53. Past Memories (Please cast your recommendation votes!)

Taking advantage of loopholes? As top sales professionals, both men were certainly no strangers to that term. The problem was, how exactly were they supposed to do it? After all, you need something to take advantage of in the first place, don’t you? But now, the two projects before them were like two plucked sheep—scrub them as you might, chop them up and toss them in the pot, but where was there any wool left to shear?

Lin Yi and Yan Ji exchanged glances, communicating silently with their eyes.
Is this guy out of his mind? Where’s the wool supposed to come from?
How should I know? Weren’t you the one who brought me here?
What do we do now?
Whatever, let’s just give it a try!

Turning back, Lin Yi spoke, his tone somewhat awkward, “Mr. Chen, it’s not that we’re unwilling, but to be frank, there’s really nothing left to squeeze out of these two projects.”

“Oil is like water in a ditch—give it a squeeze and you can always get a little, and if not, just put it in the pot and simmer it,” Chen Ling replied with a smile. “As long as you’re willing, I can guarantee a dramatic increase in both your consultation and visitation numbers in the short term.”

“On the day you open for pre-sales, I’ll make sure there’s a queue all night long.”

“I can even arrange for media coverage…”

His words left the two men dumbfounded.

Madness! He’s definitely lost it!

He seemed perfectly normal—how could he suddenly go off the rails like this?

Of course, they could create such a spectacle themselves, but what was the point? The ultimate goal was to sell houses; if there were no actual transactions, all of this would be meaningless.

This time, Yan Ji spoke up: “Mr. Chen, we understand all of this, but—”

“Let me finish,” Chen Ling interrupted, somewhat brusquely. “I do have demands.”

“You must guarantee that the vast majority of your pre-sale reservations are left for me to take up.”

Both men drew in sharp breaths at once.

What a bold claim!

“Mr. Chen, are you planning to buy up this batch of properties yourself?”

“Are you planning to speculate on housing?”

They looked at Chen Ling as though he were a fool.

In this market, speculating on real estate was no different from suicide.

But this time, Chen Ling didn’t answer directly. Instead, he continued, “For every unit number, I’ll give you a commission of five thousand yuan.”

“But you’ll also need to accommodate me in the subsequent process, such as… switching out the pre-sale clients.”

At this, the two finally understood what Chen Ling was after.

He was planning to speculate on unit numbers!

But the question remained—where was he going to find so many buyers to take over from him?

Still, from Chen Ling’s attitude, it was clear that he wasn’t interested in explaining further; he only wanted to know whether they were in or out.

Lin Yi and Yan Ji were visibly hesitant.

After all, securing pre-sale reservations wasn’t their ultimate goal. The reservation fee could be refunded, after all. If Chen Ling snapped up a large number of unit numbers and then failed to sell them, forcing the units back onto their hands…

They’d be finished.

If such a large-scale refund incident actually happened, it wouldn’t just be the two of them in trouble; the entire group might be dragged down.

So two paths lay before them:

First, work with Chen Ling, and if he really managed to sell all the units, everyone would make a fortune together.

Second, refuse to cooperate, continue bearing the immense pressure, and wait for the higher-ups to lose patience and clean house.

Between two evils, choose the lesser.

Soon enough, their hesitation was replaced by firm resolve.

“Mr. Chen!”

“We’ll work with you!”

—

Wang Xiaobo was responsible for driving Chen Ling back to school, so he hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol at dinner.

With one hand on the steering wheel, he drove his bright yellow Camaro along Baoshu Road, occasionally glancing at Chen Ling beside him.

“If you have something to say, just say it,” Chen Ling said, his voice thick with the scent of liquor. “You keep sneaking looks at me—people will think you have a thing for me.”

He’d drunk about half a catty of baijiu tonight and was feeling a bit lightheaded. In his previous life his tolerance had reached almost two catties, but that was after years of battling it out at banquets. Now, he’d probably black out before even reaching a catty.

Seeing Chen Ling speak up, Wang Xiaobo’s curiosity finally got the better of him. “So, what are you planning to do with those unit numbers?”

“Sell them, of course. What, you think I’m going to buy them myself?” Chen Ling looked at him. “Are you going to sponsor me?”

“But in this market, where are you going to find so many buyers? If things were any different, those two bosses—usually so high and mighty—wouldn’t have come groveling to you tonight.”

“You don’t get it. Taihe and Binhu both have their own sales teams. Small companies like ours can’t afford those, so they act as our agents.”

“So when it comes to dealing with peers—especially companies like mine—they’re even more arrogant than Dongxing’s Brother Yang!”

“Tonight was a real anomaly. You can imagine how much pressure they’re under right now.”

Chen Ling nodded. “No matter how you look at it, it’s a knife’s edge. In this business, there really isn’t a choice. It’s brutal.”

As he spoke, memories from his previous life surfaced in his mind.

Back then, Chen Ling had been a senior executive at a major real estate firm.

Competition in the big leagues was fierce—a dog-eat-dog world.

During a sudden market freeze one year, he’d been betrayed and lost his job. Unwilling to fade into mediocrity, he struck out on his own, only to meet a bitter end.

His entrepreneurial failures weren’t just due to market forces—the main and direct cause was the relentless suppression from his old employer!

Every time he started to gain momentum, those former bosses, colleagues, even trusted confidants would band together to bring him down.

So, after being reborn, Chen Ling always felt a lingering resentment in his chest…

He knew that before long, that same major real estate conglomerate would descend on Linjiang City, like a dragon crossing the river…

This time, he was determined to send them packing with nothing to show for it!

Wang Xiaobo noticed that Chen Ling’s expression had turned deadly serious, even a bit twisted. The glint of coldness in his eyes sent a chill down Wang’s spine.

For a while, the car was silent, neither of them speaking another word.

—

By the time they got back to school, it was almost nine in the evening. Before Chen Ling even reached the dorm, a message from Zhang Peng popped up on his phone.

“Don’t go back to the dorm just yet—there are police looking for you.”

“?”

“That Xu Ming guy put someone up to it. He got the cops involved.”

“Damn.”

“Xu Ming seems to have some connections. Even the precinct chief is here. It’s a tricky situation. You’d better lay low for now.”

“If it’s fate, it’s fate. If it’s trouble, you can’t avoid it.”

“Don’t do anything rash.”

“Relax, I never act unless I’m sure.”

After replying, Chen Ling could already see two police cars parked outside the dorm from a distance.

“Heh,” he chuckled to himself. “I haven’t even had a chance to deal with you yet, and now you come knocking at my door?”

Like shining a spotlight in the outhouse, actively seeking death in the filth!

Lighting a cigarette, Chen Ling pulled out a phone number and dialed…

Once the call was over, he swaggered into the dorm building, heading straight for Room 310 on the third floor and pushing the door open.

Inside, even Bu Chunsheng had been called over. The group stood in a line, being questioned, all looking rather downcast.

They’d made quite a bit of money, but in the end, they were just college students. Faced with the police, panic was inevitable.

Ye Jianwei stood to the side, his face dark. When he saw someone come in, he looked closer, then shouted, “Chen Ling! Chen Ling’s back!”

At this, a middle-aged officer turned around, sternly demanding, “Are you Chen Ling?”

“That’s me,” Chen Ling answered with a nod.

His composure took the officer by surprise.

“Someone reported you for assaulting another person…”

“I did,” Chen Ling admitted flatly.

The officer paused for a moment. Experience told him that only hardened criminals or those with something up their sleeve could be this calm in front of the police.

“Come with us, then. Cooperate with the investigation.” His tone softened slightly.

“Alright!”

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[This is the third chapter for today. There will be three more tomorrow!]