SAG -Chapter 34 An Uneasy Guess

Zhang Ran had no idea that someone had already set their sights on the necklace he had given his daughter-in-law.

At that moment, he was leisurely sipping tea, sitting by the window and watching the pedestrians come and go outside.

He looked completely relaxed.

There wasn’t the slightest sign of the excitement or nervousness one might expect from someone about to buy a house.

Around the office, the agency staff occasionally stole glances at him.

They all knew about the negotiation.

More importantly, they had realized that all of their earlier assumptions had been wrong.

Zhang Ran wasn’t the rich second-generation heir’s friend—he was the rich heir’s elder.

They also knew about his bizarre request to have someone else negotiate the purchase.

That only made them envy Meng Xin even more.

This was practically a commission that had fallen into her lap.

She barely had to do anything, yet the money was already as good as earned.

Around noon, the negotiations finally came to an end.

Meng Mingxuan and Meng Xin walked out together and approached Zhang Ran.

“Uncle Zhang.”

Meng Mingxuan said, “I got the price down to 10.88 million yuan.”

“I really couldn’t push it any lower.”

Beside him, Meng Xin looked nervously at Zhang Ran.

Everything had reached the final stage now.

Whether the deal succeeded depended on whether Zhang Ran would keep his word.

Fortunately…

Zhang Ran had no intention of going back on it.

He answered without hesitation,

“Alright.”

“We’ll go with that price.”

“Let’s sign the contract.”

Then he turned to Meng Xin.

“When can we complete the ownership transfer?”

Meng Xin’s heart skipped a beat.

She took a deep breath before replying,

“The property has no outstanding mortgage.”

“And since you’re paying in full, once we sign the contract we’ll immediately register the paperwork.”

“The transfer can be completed this afternoon.”

Zhang Ran nodded.

“No problem.”

“However, the property won’t be registered under my name.”

“I’ll have someone else come sign the transfer documents.”

Since he was buying the house for Zhang Sicheng and Liu Lu, there was naturally no reason to register it in his own name.

Meng Xin hurriedly explained, “You can still sign the purchase contract now.”

“It won’t affect the transfer.”

“The actual owner only needs to be present during the title transfer.”

After working in sales for so many years, Meng Xin had learned one important lesson:

If a contract could be signed on the spot, never postpone it.

Zhang Ran naturally understood what she was worried about.

He had no objection.

As long as the ownership could be transferred properly, everything else was fine.

Meng Xin led Zhang Ran into the office.

Manager Wang Leixin smiled as he welcomed him.

“Mr. Zhang, may I have your ID? We’ll prepare the contract.”

The moment Wang Leixin looked at the ID card…

He froze.

His eyes repeatedly shifted between the identification card and Zhang Ran’s youthful face.

Seeing his reaction, Zhang Ran smiled faintly.

“Don’t worry.”

“It’s genuine.”

Wang Leixin couldn’t help asking,

“You were born in 1967?”

The question stunned everyone nearby.

Both the homeowner and Meng Xin looked at Zhang Ran in astonishment.

After all…

He looked barely over twenty.

Nothing about him resembled a man in his fifties.

Zhang Ran clearly had no desire to discuss the topic.

Besides…

He suspected they would eventually figure out the reason themselves.

“The birth year is written right there.”

He said calmly.

“Just finish writing the contract.”

“As long as the amount isn’t wrong.”

“Of course.”

Realizing Zhang Ran didn’t want to elaborate, Wang Leixin wisely dropped the subject.

After the contract was signed, Zhang Ran first went to the bank to arrange the payment.

Once everything there was settled, he called Zhang Sicheng.

“Are you busy?”

Zhang Ran asked.

It was the first time Zhang Sicheng had ever received a phone call from his father.

Somewhat surprised, he replied, “No… Is something wrong?”

“If you’re free,” Zhang Ran said, “Come to the Property Registration Bureau at 1:30 this afternoon.”

“I’ll send you the location.”

“Bring your ID card and household registration booklet.”

The moment he heard those words…

Zhang Sicheng’s heart skipped a beat.

Could it be…?

But because they hadn’t grown up together as father and son…

He ultimately felt too embarrassed to ask the question that had instantly formed in his mind.

After hanging up, Zhang Sicheng immediately called Liu Lu.

He told her everything Zhang Ran had said.

“The Property Registration Bureau?”

Liu Lu was equally shocked.

Besides buying or selling a house…

What else did people go there for?

Their family didn’t own any property to sell.

Which meant…

They were buying one.

And Zhang Ran had specifically asked them to bring their ID cards and household registration booklet.

Wasn’t that exactly what was needed for purchasing property?

“It should be…”

Zhang Sicheng replied uncertainly.

“Otherwise, why would he ask us to go?”

Then Liu Lu gave a bitter smile.

“Honey…”

“Even if he’s really buying us a house…”

“We still won’t be able to afford the mortgage.”

Although she said that…

She also knew she couldn’t bear to refuse.

This was a home in Shanghai.

It was something she and Zhang Sicheng had dreamed about for years.

Now that the dream might actually come true…

Even if it meant taking on enormous monthly mortgage payments…

She still couldn’t bring herself to reject it.

Neither Liu Lu nor Zhang Sicheng had ever imagined Zhang Ran paying the full purchase price.

In their minds, Zhang Ran probably still had some money left.

But after twenty-eight years…

Even what had once been a fortune would have been diminished by inflation.

They estimated he probably had only a few million yuan at most.

Enough for a down payment…

Perhaps with a little left over for himself.

As a father, that would already have been doing everything he could.

Zhang Sicheng understood perfectly well that he currently had no ability to shoulder a massive mortgage.

Worse still…

They didn’t even know what kind of house Zhang Ran had bought.

How much would the monthly payment be?

Yet, like Liu Lu…

He simply couldn’t refuse.

He had lived in Shanghai all his life.

Yet he had never owned a home of his own.

Sometimes he even felt as though he had never truly become part of the city.

Owning a house in Shanghai had become an obsession he’d carried since childhood.

Now that it might finally come true…

How could he possibly reject it?

He took a deep breath.

“Let’s go this afternoon and see.”

“If it’s really true…”

“No matter what happens, I’ll work as hard as I can to repay the mortgage.”

It was both a promise…

And a vow to Liu Lu.

Neither of them ever imagined asking Zhang Ran to help repay the loan afterward.

Perhaps that was one of the reasons they had spent so many years together with so few arguments.

After hanging up, Liu Lu found herself completely distracted.

She couldn’t stop wondering:

What kind of house had her father-in-law bought?

How much would the mortgage payments be?

Or… had she and Zhang Sicheng misunderstood everything?

Maybe Zhang Ran wasn’t buying them a house at all?

With those conflicting thoughts, she muddled through the entire noon.

Part of her wanted to arrive at the Property Registration Bureau early.

Yet another part feared learning the truth.

Afraid of disappointment…

She didn’t dare go ahead of time.

Meanwhile…

After seeing Zhang Ran sign the contract, Meng Mingxuan unexpectedly felt a genuine sense of accomplishment.

The negotiation had only saved a little over 300,000 yuan.

Ordinarily, he wouldn’t even have cared about such an amount.

But now…

He found himself oddly proud of it.

So proud, in fact, that he completely forgot one important fact:

For the next year…

His spending money would be limited to just over three million yuan.

To most people, that was an unimaginable fortune.

But for Young Master Meng…

It meant he would have to give up quite a few of his favorite hobbies.