Chapter 153 Car Accident

Hearing Li Mengfei's words, Zhang Wei could not help but shake his head with a wry smile. Li Mengfei was at an age of bravado and rivalry; otherwise, titles like "boss" and "underling" wouldn't roll off his tongue so easily. Yet, someone like him lacked deep scheming, making it much easier to interact with him in a genuine way.

The reason Zhang Wei had bet with Li Mengfei was twofold: first, to shut the kid's trap; and second, since he had already decided to teach Wang Zhen a lesson, he could use the situation with Wang Zhen to kill a chicken to scare the monkey, ensuring this kid wouldn't dare to stir up trouble for him in the future.

Zhang Wei gave Li Mengfei another brief warning, forbidding him from ever bringing up Wang Zhen inside the branch, before sending him back into the store. As for Zhang Wei, he stayed outside to smoke a cigarette, lingering for a dozen minutes or so before heading back inside.

That evening, Zhang Wei made a follow-up call to the owner of the duplex villa, mentioning that the client was very sincere about purchasing the property and hoped the price could be lowered a bit more. The owner was initially reluctant to budge, but after Zhang Wei's persistent and soft-spoken persuasion, the price was dropped to 35.5 million RMB.

A price of 35.5 million RMB still left a gap of 1.5 million RMB from the target of 34 million RMB. Bringing this deal to fruition would require a lot more effort, but such was the nature of the real estate agency industry. Aside from a small fraction of deals that were signed effortlessly, most transactions had to go through various twists and turns.

After the evening meeting, everyone at the Yayuan branch got off work and went home on time. Li Mengfei, however, appeared exceptionally excited, singing Jay Chou's "Nunchucks" all the way and practically skipping and jumping when he got back home.

"Quickly use the nunchucks, hum ha hi! Quickly use the nunchucks, hum ha hi! If I had lightness kung fu, I could scale walls! Upright and unyielding with a righteous spirit! Hum!"

In the luxurious villa living room, Xiang Xiulan and her daughter Li Mengyao were sitting on the sofa chatting. Seeing Li Mengfei rush back from outside, both of them instinctively turned their heads to look.

"Look at how excited you are! Aren't you afraid of attracting wolves in the middle of the night?" Seeing her son changing into slippers while shaking his hips, dancing, and humming a tune, Xiang Xiulan couldn't help but scold him.

"Mom, you have no idea. I'm exceptionally happy today." Li Mengfei finished changing his slippers, ran over to the living room, dropped heavily onto the sofa, and laughed.

"Weren't you just being reprimanded by your branch manager yesterday, shouting that you didn't want to do it anymore?" Li Mengyao picked up her teacup, took a small sip, and asked.

"Sis, speaking of our branch manager, you actually know him," Li Mengfei said, instantly growing enthusiastic at the mention of Zhang Wei.

"How could I possibly know him? I've never even been to your branch." Li Mengyao glanced at her younger brother, looking puzzled.

"Do you remember that person you almost bumped into outside the Jingxuan Studio last time? That's my current branch manager," Li Mengfei said.

"Oh, I remember. Didn't you say you've known him for a long time? He shouldn't make things difficult for you, right?" Li Mengyao bit her lower lip, recalled the incident, and said.

"I really have known that guy for a long time, but we're enemies rather than friends. I've had my eyes on him and found him an eyesore for ages," Li Mengfei snorted.

"The branch manager is your direct superior. Finding your branch manager an eyesore—aren't you just looking for trouble?" Xiang Xiulan frowned and said, "I give it you won't last very long at that store."

"Mom, you're wrong about that. Our branch manager is a tiger at home and a pushover in front of outsiders," Li Mengfei said with a look of utter disdain.

"Mom, you know that one of the company's branches was smashed up a couple of days ago, right?" Li Mengfei asked.

"I have some impression of it. It seemed to be in your district, but it didn't sound too serious. No employees were injured." Xiang Xiulan was a CEO with a thousand things on her plate; it was impossible for her to know the minute details of every single branch.

"Mom, I'll tell you the truth! That branch that got smashed was the Yayuan branch, and it happened precisely because of our branch manager, Zhang Wei." Li Mengfei spoke with a mysterious expression.

"Oh, do you know the specific reason?" Xiang Xiulan asked.

"Zhang Wei had a client stolen by a small agency, and when he went over there to reason with them, he got knocked out cold by that small agency's manager. Later on, that kid Zhang Wei got lucky and somehow became the manager of the Yayuan branch anyway. Then the manager of that small company sent people to smash up the Yayuan branch, and that Zhang Wei didn't even dare to let out a fart. Total coward!" Li Mengfei said.

"Doing business is all about harmony, and the company doesn't allow employees to engage in gang fights. Your branch manager's approach wasn't necessarily wrong." Xiang Xiulan pondered for a moment, frowning as she spoke.

"Mom, you don't understand the situation. Today I went out with Zhang Wei to show a villa to a client, and that same small agency came to steal our client right in front of us. They were riding roughshod right over Zhang Wei's head, and he still didn't dare to fight back." Li Mengfei said.

"Are you exaggerating a bit? I remember that guy named Zhang Wei didn't seem as worthless as you make him out to be," Li Mengyao said.

"Sis, that's because you don't understand him. Once you really get to know him, you'll see just how useless he is," Li Mengfei laughed.

"No matter what, he is still your branch manager. You should at least show him the basic respect he's due," Xiang Xiulan reprimanded him.

