Chapter 39 [Goodbye, Lu Sisi]
Two hours later, a Huizhou-licensed out-of-town taxi arrived near the University City and stopped by the roadside in the short-term rental area.
Chen Yan got out of the car and walked toward the short-term rental house. From a distance, he saw Hu Shangke squatting gloomily by the edge of the rubble, head down, smoking silently. There were several cigarette butts on the ground.
Seeing Chen Yan approaching, Hu Shangke shouted loudly, jumped up, and ran over, grabbing Chen Yan’s shoulder.
"Calm down, Lao Hu, calm down first." Chen Yan calmly pulled Lao Hu to the side: "I won’t run away, and I will definitely take full responsibility for this."
"So what exactly happened to the house? How did it become ?!"
Lao Hu’s eyes were red, genuinely anxious.
Lao Hu came over in the morning to collect the house—after all, Chen Yan had agreed to rent it for seven days, and it had already been nine days. If Chen Yan wasn’t using it, Lao Hu thought he could rent it out again before the Spring Festival.
Unexpectedly, when he arrived at the house...
For Lao Hu, it wasn’t just the house that collapsed, it felt like the sky had fallen!
The house was secretly sub-leased by a senior civil engineering student who acted as a secondary landlord. Lao Hu was the intermediary!
With the house collapsed, first the senior civil engineering student couldn’t escape responsibility, and neither could Hu Shangke! They needed to be accountable.
How could he not be anxious? This isn’t a bicycle or a cell phone.
This is a damn house! How much does that cost?
Even selling Hu Shangke wouldn’t cover it!
"There was an earthquake the other night... I think the house must have been affected by the earthquake... maybe the house structure was already too old, so..." Chen Yan carefully chose his words.
"Look around you!! Earthquake?! The other houses are perfectly fine!! Only the house you stayed in collapsed! You’re telling me it’s because of the earthquake?! Who would believe that?!"
Chen Yan looked around... the other houses nearby stood intact and undamaged.
Alright, this was indeed difficult to explain!
After waking up, he had checked the earthquake news of Jinling Prefecture.
There was indeed an earthquake that night in Jinling Prefecture—but only the aftershocks of an earthquake elsewhere.
The actual epicenter of the earthquake was over 200 kilometers away from Jinling Prefecture.
By the time the tremors reached Jinling Prefecture, they were significantly weakened. According to the official announcement, the peak magnitude in Jinling Prefecture didn’t even exceed 3.8 degrees.
Frankly speaking, with that level of tremors, it might not even topple a stack of bricks.
To put it bluntly, many people in Jinling Prefecture wouldn’t have known there was an earthquake if they hadn’t seen the news.
This damn Heavenly Dao is unreasonable!!
Chen Yan wasn’t a shameless person; he knew very well that if it hadn’t been for him hiding here to avoid danger, causing the Heavenly Dao to use its rules to hunt him down, this house wouldn’t have collapsed during the earthquake.
The landlord didn’t provoke anyone, was innocent, and the house just collapsed out of nowhere.
Ordinary people generally don’t buy accident insurance for their houses; when such things happen, they bear the loss themselves.
Chen Yan felt he couldn’t be so shameless.
"Lao Hu, let’s not talk about anything else, I’ll pay for the house. If it’s not enough, I’ll pay to rebuild it, alright?"
Hu Licking Dog was stunned for a moment, his anger quickly subsiding: "You’ll pay? Rebuild the house? You said that?"
"Yes, I said it," Chen Yan nodded. "It’s just a flat house, building a new one shouldn’t cost too much, right? Ten, twenty, thirty thousand?"
"It’s not just about the money," Hu Shangke shook his head and sneered: "You think building a house is so easy, that you can just build it however you want?"
After a pause, realizing that Chen Yan truly didn’t understand, he patiently explained:
"So many wealthy people who bought large villas, don’t you think they want to tear them down and build bigger ones? They already have the land.
But it’s not allowed!
"For your house, you’ll need to get people from the housing bureau to inspect it, proving the collapse wasn’t intentional destruction, then get a written survey result showing the house collapsed due to old age during the earthquake.
Then go to the housing authority to retrieve the original house records for review, and based on the original house’s area and layout, issue a reconstruction permit and reconstruction planning blueprints.
Only then can you hire a construction company to build the house—the construction company must be qualified; you think you can just hire any contractor?
The house must be built according to the planning blueprints; you can’t build it any size or shape you want.
Once the house is built, it still needs to be inspected by the housing bureau; the inspection certificate must be registered and reviewed by the housing authority.
Only then will the housing authority issue a new property certificate.
Otherwise, if you build a house randomly, it’s illegal construction! No property certificate at all."
Chen Yan was bewildered.
His face practically spelled out "Do Not Understand."
So many government departments, so many surveys, reviews, certifications, procedures.
Just listening made his head spin.
Chen Yan’s mind stirred, and he seriously looked at Hu Shangke.
After all, they were classmates; Chen Yan understood this guy.
Lao Hu’s only flaw was being a bit of a lackey, but his character was trustworthy.
"Lao Hu, let’s be direct, if I hand this matter over to you, can you take it?"
"I can’t," Hu Shangke honestly shook his head: "I’m an industry newbie; although I know the ropes, handling such matters, where do I have the connections and network? Only our manager might be able to. He’s helped wealthy people rebuild villas before, and has some connections."