“Wu Ma,” Chu Lian called out, barely managing to steady herself. “Bring your phone over and pay the property management fee.”
Hearing this, Chu Lian’s mother’s eyes widened and her voice sharp became sharp: “On what grounds?!”
The atmosphere turned awkward for a few seconds.
The onlookers were puzzled. Why did it feel like the servant in Chu Lian’s house was disrespectful of employer?
Chu Lian shot a dark glare at her mother. She walked over to her and fished the phone out of her mother’s pocket. She gritted her teeth and said, “I’ll find my phone in a bit and pay you back.”
Chu Lian’s mother turned her back to the crowd with a look of pure financial agony. “Then you must remember to pay me back.”
“I will.”
I’ll just have Shu Lingchen reimburse it later anyway, Chu Lian thought.
Having secured the phone, Chu Lian turned to the property management staff. “Come on, scan the code.”
“Alright.” The female staff member opened the payment code and added, “The total is 48,000 yuan.”
“Wait a minute!”
Chu Lian instinctively covered the phone’s camera, shocked. “How much did you say? Why is it so expensive?!”
“It’s like this: the monthly property fee for 1701 is 4,000 yuan. It’s 48,000 for a year. The fees here at Imperial Garden are paid annually,” the staff member explained, sounding a bit bewildered. “It’s always been this way. Did you… not know?”
Any owner of Imperial Garden would certainly know this. Since she knew, why would she look so clueless and complain about the price?
Chu Lian’s scalp tingled with embarrassment. Annoyed at her own slip of the tongue, she frantically tried to cover her tracks. “I—I know, of course I know.”
“Alright then, you may proceed with the scan.” The staff member maintained a professional smile and held the QR code out again.
At that moment, Chu Lian’s mother stepped forward and whispered in her ear, “I don’t have that much money in my balance!”
I know that without you telling me! Chu Lian felt a surge of irritation. But suddenly, a thought struck her, and her eyes lit up. She turned back to the staff:
“It’s like this. My servant doesn’t have that much in her balance. So, I’ll pay the overdue monthly fees first.”
“It’s mainly because I can’t find my phone. Once I find it, I’ll definitely pay the full amount immediately. That way, I won’t hold up your work. What do you think?”
“This…” The staff member’s tone became hesitant.
Chu Lian smirked, feeling lucky that her mind worked so fast to come up with such a good excuse. Just as she was about to breathe a sigh of relief—
“Student Chu, your phone is right here—”
Everyone turned their heads.
Shu Shu was standing there holding a white smartphone. It was, indeed, Chu Lian’s phone.
“I’m so sorry. Your phone was on the sofa; I didn’t see it earlier and accidentally sat on it.” Shu Shu looked slightly apologetic as she walked over and handed the phone to the stunned Chu Lian.
“…”
Chu Lian couldn’t bring herself to reach for her phone in Shu Shu’s hand.
Forty-eight thousand—she didn’t have it. But she had just told everyone that the only reason she wasn’t paying in full was because her phone was lost. Then her phone was found the very next second. She’d be slapping her own face if she still couldn’t pay. And under the watchful eyes of the crowd, she couldn’t exactly reach out to Shu Lingchen.
“What’s wrong, Student Chu?” Seeing her frozen, Shu Shu tilted her head and asked innocently, “Is there some sort of difficulty?”
Back then, Shu Shu had put about 600,000 yuan into that card. The Chu mother and daughter had lived in her house for free all these years without spending a cent. They wanted to seize the house for themselves, but they hadn’t considered that living in a luxury compound comes with a high “barrier to entry.”
“Do you even know how to talk? What ‘difficulty’ could Xiao Lian possibly have!” Zhang Lu stepped forward, glaring at Shu Shu. “Xiao Lian’s monthly living allowance alone is over 100,000 yuan. A mere 50,000 is pocket change, okay?!”
