Chapter 50: [What a Fine Move!]

After the big fox and the little fox finished their transaction, Chen Yan hung up the phone and went back to eating.

With a whole table of dishes, Chen Yan wolfed them down, eating and drinking until he was stuffed.

He called the server in to clear the table, then brewed a pot of good tea.

A moment later, Chen Yan received an electronic document in his WeChat from Fang Fang Zong — a "House Repair Commission Contract," with a contract amount of five hundred thousand.

That side had already signed and stamped it.

And Chen Yan's account soon received an incoming payment of fifty thousand yuan, with the payment note: House Repair Deposit.

Fang Fang Zong certainly handled things thoroughly, leaving no loose ends.

Chen Yan smiled, in a great mood.

Hu Tiangou's side, going to compensate for the short-term rental, would need to fork out two or three hundred thousand — at the very least.

And Fang Fang Zong had given fifty, which immediately filled the hole, and even earned a profit on top.

·

Chen Yan left the restaurant, didn't go home, but instead found a chain boutique hotel on the commercial street and booked a room — he still had to pull a stunt tonight.

Once in the room, he took out the brush, ink, talisman paper, and cinnabar he had bought that day, and carefully drew several talismans in the room…

At around two-something in the middle of the night, Chen Yan left his room and exited the hotel.

He felt his way through the dark down the street to Luoyun Studio.

In the middle of the night, the shop was naturally closed.

Behind Luoyun Studio's shop there were three more courtyards, and on the left side the wall faced the street.

Chen Yan circled along the wall, surveyed and calculated the positions, then stopped at a few spots along the wall, crouched down, took out the small knife he was carrying, cut open the gaps in the wall's brick seams, and tucked a folded paper talisman inside each one.

He picked out a few chosen spots like this and performed the operation at each one.

He was busy at this for nearly an hour; fortunately, in the dead of night, hardly anyone passed by.

After finishing all this, Chen Yan went straight back to the hotel room to stay the night.

He still couldn't go home… during the day, he had to see the effect!

·

In the villa, the girl named Gu curled up on the sofa, legs drawn in, body huddled into a ball.

"How can there be someone… who doesn't come home!!

Waiting by a stump for a rabbit, waiting by a stump for a rabbit — it's been days now, what decent person has a home and doesn't go back!!"

·

Chen Yan slept straight through until around ten in the morning.

He got up at a leisurely pace, washed up, then got dressed and wandered along the commercial street, eating some snacks as breakfast.

Then, he came once again to the teahouse opposite Luoyun Studio, and found a window-side seat on the second floor to sit down.

A pot of tea, plus five or six kinds of tea snacks.

Chen Yan had come several times now and was already a regular; this place's tea was decent, and among the tea snacks the osmanthus cake and mung bean cake tasted good — fitting the Dragon Nation people's highest praise for desserts: not sweet.

He took out his phone, found a novel to read, sipping tea and reading the novel; at the window-side seat, the sun shone through the glass onto his body, warm and cozy, very comfortable.

Around nearly noon, Chen Yan was absorbed in reading the novel when he suddenly heard a startled cry from the street below outside the window.

First one cry, then very quickly, a string of startled cries and screams rang out.

The corner of Chen Yan's mouth curved up; he put away his phone and leaned out to look down at the street below the window.

Across the way at Luoyun Studio, the shop doors were wide open, but pedestrians nearby on the street had all scattered in all directions, some screaming and frantically stomping their feet to dodge, desperately retreating in every direction…

All because, from several nearby manhole covers and sewer drains on the road, streams upon streams of rats were frantically scurrying out!

Then, watching the swarms of rats run wildly across the street, they finally converged together.

As if they had gone mad, they all surged together into the doorway of Luoyun Studio!

In just a little over ten minutes, on what had originally been a bustling, lively street, pedestrians on both sides had all retreated far away.

Some were so scared they jumped up high — standing on tables, climbing onto counters, leaping onto windowsills…

Many young people had retreated to a distance, or stood at high points, but all took out their phones to film!

From time to time, more rats crawled out of the gutters on the street, then, as if drawn by something, frantically surged toward Luoyun Studio's shop, one wave after another.

In such a short span, at the very least several hundred rats had poured into Luoyun Studio's front door.

Chen Yan watched with a beaming smile.

Luoyun Studio, ah… this name of yours, you're definitely going to make it famous.

·

Inside Luoyun Studio it was utter chaos; when the first wave of rats surged in, there had been a few customers in the shop, who immediately screamed and ran out in panic.

The shop's staff were also crying out in alarm; after a long period of chaos, it was only after some direction that they hurriedly went to shut the big door.

Just as the shop's big door was seen being shut, the rats on the street didn't decrease at all; instead, they climbed up along the walls, scaling the walls to get into Luoyun Studio!

On that courtyard wall, countless rats were climbing up — the sight made anyone's scalp tingle!

This strange spectacle drew more and more onlookers on the street, almost everyone holding up a phone to film.

The crowd was saying all sorts of things.

"Holy shit! This place must have offended some unclean thing, right?"

This one sentence immediately reminded the onlookers, and the crowd began to buzz with discussion.

"Yeah, this is just too sinister, isn't it?"

"Right, right, right — who the hell has ever even heard of something like this! It's just sinister!!"

"I've heard this Luoyun Studio specializes in feng shui and fortune-telling for people; on this street, their business is the best…"

"Holy shit, then something must have gone wrong — this place can't be some kind of… Mo Sect evil cultivator's den?"

"Oh, pull the other one, you've read too many novels! Demon Sect evil cultivators? I say it's the Beast Taming Sect!"

