How can you ascend to heaven when you are a star?

Chapter 512 Boomerang

Night falls.

Zhang Wen was on his way to the Zhou family's house, thinking about earning back the money he had spent on the apartment as soon as possible, when his phone, which was in the storage compartment, suddenly rang.

The screen displayed a number without a name, but he recognized the number very well; it was this number that had called him earlier that afternoon.

Yes, it's the number of Guan Xiong, the owner of the commercial building.

I checked the time; it was 8:35. More than four hours had passed since the other party received the life essence, so they must have already drunk it.

"Hey, Mr. Guan, how's the Life Essence working?" Zhang Wen asked with a smile after answering the phone.

"Great, that's wonderful! As soon as I drank it, I felt warm all over, like I was much younger and had inexhaustible energy. I just checked my blood sugar and blood pressure, and they were both normal. It's amazing!" An excited voice came from the microphone.

"This is just the initial effect. It will bring you more benefits in the future. You'll experience it gradually," Zhang Wen said.

He could even imagine how the other person felt at that moment; they must have wanted 'another bottle'.

"Really?" Guan Xiong became excited, feeling that the ten million yuan was well spent.

“Boss Guan, you’ve already taken the Life Essence. Now, regarding the price of the commercial building…” Zhang Wen brought up the price again; that was what he was most concerned about.

“We’ll do it your way, 250 million. We’ll go and complete the transfer procedures tomorrow,” Guan Xiong said immediately upon hearing this.

He dared not go back on his word; he wanted to continue drinking the life essence in the future.

"Okay, see you in front of the commercial building at nine o'clock tomorrow morning."

"Well, see you there or see you."

"Boss Guan, a friendly reminder: the Life Essence has a kidney-tonifying effect. You can try it tonight."

"Oh? Okay, okay."

This time, Guan Xiong's voice trembled with excitement. Although the Life Essence had cured his back pain and lowered his blood sugar and blood pressure, none of that was as important as tonifying his kidneys.

What is a kidney?
The kidneys are a man's dignity.

A man can accept having a bad stomach or lungs, but he cannot accept having bad kidneys, or even being told he has kidney deficiency.

So when he heard that it could "nourish the kidneys," he was very happy, even though he felt that his kidneys were "fine."

Now not only does my back pain disappear, but I can even straighten my back.

He couldn't wait to talk to his secretary about work.

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Wen was in a good mood, and suddenly an even easier way to make money popped into his head.

The life essence is worth ten million, while his phone number is worth twenty million. If he sells it to a dozen people, wouldn't he make back the money he spent on the apartment?

The key point is that he doesn't need to make any sacrifices; he even saves on the life essence.

'I really am a money-making expert!'

……

Time flies when you're busy. After signing the transfer documents for the commercial building, Zhang Wen didn't rest at all. He spent his days filming on set, his nights supervising the construction progress, and occasionally he had to go back to Tianxi Media to oversee the new album for Future Girls...

Only he had the peaches to eat; an ordinary person would have died on the road long ago.

The last day of May has arrived in the blink of an eye.

Starting in the middle of the night, it began to drizzle in Beijing. By morning, the rain had intensified, forcing the film crew to suspend filming for a day, giving the actors and staff a rare day off.

While the film crew was resting, Zhang Wen did not. He arrived at the training center early, preparing to hold a teaching and research meeting for the new teachers today.

It's not about imparting any teaching techniques, but simply about using this opportunity to help these new teachers be more confident and not feel pressured by Xingxiang's art exam results this year.

In short: Teach me however you like, with me here, nothing will go wrong.

At noon, Zhang Wen was having lunch with his teachers when his phone suddenly rang. Looking at the screen, he saw it was a call from the front desk.

"What is it?" Zhang Wen asked after answering the phone.

"Principal, the landlord is here and wants to see you," Xu Zining said softly.

landlord?

Zhang Wen was slightly taken aback, and the image of the landlady immediately appeared in his mind.

Since the other party announced a sharp increase in rent, although he said he would give me a reply in a few days, almost two weeks have passed and I still haven't been able to contact them.

There's still a week left before the rent expires, so it seems the other party can't wait any longer.

"Tell her to wait a moment, I'll be right down," Zhang Wen said as he got up and walked out of the classroom.

