Chapter Thirty-One: Buying a House, No One Cares

Chapter Thirty-one: Buying a House, Yet No One Cares

That afternoon, when Shi Bai returned to the company, he was ready to share the good news with his employees. To his surprise, the moment he walked into the room, he was greeted by a round of enthusiastic applause.

"Heroes have always emerged from the young! President Shi, you’re incredible!" Zhang Dachui was the first to speak.

"Who would have thought that President Shi, still in high school, already possesses such profound business acumen? We, who are decades older, truly feel ashamed by comparison!" Liu Dafu shook his head.

"Nonsense! You, a sewer cleaner, what business sense could you possibly have?" Liu Xiaoyan retorted.

Everyone burst out laughing.

"And you, a supermarket cashier, what right do you have to talk about me?"

The two of them immediately became embroiled in a heated exchange.

Shi Bai chuckled and quickly intervened, "Alright, that’s enough. Let’s not argue. Tell me, why are you all suddenly applauding me?"

"You don’t know yet?!" Liu Xiaoyan exclaimed in surprise. "Our comic has become a hit!"

"Exactly!" Zhang Dachui joined in, his excitement palpable. "I thought for sure we’d be torn to shreds, but unexpectedly, so many people are praising us, calling us subversive! I’m completely baffled!"

"Hahaha..." Wang Xiaodong also laughed. "Our company email is about to explode. Fans are demanding a third installment and want the protagonist, Zhang Gouzi, to come back!"

The group erupted into laughter again.

But Shi Bai merely touched his nose indifferently and sat down in his boss’s chair. "Is that all? I thought it was something else."

Everyone paused, falling quiet. Liu Xiaoyan asked, "What? Isn’t this good news?"

"Yeah!" Liu Dafu echoed. "Isn’t this worth celebrating?"

All eyes turned toward Shi Bai, their expressions full of doubt.

Shi Bai said coolly, "That’s hardly good news. You don’t know what real good news is yet."

The employees exchanged confused glances. "President Shi, is there even better news?"

Shi Bai turned his head and suddenly burst into laughter. "The real good news is this: LeNet is buying our copyright! We sold 'The Adventures of Zhang Gouzi' for one million!"

"What?!"

No one could believe their ears.

Liu Xiaoyan said, "I could accept that the readers are blind, but is the company blind too?"

"Come on!"

Her words immediately drew a wave of protest.

"What are you saying?" Wang Xiaodong scolded. "Who are you calling blind?"

"Exactly!" Zhang Dachui agreed. "Liu Xiaoyan, you really don’t know how to talk!"

Everyone turned on Liu Xiaoyan, giving her a good-natured scolding.

Liu Xiaoyan quickly covered her mouth and smiled apologetically at Shi Bai. "President Shi, I’m sorry! I tend to speak without thinking, please don’t mind me!"

Shi Bai waved his hand with a smile, "No worries. The comic was never anything special anyway!"

The employees exchanged glances again, utterly unable to figure out their young boss’s way of thinking.

At this point, Liu Xiaoyan asked, "Then the one million—is it true?"

Shi Bai nodded.

"Yeah!" The employees erupted in joy. Truth be told, even though none of them thought highly of the comic, even the ugliest child is still your own. The fact that 'The Adventures of Zhang Gouzi' sold for one million made them swell with pride.

The men and women hugged each other, shouting, "One million! One million! One million! One million!..."

Watching this group who couldn’t possibly be any lower on the social ladder, suddenly embracing in such joy, Shi Bai felt something shift inside him.

"Helping them live happy lives might be even more satisfying than making money for myself!"

"Alright!" he suddenly stood up. "I announce that, to celebrate the success of 'The Adventures of Zhang Gouzi,' each of you will receive a ten thousand yuan bonus!"

Once again, the employees leapt up, shouting, "President Shi is awesome! President Shi is great! President Shi is the best!"

Shi Bai laughed along. Giving out ten thousand each meant a total of a hundred thousand, but with nine hundred thousand left, it was enough to buy a house. After all, in this era, the price per square meter was only three to four thousand.

And so, that night, everyone basked in happiness.

