A flashy, head-turning ruby-red Porsche Panamera pulled up right in front of him.
"What on earth do you want with me?"
Looking at Zhang Jingshan as he stepped out of the car, Ye Chen frowned.
"Mr. Ye, let's find somewhere to talk, shall we?" Zhang Jingshan said.
"I don't think there's any need. If you don't have anything to say, I'll be on my way. I've got things to do!" Ye Chen shook his head.
"Mr. Ye, where are you headed? How about I give you a ride? We can chat in the car," Zhang Jingshan offered eagerly.
Ye Chen thought about it.
A free ride was a free ride.
So, without the slightest bit of affectation, he nodded, pulled open the front passenger door, and climbed inside.
Once the Panamera was back on the road, Zhang Jingshan finally noticed that Ye Chen was still holding the brown paper bag he had given him yesterday.
"Mr. Ye, didn't you go to the bank to open an account? How come you're still holding this money?"
"Who said opening an account means depositing money?" Ye Chen glanced at him, feeling somewhat annoyed.
He genuinely couldn't figure out this fellow's bizarre hospitality.
Just as Chen Yinuo had said, how could someone of Zhang Jingshan's status possibly care about a nobody like him?
Because of that string of prayer beads?
It was nothing more than a chance encounter, a simple transaction.
It certainly didn't call for all this!
"Cough, cough. Fair enough. Mr. Ye, where are you headed?" Zhang Jingshan changed the subject.
"Jinlin Mansion over in the West District!" Ye Chen answered bluntly.
"Jinlin Mansion? You mean that housing development with the lowest property prices in the entire city of Jiangzhou?"
Catching a sidelong glance at the brown paper bag in Ye Chen's hand, Zhang Jingshan was dumbfounded.
Was he planning to use the money from selling the prayer beads to buy a home at Jinlin Mansion?
"Mr. Ye, you can't possibly be thinking of buying a place at Jinlin Mansion? Sure, the prices are low down there, but it's surrounded by chaos and filth. There's no way it's going to see any development within ten years. Why would you go buy a place there—"
Before Zhang Jingshan could finish, Ye Chen cut him off. "Why don't you just tell me why you're looking for me!"
Interrupted like that, Zhang Jingshan had no choice but to drop his warnings and advice.
He put on a serious expression and said, "Mr. Ye, after listening to your hint yesterday, I found a pinhole camera in that woman's bedroom last night. Just as you said, it was a trap—a trap using a pinhole camera to manufacture leverage and blackmail me!"
Hearing this, Ye Chen was quite surprised.
Zhang Jingshan had cracked the situation so quickly?
"So you're here to thank me?" Ye Chen said with a smile.
"Gratitude is one part of it."
Zhang Jingshan paused. "On the other hand, I want to ask: Mr. Ye, how on earth did you know I was going to be set up?"
This was Zhang Jingshan's true intention!
Even though he knew Ye Chen wouldn't just spell it out, he wanted to judge from Ye Chen's facial expressions and reactions whether there was anything fishy going on.
Yet how could Zhang Jingshan possibly know that the person sitting before him was an eighty-nine-year-old man who had once commanded hundreds of billions in personal assets?
Someone like Zhang Jingshan was no different from a little kid in Ye Chen's eyes.
How could he possibly let any flaws or tricks show?
Under Zhang Jingshan's probing sidelong gaze, Ye Chen remained completely calm and unruffled. "Didn't I tell you? Your aura looked wrong. I had a hunch you were walking into a peach blossom calamity—and your Yunshan Network Company is crawling with peach blossoms!"
"Is it really that simple? Don't you think that sounds a bit far-fetched, Mr. Ye?" Zhang Jingshan asked.
If not for what happened last night, he might have genuinely regarded Ye Chen as just a chance acquaintance from a business deal. At most, he owed Ye Chen a favor over the prayer beads; once that favor was settled, they would have had nothing more to do with each other.
But following last night's events—leaving aside the massive favor he now owed Ye Chen—he genuinely wanted to figure out how Ye Chen could possibly have known.
Don't feed him any nonsense about fortune-telling and physiognomy; that was absolute bullshit!
"What would make it *not* far-fetched, then? Should I say that I'm in cahoots with the person who set you up? That I wanted to use this opportunity to get close to you with ulterior motives?" Ye Chen chuckled dismissively.
"No, no, no, Mr. Ye, you misunderstood. What could you possibly want from me? It's just a crappy internet company that recruits live-streamers to sell goods for e-commerce, plus a grandfather who used to be the city party committee's top leader before retiring years ago. What could Mr. Ye possibly want from me? Besides, if it weren't for your warning, the fall I took would probably have meant Zhang Jingshan could never get back up—I might have even dragged my entire family down with me! I'm just baffled as to how Mr. Ye knew a trap was waiting for me, that's all!"
