Chapter 147

Lisa's father arrived in Lungmen around mid to late June. In total, Lisa met with the infected children a maximum of eight times.

Lisa was overjoyed to see that he had agreed to her request, and a healing smile appeared on her face.

"Thank you, Brother Shi~"

After washing up, Shi Lei prepared to go back to his room to sleep.

"Okay, get some rest early, goodnight."

Lisa bowed politely at a 90-degree angle to thank him for taking care of her.

"Okay, goodnight, Brother Shi."

Shi Lei returned to his bedroom, took off his shoes, and lay down on the bed. He opened the chat app.

Send the information Lisa found out to the group that doesn't have Texas.

"I heard that Texas has been looking at warehouses for sale recently, and they probably want to buy them."

Exusiai replied very quickly; it felt like she was always glued to her phone.

"Hey, really?? If you want to buy a storage room, why not buy the one next to yours? Besides, it's so big, she definitely won't be used to living there alone. I'll move in too, it'll be much more convenient for playing mahjong!"

Croissant news followed:

"Oh, I'm so envious of you guys. If Texas were Shi Lei's neighbor, you could commute to work together. Actually, I was planning to buy Shi Lei's other warehouse. It's just that I have a lot of unsold stock here right now, and I haven't found a buyer for the warehouse yet."

Exusiai, always eager for drama, suggested:

"Hehe, then you don't need to stock up. Just have a clearance sale, and you can buy things with the cash."

Croissant earns her money through hard work selling things at her stall every day, so she wouldn't dare waste it like this:

"Easy for you to say. Wouldn't I lose a fortune if I had to clear out so much stock? Besides, I don't have much savings right now. If I'm going to buy the warehouse and give it to Texas, I only have a budget of around $200,000."

Exusiai immediately wilted when the budget was mentioned.

She hasn't been taking many big orders lately, and she doesn't have Croissant side hustle like croissants. She has enough to live on, but setting aside a portion to buy a warehouse would be a bit of a stretch.

"Well, I estimate it won't be much, maybe just tens of thousands of yuan. The main problem is that I've bought a lot of things recently, so I'm a bit short on cash."

The constant stream of large orders like Shi Lei's is something only the wealthy can envy. The clients who place these orders are almost all Miss Beatrix and Mr. Blake. These members of the Schwayer family are all there because of Shi Lei.

Even if I wanted to freeload, I couldn't.

That's how Exusiai got by during her time at Penguin Logistics. More orders meant higher expenses, but fewer orders meant tightening her belt. If she was really short of money, she'd borrow some from Texas to tide her over, and pay it back when she had the funds.

"It's alright, I've been earning a lot lately, and I've used all the money I saved to buy the warehouse. If you and Croissant want to help out, how about buying some new furniture for Texas?"

In fact, Shi Lei didn't know how much money was in the card. His salary card was always kept by Texas.

Based on the number of large orders received, it must be between 500,000 and 1 million.

Furthermore, we can't involve Texas in buying the warehouse. If we let her handle the money, wouldn't everything be exposed?

Shi Lei's plan is for the company to cover the cost. Once the warehouse price is confirmed, he will discuss it with the boss. They will advance the payment and then reimburse him later.

"Alright, you take care of the warehouse and renovations, and Croissant and I will buy the furniture."

"Shi Lei, do you know the warehouse prices?"

"I don't know. I offered 600,000 back then, and the market price is estimated to be around 700,000 to 800,000. I'll have Isu check the homeowner's phone number tomorrow and ask them then."

"Okay, that's all for now. Goodnight."

Shi Lei exited the chat app and put down his phone. He nestled on his soft pillow and quickly drifted off to sleep.

May 25th, 9:30 AM

On Monday morning, Shi Lei brought Lisa to the company. He made himself a cup of tea and sat in the office area for a while before sending a chat message to Isu. Texas's workstation was right across from his, and it wasn't convenient to make a phone call now.

