Chapter 67: Receiving Salary

  I woke up two days later and my head was still a bit dizzy. As soon as I got out of bed, I saw Xiang Yu sitting next to me, stretching his hands and feet, muttering to himself: "Pull the handbrake, turn the key, step on the clutch, shift gears..." I went over to pat him, but suddenly he fell asleep again, snoring loudly. It turned out he was sleepwalking.

  Qin Shi Huang has been mainly attacking Contra these days, and with 3 lives, he can reach the entrance of the second level. I taught him to summon 30 people, which made him so happy that he casually granted me the title of King Wei. He even promised to give me half of the territory of the Qin Dynasty if I buy him another game console.

  Jing Ke then established an unbreakable friendship with Zhao Bai Mian, the two often like children holding brooms and wildly hitting each other. Jing Ke said that Zhao Bai Mian's "swordsmanship" was extremely unpredictable, if they had stabbed Qin together back then, Ying Zheng would have been powerless to turn the tide. It makes me so angry that I really want to find Zhao Dage to let him take care of his foolish son.

  I went to the Qing Shui Jia Yuan sales department as planned, and as soon as I stopped the motorcycle, Bai Lian Hua rushed out and said, "Let's go see the house directly." She also asked me, "Are you taking your car or mine?" I patted the motorcycle and said, "Although this one looks a bit ugly, it's still faster than a bicycle, right?"

  Bai Lian Hua covered her mouth and laughed, "The company has assigned us a car. If we're going to look at houses, we can take that one." She pointed to an Aileshay by the door. At that moment, I turned red from head to toe, if my skin wasn't thick enough, the redness would have shown through. Bai Lian Hua sat on the motorcycle and said with a smile, "Is this a limited edition?"

  "Just stop making excuses for me, it's humiliating enough."

  On the road, I remembered that I still need to buy a new mobile phone. Bai Lian Hua insisted on accompanying me to select one. We spent half a day at various counters in a large telecommunications equipment store. Bai Lian Hua said: "What kind of mobile phone do you need? What functions do you need it to have, or which functions do you need to be more professional? If you take a lot of photos, then choose this one... if you want to know the latest and fastest stock market information, then choose this one..." Her words attracted the store manager, who insisted on hiring her.

  The salesgirl at the mall couldn't get a word in edgewise. From start to finish, she maintained a stunned expression. In the end, I spent 3800 yuan on a Samsung phone. It's not too expensive but has all the functions, and looks very stylish, quite suitable for a man of my age with some spare cash. The white lotus helped me save 1200 yuan.

  Taking the white lotus to buy things is like taking an extremely sharp machete into a sugarcane field, it can achieve twice the result with half the effort. I think her talent is not only suitable for selling houses, if she decides to resell military equipment, she will definitely be able to master the Kalashnikov series in half an hour.

  The more such people are, the more careful I should be. If her house is not good, I will definitely not buy it! I thought to myself.

  After getting on the car, Bai Lianhua smiled and said to me: "Do you think I'm quite scary now?" Through what happened just now, she changed her way of addressing me.

  She said: "You must be thinking now, this woman is so capable of deceiving people, when looking at the house later, you have to be careful."

  I couldn't help but look down at her, and the white lotus flower was actually a very delicate woman. When she wasn't speaking, she even had a few points of shyness, like a student who had just walked out of school. But precisely because of this, her words were more persuasive when introducing something to you. She wouldn't just say where it's good, but also mention one or two inconspicuous shortcomings, knowing that people would definitely pay attention to these, and then use a few turns to dispel your concerns, showing such thoughtfulness. This is something that any lecturer teaching sales techniques cannot teach, this is what is called innate talent.

  The villa area is 3 kilometers away from the highway, but it won't be affected by it. Moreover, it's still within the city limits, making shopping very convenient for car owners. Qing Shui Family Garden has a strong presence, which can be seen from its geographical location.

  But because of the earthquake, this villa was also deserted. The automatic gate of the magnificent and luxurious community was closed, with no security guard. There was only one person in charge of controlling the switch in the entrance hall, who opened the door for us.

  After passing through what was almost a long transition zone, we passed by the artificial hills and pavilions, motorcycles speeding across the vast lawn like a golf course, just this section of road made my heart race, this is the feeling of being rich! In the cramped city, having such a wide living space is better than being a local tyrant in the past!

  Arriving at the residential area, Bai Lianhua stood up in the motorcycle and pointed to the villas like a female general of the Nationalist Party, saying: "Choose one."

  The distance between the villas is about 100 meters. There won't be any problems with blocking or covering, and from the lawn in front of the garage to the architectural style, they are all identical European-style. I asked dazedly: "Do you have any suggestions?"

  "No, you also saw it, completely the same, and there's no good or bad geographical location to speak of. We're just afraid of having differences, when the time comes some will be in high demand while others will be ignored, they all have money, and when they start fighting we'll suffer along with them."

  "If you had to choose, which building would you pick?"

  Who would have thought that Bai Lian Hua's face turned red, saying: "You should ask those two sisters about this." However, she immediately said, "If it were me, I'd choose the middle one."