Zhang Jingshan explained in a flurry, then added, "That's it!"
"Still those two words: a hunch. If President Zhang insists on getting to the bottom of it, I'm afraid I'll have to get out of the car, because I can't give you any logical explanation!" Ye Chen said.
A hunch? It was a hunch again!
Wasn't this absolute nonsense?
How could a total stranger have a hunch that a trap was waiting for him, Zhang Jingshan?
Damn it!
To say nothing of the fact that he wasn't a superstitious person to begin with, even if he were a fanatical believer in the occult, he wouldn't buy such a mystical explanation!
Silence fell inside the car.
A moment later, Zhang Jingshan gave up on interrogating him further and spoke again. "Mr. Ye, aren't you curious about what kind of trap it was?"
"I don't like gossiping about things that have nothing to do with me."
After a brief pause, Ye Chen added, "Still, if President Zhang wants to tell me, I'm all ears!"
"It was the number one female live-streamer under my company. Out of all the female streamers in the entire company, she's the only one I've had a private affair with—no one else knew about it! She installed a pinhole camera in her bedroom, deliberately staging it to look like I was raping her in bed, and tried to use that to blackmail me. She wanted to force me to go to my grandfather and use his connections to bail out a drug dealer who was sentenced to ten years! That drug dealer is the younger brother of her ex-boyfriend. Her ex-boyfriend used things from her past to threaten her, forcing her to create an opportunity to threaten me. Does that make sense, Mr. Ye?"
Zhang Jingshan asked, though out of the corner of his eye, he kept a close watch on the subtle changes in Ye Chen's expression.
To his disappointment, however, Ye Chen remained just as detached and calm as before.
"Mm, I understand! Congratulations to President Zhang on breaking the game and defusing this potential crisis," Ye Chen said with a smile.
Inwardly, however, he was clicking his tongue at the full story.
In his past life, he had only known that Zhang Jingshan was ruined by a live-streamer named Yiyi, which led to the destruction of his entire family.
Yet he never knew the actual truth of the matter. Even after the grievance was cleared years later, the underlying reasons were never made public—though, of course, it was also possible that his past self simply hadn't paid attention to the follow-up.
Seeing Ye Chen remain completely unfazed and indifferent, Zhang Jingshan felt another wave of disappointment.
Yet alongside that disappointment came a surge of intense curiosity about Ye Chen.
Leaving aside Ye Chen's sharp eye for spotting treasures in the Antique City, and leaving aside the warning Ye Chen had given him during the Yiyi incident, how could someone so composed, steady, and airtight possibly be the kind of ambitionless, good-for-nothing gambling addict scum he'd taken him for?
Unlikely!
For a moment, he felt as though the other man was draped in a mysterious aura.
"What congratulations? Mr. Ye, this is all thanks to you. Otherwise, I wouldn't even dare to imagine what would have happened next! Mr. Ye, how about this? Let's find somewhere to grab lunch at noon—consider it a token of my gratitude. By the way, I'll introduce you to a friend of mine, the president of Huaxing Trading!" Zhang Jingshan laughed awkwardly.
Initially, Ye Chen's instinct was to refuse.
But when he heard Zhang Jingshan offer to introduce him to the president of Huaxing Trading, he immediately changed his mind.
For no other reason than the fact that the man was the boss of Yinuo's company.
If he could get on good terms with him, Yinuo's days at the company would naturally go much more smoothly and comfortably.
So he nodded. "Alright, but let me pay the down payment on the property first!"
At that moment, the Panamera's navigation system chimed to announce that they had reached their destination: the Jinlin Mansion sales center.
***
"Mr. Ye, are you really sure you want to buy a place here?"
Stepping out of the car, Zhang Jingshan felt he still needed to try and talk some sense into Ye Chen.
"If I told you that three days from now, property values here will at least quintuple, would you believe me?"
Knowing Zhang Jingshan meant well, Ye Chen replied with a smile.
"This place? Quintuple? Are you kidding me? Forget three days, it won't even double in three years, let alone five times!" Zhang Jingshan blurted out without even thinking.
With this kind of location and this kind of surrounding area, there was simply no room for short-term appreciation. Zhang Jingshan wouldn't dare make any promises about a decade or eight years, but within three to five years, there was absolutely zero possibility of the value going up here.
"Consider it fate. If you trust me, you could pick up a few units. Of course, if you don't believe me, there's nothing I can do," Ye Chen said with a faint smile.
Hm?
The moment the word *trust* was spoken, Zhang Jingshan immediately thought of Ye Chen's warning from yesterday.
Then again, today was completely different from yesterday!
However, seeing the absolute conviction and calm confidence on Ye Chen's face, he began to second-guess himself.
After all, he couldn't find a single reason why Ye Chen would try to screw him over.
