"That's half an immortal right there!" Li Changfeng chimed in, having followed along to watch the excitement.
The two men quickly hurried to catch up with Ye Chen.
However, they hadn't walked many steps before Zhang Jingshan noticed something was amiss.
Ye Chen wasn't heading toward the main entrance of the sales office at all.
Instead, he was walking directly toward the crowd of people queuing up to take numbers.
"Mr. Ye, the sales office is over that way. Aren't we going in to pay?" Zhang Jingshan asked in a puzzled rush.
"Pay what?" Ye Chen said.
Zhang Jingshan looked completely bewildered. "The down payment for the property!"
"Who said I was buying? I'm here to sell the deposit subscription agreements!" Ye Chen said.
Zhang Jingshan: "..."
Li Changfeng: "..."
Without giving the two men too much of an explanation, Ye Chen locked his gaze onto a middle-aged couple who looked at a glance like they were far from short of money.
"I told you to come earlier, but you wouldn't listen. Now look, who knows how long we're going to have to wait in this line!" the heavily bejeweled wealthy matron complained endlessly.
"How was I supposed to know it would be this crazy? I just don't get it—houses going for thirty or forty thousand per square meter, and yet they're treating them like cabbages at the wet market. How can they be in demand to this degree?" the middle-aged man said.
"All right, stop your whining. Don't you have a friend who knows the developer of Jinlin Mansion? Hurry up and pull some strings through your friend to see if we can get priority. The house doesn't matter; we're not short of a place to live, but the enrollment spot for the Foreign Language School—that is of the utmost importance!" the woman said.
"It's no use. I called him first thing this morning, and he already spoke to the Chief of Jinlin Mansion. He said there are just too many people trying to pull strings for priority, so there's no way around it—everyone has to be treated equally! Why don't we head back first and come back after this peak wave passes?" the middle-aged man said.
Just then, a voice rang out beside their ears.
"After this peak wave passes, I'm afraid it won't be thirty or forty thousand per square meter anymore, and the situation where you can't even get a single apartment will only become even more severe!"
Hm?
The middle-aged couple turned their heads to look.
"What do you mean by that? What do you do?"
Seeing that Ye Chen's attire didn't look like someone who could afford to buy a house in Jinlin Mansion, the other party frowned involuntarily.
"You can think of me as a scalper!" Ye Chen said with a smile.
"A scalper? You mean you have properties in Jinlin Mansion in your hands?" The wealthy matron's eyes widened in delight.
"I don't have the properties, but I do have a deposit subscription agreement that I can transfer to you."
With that, Ye Chen handed over the deposit subscription agreement he was holding. "Care to take a look?"
The other party hurried to take it.
"Hold on, Mr. Ye, you're going to transfer the deposit subscription agreement? Why didn't you say so earlier? Wouldn't it have been simpler to just sell it directly to me? Did you really have to go looking for clients?"
Seeing this, Zhang Jingshan understood, and he panicked.
He finally understood why Ye Chen had insisted earlier that the deposit subscription agreements had to be transferable.
It turned out it was specifically to transfer them!
No, if he really wanted to flip them, wouldn't it be much sweeter to wait until he bought the properties and then flip them for a massive profit?
Just transferring the deposit—how much could he possibly make off that?
"Mr. Ye, Jingshan is right. If you're strapped for cash, I can back you so you can buy the properties first. If you don't want to do that, you can transfer them to me at a high price!" Li Changfeng chimed in.
"Hey, hey, hey! First come, first served. What do you two think you're playing at?"
Having no time to ponder whether the other party might be a plant, the opulent matron grew anxious.
Then, fearing that Ye Chen might go back on his word, she quickly said, "Mr. Ye, right? We want this deposit subscription agreement of yours. Name your price. Once we go inside the sales office and complete the transfer procedures, we'll pay you immediately!"
This deposit subscription agreement not only explicitly stated that transfers were permitted, but it also allowed for a fifty percent discount on the unit price for any amount exceeding eight thousand.