Zhang Lu didn’t notice that Chu Lian’s face had turned two shades paler; she spoke with a sense of reflected glory. (TN: What a pig teammate. Lol.)
As soon as she finished talking, the crowd broke into shocked whispers. They were all middle schoolers from average families whose allowances were usually kept in the triple digits. Hearing about a 100,000 yuan allowance left them deeply shaken. The school beauty Chu really is a rich young lady!
“Oh~ I see. Forgive me, I haven’t seen much of the world.” Shu Shu arched an eyebrow, nodding as if she understood, and nudged the phone forward again. “Well then, Student Chu?”
Chu Lian was forced to take it.
The QR code was right in front of her. She knew perfectly well that the moment she scanned it, the words “Insufficient Balance” would pop up in large letters.
Her mouth twitched into a stiff smile as she tried to look relaxed, feigning a dilemma: “I… I just remembered. I bought a lot of new bags yesterday and spent most of this month’s allowance…”
“Ah, Xiao Lian, why did you buy more bags?” Zhang Lu waved her hand dismissively. “It’s fine. Now that you found your phone, just call your father and ask him to transfer some money. Problem solved!”
“…”
Chu Lian’s gripped the phone tightly until her fingertips turned white. Her expression was on the verge of collapsing. For the first time, she truly hated Zhang Lu’s non-stop chatter and wished she could sew her mouth shut.
Chu Lian gritted her teeth. “…At this hour, my father is definitely busy with business. My mother is vacationing abroad; there’s a time difference, she won’t see her phone.”
Hearing this, Chu Lian’s mother quickly nodded along. “Yes, yes, the Master and Madam are both very busy, very busy.”
The property staff asked, “Then could you perhaps contact your parents’ assistant or someone similar?”
With a 100,000 yuan allowance, even if the parents were busy, getting an assistant to transfer a mere 50,000 should only take a moment.
“…” Chu Lian swallowed nervously. Twirling a lock of hair behind her ear, she found a desperate retort: “My father’s secretary is also very busy! I don’t want to disturb their work. Let’s just pay the single month first, and I’ll make up the rest later.”
Suddenly, her tone turned aggressive as she frowned. “What? I’m already paying the arrears. I live right here—are you afraid I’m going to run away? Is this the attitude Imperial Garden management has toward its owners?”
The visiting classmates chimed in to defend her. “Exactly! Student Chu already said so. What else do you want? If you delay her father’s business, can you property people take responsibility? Believe it or not, we’ll file a complaint!”
The staff member was intimidated upon hearing the word “complaint” so she backed down to avoid conflict. “No, no, you’ve misunderstood. In that case, please just pay the single month for now…”
Shu Shu watched the whole scene. Honestly, she admired Chu Lian a little. Her storytelling skills were impressive; she made it sound so real.
Chu Lian successfully scanned the code and entered the number 4,000. Just as she was about to enter her password—
“The owner of 1701 is here—”
Accompanying the ding of the elevator, a steady male voice rang out, drawing everyone’s gaze.
A middle-aged man in a sharp suit, radiating the aura of a corporate elite, walked to the doorway. Behind him followed four or five men in uniforms and white gloves, looking like a professional moving team.
“I am the owner of unit 1701. I will pay the property fees.”
Unlike the stalling Chu Lian, the man briskly scanned the QR code. In less than thirty seconds, 48,000 yuan was transferred to the property account.
The crowd was stunned.
“Who is this guy?”
“He said… he’s the owner of 1701?!”
Their first instinct was that he was someone from the Chu family. But then they heard Chu Lian’s voice, filled with shock and confusion: “…Who are you?”
The middle-aged man walked straight in, looked at Chu Lian and her mother, and spoke in a stern, professional tone:
“I am the owner of 1701. You two are residing in my house illegally. Please vacate immediately, otherwise, I will file a lawsuit and seek damages to protect my rights as the property owner!”
Sansukini: Face-slapped!