Chapter 30 Buying a House

Led by the real estate agent, Pei Qian took a quick look at the house.

It was indeed a bare-bones apartment, just as he'd been told. It hadn't been renovated. The area was around 170 square meters, with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. One bedroom faced north, while the other two bedrooms and the living room faced south. The layout was good.

Pei Qian planned to live in it himself, so he valued comfort above all else.

Compared to other residential areas nearby, this one was a bit further from the snack street and Thriller Paradise; it required a bit of walking to get there. Plus, it wasn't a school district and the local amenities were only so-so, so the price was lower.

But these weren't major issues for Pei Qian.

"Alright, contact the seller and set up a meeting as soon as possible. If everything checks out, we'll sign the contract."

Pei Qian was very decisive. As a single-threaded person, finishing one task early freed up his brainpower to focus on other things.

With July just around the corner and settlement time drawing near, Pei Qian needed to put in 120% effort to figure out how to fleece the system for more.

The real estate agent was, of course, overjoyed. Meeting a buyer like this was a blessing in disguise!

He immediately called the seller.

A moment later, the agent said, "The seller says he can bring the documents over right now, and should be here in about an hour. How about we wait at the office?"

Pei Qian nodded. "Sounds good."

It seemed the seller was also eager to get rid of the property. The real estate agent had mentioned earlier that he needed the money urgently.

...

Back at the real estate agency, Pei Qian played on his phone for a while and drank two cups of tea before the seller arrived.

"Hello, hello. My name is Che, Che Rong. What should I call you?" The seller's face was beaming.

He had listed this apartment for some time. Today, he heard there was a buyer who wanted to pay in full, and who met all of his requirements, and was also very decisive, so he was naturally overjoyed.

The buyer in front of him was dressed casually and looked very young, probably a college student. It was rare for such a young person to buy an apartment outright; his parents had probably sponsored him.

But he was wearing a mask on such a hot day, and didn't take it off after they met. He wondered what was going on.

However, Che Rong didn't ask too much. As a businessman, he knew better than to ask unnecessary questions.

Pei Qian sized up Che Rong. He looked to be in his forties, and was in pretty good shape for his age. His chest and biceps strained the polo shirt he was wearing, and he seemed full of energy.

He double-checked in his mind. He didn't recognize him.

Pei Qian had been worried that Jingzhou, though not a small city, wasn't that big either.

All the investors in Jingzhou clustered around President Li in a small circle. These investors invested in everything, so buying a few properties was normal.

Pei Qian was afraid that the seller might be one of those investors, and would recognize him at a glance. Wouldn't that be terrible?

Seeing Che Rong, Pei Qian breathed a sigh of relief.

Good, good, he didn't recognize him.

How could there be such a coincidence in the world? He couldn't just run into an acquaintance every time he bought a property in Jingzhou, could he?

That was unscientific.

"Hello, my surname is Pei." Pei Qian shook his hand politely.

"Pei?" Che Rong paused subconsciously.

The surname Pei wasn't very common. When he heard the surname, he immediately thought of President Pei of Tengda.

But he quickly dismissed this ridiculous thought.

How could it possibly be President Pei!

Would President Pei even consider buying a property in this area?

Besides, even if President Pei liked it and wanted to buy it, he wouldn't personally handle these procedures. He'd just have a subordinate take care of it. And he wouldn't just buy one property; he'd buy an entire building like Sloth Apartments.

So Che Rong dismissed this unrealistic fantasy and simply saw Pei Qian as an ordinary home buyer, most likely unrelated to President Pei of Tengda Corporation.

The two sat down and briefly discussed the apartment.

Pei Qian asked, "Is there a specific reason why you're eager to sell the property?"

Che Rong quickly said, "Don't worry, there's absolutely nothing wrong with the property. The reason I'm selling it is because of some personal business matters."

"You see, I own a gym."

"Business was pretty good a few years ago, and I had some spare cash, so I thought I'd invest in some properties like everyone else. It just so happened that the apartments in this Auspicious Garden complex were being sold, and the developer was hyping it up, hinting that there was a school district nearby and that the value would definitely increase in the future."

"I didn't really know much about it, so I got caught up in the hype and bought three apartments."

"But who knew that it was all a scam! After the apartments were handed over, we found out that there was no school district at all. Many people went to protest to the developer, but nothing came of it. So the value of the apartments started to decline steadily, dropping by seven or eight hundred, almost a thousand yuan per square meter."

"In the past two years, the fitness industry in Jingzhou has been declining, and my business has been getting worse every day. Fortunately, I recently received help from someone important and got a leg up. The new branch of my gym has been doing well, so I discussed it with a few investors and partners, and we decided to increase investment and open more branches."

