Chapter 46: [Meeting Lu Sisi Again]

Two hours later, a taxi from Huizhou with a Jin Ling license plate arrived near the university city and stopped by the roadside in the area of short-term rentals.

After Chen Yan got out of the car, he walked toward the short-term rental and saw Hu Shangke from a distance, slumped and dejected, squatting by the edge of that ruin, smoking with his head down; there were already several cigarette butts on the ground.

Looking up and seeing Chen Yan approach, Hu Shangke let out a loud cry, jumped up, ran over, and grabbed Chen Yan's shoulders.

"You, you, you..."

"Calm down, Old Hu, calm down first." Chen Yan, expressionless, pulled Old Hu aside: "I definitely won't run, and I will definitely take responsibility for this until the end."

"So what exactly happened to the house? How did it become like this?!"

Old Hu's eyes were red; he was truly panicked.

·

In the morning, Old Hu had come to collect the house—after all, Chen Yan had agreed to rent it for seven days, and nine days had already passed; if Chen Yan wasn't using it... Old Hu thought he could rent it out again before the Spring Festival.

Who would have thought that upon arriving in front of the house...

For Old Hu, it wasn't that the house had collapsed; it was that the damn sky had fallen!

The house had been sublet in secret by a senior civil engineering student without the owner's knowledge, acting as a second landlord. Old Hu was the one who handled it!

With the house collapsed, the senior civil engineering student couldn't escape blame, and he, Hu Shangke, couldn't escape either! He would have to bear responsibility.

How could he not be panicked? This wasn't a bicycle, not a mobile phone.

It was a damn building! How much money would that cost?

Even if they sold Hu Shangke, it wouldn't be enough!

·

"Didn't there be an earthquake the night before last... I thought the house probably collapsed during the earthquake... maybe the building structure itself was too old, so..." Chen Yan carefully chose his words.

"You damn well look around!! An earthquake?! All the other houses are perfectly fine!! Only the one you lived in collapsed! You tell me it was because of the earthquake?! Who would believe that?!"

Chen Yan looked around... the other houses in the distance to the left and right all stood intact.

Alright, it really is hard to make that excuse work!

After waking up, he had already checked the news about earthquake reports in Jin Ling Prefecture.

Jin Ling Prefecture did experience an earthquake that night—but it was merely aftershocks from an earthquake elsewhere.

The actual epicenter of the earthquake was a certain place more than two hundred kilometers away from Jin Ling Prefecture.

By the time the tremors reached Jin Ling Prefecture, they had weakened significantly; according to official reports, the peak magnitude of the earthquake in Jin Ling Prefecture did not exceed 3.8.

To put it bluntly, tremors of this magnitude probably couldn't even knock over a set of building blocks.

To put it this way, many people in Jin Ling Prefecture, if they hadn't seen the news, wouldn't have known at all that there was an earthquake last night.

Chen Yan sighed.

This damn thing, the Heavenly Dao makes no sense!!

He, Chen Yan, was not an shameless person; he knew clearly in his heart that if he hadn't been hiding here to seek refuge, and the Heavenly Dao hadn't used the rules to hunt him down, this house would not have collapsed in the earthquake the night before last.

The landlord hadn't provoked or offended anyone; their house collapsed for no reason at all, how innocent was that?

Ordinary people generally don't buy any accident insurance for their houses; if such a thing really happens, they can only bear the loss themselves.

Chen Yan felt he couldn't be that shameless.

"Old Hu, let's not talk about anything else; I will pay to compensate for this house. If necessary, I'll pay to have it rebuilt, okay?"

Hu Tiangou was stunned for a moment, and the anger in his heart quickly subsided: "You compensate? Build a new house? You said that?"

"Yes, I said it." Chen Yan nodded: "Anyway, it's just a single-story house; building two new rooms shouldn't cost too much, right? A hundred thousand? Two hundred thousand? Three hundred thousand?"

"It's not just a matter of money." Hu Shangke shook his head then, sneering: "Do you think building a house is so easy, that you can just build it whenever you want?"

After a pause, realizing Chen Yan truly didn't understand, he explained patiently:

"So many wealthy people who bought large villas, don't they want to demolish their houses and build bigger ones? They already have the land.

But they can't!

In your house's situation, you need to find someone from the Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau to come inspect it, first proving the house wasn't deliberately demolished by humans, then issuing a written survey result proving the house collapsed due to its own age and damage during the earthquake.

Then go to the Real Estate Administration Bureau to retrieve the original property files for verification, and according to the original house's area and layout, issue a reconstruction permit and provide reconstruction planning and construction blueprints.

Only then can you find a construction unit to build the house—and the construction unit must be qualified; do you think you can just find any contracting team?

Building a house must also follow the planning blueprints; you can't build it as big as you want or build it however you want.

Even with all that, once the house is built, the Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau must inspect and accept it; only after obtaining the acceptance certificate can it be registered and verified at the Real Estate Bureau.

The final step is that the Real Estate Bureau can then issue a new property deed.

Otherwise, if you just build a house randomly, it's called illegal construction! You won't even have a property deed."

Chen Yan was dumbfounded.

