Chapter Sixty: He Truly Did It

Su Xiaoling rolled her eyes and said, “Do you really think you’re that amazing? Acting as if you’re capable of anything.”
Chen Yang chuckled. “If you spend more time with me, you’ll see soon enough—I truly can do anything.”
“If you didn’t brag, would you die?” Su Xiaoling retorted with a look of utter disdain.
As soon as she said this, she linked arms with Qin Muxue and added, “Muxue, look at him—he’s gotten to the point where he doesn’t even bother thinking through his boasts anymore.”
Qin Muxue could only smile helplessly at their banter.
Faced with these two, she really was at a loss.
“All right, Xiaoling, Muxue, it’s getting late. You should both get some rest,” said Qin Guoshan at that moment. “Xiaoling, don’t feel constrained in our home—just treat it as your own.”
Su Xiaoling, ever the socially adept woman, immediately turned to Qin Guoshan, smiling brightly, “I understand, Uncle. I won’t feel constrained at all.”
Qin Guoshan laughed good-naturedly. Clearly, he was delighted by someone as lively and articulate as Su Xiaoling.
Chen Yang, however, felt a vague sense of unease.
After all, Su Xiaoling was no easy character to handle; who knew what might happen in the future?
The night passed in the blink of an eye.
Early the next morning, Chen Yang had just dressed and was coming down from the upstairs bedroom when he ran into Su Xiaoling. She had braided her hair into a plait, and on seeing Chen Yang, immediately teased, “Hey, off to deliver takeout?”
“What’s it to you?”
Chen Yang detected the edge in her tone and gave no ground.
“Look at you! I’m just greeting you, and this is your attitude?”
Su Xiaoling huffed.
Chen Yang smiled slightly. “I’m greeting you too, aren’t I? Just now, wasn’t that a greeting?”
“That’s what you call a proper greeting?” Su Xiaoling deliberately picked a fight.
Chen Yang was about to argue further when Qin Muxue happened to come downstairs.
The moment he saw her, Chen Yang breathed a sigh of relief. He thought, let Muxue handle Su Xiaoling—I’m heading out to work.
With that, he smiled at Qin Muxue and said, “Muxue, I don’t know what’s gotten into Xiaoling this morning, but she’s in a foul mood. Maybe you can talk to her.”
Qin Muxue knew immediately that Chen Yang and Su Xiaoling must have been bickering again. She frowned and said, “You’d better get to work.”
“All right, don’t have to tell me twice.” Chen Yang grinned, then turned to leave.
Once he was gone, Qin Muxue walked over to Su Xiaoling, exasperated. “You must be hungry. Come on, I’ll take you to breakfast.”
“That guy really drives me mad.”
Su Xiaoling was clearly still fuming about their earlier argument.
Qin Muxue, seeing this, could only shake her head helplessly. She patted Su Xiaoling’s shoulder. “The two of you really leave me speechless.”
Not wanting to remain upset, Su Xiaoling suppressed her anger, then looked at Qin Muxue and said, “All right, Muxue, let’s go eat.”
“Let’s go.”
Qin Muxue smiled wryly. She truly didn’t know what to say about Chen Yang and Su Xiaoling.

