Chapter 1577: Money delivered to the door

Wouldn't that be spending more than earning?

The result of the five arguments was that Fan's father finally made the decision: "Alright, sell those few properties in Apricot Street and Lake Town."

"What about the ones in the Upper Lake District..." The Fan family had purchased a total of eight properties. The ones Fan's father agreed to sell were in worse locations and had lower prices.

"The ones in the Upper Lake District are expensive and have potential, don't sell!"

The properties in the Upper Lake District were high-quality assets; how could they be sold off easily! Fan's father was optimistic about them.

The Fan family's future life of luxury might just depend on them.

Having lived a life of frugality and careful calculation, his family had finally waited for the qualification to enjoy life! Fan Shuang let out a long sigh.

After all, his father was the head of the family; he had already done his best to achieve this result.

He immediately found a broker and listed the properties the Fan family had hoarded for sale at the Heaven Water City Housing Department.

Because the price was fifteen percent lower than the market rate, they were snapped up before dark, not a single one left! Those were properties in the Upper Lake District; if you didn't buy them, there were plenty of people who would; if you didn't want them, there were plenty of people who did! At dinner time, Fan Shuang's mother was complaining that he had sold them too cheaply when a servant suddenly reported:

The broker who sold the properties for the Fan family had introduced a new buyer.

This person was very tall, about forty years old, with a mole on the corner of his left eyebrow. The broker introduced him as Tian Yun, the president of the Zhengxin Chamber of Commerce.

Neither Fan's father nor son had heard of the Zhengxin Chamber of Commerce; there were nearly a thousand large and small commercial firms and chambers of commerce in and around Heaven Water City, and it was impossible for them to know them all.

But this man surnamed Tian had an extraordinary bearing and wore luxurious clothing; he indeed looked like a wealthy merchant.

Tian Yun hoped they could transfer a piece of land the Fan family had bought in the Upper Lake District.

Fan's father naturally didn't want to sell, but Tian Yun offered a price they found hard to refuse.

Once the price was right, everything was easy to discuss, and the smiles on both sides were full of sincerity.

However, Tian Yun immediately put forward another request.

Originally, property transactions only needed to be handed over to the Housing Department, but the broker had specially brought President Tian to visit, also because his conditions were very special:

Tian Yun didn't have enough cash on hand and hoped to use Profound Crystals to offset it.

On the octagonal table in the Fan family's living room, dozens of Profound Crystals suddenly appeared, colorful under the light, making everyone stare blankly, their heartbeats skipping several beats.

So many Profound Crystals! How much silver could this be converted into! The number was so large that everyone found it hard to imagine for a moment. Even if they sold all the properties they had on hand, they wouldn't catch up to a fraction of this pile of Profound Crystals.

Fan Shuang said cautiously, "A piece of land in the Upper Lake District isn't worth, isn't worth this much."

"I know." Tian Yun smiled slightly, picked one out from the pile of Profound Crystals, and pushed it in front of him. "This is the payment for the land. I want to sell the remaining Profound Crystals for silver."

The Fan family didn't know his intention, but Fan Shuang's heart stirred. "You want to sell these Profound Crystals?"

"Yes, but I don't want to list them in the Ghost Market; the handling fees there are too high." Tian Yun looked at him. "I heard that the person you know is currently acquiring Profound Crystals?"

"That's right." He Lingchuan was currently acquiring Profound Crystals in large quantities and publicly, which Fan Shuang naturally knew. Now, his expression toward Tian Yun was one of sudden realization.

The man wanted to get to know He Xiao, so he came to him to pull strings, but since he had given the Fan family a little benefit first, Fan Shuang found it inconvenient to refuse him.

He Xiao was currently a top-tier figure in Heaven Water City; how could an ordinary wealthy merchant see him just because they wanted to? Without a suitable middleman, one would have to queue at the back for a hundred years.

The simplest way was to pay to cut in line.

"Alright, I'll take you to see Brother He." Fan Shuang said in advance, "But I can't guarantee whether he's willing to buy."

Tian Yun nodded in agreement. "That's only reasonable."

He had always been a very reasonable person.

Transactions involving a large number of Profound Crystals were naturally not suitable to be conducted in official settings.

The next day, Fan Shuang took Tian Yun to visit Spring Gushing Shanzhuang.

It took nearly a quarter of an hour by carriage from the main gate to the Island Master's reception hall. The last bit of gold in the winter fruit orchard was provided by maple and ginkgo leaves; the ground was covered with fallen leaves, and the carriage wheels crunched over them with a rustling sound.

Tian Yun kept lifting the carriage curtain, concentrating on watching the surrounding scenery. When Fan Shuang asked questions, he only answered casually.

"There are really a lot of trees in the villa. Don't you grow crops here?"

"Spring Gushing Shanzhuang focuses on orchards; we grow little grain, only some vegetables used daily, such as green onions, garlic, and a few kinds of herbs." Life for the Yao Nation people couldn't be without herbs.

"Truly a good place." Tian Yun sighed; he liked this feeling of dense forest and didn't like open flat land.

The only fly in the ointment was that there were guards patrolling everywhere.

He waved his hand casually, as if shooing away flies. His thumb was hooked on the knuckle of his middle finger, but the wave was so fast and natural that Fan Shuang didn't sense anything unusual.

No one noticed that five or six beetles, ranging in color from green to dark black, flew out one after another from the nearby woods and landed on the roof of the carriage.

After landing, they didn't move at all.

Ahead, several large houses stood by the lake, steady and imposing, with traces of having been renovated.

Several guards stood in front of the houses, their waists straight, their gazes cold and hard, staring at people like wild wolves.

Their uniforms and temperament were different from the other guards patrolling the villa.

Fan Shuang said, "We're here."

Tian Yun got off the carriage, shook his sleeves very casually, and patted himself.

There were many spider webs in the woods, so this action wasn't abrupt, but using himself and the carriage as cover, he quietly threw a pine cone onto the ground.

There were pine trees in Spring Gushing Shanzhuang, and this pine cone was half-buried in a pile of fallen leaves; no one would look at it twice.

But after Tian Yun and Fan Shuang left and the carriage drove away, one beetle after another, the size of a thumb's fingernail, crawled out from the pine cone, hiding their figures with the fallen leaves, either taking flight directly after running a few zhang or crawling toward the surrounding trees.

A tiny pine cone could actually have three or four hundred beetles crawl out of it, and in the blink of an eye, they were hidden from sight.

He Lingchuan had already received the message and wasn't meeting people in the study, but at Apricot Terrace.

This was a refined house in the apricot forest, small and beautiful, where one could enjoy the autumn scenery and meet guests privately.

As Tian Yun walked inside, he praised, "The scenery of this forest is truly beautiful. Do you come here often, Magistrate Fan?"

Fan Shuang responded vaguely.

He had only been to Apricot Terrace once, when he came to pick apricots with Zhang Zhan and the others; at that time, the apricots were as plump as little fat peaches. Now, the leaves of the apricot trees were almost all gone, and he didn't know why He Xiao had arranged to meet at Apricot Terrace this time.

Walking up the steps, there were six or seven guards following behind; it was hard to tell if their duty was to monitor or to protect.

Before they reached the door, someone walked over first, waving in greeting:

"Brother Fan."

Fan Shuang took a look—wasn't it He Lingchuan? This person was wearing a goose-yellow robe today, which was quite fitting for the apricot forest. ===== CHAPTER 1578 =====