"Why are you so certain? Is this another one of your 'hunches'?" Zhang Jingshan's tone wasn't as firm as before.
"Yep, just a hunch. Believe it or not."
With that, Ye Chen clutched his brown paper bag and strode toward the sales center.
Watching Ye Chen's retreating back, Zhang Jingshan hesitated for a moment, but ultimately followed him inside.
Even as he reached the entrance of the sales lobby, he couldn't help but shake his head.
Outside, festive opening banners fluttered in the wind alongside various promotional slogans.
Yet inside the cavernous sales center, there were barely a few souls to be seen.
What's more, the few people wandering around the architectural model were obviously just dropping in to freeload off the air conditioning, tea, and candies.
A development that looked as though it had been abandoned by the entire world—was this supposed to appreciate in the short term?
You've got to be kidding me!
Besides, even the developers had given up on hiring actors to pretend to be buyers and pump up the atmosphere, which showed just how little hope the developers themselves had for this project.
"Welcome to Jinlin Mansion! What kind of floor plan are you gentlemen looking for? Over here is our scale model. If you see a layout you like, we can go straight to view the finished apartments!"
Seeing people walk in, a sales representative hurried over with an eager smile.
Well, seeing as it was opening day, this desolate scene at least offered a little less awkwardness.
"Sure, let's take a look at the model first."
Ye Chen nodded and followed the sales rep toward the architectural display.
However, he didn't pay the slightest bit of attention to the various selling points the agent was rattling off.
Instead, he began analyzing things quietly based on his own experience.
"How much is this premier unit? Building's 01 layout, floors nineteen and twenty," Ye Chen asked.
"Sir, although our average price at Jinlin Mansion is around seven thousand, since this building is the premier block, the pricing can't be judged by the average—especially the 01 layout, which has the absolute best views and sightlines in the entire development! So the unit price for the 19th floor is 8,200, and for the 20th floor, it's 8,250. Both properties have the exact same total area of 142 square meters. The entrance garden and bay windows are included for free, and the balcony is half-complimentary as well!"
The sales rep smiled brightly as she delivered her professional pitch. "Also, today is opening day! The first one hundred buyers get a 4% discount, and on top of that 4% discount, you get an additional 2% off. How does that sound, sir?"
Ye Chen didn't even bother pretending to ponder the offer.
He nodded. "Alright, I'll take those two units."
Hearing that the customer wanted two properties, the sales rep's brain nearly short-circuited.
Any experienced sales agent wouldn't even bother coming to Jinlin Mansion.
Putting aside the fact that the low property prices meant meager commissions, nobody had any faith in Jinlin Mansion to begin with—selling real estate here was a complete waste of time.
As for this particular sales rep, she was a newcomer who had come to Jinlin Mansion just to gain some experience. She hadn't dared to harbor any hopes of making actual sales, yet she never expected to stumble straight into a massive whale.
"O-okay, sir! Please wait a moment, I'll go prepare the purchase agreements right away!"
The moment the excited sales rep rushed off, Zhang Jingshan immediately furrowed his brow. "Mr. Ye, you're buying two units at once?"
Zhang Jingshan was genuinely dumbfounded.
Based on his investigations, Ye Chen had to be flat broke. The only reason he had any cash was the three hundred thousand he'd made from that lucky find at the Antique City yesterday.
Well, he didn't know that out of that three hundred thousand, only twenty thousand remained.
With just that tiny amount of money, he was going to buy two places? And he picked the most expensive building, too?!
What kind of operation was this? How on earth was he planning to pay for it?!
"If I had the money, I'd buy out the entire development. Unfortunately, I've only got twenty thousand right now, so I can only put down the deposit for two units."
Ye Chen said with a meaningful smile and a hint of regret.
Zhang Jingshan's lips twitched violently.
He had no idea how to respond to that.
Before long, the sales rep returned.
What's more, she wasn't alone; several sales department staff members were trailing behind her.
"Hello, sir. I'm Xu Tong, the manager here. May I ask your surname?" A man in his early thirties hurried over toward Zhang Jingshan.
After all, Zhang Jingshan looked much more like the actual buyer.
"Mr. Ye is the principal buyer here. I'm just tagging along to watch the fun," Zhang Jingshan shrugged.
*Uh...*
Xu Tong was intensely awkward.
He hurriedly turned his attention to Ye Chen, pasting on a fawning, flattering smile. "Hello, Mr. Ye!"
"Alright, let's not waste time. Let's get through the process," Ye Chen said.
Once both sides had taken their seats and set up their paperwork, Ye Chen suddenly spoke.
"I won't be paying the down payment for now—just the deposit. And the deposit subscription agreement must be transferable to others! Furthermore, regardless of whether property prices rise or fall, we must stick to the prices stated in the subscription agreement at the time of purchase; you are not allowed to adjust them. Any issues with that?"