The next day, the copyright transfer payment arrived as promised. Seeing a row of zeros in his account, Shi Bai felt a surge of accomplishment.

He immediately distributed the bonuses to his ten employees. They were so moved they nearly cried, having thought they would have to wait until the end of the month to receive their bonuses. Instead, Shi Bai handed them out on the spot.

Where else could you find a boss this good?

After handing out the bonuses, Shi Bai even gave them two days off. Since there was nothing pressing at the company, why not let them go out and have some fun?

With everything settled, Shi Bai took a day off from his homeroom teacher, then called on Old Li, the butler, to accompany him house-hunting.

After all, with the system in hand, he could take time off whenever he pleased.

Riding in Old Li’s Rolls-Royce and carrying the remaining nine hundred thousand, they arrived at the sales office of Lishui Garden.

Lishui Garden was also in the Baywater District, a relatively quiet community. In his previous life, this area had become a prime school district, and prices soared to twenty thousand per square meter. Shi Bai had dreamed of owning a home here.

Currently, the price was about five thousand per square meter, but even so, it was still one of the most expensive locations in the ancient city.

After getting out of the car, Shi Bai didn’t let Old Li accompany him inside. Since he was buying the house for himself, he didn’t want too many people to know.

Upon entering the sales office, the staff were momentarily stunned at the sight of this ordinary-looking young man—he simply didn’t fit in.

In fact, even if Shi Bai had been dressed in designer labels, it would still have seemed wrong, because children simply didn’t buy houses.

So, after a quick glance, the staff lost interest and returned to their work.

Shi Bai wandered around the lobby, noticing a female sales agent who was currently free and rather pleasant-looking. He walked over to her.

"Hello." Shi Bai smiled at her, hands in his pockets.

The saleswoman glanced up at him, forced a smile, and said, "Sorry, I’m a bit busy right now. Could you please find someone else?"

Shi Bai was taken aback. "Someone else?" He looked around, spotted another attractive young woman, and approached her instead.

"Hello, I’d like to—"

"Sorry," the young woman frowned, "I’ve got some paperwork to finish. You’d better ask someone else."

Shi Bai noticed she did in fact have a report in her hands, so he moved on, looking around the lobby. He soon spotted a bespectacled male agent who seemed free and walked over.

"Hello, I’d like to—"

"Oh, sorry, I’ve got another client to attend to," the bespectacled young man said politely, then turned away to another desk.

Shi Bai’s temper flared. Though everyone was polite, politeness or not, they were clearly just passing him around. And the ball being kicked around was none other than Shi Bai himself.

Still, he gritted his teeth and held back, remembering all the misunderstandings he’d seen in his past life. Many acts of rudeness had helpless reasons behind them.

He decided to give them one more chance. Scanning the room, he approached a tall, thin male agent.

"Hello—"

"Xiao Zhang!" The tall, thin young man didn’t even look at Shi Bai but called across the room to a chubby youth, "There’s a client for you over here!"

Laughter erupted in the lobby. "A client? Ha ha..." Everyone looked at Shi Bai with mocking eyes.

The chubby youth scurried over submissively. The tall, thin agent smirked disdainfully, "You’ve been with the company two months and haven’t closed a single deal. Here, this one’s for you."

The room echoed with laughter. "This deal?"

The chubby youth glanced at Shi Bai, unable to hide his frustration, and nodded at the tall, thin agent, "Thank you, Master."

The tall, thin agent smiled, patted him on the shoulder, and strutted away.

"Hello," the chubby youth said to Shi Bai awkwardly. "What can I do for you?"

Shi Bai finally saw through the situation. These people were just passing him around—they weren’t busy at all.

The chubby youth was clearly a new hire, and the tall, thin man must have been his mentor. But after two months without a single sale, the chubby youth had become the butt of everyone’s jokes.

"You haven’t closed a deal in two months?" Shi Bai asked, testing the waters.

The chubby youth dropped his head. "Sigh, selling houses isn’t easy."

Shi Bai smiled faintly. "Do you want to close a deal?"

The chubby youth looked at him, forced a bitter smile. "Little brother, just tell me what you need. I still have a hundred follow-up calls to make later."

Shi Bai smiled lightly. "I want to buy a house."