(Translated and Edited By: Nakahara)

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Half an hour later.

Yu Qiaoqiao followed Chen Yan with a dumbfounded expression and walked into the Shell Rentals store, and was almost stunned by Chen Yan's operation.

At this moment, Chen Yan was still explaining with a fervent expression, "I'm telling you. The key to renting a house is to find a professional."

"Don't be afraid to spend more money. Safety and worry-free are the most important."

"This is the precious experience that I learned from my family who own several real estate properties.”

Yu Qiaoqiao: “...”

Yu Qiaoqiao felt that there was too much information flooding in her mind, and she didn't know where to start.

Walking into the store, there were several real estate agents standing in place inside of the store, playing with their mobile phones.

Seeing Chen Yan and the others come in, several real estate agents put down their phones and asked, "Hello. Which agent do you have an appointment with?.”

Chen Yan replied, "It's with Miss Dai."

Hearing the customer's words, a real estate agent who looked older yelled to the back, "Xiao Dai, your client."

As soon as the older agent yelled, a chubby girl with an adorable smile ran towards them.

"I'm coming!.”

After she came out, the chubby agent looked at Chen Yan, and then said with a smile, "You are Mr. Chen, right? You wanted to see the office buildings we offer?.”

Chen Yan nodded.

The agent quickly advised, "Then let's go inside. Please check for specific accommodaties you’d like in our online website first, and then we’ll go to each in proper order.”

As the chubby agent finished talking, Yu Qiaoqiao asked Chen Yan in a low voice, "Is this your skill in renting a house?.”

Chen Yan looked at her, "Yes. Isn't this a skill?.”

"Let me tell you, finding a professional intermediary will save you a lot of detours."

Yu Qiaoqiao, "For example?.”

He thought for a while before explaining, "For example... let me ask you something”

"If you see a house on the Internet, it is said that if the landlord rents it directly, there is no intermediary fee, and the price is lower than that on the real estate market. Are you not then interested?.”

Yu Qiaoqiao nodded, "Of course I'm interested."

Chen Yan continued, "Then you call the landlord and they say that the house is in short supply, and you need to make a deposit to see the house. If you are satisfied, you can rent it, but if you are not, then you can get a refund. Thus, will you pay the deposit to see the house?."

Yu Qiaoqiao, who didn’t have much experience, hesitated, and said, "If you can get a refund, then I would pay."

Papapa!

Chen Yan clapped his hands, "See! You have been scammed."

Yu Qiaoqiao looked confused, "Ah? I was scammed? Why?.”

Chen Yan answered earnestly, "I'll tell you a harsh truth. No matter what you do, if you are asked to pay before you meet, 90% of the time there are scammers.”

Yu Qiaoqiao asked unwillingly, "What about the 10%?.”

Chen Yan pondered, "The remaining 10%, even if they aren’t a scammer, it will be difficult for you to get the deposit back."

"Because they’ll find many excuses and will not refund you."

After he finished explaining, Chen Yan added, "In addition, the ‘direct rents from the landlord’, ‘free intermediary fees’, and ‘prices lower than market prices’ just now are all rhetoric.”

"If there is such a good deal, then why would you advertise your house then?.”

"So, 99% of landlords are liars.”

"If you don’t know how to buy a house or rent, then you might as well say goodbye to your money.”

Yu Qiaoqiao opened her mouth wide, and she felt her brain melt.

Is that so…?

Seeing Yu Qiaoqiao in a trance, Chen Yan said again, "I will ask you once more. You are optimistic about a house, which is well decorated and the transportation is very convenient. The landlord did not lie to you, and is willing to let you stay for free the first month.”

"But... When you signed the contract, you found some faults in them, what should you do then?.”

Yu Qiao, who was learning gradually, replied meekly, "Then I won't sign the contract?.”

Chen Yan shook his head, "Sure, then the landlord will say that you are too sensitive, and would immediately find other people if you don’t sign the contract. Then they’ll try to tempt you once more by saying how high in demand the house is and there won’t be as many benefits.”

Yu Qiaoqiao, who didn’t seem to find his words to be a problem, said, "Then I’ll sign?.”

Chen Yan clapped his hands again, "After you signed the contract, you found out that the landlord had made supplementary clauses, and the lease term was two years."

“What’s more, for the next two years, you have to pay without any excuse.”

"And if you decided to move, and wanted that particular month's rent paid withdrawn, you will not be refunded.”

"See! You were scammed again."

"Huh? But, that's okay?" Yu Qiaoqiao was completely dumbfounded.

Chen Yan shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands, "Let me tell you. These are all private transactions and finding small intermediaries is very easy to encounter."

"After all, you never know what kind of person your landlord and that little intermediary are."

Yu Qiaoqiao thoughtfully nodded, "So it's like this..."

Chen Yan saw Yu Qiaoqiao listening attentively, as she showed an expression of "this child is learning”.

But at this moment, Yu Qiaoqiao brightened up as an intrusive thought invaded her brain, then she raised her head in confusion, looked at Chen Yan, and asked curiously.

"But….Chen Yan."

"How are you so knowledgeable in scamming customers?.”

"Is it because you own many houses?.”

After speaking the words on her mind, she was stunned, and then denied them outright, "That's not right. You have a lot of houses but don’t put them on sale, so you shouldn't know about such scams…”

"Does your family...?", she covered her small mouth and looked at Chen Yan in surprise.

Chen Yan: “...”

Don’t think about it, okay!

Or, should I tell you how I was the heir to 12 suites, but after a quarrel with my parents, I went out to rent a house, but could not find a major agency, and I was scammed several times. Eventually, I had no choice but to return back to my parents and rent a house from them!

Let’s not. I still don’t want to die…

…

Just as Yu Qiaoqiao was about to label Chen Yan as a manipulative scammer in her mind, she misconstrued Chen Yan's family as liars who filled Chen Yan's head with different misleading schemes.

The chubby real estate agent finally returned to the reception room with two glasses of water after confirming a couple of suitable suites according to their requirement.

She handed the two glasses of water to her customers then said, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. Our water dispenser is broken, so forgive me for taking a considerable amount of time.”

Chen Yan waved his hand and changed the subject, "It's okay. It was the perfect time for you to come back."

"So, Let’s take a look at the buildings around?.”

"Sure." The real estate agent nodded with a sweet smile.

Afterwards, Chen Yan and Yu Qiaoqiao together looked at nearby office buildings on the computer screen, guided by the real estate agent.

In just half an hour, Chen Yan and Yu Qiaoqiao delineated five or six office buildings of interest.

They are all near Kotoshima University, a maximum of a 10 minute walk, and suitable for two people to commute to and get off work.

The transportation nearby is also very convenient. In addition, if any of their employees live far away, they can also commute by subway.

With that, the general goal was set, and of course it was now time to go to each of these locations and find the most suitable one.

In these five office buildings, the keys are placed in the intermediary, so you can go and see it directly. However, for the fifth office building, the keys are in the hands of the landlord.

So after making an appointment, Chen Yan, Yu Qiaoqiao and the real estate agent went to look at the four office buildings while waiting for the fifth building’s landlord to hand over the key.

...

At the same time, in an ordinary tea house in Laohai District, a chubby middle-aged man played cards as he smiled and put down his phone.

While throwing two "8s", he said, "I won't play after this round."

"The agent called me and said that someone is interested in my building, and I’ll have to welcome them.”

Then, he beckoned to the side, "Old Chen, you can argue with me later."

Sitting next to him, the man who looked a bit like Chen Yan, snorted, "Bah! Who cares about some buildings!?.”

The middle-aged man smiled and cursed, "It's alright. Just don’t break any bones.”