Chapter 40: Chapter 40 Encountering a Grudge Seed

Translator: 549690339

In the afternoon, the office of the Dean of the Forestry Bureau in Wuyue City.

The bright sunshine outside poured through the large floor-to-ceiling windows of the office, filling the entire room with abundant light, making it transparent and bright.

Dean Chen Qiming lazily leaned back in his exclusive leather chair, squinting his eyes as he read the newspaper in front of him.

Sometimes, when he grew tired of reading the paper, he would neatly fold it and set it aside for a moment, stretching out his hand to lift the exquisitely crafted porcelain cup that had been set out early on the rosewood desk, sipping the precious tea it contained, before continuing to unfold the newspaper and read the published articles.

The position of the Dean of the Forestry Bureau was a cushy job.

The work was simple, routine, and tedious.

To cultivate the work capabilities of his subordinates, Chen Qiming assigned many of these tedious tasks to them to handle.

As long as his subordinates did not make mistakes, there was essentially nothing for Chen Qiming to do.

Each day involved holding a brief meeting, then reading newspapers, drinking tea, and waiting for the end of the workday.

Quite comfortable.

Very comfortable.

Though Chen Qiming seemed to be at ease, he was actually quite ambitious.

However, hindered by his natural talent for cultivation, his cultivation level at the ninth layer of Qi Refinement was all he could achieve, limiting him to the position of Dean of the Forestry Bureau.

Looking to advance further was impossible without reaching the Foundation Establishment Stage.

But Foundation Establishment was by no means easy to achieve.

For cultivators with average talent, establishing a foundation was a matter of using resources to force the process—if one ate enough Foundation Establishment Pills and was willing to use natural treasures to refine their body, there would be no foundation that couldn’t be built.

The only downside to this approach was the expense.

Ordinary people simply could not afford such costs.

But Chen Qiming wasn’t an ordinary person; he had some insights into investing and had saved a considerable amount of assets over the years. As long as he continued to work carefully and meticulously, he still had hope for reaching Foundation Establishment one day.

There is no general who always wins; this is even truer in investing.

Even Chen Qiming experienced investment failures.

For instance, the apartment he bought in Wuyue Residence a few years ago—he had intended to sell it at a higher price after it was fully refurbished, but unpredictably, the value of the property did not rise but instead fell.

Not only did the price drop, but there was also no one willing to take it off his hands!

And it wasn’t selling well either!

Forcing a sale would mean an even greater loss.

This property had become a thorn in Chen Qiming’s side, an indelible stain on his investment career.

The communication talisman flickered and vibrated; Chen Qiming took it out and saw that it was from someone named “Jinjing from the sales department of Wuyue Residence.”

“Jinjing? Oh, that female salesperson. Why is she sending me a communication talisman? Doesn’t she have some grudger to take the apartment off my hands?”

With a grudger willing to take over, Chen Qiming was in high spirits.

Wuyue Residence had no potential for development, so as long as the buyer’s offer was fair, Chen Qiming was very willing to sell!

He just felt a bit sorry for that grudger.

It would’ve been so much better to buy property in the South Development Zone, where there was a great potential for appreciation, but they had to go north.

“Hello?”

“Is this Mr. Chen? The apartment you’ve consigned with us has been sold. The price is quite good; the buyer is willing to pay 38,000. Could you come and sign the contract?”

“Sure, I’ll be right there.”

Dean Chen wasted no words; he had to sell the apartment and cut his losses before the grudger changed their mind.

As he passed the Chief Clerk’s office, Chen Qiming casually knocked and opened the door.

Sun Qing was engrossed in work and, seeing the Dean come in, said, “Dean Chen? Are we starting the meeting early?”

Chen Qiming’s face beamed with joy, “We won’t have it today. I have an urgent matter and need to step out for a while; tell everyone for me.”

“Oh, okay. You look very happy today?”

“Hey, the apartment up north has been sold.”

“Wow, congratulations!”

“I’ll treat you all to dinner tonight!”

After exchanging a few pleasantries with Sun Qing, Chen Qiming got into his branded car and sped all the way to the sales office of Wuyue Residence.

In the conference room at the sales office, where contracts were signed, Chen Qiming met the so-called “grudger.”

