"How rare! Aren't you going to make me cough with you?" Later I found out that the white lotus really thought that way, and the reason was the motorcycle I was riding. She said it was the first time she had ever seen a man riding a motorcycle with his two wives buying a villa.
When Bai Lianhua heard that I really wanted to buy it, she was extremely excited. I asked her to prepare the relevant documents and said that I would go to see the house tomorrow.
I hung up the phone, and Baozi started nagging me again: "Just throw away that crappy phone of yours, aren't you ashamed?"
I pried the card out, tossed the antique phone into the drawer, and decided I was going to get a good night's sleep and wasn't going to answer any calls. "I'll change it tomorrow," I said.
I didn't know that this almost became a decision I would regret for the rest of my life.
Chapter Sixty-Seven: Paying Wages
The next day, I woke up with a slightly stuffy head. As soon as I got out of bed, I saw Xiang Yu sitting next to me, arms and legs outstretched, muttering to himself, "Pull the handbrake, turn the key, press the clutch, shift gears..." I went over and patted him, but then he suddenly fell back asleep, snoring loudly. It turned out he was sleepwalking.
These past few days, Qin Shi Huang has been focusing on Contra, and with three lives, he can get to the second level. I taught him how to command 30 people, which made him so happy that he casually bestowed upon me the title of King of Wei. If I buy him another game cheat manual, I reckon he'd offer me half of the Qin Dynasty's territory.
Jing Ke and Zhao Bailian forged an unbreakable friendship, often playing around like children with mops. Jing Ke said Zhao Bailian's "swordsmanship" was extremely unpredictable, and that if they had assassinated Qin Shi Huang together, the fat king would have been utterly helpless. This made me so angry I really wanted to find Old Man Zhao and tell him to keep an eye on his foolish son.
As planned, I went to the sales office of Qingshui Jiayuan. As soon as the motorcycle stopped, Bai Lianhua jumped out and said, "Let's go look at the houses directly." She then asked me, "Should I ride in your car or mine?" I patted the motorcycle and said, "This one may be a bit ugly, but it's faster than a bicycle, right?"
The white lotus covered her mouth and chuckled, "The company provided us with a car; you can drive that one if you want to look at houses." She pointed to an Elysee parked by the door. My face turned bright red instantly, from my toenails to my cheeks; if I weren't thick-skinned, the red would have been visible through. The white lotus, very understanding, sat in the motorcycle's cargo bed and said, "Is this a limited edition?"
I said, "Don't try to give me any more ideas, it's embarrassing enough."
On the way, I remembered that I still needed to buy a new mobile phone, and Bai Lianhua insisted on accompanying me to choose one first. We wandered around the various counters in a large telecommunications equipment store for a long time. Bai Lianhua said, "What kind of mobile phone do you need? What functions do you need it to have, or which functions do you need to be more professional? If you take a lot of photos, then choose this one... If you want to keep up with the latest and fastest stock market information, then choose this one..." Her words even attracted the attention of the store manager, who insisted on hiring her.
The sales assistant in the mall couldn't get a word in edgewise. From the moment I started browsing until I paid and took the goods, she remained completely dumbfounded. In the end, I bought a Samsung phone for 3800 yuan. It wasn't too expensive, but it had all the features and looked quite stylish, which was suitable for a man my age with a little money. The "white lotus" (a term of endearment for a woman who is seemingly innocent but actually manly) saved me 1200 yuan.
Shopping with a white lotus flower is like walking into a sugarcane field with an incredibly sharp machete—it can achieve twice the result with half the effort. I think her talent isn't just suited for selling houses; if she were determined to deal in arms, she could master the Kalashnikov rifle system in half an hour.
The more you watch out for this kind of person, the more you have to be careful. If her house isn't good, I definitely won't buy it! I thought to myself.
After getting into the car, Bai Lianhua smiled and said to me, "Don't you think I'm pretty scary now?" After what just happened, she had changed how she addressed me.
She said, "You're probably thinking right now, this woman is so good at bluffing, I'll have to be careful when we look at the house later."
I couldn't help but glance down at her. Bai Lianhua was actually a very delicate woman, even a little shy when silent, like a student fresh out of school. But it was precisely this shyness that made her words so persuasive. When she introduced something to you, she wouldn't just talk about its merits; she would also mention one or two insignificant flaws. She knew people would definitely pay attention to these, and then use a few subtle transitions to dispel your concerns, showing such thoughtfulness. This is something no sales technique instructor can teach—it's what you call talent.
The villa area is located outside the 3rd Ring Road, not far from the highway, but unaffected by it. Moreover, it's still within the city limits, making shopping very convenient for car owners. The developer of Qingshui Jiayuan is financially strong, as evidenced by the location of this land.
But because of the earthquake, the villa area was desolate; the grand and luxurious complex's automatic gates were closed, and there were no security guards. There was only one person in the lobby controlling the switches, and he opened the door for us.
After a nearly endless transition zone, we passed artificial hills and pavilions. The motorcycles sped across the vast lawns, which resembled a golf course. This short stretch of road alone filled me with excitement. This is what it feels like to be rich! To have such a spacious living area in a cramped city is much better than being a landlord in the past!
