67. Anxiety

“Why does that sound so familiar?” Zhao Xi muttered, paying no heed as he followed his wife in pursuit.

When Fan Lin reached the cashier’s counter again, she found the young man still waiting for her, smiling warmly.

“Have you made up your mind?” Chen Ling asked with a grin.

His smile was actually quite charming, but in his presence, Fan Lin felt an inexplicable tension.

“Is it possible to lower the transfer fee a bit?” she asked timidly.

Chen Ling was about to refuse when she quickly added, “If I buy several at once…”

“Oh?” Chen Ling’s interest was piqued. “You mean?”

Sensing a chance, Fan Lin summoned her courage and said, “You bought these multiple apartment numbers—you need to sell them to make a profit, right? If you give me a better price, I can help you spread the word…”

Noticing his silence, she added, “I’m an owner in Phase One of Binhu Flower City. Just now, I saw many other owners outside. If you want to sell, your best customers are those who already bought here and recognize the value of the development, aren’t they?”

“May I ask,” Chen Ling said, “what is your profession?”

“Me?” Fan Lin replied, “I’m the editor for the real estate section of the Upstairs Forum.”

Chen Ling laughed.

He was familiar with Upstairs Forum—it was the largest open forum in Linjiang, well known locally.

And she was an editor for the real estate section; no wonder she was so sharp.

“That’s right, I can help you promote on the forum,” Fan Lin said sincerely. “Normally, all those posts advertising sales would be deleted, but I can give you a green light.”

“Why not become my distributor?” Chen Ling offered directly. “You can pick any apartment number you like for yourself, transfer fee sixty thousand. All the apartment numbers I sell to you at that price—how many you can sell depends on your own abilities! And I guarantee that any number sold through me won’t go for less than seventy thousand.”

“Really?” Fan Lin’s eyes grew wide, sparkling with excitement.

As the editor for the real estate section, she was also the admin—and even owner—of several large buyer groups on QQ. She had a substantial pool of clients at her fingertips.

If she could really pull this off, just selling a few apartment numbers would recover her costs.

Just as she was about to agree, someone behind her said, “No.”

She turned and saw her husband, Zhao Xi, catching up.

“What you’re doing is definitely against the rules. I’m going to report you, and the developer, too!” Zhao Xi declared.

His real intention was to intimidate Chen Ling—hoping he’d hand over an apartment number voluntarily.

But Chen Ling was unfazed; his smile didn’t waver. “Do you know the reporting hotline? Shall I tell you?”

Zhao Xi was speechless.

“Are you out of your mind? We were just having a good conversation—what’s your problem?” Fan Lin protested, annoyed.

She apologized to Chen Ling: “Sorry, my husband can be a bit stubborn.”

Chen Ling replied, “It’s fine. Supervision is always welcome. But next time, it’s best to speak with facts. I suggest you check the regulations and see which rule I’ve violated.”

He handed Fan Lin a business card. “If you decide, call me.”

With that, he turned and walked away.

Zhao Xi, embarrassed, asked his wife, “Are you sure there’s no issue with this?”

“If it’s not forbidden by law, there’s no problem,” Fan Lin retorted, her face stern. “We were getting somewhere, but you messed it up.”

“Lin Lin, about buying a house, I still think…”

“You think what? By the time you think it’s okay, we won’t be able to afford it! My parents’ pension is just enough for a down payment. If prices go up again, how will we ever buy?”

“But prices are already at fifteen or sixteen thousand—how much higher can they go?” Zhao Xi shook his head. “Any higher and people can’t survive. Besides, the Lehman incident happened last month—the financial crisis is here. Mark my words, prices will drop next year. We’ll buy then.”

“You know nothing!” Fan Lin cursed, then carefully examined Chen Ling’s business card.

Chengjia Real Estate Brokerage Co., Ltd.—General Manager, Chen Ling?

Wasn’t that the new company downstairs?

Fan Lin made a mental note, kept the card, and headed toward the model rooms.

Now that she knew she couldn’t buy an apartment number directly, and had found a channel, she no longer needed to rush. She could take her time choosing the layout and location before coming back to buy an apartment number.

As for the young manager?

Fan Lin found him quite intriguing.

Because of her work, she had a certain understanding of the industry’s nuances.

For example, the property speculators from Oucheng who bought entire buildings, or the invisible tycoons who swept up shops along entire streets—she had met them all.

This group acted as a market barometer.

Wherever they concentrated their investments, with transaction data to back it up, prices would inevitably rise in the short term.

As long as the market didn’t collapse, prices wouldn’t fall.

Developers often actively sought out these investors.

So Fan Lin regarded Chen Ling as a kind of “spokesperson.”

Otherwise, how could such a young man handle such a large operation?

She didn’t believe it for a second.

—

The grand opening of Binhu Flower City spread throughout Linjiang by afternoon.

“Shocking! A thousand people rush to buy in Linjiang!”

“They say, if you don’t buy now, you’ll miss your chance!”

“Breaking news! The housing market might be warming up?”

Aside from the small media outlets Chen Ling enlisted, even Linjiang’s largest local newspaper, Linjiang News, reported on this rare event.

—

The next day, when Qingfeng Community opened for sale, Chen Ling repeated the same tactic.

One weekend, two consecutive days.

Across the two projects, 360 units were released.

Chengjia Company took 300 apartment numbers, leaving only 60 to enter the market normally.

In other words, apart from retaining a few tens of thousands for basic operations, Chen Ling poured all the company’s funds into this.

With various artificially created illusions, amplified by media coverage and people like Fan Lin stirring things up—

Yes, after Fan Lin’s example, Chen Ling deliberately selected a few so-called “distributors,” and then…

Still, nothing happened!

During this period, all interested parties were like ants on a hot pan, frantically spinning in circles.

Only Chen Ling remained as steady as a mountain. After managing two launches, he holed up in his dorm room and started reading books!

Zhang Peng and others nearby were fine; trust built through prepaid phone services reassured them, so apart from some inner worry, they showed little outward anxiety.

But Lin Yi and Yan Ji were different.

For the higher-ups in the group, they had delivered an impressive performance: 100% subscription rate!

But only they knew, their fate was entirely in Chen Ling’s hands now.

October passed quickly, and as November arrived, their anxiety grew.

They had called Chen Ling many times—either there was no answer, or he was busy, never willing to talk much.

Chen Ling’s attitude pushed their anxiety into outright panic.

Then, on November 4th—

Lin Yi and Yan Ji couldn’t take it any longer, and headed straight to Qujiang Industrial and Business University…