Buying next door-a huge detached house, pure bliss

Life worked in such wondrous ways. Chi Qing had already decided to spend the day properly looking over the house with her parents instead of worrying about spending money, only for an opportunity to spend money to come knocking on its own.

After viewing the house, Chi Qing and her parents were about to lock up and return to the high-rise to discuss moving when they saw Zhang Tong, Xiao Zhou, and a middle-aged woman walking toward them.

Zhang Tong spotted Chi Qing first. "Qingqing, what a coincidence! These must be your parents." The old hand immediately greeted Yue Meifen and Chi Yongliang as though they were old friends, and the two responded in utter confusion.

"Mom, Dad, this is Mr. Zhang, the owner who sold us the house," Chi Qing introduced him. Xiao Zhou and the worried-looking middle-aged woman also came over and said hello.

Afraid Zhang Tong might let the house price slip, Chi Qing drew him and Xiao Zhou aside and asked, "Brother Zhang, is there something wrong with the house? Why are you..."

"You've misunderstood, Qingqing," Zhang Tong explained. "The house next door to yours belongs to my sister. Our families bought them together back then and renovated them together too. We thought we could live next door and look out for each other."

Zhang Tong continued, "Sigh, the market's been bad these past few years. We're in the same industry, so when we made money, we made it together, and when we lost money, we lost it together too. Now that my sister's seen me sell my house, she can't hold on anymore either. She's planning to sell the one next door to yours."

Chi Qing's eyes lit up at that. Her house was described as a townhouse, but it was actually more like one half of a duplex. Although there were four homes in the row, they were really grouped in pairs, with only a token connection between the two pairs. So if Chi Qing bought the house next door, she would effectively have one complete, huge detached house.

Chi Qing had already been worrying about what her future neighbors would be like. If they couldn't get along, these townhouses really were a little too close together.

If she bought both, she could connect the gardens. She and her parents could live together or separately, keeping their privacy while still looking out for one another. Perfect!!

At that thought, Chi Qing immediately asked, "Brother Zhang, how much is this one going for? Can I take a look inside?"

"Of course, of course, no problem! Sis, come over here!" Zhang Tong turned excitedly and called to the middle-aged woman. It's Chi Qing! She's so decisive when she buys a house. I really am a lucky boy. No wonder my sister insisted I come along, saying I've been on a lucky streak lately.

Sister Zhang was also excited to hear that Chi Qing was interested, and Xiao Zhou was even more so. After all, Chi Qing was an existing client of his. This counted as an existing client bringing in new business too, right?

As for Yue Meifen and Chi Yongliang, they would always preserve Chi Qing's dignity in public. With the understanding they had just reached as well, even though they disagreed, they could hold their tongues!

Chi Qing took a general look around the house. It was indeed beautifully renovated, with many similarities to Zhang Tong's place; the same renovation company had probably done both. This one, however, was relatively more feminine, with more spaces for enjoying the finer things in life, such as a home theater and a gym. Naturally, it had one fewer bedroom, but that actually suited Chi Qing perfectly. After all, she couldn't use that many rooms anyway. This also showed that Sister Zhang knew how to enjoy life.

After a brief look, Chi Qing decided to buy it. When it came time to discuss the price, she deliberately sent her parents away and reminded everyone not to mention the price in front of them.

Since this was an interior unit and its yard wasn't as large as that of the first house Chi Qing had bought, it was relatively cheaper. Sister Zhang asked for four million, five hundred thousand less than Zhang Tong's. The moment Chi Qing heard it, she knew Sister Zhang was an honest person. She didn't haggle and agreed to the deal on the spot.

Xiao Zhou, who had barely been involved throughout the whole process, now felt conflicted about whether he could actually collect a commission. After all, they had run into each other by chance today, and the sale would have happened without him. How was that supposed to be classified?

"Sorry for the trouble, Xiao Zhou, but we'll need you to handle the remaining paperwork," Sister Zhang said, settling the matter. Xiao Zhou immediately perked up!

"Sure thing, no problem!" I'm the chosen one! Who else can close deals like this!!! The top sales spot is mine!! Xiao Zhou was shouting inwardly.

Hearing Sister Zhang's words, Chi Qing's impression of her immediately improved another notch. After all, the commission was deducted from the seller's proceeds. Sister Zhang was generous-a person worth knowing.

Although they could indeed have bypassed the agent today and completed the transaction privately to save tens of thousands, there was still the protection offered by the agency platform and the cumbersome procedures involved. They would also certainly offend Xiao Zhou. It really wasn't worth it for those tens of thousands.

Chi Qing wanted to put this house in her parents' names. They had never owned a home in the city in their entire lives. So the older couple were called over in a muddle, first to sign something, then to leave their fingerprints. It wasn't until a month later, when they received the bright red property ownership certificate bearing both their names, that they learned the house had been put in their names.

Of course, that came later, so there was no need to dwell on it for now.

Chi Qing once again paid in two installments, readily transferring the 2.58 million she had left for today and receiving the keys to the house next door as well.

Now the three of them no longer wanted to leave. They stood in front of the two houses, looking them over again and again, and simply ordered takeout to eat in the new house that evening. If the house hadn't still needed cleaning, Yue Meifen and Chi Yongliang would genuinely have loved to sleep there that very night.