With the grain arranged, Yin Shan drove to Runyuan. This was a residential compound completed last year. There were not many people in it, but in her previous life Yin Shan had passed this compound after the acid rain and found that its buildings had not been affected at all. You could see they had been eaten at by the acid rain, but they still stood firm, unlike many of the old compounds in the city, which collapsed after the extreme cold.
Yin Shan first found a hotel nearby to stay in and looked over the lay of the land. She found that not far from Runyuan there was a livestream company. Yin Shan had come across this livestream company before, it sold pets, food, clothing, appliances and all sorts of things. Thinking it would make getting supplies later convenient, Yin Shan decided to rent here.
Early the next morning, Yin Shan found an agent, meaning to rent a whole floor so as to guarantee her family’s absolute safety. When the agent heard that Yin Shan meant to rent a whole floor, his face broke into smiles. The Runyuan compound was a bit far from the city center and the subway had not been built yet, so many apartments sat empty, and apart from those working at the nearby livestream company, few young people rented here, since they wanted a short commute. So he received Yin Shan warmly.
Yin Shan thought back to how the area had been laid out in her previous life and chose Building E, which was not far from the office building. In Building E, the 22nd and 21st floors were currently unoccupied, and the 22nd was the top floor, so Yin Shan meant to rent the whole 22nd floor, again on a two-month lease. The agent looked at Yin Shan with difficulty and said, “Ms. Yin, two months is too short, it’s a six-month minimum for all of them. And the 22nd floor is a special case. It was bought by one family and the inside has been opened up. After the owner finished the renovation he was transferred abroad for work, so his requirement is a one-year minimum lease, or else to sell it. Of course, if you buy it that’s also possible. Actually I’d advise you to buy it. The compound is two units per elevator, and the total area of the whole 22nd floor is about 400 square meters, with a total price of a little over four million. The down payment is only 20%. The owner signed a contract with us, so we can handle everything on his behalf.”
Listening to the agent, Yin Shan had no intention of buying an apartment. Even 20% down was 800,000, and there was no need for it. Besides, to cope with the earthquakes later, the 22nd floor was not safe, and Yin Shan only planned to live here until the eternal night came, so she was about to refuse. Just then the space’s voice sounded in her mind. “Beep. Mission issued: buy the 22nd floor and obtain the five-colored stone. Reward: automatic range hood, never-breaking energy generator, cold- and heat-proof glass, blast-proof door.”
Yin Shan raised an eyebrow. From the content of the mission, the five-colored stone should be some kind of ornament or building material inside the 22nd floor, but she could have it just by renting the place too, so why did she have to buy it? Yin Shan did not understand, so she thought she would talk her thinking over with the space. Her consciousness entered the space, and she saw a passage displayed on the screen: “Five-colored stone: one of the energies for upgrading the space. The host must obtain ownership before it can be absorbed.”
Reading this, Yin Shan understood. If she rented the 22nd floor, the 22nd floor would still belong to the original owner, and Yin Shan would not count as having obtained “ownership” of the 22nd floor, so the space would judge that the five-colored stone had an owner, and a thing with an owner could not be absorbed. So Yin Shan hesitated no longer and looked at the agent. “I’ll buy it. How long until the title can be transferred?” Hearing this, the agent answered readily, “Ms. Yin, if you buy it in full it can be transferred tomorrow. If it’s a loan, it takes about two months.”
Yin Shan worked out the timing. A bank loan would take forty days at the fastest to be approved, but the Dragon Boat Festival holiday was coming right up, and the high temperatures that followed would make the government issue a notice for everyone to work from home, and in that case there was no way a loan would be approved in two months. Yin Shan gritted her teeth and started talking price with the agent. “I’ll pay in full. Since you can handle everything on his behalf, what’s the lowest you can let me have it for? If it’s reasonable I’ll pay right now.”
The agent was very pleased, thinking of the rich commission on selling this unit, so he readily gave Yin Shan the floor price. “Ms. Yin, the owner’s floor price for a full payment is 3.8 million.” Hearing this price and watching the agent’s expression, Yin Shan knew there was still room to work with, but that room should be connected to the agency fee, so Yin Shan told the agent, “3.5 million, and I’ll give you 50,000 as a sweetener. You go talk to him, and if it works I’ll pay right now.”
Hearing Yin Shan’s offer, the agent visibly frowned, and then he heard about the 50,000 sweetener just for himself, so he compared what he could earn and agreed readily. “3.5 million is no problem. Ms. Yin, are we paying now? It’s still morning, I can take you straight over to transfer the title.”
Yin Shan was impatient for the gains the mission would bring, but she did not know how the space handed out rewards, so to be safe Yin Shan said she wanted to go and look at the apartment first, and that after the transfer she would take the keys and move straight in.
The agent did not know what Yin Shan was thinking and assumed she was still hesitating, so he readily took the apartment keys and the paperwork and brought Yin Shan straight over.
Yin Shan got to the 22nd floor and found there was only one entrance door, the owner must have sealed the other one off. Inside, apart from daily necessities, everything had already been finished, and from the level of the renovation the owner must have been someone who did not lack money. The materials were all very fine, and they matched Yin Shan’s taste as well. So once Yin Shan had it confirmed that everything inside the apartment would be hers after she bought it, she readily paid the money and went with the agent to transfer the title.
After the transfer, Yin Shan had just gotten back to the 22nd floor when she heard the notice from the space. “Beep. Congratulations to the host on obtaining ownership of the 22nd floor. Rewards issued.” Yin Shan looked at the apartment in front of her and did not feel that anything had changed, and then Yin Shan walked toward the living room of the other unit and found that a stone that had originally been in the living room was gone, leaving only a bare base, and she knew that the stone on top of it had been absorbed by the space as a mission item. Then Yin Shan walked to the kitchen and found that the kitchen’s range hood had gotten somewhat bigger. Next Yin Shan walked to the window, took out the outdoor entrenching shovel that had come free with the car, and swung it at the window. Finding that it made no difference at all, she relaxed a little, knowing the space would not lie to her. So Yin Shan decided to change the lock. The space’s mission notice had only said the door would be changed to a blast-proof door, but it had not said anything about changing the lock cylinder, and Yin Shan was afraid the agent had a copy of the key, so changing the lock would be more reassuring.