Chapter 44: Finding a Place to Live

While Yang Jie was looking around, Li Siyao and Zhao Baitong had already scouted out every corner.

This was already an occupational hazard for them. None of their backgrounds were entirely clean, and most of the time they lived in fear of being ambushed. Naturally, they had to remain extremely vigilant, especially in a place like Eagle Country, where everyone played battle royale.

"I'm very satisfied with this place. Has the title deed transfer been completed?"

Kaizi laughed. "Done long ago."

No matter whether he was abroad or at home, Yang Jie valued legality above all else. As long as it was legal, a massive amount of lawyer fees could be saved.

Following the instructions provided by the Doomsday Fortress system, Yang Jie took a deep breath and placed his hand against the medical building.

Within just a few breaths, Kaizi noticed that Yang Jie's expression had turned terrifyingly ugly, carrying the intimidating aura of someone about to devour human flesh.

Kaizi was not only Yang Jie's classmate but also his childhood friend. Five years ago, the two of them partnered to open a trading company. Because both of them preferred to share profits rather than hoard them, their bond grew stronger and stronger.

During their video chats, Yang Jie had always seemed youthful, masculine, humorous, and delightfully goofy.

Yet the moment Yang Jie grew angry, the aura of someone who had slaughtered countless people amidst mountains of corpses and seas of blood gave Kaizi the suffocating feeling of being crushed beneath a massive mountain, making it difficult to draw a breath.

"Thud!"

With a single punch, Yang Jie smashed a two-centimeter-deep dent straight into the solid wall.

"Y-You, are you alright?!" Kaizi asked cautiously.

Li Siyao and Zhao Baitong also walked over. Noticing that something was amiss with Yang Jie, the two exchanged glances and wisely chose not to ask too many questions.

After taking a deep breath, Yang Jie's complexion improved slightly.

"Kaizi, can you do me a favor?"

Seeing that Yang Jie was seemingly fine, Kaizi let out a long sigh of relief and said with a chuckle, "What kind of relationship do we have? Don't talk about just one favor, a hundred are no problem at all!"

"I need to buy a house, a large flat-floor apartment, preferably fully renovated!"

Kaizi's brain cells practically short-circuited. *Holy crap, big brother, can your train of thought not jump around so drastically? Just a moment ago we were looking at a hospital, why are you suddenly talking about buying a house?!*

After only a brief hesitation, Kaizi immediately pulled out his phone to start searching, while Yang Jie leaned over to look as well.

Before long, Kaizi found a suitable property, and without a moment's delay, Yang Jie set off toward their destination.

***

Cloud Peak Palace.

This was a newly developed residential complex in Haishi. Many of the properties were mostly renovated, and quite a few residents had already moved in.

The development covered a massive area, yet contained very few residential towers. The plot ratio was impressively low, which was one of its primary marketing gimmicks.

Unfortunately, just as construction was nearing completion and they prepared to sell off the remaining units, the economic situation suffered a stroke, causing housing prices to plummet by half.

Anyone who could afford a property here possessed a certain degree of wealth. Many were inevitably affected by the downturn, and squeezed for cash, they began dumping their properties.

The apartment Kaizi recommended was located in Building Number 8, a duplex suite spanning the 32nd and 33rd floors.

The moment they stepped out of the elevator onto the landing, they found the real estate agent already waiting there.

The instant the agent laid eyes on Yang Jie and Li Siyao, she instinctively shrank her neck, thinking to herself how extraordinarily tall these two figures were—no wonder they were looking to buy a sizable apartment.

Upon stepping through the front door, Yang Jie instantly felt the space expand dramatically, offering an airy and expansive sensation. The ceiling height resembled that of a luxurious villa, wonderfully comfortable.

The entire apartment featured marble flooring, anchored in the center by a chandelier spanning across both levels, exuding a high-end, majestic, and classy ambiance.

Touring each room, he found them remarkably spacious. To his pleasant surprise, the bedrooms were all finished with fine wooden flooring.

