48: Viewing a house

"Sure! But your Bodyguard costs 300,000 for three days, that's not cheap!"

Ren Jing stared at Qin Shou with a playful glint in her eyes, her tone teasing.

"This... then... then can I take half a day off? Just half a day, I promise it won't delay your important business!"

Qin Shou felt a chill down his spine under Ren Jing's gaze. He thought to himself, 'This woman, a Mayor and a Second-generation rich, lives in a top-tier mansion, yet she's so calculating? Rich people really are stingy.'

"Alright! Since it's half a day, we'll calculate it at half a day's price. Fifty thousand for half a day, which will be deducted from your 300,000 salary. Very reasonable, wouldn't you say?"

Ren Jing nodded without hesitation, her expression still that half-smile.

Upon hearing this, Qin Shou immediately felt a pang of heartache, having lost 50,000 in just a few sentences.

He thought, 'This woman is truly a miser, not even a single hair will she part with! But... for the several million in demolition compensation, I'll just have to bear this loss. Consider it an investment cost; you can't catch a wolf without sacrificing a cub!'

"Okay, no problem. Since Mayor Ren has agreed, I'll go take care of my business now and try to come back early."

Qin Shou forced a smile, suppressing his reluctance, and tentatively asked, afraid that Ren Jing might suddenly change her mind and not let him leave.

"Mm, go on. It's not good to have you waiting outside the door all the time, and I don't have anything particularly urgent here. Just go early and come back early."

The moment Ren Jing finished speaking, Qin Shou, as if granted a special pardon, bolted out of the office, fearing Ren Jing would go back on her word.

He ran out of the Municipal Government building in one breath, got into Ren Jing's hummer vehicle, and headed towards the North City Suburbs according to the address Zhu Xinyao had sent him.

Qin Shou's hummer had not driven far when Zhang Wei emerged from the Municipal Government building. He was in a foul mood, not only having been lectured by his father but also having to curry favor with Qin Shou, whom he had always disliked. The thought of it irritated him.

Of course, what irritated and depressed Zhang Wei the most was his father Zhang Zhicheng's vastly different attitude towards him and his elder brother Zhang Yida. This obvious favoritism filled him with resentment and unwillingness.

The relationship between Zhang Yida and Zhang Wei could not be considered close; in fact, it was very distant, as they were half-brothers. There was no genuine brotherly affection between them, only a silent rivalry and competition.

For wealthy individuals like Zhang Zhicheng, keeping mistresses and having affairs was far too common and normal in their circle. And Zhang Wei was the child secretly born by his mistress, unbeknownst to Zhang Zhicheng.

Zhang Wei's mother, Fang Qiaolan, also had some tricks up her sleeve. After giving birth to Zhang Wei, she immediately took the newborn to the Zhang family to force her way in, hoping to gain status through her son and rise to prominence. At the time, this incident caused a huge commotion in the Zhang family, making Zhang Zhicheng very embarrassed.

However, Zhang Zhicheng's legitimate wife had helped him a lot in achieving his current success and career, and her family had also given him great support. Therefore, how could Zhang Zhicheng divorce his legitimate wife for an illegitimate child? After all, his legitimate wife had also given him a son, who was Zhang Wei's half-brother, Zhang Yida.

After weighing the pros and cons, Zhang Zhicheng gave Fang Qiaolan several million in settlement fees as compensation, while also demanding that she no longer disturb his life and that she leave Zhang Wei with the Zhang family.

One must know that those were several million yuan more than a decade ago, an absolute fortune at the time. Fang Qiaolan, being a mistress, was naturally a greedy woman and didn't care about her son, Zhang Wei. After receiving the millions, she happily took the money to enjoy her life and disappeared from Zhang Wei's life forever.

Therefore, Zhang Wei's position in the Zhang family could be described as very awkward, with no status whatsoever; he couldn't even hold his head high.

This is also why Zhang Wei so enjoyed showing off and flaunting himself in front of others. In that cold family, he had endured too much grievance and humiliation; only outside could he find some sense of existence and superiority.

As a bona fide Second-generation rich, Zhang Wei usually only drove an ordinary audi a6, which was unimaginable in other Second-generation rich circles, because he had no right or qualification to inherit the Zhang family's property. The money he had was merely the pocket money Zhang Zhicheng gave him each month.

If his brother, Zhang Yida, hadn't gone abroad to study for the past two years, he would have had no opportunity to get involved in these business matters, let alone attend such an important occasion and meeting today. Previously, Zhang Zhicheng would only bring his brother, Zhang Yida, to meetings of this caliber. His brother, Zhang Yida, was the legitimate heir of the Zhang family, the son of the legitimate wife, and the true future master of the Zhang family.

Zhang Wei, who had been keeping an eye on Qin Shou, naturally saw him leave the Municipal Government building alone.

Zhang Wei stood at the entrance of the Municipal Government building, watching Qin Shou drive away in the hummer, quickly calculating in his mind.

If he could successfully handle Qin Shou this time and help his father, Zhang Zhicheng, secure such a large engineering project, his status in the Zhang family would undoubtedly rise, and it might even change his future destiny. Perhaps he could also get a share of some less important Zhang family industries in the future, at least not be merely a figurehead as he was now.

Thinking this, Zhang Wei immediately got into his audi a6 sedan and quietly followed.

Counting this morning's drive taking Ren Jing to the Municipal Government building, this was at most Qin Shou's second time driving. His driving skills were naturally not great, and he drove relatively slowly, so Zhang Wei, following from a distance, wasn't worried about losing him. Qin Shou, fully focused on driving, naturally didn't notice anyone following him.

The North City Suburbs were not close to the city center. Even taking the highway, Qin Shou spent a full hour, though this was mainly due to his slow driving. This was a relatively old area, surrounded by old apartment buildings. Only this one old single-story house with a courtyard, nestled between several tall residential buildings, seemed a bit out of place.

As soon as Qin Shou got out of the car, he saw Zhu Xinyao already waiting at the entrance of the old house. Today, she had specifically worn a neat real estate agent's professional suit: a white shirt paired with a black pencil skirt, perfectly outlining her shapely figure and making her look exceptionally capable, with a hint of uniform allure.

When Zhu Xinyao saw that Qin Shou was driving such a domineering and expensive hummer vehicle, she couldn't help but feel another wave of disappointment and sadness. She thought of herself, now just an ordinary real estate agent, working hard every day for a living, while Qin Shou was already driving a luxury car. Compared to before, the gap between them seemed to be growing wider and wider, which made her sigh even more.

"Let's go, I'll take you inside to see the house's specific condition."

Seeing Qin Shou approach, Zhu Xinyao tried to appear composed. She took out a set of keys from her handbag, one of which was for the iron gate of the courtyard, and prepared to open the rusty courtyard gate.

"No rush, I'll first take a general look at the surrounding environment from outside."

Qin Shou didn't immediately follow Zhu Xinyao into the courtyard. Instead, he stood at the entrance, carefully surveying the surrounding environment.

Qin Shou didn't care about the quality of the house; what he cared about was whether the location was good enough, whether it was close enough to the future technology industrial park to be developed, and whether he could get generous compensation.

Qin Shou found that the location of this old house was quite good. It was surrounded by old apartment buildings, and this house was right between several of them, so it would definitely be within the scope of future demolition and renovation. It was not far from the technology industrial park planned by the future Municipal Government. There was no need to even think about it; he would definitely receive substantial compensation.