162: Chapter 162 Renting a Room for Qiao Linlin

A flash of joy crossed Qiao Linlin's face.

As a classic among smartphones, the iPhone 4 had become a legendary device in the hearts of young people both at home and abroad.

She was no exception and had always wanted to own one.

Unfortunately, she had never been able to bring herself to spend the money.

She hadn't expected Chen Fan to just give her one out of the blue.

First the rental house, then the phone—she rejoiced that she hadn't made the wrong choice. She couldn't help but lean over and give Chen Fan a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you, Boss."

Feeling the warm, soft touch on his cheek, a smile appeared at the corner of Chen Fan's mouth. He then started the car and drove out of the residential complex.

As the car traveled down the road, Chen Fan held the steering wheel with his left hand while resting his right hand on the gear shifter.

This was a habit formed from driving manual transmissions in his past life—because he needed to change gears at any time, his right hand naturally rested there.

Even though this was an automatic and didn't really require gear changes, the habit had persisted.

Passing through a narrow intersection where cars were parked on both sides and another car was coming from the opposite direction, Chen Fan became more cautious and held the steering wheel with both hands.

Once past the intersection, the road widened and traffic thinned out. He relaxed, moved his right hand off the steering wheel, and habitually reached for the gear shifter's position.

When his fingers landed, they didn't touch the leather and plastic of a gear shifter, but rather a delicate, warm, and smooth sensation—he had touched Qiao Linlin's thigh.

Through the thin black silk stockings, he could feel the warmth of the skin beneath. Her legs were pressed together, angled toward the driver's seat.

He didn't pull his hand away; instead, he couldn't help but lightly caress it twice. The sensation of the stockings transmitted through his fingertips—silky and warm—was indeed very comfortable, much more so than holding a gear shifter.

No wonder while scrolling through Douyin in his past life, he'd noticed that most men liked to put their hand on their girlfriend's leg while driving—this was something you couldn't truly appreciate without trying it yourself.

Qiao Linlin didn't object to Chen Fan's actions. She was more than happy about it—it was most important that Chen Fan was interested in her.

She tilted her head to look at him, her lips curving into a smile. Without a word, she shifted her legs a bit closer to him to make it easier for him to reach.

The car was very quiet, with only the low hum of the engine and the warm air from the air conditioner. Chen Fan's hand rested on her leg, his fingertips occasionally stroking it in a leisurely manner.

...

After driving for over half an hour, the car stopped in front of a real estate agency.

When the employees in the shop saw the black Porsche, their eyes instantly lit up—this was a major client.

Just as Chen Fan and Qiao Linlin got out of the car, a female agent in uniform hurried out to greet them.

She was around thirty, her hair tied back neatly, with a professional smile on her face. Her pace was fast and steady, as if she were afraid a colleague might beat her to them.

Her gaze lingered on Chen Fan for a moment, swept over Qiao Linlin, and finally returned to Chen Fan's face, her smile deepening.

"Hello, sir. Are you looking for a property? To buy or to rent?"

"To rent."

"Alright, please come inside."

As they entered the shop, the male agents' gazes all landed on Qiao Linlin at once.

She wore a black turtleneck sweater paired with a khaki pleated skirt. Black stockings wrapped around her straight, long legs, and eight-centimeter high heels made her figure appear even more slender.

The male agents exchanged glances; some cleared their throats, while others lowered their heads to pretend to look at their computers, but their peripheral vision remained fixed on Qiao Linlin.

Looking at Chen Fan, who was walking beside her with her arm linked in his, he was young and dressed casually, but the watch on his wrist and the Porsche keys in his pocket said everything.

The male agents felt nothing but envy—as expected of someone driving a Porsche, the girl beside him looked like a celebrity.

The female agent led the two of them to the lounge area to sit down and asked enthusiastically, "How large of a place are you looking to rent?"

"Over two hundred square meters, the large flat floor type."

Hearing this, Qiao Linlin couldn't help but tug on Chen Fan's hand and whisper, "Isn't that too big?"

"It's fine, bigger is better," Chen Fan patted her hand. Since he was going to rent, he might as well get a proper place all at once.

A house of about a hundred square meters wouldn't have much space left after subtracting the common areas. Now that Qiao Linlin was his woman, he would definitely be visiting her place in the future; if the place was too small, it would be inconvenient for everything.

Hearing that Chen Fan wanted to rent something over two hundred square meters, the smile on the agent's face became even more radiant.

She brought over a laptop, logged into the property database, clicked the mouse a few times, and pulled up a batch of large-area listings. Turning the screen toward Chen Fan, her tone became even more enthusiastic: "Mr. Chen, these are all over two hundred square meters. Please take a look."

The screen showed actual photos of several apartments—living rooms, bedrooms, kitchens, bathrooms, one by one.

"How about this one?" Chen Fan looked at Qiao Linlin.

Qiao Linlin gave a sweet smile. "You decide."

"Then take us to see this one."

"Certainly."

Ten minutes later, the agent brought them to a nearby high-end residential complex. The main gate was very grand, and the security guards wore deep blue uniforms and weren't the typical fifty or sixty-year-old men. The agent led them to a building with only a dozen or so floors and took the elevator to the eleventh floor.

The agent went to a door, took out a key, and opened it.

"This apartment is two hundred and three square meters, with three bedrooms, two living rooms, and three bathrooms. It has north-south ventilation, and the layout is very square." She spoke as she walked inside, pointing toward the living room. "The living room is 6.8 meters wide with floor-to-ceiling windows, and the lighting is excellent. Look at this orientation; there's sunlight in both the morning and afternoon."

Chen Fan and Qiao Linlin walked around; it was indeed quite nice. The decor looked very new, all the appliances were there, and there were hardly any signs of use.

"What do you think? Is it okay?"

"Yeah, it's great." Qiao Linlin nodded happily. This apartment was exactly what she had dreamed of—a spacious living room, an open kitchen, and a master bedroom with a walk-in closet. She had only ever seen such places on TV and never thought she would be able to live in one one day.

Since Qiao Linlin was satisfied, Chen Fan didn't hesitate.

"How much is the rent for this one?"

"Nine thousand per month, paid every six months."

Chen Fan frowned. A two-hundred-square-meter apartment usually went for five or six thousand a month. Even if this complex was more expensive, he expected it to be around seven or eight thousand; he hadn't expected the landlord to ask for nine thousand.

Seeing Chen Fan frown, the agent hurried to explain, "Mr. Chen, the reason this apartment is a bit more expensive is because this is a new complex, and the apartment is also brand new. It was only recently renovated, the appliances are all new, and no one has ever lived in this apartment before."

"No one has lived here before?"

"Correct. The landlord originally planned to live in Chang'an permanently, but later had a job change and moved out of town. The apartment is vacant, and they still have to pay the mortgage every month, so they had to rent it out."

Chen Fan's eyes lit up. If no one had lived there and the renovation and appliances were all new, it saved the trouble of cleaning it up again, so this price was acceptable. However, he still had one question.

"The landlord is out of town, so how do we sign the contract?"

The agent smiled. "The landlord left a power of attorney before leaving, giving our company full authority to act as their agent for the rental. You can just sign the contract with us; it's legally binding. Rest assured, our company has been in the High-tech Zone for several years and is fully qualified; there won't be any issues."