Volume 1, Chapter 11: A Double Blessing

The taxi pulled up at the entrance of Fulai Village. Zhang Han transferred 200 yuan to the driver and told him to wait there.

Zhang Han and Zhao Rui got out of the car. Zhao Rui clung tightly to Zhang Han, and the two soon disappeared from the driver's sight.

"Damn, that woman is really something," the driver muttered. On the drive over, he had caught glimpses of Zhao Rui’s deep V-neck through the rearview mirror. What mattered most was that such a sexy woman was also incredibly beautiful, with a figure and face that were top-tier.

Ten minutes later, they arrived at the first house Zhang Han had selected the previous day. It wasn't large, and no multi-story building had been constructed yet. It consisted of a main room, two side rooms, and a kitchen, with a total floor area of no more than 90 square meters.

However, what caught Zhang Han's eye was the courtyard, which was quite spacious, measuring at least 50 or 60 square meters.

When buying and selling houses, the courtyard area is rarely included in the floor area calculations, but demolition is a different story; the building area and the courtyard area are priced separately.

In other words, the value of Zhang Han's investment might increase even further—his 200 million might turn into 300 million, or even more. This was an unexpected windfall.

"Knock, knock, knock..." Zhao Rui knocked politely. "Is anyone home?"

"Who is it?" a rough male voice called out from the courtyard.

"I’m Xiao Zhao from Yujia Real Estate. Someone is interested in buying your house, and I’ve brought them over to have a chat."

The door opened to reveal a man in his forties wearing only large shorts. His eyes lit up when he saw Zhao Rui standing at the door, and he stared intently at her fair skin.

"Brother Huang, can we go inside to talk?" Zhao Rui felt uncomfortable; the sexy outfit she was wearing was meant for Zhang Han's eyes only.

"Oh, sure, come in, come in." Huang Zhi stepped aside, letting Zhao Rui and Zhang Han into the house. Knowing someone wanted to buy his house, he couldn't hide his excitement.

The room was stiflingly hot, with an old electric fan hanging from the ceiling, creaking as it spun. Zhang Han sighed to himself again: in this godforsaken place, one word from above could make property values skyrocket.

Zhao Rui went straight to the point: 3,800 per square meter for the 90 square meters, totaling 342,000 yuan. If they signed the contract now, they would pay immediately.

Huang Zhi was actually desperate for money. He was an old bachelor who usually picked up odd jobs in the city but spent most of his time gambling and drinking at home. He was dying for that sum of over 300,000 yuan. With that money, he could not only find a wife but also pay a down payment on a place in the city—it was a dream come true.

Even so, he followed the old tradition of Fulai Village: he drove a hard bargain.

Huang Zhi feigned difficulty, his eyes fixed on Zhao Rui’s cleavage. "Ah, little beauty, 3,800 is too low. Let’s make it 4,000. Just 200 more per square meter, and I’ll sign right now."

For 90 square meters, an extra 200 per square meter meant an additional 18,000 yuan. After their intimacy the previous day, Zhao Rui’s heart and soul were already Zhang Han’s, and she naturally wanted to save him money.

"Brother Huang, the prices in Fulai Village are basically uniform. Look at your location—it’s deep inside the village. You know how hard it is to get around when it rains or snows, right?"

"Honestly, Brother Huang, you should be happy I’m not pushing the price down, let alone asking for an increase. Let me tell you, we don’t have to buy your house. If you think 3,800 isn't enough, I’ll just go check out your neighbor’s place. By tomorrow, you’ll see your neighbor happily moving into the city to enjoy life."

It had to be said that Zhao Rui had a real talent for business. Her analysis of the pros and cons was spot-on, and she gave Huang Zhi a veiled threat: there were plenty of people in Fulai Village who wanted to move out; if he didn't sell, she would just buy from someone else.

"No, no, don't do that, little beauty." Huang Zhi looked distressed. "Look, I've been a bachelor my whole life, often struggling to make ends meet, and I’m buried in debt. Now that a pie has finally fallen from the sky, can you blame me for wanting to take a bigger bite?"

"Just take pity on me, won't you? If 200 more is too much, how about 50?"

