Chapter 16: Transaction Completed

Over the next half month, everything moved in a positive direction.

Grandmother’s surgery was successful, and Eldest Uncle had already taken her back to their hometown to recuperate.

As for Chen Fan, everything also went very smoothly.

First, he had spent 100 yuan to buy 3,000 Bitcoins.

Yes, you heard that correctly; he had only spent 100 yuan, which was unbelievably cheap.

Of course, Chen Fan did not go on a heavy buying spree at bargain prices.

Besides the possibility that buying too much capital might halt the speculation, he was also worried about the risks.

From his experience, he knew that despite Bitcoins boasting about decentralization and absolute privacy, the Beautiful Country could still investigate you if it wanted to.

If you drew too much attention, others could easily find an excuse to confiscate them, and then you would have nowhere to cry.

Even with those 3,000 Bitcoins, Chen Fan planned to sell off part of them gradually over the next few years, since having them in hand was the real wealth.

Secondly, his novel also achieved decent results, and shortly after signing it shot into the top 10 of the new-releases chart.

Unfortunately, because Chen Fan rushed the release, he missed out on many recommendation slots.

By frantically updating, he had barely accumulated just over 10,000 bookmarks, and getting more than 2,000 first subscriptions should be no problem.

And that day was the novel’s release day.

As for the houses, they were wildly sought after by countless buyers.

A few days earlier, Chen Fan had gone against Eldest Uncle’s advice and put both his house and Zhang Wanrou’s house on the market, and once they were listed they attracted a lot of attention.

Some sharp observers might have wondered why two ordinary flats could raise such a commotion.

There was nothing to be done; human nature was just like that.

With housing prices soaring, people were even less willing to sell, hoping they would continue to appreciate.

Therefore, houses in Wolong County city remained in tight supply, and very few people were willing to sell.

And since the Dexing Community location was excellent and Chen Fan was an inexperienced orphaned high-school student, wouldn’t people come knocking overnight?

However, those people were celebrating prematurely.

No one expected that beneath Chen Fan’s young, strong body there lurked a soul hardened by the cruelties of society.

After half a month, they had not only failed to get a bargain from Chen Fan, but one by one they had been baited and left looking foolish.

For example, Coach Wang Yuanpeng, who was currently viewing the property, was already on his third visit.

He not only failed to haggle the price down, but the price kept climbing, which nearly made him feel sick with frustration.

“Young man, I’m very satisfied with the house and sincerely want it; why don’t we just go with the first price and I’ll sign the contract on the spot!”

Coach Wang wore an earnest expression, and as a driving-school instructor who had just returned from out of town with a child about to enter high school, his need to buy a house was extremely urgent.

Chen Fan’s listing was already the best-located and most affordable property he had seen, and he really didn’t want to miss it.

Chen Fan shook his head decisively and said, “Uncle Wang, sorry; someone already offered a higher price yesterday, and I simply didn’t want to be untrustworthy so I didn’t raise the price.”

That statement was both true and not entirely true.

Indeed someone had offered a higher price, but their payments were evasive and insincere, and some even tried to take advantage of his youth by asking for IOUs.

Chen Fan would be a fool to sell the house to those people.

What he valued most was the honest Coach Wang in front of him, and he aimed to close the deal today.

Coach Wang had also heard the rumor, so he was impatient to return, and after fretting for a few minutes he gritted his teeth and said:

“Okay, I agree, but could you give me a bit more time; I’ll go try to raise the money…”

Chen Fan still shook his head and said, “I’m afraid that won’t work, Uncle Wang; I told you from the start that I was desperate for the money and couldn’t wait long, so I’ll sell to whoever can come up with the funds the fastest…”

Before he had finished speaking, the phone rang at the right moment.

Chen Fan gave Coach Wang an apologetic look and walked out onto the balcony.

Within seconds, muffled conversations could be heard, for example:

“Both houses are already fully booked for tomorrow; viewings can only be held the day after tomorrow.”