As soon as Ye Chen said this, not only was Zhang Jingshan left dumbstruck, but the real estate staff were completely bewildered as well.
What was the meaning of this?
Transferable subscription agreements they could understand, but dragging in a clause that prices couldn't be adjusted? What was *that* supposed to mean?
Did he honestly think Jinlin Mansion prices were going to skyrocket in the near future?
"What? Are my demands unreasonable?" Ye Chen asked with a smile.
Logically speaking, his main goal was to make money by flipping the deposit agreement in three days. Just by transferring the subscription rights alone, he could rake in a handsome profit—by that time, even if the developer raised prices, plenty of people would be fighting tooth and nail to buy them.
However, what he wanted was to maximize his profits!
If property prices went up by then, selling the deposit subscription agreement would only net him a few hundred thousand.
But if the price on the subscription agreement remained locked, then with prices surging fivefold overnight, the subscription agreement alone would be worth at least two million—and that was per unit!
"Mr. Ye, this... I'm afraid I'll have to consult my boss before I can give you an answer," Manager Xu Tong said.
"Alright, no rush."
As soon as Xu Tong left, Zhang Jingshan leaned over and whispered, "Mr. Ye, are you really this confident?"
"Trust me and give it a try," Ye Chen replied with a light smile.
At that, doubt began to creep into Zhang Jingshan's mind.
***
A few minutes later, Xu Tong returned.
"Apologies for keeping you waiting, Mr. Ye!"
"Well? Does it work?" Ye Chen asked.
Xu Tong replied, "Mr. Ye, I brought your request up with our president, and his response is this: the deposit agreement can indeed be transferred. However, regarding the issue of price fluctuations—well, we do have our own regulations. If market factors cause the price to rise, the excess amount will be discounted by fifty percent. Of course, we won't raise prices arbitrarily; that wouldn't comply with laws and regulations! However, the president said that the deposit requires a payment of one hundred thousand, and you must pay the full balance or the down payment within seven days. Otherwise, the deposit agreement will be voided and non-refundable."
Only a fifty percent discount on the excess?
Hearing this, Ye Chen felt a secret pang of regret.
Still, he understood; the other side wouldn't drop all their bottom lines. Even the developers themselves didn't believe property prices were about to experience an explosive boom in the near future, so rules and bottom lines still had to exist.
Fifty percent off was fine. When the time came, even if that deposit agreement couldn't fetch two million upon resale, one million should still be entirely doable!
"Alright, that works!"
Ye Chen cheerfully tipped the brown paper bag upside down, dumping its contents onto the table.
Immediately afterward, he began signing the series of subscription agreements with the other party, making sure to demand that all their verbal promises be added into the terms in writing.
"Mr. Ye, remember to pay the full balance or down payment within seven days, alright?"
Xu Tong stood up, smiling as he shook hands with Ye Chen.
Just as Ye Chen was preparing to leave, Zhang Jingshan, whose curiosity had been driving him crazy the whole time, finally couldn't help himself.
Driven by some inexplicable impulse, he blurted out, "Give me two units as well! Follow the same terms Mr. Ye got—deal?"
Sales Representative: "..."
Finance Staff: "..."
Manager Xu Tong: "..."
What the hell? Did they think buying property here was like shopping for groceries at the local market now?!
Sure, Jinlin Mansion's prices were cheap, but they were a far cry from giveaway cabbage prices!
Yet the things that left them even more dumbfounded were still to come.
Ye Chen cast a playful look at Zhang Jingshan. "Don't want to get a few more?"
"Cough, two is enough!" Zhang Jingshan said awkwardly.
Even though several hundred thousand was nothing to him, his money didn't fall out of the sky.
It was purely because of Ye Chen's absolute, unshakable confidence that he had acted on a whim and decided to tag along.
*At worst, I'll just write off the twenty-thousand deposit,* Young Master Zhang figured.
"Well then, sir, shall we collect the deposit for two units as well?" Xu Tong cleared his throat.
He had seen all sorts of eccentric customers in his time.
But a customer like this? This was a first.
Zhang Jingshan didn't hesitate any longer. "Right, two units. Mr. Ye booked the 01 layout, so I'll take the 02 layout on the same floor!"
Escorted out by the sales department staff, Ye Chen and Zhang Jingshan walked out into the open air, each holding two copies of the deposit subscription agreements.
"Mr. Ye, while twenty grand is nothing to me, this has got to be the most irrational thing I've ever done in my life," Zhang Jingshan muttered as they walked.
"Actually, you could be even more unhinged—like putting down deposits for ten units at once, or buying ten units outright in full. After all, there's no purchase restriction here," Ye Chen remarked.
"Are you kidding me? If prices don't go up, am I supposed to let them sit empty? In a place like this, you couldn't even give them away at a discount!" Zhang Jingshan laughed bitterly.