"No." Zhao Rui was firm. She stood up and signaled for Zhang Han to leave.

Zhang Han had remained silent, standing at the doorway smoking and holding back a laugh.

Seeing this, Huang Zhi panicked. He lunged toward Zhao Rui and grabbed her wrist, refusing to let go. "Little beauty, don't go. 3,800 is fine, 3,800 it is."

Zhao Rui pulled her wrist away, deep disdain in her eyes. "Fine, then sign the papers quickly."

"By the way, let me ask one more thing—you aren't buying my house to live in, are you?" Huang Zhi asked. Even though he was a bit of a degenerate, he still had some self-awareness.

Zhao Rui looked at Zhang Han.

Zhang Han exhaled a cloud of smoke and said calmly, "Raising chickens."

He had to buy so many houses, all clustered together. The villagers would surely talk, so he needed a plausible excuse. Raising chickens was perfect. Fulai Village was close to the city, so setting up a chicken farm there would make it convenient to transport eggs and sell the birds. The only downside would be paving the road into the village, which was a reasonable enough excuse.

Huang Zhi had no further objections. Zhao Rui brought out the materials, had him sign, and carefully placed them in a document bag. There were still procedures like title transfers to go through, but with the signature and the initial deposit paid, it was a done deal.

Focused on earning money to pay off her debts, Zhao Rui worked with great efficiency. In just over two hours, they had signed contracts for four houses, which left Zhang Han very satisfied.

The total building area came to 600 square meters, with 240 square meters of courtyard space. Zhang Han couldn't stop grinning.

However, they hit a snag with the fifth house. The owner was a man named Liu. His house had only been built a few years ago, with a floor area of 200 square meters. He immediately demanded 8,000 per square meter, stating that anything less was not worth discussing.

That was over 1.6 million yuan!

As it turned out, while Zhang Han and Zhao Rui were busy signing contracts, Huang Zhi had run to the local convenience store to buy a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes and pay off over 10,000 yuan in gambling debts. Liu Cheng had witnessed this and learned that they were building a chicken farm. Since Liu’s house was situated right in the middle of the area, the farm wouldn't form a perfect circle if they didn't acquire his property.

"Brother Liu, 8,000 is really too much. Aren't you just treating the buyer like a fool?" Zhao Rui said, her anger simmering.

Liu Zhi stood with his hands behind his back, looking impatient. "Xiao Zhao, you and this young man have seen my place. Look at these renovation materials—they’re the best. This is my price. Don't talk to me if it's less than 8,000, alright?"

Liu Zhi opened the door to see them out.

"Brother Liu~" Zhao Rui pouted, trying to act coquettish. "4,500 per square meter is already a lot. We know your house is newly built, and we’re willing to give you a bit more as compensation."

"Get lost! Or I’ll start swinging a club!" Liu Zhi said with a dark face, though he was secretly thrilled. With the way the buyers were pestering him, 8,000 per square meter was in the bag.

Zhao Rui wanted to say more, but Zhang Han interrupted her, pulling her hand. "Fine, Brother Liu, we’ll be going then."

Zhao Rui’s face was flushed with anger. With no other choice, she followed Zhang Han out of Liu Zhi’s house.

Once they were far enough away, Zhao Rui said indignantly, "Xiao Han, why did you drag me away? You don’t understand these old scoundrels. If he dares to ask for 8,000 today, he’ll dare to ask for 10,000 tomorrow!"

"If we can't handle Liu Zhi, the prices for all the others will skyrocket!"

Zhang Han knew Zhao Rui was trying to save him money, so he patted her head. "Don't worry about 8,000. Even 5,000 would be hard for Liu Zhi to get."

Zhao Rui asked in surprise, "Why?"

Zhang Han smiled without answering. He had spotted a large group photo at Liu Zhi’s house, and in it was Liu Xin’s family. He was certain that Liu Zhi and Liu Zhong were relatives.

What a coincidence.

He hadn't yet figured out a perfect way to deal with the Liu family, and now the perfect opportunity had practically fallen into his lap.

Liu Zhong, Liu Xin’s father, was definitely going to take the fall for this.

It was truly a double blessing.