Volume One, Chapter 8: Zhao Rui, Who Still Had a Conscience

The road into Flourish Village was no wider than a single sedan could pass at most, and the surface was a mess of potholes layered upon potholes. It was nothing but craters.

Worse still, the holes were littered with stones of all sizes, sharp and jagged. A little electric scooter could make one trip there and back and its tires would be nearly finished.

At last they entered the village and found a big tree to park the scooter under. The two of them stood beneath its shade, both rubbing their backsides.

“Now you understand why my colleagues didn’t want to come here, don’t you?” Zhao Rui was drenched in sweat, a few strands of her long hair stuck to her neck. The weather was suffocatingly hot, and she had no choice but to undo two buttons of her blouse, revealing a generous view.

Zhang Han smiled. “Still called Flourish Village, huh? On a road full of potholes, even fortune would stumble if it came here.”

Zhao Rui was amused by him and laughed without stopping. “Since you say that if fortune comes and trips, then wouldn’t fortune just stay in Flourish Village?”

Zhang Han’s eyes lit up. Well, well, you know what? She really had a point.

He looked at this village, not small by any means, and felt a surge of emotion. No one thinks highly of you, and yet somehow you are the most promising of all.

In half a year, everything here would be leveled to the ground. From flat earth would rise tall buildings, and property prices would soar.

The highest prices would approach fifty thousand a square meter.

More than eleven times higher.

Of course, the money in Zhang Han’s hands would also multiply by eight to ten times. Eighteen million would surge toward two hundred million.

A terrifying sum.

Supermarkets, schools, amusement parks... everything imaginable would be here. The bustle would be no less than the city center of River South.

“I haven’t asked how big a place you’re planning to buy,” Zhao Rui said. The sun was far too fierce, so instead of taking Zhang Han from one household to another, she first wanted to understand the ideal size in his mind, then head straight to places of roughly that size.

In truth, the villagers of Flourish Village all wanted to move away. Who wouldn’t want to live in a city apartment and enjoy better educational resources?

It was only a twenty-minute ride by electric scooter, yet the difference in property prices was like heaven and earth. They were selling for 3,800 a square meter here, while even the cheapest homes in North River cost seven or eight thousand per square meter. They would have to put in nearly half more, and still get no yard.

So they wanted more money, and they wanted the open space in their yards counted as well. But people who came to buy houses were not fools. A yard was not part of the building area to begin with, so why should it count against them?

Zhang Han did not answer immediately. He first did a quick calculation in his head. At 3,800 per square meter, he had about 19 million yuan on hand. Of course, he could not spend all of it on a house; the transition period still had six months to go.

Most importantly, he still had to leave some benefits for the two households of Liu Xin and Yang Song, so he needed to keep at least one million in reserve.

At 3,800 per square meter, 18 million would buy a place of more than 4,700 square meters.

“I’m looking to buy a pretty big place,” Zhang Han said with a smile, his eyes taking in Zhao Rui without reserve.

Zhao Rui did not mind. She was eager to make this deal; she needed money badly.

“How big?” she asked with a sweet smile. A woman in her thirties, even when trying to look cute, simply could not compare to a high school graduate fresh out of school, Zhang Han thought to himself.

“More than four thousand square meters,” Zhang Han said evenly.

Zhao Rui froze for a moment, thinking she had heard wrong. “Four... more than four thousand square meters?”

Zhang Han nodded calmly.

“You—you’re crazy!” Zhao Rui stared at him in disbelief. She even reached out to feel his forehead, then her own. “No fever. What nonsense are you talking?”

“It’s true.” Zhang Han remained impassive.

Seeing that he really did not seem to be joking, Zhao Rui actually began to persuade him. “Zhang Han, it’s not that I don’t want to make money from you. On the contrary, I’m really short on money right now, and I’d love to close every customer, especially a super big one like you.”

“If this were in River South, with a client like you, let alone asking me to pour tea and serve you, even if you asked me to keep you company for ten nights or twenty, I’d be willing.”

“But to be honest, I still have a conscience. Have you been fooled by someone?”

“This isn’t River South. There’s investment value over there. This is North River, and not just any part of North River—this is one of the poorest areas in North River. Investing here could lose you to the bone.”

Zhao Rui spoke to him very seriously, while Zhang Han stood to the side with folded arms, smiling. Zhao Rui grew anxious and pouted her red lips as she shoved him once. “What are you staring at? Is there something on my face?”

“There is!” Zhang Han said solemnly.

“What is it? Did my makeup smear? I told you, I’m really short on money right now. My cosmetics are all cheap stuff, so don’t mind it.”

“Beautifulness,” Zhang Han teased.

He now held a very favorable impression of Zhao Rui. The fact that she said she was short on money, yet still advised Zhang Han to think carefully before investing, was enough for him to feel that she was a decent woman.

So this commission had to be earned by her.

“Smooth talker,” Zhao Rui said with a roll of her eyes, full of allure. She took Zhang Han’s arm on her own initiative. “Come on, let’s go back. Count this as me sneaking out for a bit. But sneaking out with a handsome young guy does feel pretty nice.”

Zhao Rui had once been young too; she had passed through the best years of eighteen.

Looking at Zhang Han, his face slightly damp with sweat, she thought of a saying: one cannot possess both youth and the feeling of youth.

Zhang Han did not move. He raised a hand and helped her smooth back the long hair stuck to her neck. “Sister Rui, I really am planning to buy a house here. I’m not joking.”

Seeing that she could not talk him out of it, Zhao Rui could only sigh helplessly. “Then come on. I’ll take you to look around the village. Don’t let the name fool you—Flourish Village may only be a village, but it’s actually quite large. Years ago, it was formed by merging several smaller villages...”

Arm in arm, Zhao Rui clung to him, not at all bothered by the heat. The two of them stayed very close, like a pair of sweethearts in love. As they walked, she would even brush against Zhang Han’s arm, and he was certain Zhao Rui could feel it too.

He knew that Zhao Rui was conflicted inside right now. She wanted him to buy and earn the commission, yet also feared that if he bought here, he would end up losing a fortune.

An hour later, they had more or less seen the whole of Flourish Village. Zhang Han now had a general picture in mind and had already decided which area to take. Although the development would radiate outward from Flourish Village as the center, the village itself was not small, and he had to secure the very core of it.

“All right, are you still determined to buy here?” Zhao Rui suggested. “If you really want to buy, getting one place for retirement or relaxation would be fine. Raise some chickens, grow some crops, ease the pressure from work—it’s actually not bad. The houses near the village entrance are decent, and there’s even a ditch beside them.”

Zhang Han shook his head. “No.”

He pointed ahead. “This part on the right side of Flourish Village. For 18 million, buy as much as you can.”

“What!!” Zhao Rui jumped up in alarm. “So I spent an hour wasting my breath on you, and you didn’t listen to a single word?”

Zhang Han looked up at her. Because she was so generously endowed, he could not even fully see her angry expression. “Sister Rui, the commission on eighteen million is still two hundred seventy thousand. You don’t want that money?”

Zhao Rui froze. Then she plopped down in front of Zhang Han, and somehow two more buttons on her white blouse came undone, exposing even more of her. Looking somewhat dazed, she stared at him. “Zhang Han, you’re not joking with me, are you?”

“If you’re just lusting after Sister’s body, say it straight. Don’t make me feel like I’m riding a roller coaster, okay?”