"Oh, you're talking about me? You've read plenty of novels too!"

"Stop shouting! I'm sure there's something unclean in there!"

"Right, right! People who do this kind of business, with all their feng shui and fortune-telling, must have provoked something unclean!"

Chen Yan sat in the teahouse, watching the crowd on the street argue and discuss.

He had known it...

Luoyun Zhai is finished!

This time, it might not necessarily mean bankruptcy, but at the very least, it will be shattered into pieces!

It won't recover for a very long time.

·

What kind of business does a place like Luoyun Zhai do?

Simply put, it's actually easy to understand: exploiting people's superstitious psychology.

What do superstitious people ask for?

They ask for good fortune, for marriage, for safety, for wealth...

The simple two characters 【Seeking Auspiciousness】, the key lies in the character 【Auspicious】.

Now, such a place is being spread around by everyone, saying this place is evil, has dirty things, is unclean...

Those superstitious clients and bosses would be running away as fast as they could; who the hell would still come here?

And don't forget, in this area nearby, Luoyun Zhai isn't the only one eating from this bowl.

Even if this crowd of onlookers hasn't spread the news with enough force, hasn't made enough of a scene...

Those competitors, if they don't take the opportunity to kick someone when they're down, they probably grew their brains for nothing.

In this era, the profession of eating from this bowl isn't big, and the circle is small.

If something like this happens to Luoyun Zhai, as long as a few competitors spread it secretly, then the entire local industry circle will quickly know: Luoyun Zhai has been cursed by evil!

With that reputation, which wealthy boss with a broken brain would still come to Luoyun Zhai for fortune-telling or feng shui?

·

The onlookers on the street refused to disperse for a long time, and then, the tightly closed main door of Luoyun Zhai was suddenly pushed open, and seven or eight disheveled-looking assistants ran out from inside.

Everyone was screaming and shouting as they ran out, not even caring about the main door.

Behind them, the angry roar of that Qing Shu could be heard from inside: "Don't run! Don't run!!!"

"Uncle Qing, we're just working here! Such a terrifying scene, we dare not stay!"

One assistant ran out the door and shouted back over his shoulder.

With the shop door open, people outside could see that on the floor inside the shop, there were dense patches of rats lying down—truly a nightmare for anyone with a fear of crowds.

A few minutes later, Uncle Qing ran out from inside as well.

His face was still bruised and purple, and he was wearing a hat on his head; after stumbling out, he saw so many people on the street surrounding the place.

Uncle Qing's face turned both green and pale; he gritted his teeth, dared not say anything, let out a loud cry, and rushed into the crowd, disappearing completely.

·

At noon, people from the Street Management Office also arrived; several people in uniform, trembling with fear, parted the crowd and peeked into Luoyun Zhai, but no one dared to enter, only daring to stand outside and look.

Someone came up with an idea, brought a ladder, propped it against the wall, and looked into the courtyard of Luoyun Zhai...

Immediately, the person lying on the ladder's legs went soft, and he almost slid down the ladder.

"Holy crap! It's too scary!!" The person who came down the ladder quickly ran away and shouted loudly to those nearby: "In the courtyard, the ground is covered with rats! They're just like they've gained sentience, lying in patches there, not moving and not running!"

Afterwards, the Street Epidemic Station and the nearby Fire Department both arrived.

A fire truck drove to the intersection; several firefighters rushed in, ran to the door, took a look, and were also dumbfounded!

They received a call saying there was a rat infestation...

They didn't say there were this many rats!!

With this many rats, it would be enough to demolish a house, right?

Yes, the firefighters have tools for exterminating rats, but...

You see hundreds and thousands of rats lying in a huge patch on the ground in front of you, not moving and not running, just lying there in place...

The firefighters' scalps went numb; for a moment, they didn't dare to take action!

And... who dares to hit them?

Even if there are some with the courage, truly daring to swing a shovel to hit them...

There are so many; if you hit them, the whole courtyard will be covered in blood and flesh, and this courtyard will be unusable afterwards.

·

Chen Yan didn't wait for this commotion to end; he paid the bill, left the teahouse, and slipped away behind the crowd.

Hmm, hiding one's merit and fame.

He returned to the hotel, tidied up the room, and prepared to leave.

He didn't need to wait to see the result... because according to his spellcasting, those rats would disperse on their own within half an hour at most—the few talismans he made in the middle of the night should have lost their effect by then.

Before Chen Yan had finished tidying the room, his phone rang; the caller was Fang Fang Zong.

After the call connected, Fang Fang Zong remained silent for a long time, then slowly said one sentence: "Chen Chen Laoshi, high! I have truly opened my eyes this time! What a brilliant move!"

Clearly, Fang Fang Zong had already received the news—after finalizing the deal with Chen Yan last night, Fang Fang Zong had instructed Assistant Yan to pay close attention to the situation at Luoyun Zhai recently.

Chen Yan smiled faintly: "Fang Fang Zong, I don't understand what you are saying."

"Hahahaha! Chen Chen Laoshi, let us get along slowly in the future; I, Fang Mou, most respect capable people! Let us get along slowly, slowly! I will eventually let you know my sincerity."

After hanging up the phone, Chen Yan immediately received a text message from the bank.

Deposited, 450,000. Transfer note: final payment for house repairs.

Mm, looks like Fang Fang Zong's client is very satisfied.

In just one short day, 500,000 deposited.

"Time to head home!"

Chen Yan stretched hard.

As for the boss lady's side, let it brew for another day or two, then step in to negotiate terms with Luo Qing—only then will it have effect.

·

【Cast some votes~】

·