135: Chapter 135 Buying a House

The two set aside the rather gloomy topic, and Hao Hong asked Lin Ning, "Why are you in such a rush to buy a house? And you even want one you can move into the same day."

Lin Ning put on a pained expression and recounted his experience from that morning.

Hao Hong nearly laughed until he couldn't breathe, not forgetting to look down on Lin Ning, "Who hasn't grown up using dry toilets? You go to the big city for a few years, get all high and mighty, and now you can't stand it?"

This infuriated Lin Ning, who almost drove them to find a dry toilet just to force Hao Hong to squat in one.

Hu Lin Residential District, a high-rise with elevators built when Lin Ning had just started college, was a rare, premium residential area back when the real estate market was booming.

The car was ushered into the residential complex by someone; there was an access control system, which was quite rare in their area.

The friend Hao Hong found worked for the property management. Upon hearing Lin Ning's two requirements, he gave a thumbs up, straightforward—clear property rights, ready for immediate move-in.

The house hunting went very quickly; Lin Ning was quite satisfied with the second one.

It was on the third floor, so even if the elevator lost power, his mother wouldn't be exhausted from climbing the stairs; it was transparent from north to south, the layout was square and reasonable, and there were no buildings blocking the sunlight in front or back. It happened to be a clear, sunny day, and the interior was filled with golden, warm light, making it exceptionally comfortable. The renovation was in the currently popular minimalist log style. It had been two years, so there was no need to worry about formaldehyde or anything like that. The size was suitable, with 98 square meters of usable area, so it didn't feel cramped.

Oh my, it was perfect in every way.

The more Lin Ning looked, the more satisfied he became, so he casually asked, "How much is this one?"

The guy stated a number: "The owner is selling in a hurry, 310,000, including everything, move-in ready."

310,000.

Lin Ning's brain automatically completed a conversion problem—half a spy.

??? Buying a fixed asset, getting rid of building fires for the kang and dry toilets, and getting a house where his mother could go up and down easily and have face, only cost half a spy?

This feeling... it was so f*cking worth it!

Hao Hong grabbed Lin Ning, who was about to seal the deal immediately, "Don't be an idiot, look around more; this isn't buying a pack of cigarettes, for f*ck's sake."

Like a child anxious to buy a favorite toy but being told by a parent to look around some more, Lin Ning was dragged by Hao Hong to see other places.

They looked at five more, each with its own merits. It truly deserved to be the residential area that the wealthy in their town had gone crazy snapping up back in the day; the hardware was completely flawless.

Parking, heating, landscaping, property management...

After Hao Hong dragged Lin Ning to understand everything clearly, he stopped trying to hold him back. He was also tempted; it was really nice.

After an hour and a half, Lin Ning still bought that large two-bedroom apartment on the third floor.

"Quick, quick, quick! I saw that except for the basic furniture, they've moved everything out. If I sign the contract and pay now, can I move in a while?"

Both Hao Hong and the guy from property management were amused by Lin Ning's impatient behavior.

"Alright, sign the contract, you can move in first, and we'll handle the other paperwork later." The property manager was also straightforward.

Lin Ning didn't waste words; he took the contract and glanced at the key information—clear property rights, no mortgage. As for the detailed terms? Having the local resident Hao Hong and the property management guy watching over it was safer than any contract.

Swish, swish, swish, he signed.

Mobile banking, transfer.

It took less than three minutes, just like buying a head of cabbage.

After entrusting the cleaning to the property management, Lin Ning dragged Hao Hong back to the bungalow to pack up his luggage.

The things he had packed up when he sold the old apartment building were still piled up in the small courtyard's storage shed, untouched. Lin Ning only picked out the daily necessities to pack. Hao Hong found a small truck, and before twelve noon, they had finished moving.

Hao Hong looked at the pile of things on the floor of the new house, a bit dazed. Just like that, he had bought the house and finished moving?

Feeling dizzy and a bit unreal, Hao Hong pinched himself and looked at Lin Ning, "This is a bit of a farce! We haven't even looked at the houses in Muda yet, those are newer."

As he spoke, his annoyance flared up, "What if there were better and cheaper ones? Now it's 310,000, what if we could have bargained another ten thousand or eight thousand off? Why didn't I stop the impulsive Lin Ning? This is buying a house!"

But on the other hand, a dreamy sense of satisfaction welled up in him—buying a house like this was the patent of big bosses who weren't short on money, and today he had witnessed it.

