Hu Licking Dog called to tell Chen Yan that he had settled the compensation for the collapsing house after the earthquake with the owner.
The owner, finding rebuilding too troublesome, asked for a cash compensation of three hundred thousand yuan.
Hu Shangke told Chen Yan that although this price wasn’t the lowest they could get, it was still fairly reasonable.
The house was an old flat in a remote area, and not very large. Even if it was sold, it would only fetch about two hundred thousand.
If Chen Yan wasn’t satisfied with this price, Hu Licking Dog said he could continue to negotiate and potentially bring it down another thirty to fifty thousand. But any lower would be unlikely.
Chen Yan thought for a moment and then said, "No need to negotiate further, three hundred thousand is fine."
Actually, this matter was a stroke of bad luck for the owner.
That house could not be compensated by the government for earthquake damage...
The government generally finds it difficult to compensate for earthquake-damaged houses... unless there is a large-scale destructive earthquake!
Only in the event of a large-scale destructive earthquake would the government initiate reconstruction projects, essentially compensating the disaster victims for rebuilding their homes.
But in the case of general, non-destructive earthquakes, it’s very difficult to follow this process for damaged houses.
During that Level 3.8 earthquake seven days ago, it was far from a destructive level.
In general, for non-destructive minor earthquakes, if houses are damaged, all one can expect is some compensation from the government. Note that it’s compensation, not reparations. There’s a big difference between the two.
And even for this compensation, the process is very complicated. The government needs to survey the site, confirm the house was damaged in the earthquake, issue a survey report, and then follow a long process—the efficiency of the government is not great, to say the least.
In the end, you may get a sum of compensation... but it’s hard to reach the actual value of the house.
So if Chen Yan refused to take responsibility, it would be a huge loss for the owner.
Chen Yan wasn’t that unreasonable. He was very clear that it was his own actions that provoked the Heavenly Dao, leading to the disaster. If he hadn’t been hiding in that short-term rental, the house wouldn’t have collapsed at all.
He felt it unjust to make an innocent homeowner bear the loss for his own troubles.
Chen Yan immediately took out his phone and transferred three hundred thousand to Hu Shangke.
With that, the matter was settled.
Hu Shangke then brought up another topic: "Hey, Chen Yan, let me tell you something interesting."
"The owner of the villa you rented, the big boss, sent someone to find me! He said he appreciated my efficient management of renting the villa and handed over many properties for me to manage!"
With a barely suppressed excitement in his voice, Hu Shangke chuckled and said, "I’ve hit the jackpot! I now have over a dozen prime properties under exclusive management; no one else can touch them! The big boss said he values people, not companies! If I switch companies, these properties come with me!"
"Now, our manager treats me with respect, afraid I might leave, and even raised my base salary."
At this point, Hu Shangke sighed sincerely, "Bro, to be honest, I owe this opportunity to you. If you hadn’t rented that ’haunted’ house, I wouldn’t have met this patron!"
"Enough said, when are you free these days? I need to treat you to a meal!"
Chen Yan clearly knew it was Fang Dahai, Boss Fang’s doing.
Knowing he was classmates with Hu Licking Dog, he’s trying to curry favor with Hu Licking Dog? And perhaps trying to learn about my personality and preferences as well?
It seems like, when one person ascends, everyone associated benefits.
But Hu Licking Dog, despite having a sycophantic nature, isn’t a bad person.
He thought Boss Fang’s appreciation was genuine because of the rental and wanted to express his gratitude by inviting me to a meal. That’s pretty decent of him.
Yes, I should cut down on calling him a sycophant.
"It’s almost New Year, and there are many things going on. Let’s have a meal after the New Year," Chen Yan replied with a smile.
"Sure! I’m heading home for the New Year soon too. After the New Year, I’ll come to Jinling and we’ll drink together."
Xiaozhao was highly efficient. The next day, he managed to get the biology department’s dissection textbooks and notes, and even had them sent to Chen Yan’s home via local courier.
The next morning, he specifically called Chen Yan.
"Bro, the address you gave me is a villa area... holy crap, are you living in a mansion now?!"
Chen Yan was surprised, "Didn’t I give you the address already?"
"When did you tell me?"
"Just before New Year’s..."
Xiaozhao quickly replied, "Oh, I lost my phone during those two days. I bought a new one later, so when you sent me the address, it must have been during the time my phone got lost, and I didn’t get it on the new one."
Alright then... just as Chen Yan was about to ask something else, Xiaozhao hurriedly said, "Bro, gotta go. The director is asking the extras to get into position!"
As Chen Yan hung up the phone, Gu Qingyi, who was sitting in the living room watching TV, finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Good... the secret is safe.
Young Lady Gu must not let Chen Yan know she once worked in an internet cafe!
Otherwise, if Chen Yan knew she had hit such a low point, he would realize that even in this world, she wasn’t invincible and unrestricted.
A supposed Celestial Being had almost starved on the streets—having once snatched his family bucket meal.