Chapter 162: Money in a Sack

There was a client who only came to the sales office once. Although he had to provide a capital verification of 3 million yuan to view the model apartment, he was elderly, dressed very shabbily, with gray hair and no hairstyle, like an old farmer from the northwest. He also spoke with a thick accent that was difficult to understand unless you listened carefully.

Although the sales team had explained the property according to the standard procedures, the old man didn't seem to understand anything and kept asking questions, which was very annoying. After we finally finished showing the property, the next group of customers' time was up, so everyone rushed to serve other customers.

The elderly man kept asking questions, all basic common sense questions like what a card-operated elevator is, what you can do in the clubhouse, what kinds of trees are in the community garden, and whether buying a ground-floor apartment allows you to plant fruit trees and vegetables at home. Besides these silly questions, he also criticized the model apartment's decor, saying it didn't include squat toilets.

Who lives in a luxury apartment and still uses a squat toilet? I almost laughed at that time.

Wang Xiaohao could have left work after serving this group of customers, but out of kindness, he stayed with the old man and chatted for a long time in a corner booth in the lobby. This location was relatively secluded and would not interfere with the flow of the next group of guests.

Wang Xiaohao even bought an extra lunch out of his own pocket. The sales office had agreements with several nearby restaurants, so orders for lunch and dinner were placed every day, and they were delivered. Usually, the person on duty placed orders per person, using the company's account. If they wanted to buy more, they had to pay out of their own pocket.

The old man said his son had come to Beijing for work and had just dropped him off and gone off to do something else. He now said he would pick him up in the afternoon, or he could take a taxi back. He wanted to save on taxi fare and wait until his son finished his business in the afternoon before picking him up. Anyway, he didn't look rich.

Unable to bear the pain, Wang Xiaohao invited the old man to lunch. He initially knew nothing about real estate; he was just a car mechanic, with some knowledge of luxury cars. He had learned the rest of his professional knowledge through company training. So, he sympathized with the old man's situation and hated to see him discriminated against by other salespeople.

The two chatted over their meal. Aside from the old man's questions about the project, which he answered truthfully, he didn't pry into the man's situation. He figured he was just here to see and learn. Many people could come up with three million yuan to verify their capital, but buying a house without even looking at it themselves seemed insincere. Sending his obviously clueless old father to the sales office didn't seem like a good idea.

After waiting with the old man until his son came to pick him up, Wang Xiaohao saw that the car he was driving was just an old, basic Mercedes-Benz, which was not even as expensive as the luxury car in their sales office, so he felt that there was probably no chance of getting the deal.

Sure enough, the owner never mentioned paying a deposit or anything like that. However, since this was a client who had already verified their capital and viewed the model apartment, Wang Xiaohao contacted the old man before the sale began and invited him to the opening ceremony.

The old man actually came, and his son followed him, still driving the old Mercedes.

The father and son were plain-looking, poorly dressed, and sat in an inconspicuous position. While others were still hesitating, the old man approached Wang Xiaohao and said, "Xiao Wang, come with me to get something from the car outside."

Wang Xiaohao thought that the other party had brought him some local souvenirs. He felt embarrassed to refuse and didn't want to waste time. Now that there were more clients who wanted to buy houses to entertain him, he planned to decline.

Unexpectedly, the old man was very strong and held him tightly, saying, "No, I won't let go!"

He was dragged out alive. When they got to the car, the old man asked his son to unlock the trunk, revealing several plain snakeskin sacks inside.

Wang Xiaohao thought to himself, it really is a local product, sweet potato or yam? I feel that the bundles inside don't look like it.

Finally, the old man said: "Move them all to the sales office, that should be enough."

What should be enough? Could it be a souvenir for everyone? Unexpectedly, when he moved the sack, it was very heavy. Wang Xiaohao's heartbeat accelerated. It felt like bundles of banknotes.

The old man's son advised, "Dad, don't be impulsive. The house for this project hasn't been built yet. I think the large villas already built in the suburbs are better. Why don't we reconsider it?"

The old man blew his beard and glared, "What are you looking at? Hurry and grab the sacks! The villa's small yard is not even as big as ours. The last time I came to the sales office, I didn't understand anything else, but I knew it was the most expensive house in Beijing. It has a card elevator, the materials are all high-end overseas brands, and there are foreign housekeepers. Stop talking nonsense, if you're any later, the most expensive large units will be snatched up by others."

Wang Xiaohao remembered the time when the old man came to see the model apartment. He had only a vague understanding of the high-tech and design concepts, but he emphasized that the house was expensive, used high-quality materials, was designed by a foreign designer, and would eventually be managed by a foreigner. Such simple words finally made the old man understand a little bit.

The old man was right. The luxury homes in their city were indeed the most expensive of the houses currently on sale in Beijing, with the highest unit and total prices. Could it be that the old man bought this house just for this reason, wanting the most expensive and the best?

Let's move the sack directly to the finance office. Wang Xiaohao carried the sack and led his son, who was also in a suit and tie, back to the sales office. The other salespeople looked at them with disdain. Where did this old-fashioned thing come from?

Unexpectedly, when the finance office opened the sacks, they saw bundles of hundred-yuan bills, which filled several bags. It was estimated that there was more than enough money for a house.

Yes, they paid in full for three houses: one for the old man's family, one for his son and his wife, and one for his in-laws.

Upon further inquiry, I found out that they were big coal bosses in a western province. They owned a mine at home and could sell a shovel of coal dug by machines for 20,000 to 30,000 yuan. If they worked at full capacity, they could earn enough to buy a house in half a month.

They were nouveau riche, uneducated, and had previously lived near the mines, their yards embracing large plots of land measuring three or four mu (approximately 1.5 acres) and their two- or three-story houses. Their yards could park several Land Rovers, tractors, and other vehicles, and they could also grow trees, vegetables, and livestock. They looked down on the palm-sized gardens of the villas in the suburbs of Beijing. Even those small gardens could be called yards, but they couldn't even accommodate a few of their cars.

So the old man wanted to see what his in-laws meant by "urban luxury homes with elevators." That's the appeal of differentiation. Arriving at the sales office, entering the model units was like stepping into the Grand View Garden. Although he didn't understand much, he could still see the luxury brought about by all the high-tech features.

Could a door really cost tens of thousands of yuan? Hand-hammered, bulletproof copper, unlocked with a fingerprint and password, so thieves are a thing. And there's that toilet that costs tens of thousands of yuan—is it made of gold? No, it looks like white porcelain, but it has so many buttons for flushing. And that 360-degree shower—come home from work in the mines and have a shower of hot water all over you, accompanied by music—even the gods would envy you. Can a dark room be transformed into a safe? That's fantastic! I'll never have to worry about anyone looking at my cash.

Not to mention the free-to-use grand hall, covering 10,000 to 20,000 square meters, complete with a swimming pool, a cigar room, a library, and a massive banquet hall—it's as grand as an emperor's palace. The videos are all taken from the real thing. In the future, entertaining relatives here—even aunts and uncles—for weddings and funerals, feasting and dining, how grand would that be?

This house is a bit expensive, and the property management fee is also expensive, but there are a bunch of foreigners bowing and scraping around. Other real estate projects don’t have such services even if you pay, so what’s the point of being picky? I just bought it here.