Furthermore, the apartment was located in the very "king of buildings" structure, on the absolute prime floor.
If they could secure this deposit subscription agreement, not only would they bypass the line and the lottery drawing, but they would also secure an apartment in the best and most prime location at a relatively low price.
Under these circumstances, they couldn't afford to miss out for the world...
***
"Mr. Ye!"
"Mr. Ye!"
Zhang Jingshan and Li Changfeng cried out anxiously at the same time.
It looked as though they were worried about letting outside parties reap the benefits meant for insiders, preventing them from snapping up this bargain.
In reality, that wasn't the case at all.
Though their current financial strength was certainly nowhere near being called deep-pocketed, that didn't mean they cared deeply about a mere three or five million.
What they were worried about was simply that Ye Chen would get the short end of the stick.
After all, as far as they were concerned, Ye Chen's help to them was practically a rebirth.
If Ye Chen were willing to transfer those two deposit subscription agreements to them, they certainly wouldn't let him lose out; they could offer one or two million, or even a higher price, for that ten-thousand-yuan deposit.
Yet if he transferred them to strangers, such a price was utterly impossible because the other party would still have to weigh whether it was worth it.
And they both knew Ye Chen's financial situation. An extra million or two might not amount to much for Zhang Jingshan or Li Changfeng, but for Ye Chen, it was definitely no small sum.
Therefore, they wanted to help him maximize his profits.
However, how could Ye Chen, who had lived through two lifetimes, fail to understand what they were thinking?
Yet, this kind intention was not one Ye Chen was prepared to accept.
Because once accepted, it became a favor!
And he did not want to owe anyone favors.
Besides, while selling to Zhang Jingshan and Li Changfeng would certainly earn him a bit more, having been reborn with sixty years of future memories and wielding this cheat code of foresight, would he really care about a mere million or two?
He faintly shook his head.
Ye Chen said, "President Zhang, President Li, I appreciate the kind intentions. I have my own principles when doing things; earning a little less doesn't matter, but if I owe favors, I'm afraid I'll feel thoroughly uncomfortable all over. Besides, with both of your capabilities, you aren't likely to be plotting to snap up a few Jinlin Mansion apartments just to speculate on them, are you? And as for living in them—even more ridiculous. Jinlin Mansion won't even hand over the apartments for another year or two, and the surrounding relocation and redevelopment plans won't take shape for three to five years. Would properties like that even catch either of your eyes?"
This...
Zhang Jingshan and Li Changfeng were instantly left speechless.
They wanted to say something more, but they didn't know how to respond.
After all, every single word Ye Chen spoke hit the nail on the head.
Yet what left them dumbfounded was Ye Chen's principled mindset—appearing completely unblinded by money—and his conduct of pushing the concept of "favors" to yet another height.
Was this the behavior of a deadbeat, good-for-nothing gambling addict who only wanted to get rich quick?
Absolute nonsense!
Seeing that Zhang Jingshan and Li Changfeng weren't speaking anymore, Ye Chen turned back to the opulent middle-aged couple.
"I have two deposit subscription agreements in my hands. You can buy one if you want, or both. However, the price is tentative; I need to see what the opening price at the sales office is today first. Sound good?"
"Two?" The middle-aged couple looked somewhat surprised.
Still, they nodded. "All right, shall we head into the sales office then?"
"Let's go!"
Ye Chen took the lead and walked toward the sales office.
Following behind him were the middle-aged couple, as well as Zhang Jingshan and Li Changfeng.
However, they hadn't walked many steps before an uncertain, hesitant shout rang out.
"Mr. Ye?"
Hm?
Ye Chen instinctively stopped and turned his head to look.
A somewhat familiar face that he couldn't quite place appeared in his field of vision.
Even though the memories of his past life after his rebirth were clear down to the tiniest details, those clear memories only covered the next sixty years.
As for anything prior to that, there was no such effect.
A mature woman radiating a lingering charm, her striking literary temperament exuding a scholarly air.