"Hehe, Zhang Wei won't be a branch manager for much longer anyway. Who knows, maybe in a couple of days this guy will automatically resign." The reason Li Mengfei was so happy was precisely because of his bet with Zhang Wei. In his view, Zhang Wei was utterly incapable of dealing with Wang Zhen, and according to their agreement, Zhang Wei would have to step down from his position as branch manager.

"Hmph, whether he's big or small, he's still a branch manager. Does he need to report to a mere sales agent like you about whether he resigns or not?" Xiang Xiulan huffed.

"Mom, you don't know. I made a bet with him today..."

While Li Mengfei was holding forth and explaining why Zhang Wei would soon resign automatically, an unexpected traffic accident occurred near the Yayuan residential community. A pedestrian was crossing the street where there was no crosswalk and was struck and knocked to the ground by a speeding car.

Fortunately, the driver hit the brakes in time, and the victim's life was not in danger. Moreover, the driver promptly rushed the victim to the hospital emergency room, ensuring the injuries received prompt and effective treatment. Aside from a leg fracture and some bruises, there were no particularly severe conditions.

This was just an ordinary traffic accident. Coupled with the fact that the victim had violated traffic regulations while the driver had committed no improper behavior, and afterwards actively rescued the victim and paid all medical expenses, the driver did not have to bear severe legal responsibility.

Such accidental traffic accidents happened every day and thus failed to attract much attention from ordinary people. However, this incident spread rapidly through the real estate brokerage industry near the Yayuan community. Upon hearing the news, numerous real estate agents were ecstatic and jubilant.

The person involved in the car accident was notorious in the real estate agency circle around the Yayuan community. Most agencies had experienced him poaching their clients, and employees from a third of those agencies had been beaten by him. No fewer than five or six people had been beaten so badly they ended up hospitalized. This person was none other than Wang Zhen from Tiantian Company.

Wang Zhen could be said to be a tumor within the local real estate agencies. If it weren't for an uncle working in the Public Security Bureau, he would likely have been crushed long ago by a joint effort of the other agencies. But precisely because he had someone powerful backing him, many people both hated and feared him.

Poaching clients, beating agents, and smashing up branch offices were Wang Zhen's habitual tactics. Rather than calling Wang Zhen a real estate agent, it was more accurate to describe him as a local ruffian and scoundrel. Ordinary commercial methods could not deal with him, so Wang Zhen getting into this accidental car crash felt like justice finally being served by the heavens.

The next morning, news of Wang Zhen's car accident spread all through the nearby agencies. Hearing the news, many sales agents were happier than if they had just closed a sales deal themselves. Those agents who had suffered beatings at Wang Zhen's hands wept tears of joy, their hearts blossoming with elation.

Because of the rain, the Zhongtong Yayuan branch did not hold a morning meeting. Everyone arrived in the morning and sat around chatting indoors, and the topic of conversation revolved entirely around Wang Zhen's car accident—a piece of news that had first been brought up by Guo Bin.

"Clap, clap, clap. Everyone stop for a moment. Have you all heard about that matter?" Guo Bin rushed in from outside the store, wiped the rainwater from his face, and said.

"Heard what? Why are you shouting blindly early in the morning?" Li Tian glanced up at Guo Bin and said with some dissatisfaction.

"Such a huge matter, and you haven't heard about it?!" Guo Bin said with a look of astonishment.

"If there's something to say, just spit it out. Why are you acting so mysterious?" Liu Ziqi asked curiously.

"Brother Wei, something happened last night—did you really not know either?" Guo Bin turned his head and asked Zhang Wei.

"No, what happened?" Zhang Wei asked.

"Hehe, you guys are seriously out of the loop. Wang Zhen getting into a car accident last night is such a huge deal, and none of you even know!" Guo Bin gloated.

"Wang Zhen! You mean the Wang Zhen who beat Zhang Wei and smashed up our store?" Liu Ziqi pressed further.

"That's right, the scoundrel Wang Zhen, who has committed all kinds of evil in the brokerage industry," Guo Bin laughed.

Hearing Guo Bin's words, the room instantly fell silent. Obviously, they were all hearing this news for the very first time. The reason their information was so stagnant was because most of the members in Zhang Wei's team were newcomers.

Meanwhile, Su Ning's entire team had just transferred over; they didn't have many acquaintances among the other nearby agencies and had no direct grudge against Wang Zhen, so none of them had received wind of the news regarding him.

"Guo Bin, are you certain this is true? Did Wang Zhen really get into a car accident last night?" Li Mengfei asked with a hint of disbelief.

"Yeah, this news has spread through all the nearby agencies. An old buddy of mine used to get beaten by Wang Zhen too, and he told me this personally. That kid nearly laughed himself to death when he found out," Guo Bin described with exaggerated gestures.

"Serves him right! That punk Wang Zhen has done too many bad things, and ordinary people really couldn't do anything about him. Now that he's got into a traffic accident, I suppose justice has finally been served," said Li Tian. Having stayed at the Yayuan branch the longest, she knew the most about Wang Zhen's vile deeds. Instead of feeling sympathy for his car accident, she felt it was just retribution for his evil actions.

Unlike everyone else's joy and delight, Li Mengfei was currently somewhat stunned. Just yesterday, he had made a bet with Zhang Wei that if Zhang Wei couldn't handle Wang Zhen, he would have to resign from his position as branch manager. Who would have thought that by last night, Wang Zhen would get into a car accident? To him, this coincidence was just too bizarre.

"Brother Wei, did you really not know about Wang Zhen getting into a car accident?" Li Mengfei walked up to Zhang Wei's side, a trace of a smile hanging on his face as he probed.

"Nobody called to tell me last night, so how could I possibly know?" Zhang Wei raised his head, glanced at Li Mengfei, and smiled.