Isu quickly replied with a '1' to indicate that he had received it. After understanding Shi Lei's needs, he sent a phone number and name within minutes.

The intelligence chief's efficiency is truly astonishing!

Shi Lei glanced at the message and, under the pretext of going to the restroom, went to the balcony. The view was expansive from there, and he didn't have to worry about Texas seeing him while he was making a call.

After dialing the number, I was kept in a busy signal for almost a minute before the call was connected.

"Hello, are you Mr. Liu?"

"Oh, is there something you need?"

Judging from the homeowner's constant yawning, he probably just woke up not long ago and his brain is still in the startup phase.

"It's like this, Mr. Liu. I heard that you have a warehouse on Taiheng Road and are willing to pay a high price to buy it."

Upon hearing the place name, the homeowner immediately refused:

"No, we won't sell. We won't sell the warehouse there."

After Shi Lei settled down, he lived there for several months and rarely saw anyone in the warehouses on either side of the street. It was certain that these warehouses had been vacant for a long time. Since the seller was unwilling to sell, perhaps due to a disagreement over price, he tried to persuade them:

"Mr. Liu, I know that the market price of that warehouse is around seven or eight hundred thousand. I'm willing to offer one million to buy it. What do you think?"

If the homeowner agrees to the price, he can ask the boss for an advance on the money later. Going to the Emperor before reaching an agreement would seem too hasty.

Shi Lei had thought that a 25% premium would secure a deal, but things didn't go as planned, and he was met with a firm rejection.

"Hmph, you think you can buy it for a million? Let me tell you, you're dreaming! Don't think I don't know what you're planning to do with the warehouse. This price is too low."

This response left him feeling baffled.

Warehouses are used to store goods or for people to live in, right? What other purpose could they have?

Before Shi Lei could ask for the reason, the homeowner explained:

"No normal person would pay extra to buy a house, right? You surely know that a very important person lives next door to the warehouse, right? I've heard that this Mister Zhongli is exceptionally powerful and has been..."

The Schwayer Group, the wealthiest company in Lungmen City, treated him as an honored guest. Even the Governor-General showed him great respect and deference.

This warehouse of mine has indeed been idle for a long time. But as long as I hold onto it, its value will definitely appreciate in the future. Those who want to curry favor with Zhongli will offer more than a million to buy this warehouse.

"..."

Shi Lei was truly surprised that the homeowner's refusal to sell was because of him, and for a moment he was both amused and exasperated.

"It seems you know Zhongli quite well."

The homeowner snorted lightly, his tone quite smug:

"Heh, of course. I've collected a lot of information about Zhongli's deeds; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call myself a Zhongli research expert. Young man, the more you know how remarkable Zhongli is, the more you should understand that buying this warehouse for one million is far from enough."

This left Shi Lei speechless, and he asked:

"So how many are you planning to sell them for?"

Five million!

Good heavens, the warehouse, which was worth seven or eight hundred thousand on the market, has increased in price several times over.

It is normal market transaction rule for a homeowner to buy low and sell high. Raising the price of a warehouse does not constitute price gouging, nor does it violate contractual principles.

You could say the homeowner Morality, but not illegal.

Shi Lei wasn't necessarily going to buy this warehouse; several nearby ones were under consideration, he reminded him.

"If Zhongli knew you were using his fame to drive up housing prices, he would be very unhappy."

"Come on, do you know more about Zhongli than I Zhongli? Buying and selling is all about mutual consent. Five million is a price some people think is worth, others don't. Fine, you can't afford it, but then you start talking about what Zhongli will do. What, are you trying to fool me?"

Just as Shi Lei was about to reply, he suddenly felt his phone vibrate. He took the phone away from his ear and switched to a call log to check. It turned out to be a chat message from Isu, which had even shaken the window.

The relevant content is that the Schwayer Group transferred five million to him, Isu asked whether to deposit it into his bank account or how to handle it.

