While others went alone to rent apartments, Zhou Xueyin did so not only with her parents in tow but also with her dormmates, Kang Siyin, Li Jiniang, and Yao Shanshan.
They stood behind Zhou Xueyin like bodyguards, their presence formidable.
The real estate agent had never seen such a squad before: "Are you... looking to rent a dormitory for a group?"
"A dormitory? Bring up the details for the biggest three-bedroom units you've got!" commanded Zhou's father.
"Yes, yes! Please hold on a moment!" Upon hearing Zhou's father, the agent quickly turned to his computer to search for large three-bedroom units nearby.
"Please take a seat... Would you like some water?" the other agents in the room also warmly invited Zhou Xueyin and her group.
The agent handling Zhou's father quickly found several three-bedroom layouts: "Look at these..." He began to describe the situation of each apartment one by one.
"Hmm... This one faces the wrong direction... this layout is too poor... this one isn't designed with a north-south flow..." Zhou's father rejected each presented option.
"Uncle, you're being a bit picky... It's just for them to live, isn't it? Anything should be fine..." complained the agent.
"This is not a matter that can be settled on 'just fine'! This relates to my daughter's business! Forget it, you wouldn't understand," Zhou's father disdainfully glanced at the agent. "Isn't there a unit with a north-south flow? I remember seeing such units in this area. Look again!"
"There are... but these are larger two-bedroom units without living rooms," the agent said, troubled.
"Let's take a look then. Just seeing pictures here doesn't tell us much." Zhou's father decisively decided it was better to investigate in person rather than just look at similar photos.
Upon hearing Zhou's father, the agent promptly agreed and, taking a large bunch of keys from a cabinet, led the large group to view the apartments.
It was unclear whether the agent was doing it intentionally, but the first few apartments they viewed were all slightly unsatisfactory in one way or another—either the layout was bad, the furnishings outdated, or they looked like a storage room; an entire afternoon gone without a satisfactory apartment.
"Are you serious? If the next one is still unsatisfactory, we're not renting from you. It's wasting our time..." Zhou's father said, annoyed.
"The next one will definitely satisfy you! Definitely satisfy you!" The agent nodded and bowed repeatedly.
"That's what you said last time, that the next one would definitely satisfy!" Zhou Xueyin glared at the agent.
The others were visibly exhausted as well; truly, if the next apartment wasn't satisfactory, they were ready to head back to their dorm to rest.
Finally, the agent led them in front of a 6-floor residential building: "This layout is really great, you'll definitely be satisfied! It's just that there's no elevator; you have to climb six floors..."
"It doesn't matter if there's no elevator, just as long as it's not like the ones we saw before," Zhou Xueyin felt her patience waning. Should this apartment still not meet her standards, she wouldn't want to view any more apartments for a while.
The apartment layout features two units per floor; the agent showed them a large two-bedroom unit. Right inside the door was a big entrance hall with a second bedroom on the right side that was even larger than Zhou Xueyin and her roommates' dorm room.
To the left of the entrance was a hallway, opposite which were the kitchen and bathroom.
The hallway led to a very spacious master bedroom, about the size of two second bedrooms combined, with a large balcony that offered a fantastic view.
Back at the entrance hall, there was also a stairway leading up to an attic.
Though it was termed a large two-bedroom, the apartment was actually a duplex with three bedrooms.
The attic wasn't very high, but it was sufficiently spacious to store items that weren't frequently needed.
Additionally, the rent was no different from that of an ordinary large two-bedroom!
"This room is so nice? Why hasn't it been rented out?" Zhou's father looked very satisfied with this apartment.
"It's nice, but as you can see, it's empty, without any furnishings. These days, people prefer to rent apartments that come furnished..." the agent spoke honestly, "Empty apartments like this generally don't appeal to most renters."
"An empty apartment is excellent! We can decorate it exactly to our taste!" Zhou Xueyin was very pleased with the vacant space, "What do you guys think?"
"It's great, we can use the second bedroom as our resting area. The master bedroom can be the office! And the attic is perfect for storage! Yes!" Kang Siyin looked around, nodding as she spoke.
"Right, we can buy a cabinet for the entrance hall! For our resting room, just four mattresses will do! The master bedroom has enough space for four desks and computers, totally sufficient!" Li Jiniang gestured as she spoke.
"Yinyin, Yinyin, the kitchen is nicely done, I really like the layout! When cooking and washing dishes, everything can be done with just a pivot, no need to run around!" Yao Shanshan peeked around the kitchen, satisfied with what she saw.
"With this empty space, furnishing will cost money..." Zhou's mother said worriedly.
"About the rent, can it be reduced a little?" Zhou's father called the agent over and asked seriously, "You see, since the apartment is unfurnished and we need to buy our stuff, and you said you could negotiate a lower price with the landlord, right?"
"The lowest price would be..." the agent extended three fingers as he gestured.
"2500..." Zhou's father bargained.
"Alright, you seem to have had a tough time too, 2800 is the lowest. Pay every six months..." the agent made the final concession.
"...Hmm..." Zhou's father pondered for a moment, "Alright then, call the landlord over to sign the contract."
"You can just sign with our agency. The landlord has given us full authority over the property, and once we're back at the office, I'll show you the contract," the agent said, beaming, clearly relieved to have sealed the deal and secured his commission.
After returning to the real estate agency, the agent presented the landlord's mandate, and Zhou's father put on his reading glasses and carefully read through it from beginning to end.
Once confirming that the landlord wouldn't suddenly sell the property or reclaim it, they signed a one-year lease agreement with the agency.
After all the formalities were completed, it was time for dinner, so the group found a barbecue restaurant in Zhongguancun to satisfy their hunger.
"Girl, consider the rent your old dad's startup capital gift for your business! Technically, your mom and I can't support you much, but we can still help with other things! As for furnishing the place, we'll also participate..." Zhou's father cheerily sipped his beer.
"Dad, don't worry about furnishing the place! We can handle everything with one-stop shopping at IKEA! After all, we're all grown-ups now; you don't need to worry about everything!" Zhou Xueyin playfully cajoled her father, conscious of the hard day they had all endured, and she didn't have the heart to burden him further with room decoration tasks.