Chapter 126: Signing the Contract

Wang Zhen, having built his own brokerage firm from the ground up, was certainly no incompetent fool. Determined to close this deal, he decided to give it his all. After lighting another cigarette and mulling things over for a moment, he pulled out his phone and dialed Li Yun again.

"Hello, is this Ms. Li? This is Wang Zhen from Tiantian Real Estate."

"It's me. Is there something else, Xiao Wang?" Li Yun asked over the line.

"I just spoke with the owner of unit 1018 in Building 10 again. He’s still dead set on 3.2 million and won't budge, so I wanted to let you know," Wang Zhen explained.

"Sigh, that owner is far too stubborn. We’ve already come down by 50,000, yet he won't take a single step back," Li Yun sighed, sounding rather displeased. "Forget it then. Let's drop that property. Why don't you find me something else to look at?"

"Ms. Li, I can tell you really like that place, and it is a great property. Why don't you just buy it for 3.2 million? I’ll waive my agency fee, which should essentially cover the 100,000 difference. What do you think?" Wang Zhen suggested.

"Waiving the fee is absolutely out of the question. It’s not that I’m short on that kind of money; I just can't stand the owner's attitude. Why should I have to pay whatever price he demands?" Li Yun stated firmly.

Li Yun’s father was the Executive Deputy Director of the Beijing municipal branch, a high-ranking official with real power. Given that the Public Security Bureau was one of the most vital departments—holding more influence than many sub-ministerial level officials—she hardly cared about a mere few tens of thousands.

Her stated distaste for the owner’s attitude was only one reason for her refusal. The other was that there is no such thing as a free lunch. She could accept a half-price fee, but she could not accept having no fee at all. She knew Wang Zhen’s uncle was her father’s subordinate and suspected that the offer to waive the fee had been prompted by him to curry favor with her father. That was precisely why she found it unacceptable.

Because her father was a high-ranking official with real authority, their family was constantly beset by people looking to ingratiate themselves. Her father had taught her since childhood that accepting favors creates obligations, and thus, Li Yun never indulged in others' excessive hospitality or benefits.

Unaware of her reasoning, Wang Zhen tried to persuade her a few more times. Seeing her firm resolve, he had no choice but to drop the matter, promising to find her a more suitable home and offering a half-price fee once again. Li Yun thanked him politely before hanging up.

"Hmph, the deal was so close to closing, and now it's gone down the drain," Wang Zhen muttered angrily after ending the call.

For over a week, he had scoured every available listing, exhausting all his staff's resources to find that duplex. With Li Yun rejecting it, all his efforts had been in vain. Worse, Li Yun was now looking with other agencies. As a small firm, Tiantian could not compete with the major companies in terms of resources, and starting over put him at a significant disadvantage; he might even lose her to a competitor.

Meanwhile, at the Yayuan branch of Zhongtong Real Estate, Zhang Wei had successfully kept the owner occupied with a fictitious client. He then mobilized his colleagues to hunt for listings, expanding their search well beyond the Yayuan residential area.

Zhongtong had many branches nearby, so whenever a good property hit the market, local agents would immediately upload it to their internal "Fangyou" system. This allowed Zhang Wei to see all the duplexes for sale in the vicinity. Wang Zhen lacked such an advantage; his firm only had data for Yayuan, and his listings for other areas were scraped from the internet. Since those listings were public, every agency knew about them, leaving Wang Zhen with no competitive edge outside of Yayuan.

After expanding his search, Zhang Wei found two suitable duplexes. He inspected them first to ensure they met Li Yun’s requirements before calling her to arrange a viewing.

Li Yun readily agreed. This time, she came alone, as Zhang Wenyuan had returned to Baocheng for work. While showing her the properties, Zhang Wei probed for information about the unit 1018 situation. Through his "mind-reading" ability, he sensed her lingering frustration with the previous owner and realized she had firmly decided against that property. This put Zhang Wei at ease and boosted his confidence for the tour.

The two properties Zhang Wei showed her were not far from Yayuan, located in a newly built complex called "Oriental City." The architecture there was quite distinct. Both units were on high floors in the center of the complex, measuring around 120 square meters. They were slightly more expensive than the Yayuan property, priced at about 3.3 million.

Li Yun was quite pleased with the second unit. It was 118 square meters, south-facing, located on the 18th floor, and featured high-end renovations provided by the developer. It had never been lived in, making it essentially a brand-new home. What attracted her most was the "two-and-a-half bedroom" layout; upstairs, in addition to two bedrooms, there was a smaller room that could serve as a nursery or a walk-in closet—a very practical design.

Although she liked it, she felt the price was a bit high. Her mental budget was 3.2 million, and she would hesitate at any price above that. Her thoughts, of course, could not escape Zhang Wei’s notice.

After the tour, Zhang Wei negotiated with the owner of the Oriental City unit. After some persistent persuasion, the owner agreed to lower the price by 50,000, settling at 3.25 million.

With only a 50,000 gap left, the deal was in a delicate state—easy to close, but just as easy to break. After careful consideration, Zhang Wei decided to bring the owner and Li Yun together so they could meet and see each other's sincerity.

Both parties agreed to meet, and to make it easier, they gathered at the apartment itself. Li Yun arrived accompanied by her mother. Seeing her mother there made Zhang Wei quite happy; it was a clear sign that Li Yun was serious about the property.

Li Yun’s mother looked to be in her forties, with delicate features and a modest, gentle demeanor. She wore a simple, light blue dress and spoke very kindly. During their conversation, Zhang Wei learned she was a university professor, which only added to his respect.

The meeting was a success. With both parties acting in good faith and Zhang Wei acting as the mediator, they reached an agreement by the end of the session, finalizing the price at 3.23 million.

They didn't sign the contract that day, waiting instead for Zhang Wenyuan to return to Beijing from Baocheng the next day. Once he saw the house and expressed his satisfaction, they officially signed the purchase agreement.