Chapter Ten: The Handover of the House

Amidst Guo Bin’s intense embarrassment, Xu Ming stepped out of his office, clapping his hands and addressing everyone, “It’s normal for young people to drink a little and make some mistakes. Let’s not make a fuss about it.”

“Oh, please, Brother Xu. You were laughing the loudest just now, and now you’re turning around to scold others,” Li Lin shot Xu Ming a glance, pursed her lips, and retorted, clearly unimpressed.

“Ahem, that’s enough, everyone. Don’t just stand around. Get back to work!” Xu Ming managed a wry smile, too embarrassed to respond, and waved his hand to send them all off. “You all drank quite a bit last night. I bet some of you are still dizzy. So we’re skipping the morning meeting today.”

In this real estate agency, there was a morning meeting every day. The store manager would lead everyone in a brief game to kick off the day and strengthen teamwork. There was also an evening meeting to summarize the day’s work, discuss ongoing deals, analyze them, and plan for the following day.

“Zhang Wei, I’ll go with you for the handover at Building Five later. For now, get in touch with the client and the owner and see when they’ll be coming,” Xu Ming said, having dismissed the others, pointing to Zhang Wei and giving him instructions.

“Got it, Brother Xu.” Zhang Wei nodded. This was his first closed deal, and he only half-understood the handover procedures—like the secondary water supply, hot water, natural gas, electricity cards, and so on. He knew the theory but lacked practical experience, so having Xu Ming assist was a relief.

Just as Zhang Wei was about to ask assistant Wen Fang for the “Property Handover Form,” his phone rang. He pulled it from his suit pocket and saw it was a call from Zhang Yuxia.

“Hello, Sister Zhang,” Zhang Wei greeted as he answered.

“Zhang Wei, are you at work yet?” Zhang Yuxia asked.

“I’m at the office right now. I was just about to call you to see when you’d be able to come by, but you beat me to it,” Zhang Wei replied with a laugh.

“I’m at the shop in Building Five now. Can you come over?” Zhang Yuxia said.

“Sister Zhang, the client hasn’t arrived yet. Should I call her to hurry her up, and then bring her over with me?” Zhang Wei suggested after a moment’s thought.

“No need, just come over first. She knows where we are. I’ll have her come directly when she arrives,” Zhang Yuxia insisted.

“All right, I’ll head over now,” Zhang Wei agreed.

Yuxia acknowledged and hung up.

“Brother Xu, Sister Zhang is already there. She asked me to come over first and said the client can go straight to her when she arrives,” Zhang Wei reported.

“Alright, go ahead. I’ll contact Murong Xuan and bring her over in a bit,” Xu Ming nodded.

Zhang Wei responded, collected three property handover forms from Wen Fang, asked Wang Jianfa to help him log into the system, and left the Zhongtong office, heading toward the shop in Building Five that Zhang Yuxia was leasing out.

Zhongtong and Zhang Yuxia’s shop weren’t far apart; after a short walk, Zhang Wei arrived. The moment he stepped in, he saw Zhang Yuxia seated on a single sofa, wearing a bright red T-shirt and a shiny black skirt that accentuated her ample figure. Coupled with her pretty face, she looked like a ripe apple—tempting enough to take a bite.

“Sister Zhang, good morning!” Zhang Wei paused in the doorway, then recovered and greeted her.

“It’s past nine—what’s good about this morning?” Sister Zhang glanced up, saw Zhang Wei, and beckoned him over. “Don’t just stand there. Come sit.”

Zhang Wei smiled, set his manila envelope on the tea table, and took a seat on the sofa opposite her.

“Zhang Wei, I asked you here for two things. First, I need a favor. Second, to give you the red envelope I promised you yesterday,” Zhang Yuxia said, pulling a red envelope from her bag and handing it to him with a smile.

“Sister Zhang, you’re too kind. If you need anything, just say the word—there’s no need for a red envelope,” Zhang Wei protested politely.

“Hmph, so you think the red envelope is too small, or you don’t want to help me?” Zhang Yuxia said, feigning a stern look.