Because the interior design trends abroad differed vastly from domestic styles, there were certain decorative elements he was witnessing for the first time.

He had to admit that during his ten years overseas, domestic interior design had long since evolved into countless diverse aesthetic schools.

The entire apartment was decorated using black linear accents and wood-grain modern neo-Chinese aesthetics as its foundation, striking a balance of high-end, low-profile luxury.

"Miss, how much is this property?"

"This apartment comes with a refined, high-end renovation. Because the owner is currently in urgent need of capital, if you can pay in full, the final price is 15 million."

"How soon can the ownership transfer be processed?"

"It's a bit late today, but if the deal goes through, how about the next day or two?"

Yang Jie lit a cigarette, took a drag, and shook his head.

"15 million is fine with me. If you can get the transfer completed today, I'll give you a bonus of 100,000!"

The female agent's breathing instantly hitched. With the current sluggish real estate market, successfully selling this property would be enough to sustain her for months. Her 0.5 percent commission alone would amount to a full 50,000.

If she secured an extra 100,000, wouldn't that mean netting 150,000 from a single transaction? That was 150,000! In a county-level city where the average salary hovered around four to five thousand, that was by no means a small sum.

It was equivalent to the combined annual income of two ordinary workers!

***

Then, she fell into a dilemma. "Th-This might be a bit too tight on time. Can we do it tomorrow?"

As she spoke, tears almost welled up in her eyes. She needed to track down the property owner in an extremely short window of time and rush to complete the transfer formalities, which posed quite a challenge.

Yang Jie took another drag of his cigarette and slowly exhaled the smoke. "Get it done today, and it's 200,000!"

The female agent's breathing grew even louder and heavier, sounding more intense than heavy exercise.

"O-Okay!"

Clutching Yang Jie's identification documents, the female agent dashed downstairs, hopped onto a BYG electric scooter, and tore out of the residential complex with the speed of Takumi driving through the five consecutive hairpin turns.

She was no fool either. Time was of the essence. She sped directly toward the administrative center while frantically calling the store manager to collect the owner's documents so they could rendezvous, thereby saving a significant amount of time.

It had to be said that money could make the ghosts grind flour. In capitalist society, Yang Jie had mastered this trick to perfection.

Before the ownership transfer was even fully finalized, Yang Jie instructed Kaizi to immediately track down a security company specializing in interior fortification and renovation.

Kaizi was a native of Haishi through and through. While he didn't have relatives holding high government offices, he had connections scattered across various government bureaus, giving him an absurdly wide network. As long as he didn't commit heinous crimes, his life was basically set for good.

He simply refused to lead a dull life and had no desire to inherit his father's factories, shops, and industries, which was why he chose to run around with Yang Jie.

Before long, he actually managed to track down a firm that specialized in security-oriented interior design and construction.

Companies like this typically built safe rooms and reinforced defenses for ultra-wealthy clients or high-end private clubs.

Naturally, they also accepted ordinary projects. After all, while reinforcing safe rooms and security installations was highly lucrative, the market was limited, and not every household required such specialized services.

Regrettably, the company was located in Modu rather than Haishi. Still, the same principle applied: a small pond could not sustain such a highly specialized enterprise, and in this day and age, the market was the ultimate boss.

After communicating over the phone, the opposing sales representative could hardly sit still. Yang Jie was casually throwing around figures in the millions—this was by no means a small order. With the economy suffering a stroke, they needed to grab every contract they could get.

To secure this deal, the Golden Shield Security Renovation Company immediately dispatched a sales representative along with a full team to set off for Haishi.

While they were on their way, Yang Jie did not idle about, instead beginning to map out the entire apartment.

The property comprised 6 bedrooms, 3 living rooms, and 5 bathrooms.

Many pieces of furniture were fine as they were, but the layout required a far more rational arrangement rather than merely focusing on superficial aesthetics.