The next morning, Chen Hong signed contracts with two real estate developers and a bank, paid a 50% down payment, and took out a loan of more than 1.23 million yuan. Her monthly mortgage payments alone amounted to nearly 30,000 yuan.

Chen Hong now needs to pay more than 80,000 yuan in mortgage payments to ICBC every month, and she is already an ICBC VIP customer.

Chen Hong never expected that being in debt could make her a VIP. This was something she, a commoner in a seventh-tier city in her previous life, could never have imagined, but in this life she received this great honor.

Chen Hong treated everyone to lunch again, finding a large private room at the hotel. Chen Hong, Wang Chen, Liu Huashu, Wang Chaoyang, their real estate sales company manager, and two employees from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China made up a total of 12 people.

Everyone enjoyed a lively meal, which cost Chen Hong a lot. Each of the 11 people gave Chen Hong 500 yuan worth of cigarettes and alcohol. When they left, everyone was very happy, extremely satisfied with Chen Hong's generosity.

They exchanged contact numbers and arranged to have dinner together next time Chen Hong visited Shanghai. Chen Hong nodded and smiled at everyone. Holding a stack of business cards in her hand, Chen Hong felt that the money hadn't been wasted.

In the afternoon, after completing all the remaining formalities, Chen Hong received the keys. Accompanied by Wang Chen, Liu Huashu, and Wang Chaoyang, she went to see the three new apartments.

In the new house, Chen Hong gave each of the three men a reward of 5,000 yuan to thank them for their help. After receiving the money, Liu Huashu and Wang Chaoyang went back to work first, as they still had work to do in the afternoon.

After they left, Chen Hong took out another 5,000 yuan and handed it to Wang Chen. Wang Chen was so shocked that he waved his hand and said, "Chen Hong, this is too much money. 5,000 yuan is not a small amount. I have eaten several meals with you these past two days. 5,000 yuan is equivalent to my monthly salary. You and my brother are friends. I can't be too greedy."

Chen Hong smiled and said, "Let's split the bill. The 5,000 yuan is for the errands you ran. This 5,000 yuan is for the money you saved me by using your connections to save me a lot of money on the house. Since I saved money, of course I want you to benefit from it too."

"Take this, use it to pay your mortgage. You're still under a lot of financial pressure after just buying a house, don't be shy. I need to ask you for a favor."

Wang Chen took the money and said apologetically, "Thank you so much. Just tell me what you need, and I'll do my best as long as it's within my power."

Chen Hong smiled and said, "It's not a big deal, just a bit tedious. I want to do some simple renovations on these three houses and then rent them out. I've spent so much money, I can't just let them sit idle, at least I need to cover my monthly mortgage payments."

"That's true, your investment is too big. I see your monthly mortgage payment is almost 30,000 yuan. Renting it out can help offset some of the costs and ease the pressure of repayment. Okay, I'll go find some acquaintances in a bit and show them the house. I'll try to negotiate a lower price for you."

Wang Chen was especially happy today. The three houses Chen Hong bought this time not only earned him and his friends a commission of 40,000 to 50,000 yuan, but he also received an extra kickback from Chen Hong. Chen Hong was truly his benefactor!

Seeing how generous she was, Wang Chen figured that helping her would definitely be rewarded. With that in mind, he felt energized and left, even though he still had to go find a renovation company that afternoon.

With nothing to do, Chen Hong went shopping and found that Rongcheng also had everything here. The gap between the two places wasn't that big anymore, so there was no need to buy lots of things here to take back.

Chen Hong only bought four sets of pajamas and some underwear for herself and her sister at the silk counter. The silk pajamas here were of very good quality and not expensive. They were high-quality products that were not available in Rongcheng and were worth buying.

Wang Chen called in the afternoon. He was currently showing the house to the renovation company. Based on the budget provided by Chen Hong, they would work overtime tonight to produce drawings and try to meet with the two parties tomorrow morning to finalize the renovation plan.

Chen Hong had nothing else to do in the afternoon, so she went to several well-established restaurants and snack shops in this commercial area and bought a lot of famous Shanghai snacks. She bought a lot of everything, including pan-fried buns, steamed buns, sesame dumplings, scallion pancakes, pork rib rice cakes, sesame glutinous rice balls, and wontons.

After placing the order and providing the hotel address, Chen Hong quickly returned to the hotel to receive the takeout.

Even into the evening, Chen Hong was busy receiving takeout orders, signing for one after another. Looking at all the delicious food packaged up in her online space, Chen Hong smiled broadly.

Now we'll have food on the sea voyage; we won't have to eat instant noodles and dry bread anymore. If I can find the time tomorrow, I'll go buy some more, since it's a rare opportunity to come to Shanghai.

These things are delicious and inexpensive, much cheaper and more affordable than going to a restaurant. At eight o'clock in the evening, Chen Hong left the space, closed the bathroom door, and went to bed.

After a long day of running around, meeting so many people, negotiating prices and looking at houses, it was exhausting. After working for another three hours, Chen Hong slept soundly.

Half-asleep, Chen Hong heard a series of thumping sounds, which startled her awake. She rubbed her eyes and smoothed her hair. Turning on the bedside lamp, she slipped on her slippers and went to the door to peek through the peephole.

Finding nothing outside, Chen Hong checked the door lock, yawned, and headed back to her bedroom; the feeling of not getting enough sleep was too unbearable.

She had only taken a few steps when there was another knock on the door. This time, Chen Hong was sure it was her door. She looked down at her pajamas and saw that she was dressed very conservatively. She turned back and looked through the peephole, but there was still no one outside.

She didn't open the door immediately. After waiting for about two minutes and hearing no movement outside, she gently unlocked the door. As soon as she opened it, a tall figure pounced on her. Chen Hong was startled and shoved the dark figure aside.

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