Housing Prices

Once they had agreed on how to split the reward money, Chen Shaojie soon left.

Chen Yiming went from the courtyard into the living room to ask his father about the house hunt he had mentioned earlier.

"Dad, how did it go when you and Mom looked at houses?"

Chen Yiming spotted more than a dozen property flyers on the table. He picked one up and glanced at it as he asked.

"Your cousin took your mom and me around every development for sale in the city center. We noted down the prices, but we couldn't make up our minds. Take a look."

His father handed Chen Yiming a sheet of paper covered in property details, his expression serious.

Chen Yiming took it and began to read.

Skyward New City, Building 3, Apartment 402, 125 square meters, 78,000 yuan per square meter.

Dragonlight Century City, Building 8, Apartment 1411, 113 square meters, 82,000 yuan per square meter.

Celestial Star Garden, Building 4, Apartment 803, 186 square meters, 67,000 yuan per square meter.

"How did prices go up this much?" Chen Yiming asked in disbelief.

He remembered that shortly after arriving in this world, he had overheard his parents talking about buying him an apartment in the city for when he got married.

Back then, prices had been just over 10,000 yuan per square meter. Only a few months had passed, and they had risen seven- or eightfold. The increase was absurd.

"We miscalculated. If we'd bitten the bullet and made a down payment a few months ago, we'd have been fine. Now I hear prices change every day, and sellers won't accept loans—only full payment. Our savings wouldn't even buy a bathroom."

His father shook his head, plainly full of regret.

Prices like these were far beyond what an ordinary family could afford. Earnings simply could not keep up with the rise in housing prices.

Chen Yiming calculated how much he could earn each month.

At the Libei Martial Arts Training Center, his base pay and share of class fees as a part-time instructor came to 180,000 yuan a month.

The Swordsmanship Enhancement Class he taught had twenty-five students, and there was still plenty of space. Doubling the class size should be no problem, leaving room for another hundred thousand yuan or more.

The reward for helping his cousin verify household registrations would presumably be no less than what he earned at the Libei Martial Arts Training Center. After all, the job might involve fighting someone at the Apprentice Realm.

From those two sources alone, he could probably make between 500,000 and one million yuan a month. It still would not be enough to pay for an apartment outright anytime soon, so renting was his only option.

"What's the market like for renting an apartment in a residential complex?" Chen Yiming asked his father, now that he had a rough idea of current property prices.

"Rents have risen even more sharply than sale prices. Monthly rent is over ten times what it used to be. Landlords won't agree to annual leases, either. They adjust the rent each month to match the going rate."

His father looked troubled as he spoke. He could not stomach paying rent that high.

Apartments in the city center were now almost impossible to find. Renting was an even worse deal than buying: it meant paying rent at the height of the market.

Chen Yiming did some quick mental arithmetic.

A three-bedroom apartment with a living room and dining room in the city center had once rented for around 5,000 yuan a month. Now it would probably cost between 50,000 and 100,000 yuan—still within his means.

"Then let's rent an apartment in a residential complex as soon as we can. I'll figure out how to buy one later. I can make at least a few hundred thousand a month, so covering the rent won't be a problem."

Chen Yiming did not spend time weighing which complex offered the best value. He simply told his father his decision.

From what his father had learned, the city center and the outskirts had become two different worlds. Thanks to its natural advantages, the city center was now the only safe area in East Lake City.

Housing prices were not the only thing rising. The cost of everything else was climbing too.

If they wanted to live in the city center, they had no choice. For his family's safety, he would pay the price, however high it was.

That evening, after his afternoon training class ended, Chen Yiming headed to a teahouse in the south of the city to meet Chen Shaojie's team.

The teahouse was said to be owned by a relative of someone influential, which was why it could still obtain supplies and operate normally under the circumstances.

When he walked in, he found plenty of customers drinking tea. Business was clearly good.

Chen Yiming quickly found his cousin's table and sat down.

Besides the three male team members—Chen Shaojie, Zhong Chaofeng, and Lin Yongxin—there was a woman. The team had four members in all.

"This is my cousin, Chen Yiming. He's an adviser and an expert who's undergone one physical transformation. And this is He Chunping, the only woman on our team."

Chen Shaojie introduced He Chunping and Chen Yiming, who had not met before.

Chen Yiming was attached to the City Patrol as an adviser.

"Good to meet you, Adviser Chen. I hope you'll look out for me."

He Chunping stood, offered her hand, and smiled.

Chen Yiming took a moment to look at the team member who had missed their last dinner.

Her dark blue fitted uniform and black leather boots showed off her figure. She looked just like the photos of beautiful policewomen he had seen online in his previous life.

"Hello, I'm Chen Yiming."

Chen Yiming briefly shook her hand, then let go.

The skin on her hand was remarkably soft, nothing like what he had imagined a City Patrol worker's hands would feel like.

After the brief introductions, everyone sat down, and Chen Shaojie poured tea into each of their cups.

"Cousin, this is the area we'll be checking later."

Chen Shaojie took a map from his bag and spread it across the tea table as he spoke.

In front of the other team members, he always called Chen Yiming "Cousin" rather than "Adviser Chen," deliberately emphasizing their family connection.

Chen Yiming glanced at where Chen Shaojie was pointing.

The area they were about to check had already been outlined in red on the map. It was easy to spot.

He was a little surprised. His cousin did not seem to be someone who could only get things done by invoking his name. What Chen Yiming did not know was whether Chen Shaojie had thought this through himself or had someone advising him behind the scenes.

"Here's my plan. Zhong Chaofeng and Lin Yongxin will guard the two ends of the street. You, He Chunping, and I will check the houses one by one."

Chen Shaojie waited until Chen Yiming had looked over the map before laying out his plan.

There was a calculation behind it. Chen Shaojie had assigned the riskier jobs to the others: Zhong Chaofeng and Lin Yongxin would guard the ends of the street, while He Chunping would accompany him and Chen Yiming.

If they found a suspect too strong to restrain in time, the team members guarding the street would have to intercept that person, putting their lives at risk.

By staying beside Chen Yiming, Chen Shaojie could count on him for protection if an emergency arose.

As for He Chunping, the team's only woman, she was young and pretty. Putting her beside Chen Yiming would make the work more pleasant for him.

His second uncle, Chen Zhipeng, had specifically told Chen Shaojie to arrange it this way the night before.