  I drove the car to the middle of that building, and Bai Lianhua took out the remote control key from the entrance hall and pressed it. The garage door rolled up with a loud noise, and I said, "We don't need to back this car in anymore - no reverse gear."

  "...I just wanted you to see that this garage door isn't broken."

  I jumped off the motorcycle and carefully examined this small two-story building, saying it's small just because its floors are low. Judging from the appearance, the living area of one floor should be no less than 200 square meters. I squatted down to touch the lawn and found that the grass was relatively sparse. White Lotus immediately said: "Although the lawn doesn't look as beautiful, this kind of grass imported from abroad has strong vitality and slow growth rate. You don't need to take care of it specially, and in summer you can have a barbecue with your sisters on it without any problem."

  I glanced at her, and the question came immediately. However, the hypothetical scenario she helped me with really made my heart feel itchy - I immediately reminded myself: be careful of this White Lotus Cult Master!

  She went up the stairs and opened the door, and I immediately asked: "Is this door safe?" I thought it would be best to let Shi Yan come and take a look at the lock on the house, as long as he couldn't open it within 10 seconds, it would be absolutely secure.

  Don't worry, little one

  The facilities are very strict and will be equipped with cameras for each household in the future."

  We entered the room, and the spacious living room caught my eye first. I noticed that Bai Lianhua let out a soft sigh, it was an envious admiration, you could tell she really liked this house. After calming down, she led me around to take a look, on the first floor there were 2 large bedrooms and a bathroom as well as a storage room. She took me to the kitchen, stretched out her hands and said: "Here you can create a big marble operating table, put a small refrigerator or a small wine cabinet beside it."

  I suddenly slapped my thigh and said: "It's gone wrong!"

  "What's wrong?"

  "I was so focused on buying a house that I forgot to factor in the renovation costs, and now that you mention it, just one granite countertop would cost tens of thousands already?"

  "It won't be that much, artificial ones are a lot more expensive than natural ones, so it's just around 10,000 yuan."

  "Can you help me calculate how much it would cost to renovate a house this big?"

  "The bigger the house, the higher the grade, of course, it's also more expensive. If you spend 10,000 yuan on a house and another 10,000 yuan on renovation, that's about right. But if it's a 100,000-yuan house, then 10,000 yuan would be barely enough. This house is only sold for 180,000 yuan, but its actual value is far higher than this number. Basic decoration would cost at least 500,000 yuan, and if you want to make it more luxurious, the cost would be incalculable."

  "Which means including furniture and all, it would cost around 3,000 to move in?"

  The white lotus nodded: "About right."

  I took a deep breath and said, "Then I need to think about it again."

  "Mr. Xiao, what I'm about to say may sound like a sales pitch, but I have to tell you that this might be the last batch of villa-style private houses available in our city. You know how hard it is to get approval for large apartments these days. Secondly, this is probably the cheapest villa you can buy in all of China, especially during this special period. Let me share a secret with you: Qing Shui Jia Yuan Villa District wasn't planning to open up to outsiders within the next two years. Within two years, as long as there's no earthquake, the value of these houses will at least appreciate by 30%. The reason we're reluctantly selling is that our company's higher-ups think it would give a bad impression if we didn't sell any units within two years. Every time we sell one unit now, it's basically a loss-leader strategy. So I really ask you to consider this carefully."

  Who wouldn't be moved by these words? No need to say more. If only 5 of them are true, then buying this house is like picking up a treasure.

  "Let's go upstairs and take a look."

  I went upstairs and I couldn't walk anymore. We grew up in bungalows as kids, and we almost have a totemic worship of high-rise buildings. Later when we moved into high-rise buildings, we started missing the big yards of bungalows. And when living on the 2nd floor, I often think: how great it would be if the 1st floor was also mine?

  In the pawnshop, this wish was barely fulfilled, and I thought: If we were selling grass instead of starch noodles in front of us, it would be great! Although people always say that I am greedy and insatiable, I call this - pursuit!

  The time to realize the dream has finally arrived, 2 looks bigger than 1, a balcony that extends out 2 more, symmetrical on both sides with 4 bedrooms, White Lotus is not coming, what's here put a billiard table, there decorated in bar style, and also leave one room for nursery...

  Finally, we went to the rooftop. The white lotus flower pointed far away and said with deep emotion: "There, we plan to develop an artificial lake. Plant willows, wait until dusk, you hold your sister's hand..."

  I was amused by her use of "们" and couldn't help but say, "That pretty girl who joked with you the other day is my cousin."

  A small, gentle fist poked at my chest, and I stumbled. She hastily grabbed hold of me. Before I could take advantage of the situation, she promptly and professionally introduced: "By the way, on the rooftop you can set up a net to build a basketball court. When your son grows up, you two can have a little match, or let him review his lessons here..."

  "It's going to ruin your eyesight - let's sign the contract."

  "Are you going to take this house?" White Lotus's eyes widened happily.

  "You've said it like a poem, I don't want to spoil the atmosphere."

