitched slightly, and she quickly tapped on it.

Then, she saw a transfer message in WeChat. The number displayed was exactly 100,000.

Without any hesitation, she immediately clicked to accept. The pleasant sound of money being received instantly made her feel several pounds lighter.

“Xiao Ya, you closed a big deal today, you have to treat us.”

“Yeah. Treat us.”

Two colleagues around her started to jeer.

Xiao Ya chuckled, “Alright. A cup of milk tea for everyone. Tell me what flavor you want, and I’ll place a unified order.”

“Xiao Ya, you must have made tens of thousands in commission this time. Don’t be so stingy,” one person said in a passive-aggressive tone.

“Heh, I remember you also signed a big deal a few months ago, with a commission of tens of thousands. In the end, I think you only treated us to breakfast,” Xiao Ya retorted.

Although Xiao Ya was a newcomer to the workplace, having been there for just over half a year, she was not one to be bullied.

What’s more, now that she had completed this big deal, her performance was sufficient, and her confidence was high.

That person, having been countered like this, was unable to refute and could only snort coldly, pretending to be disdainful.

Seeing this, the other person could only back down.

The two of them retreated in defeat, but Xiao Ya didn’t feel much joy.

What she hated most was this kind of office politics and backstabbing.

---

---