With a loud “smack,” Shen Chuo himself was stunned.

Pei Tingyue’s eyebrow twitched, halting his movement. There seemed to be a dangerous implication in his lowered eyes. In the dimly lit car, there was only the sound of their respective breathing.

The slap mark on his face was evident. Shen Chuo tightened his fingers, feeling a hint of regret.

After a moment, Pei Tingyue sneered, “You’re quite strong, huh?”

“Let go of me.”

Pei Tingyue raised his hand to rub his lips again, then withdrew before Shen Chuo could frown.

“No need to get so worked up,” he sat back, casually lighting a cigarette and flicking the ash into the ashtray, “It’s not the first time, no need to react so strongly.”

Shen Chuo regretted not exerting more force just now.

Pei Tingyue bit the cigarette, his gaze falling on Shen Chuo for a moment before finally unlocking the door.

Shen Chuo immediately pushed the door open and got out of the car, slamming the door shut forcefully and striding away.

Pei Tingyue watched him walk away, slowly touching his still stinging face, then returned his gaze to the screen of his phone.

The person in the photo looked flustered, with truly beautiful eyes, especially when filled with anger.

After a moment, he stubbed out the cigarette, turned off the screen, leaned back in his seat, and closed his eyes with disinterest.

For the next week, Pei Tingyue didn’t come to pester him again. Shen Chuo felt relieved when he thought Pei had given up.

In the blink of an eye, it was early June, and the paperwork for the house he bought still hadn’t been sorted out.

The seller claimed there were some issues at home causing delays but assured him they would sort it out by mid-month. Shen Chuo didn’t press, as the original tenants of the house had already moved out. Waiting another half month wouldn’t matter much.

During the weekend, he arranged for the people from the renovation company he had previously discussed with to go to the house for measurements.

“The larger room here will be turned into a study, with a few more bookshelves. The rest doesn’t matter much; you can handle it as you see fit, keeping the overall style simple.”

Shen Chuo communicated his ideas with the designer, touring both rooms before returning to the living room.

“We can start the renovation now. Can we finish by the end of October? Try not to drag it into the end of the year; I want to move in sooner.”

“There shouldn’t be a problem. Let’s finalize the plan first and aim to start by mid-month.”

As they were talking, someone came in through the open door. Upon seeing them, he paused, “Who are you? Why are you in my house?”

Shen Chuo was puzzled, “And you are?”

“This is the house I bought,” the newcomer said.

He also claimed to be the buyer of this house and produced the purchase contract. Shen Chuo took a look and indeed it was the same house, and the contract in his hand was signed at the end of last year, six months earlier than his.

“We bought this house last year. We signed the contract and paid fifty thousand in advance. We’ve been urging the seller to transfer ownership for half a year, but the seller kept giving excuses. It was only a few days ago that we got the keys from his wife.”

The man repeatedly emphasized that they had already paid. Knowing that Shen Chuo also had a purchase contract similar to his, his tone became unintentionally impatient.

The designer from the renovation company guessed that the seller had sold the same house to two buyers and reminded Shen Chuo to call and confirm.

As a result, Shen Chuo called, but there was no answer. The agent answered the phone but claimed not to know about the situation and said they needed to confirm with the seller.

The man’s face turned even redder, “Anyway, we bought this house first. It’s ours. Let’s follow the principle of first come, first served. You can’t snatch it from us.”

Shen Chuo’s expression turned ugly. First, it was the troublesome tenant, and now another buyer suddenly appeared. He didn’t expect to encounter so many setbacks when buying a house.

This house was indeed to his liking. He had already made the down payment and brought people from the renovation company to see it. He didn’t want to give up just like that.

On the way back to the school, Shen Chuo called the seller again.

This time the call was answered, but the seller kept dodging the issue. After being pressed by Shen Chuo and unable to give a clear answer, he finally had to admit that he had indeed signed a purchase contract with someone else before.

“Back then, they contacted my wife. They offered a low price. You know the location of this neighborhood is the best in this area, with all the amenities nearby. After the new subway line opened earlier this year, the subway entrance is right at the entrance of the neighborhood. The prices in other areas are falling, but this one has risen quite a bit in the past six months. If I sold it to them, wouldn’t I have lost a lot? Of course, I wanted to sell it to you.”

“The purchase contract they signed also had both your signatures. There’s no situation where your wife sold the house without your knowledge,” Shen Chuo said unhappily. “Since you had already sold the house once before, why didn’t you make it clear to me and sold it to me again? Isn’t this fraud?”

“It’s not that serious,” the seller refused to admit, “Don’t worry for now. Let’s talk about this later. I’ll negotiate with them. Anyway, you offered a higher price. I definitely want to sell the house to you. I won’t be unreasonable about money. I’m not trying to cheat you, really.”

“But—”

Before Shen Chuo could finish his sentence, the other party hung up. When he called back, the phone was switched off. He tried three times in a row, but all he got was the mechanical repetition of the busy tone.