Ah?

Shi Lei didn't know why the Schwayer Group was giving him so much money. Was it because they had helped them move into the Slums?

Setting up a stage was nothing to Shi Lei. He simply hoped that the people in the Slums could live better lives, and he never had any intention of profiting from it.

"This warehouse is priced at five million, and the price might go up in the future. Give me a straight answer, are you buying or not?"

Shi Lei wouldn't tolerate him and laid his cards on the table:

"No need, I just wanted to buy a warehouse for my colleague so we could be neighbors. I never expected that someone would use my reputation to drive up housing prices."

The homeowner was somewhat surprised, thinking that he was insecure about not being able to afford five million, and that's why he was deliberately impersonating him.

"What do you mean? Are you Zhongli?"

"I'll be home around 6 p. m. If you have time, you can come to the warehouse next door to confirm if I am Zhongli."

After saying that, he hung up the phone immediately.

Ten seconds later, Shi Lei's phone rang.

He picked it up and saw that it was a call from the homeowner, so he immediately hung up.

The warehouses along Taiheng Road are all lined up in a row. Shi Lei's house is the second one after entering the alley.

If you can't buy the first one, ask the third one. If you can't buy the third one, ask the fourth one.

Since we're all in the same area, only a few dozen meters apart, there's nothing we can do if we can't be neighbors.

Shi Lei was about to make a call when he received another message from the homeowner. He immediately blocked the caller and refused to communicate. The homeowner was free to raise the price, and he was free not to buy.

The homeowner dialed repeatedly without success, becoming extremely anxious. If the other party was indeed Zhongli himself, then he had offended a very important person.

If the price increase is exposed, who will dare to buy his warehouse in the future? Anyone who dares to buy it will be going against Zhongli, and then his warehouse will just rot in his hands.

Shi Lei didn't care what the warehouse owner thought, and picked up his phone to call Blake Suiya.

"Mister Shi Lei, what can I do for you?"

"I just heard that you transferred five million to me. I'd like to ask if this money can be refunded?"

"Hey, this money is rightfully yours. Why would you return it? Middlemen who facilitate large projects receive kickbacks; it's an unspoken rule in our industry."

Seeing that Blake was determined not to take back the huge sum of money, Shi Lei suddenly thought of a better way to use it and thanked him:

"Alright, then I'll thank you for your kindness on behalf of the people in the Slums."

"Ah???"

After thanking him, Shi Lei politely hung up the call.

He then contacted Isu to find the phone number of the owner of the third warehouse and reached an agreement for one million. The transaction was scheduled for Friday, May 30th, to complete the handover procedures.

After finishing work at five o'clock, Shi Lei took Lisa and his colleagues out to a restaurant. During the meal, he politely declined their invitation to play mahjong. After dinner, he said goodbye to everyone and returned to the warehouse.

A middle-aged man carrying a gift bag immediately apologized after seeing him open the door while talking:

"Mister Zhongli, I was blinded by greed and shouldn't have used your reputation to drive up housing prices, I..."

Shi Lei had long since stopped caring about such things. He grinned at the other person and jokingly said:

"Actually, I still prefer your rebellious side. Can you go back to that?"

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The warehouse owner's lips twitched upon hearing this, his expression turning somewhat unpleasant. He had just heard Shi Lei's voice, and...

I'm certain this is the person I spoke to this morning.

"Mr. Zhong, please stop joking with me. I was confused for a moment, and I'm really sorry."

"Wait a minute, something doesn't seem right."

Shi Lei interrupted, pointing out the problem:

"I don't think your offer is suitable, so let's end the deal. Is there anything I should apologize for?"

The homeowner was momentarily speechless, unsure what to say. After pausing for several seconds, he finally regained his composure:

"Mister Zhongli, it's all my fault. I didn't know it was you at the time, so I raised the price recklessly. Now I can sell it to you for one million, based on your original offer."