Ye Chen knew that the security guard was verifying his identity, and after about two minutes, the guard returned, saluted Ye Chen, handed back his ID, and opened the gate.
"Who are those people outside?" Ye Chen asked before entering.
"Mr. Ye, don't worry about them. They're all reporters."
"Reporters?"
Although he had many questions, Ye Chen didn't ask further and drove in.
However, he soon understood what was going on because as soon as he made a turn, Xiao Chen, sitting in the passenger seat, let out a scream.
Startled, Ye Chen turned his head and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Mr. Ye, look, it's Lu Yi."
"Lu Yi? Who is Lu Yi?" Ye Chen asked in confusion.
He then saw a young man in his thirties, dressed in sportswear, jogging on the pedestrian path in the community with a big white dog.
Ye Chen was momentarily stunned. Although he didn't watch much TV, he recognized the man as a famous actor.
He had starred in "In the Name of the People" and "Beloved Taste." Ye Chen had practically grown up watching his movies and TV shows.
"Wow! Deng Chao," Xiao Chen exclaimed again.
Ye Chen looked over and saw another familiar actor approaching. The two actors greeted each other as they passed by.
If Ye Chen still didn't understand why there were so many cameras outside, he would be very slow-witted. It seemed this high-end residential area was also a celebrity enclave.
Unfortunately, Ye Chen wasn't into celebrity fandom. Xiao Chen, although a fan, knew her place. She could have run over to ask for an autograph or take a photo, as both actors were quite approachable, but she was at work.
The community had three buildings, none higher than twenty floors, with a beautiful environment that matched its name—Mountains and Waters. The landscape included artificial hills and real water features.
Ye Chen quickly parked his car below Building One, finding a random spot since he wasn't sure where his designated space was. The area wasn't as well-marked as the Imperial Garden, but with so many empty spaces, it wasn't a problem to park temporarily.
He figured he could move the car if necessary and, since he was only here to check the apartments, it wouldn't take long.
"Mr. Ye, how many apartments do you have here?" Xiao Chen asked after they got out of the car.
"Twenty."
"Tw... Twenty?"
Even though she was mentally prepared, Xiao Chen was still shocked.
Not only did Ye Chen have twenty apartments here, but all of them were large units in Building One.
Locking the car, Ye Chen headed straight into the building. He didn't take the elevator since he was only going to the second floor.
There were two units on the second floor, 201 and 202.
Unit 201 was a super-large five-bedroom, three-living room, two-kitchen, six-bathroom apartment, covering 386 square meters.
Unit 202 was a four-bedroom, three-living room, two-kitchen, five-bathroom apartment, covering 296 square meters.
Each floor had different layouts, with 201 being the largest. Units 202 and 203 were similar in size but different in design.
Before noon, Ye Chen had checked all the apartments. There were ten units below the tenth floor and ten above.
Some floors had a single apartment, others had two, but Ye Chen owned over a third of the building's units.
For now, they were just properties under his name; they didn't feel like his yet.
Ye Chen held twenty property certificates, glanced at his phone, and saw it was already noon. He turned to Xiao Chen and said, "It's about time for lunch. Let me treat you."
"Ah!" Xiao Chen was startled and quickly responded, "No need, no need."
"It's fine. You've helped me a lot. It's only right for me to treat you."
Xiao Chen saw Ye Chen as an important figure, but Ye Chen never considered himself anything more than a security guard.
"This..."
"Come on, it's just a meal."
"Alright, thank you, Mr. Ye."
Holding twenty property certificates was quite conspicuous, but Ye Chen didn't feel it was inappropriate until a familiar-looking man in his fifties stared at the certificates. Only then did Ye Chen realize he might be drawing too much attention.
"Who was that? He looked familiar," Ye Chen asked after the man walked away.
"Mr. Ye, that was Chen Daoming."
"Oh! No wonder he looked familiar. He seems much older in person than on TV."
Ye Chen nodded, opened the car door, and put the certificates inside before getting in.
After Xiao Chen got in, Ye Chen started the car. Before leaving, he lowered the sunshade to avoid the cameras at the gate.
He didn't want to end up on tomorrow's newspaper or TV news.
Xiao Chen initially thought Ye Chen would take her to some high-end restaurant and felt nervous, but seeing where he actually took her, she relaxed considerably.