Come to the first floor.

Zhang Wen immediately spotted the landlady sitting in the parents' rest area. There were no classes at the training center, so she was the only person in the rest area.

"Big sister, what brings you here?" Zhang Wen walked over and asked, his face as warm as ever.

"Of course it's the fragrance from your place," the landlord joked, then eagerly asked, "Xiao Zhang, what happened to what I told you last time?"

"Last time? What happened?" Zhang Wen feigned a puzzled look.

The landlord was taken aback for a moment after seeing this, and then said, "Xiao Zhang, you really have a bad memory. The week before last, we talked about raising the rent. You said you needed to go back and discuss it with the investors. Now there's only one week left until the first year expires. Recently, many people have come to me hoping to rent this place, but I've turned them all down for your sake."

"Oh, I remember now!" Zhang Wen slapped his thigh and said gratefully, "Thank you for saving it for me, but... sigh!"

Finally, he let out a deep sigh, his brows furrowing, revealing a bitter expression.

The landlord's heart tightened, and her smile froze on her face. She hurriedly asked, "What's wrong, Xiao Zhang? Just tell your sister what's wrong. We're not strangers."

"Sigh!" Zhang Wen sighed again before saying, "Sister, the investors disagree. They think the rent increase is too much, so..." He didn't finish his sentence, but the meaning was clear: we don't plan to renew the lease.

"what?"

The landlord jumped to his feet, his smile vanishing completely, replaced by an anxious expression. "A mere 100,000 yuan increase a month? How can that be considered a lot? You'll make it back just by recruiting one more student. Xiao Zhang, didn't you tell the investors this place is a lucky spot? Without this place, would Xingxiang's art exam results have been so good this year?"

Zhang Wen's lips twitched almost imperceptibly. The other party actually attributed the excellent art exam results to the house. How shameless!
If he remembers correctly, this used to be a training institution, but it closed down after only a few years.

"Sister, I really did tell the investors, but you might not know that Xingxiang invests a lot in its students. Plus, we offer a 'full refund if you don't pass the art exam' deal. Even though we recruited a lot of students last year, we didn't actually make much profit," Zhang Wen said with a wry smile.

The landlord was completely stunned, especially after hearing the phrase "full refund if you fail the art exam," and it took him a long time to recover.

How could there be such an absurd regulation?
Who made this decision? They must have had their brain slammed in a door!

"Xiao Zhang, give me the investor's phone number. I want to have a good talk with him," the landlord said.

"Don't say that, sister. If you make that call, the investors will definitely doubt my competence, and then they'll probably strip me of my principal position," Zhang Wen said, shaking his head.

"But, but you can't just say you don't want to rent it anymore," the landlord said anxiously, his smugness from their last meeting completely gone.

She made up stories about someone being interested in the house to create an atmosphere of high demand and thus drive up the rent.
"Sister, we have no choice, we don't have any money." Zhang Wen shrugged.

The landlord blushed upon hearing this, realizing that he might have asked for too much and scared the landlord away. He didn't know what to say for a moment, and after a long pause, he finally managed to say, "Then how much do you think is appropriate? It can't be too low, or I'll lose money."

"Big sister, please don't be angry when I tell you this, but the investors said that the competition for art exam training is fierce now. In addition, they have recently hired some new teachers, which has increased fixed expenses such as class fees and social security. Unless the rent is the same as last year, they would rather rent a place in a more remote location to run the training than stay here," Zhang Wen said.

"No, absolutely not."

The landlord shook his head repeatedly, like a rattle-drum.

"Everything is going up in price now, how can the rent be the same as last year? Does that investor even understand the market? Nowhere else is as good as mine? Let me tell you, Xiao Zhang, if you leave me, you'll definitely regret it later. How about this, I don't want your 100,000 anymore, 70,000, no, for your sake, 50,000, an increase of 50,000 a month, that's the lowest I can go."

Zhang Wen wanted to curse after hearing this.

Is the face of being the reincarnation of the God of Literature only worth 50,000? Isn't that an insult to the gods?

"Sister, the investor said that even if the rent is raised by ten yuan, let alone ten thousand yuan, they won't continue renting." Zhang Wen pointed to the door. "There's a bathhouse across the street that's been vacant for a long time. The rent is lower than here. The investor has already negotiated a deal, and they're renovating it."

