“Mr. Wang, take a look at this unit on the 17th floor.”
“There’s also a unit on the 15th floor.”
“Mr. Wang…”
Mr. Wang waved his hand, “I’ve run into two friends. Can I let my friends pick first?”
Of course, that was fine.
Chen Ru and Wen Dongrong sat back down. Mr. Wang opened up the available units he could choose from to them. Chen Ru felt a bit hesitant to take advantage, but Mr. Wang sincerely encouraged them:
“Wen Ying and my son Wang Shuang are good friends. From Wen Ying, I can see the success of your parenting. If our kids can hang out together, then I, Wang, could become friends with you both. It’s normal for friends to help each other out with small favors. Please don’t stand on ceremony with me!”
The saleswoman glanced at her supervisor, received a nod, and spoke in a voice as sweet as honey: “Mr. Wang enjoys an 8.5% discount when buying property here. Since you two are his friends, you’re naturally our VIPs as well. Take the 156㎡ unit you were just looking at as an example. Originally, with a 30% down payment, it would’ve been 201,000 yuan. With our discount, the down payment drops to 171,000 yuan—a significant savings.”
Chen Ru’s mind buzzed.
Working at a bank, Chen Ru was sharp with numbers. The saleswoman had only highlighted the discount on the down payment, but the real savings were in the total price.
A 156㎡ unit at 4,300 yuan per square meter totaled 670,800 yuan. With an 8.5% discount, it came to 570,180 yuan. The savings weren’t just 30,000 yuan—it was 100,000 yuan!
No, no, that wasn’t the full picture. With the discounted down payment of 171,000 yuan, the loan amount dropped by 70,000 yuan. Over a 20-year loan, how much interest would that save? All told, Mr. Wang’s casual favor had saved Chen Ru and Wen Dongrong well over 100,000 yuan… If Mr. Wang were currying favor to ask Wen Dongrong for help, that’d make sense. But with his air of buying property like it was groceries, he clearly didn’t need Wen Dongrong’s assistance.
So, Mr. Wang was helping purely because Wen Ying and Wang Shuang were friends?
Chen Ru’s emotions were a whirlwind—definitely excitement, but not the thrill of scoring a deal.
It felt like someone had punched her hard, leaving her dizzy.
Looking at the refined, smiling少年 Wang Shuang standing there, Chen Ru felt deeply ashamed.
Just before coming to see the property, she’d had a heated argument with Chen Li. Chen Li had said they couldn’t let Wen Ying lose face in front of her friends, but Chen Ru had snapped that Wen Ying’s so-called friends didn’t count for much.
Rich kids only hung out with Wen Ying to amuse themselves.
Wen Ying was reserved, slow with words—she’d never be genuinely accepted!
Those words, still fresh and stinging, were now flung back in Chen Ru’s face by the warmth of the Wang father and son. Wen Ying wasn’t just friends with Wang Shuang—she’d earned his father’s approval. That’s why he’d stepped in, saving her and Wen Dongrong over 100,000 yuan!
Money didn’t grow on trees, and neither did face.
The developer’s discount for Mr. Wang surely came with strings—they’d recoup it elsewhere.
Mr. Wang would repay the favor, but the benefit landed with them. And it wasn’t because of Wen Dongrong’s clout or Chen Ru’s—it was Wen Ying’s, the very Wen Ying she’d dismissed entirely.
No one knew her sister better than Chen Li. Sneaking a glance, she thought Chen Ru looked ready to faint.
But this absurd, comical twist couldn’t be blamed on Wen Ying, nor on the enthusiastic Wang father and son!
…
Lin Lin’s promise to Chen Ru and Wen Dongrong about getting Wen Ying into the experimental class was still unknown to Wen Ying.
The events at the sales office were equally beyond her awareness.
Even when she bumped into Wang Shuang that night at the late-night food street, he didn’t mention it. To Wang Shuang, it was a trivial matter—running into Wen Ying’s parents and greeting them.
The discount on the property was entirely his dad’s decision, nothing much to do with him. He didn’t feel the need to bring it up to Wen Ying.
He couldn’t exactly say in front of the others, “Hey, your family bought a place today, and my dad helped you out big time, right?”
People are strange creatures. Before the Long Beach Lake incident, Wang Shuang wouldn’t have bothered greeting Wen Ying’s parents, let alone given her family a chance to “benefit.”
Forget over 100,000 yuan—even a few bucks tied to Wen Ying would’ve irked him.
Now, though, he and Wen Ying were “starting a business” together. Such help seemed insignificant—after all, Wen Ying had performed CPR on him. Was his life, Shuang Shao’s, worth less than an 8.5% discount?
Talking money felt crass. How could cash insult the bond between friends… Wang Shuang mused, yet when he saw more customers at their stall than the night before, he couldn’t help grinning like a blooming flower, secretly hoping those strangers would hurry up and “insult” him with their money!
“Wen Ying, look—”
“I know, don’t get too excited. Focus on serving the customers.”
While Wen Ying and Xie Qian tutored, Qin Jiao, Wang Shuang, and Li Mengjiao handled more prep work. Tonight’s crowd outdid last night’s, fewer lobsters went to the barbecue shop, and more customers chose their stall.
Though each customer got a free pound of lobster, they couldn’t just order that—drinks and side dishes added up. Wen Ying estimated tonight’s revenue would hit 500 yuan.
If business stayed this good once they started charging for lobster, earning over 10,000 yuan in two months was within reach.
That night, as Wen Ying predicted, the stall’s revenue broke the 500-yuan mark!
“Getting better every day!”
On the way home after closing, Xie Qian asked Wen Ying, “Are you really planning to run this stall for two months?”
Wen Ying shook her head, “Of course not. This kind of small business is just repetitive manual labor. I reckon in a month at most, Qin Jiao and Wang Shuang will get bored.”
Wen Ying planned to stick it out for a month. Earning through repetitive toil couldn’t compare to using her head. A month should stabilize the stall, and she already had ideas for what came next—still rough, so she kept Xie Qian in suspense for now.
Back home, Wen Ying found her parents absent, with Chen Li waiting in the living room.
“Auntie, did my mom and dad head back?”
Chen Li patted the sofa, “They left after dinner. Come here—I’ve got something to ask you.”
Chen Li still hadn’t processed what happened at the sales office.
They’d bought a place in the end, but not the 156㎡ unit. On Mr. Wang’s advice, they opted for two 105㎡ units.
Mr. Wang wasn’t overstepping to decide for Wen Ying’s family. After asking Chen Ru and Wen Dongrong about their needs, he learned they were buying more for investment than residence. With jobs back home and years from retirement, a 156㎡ unit in Rongcheng would mostly sit empty, gathering dust, even if they visited on weekends.
Splitting the 156㎡ into two smaller units—one under each of their names—let them use both their housing funds. In this deal, Mr. Wang’s business savvy shone. Chen Ru and Wen Dongrong combined couldn’t outtalk him, and he ultimately persuaded them.
Though they saved a hefty sum, Chen Ru didn’t look pleased. Her thanks to Mr. Wang carried an awkward edge.
Chen Li briefly recounted the afternoon’s events, not waiting for Wen Ying’s input before pressing, “You and Wang Shuang haven’t known each other long, right? How’d you two get so close… Wen Ying, are you hiding something from me?”
