RBCT Chapter 7: Buying a House but Unable to Buy a Car
Chapter 7: Buying a House but Unable to Buy a Car
At 6 p.m., Wang Guanxi returned to the Jia Hua Hotel on time.
He didn't come back empty-handed; he was holding a thick house purchase contract with the four gold-embossed characters "Jiangcheng No. 1" printed on the cover, which looked very impressive.
This afternoon he went to see the apartment by himself, and as soon as he saw it, he immediately placed an order.
Jiangcheng No. 1 is a new residential development located on the east side of the county town, right next to Jiangcheng Wetland Park, boasting the best environment in the entire county.
He bought a top-floor apartment, one unit per floor, 250 square meters, at a price of 20,000 yuan per square meter.
In a small county like Jiangcheng, most properties are priced at around 5,000 to 6,000 yuan per square meter. However, Jiangcheng No. 1 is a high-end development, and its price of over 20,000 yuan per square meter is considered exorbitant by locals.
When the saleswoman heard that he wanted to see the top-floor penthouse, her eyes lit up with envy.
Because this development has been open for two years, the large units on the top floor have not been sold.
After all, the price is too high; locals can't afford it, and people from other places won't buy it.
Wang Guanxi went inside, looked around for ten minutes, and said, "I'll take this set."
The saleswoman thought she had misheard: "Mr. Wang, you mean...this one?"
"Yes, this is the one. Full payment. When can we complete the paperwork?"
The saleswoman's hands were shaking.
With commissions exceeding six million, she won't need to close any more deals this year.
The procedures were completed quickly, the full payment was received, and the keys were obtained on the spot.
The apartment is fully furnished and equipped with appliances provided by the developer, so you can move in immediately.
Standing on the balcony, Wang Guanxi looked at the wetland park not far away and the mountains in the distance, feeling very happy.
250 square meters, lived by one person.
Cool.
But there was one thing that bothered him.
Buy a car.
After viewing the apartment today, he went to the car street in the south of Jiangcheng.
He visited BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi dealerships, but after looking around, he was disheartened.
These stores do carry BBA (BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi) products, but they're all secondhand.
A 2019 BMW 5 Series with over 60,000 kilometers on it is priced at 350,000 yuan.
A 2020 Mercedes-Benz E-Class with over 40,000 kilometers on the odometer is selling for 420,000 yuan.
Audi A6L, 2018 model, over 70,000 kilometers, selling for 280,000 yuan.
Wang Guanxi asked the salesperson if they had any new cars. The salesperson smiled awkwardly and said, "Mr. Wang, we are a secondary dealer. New cars need to be sourced from the city, and we don't have many in stock. If you want one, you can pay a deposit first..."
He asked a few more companies, and the situation was similar for all of them.
There are new cars, but they are all from smaller brands like Toyota, Honda, and Nissan.
Corolla, Camry, Accord, Teana – they're everywhere.
It's not that these cars are bad, but Wang Guanxi is now a billionaire, so driving a Camry just feels a bit lacking.
As a second choice, he wanted to buy a new energy vehicle, but there wasn't a single new energy vehicle like the one he wanted in Jiangcheng.
There are hardly any charging stations in the entire county, so who will sell new energy vehicles?
Wang Guanxi stood on the side of the street lined with cars, looking at the used BMWs, Mercedes-Benzes, and Audis and the brand-new Japanese cars, and fell into deep thought.
He has over 200 million in his bank account.
He wants to buy a car.
He can't buy it.
What kind of magical realism is this?
Having money but not being able to spend it, what kind of situation is that?
He pondered that if he really wanted to buy a decent car, he could only do so in the city.
However, the system stipulates that he can only spend money in the county town, and he cannot go to the city to buy a car at all, which completely blocks his way.
There was no other way but to ask an acquaintance to help me buy it in the city.
In Jiangcheng, apart from Fatty Wang Defa, he had no other trustworthy acquaintances.
So after returning to the hotel, Wang Guanxi did not go upstairs to rest. Instead, he picked out the packages he had bought for Wang Defa from the pile of packages, then borrowed an electric bicycle from Xie Baizhi and went to find Wang Defa.
He had been a groomsman at Wang Defa's wedding once, so he knew the way by heart and didn't need navigation at all. He rushed to Wang Defa's house in a hurry.
They arrived at their destination shortly after. Wang Guanxi, carrying a pile of packages, walked to the door and raised his hand to knock, but then stopped halfway through.
First came Wang Defa's voice, tinged with suppressed anger: "I'm asking you, why isn't there any meat for dinner tonight? Duoduo is in third grade, a crucial time for her growth, can't you even buy her some meat?"
Then came a woman's voice, presumably Wang Defa's wife, high-pitched and shrill, like a knife slicing through glass: "You know Duoduo needs to eat meat? How come you had money to treat your friend to barbecue last night? Wouldn't it have been better to use that money to buy meat for Duoduo?"
"You only make a pittance delivering packages, and you still have the nerve to treat others to meals? Of all people to invite, you had to treat that penniless guy who was fired in Shanghai to barbecue? How can you face me? How can you face Duoduo? How can you face this family?"
Wang Guanxi stood at the door, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
A penniless guy who was laid off in Shanghai?
Could this be referring to him?!
Wang Defa's voice rang out again, this time louder: "It's just treating my childhood friend to a meal, it's only a few hundred yuan, why are you making such a fuss about it?"
"A few hundred yuan isn't money? Don't you know how much you earn in a month? If you made over ten thousand a month, I wouldn't care if you treated everyone to meals every day. You only make five or six thousand a month, what are you pretending to be rich for?"
"How am I acting like a big spender? My childhood friend just came back from Shanghai, what's wrong with me treating him to some barbecue?"
"Back from Shanghai? He must have been kicked out! He couldn't make it outside, so he slunk back to his hometown, and he still has the nerve to ask others to treat him? If I were him, I wouldn't even have the face to show my face."
"That's enough!" Wang Defa roared.
The sound was so loud that even the motion-activated lights in the hallway were turned on.
But after he yelled, the room fell silent again.
Wang Defa's face flushed red, his fists clenched, and he opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, but in the end he swallowed his words back.
Because he knew that if they continued arguing, the argument would only escalate.
And Duoduo was right next to her.
Wang Guanxi stood outside the door, holding three express delivery boxes in his arms, feeling a mix of emotions.
It wasn't because Zhang Yanfen scolded him; he really didn't care about that.
It's because of Wang Defa.
Because of him, Wang Defa was scolded like this by his wife.
He recalled how Wang Defa had generously offered to treat him to a meal at the barbecue restaurant the night before.
He remembered what Wang De had said to him when he saw him off: "If you have any difficulties, tell me. I still have some savings that I can help you with."
But he didn't expect that Wang Defa's family status was so low.
It was just the money I spent on a barbecue for him, and his wife has such a sharp tongue.
Forget it, let me elevate your status in the family, bro.
Wang Guanxi took a deep breath, raised his hand, and knocked on the door.
"Knock knock knock".
Footsteps soon came from inside the house.
As soon as the door opened, Wang Defa poked his head out, his face still radiating anger. But when he saw who was standing in the doorway, his eyes widened in disbelief.
"Edison Chen? What brings you here?"