Chapter 9: Property Management Fees

The puzzle was solved. Yuan Kai finally understood why Chen Xiao was able to secure the order from the design institute: he was playing "LoL" with them!

He imagined that the female lead at the design institute must be terrible at the game, and Chen Xiao was helping her climb the ranks, so...

Right, once this layer of window paper was poked through, all the magic suddenly seemed perfectly normal. Yuan Kai secretly decided to go home and practice "LoL" diligently; he would definitely snatch this big client away from Chen Xiao in the future!

Chen Xiao, naturally, had no idea that his casual, rambling nonsense had caused Yuan Kai to sacrifice his evening rest to practice "LoL" until his kidneys were worn out from exhaustion.

Chen Xiao delivered the stamped contract to the design institute. Bai Lu looked at his slightly dark eye sockets and said, "Is the work pressure at your company that high? You look like you haven't slept well."

"Yeah, I was pulling all-nighters until dawn!"

"Ah? That’s so tough. Does the company pay overtime?"

"Nope! Voluntary overtime!" Chen Xiao replied nonchalantly.

Look at that dedication—working voluntary overtime until dawn on a 4,000-yuan salary. Bai Lu felt even more ashamed. Moved, she dialed the internal line to have a clerk come over and stamp the contract. She had Chen Xiao take the copy for the Dr. Feng robot project back with him; the efficiency was staggering.

Once the contract was signed, 40% of the payment was made upfront. Before Chen Xiao even arrived back at the company, the finance department had already received 1.2 million yuan. Xia Yun shouted "Nice!" in excitement and went to report the good news to Feng Feifei, leaving Feng Feifei in a daze. This deal had completely overturned her understanding of how business was done.

The contract was signed quickly, and the money was transferred just as fast—this completely defied market logic.

"Chen Xiao is truly a lucky charm. This single order pulled the company straight out of the ICU! We must reward such talent!" Xia Yun was Feng Feifei’s middle school classmate, so she offered her advice in private.

"We definitely need to reward him heavily. If it weren't for Yuan Kai being here, I would have been ready to promote him to manager!" Feng Feifei said, troubled.

She had been happy when Yuan Kai stayed, but after his performance yesterday, she had lost much of her favor for him. Coupled with Chen Xiao’s outstanding performance, she now felt that keeping Yuan Kai had been a bad move!

"Actually, it’s not impossible. You could split the marketing department into Department One and Department Two. Two departments can have some healthy competition!"

Feng Feifei’s eyes lit up. This suggestion from Xia Yun was actually quite good. Hmm, she would hire more people first, and once the sales staff were fully staffed, she would announce Chen Xiao’s promotion!

Chen Xiao knew nothing of this. After work, he returned to his rental apartment, grabbed two large bags of essentials, and hailed a taxi straight to Hairun Mansion!

Hairun Mansion was closer to the Dr. Feng Robot Company and was one of the more high-end apartments in Jiangzhou. But then again, how high-end could an apartment really be? Chen Xiao felt the system was just bullying him for being unsophisticated, fobbing him off with a crappy place.

He was in Building 5. It was a coincidence—was he destined to be with the number 5? He had secured the design institute order in Building 5, and now this reward was also in Building 5.

As he entered the lobby of Building 5, he saw the elevator doors about to close and shouted, "Wait a second!"

The closing elevator opened. Chen Xiao stepped in, said thanks, and then froze!

Inside the elevator was a young woman. She was as tall as Chen Xiao, who stood at 178cm. Her figure was graceful, swaying like a willow in the wind, exuding a soft beauty. Her jet-black hair rested gently on her slender neck like wisps of elegant dark clouds. Her features were as exquisite as a masterpiece carved by a master, especially her eyes—deep and spirited, as if they could peer into the abyss of one's soul. Her eyebrows were like ink paintings, their subtle curve and length perfectly accentuating her sharp yet gentle gaze.

She wore a tight-fitting long dress that highlighted her well-proportioned curves, as if she were a goddess who had stepped out of Greek mythology, possessing both an ethereal quality and a touch of worldly tenderness.

Chen Xiao snuck a glance at her exquisite face; there wasn't a single blemish, though her expression was cold, as if everything around her had nothing to do with her. Chen Xiao stepped back and pulled out his phone, pretending to fiddle with it.

However, he accidentally hit the camera button, and the lens was pointed directly at her blood-pumping back and that full moon. The curve of that full moon was simply a stroke of genius by the Creator. Chen Xiao looked at the photo on his phone, his mouth dry.

He looked up and saw the girl looking at him with disgust, as if he were a plague, and she retreated into the corner opposite him!

It was over. The misunderstanding was huge. She must think he was a creep taking photos. But since she didn't say anything, he couldn't explain himself, or he’d be confessing to the crime, wouldn't he?

Only then did he remember he hadn't pressed the elevator button. As he prepared to select his floor, he discovered that the beautiful girl had chosen the exact same floor he was going to: the 12th floor!

The elevator arrived, and the girl walked out quickly. Chen Xiao followed, watching her walk away in a hurry, her long legs—easily 1.2 meters—moving at a rapid pace.

Chen Xiao looked for his door number, 1224, and found that it was in the same direction as hers.

By the time he found his room, the girl had already hurried inside. Before entering, she had glanced at Chen Xiao nervously. She was actually right across from him.

I've been branded a creep! Chen Xiao thought gloomily. He was a handsome man; how did he look like a bad guy? He didn't realize that when he was looking for his door number, his darting eyes had been seen by her. Who else living here would act like that? Naturally, she had pegged him as a bad guy.

He entered the room. It wasn't big—a small duplex apartment with a floor area of 48 square meters. However, it had a kitchen, bathroom, living room, bedroom, and even a walk-in closet. It was a case of "though the sparrow is small, it has all the vital organs."

The furniture was all included. Chen Xiao took a rough look; it was all branded. This wasn't the system being generous, but the developer’s standard configuration!

Hmm, better than the rental. Chen Xiao tossed his daily necessities into the living room, took a shower, and went upstairs to the bedroom to lie down. He hadn't rested well yesterday, so he’d sleep early tonight!

But before he could fall asleep, he heard someone pounding on his door. At first, he thought it was someone next door; after all, he had just moved in, and no one knew he was here, let alone would come looking for him.

After listening for a while, he felt something was off. It really was his door. He checked the time—it was 19:00. He quickly went downstairs to open the door.

"Is there something you need?" Chen Xiao pulled the door open and looked at the two middle-aged women in uniform property management attire standing outside. They looked rather sharp-tongued.

Perhaps because the voice was too loud, the door to the girl across the hall opened a crack, and she peered out.

"You've been behind on your property management fees for over two years. It's time to pay up!"

Chen Xiao was stunned. Pay property fees? I just moved in; what fees am I paying?

"Are you sure you have the right person?"

The property management woman said disdainfully, "Is your name Chen Xiao?"

Chen Xiao said, "Yes, that's me!"

"If it's you, then we have the right person. You've been behind on your fees for two years. We've called, but you never answer, and we could never find anyone when we came by. Today the lights were on, so we rushed over. We have to settle this today, otherwise, who knows if we'll ever collect your fees before we retire!"