In Ye Chen's impression, there was a sense of deja vu, but mostly a blur.
"Are you calling me?" Ye Chen asked back in astonishment.
"Aren't you Mr. Ye Chen?" The other party walked over.
"That's right, do we know each other?" Ye Chen said.
The woman furrowed her brow. "Then I haven't recognized the wrong person. You're Ye Youyou's father, right? We met during Children's Day last year!"
Youyou?
Children's Day?
Ye Chen was jolted awake as if from a dream.
The memory swept back to Children's Day of the previous year.
The kindergarten where Youyou studied had held a children's performance.
All parents of participating children were required to attend.
Originally, Chen Yinuo was supposed to go, but temporary work arrangements made it impossible for her to get away, which was why Ye Chen had no choice but to rush over.
That day, not only did he show up in a slovenly, hangover state reeking of alcohol, but he also got into a conflict with the parents of other children, almost forcing the performance to be canceled. It was precisely from that incident onward that Yinuo completely despaired of him, leading to an unprecedented argument during which he even beat Chen Yinuo.
Hearing the middle-aged woman mention the words "Youyou" and "Children's Day," Ye Chen instinctively blurted out, "You're a teacher at Youyou's school?"
"That's right, I am Zhou Xiaolan, the vice principal of Bauhinia Kindergarten. We met last Children's Day!"
Mentioning again that they had met last Children's Day, Zhou Xiaolan's expression was somewhat strange.
After all, that had been an unforgettable day for Bauhinia Kindergarten.
Of course, Ye Chen had also become their most unforgettable special entity.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have easily recognized Ye Chen, whom she had only seen once and who had never once dropped off or picked up Ye Youyou from school.
"Principal Zhou, a pleasure, a pleasure. Are you here to buy a house too?"
Ye Chen politely extended a hand with a smile.
The other party shook it politely, but immediately withdrew her hand in a purely symbolic gesture.
If not for her professional ethics, she wouldn't have even wanted to say a single word to this parent who had caused such a huge scene at the kindergarten last Children's Day.
Then, glancing at the deposit subscription agreement in Ye Chen's hand, she said, "Mr. Ye, you have the money to buy a house, yet you couldn't even pay Youyou's tuition? If I may be so bold, is this how you act as a parent?"
"What did you say? Youyou couldn't pay her tuition?" Ye Chen froze.
"Youyou hasn't come to kindergarten for over a month. You didn't know about this?" Zhou Xiaolan asked in puzzlement.
"I really didn't know. Her mother never told me!" Ye Chen's expression turned grave.
"Our kindergarten's fee collection system has two payment models. One is paying the full semester's tuition in a lump sum, and the other is a model introduced considering that some families might face tight finances, allowing the semester's tuition to be paid in two installments. Over a month ago was the deadline for the installment payment. At the time, Youyou's mother told us that things were temporarily inconvenient on her end, so she wanted to transfer Youyou to an ordinary school. Our school offered to give her more time to ease into it, but she turned it down! I originally thought your family was genuinely strapped for cash, but it turns out you have the money to buy a house yet are unwilling to pay Youyou's tuition."
"Granted, the tuition at Bauhinia Kindergarten certainly isn't cheap, but our teaching staff and various conditions are top-notch in Jiangzhou, second only to a few aristocratic kindergartens. Besides, Youyou has been at our kindergarten for two years, and she's always been very happy, getting along wonderfully with all the children. For you folks to suddenly up and transfer her to one of those ordinary kindergartens—if your family were truly facing financial destitution, that would be one thing. But you have the money to buy a house, yet you aren't willing to let your child attend a good school? Is this how the two of you act as parents?"
Zhou Xiaolan couldn't help but unleash a torrent of reprimands, completely disregarding the fact that there were outsiders present.
As an educational administrator, the type of parents she despised most were those who disregarded their children's education!
Especially parents who clearly had the means yet allowed their children's growth and learning environments to plummet.
Detestable, simply detestable!