"What?" The landlord's face changed, and he frowned as he said, "I know that bathhouse. It had to close down because of the crackdown on prostitution. What is this? This is bad feng shui. How can it be as auspicious as my place? If you move there, your business will definitely decline, and you won't even have time to cry then."

"The investors also learned about this, so they bought a 6,000-square-meter standalone commercial building just across the street as Xingxiang's headquarters, and the bathhouse will serve as a branch in case of emergency," Zhang Wen said, emphasizing that it was designed to infuriate people.

The landlord's eyes widened instantly, filled with shock. After a few seconds, he stammered, "You...you bought a whole building? More than 6,000 square meters?"

"Yes, the transfer has been completed." Zhang Wen said in a relaxed tone, "Sister, although I can no longer rent your house, we don't live far apart, only six or seven hundred meters away, so we'll be neighbors from now on."

"..."

The landlord stood there dumbfounded before realizing he had kicked a hornet's nest.

She never imagined that the investors behind Xingxiang would actually buy an entire building. That's incredibly wealthy! Didn't they say they weren't making much profit?

Have money to buy a house, but not enough to pay more rent?
They've bought and rented both properties; it seems they really don't plan to continue renting here.

“Xiao Zhang, look at this… We signed a three-year contract, and you’ve only rented for one year. Since you want to leave, you have to pay me the penalty for breach of contract,” the landlord said.

Since the demand for a rent increase has not been met, the only recourse is to seek compensation.

“Sister, I don’t like hearing you say that. Last time you told me that ‘contracts are dead, but people are flexible,’ so why does the contract work for me?” Zhang Wen said slowly and deliberately.

He won't even raise the rent, let alone pay compensation. Besides, it's not his fault, so why should he pay compensation?

These words struck the landlord like a needle, leaving him speechless.

She hadn't taken the contract seriously at all in order to raise the rent, but now the other party was rebuffing her exactly as it was.

Is this considered a boomerang?
After a brief pause, she hardened her stance again. Since they would go their separate ways in the future and she had no intention of profiting from the situation, she was determined to get the compensation. So she threatened, "Xiao Zhang, don't give me any nonsense. If you don't rent, you're in breach of contract. I can sue you in court tomorrow. If word gets out that an art exam preparation institution is in court, do you think those parents will still come here to register?"

After saying that, he proudly raised his head again.

"Sister, you absolutely can't sue!" Zhang Wen urged anxiously. "The whole thing when you came here last time to raise the rent was recorded by surveillance cameras. The video is on the investor's phone right now. Think about it, the contract clearly states in black and white that the rent increase is between 2% and 4%. You're the one who breached the contract first. If a lawsuit goes to court, you'll definitely lose. If the landlord sues the tenant, who will dare to rent your place then?"

The landlord was startled, fell silent, looked unwell, and slowly drooped his head.

After a long pause, she managed to utter, "You... you planned this all along, didn't you?"

This time, she had to admit defeat, but it also served as a reminder that next time she wanted to raise the rent, she should make sure to negotiate in a place where there were no security cameras.

"Sister, you're wronging us. You were the one who suggested raising the rent, and you also said the increase. We just felt the pressure was too much and didn't want to continue renting." Zhang Wen put on an innocent expression.

The landlord gritted his teeth, snorted coldly, and said, "Fine, don't rent it then. My location is good, the feng shui is good, I'm not worried about not being able to rent it out. The rent is due in a week, so you'd better hurry up and move out, don't interfere with my ability to rent it out."

"Don't worry, big sister, I'll restore it to its original state before the expiration date," Zhang Wen said earnestly.

The landlord said nothing more, had nothing to say, and could only leave with resentment.

Looking at the landlady's retreating figure, Zhang Wen said loudly, "Sister, we're neighbors now. Come visit Xingxiang's headquarters and branches more often. A close neighbor is worse than a distant relative."

The landlord stumbled and almost fell over because of the rainwater on the ground.

Although the words were spoken politely, she heard them as full of malice.

Not renewing the lease here but renting a place nearby, isn't that like killing someone's spirit?

'Hmph, don't come begging me if you don't do well on the art exams next year!'

The landlord thought to himself.

……

(End of this chapter)