What somewhat surprised him was that this grudger looked quite young, almost the same age as his son, Chen Shuai, who had just completed his college entrance exams.

Some people only know how to spend money and chase girls at eighteen, while others are already earning money to buy houses at the same age.

Although Chen Shuai isn’t bad among his peers, the children of other families are always superior.

Even when it comes to chasing girls…

Chen Qiming glanced at Liu Qing sitting beside Jiang Cheng…

His son couldn’t even compare with other people’s children.

Compared to this female cultivator, what kind of odd and inferior partners did Chen Shuai usually bring home?

“Hello, my surname is Jiang, first name Cheng.”

Seeing that the other party was older, Jiang Cheng greeted him politely and took the initiative to stand up and extend his hand.

Chen Qiming shook it amiably and said, “No need for formalities. My surname is Chen, first name Qiming. I must be quite a bit older than you, after all, my son is about your age. Haha.”

“Then I should call you ‘Uncle Chen,’” said Jiang Cheng.

“Look at that,” Chen Qiming spoke to Jinjing, “A fine young man, that is what you call high caliber, polite too. No wonder he’s so accomplished at a young age.”

After a mutual admiration session, the two finally started talking about the house.

Chen Qiming’s house, which he bought for thirty-eight thousand originally, totaled forty-five thousand after renovations.

Lately, the real estate market in Wuyue had been sluggish, prices had fallen, and with more sellers than buyers, prices had been pushed down even further.

Jiang Cheng’s offer of thirty-eight thousand was relatively generous.

It meant that Chen Qiming would only lose the money he spent on renovations.

If he didn’t sell now, he would lose even more later.

Chen Qiming had no objections to the thirty-eight thousand as long as Jiang Cheng paid he would sign.

However, the only problem now lay not with Chen Qiming, but with the young man opposite him, who was scrutinizing the contract for who knows how long.

The man had been reading it for nearly two hours now.

What’s so interesting about a contract?

And he was taking it so seriously.

He wasn’t memorizing it, was he?

Jiang Cheng wasn’t memorizing anything; he had discovered a clue in the contract.

It wasn’t that there was anything wrong with the contract itself, but that there was a certain issue with Chen Qiming’s identity.

This Chen Qiming, according to the information on the contract, seemed to be the father of his classmate Chen Shuai.

And according to Chen Shuai, his dad was the Dean of the Forestry Bureau, who is a direct boss of Uncle Sun Qing. Sun Qing’s future advancements mostly depend on Dean Chen’s guidance.

That was a bit delicate.

Being Sun Qing’s nephew, if he rashly made payments to Chen Qiming, wouldn’t the Liang State Court see it as bribing a leader?

Jiang Cheng absolutely couldn’t do anything illegal or undisciplined; this house purchase had to be reasonable and lawful!

“I don’t have any other problems, it’s just the price that I hope to reconsider,” Jiang Cheng said firmly.

Chen Qiming’s expression didn’t change.

Negotiating a lower price for a house was standard practice, nothing unusual there.

“I think we should have someone from the Price Bureau come and appraise the price of this house,” Jiang Cheng added.

Chen Qiming: ???

Jinjing: ???

Jinjing was dumbstruck; she suspected Jiang Cheng had gone mad!

Asking the Price Bureau to appraise the value? Do you think the house is sold too cheaply?

The authorities in Wuyue don’t want the housing prices to fall too sharply, and the Price Bureau, as an official organization, usually estimates higher housing prices.

The corners of Chen Qiming’s mouth twitched uncontrollably.

He didn’t know what kind of expression to use to convey his emotions at the moment.

He needed to apologize for his previous slanderous comments about Jiang Cheng. This young man named Jiang Cheng wasn’t a troublemaker but a huge victim!

Asking the Price Bureau to appraise, a thirty-eight thousand Spirit Stone property could easily be estimated by the bureau to be worth an additional three to four thousand Spirit Stones!

Only an idiot would ask the Price Bureau to appraise!

Yet, if Chen Qiming didn’t agree to Jiang Cheng’s request at this moment, it wouldn’t be Jiang Cheng who was the idiot, but himself!

An appraisal! There had to be an appraisal!