“No, Sister Zhang, don’t misunderstand. I didn’t mean that at all,” Zhang Wei hurried to explain.

“If you don’t want me to misunderstand, take the money,” Zhang Yuxia said firmly, pressing the envelope into his hands.

“All right, I’ll accept it. Just let me know what you need done,” Zhang Wei relented, seeing how insistent she was, and slipped the envelope into his suit pocket.

“That’s better. If you hadn’t taken it, I’d have felt awkward asking for your help,” Zhang Yuxia said with a smile after seeing him accept the envelope.

“Zhang Wei, you probably know I don’t live in the capital. If something happens at the shop, I’m not always here to deal with it. Sometimes, there are things only the owner can handle, and it’s not convenient for me to travel so far every time. So I hope you can help me keep an eye on the shop, and handle anything that requires the owner’s presence. Would that be all right?” Zhang Yuxia asked.

“Sister Zhang, don’t worry. Leave it to me,” Zhang Wei agreed easily. It was no trouble, and since he’d accepted her money, he had no reason to refuse.

“Good. Just drop by the shop whenever you can and keep an eye on things. If the client needs anything, she can go straight to you, and I’ll leave the property management matters to you as well,” Zhang Yuxia said.

“I think your client is quite pretty too. By asking you to look after the shop, I’m giving you an opportunity—make sure you don’t waste it,” Zhang Yuxia teased, not even done discussing the shop before she started matchmaking.

“Sister Zhang, you’re too thoughtful,” Zhang Wei replied with a wry smile. Murong Xuan was indeed beautiful, but anyone who could afford such an expensive shop was clearly from a wealthy family—she wouldn’t look twice at someone like him.

“Zhang Wei, she can redecorate the shop however she likes, but the layout and load-bearing walls must not be touched. Keep an eye on that…” Sister Zhang rambled on with instructions. Though Zhang Wei grew a bit impatient, he didn’t dare show it. Their conversation finally ended when Xu Ming arrived with Murong Xuan.

Once Xu Ming and Murong Xuan entered, after a brief exchange of pleasantries, they began the handover. Since the shop wasn’t a residential property and there weren’t many appliances, the process was simple—just checking the water meter, gas, and other utilities. It took nearly an hour to complete all the procedures.

“Sister Zhang, Manager Xu, thank you both for your help. It’s almost noon—why don’t we have lunch together?” Murong Xuan said, clearly pleased with her new shop and now at ease.

“Sure, I was hoping to sit down with you and discuss a few things,” Zhang Yuxia replied.

“Sister Zhang, Miss Murong, you two go ahead without me. I have a meeting at the district office at noon—I need to get going,” Xu Ming politely declined.

“Goodbye, Sister Zhang, Miss Murong,” Zhang Wei said with a smile, about to follow Xu Ming out, when Zhang Yuxia called after him.

“That’s fine—Manager Xu, go ahead with your business. Little Zhang can stay. I still need to talk to him,” Zhang Yuxia said, beckoning Zhang Wei to stay.

Zhang Wei hesitated for a moment, withdrawing his foot. Since Xu Ming had business to attend to and Murong Xuan hadn’t invited him, he hadn’t expected to be included.

“Zhang Wei, since Sister Zhang has something to discuss with you, you should stay. I’ll head back,” Xu Ming said, not knowing exactly what Zhang Yuxia wanted but not prying further, and left after instructing Zhang Wei.

Zhang Wei acknowledged Xu Ming, and then it dawned on him—Sister Zhang wanted him to stay so she could introduce him to Murong Xuan as the person responsible for the shop, making it convenient for her to contact him if anything arose.

“That’s perfect. If it weren’t for Mr. Zhang’s introduction, I wouldn’t have found Sister Zhang’s shop. I was thinking of inviting him to lunch anyway,” Murong Xuan said with a faint smile, realizing she had overlooked Zhang Wei before, and that Sister Zhang’s insistence made her seem somewhat remiss.

Zhang Wei didn’t mind—accompanied by two beautiful women and treated to a free meal, it was as good as it gets.