During his university days, Li Shi had contact with real estate agents. He worked part-time, helping a senior who wanted to start a restaurant business and dealt with numerous agents while renting shopfronts. After graduating from university and moving three times, he had more encounters with agents.
This Zhong Xia Xia was probably the most beautiful female agent he had ever met. She was youthful-looking, similar to what the Internet referred to as a "school beauty" or a "first-love face."
Seeing her, Li Shi was reminded of the short videos he'd watched in the past featuring some "teacher", and he had wondered how someone so pretty ended up in this line of work.
He admitted that he was quite conventional in his thinking. This subconscious thought was actually a societal bias against attractive women. It was assumed that beautiful girls wouldn't take up certain professions because they could find more comfortable jobs more easily.
After asking Li Shi, Zhong Xia Xia made a phone call, and a male colleague soon drove over in a black car to take them to see the house.
"Boss Li, this apartment has a living room, a bedroom, a kitchen, and a bathroom. The decorations, as you can see, are very good," she introduced.
"The living room and bedrooms are both quite spacious."
"The community is also well-regarded, and there's even an owners' committee that's said to be very responsible. Safety and all other aspects are excellent. However, the rent is two thousand Yuan a month."
Li Shi looked around and asked, "Is there room for negotiation on the rent?"
"Apologies, but the landlord insists on that amount. The previous tenant was paying the same, so there's no room for reduction."
Li Shi thought for a moment and said, "Let's see the other one."
"Ok."
The second community was not far away. After viewing it, Li Shi felt that it was not as good as the first one.
"All right. I want to rent the first house we saw. Let's not haggle over the rent. Can I just sign a six-month lease? If that's okay, I'll take it now."
By the time the lease for his second apartment expired, he would certainly have bought his own house.
"Six months?" Zhong Xia Xia's pretty face expressed some difficulty. "Boss Li, leases usually last for a year. It's very rare for someone to want a half-year lease. I can try to talk to the landlord, but I can't guarantee that they'll agree."
After coming down from the building, Li Shi got into the car with her colleague and waited, whereas she made a phone call on the side.
A few minutes later, she came back smiling, "Boss Li, the landlord has agreed. However, they have one condition: the half-year rent must be paid in full upfront. Is that acceptable to you?"
Li Shi replied, "That's fine. But what about the deposit?"
"The same. One month's rent as deposit, to be returned when you move out."
After they agreed, the three of them returned to the agency's storefront to sign the rental contract.
Returning to his old place, Li Shi looked around and felt the room was much smaller.
He laughed at himself, "It's funny that I didn't feel cramped living here before. But just after staying in a big hotel and renting a spacious new place, I feel different. Humans are like this…"
Laughing at himself, he still rented a shared bike to move some of his stuff to the new place and did a bit of cleaning. That night, he had already begun studying "High School Chinese Selective Compulsory Textbook Volume 2" at the sturdy walnut study desk.
The next morning, while moving the remaining stuff from his old place, Li Shi received a phone call from his mother.
His mother told him over the phone that the family debt has been completely paid off.
From her voice, he could tell that his mother had just been crying.
But he didn't mention it. Instead, he kept reassuring his mother that he was doing better and better in the city and that his income had increased significantly—comforting her while also paving the way for giving money to honor his parents in the future.
After hanging up the phone and moving his belongings to the new place, Li Shi entered the Qi Yang Community. Looking at the park-like greenery downstairs and the comprehensive community facilities, he occasionally saw elderly people playing with children, and couldn't help but sigh. The environment here was indeed much better than the resettlement community.
Having moved to a more comfortable environment, Li Shi immersed himself in his studies as always.
By four in the afternoon, after finishing studying "High School Chinese Selective Compulsory Textbook Volume 2", the "Chinese (Proficient -)" on his learning panel finally upgraded to "Chinese (Proficient)".
He stood up, stretching his body, ordered some food on his phone, and moved around the spacious living room before turning on the TV and sitting on the sofa to wait for his food.
In the single room he used to rent, there was no television provided by the landlord. He used to use his cell phone and laptop to access the Internet, and it had been a long time since he'd watched television.
But there was nothing good to watch now anyway.
When he flipped to Tan Zhou's entertainment channel, a female celebrity who was undergoing a body measurement popped up on the screen. She was wearing a short-sleeved red top, with a snuggly fitting yoga pant that highlighted her body shape perfectly.
"Ah, seems it has some highlights."
Seeing the logo at the bottom right-hand corner of the screen, it appeared to be from a variety show called "Hey, Good Figure".
After finishing dinner, Li Shi continued studying "High School Chinese Selective Compulsory Textbook Volume 2".
He had basically studied all the texts from the volume in the past, so the review went rather quickly. By the next day, he had reviewed all the texts, thus completing all high school Chinese studies.
He checked his study panel—
Name: Li Shi
Physique: 11.5
Wealth: 0.999999999999999 [Whether to redeem]
Current Study: Chinese (Proficient)
Completed Study Library: None
There was no change.
As expected, to reach the "master" level, he would need the college textbooks.
He was not in a hurry. He decided to rest for a while and consider whether to exchange for diamonds or jade first.
Placing the Super Fine Diamond and Small Green Jade Ring Surface in front of him, Li Shi began to plan after looking at them from different angles.
According to the information he had gathered, diamonds were usually mounted before going on auction, and it was hard to find unmounted diamonds at domestic auction houses. But, jades were different. Collector-grade jade bracelets and bead chains were often unmounted, using the simplest design to display the innate beauty of the stone.
Thus, Li Shi decided to redeem jade first. He planned to use the jade as bait to establish a relationship with the auction house.
Once he had established the first cooperation, it should be much easier to sell diamonds later on.
He went to the resettlement community to claim the delivered parcel from the Rookie Post, opened it, and began preparing for the exchange—building a clear concept of the item to be redeemed in his mind.
Firstly, he collected a bunch of jade round bangle bracelet photos and videos for reference, in order to have an impression on the appearance.
Secondly, he drew a 1:1 sketch of a 56mm round bangle bracelet on white paper to help form an accurate size concept during the exchange.
The circle, also known as the opening of the bracelet, is the term used to describe the inner diameter size of jade. A "Golden Circle" refers to 56mm, which is a medium size, fits most people.
Considering the wives of wealthy families might be generally plump, he considered whether to exchange for a larger opening. However, he thought that even if wealthy people bought it, it might not necessarily be for their wives.
The price of a larger size is not necessarily higher. Redeeming it would require more wealth attribute points, which was unnecessary.