"Although the investors are putting up the money, this is still my business, and I want to contribute more capital, otherwise I won't have much say in the future."

"Besides, if I contribute more money and open more branches, the business can develop faster."

"It just so happened that the snack street incident had a slight positive effect on the apartment prices in this complex, bringing them back above what I originally paid. So I thought I'd sell them as soon as possible to recover the capital and invest it in my gym."

"In short, I've learned from this experience that real estate speculation is not the right path! It's better for me to stick to my old profession and make money honestly."

Che Rong briefly explained his situation, so the other party wouldn't suspect that there was a major problem with the apartment and think that he was trying to deceive them.

As for the specific details of the gym, he didn't elaborate, just glossed over them.

After all, the other party didn't care about those details, so there was no need to go into too much detail.

Pei Qian listened silently, his brow furrowing and relaxing alternately.

So the guy in front of him wasn't a professional real estate speculator, but just followed the trend, and without the eye of a professional speculator, he'd dragged himself into it.

Come to think of it... the fitness industry in Jingzhou has been declining in the past two years?

How come I didn't notice?

Tuo Guan Fitness was doing incredibly well, and even kept opening new branches.

Oh, because Tuo Guan Fitness was doing so well, that meant things were declining for other gyms, right? After all, the market was only so big, and Tuo Guan Fitness was squeezing them out...

It seemed like he was partly to blame.

Putting it that way, this guy wasn't having an easy time either. He was even selling his apartment to raise working capital for his gym, so things must not be looking good.

Should he lend a helping hand to a gym that was barely holding on?

The money from Dream Chasing Capital was always being invested, but it didn't matter where it was invested, right?

In Jingzhou, with the terrifying existence of Tuo Guan Fitness, other gyms' businesses were severely squeezed. In other words, investing in other gyms would more or less guarantee a loss, right?

At least he wouldn't make a killing!

Pei Qian asked, "What's the name of your gym?"

Che Rong replied, "Star Bird Fitness."

"Star Bird Fitness?" Pei Qian paused. He recognized the name, he'd definitely heard it before.

But where had he heard it...

He forgot, he couldn't remember at all.

"I think I've heard of the name, but I can't remember where," Pei Qian said.

Che Rong smiled. "Oh, my gym isn't that big, but it's still a small chain in Jingzhou, with a few locations. You might have passed by and seen the sign before, so it made an impression."

Pei Qian nodded slightly. That sounded reasonable.

He'd have to tell He Desheng from Dream Chasing Capital later to secretly invest some money in Star Bird Fitness. Of course, he couldn't reveal his identity, and definitely couldn't reveal that he'd bought an apartment in this complex.

The two chatted casually for a few more minutes, and both were quite satisfied.

"Alright, let's sign the contract then."

The two hit it off and happily closed the deal.

Although it was a full cash purchase, there were still some procedures involved. But with the real estate agency's help, many things were relatively easy and not too troublesome.

Signing the online contract, tax verification, submitting the documents...

The efficiency here was very high. The whole process was completed in two days, and Pei Qian successfully obtained the property ownership certificate, and the money was transferred to Che Rong.

The 170-plus-square-meter bare apartment cost about 8,500 yuan per square meter, for a total price of 1.44 million yuan, plus taxes, of course.

The price wasn't too high for Pei Qian, and was perfectly acceptable. When he had some free time, he'd find a reliable custom home company to renovate it, air it out for a few months, and after all the tests met the standards, he'd basically be able to move in.

During the weekend, in addition to taking care of the apartment procedures, Pei Qian also contacted Hu Xiao to have his internet trolls hype up *Animal Island*, starting the first step of the reverse psychology plan.

Once the popularity of *Animal Island* had been stirred up a bit by Monday, he'd immediately have Tengda officially issue a statement to disassociate itself from Chixing Studio, thereby beginning the first step of the reverse promotion.

Of course, Pei Qian also didn't forget to tell He Desheng to pay attention to Star Bird Fitness when he had time and invest some money in it.

But he couldn't invest immediately; he had to wait a few days, preferably until Che Rong had forgotten about selling the apartment, so as not to arouse his suspicion.

Everything was going smoothly. Pei Qian was very happy. After returning home, he lay comfortably on the bed, waiting for Monday to arrive.

...

Sunday afternoon.

After completing the apartment-related procedures, Che Rong immediately rushed back to Star Bird Fitness.

Li Shi was drinking tea and waiting in Star Bird Fitness's VIP meeting room.

"Sorry for making President Li wait so long! I went to handle the apartment sale today, and I got stuck in traffic on the way back. I'm really sorry! I'll treat you to a meal another day to make up for it!"