Lin Ning had indeed been a bit impulsive just now. Others get sweet-talked by salespeople, but he had brainwashed himself, his mind full of "half a spy."

He didn't regret buying the house, nor did he want to dwell on his slightly floating state of mind. What was urgent for him now was the fear that his mother would beat him up!

The two locked eyes, their brainwaves synced, and they said in unison—

"What if my mom beats me up?"

"What if your mom beats me up?"

Lin Ning scratched his head frantically.

Hao Hong was also scratching his ears and cheeks, but a moment later he realized, hey, why does it matter to me if Lin Zi gets beaten?

"Hahaha... you're screwed!"

Not wanting to lose face even if he lost the argument, Lin Ning kicked him in the butt, "My mom wouldn't be able to bear it!"

After saying this, Hao Hong laughed even louder, while Lin Ning himself wilted.

Who didn't know who? In this land, where was it so easy to find "gentle and kind" mothers?

"Screw it! She can't beat me to death anyway." Lin Ning gave up, "Let's go, Daddy is treating you to a meal."

The two of them trotted off to the best restaurant in town—"Hamonda"—just like when they were kids before getting a beating, they always had to feed themselves first to build up the capital to endure the punishment.

Lin Ning was starving and dug in, scolding Hao Hong while eating: "You're really not a decent guy, leaving your wife to busy herself running the restaurant while you come out to eat alone."

Hao Hong rolled his eyes: "It's busy at noon, she can't get away..."

Lin Ning and Hao Hong were head-down tackling a basin of hand-grabbed mutton when a group of people walked out from the corridor of private rooms after finishing their meal.

"Yo, who is this?" A man as thin as a hemp stalk stopped by the table and said sarcastically.

Lin Ning looked up, his brows instantly knitting together—not because the annoying cousin Wang Hao was in front of him, but because the text above the guy's head was red. The color wasn't deep, but it definitely wasn't a minor matter.

Seeing Lin Ning looking over with a cold, frowning expression, Wang Hao subconsciously took a step back.

Realizing he had lost face, he stiffened his neck and tried to get the upper hand verbally: "Lin Ning? Forced by debt collectors to the point you couldn't survive, so you ran back?"

Hao Hong had an expression of watching a show; this guy had been getting beaten or scolded since he was little, why didn't he ever learn?

Lin Ning set aside the doubts in his heart and wiped his mouth unhurriedly.

"Hao, stop hanging out with these friends who, like you, have no one to play with. You're so poorly informed."

As he spoke, he slightly lifted his chin to gesture at the ragtag group standing behind him, then pulled car keys out of his pocket and tossed them on the table.

As if he didn't see the angry expressions on the group's faces, he said, "Doesn't the stepdaughter of your uncle's cousin's daughter-in-law's cousin work at the vehicle management office? Can you help me make a call? I bought a car for my sister and need to register it. Can you help me cut the line for the inspection and pick a lucky license plate number?"

"You!" Wang Hao was both stifled and flustered, stiffening his neck and raising his voice, "I, I, I... why should I deal with you..."

"Pfft!" Hao Hong laughed out loud from the side. This guy had been like this since childhood, always bragging about how awesome his distant relatives were. When something actually came up, he knew he couldn't handle it, so he would be incredibly flustered, trying to save face, but looking so nervous that everyone could see it.

No wonder everyone called him a loser.

Lin Ning looked as if he understood, "Oh, you can't, again, again, again. Forget it then."

"Right, I just bought a house in Hu Lin. I'm having a housewarming in two days, remember to come eat. This time it's family, so we definitely won't kick you out by treating you like a 'stranger'."

This was referring to a time before when Wang Hao had insisted on saving face and brought people to a banquet, but they didn't recognize him as a "relative" at all and kicked him right out.

Wang Hao's eyes turned red. People in the hall were all looking over, so he could only force himself to hold on, shouting: "You f*cking..."

"Hao," Lin Ning stood up, his 187cm height and arrogant face standing in front of Wang Hao with full oppressive force, "Don't force me to slap you in public."

"Get lost!"

Wang Hao retreated several steps, his face turning red then white, tears spinning in his eyes. He turned around, pushed past his group of "friends," and ran away?!

"Damn, what a f*cking coward." Hao Hong cursed.

Those "friends" who had been treated to the meal looked at each other and also scattered.