The expression on his face was the three characters 【Don't Understand】 written in capital letters.

So many names of government offices, so many surveys, audits, certificates, and procedures.

Just listening to it made him dizzy, okay?

A thought occurred to Chen Yan, and he looked at Hu Shangke seriously.

After all, they were classmates, and Chen Yan still understood this guy.

Old Hu's only flaw was being a bit of a Hu Tiangou, but his character was trustworthy.

"Old Hu, let's speak plainly; if I hand this matter over to you to handle, can you take it on?"

"I can't," Hu Shangke shook his head very honestly: "I'm a newcomer to the industry; although I know the ins and outs, when it comes to running something like this, where would I have connections or relationships? This matter, only our manager might be able to handle. He has operated reconstruction of villas for wealthy people before and has some connections and relationships."

Chen Yan rephrased: "I want to ask you to step forward first to talk to the landlord; if they want money, help me negotiate a cash compensation price.

If they want a house, then help me find your manager to operate this matter.

Choose one of two; you negotiate the price and everything else for me; after all, you're an insider and understand the intricacies better than I do.

Although I am willing to compensate and can give a bit more, I don't want to be a fool and get ripped off badly; do you understand what I mean?"

Old Hu suddenly understood: "Mm, put that way I get it, but…"

Chen Yan waved his hand: "I won't let you do it for free. I'll give you ten thousand yuan for your trouble, alright?"

Hu Shangke had just been about to say "It's just running an errand, no need for that much," but Chen Yan waved his hand again, telling him not to speak.

"You take ten thousand, and I'll put up another ten thousand on top. You help me pass it along to the tenant of this place — that junior brother studying civil engineering.

The apartment's wrecked, so he'll have to find a new place to live, and the landlord's definitely going to dock the deposit and not give it back. There's nothing much of his in there — I checked — just a few old clothes.

These losses, I'll cover them all in one lump sum for him — ten thousand yuan total."

Hu Shangke nodded: "That's plenty. He's still got a little under half a year left on his lease. This dump's half-year rent plus deposit together is at most six or seven thousand. Ten thousand from you is more than enough."

"If there's extra, count it as emotional damages."

Chen Yan transferred twenty thousand yuan to Old Hu on the spot — ten thousand as Hu's fee for his trouble, ten thousand for the civil-engineering junior brother.

"You handle the talk for me. When you've got a result, tell me. I'll see it through to the end."

Then, leaving this pile of trouble for Hu Shangke, Chen Yan walked off.

·

He'd originally planned to take a cab back to the villa, but he was already at the university district, and he thought of the few messages Lu Sisi, that little girl, had sent earlier…

Chen Yan hesitated a moment in his heart, then simply headed to the university district. He'd originally meant to go straight to Lu Sisi's school, but halfway there he remembered that Little Zhao had messaged him a couple of days ago asking for his address — surely he wasn't looking for him about something?

Since he was already at the university district, he might as well go meet up with Little Zhao.

Chen Yan wasn't the type to value romance over friendship, so he went back to his own school first.

But just as he got back to campus and was walking near the boys' dorm, on the roadside, he spotted Little Zhao from a distance, standing behind a utility pole, pacing in place, his face twisted up like he was constipated.

Chen Yan strode over, clapped a hand on Little Zhao's shoulder. Boss Zhao gave a sudden start, turned around and saw it was Chen Yan, and before Chen Yan could speak, rushed up and clamped a hand over Chen Yan's mouth, dragging him around behind the dorm building.

"What's up? Acting like a thief."

"Shh!"

Little Zhao steadied himself, his expression a little sheepish.

"What on earth is going on?" Chen Yan grew more curious.

Little Zhao pointed at the distant roadside and lowered his voice: "Look!"

Chen Yan poked half his head out to take a look.

On the distant roadside, beneath the girls' dorm, two girls were standing. Clearly the classic campus-girl pairing — 【flower + leaf】.

One of them, seen from afar, had a well-proportioned figure, long hair fluttering, features fairly delicate — at the very least she belonged in the category of a pretty girl.

As for the other one… well, no need to go into detail.

Because as the rule goes, in a 【flower + leaf】 pairing, the best friend standing next to a pretty girl is usually either a tank, or a tomboy. Or both at once.

Chen Yan laughed and asked straight out: "Which one do you like?"

Little Zhao glared at Chen Yan: "What do you think?"

Chen Yan laughed: "If you like her, go chat her up."

"…I don't know how." Little Zhao, after stewing for ages, his face red, finally squeezed out: "Bro, teach me."

Chen Yan was silent for a moment: "You think I would? I've never had a girlfriend either."

"Yeah, right! Keep making it up! Little Fatty came back after delivering stuff to you that day and told me everything — there's a pretty girl in your room."

Chen Yan shook his head: "We were just studying together. I was tutoring a freshman junior sister in her coursework."

Little Zhao shot Chen Yan a wounded look: "Bro, did you forget you've already graduated?"

Chen Yan: "…"

"Even if you hadn't graduated, bro… you've failed more make-up exams than I have. What could you possibly tutor her in?"

Chen Yan kept a straight face: "You want me to teach you or not?"

