Chapter 13: Wholesale

After looking at the two small western-style-building, Uncle asked Chen Jin what she thought. Chen Jin honestly replied that she felt they were very suitable and that they could buy one.

Uncle then asked the third uncle, “third Sister has bought one; Wenkang, do you want to buy the other one?”

The third uncle repeatedly shook his head. “Too expensive; we won’t buy it.”

“Alright.” Uncle wasn’t surprised. He walked over to Professor Shen and said a few words, then went outside to make a phone call. After about ten minutes, Uncle came back and told Professor Shen, “Chen Jin wants the villa on the right. As for the other one, I have a friend who also wants it, but he won’t be available until tomorrow. How about this: we come back tomorrow to sign the contract and make the payment, and we can also go to the housing authority to handle the transfer.”

Professor Shen hesitated a bit. “What does your friend do?”

“That friend runs a company, and he wants to buy the house here for his son to live in. Oh, right, his son just returned from studying abroad and was hired as a teacher by NTU.”

“Oh? Which college is he a new teacher for?”

“I’m not sure about that; I heard he studied something related to computers.”

Professor Shen nodded thoughtfully. “That’s fine; I’ll hold the house for you. I’ll be at the housing authority waiting for you at ten tomorrow morning. Just so you know, if you don’t show up tomorrow, I’ll sell the house to someone else.”

Uncle quickly agreed, “That won’t happen; we will definitely arrive on time.” After saying this, he gave an honest smile and rubbed his head. “Professor Shen, is there any way the price for the house can be…”

Professor Shen shot him a glare, but as soon as he shifted his gaze, he met Chen Jin’s clear eyes. If it were someone else buying, he would definitely not budge on the price, but since it was a student from his own school and a future colleague, he was willing to negotiate. Professor Shen stated firmly, “Nine hundred thirty-one thousand for the house, and if it’s any less, then forget it.”

Uncle glanced at Chen Jin, who nodded like a little chick pecking at grains.

The two small villas were thus settled.

Just as they finished their discussion and were about to go out, a middle-aged couple rushed over to Professor Shen. “Professor Shen, we’ll take the house at the price you mentioned last time: nine hundred fifty thousand each. We can go and pay for the transfer right now.”

Chen Jin’s heart sank.

Professor Shen waved his hand impatiently. “You’re too late; I’ve sold the house.” He was fed up—after a month of back-and-forth, with them nitpicking various flaws in the house and bargaining, they finally agreed on nine hundred fifty thousand and promised to pay for the transfer, only for this couple to suddenly backtrack and ask for a further discount. Coincidentally, a friend had informed him that someone was interested in buying, so he came over today.

Although he had lowered the price a bit today, the negotiation was smooth, and he was happy to take a little less money.

“What? Sold?” The woman exclaimed, her voice rising in anger. “How can you do this? We came to see the house first; it’s not like we weren’t going to pay. You just sold it out from under us and wasted over a month of our time! No, you have to sell this house to us; we agreed to buy it!”

Uncle stepped forward, blocking Professor Shen. “There’s no contract, no payment. If they want to sell, they can. Who are you to say otherwise? Our family is buying both houses. Try yelling at me again!”

When Uncle put on a fierce expression, he was quite intimidating. The woman’s voice weakened in response, and though she wanted to argue further, the man who came with her pulled her back, smiling at Uncle. “She’s just a bit anxious; please forgive her.”

The woman apologized gently to Professor Shen, saying, “If you have any more villas for sale, please give us a call. We sincerely want to buy; our child is starting elementary school next semester, and the educational environment here is good. As parents, we want to create better conditions for our child.”

Professor Shen responded with an expressionless “Mm.”

After leaving Nanda, Uncle took them to a restaurant near his home and also called over the family of his second brother, who was planning to buy a house in the afternoon.

Auntie hurried over from the store and immediately asked if they had bought the house.

Uncle proudly replied, “Of course we bought it! It’s not easy to find a villa near Nanda. I contacted several friends just to get this lead. Those houses are in high demand; if you’re not introduced by someone familiar, they won’t even consider you.”

He had thought it was a bit silly at first, as selling a house is selling a house. After talking with Professor Shen today, he guessed the professor might be worried about attracting troublemakers, especially since his family still lived in that area.

“Thank you, Uncle. You’ve worked hard.” Chen Jin quickly poured Uncle a glass of drink, as they wouldn’t order any alcohol since they had to drive later.

“Haha, it’s nothing.” Uncle took the drink and had a big gulp, then reminded her, “You should renovate that house and move in early. Visit Professor Shen’s family more; it’ll give you an edge when it comes to your future role as a counselor at school.”

Chen Jin nodded with a smile; this house purchase was a good deal!

Everyone said they would gather at her place once the renovations were done, and Chen Jin naturally agreed.

Chen Jia sat next to her and said, “Then I can visit my cousin often.”

Chen Jin replied, “There are two guest rooms; you can come anytime.”

In the afternoon, there were too many people looking at houses in Xicheng (West) District. Third Cousin and his family of three, along with second Cousin, also went along. Uncle drove his family, while the others took two cars.

Uncle had called ahead, so when they arrived, a manager in a suit was waiting to show them the properties.

The houses in this community weren’t as close to the commercial center of Xicheng (West) District but were a bit on the outskirts. However, it only took half an hour by car to reach the center, and importantly, the prices here were much cheaper than those near the city center. The houses were all renovated, ready for moving in after adding furniture. Uncle could get a discounted price of only fifteen hundred per square meter. It was said that a new metro line planned by the government would pass through here.

