SAG -Chapter 29 Viewing Houses

“Mr. Zhang, Mr. Meng, I’ve found several listings. Shall we go take a look?” Meng Xin said with a smile.

Zhang Ran nodded, signaling for her to lead the way.

Because Meng Mingxuan was driving a sports car, Meng Xin could only ride her electric scooter by herself.

The place wasn’t far—only about seven or eight minutes away.

“This residential complex is called Azure Garden,” Meng Xin introduced as they walked.

“Phase One was delivered eight years ago, and Phase Two was delivered three years ago. The property management and environment here are excellent. It’s quite well known in this area.”

Zhang Ran looked around.

The environment inside the community was indeed quite nice.

“Is this Phase One or Phase Two?”

Zhang Ran pointed at a first-floor unit with a small courtyard.

“This is Phase One,” Meng Xin explained.

“All first-floor units in Phase One come with private courtyards and basements. And the basements aren’t small. They’re the same size as the ground-floor unit, but they aren’t counted on the property certificate. Because of that, the unit price is relatively high.”

Zhang Ran nodded.

He rather liked the environment in Phase One.

But he didn’t say anything yet.

He would look around first.

As for Meng Mingxuan, he merely stood to the side without offering any opinions.

He had no interest in a community like this.

After all, the environment he had grown up in couldn’t be compared to this.

When they reached Phase Two, Zhang Ran looked around.

The environment was about the same as Phase One, since it was all part of the same community.

However, the first-floor units in Phase Two no longer had gardens.

“The unit we’re viewing is on the fifth floor,” Meng Xin continued.

“It has excellent lighting, and the layout is very good. It’s 138 square meters, with three bedrooms, two living rooms, and two bathrooms. It also comes with some bonus balcony space.”

“This unit was just renovated and fits Mr. Zhang’s requirements very well.”

As she spoke, Meng Xin observed Zhang Ran and Meng Mingxuan’s reactions.

But the moment they entered, both Zhang Ran and Meng Mingxuan frowned.

The apartment was indeed beautiful.

The renovation was brand-new.

The furniture was complete.

Calling it move-in ready wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

But both men immediately noticed the problem.

The smell was far too strong.

It had likely been renovated less than a week ago.

Seeing their expressions, Meng Xin’s heart tightened.

However, neither Zhang Ran nor Meng Mingxuan said anything.

They simply walked around and looked.

Just as Meng Mingxuan was about to speak, Meng Xin quickly beat him to it.

“Mr. Zhang, Mr. Meng, to be honest, this unit was purchased and renovated by our company.”

Since they seemed to have noticed the issue, Meng Xin hurried to salvage the situation.

She hadn’t spoken too absolutely earlier precisely to leave room for explanation.

In sales, observational skill came first.

And since Meng Xin had become the top salesperson in the district, her ability to read people was naturally strong.

This apartment had been bought cheaply by their company, renovated, and then put back on the market.

That allowed them to earn money in three ways:

the price difference on the property, the agency fee, and the renovation markup.

The apartment looked beautifully decorated.

But the materials used inside were not exactly high-quality.

If a buyer didn’t notice anything wrong, then the later paperwork would still be completely normal.

The property rights were still under the original owner’s name.

The transfer process would proceed as a standard resale transaction, without any additional taxes.

After explaining the situation, Meng Xin added, “When I first heard that Mr. Zhang wanted a renovated unit, I immediately thought of this one. Please rest assured. The tax side is normal, and there are absolutely no ownership issues. If any problem arises with the property rights, you can come directly to our company and find me.”

Meng Xin was still trying her best to promote this apartment.

After all, if this unit sold, her commission would be high.

Although she knew the chances of selling it now were low, she didn’t want to give up so easily.

Zhang Ran glanced at her and said,

“Let’s look at others.”

That meant he had rejected this one.

Meng Xin understood perfectly.

Meng Mingxuan was only here as a companion.

He offered no opinions, at most chatting with Zhang Ran about amusing things from time to time.

Over the rest of the day, Meng Xin took Zhang Ran and Meng Mingxuan to view four or five other homes.

But none of them satisfied Zhang Ran.

While Zhang Ran was viewing houses, Zhang Sicheng and Liu Lu were also worrying about housing.

At the Hospital, Liu Lu sat at the nurses’ station, holding a pen and doing calculations.

The paper before her was covered with numbers.

“Sis, what are you calculating?” Wang Jiajia asked curiously.

Liu Lu sighed.

“What else? Money, of course.”

“If you’re short on money, just tell me,” Wang Jiajia said generously.

“I don’t have much saved, but I can still lend you ten or twenty thousand.”

Wang Jiajia’s family wasn’t especially wealthy, but she had never lacked food or clothing growing up.

Because of that, she wasn’t particularly tight-fisted with money.

Especially after she started working, Liu Lu had taken great care of her.

So when it came to money, Wang Jiajia wasn’t stingy.

Liu Lu sighed again.

“It’s not that I’m short on money. It’s just that our family needs to move. Our monthly expenses are about to increase by a lot.”

Speaking of this made Liu Lu deeply worried.

It wasn’t only Zhang Ran who felt the apartment was too small.

With five people living there, Liu Lu and Zhang Sicheng also felt the awkwardness and inconvenience.

So over the past two days, they had begun discussing moving.

Of course, they weren’t thinking of buying a house.

They were thinking of renting.

At the very least, they needed a three-bedroom apartment.

Ideally, it would have two bathrooms.

Only then would things be a little better.

But that meant their monthly rent would increase significantly.

That was why Liu Lu had been worrying for two days, repeatedly calculating her and Zhang Sicheng’s salaries and wondering whether they could reduce expenses elsewhere.

As for asking Zhang Ran to move out and live alone…

She hadn’t considered that for now.

Although Zhang Ran would certainly need to move out eventually, in Liu Lu’s mind, that would take at least a year or two.

He first needed time to adapt to this era, find work of his own, and develop a harmonious relationship with Zhang Sicheng and the family.

To improve the current situation, the only option was moving.

But that expense was still a heavy burden for the couple.

However, Wang Jiajia obviously misunderstood what Liu Lu meant.

She exclaimed in surprise, “Sis, you’re buying a house?”

Her voice was a little too loud.

Several nurses who happened to be free immediately gathered around and began chattering excitedly.

Most of them didn’t own homes either, so they were very interested in this topic.

Liu Lu hadn’t expected Wang Jiajia to misunderstand like that.

And with so many people suddenly surrounding her, she immediately became embarrassed.