Upon arriving at the residential area, Bai Lianhua stood up on the motorcycle and, like a female Kuomintang military intelligence chief, pointed to the villa complex and said, "Choose one."
The villas are spaced about 100 meters apart, so there's no issue of obstruction or privacy. From the front lawns and garages to the architectural style, they're all identical—European-style. Dazzled, I asked, "Any suggestions?"
"No. As you can see, they are exactly the same, and there is no such thing as a good or bad location. We are just afraid of differences. Some will be in high demand while others will be ignored. They are all rich people, and if they start fighting, we will also suffer."
I casually asked, "Which building would you choose?"
To everyone's surprise, Bai Lianhua blushed and said, "You should ask the two older sisters about that." But she immediately added, "If it were me, I would choose the middle one."
I drove the car to the middle building, and Bai Lianhua took out the remote key she had taken from the foyer and pressed it. The garage door slammed shut. I said, "We don't need to drive this car in—it doesn't have reverse."
"...I just wanted to show you that the garage door isn't broken."
I jumped off the motorcycle and carefully examined the small two-story building. It was considered small only because of its low ceiling; it looked like each floor alone would have a living area of at least 200 square meters. I crouched down and touched the lawn, finding the grass rather sparse. Bai Lianhua immediately said, "The lawn may not look that pretty, but this type of grass, imported from abroad, is very resilient and grows slowly. You don't need to take special care of it, and it'll be perfect for having a barbecue with your sisters in the summer."
I glanced at her, and the question immediately arose, didn't it? But the scenario she described really made me feel a little itchy—I immediately reminded myself: I have to be careful of this White Lotus Cult Leader!
She went up the steps and opened the door. I immediately asked, "Is this door secure?" I thought it would be best to have Shi Qian check the door locks. If he couldn't open it within 10 seconds, it would be absolutely safe.
"Don't worry, the community has very tight security, and cameras will be installed in every household in the future."
We entered the house, and the spacious living room immediately came into view. I noticed Bai Lianhua sigh softly, a sigh of envy and admiration; it was clear she truly loved the house. Calming herself down, she led me around. The first floor had two large bedrooms, a bathroom, and a storage room. She led me to the kitchen, stretching out her arms and saying, "Here you can build a large marble countertop, with a small refrigerator or wine cabinet next to it."
I suddenly slapped my thigh and exclaimed, "Oh no!"
Bai Lianhua's expression changed, and she asked, "What?"
"I was so focused on buying the house that I forgot to factor in the renovation costs. Now that you mention it, I realize that just a marble countertop alone must cost tens of thousands, right?"
"We don't need that many. Man-made ones are much more expensive than natural ones. It'll probably cost around ten thousand yuan."
"Can you help me calculate how much it would cost to renovate such a big house?"
"The bigger and more upscale the house, the more expensive it will be. If you only spend 100,000 yuan to buy a house, 10,000 yuan for renovations will be about right. If it's a 1 million yuan house, then 100,000 yuan will barely be enough. Although this house is only selling for 1.8 million yuan, its actual value is far higher than that. 500,000 yuan should be enough for basic renovations. If you want something more luxurious, then there's no limit."
"So, with furniture and such, it would cost around 3 million to move in?"
White Lotus nodded: "More or less."
I gasped for breath and said, "Then I'll have to think about it some more."
Bai Lianhua suddenly said solemnly, "Mr. Xiao, you can take what I'm about to say as a salesperson's business advice, but I still have to say it. First, this may be the last batch of villa-style private housing available in our city. As you know, housing is in short supply now, and it's becoming increasingly difficult to obtain permits for large-sized commercial housing. Second, this is the cheapest villa you can buy in all of China, and it's only so cheap during this special period. Let me tell you an inside story: the Qingshui Jiayuan villa area wasn't originally planned to be open to the public for the next two years. If there's no earthquake within two years, these houses could at least triple in value. The reason they're reluctantly selling them is that the company's senior management is considering that not selling within two years would create a bad impression. Right now, every house sold here is a loss-making endeavor to gain publicity. So I urge you to seriously consider this."
Who wouldn't be tempted by these words? You don't need many. If even 50% of it is true, buying this house would be like finding a treasure.
I said, "Let's go upstairs and take a look."
Once I got upstairs, I was completely stuck. We kids who grew up in bungalows have an almost innate totem worship of apartment buildings. But when we moved into apartment buildings, we started to miss the courtyard of the bungalows. And when I lived on the second floor, I often thought: How wonderful it would be if the first floor were mine too.
At the pawnshop, this wish was barely fulfilled. Then I thought: wouldn't it be better if the lawn across from us wasn't a place selling cold noodles? Although people always say I'm greedy and insatiable, I call this—pursuit!
Now, the time has finally come for my dream to come true! The second floor looks even bigger than the first floor because it has a balcony that extends more than 2 meters out. There are 4 bedrooms in total, symmetrically arranged on both sides. Bai Lianhua kept designing the future for me, like putting a pool table here, decorating it like a bar there, and even setting aside one room as a nursery...
Finally, we went up to the rooftop. White Lotus pointed into the distance, saying with deep affection, "We plan to develop an artificial lake there. We'll plant willows, and in the evening, you can hold your sisters' hands..."