"Yes!"

Chen Yan said slowly: "Just walk up there. Mind you — your bearing has to be confident, composed, and ideally a little carefree. First draw her attention, then boldly and openly add her on WeChat. Once you've added her, come back and take your time chatting later."

"Confident, composed, carefree… how do I actually pull off those three things and draw her attention?"

Chen Yan whispered a single sentence into Little Zhao's ear.

Little Zhao's eyes went wide: "Bro, I didn't read much, don't fool me!"

Chen Yan said, full of righteous conviction: "Did you forget I was already shut in a little room alone with a freshman girl? Believe it or not, up to you."

Little Zhao took a deep breath, agonized for a moment, and finally gritted his teeth and strode over.

When he reached the two girls, Little Zhao deliberately stopped, and coughed loudly on purpose.

The two girls had been chatting; at the sound they indeed looked up, their attention caught.

And then…

Little Zhao suddenly leaped up on the spot… and did an air basketball shot!

Complete with a sound effect from his mouth: "Swish!"

Girl A: "…………"

Girl B: "…………"

After a two-second freeze, the two girls burst out laughing!

The pretty one among them laughed so hard she doubled over, nearly squatting on the ground.

Little Zhao was dumbfounded, and instinctively turned to look at Chen Yan…

Chen Yan turned tail and ran!

·

Hmph, serves you right for saying I failed a lot of courses!

·

Chen Yan ran over two hundred meters in one breath; with his physique now nurtured by Qi after reaching the Qi Initiation stage, even if Xiao Zhao had grown two extra legs, he wouldn't have been able to catch him.

Sure enough, Chen Yan glanced back in a spare moment; Xiao Zhao ran only a few dozen meters before stopping, then gave Chen Yan the middle finger on the spot.

Alright, Chen Yan decided to go see Miss Lu Sisi.

Hmm? Right, what did I come looking for Xiao Zhao for? Hmm, can't remember, so forget it.

But no sooner had he turned a corner than, on a path behind the male dormitory area, he saw a figure sitting on a wooden bench by the road in the distance ahead.

It was still that same milky-yellow down jacket, though a scarf was wrapped around her neck.

In the winter cold, the little girl's face was frozen bright red.

·

While Lu Sisi was lost in a daze, her shoulder was patted.

The little girl jumped in fright, turned her head, and saw Chen Yan's smiling face.

"On such a cold day, what decent person sits by the roadside drinking the wind?" Chen Yan naturally sat down beside Lu Sisi—after all, the two of them had shared a bed for two nights.

Light immediately sparkled in Lu Sisi's eyes; she looked at Chen Yan with delight, then pressed her lips together: "Chen Yan, you..."

"How did you get to our school?" Chen Yan asked with a smile.

"Um... I was just bored, taking a casual stroll, and just, just ended up here."

Lu Sisi answered in a low voice, her head bowed, her small face still red.

Actually... how could it possibly be just a casual stroll?

The little girl simply kept thinking of Chen the Great Benefactor in her heart, but couldn't see him, and her WeChat messages had never been replied to.

Unable to see him, feeling all twisted up inside, she couldn't help but run to Chen Yan's school.

Although she knew he had already graduated and was no longer on campus, a strange feeling arose in the girl's heart: seeing the place where he once lived felt like remembering him by gazing at his belongings?

Chen Yan could actually guess a few things in his heart, and felt a bit at a loss for words—he actually hadn't lied to Xiao Zhao; he really didn't quite know how to talk to girls.

After pondering for a moment, he suddenly noticed the milky-yellow down jacket Lu Sisi was wearing.

He remembered... since that meeting at the hospital, hadn't this girl been wearing this same jacket all along?

Although in winter, people wearing the same down jacket for many consecutive days without changing was considered normal.

But generally, pretty young girls changed their outer clothes very frequently.

Noticing Chen Yan's gaze, Lu Sisi's face flushed red: "I... my other down jacket broke before..."

As she spoke, the girl looked at Chen Yan with a resentful expression.

Chen Yan was stunned, then instantly realized.

The time the phone smashed Xiao Zhao! The appearance of drowning!

He had kicked her into the fountain...

Hmm, that time she seemed to be wearing a down jacket of a different color and style.

"I... my living expenses were almost spent, and I bought a phone that time too; I didn't dare ask my family for money, so..."

Watching the girl explain with a red face.

Chen Yan's heart darkened.

He recalled the things Lu Sisi had told him before: because she was always plagued by bad luck and would even bring misfortune to her family, her family didn't really like her.

A bit of pity arose in his heart.

For a girl her age, even if she wasn't as beautiful as she was, as long as her family's conditions weren't too poor.

most would be spoiled by their families, with many clothes in their wardrobes; who would wear only two outer jackets all winter long?

Thinking of this, Chen Yan grabbed Lu Sisi's arm and pulled her up.

"Let's go!"

Lu Sisi was stunned, but asked nothing; she just lowered her head, softly said "Oh," and obediently followed Chen the Great Benefactor away.

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【This chapter is four thousand four hundred words; Tiao Wu is hard and long!

Votes come~~】

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