Zhang Fan had assumed the house the man mentioned was an apartment in a residential complex, but to her surprise, it was actually a standalone villa!
“What kind of person are you?”
She sized him up warily. A hotel service worker—at most a lobby manager–level young man—how could he afford to live in such a luxurious villa?
Could he be trying to scam her on purpose?
“Let me introduce myself. Ye Yunting, acting hotel manager.”
The man said nothing more, directly unlocking the villa’s electronic lock and pushing open the front door, inviting Zhang Fan inside.
“Please rest in the guest room on the second floor today. The linens are on their way—I’ve already had the housekeeper change them. They’re all new.”
Ye Yunting looked behind Zhang Fan and only then noticed she was carrying just a somewhat worn handbag, with no luggage. So he kindly reminded her—perhaps she had left her luggage at the hotel and forgotten to bring it? He could have a hotel employee bring it over immediately.
But Zhang Fan’s answer was a denial—she had no luggage at all!
“Though it may be a bit presumptuous, I still need to remind you of something.” Ye Yunting studied Zhang Fan with a slightly odd look, though his manner remained courteous. “Everything here is worth a fair amount. If anything is damaged, you’ll need to compensate at full value. I hope you understand!”
Indeed, even the entryway rug looked expensive, not to mention the high-end decorative pieces scattered throughout.
Because she had previously handled Huang Daren’s mistresses, she had some familiarity with luxury goods like these. In the past, whenever she saw such things, she would keep her distance.
Any single item—if she accidentally left a fingerprint on it, they would have ample reason to demand compensation.
Many luxury items are fragile and difficult to maintain. A single professional servicing could cost her a month’s—or even several months’—salary.
But now, her mindset was different. There was nothing wrong with simply admiring these things. Where would all these accidents come from?
“Don’t worry. If I break anything, I’ll sell everything I own to pay you back!”
Zhang Fan smiled and rubbed Da Huang’s head. “Did you hear that? You need to behave too!”
“Then… do you still need me to accompany you inside to get familiar with the place?” Ye Yunting looked slightly embarrassed. That phrase “sell everything I own” sounded somewhat sarcastic to his ears.
The woman before him, though she didn’t look wealthy, didn’t carry herself like someone of common stock either. She should be trustworthy, right?
“That won’t be necessary. You’re probably quite busy with work!”
Zhang Fan surveyed the entire villa, and a thought suddenly occurred to her. She turned to look at Ye Yunting. “I’d like to ask—you said earlier that I could stay until I find a place. Does that still hold?”
“Huh?” Ye Yunting hadn’t expected Zhang Fan to still ask this after seeing the villa’s caliber. He could only answer patiently:
“Of course it holds. But as I said before, you’ll need to pay rent!”
“Then how much is the rent?” Zhang Fan casually walked to the sofa and sat down.
A rich person’s sofa—even the feel against your backside is different. This was what you called living!
“At market rates, villas in this area rent for around three hundred thousand!” Ye Yunting somewhat regretted what he’d said earlier. It had originally been a polite pleasantry—but if this woman actually wanted to rent, what then?
He looked Zhang Fan over carefully once more and noticed that everything she used, from head to toe, was cheap. She wore no jewelry at all, and even the leash for her dog had no brand—it was obviously bought from a street stall.
Impossible! Never mind three hundred thousand—even thirty thousand, this woman couldn’t produce it!
All her behavior was probably just forced calmness.
“This villa of mine is a bit special, so it’s more expensive than others!” Ye Yunting was certain Zhang Fan couldn’t afford it, so he deliberately stated the price to make her back down.
“If you want to rent it, ma’am, I’ll charge you four hundred fifty thousand a month, plus property management, one hundred thousand!”
“So that’s five hundred fifty thousand?”
Zhang Fan calculated the amount. Right now she earned two yuan per second, which was one hundred seventy-two thousand eight hundred yuan per twenty-four hours. It would take about three and a half days to gather enough for the rent.
If she completed the upgrade mission tomorrow, then about one day would be enough.
This house was rentable!
Now that she had money, why would she still live in a basement or a flat?
If she was going to live somewhere, she would live in the best!
She was not only attracted to the luxury of the house, but also to the property management worth one hundred thousand a month. Such a high management fee included security and butler services.
The most important thing, naturally, was security!
When she rented the basement, she had actually been on edge every day. The people around her were too complicated, and she was decent-looking. Since she often came and went alone, it was inevitable that she would run into some inexplicable men whistling at her.
Disgusting and terrifying!
When she entered this villa community, she had looked around. Aside from the security guards, who were all young men, they also patrolled the entire villa area. It looked quite safe and very suitable for a single woman like her.
“All right!”
Zhang Fan smiled as she looked at Ye Yunting and clearly uttered the word “all right.”
“But you said the first night is free.” She took out her phone and checked. “I have some things to do tomorrow during the day. If we’re formally signing the contract, can we wait until the afternoon the day after tomorrow?”
By the day after tomorrow, whether or not she had completed the upgrade mission, she would have money to pay the rent.
“You really are sure you want to rent it?”
Ye Yunting found it somewhat unbelievable. Five hundred fifty thousand was enough for an ordinary person to make a down payment and buy a decent house. This woman was actually going to use it to rent a villa?
Clearly, the outfit she was wearing altogether cost no more than five hundred yuan, yet she was going to spend five hundred fifty thousand to rent a villa?
Was she pretending to be rich while actually poor, or making an excuse to stay two days for free?
Forget it. One day free or two days free, there was not much difference. He was just afraid she might take the opportunity to empty the villa.
“Since you’re sure you want to rent it, then I wish you a pleasant stay. The day after tomorrow at two in the afternoon, I will bring a lawyer on time to sign the contract with you!”
Maintaining his usual poise, he smiled and said goodbye to Zhang Fan, then exited the villa.
Not far after leaving, he called property management and told security to pay more attention to what was happening at his place. After that, he opened the villa’s surveillance terminal on his phone and watched Zhang Fan’s every move.
On the sofa, Zhang Fan rubbed Da Huang’s head. “Are you hungry? Should I order you some takeout?”
She took out her phone and actually placed an order. As for the delivery address, she had already seen it clearly when she was standing at the villa entrance earlier.
She ordered a pork rib soup for Da Huang, while she herself ordered a piece of cake.
Today was the day of her rebirth, and it was worth celebrating!
After finishing this, she held Da Huang and raised her camera to take a selfie, deliberately revealing a luxurious corner of the villa.
The photo was captioned: “Having family by your side, how wonderful!” and posted to her Moments.
This “family” of hers naturally referred to Da Huang in her arms. From then on, her family would always have a place for Da Huang.
It was already ten o’clock at night, yet her phone rang urgently shortly after she posted the update.
Seeing the familiar phone number, she curled the corner of her mouth and hung up the call.
But the other party clearly wasn’t willing to give up and kept calling. The ringing continued intermittently for over ten minutes before finally quieting down for a while.
Not long after, an unfamiliar number came through.
Zhang Fan smiled faintly and picked up: “Hello, how may I help you?”
“You little brat, where are you running wild? Why haven’t you gotten your sorry self back here yet?” A furious roar from her mother came through the phone.
“I’m at my own home. And who might you be?” Zhang Fan’s voice was casual and indifferent, which only irritated the person on the other end.
“Your own home?” The voice on the other end grew even shriller: “You little brat, your brother said you’ve gotten rich—is that true? You’re rich, living in a big house, eating well, drinking well, and you don’t give a single thought to your parents who worked so hard to raise you? Are you even human?”
“I… don’t have parents!” Zhang Fan’s face darkened as she hung up the call.