The emotion of watching the flag-raising ceremony live was so strong that even when the scheduled viewing time arrived, Liu Chen was still imbued with a sense of integrity.
Guo Da, who hadn't slept a wink the previous night, was momentarily stunned by Liu Chen's righteous demeanor. "This aura," he thought, "is so much like my second uncle, who was a soldier!"
"Brother Guo, shall we go?"
Perhaps it was because the price was right, but Liu Chen found the apartment suitable no matter how he looked at it. Satisfied with every aspect, he made the decision in less than five minutes.
"Brother Guo, I think this apartment is great. Can you help me contact the landlord to see if I can pay a deposit first?"
Guo Da looked at the girl's beaming face and wished he could turn back time to yesterday and tape his own mouth shut for his careless words.
"Ahem, Little Liu..."
"Hey! Dazi! You found a buyer? Let me take a look?" Shen Gong, wearing a white vest and boxer shorts and holding a palm-leaf fan, walked up from downstairs and asked, seeing Guo Da's back at the doorway.
It was over...
"Second Uncle, come here, let me tell you..."
Hearing the voice, Liu Chen initially intended to come out, but upon hearing Guo Da call out "Second Uncle," he retreated, standing quietly in the room to listen.
"Second Uncle, this young lady is genuinely buying, with full payment!"
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go sign the contract!"
"Ahem, the problem is, I misunderstood the young lady yesterday. A woman told me that Little Liu just flew into Beijing the day before yesterday and that she was just playing a trick on me by showing me the apartment. In a fit of anger, I casually quoted seventy-six thousand..."
"You damn fool! Didn't I tell you eighty-two thousand!"
"Second Uncle..."
"Don't. I'm not your uncle. You can call someone else Second Uncle. I don't have a nephew who turns his back on his own kin."
Although their voices were intentionally lowered, the hallway was quiet, and Liu Chen heard everything.
After another five or six minutes, Guo Da entered with the old man in the vest.
"Ahem, Little Liu, this is my Second Uncle, Shen Gong, who is the owner of this apartment. He said he can agree to two payments, but the price will go up a bit, to seventy-five thousand. If you feel it's not suitable, we can just forget about it..."
"It's fine."
"Huh?"
"I said it's fine. Let's sign the contract today."
To be honest, Liu Chen had been worried it might be a haunted house given the significantly lower price. Hearing the reason now, he almost felt like thanking the catty woman on the plane.
Because of her words, he could actually get it for ten thousand more than the market price!
To avoid any further complications, Liu Chen urged Guo Da to proceed with the sales contract. Both parties agreed that upon full payment, they would proceed with the transfer of ownership.
With the sales contract in hand, Liu Chen finally felt at ease. Following industry norms, he paid Guo Da a seven-thousand-yuan brokerage fee and added him on QQ.
Thinking he had indeed taken advantage of Guo Da on this deal, Liu Chen decided to offer Guo Da a new selling strategy before leaving.
"Brother Guo Da, actually, you could completely implement a QQ viewing function."
Guo Da, sitting behind his desk at "I Love My Home" and attempting to kill Liu Chen with his gaze, heard Liu Chen's words. He quickly put on an expression of great interest, walked out from behind the desk, and handed Liu Chen a bottle of Yibao. "What kind of viewing? Little Liu, tell me more. I think what you're saying has great potential!"
Seeing Guo Da retreat, his Second Uncle snorted and walked out of "I Love My Home" with his fan. Having been delayed for so long, he hadn't even had time to buy groceries, and his wife would nag him again when he got back.
"It's about putting photos of each secondhand apartment in your QQ space album, along with the area, building description, and price. Then, you watermark your QQ number onto the photos. Of course, you need to state that you have a physical store. This way, if clients from out of town want to view properties, they can look at several online and then fly directly to Beijing for two days to buy."
It was in 2008, and Beijing didn't have property purchase restrictions yet, so this was feasible. A few years later, after the restrictions were implemented, those without Beijing household registration could only buy apartments.
Guo Da felt as if Liu Chen's words had opened up a brand new world for him.
He, Guo Da, wasn't short of money, but who didn't want to earn more?
Looking at his childhood friends from the hutongs, all wearing ties and bustling around major CBDs, working in foreign companies and speaking English, it was impossible not to feel envious.
But for people from all over the country to come to him to buy property in Beijing, wow! Just thinking about it gave him goosebumps!
"Little Liu, how on earth did your brain develop like this? How can you create such amazing applications from a chat QQ? Alright, Brother Guo won't take advantage of you. For every property sold through this method in the future, I'll give you a tenth of the brokerage fee."
Liu Chen, holding the bottle of Yibao, cast a faint glance at Guo Da.
"Brother Guo, you'll regret this later."
Guo Da's eyes widened, his eyebrows shot up, and he thumped his chest. "I, Guo Da, a grown man from Beijing, keep my word. If I go back on it, I'll jump off the roof of a building in this imperial city!"
Thus, Liu Chen, walking out of "I Love My Home," found another profit-sharing agreement in his pocket. It was simple and crude but bore Guo Da's official seal and was absolutely legally binding.
Years later, Guo Da, known as the "Secondhand Property King" on the internet, took a deep puff of his cigarette, exhaled numerous smoke rings, and with a furrowed brow told his child, "The dignity of a Beijing man is truly, damn expensive!"
In the afternoon, Xiao Cai, punctual as always, picked up Hu Min and Wang Dong, and then picked up Liu Chen to head to the Old Summer Palace.
Looking at the ruined walls and rubble within the Old Summer Palace, Liu Chen's heart ached. "One day," he vowed, "all the scattered cultural relics will return!"
Dinner was in a private room at the Forbidden City branch of Siji Minfu. The crispy, tender roast duck, the Prince's Roast Meat, and the Mustard Duck Feet – perhaps it was because they were exhausted from walking all day, or perhaps the dishes were truly delicious, but Liu Chen, Ren Mo, and his aunt Wang Dong, all four of them, managed to finish all six dishes and one soup. Full and leaning back against his chair, Liu Chen narrowed his eyes, marking this place as one of the must-visit spots for his mother.
After eating their fill, they emerged from the private room. Hu Min and Wang Dong walked ahead, while Liu Chen and Ren Mo deliberately lagged a couple of steps behind. The four of them ambled south along Nanchizi Street, walking Liu Chen and Ren Mo back to their siheyuan.
Wei Wanyan, who was also strolling behind, watched the two children in front knock on a siheyuan door, the door opened, and then they went inside...
At that moment, Wei Wanyan suddenly realized.
So, the truly wealthy people were the little girls in first class on the plane!