In the blink of an eye, evening arrived and the workday ended.
Chen Yang hadn’t had many tasks at Huading Company that day, but each was important. The construction team was about to break ground on the northern suburbs project, and a great deal of preparation was still needed.
At half past six, Chen Yang returned home on time. As soon as he walked in, he saw Su Xiaoling sitting on the sofa, her arm linked with Qin Muxue’s. She was saying, “Muxue, I really think that storefront at the north gate of the Imperial Pavilion Community is perfect. Could you see if you can talk to someone to get the landlord to lower the rent a bit?”
Qin Muxue looked troubled. “It really is a great location. All right, I’ll see what I can do.”
Su Xiaoling nodded earnestly, “Muxue, if you help me settle this, I’ll treat you to a feast.”
Qin Muxue turned and smiled at her, but when she looked away, her expression became serious.
Clearly, she was uncertain about this matter, but seeing how much Su Xiaoling liked the property, she couldn’t bear to refuse her.
Chen Yang, sitting to the side, had overheard their conversation.
He smiled slightly to himself, thinking, If you want a storefront in the Imperial Pavilion Community, you should have come to me.
Naturally, Chen Yang could easily handle this for Su Xiaoling—he saw no reason to keep it to himself. Since he could solve it effortlessly, why not lend a hand?
With that thought, he walked over to them and chuckled. “Su Xiaoling, you want to rent a storefront over at the Imperial Pavilion Community?”
His words instantly drew the attention of both Qin Muxue and Su Xiaoling.
Although Su Xiaoling harbored some prejudice against Chen Yang, she tried to keep her tone even—after all, she wanted a lower rent. “Yes, do you have any connections?”
“Of course,” Chen Yang replied without hesitation. “I told you, if you ever need anything in Linhai, just come to me.”
Su Xiaoling rolled her eyes. “So, can you handle renting that storefront at the north gate of Imperial Pavilion Community for me?”
“I’ll give it a try,” Chen Yang replied modestly.
Though he was certain he could do it, showing off was never his style.
“You don’t sound very confident,” Su Xiaoling said, rolling her eyes again.
“Let’s just see,” Chen Yang replied with an easy grin.
At that moment, Qin Muxue remembered Chen Yang’s acquaintance with Shen Donghua. Perhaps, if Chen Yang asked Shen Donghua for help, this matter could be resolved. So she explained seriously, “Here’s the situation: Xiaoling and I spent most of the day searching the city, and we both took a liking to storefront number 2 at the north gate of Imperial Pavilion. The location, size, and layout are all perfect for opening a piano academy.”
“But the rent is a bit steep—one hundred and fifty thousand a year. Xiaoling hopes to get it for less, since her piano academy is just starting out, and that price is really too high.”
“So you’ve tried negotiating, but the landlord refuses to lower the rent, right?” Chen Yang asked.
Qin Muxue nodded. “Exactly. The landlord says it’s the best property he owns, and no matter how we try to negotiate, he won’t budge. He claims if we don’t rent, plenty of others will.”
“Is that so?” Chen Yang feigned surprise, then smiled faintly. “Sounds like this might be a bit tricky to resolve.”
Of course, he was only saying this to play along.

In truth, dealing with the landlord would be a trivial matter for him.
But Su Xiaoling took his words as an admission of incompetence and looked at him with disdain. “Oh, give it a rest, Chen Yang. Can you stop putting on an act?”
“How am I acting? Fine, I won’t argue with you. I’ll give it a try—if I succeed, you owe me a meal.”
Su Xiaoling met his gaze. “Deal.”
Chen Yang smiled to himself. Su Xiaoling, that meal is as good as mine.
He went upstairs and called Shen Donghua, asking him to take care of the matter.
Imperial Pavilion Community was developed by Huading Company, and the landlord, who owned several units, naturally had business with them.
When Shen Donghua made the call, the landlord immediately agreed—seventy thousand a year, done.
After all, who did the landlord think he was, to dare defy Shen Donghua? If Shen Donghua really wanted to make trouble, the landlord could be out of business in no time.
At seven that evening, Chen Yang sat at the dinner table with Han Qin, Qin Guoshan, Qin Muxue, and Su Xiaoling.
Out of concern, Qin Guoshan asked, “Xiaoling, how’s your piano academy coming along?”
Su Xiaoling answered, “Still at the rental stage. I’ve found a great storefront in Imperial Pavilion, but the rent’s too high. I’m still trying to work something out.”
Qin Guoshan sighed, “Imperial Pavilion is a high-end community. The rents there are bound to be expensive.”
“Exactly—a storefront just over 150 square meters costs one hundred and fifty thousand a year. It’s outrageous,” Su Xiaoling said disdainfully.
“One hundred and fifty thousand? That’s steep. Try negotiating with the landlord,” Qin Guoshan suggested.
The mere mention of the landlord annoyed Su Xiaoling. “He’s so stubborn, absolutely refuses to lower the price. He’s driving me mad.”
“Don’t worry, Xiaoling. Take it step by step. The more anxious you are, the more leverage the other side has,” Han Qin advised, revealing the wisdom of an experienced elder.
Su Xiaoling sighed, “I know, Aunt.”
“By the way, Chen Yang, you said you’d look into it for me. How’s it going?” Su Xiaoling suddenly asked, looking over at him.
Chen Yang replied modestly, “It’s almost done.”
“Almost? Really?” Su Xiaoling looked skeptical.
“Truth stands the test of time,” Chen Yang said lightly. Though he was certain Shen Donghua would handle it, he kept his words vague, preferring to stay low-key.
Just then, there was a knock at the door.
A voice called out, “Miss Su, Miss Qin, Miss Su, Miss Qin…”
Su Xiaoling listened carefully for a moment. Suddenly, her eyes widened as she turned to Qin Muxue. “Muxue, I think that’s the landlord’s voice!”