Chen Jin planned to rent out the houses, wanting all of them to be 40 square meters with one bedroom and one living room. Uncle advised her to buy some different layouts, so she ended up purchasing ten one-bedroom units, five two-bedroom units, and five three-bedroom units. In total, she was getting twenty units, which would cost her two million.

The manager accompanying them was shocked: was this young lady here to buy in bulk?

The manager quickly became numb to the numbers because Chen Jin’s third aunt also followed her “bulk buying” example, purchasing a total of twenty-two units, saying this way would allow her to evenly distribute them between her two sons in the future.

Uncle’s purchases were roughly equal to theirs, also considering how to divide them among his children.

Their families chose houses that were close together, so they could help look after each other when needed.

They finalized their purchases quickly; once they selected the houses, they went with the manager to handle the property transfer procedures. The manager’s performance for the day exceeded six million, and he was grinning from ear to ear.

Chen Jin had to go and handle the transfer with Professor Shen in the morning, so she spent the night at Uncle’s house, while the family of the third uncle thought they had bought enough and went straight back to their temporary housing to spend the night.

When Chen Ting returned home after work and learned that they had purchased so many houses, her mouth fell open in surprise. But upon hearing her father’s distribution plan, she felt unbalanced; just because she was a girl, she would receive less than her older brother and second brother. If compared to Chen Jia, she would certainly be satisfied, but with Chen Jin as a comparison, she felt it was frustrating—she was doing better than some but not as well as others!

Uncle glanced at his sulking daughter and said, “As for the houses in beautiful Community, Yongcheng and Yongxin got a lot, so I plan to buy a place near the Maternal and Child Hospital for Tingting as a supplement.”

Chen Ting’s eyes lit up, and her mood brightened.

This was an internal matter for Uncle’s family, so Chen Jin didn’t want to interrupt. However, she noticed her cousin-in-law’s displeased pout, indicating that there might be more conflict to come.

The conversation quickly shifted back to Chen Jin, with Uncle asking if she wanted to buy a property in the city center. Chen Jin nodded eagerly, “I want to buy one more apartment in the city center, and after that, I won’t buy any more.”

She had set aside over four million for buying houses and a car. Just purchasing the villas and making bulk purchases at Xiuli (beautiful) Community had already cost her three million. Buying an apartment in the city center would likely require another seven or eight hundred thousand, and she planned to spend two hundred thousand on a car. That left her with over five hundred thousand to renovate the villas. She also needed to furnish the twenty units in Xiuli (beautiful) Community simply to make them suitable for rental.

Chen Jin felt a mix of excitement and responsibility as she calculated her expenses. She was determined to make the most of her investments and ensure everything was ready for renting out the properties.

Next to Nanda, one building; in the city center, one suite; twenty suites in the Xiuli (beautiful) Community; nine resettlement houses… enough!

In the evening, Chen Jin and Chen Ting slept together.

Chen Ting tossed and turned, thinking about how her dad had given her five houses: one resettlement house, three houses from the newly purchased Xiuli (beautiful) Community, and one house he promised but hadn’t bought yet, which would be convenient for her to get to work. But he only mentioned the houses and never brought up giving any money to the siblings. She had her salary for work to spend, which was enough for herself, but she couldn’t afford to buy anything expensive.

Moreover, her second brother reminded Chen Jin to practice driving more during the summer vacation to get her driver’s license…

“Chen Jin, are you going to buy a car?”

“Mm.” Chen Jin was almost asleep when she was nudged awake by her. She immediately became alert. She had run around all three districts of the city today to buy a house and was exhausted.

But after waking her, Chen Ting fell silent. After waiting a moment, Chen Jin felt too tired and fell back asleep.

Chen Ting turned to her side, her gaze unfocused on the deep blue curtains.

She grew up at her grandmother’s house while her parents were busy outside, and her aunt took care of her and her siblings. When she was little, she followed the kids in the village to pick watermelons from someone else’s field and got beaten by her aunt when she returned. From that moment on, she began to fear her aunt. There was even a time when she resented her aunt for being too strict. It wasn’t until she grew up a little and became more understanding that she realized her aunt was strict because she genuinely cared for them.

She didn’t particularly like Chen Jin. When they were younger, it was out of fear of her aunt, resenting Chen Jin by extension. Later, it was because her dad always praised Chen Jin, and others often said that Chen Jin resembled her dad more. After moving to the city, she held on to her identity as a “city person,” believing she was better off than Chen Jin, feeling a vague sense of superiority.

But that sense of superiority evaporated after this round of demolitions:

Chen Jin alone received such a large compensation and now held thirty houses in her hands, with savings of over a million. She could buy houses and cars whenever she wanted…

She knew her mindset was wrong, but she couldn’t help it. Why was it that Chen Jin no longer had to worry about money, while her family of three siblings had parents who favored the two older brothers?

Chen Jin slept well last night and woke up feeling refreshed in the morning. But when she turned to see Chen Ting’s expression, she was taken aback.

“You didn’t sleep last night?” She looked like she had panda eyes.

Chen Ting angrily tidied up the bed, “You were grinding your teeth and talking in your sleep last night, keeping me awake.”

Chen Jin immediately wanted to deny it; if she was asleep, she wouldn’t be grinding her teeth and talking in her sleep. That strange person in the dormitory would definitely argue with her. But seeing Chen Ting’s expression, she reluctantly accepted this unfounded “charge” with a simple “Oh.”

Hmph, today she was going to bring in a small villa, feeling quite pleased.

She hummed in her heart, “Today is a good day; everything I wish for will come true~”