Chapter 735 — The Same Price

Truth be told, he wanted to win a prize too. But if he showed how much he cared, wouldn't he look like a money-grubber? That wouldn't do at all — it would undo the image he had so carefully built up until now!

"Of course I'd love to draw! I'm very lucky, just watch my luck!" Xiaoli, by contrast, was eager to give it a try.

"Sir, you paid a high price for the house. How about I ask the manager on your behalf and get you two draw chances?" the salesgirl asked.

"That's nothing at all. What do you think, Xiaoli?" Bald Boss Wu's mind began to stir as well. He had already thrown away two hundred and fifty thousand for nothing — that was a huge loss already. If he happened to draw the special prize or the first prize, wouldn't he win it all back in one stroke?

Still, he was too embarrassed to come right out and say so, and instead put the question to Xiaoli.

"That doesn't seem right, does it? Us drawing twice..." Xiaoli had barely gotten the words out when she saw Bald Boss Wu's face darken. She gave a start and did not dare continue.

Bald Boss Wu was furious. ***Are you an idiot? I'm giving it to you for free and you don't want it? So you've got money now, have you?

"It's no trouble at all. I'll go apply for you right now!" The salesgirl, not noticing Bald Boss Wu's expression, said with a smile.

This time, Bald Boss Wu found the salesgirl uncommonly pleasing to the eye. At long last, she had done something good!

The manager of the sales office was keeping Fatso Lai company. He had never expected the group's chairman to come here in person today. When he received the salesgirl's call saying there was a matter to attend to, Manager Wang of the sales office said to Fatso Lai: "President Lai, let me go over there for a moment. One of the salesgirls says she needs me to handle something."

"Let's go. We'll head over together and take a look." Fatso Lai had nothing else to do. Earlier, Wei Zhao had said he wanted to look at the houses himself first, so Fatso Lai had not followed. He had more or less guessed that Wei Zhao did not want to simply give Tang Zhi's family a house outright, and so naturally would not act too eagerly.

Manager Wang and Fatso Lai found the salesgirl. When Fatso Lai caught sight of Wei Zhao and Tang Zhi and her mother nearby, he was momentarily taken aback. But when he saw Wei Zhao give him a look, Fatso Lai understood: Wei Zhao did not want him to make things too obvious!

Wei Zhao was, in fact, thinking of Tang Zhi. Tang Zhi had a proud and self-reliant nature, and would certainly not like accepting a house from him for nothing. If Fatso Lai sold it to her at a slight discount, then Tang Zhi would have nothing to say against it.

"Mr. Lin, Miss Tang, Auntie Tang!" Fatso Lai greeted Wei Zhao and Tang Zhi and her mother warmly.

The salesgirl did not know Fatso Lai, so she had no idea what he did for a living and was not particularly surprised. She went straight to Manager Wang: "Manager Wang, here's the situation. Just now this Mr. Wu and this auntie both took a fancy to the same unit, and Mr. Wu and the auntie bid against each other. In the end Mr. Wu won the house at a price two hundred and fifty thousand above the original. He has already paid and signed the contract. Could we give him a few extra draw chances?"

Manager Wang was astonished. There were still people like this? Spending an extra two hundred and fifty thousand on a house — had he misheard? But when he saw the contract the salesgirl handed him, he believed it was no joke!

Yet Manager Wang was also puzzled. What was the relationship between President Lai and Wei Zhao and that auntie who had joined the bidding? If he agreed to let the man draw a few more times, would he offend President Lai? So his gaze could not help drifting toward Lai Changshan.

"Drawing a few more times doesn't mean he'll win anything!" Mother Tang curled her lip and said with a trace of disdain.

Hearing Mother Tang say this, Manager Wang realized she clearly did not mind Boss Wu going to draw, so he nodded and agreed: "All right, three draws — two extra chances! Sir, you can go draw right now!"

"Xiaoli, you go," Bald Boss Wu said with an air of indifference, waving his hand.

Mother Tang had never met Lai Changshan and did not know what he did, but seeing him treat her with respect, she nodded in puzzlement: "Hello, you are...?"

"Auntie, I'm a friend of Mr. Lin's. He asked me to help you look into a house at a special price!" Lai Changshan said.

Tang Zhi glanced at Fatso Lai. Who was he putting on this act for? Just go ahead and fool my mother, why don't you? Tang Zhi was no fool either. She knew Wei Zhao was mindful of her pride and would not have Fatso Lai simply give her a house outright, but instead use this method of selling at a low price to give her family a helping hand!

Though Tang Zhi was moved, she also felt a little uncomfortable, as if Wei Zhao were conspiring with Fatso Lai to deceive people?

But then Tang Zhi thought of her mother's dreadful temperament, and immediately understood Wei Zhao's good intentions. If Fatso Lai had acted like Wei Zhao's underling, her mother probably would not have spent a single cent — she might even have demanded a house from Fatso Lai outright! And then what was Tang Zhi supposed to do if her mother asked for a house directly? How was she to handle that?

At this thought, Tang Zhi could not help but feel deeply grateful for what Wei Zhao had done.

"So that's how it is! You see, we'd finally set our hearts on a place, and we were even wondering whether we could get a discount, but then that man bought it out from under us by adding two hundred and fifty thousand. I was furious!" Seeing the friend Wei Zhao had brought along to help secure a discount, Mother Tang immediately poured out her complaints: "Do you have any other apartments similar to that layout? And ideally at a bit of a discount too..."

"Do we have any?" Fatty Lai glanced at Manager Wang and asked.

"Yes, yes!" Manager Wang gave a start. What sort of connection was this auntie, that she could get President Lai to speak on her behalf? He hurriedly flipped open the sales ledger, searched through it, and then said: "In the building right next to the one the auntie had her eye on, there's another block with the same layout — only it's thirty square meters bigger, and the price is one point two million..."

"What? Thirty square meters bigger than this one, and also one point two million?" Bald Boss Wu had overheard Manager Wang's call as well, and his eyes went wide as saucers as he blurted out the question. He had paid the same money and ended up with a smaller apartment — what kind of logic was that?

"Yes, the layout is identical to yours, but it's in the building next door!" The salesgirl nodded and said to Bald Boss Wu with a smile.

"Why didn't you say so earlier? Didn't you tell me before that this was the only one left?" At this point Bald Boss Wu could no longer be bothered about saving face or showing off. He had just squandered an extra two hundred and fifty thousand for nothing, while over there a place thirty square meters bigger than his, with the very same layout, cost only one point two million — didn't that make him a prize fool?

"In this building, in this unit, there really is only one apartment left with this layout!" The salesgirl nodded and said: "You had your eye on this building from the start, and you never said you wanted a different one!"