At this point, he finally realized that he had been deceived.

At noon, when Pei Tingyue returned to the law firm from outside, he heard voices coming from the flowerbed nearby as he parked.

Glancing over, he recognized the person talking on the phone as the female assistant from the office who had previously dined with Shen Chuo.

“The house was sold twice? You were the one who signed the contract later, right? Really?”

“Have you completed the transfer? Has the other party completed the transfer? How was your contract signed? What did the agent say?”

“You know my level. I haven’t dealt much with contract disputes. Don’t you want to send me a photo of the purchase contract? I can ask someone else for you?”

After hanging up, Zhang Tong flipped through the contract Shen Chuo had sent him and asked other young lawyers around him, “My friend has paid the down payment for the house, but the ownership hasn’t been transferred. The house was previously contracted to someone else, and it seems like the transfer hasn’t been completed either. Does he still have a chance to get the house?”

“Was there a pre-sale registration?”

“Probably not. He said no procedures have been completed.”

“In that case, it’s going to be difficult,” a colleague said, “Without transferring ownership and pre-sale registration, your friend, who signed the contract later, has little chance of getting the house. It’s better to sue the seller for a refund of the down payment and compensation for breach of contract.”

Pei Tingyue casually swiped his phone, unfastened his seatbelt, and got out of the car.

In the evening, when Shen Chuo returned to the dormitory, he received a call from Zhang Tong.

Zhang Tong briefed him on the information he had gathered from other lawyers: “Neither of you has completed the transfer or the pre-sale registration, and neither of you has moved in yet. The other party signed the contract first, so it’s basically impossible for you to get the house. You might want to find a way to get the seller to pay more compensation for breach of contract. If you want to sue, I can introduce a lawyer to you.”

Shen Chuo felt somewhat disappointed. Even if he could successfully get the refund of the down payment and compensation after the lawsuit, it would take a long time. Then he would have to find a new house. He would have to stay in the dormitory for a while.

Zhang Tong comforted him, “As long as you get your money back, there’s no need to rush into buying a house. Next time you want to buy a house, let me know in advance, and I’ll go with you to sign the contract.”

Shen Chuo didn’t have much else to say. As for whether to sue or not, he planned to communicate with the seller and the agent first.

When he came out after taking a shower, a new call came in, the caller ID displayed a string of numbers.

Shen Chuo didn’t have Pei Tingyue’s number saved, but he almost immediately realized who it was.

He didn’t really want to answer, and after a few rings, the call disconnected automatically. Pei Tingyue sent a text message: [Let’s talk about your house situation.]

Shen Chuo didn’t expect Pei Tingyue to know about this matter as well. When the call came in again, after hesitating, he pressed the answer button.

“Got swindled?” Pei Tingyue asked as soon as he answered, his tone seemingly containing a hint of schadenfreude.

“How did you know?”

“I just know,” Pei Tingyue said, “Even though your friend is a lawyer, you didn’t consult her before buying the house. Professor Shen, you’re not exactly the innocent party here.”

“Is that all you wanted to say?”

“Not satisfied?”

Shen Chuo didn’t respond.

Pei Tingyue continued, “Huai City implemented new policies for pre-sale registration of second-hand houses just this year. It’s only been two months since it started, so it’s normal that the agent didn’t inform you, and your friend may not have known either.”

“You knew,” Shen Chuo realized something, “But you didn’t remind me before.”

“Yeah, I knew. I didn’t.”

Shen Chuo understood: “You did it on purpose.”

“You’re not my client, so I’m not obligated to remind you,” Pei Tingyue said straightforwardly, “Even from a personal relationship standpoint, as you said, Professor Shen, we have no relationship.”

Shen Chuo suddenly didn’t want to say anything.

He had long known that Pei Tingyue was a person of bad character, lacking empathy. He had no intention of forming a deep relationship with him, so why bother expecting anything from him?

“I didn’t expect you to be so unlucky, actually encountering a situation of multiple sales for one house,” Pei Tingyue said, “Your luck is really bad.”

“That’s all.” Shen Chuo decided to hang up the phone.

“Are you angry?” the person on the other end teased him, “I find that you have quite a temper.”

“Is there anything else you want to say?” Shen Chuo asked as calmly as possible.

“Do you really want that house? Do you want me to help you?” he suddenly blurted out, completely catching Shen Chuo off guard.

“I wanted to say last time, your house is small, and it’s over ten years old. It’s not worth buying.”

“It’s not that bad,” Shen Chuo disagreed with his opinion, “I prefer a smaller house. It’s enough for me living alone.”

“Living alone,” Pei Tingyue repeated those two words, his tone somewhat inexplicable, “Alright.”

“I…”

“It’s not that difficult to get a house,” Pei Tingyue interrupted him, “Come out tomorrow, let’s meet and talk face to face.”