“Nothing is confirmed yet, but one of the units has already been eyed by my classmate’s family, so it should close tomorrow.”

“Raise the price to hold it for you? That’s not right… I want to see whether today’s clients are interested first.”

Coach Wang pricked up his ears and eavesdropped, pacing anxiously in the living room and wanting to kick Chen Fan’s phone across the room.

He did not suspect at all that Chen Fan was trying to set him up.

If it had been a cunning member of society, they might indeed have employed such inducements.

But Chen Fan was merely a high school student who had never been out in society, so he didn’t understand those tricks.

Besides, the houses were truly in demand, and hesitating could really have led to someone taking them first.

So, just as Chen Fan finished the call and returned, Coach Wang hurriedly pulled the 20,000-yuan deposit he had prepared out of his bag.

“Young man, I’ll take the house; you don’t need to keep listing it!”

Chen Fan looked surprised and did not reach for the money; he hesitated and said, “Uncle Wang, I must remind you in advance that if you do not pay the balance on time, the deposit is nonrefundable, and that requirement will be written into the contract.”

“No problem, no problem, we’ll do everything as you say!”

Coach Wang was truly anxious and directly shoved the money into Chen Fan’s arms.

Chen Fan reluctantly accepted it, and after being urged to sign the contract under video witness, Coach Wang finally relaxed.

The transaction was completed, and both parties left satisfied.

Chen Fan personally escorted Coach Wang to the door, and before parting he remembered to ask, “Uncle Wang, how much does your driving school charge for lessons; I’d like to sign up.”

Coach Wang was in a good mood and said with a laugh, “The public price is 3,200, but if it’s Student Chen, I can authorize a 200-yuan discount for you.”

Chen Fan tried to bargain a little further and asked, “I can already drive, and I can bring a few classmates over; can it be even cheaper?”

“Alright, if Student Chen can pass on the first try, I’ll give you another 200 off. And for every student you refer I’ll give you a 100-yuan commission, and each classmate’s registration fee will also be 200 yuan cheaper than normal.”

Coach Wang was short of students and wanted to build his reputation, so this was a win-win and there was no reason not to agree.

Chen Fan made an OK gesture, saw Coach Wang off, and returned to Zhang Wanrou’s home.

Zhang Wanrou was off today and was tucked away in the kitchen stewing meat, the aroma making one salivate.

Chen Fan strode into the kitchen and saw Zhang Wanrou wearing an oversized T-shirt, beads of sweat running down her long neck, sliding over her delicate collarbone and into a fathomless abyss.

“Sister Wanrou, what are you making? It smells so good!”

Chen Fan stepped forward and took a deep sniff.

To his surprise, Zhang Wanrou actually stepped back two paces in alarm, a wary expression appearing on her pretty face.

The atmosphere suddenly turned awkward.

Chen Fan felt helpless; this was the punishment for his earlier impulsiveness.

That day he had only meant to hug Zhang Wanrou, but his bad habit had kicked in and he kissed her outright.

Unfortunately, Zhang Wanrou had dodged at the time, and he had only kissed her fair, tender cheek.

Otherwise the two of them would have missed their chance at a first kiss.

“Heh, Sister Wanrou, I’ll go online for a bit; if anyone comes to see the house, call me immediately.”

Chen Fan made a fool of himself, smiled awkwardly, and prepared to go to the internet café to upload his novel.

Today was the release day for My Master’s Wife and 9 Senior Sisters Are Stunningly Beautiful, so there could be no mistakes.

Zhang Wanrou remained silent until Chen Fan’s figure was about to disappear, then she gripped the ladle tightly and urgently asked, “Will you be back for dinner tonight?”

“Of course I’ll be back; how could I miss Sister Wanrou cooking in person!”

Chen Fan popped his head out from beside the wall, and his radiant smile made Zhang Wanrou flustered and lower her head.