  To be honest, in terms of area, this house is not cheap because we are not in a big city and it's an extraordinary period. These houses were built before the earthquake. This alone has shaken the confidence of most people, but fortunately, the developer's sincerity is worth 18 million, even if you just buy the living environment, it's worth it.

  Next, Bai Lian Hua showed her swift and decisive side. We went back to the sales office, completed the transfer of ownership, and paid the money. With rich experience in handling such matters, buying a house was no different from buying two kilograms of oranges. The key could not be given to me temporarily because there were still some follow-up projects to be done. Currently, the house had electricity but no water supply, and it was impossible to renovate after entering.

  I stepped out of the door and saw an old man wearing a Panama hat and dressed in a colorful outfit sitting on my motorcycle, looking like a typical old overseas Chinese. I sneaked up behind him quietly, still two steps away when this old guy lazily said: "Xiao Qiang, you're not thinking of making a sneak attack on a god, are you?"

  I slumped into the driver's seat and cursed, "Apart from being a god, you're still a wanted man. As a law-abiding citizen, I should take you to the police station."

  Liu Laoliu smiled and asked: "What's wrong?"

  "I've got a low-grade fever."

  Liu Lao Liu didn't say a word and handed me a black oval-shaped thing, saying: "Chew."

  This old guy is detestable, but after all, he's a god. Seeing me so sick, maybe he really has something good for me. I hastily stuffed it into my mouth and took a big bite, only to feel a sweet and strange taste and cool air drilling straight into my brain. In an instant, sweat broke out on the tip of my nose.

  "What's that?"

  "What else can I get, betel nut, I brought it back from Hainan, smoking a cigarette and chewing it is even more refreshing——” He said, throwing one into his mouth, then lighting a cigarette and taking big puffs, inhaling the cool air like a big tobacco ghost.

  "Ptoo!" I spat out the tobacco juice and cursed, "You old scoundrel."

  Liu Lao Liu didn't get angry either, and said calmly: "You always lack the most basic respect for me, aren't you afraid that I will report...

  ？”

  "Come on! Come on! Last time it was Zhang Ziyi, this time you can't make me into Chen Guoxing (I said that casually, because at that time it was only 2007)!"

  "The last time I used magic was to make you believe me, that was official business, it's not normally allowed."

  I burst out laughing: "Then what am I afraid of you for?"

  Liu Lao Liu suddenly asked: "Has your salary for this month been paid?"

  "I warned him: 'I don't have money to lend you!'"

  "It's not from human beings, it was sent by heaven."

  I suddenly came to my senses, grabbed Liu Laoliu's collar and shook it hard: "That's right, why hasn't my salary arrived yet, when can I open my eyes?"

  "It's not necessarily about opening your heavenly eye, besides even if you do open it, it's useless. It's easy to be mistaken for a mental patient, and it's especially dangerous while driving as I've accidentally hit people thinking they were ghosts several times, luckily it was just on my bicycle."

  I continued shaking him: "What about mine? You have to give me one too!"

  Liu Lao Liu also said strangely: "Yours hasn't come down yet?"

  "No! Not only is there no yin-yang eye, but the body hasn't been modified either, and it's still panting!"

  Liu Lao Liu was really angry this time, took out a worn-out mobile phone and made a call, loudly questioning: "Wang Accountant, has Xiao Qiang's salary not been paid yet? I'll go to Yu Huang to complain about you! What? It's already been sent? Alright, alright, no big deal."

  Liu Lao Liu hung up the phone and looked at me sideways for a while before suddenly asking: "Have you received any strange text messages recently?"

  "No, except for getting a license... You're not talking about the Tian Ting Entertainment Group, are you?" I only remembered that text message from a few days ago because it didn't have a sender's name, so it left a deeper impression on me.

  "Got it, which one is it? What's the return code? With the return code, you'll know what kind of skill you got."

  "The return code seems to be......" I tried hard to recall, at that time saw a string of numbers seem to be somewhat uncomfortable, but just can't remember.

  Liu Laoliu poked my forehead and scolded: "You can even forget such an important thing, go die!"

  "I remember now. The return code is 7474748."

  "Haha, nice skill. However, without a mediator - that's my hint, you still won't use it, do you understand how I can take revenge on you?"

  "...... Uncle Liu, Grandpa Liu......"

  "Stop messing around, have you received this month's salary?"

  "Don't you know?"

  "This time I'm talking about RMB, lend me 500 yuan first!"

  "...I really don't know if you are gods or a meticulously organized gang of swindlers." I took out 5 tickets and slapped them on

  Liu Lao Liu put away the money and stretched out his hand saying: "Give me your mobile phone."

  "Isn't that too greedy?"

  "Cut the crap, bring it."

  I reluctantly handed my newly bought mobile phone to him, Liu Lao Liu took it over, input "7474748" on the phone, and said with great interest: "Let me show you something fun..." As he spoke, he suddenly pointed the phone at me and pressed the dial button...

  I hastily gathered around, seeing the large screen displaying the dialing status, Liu Lao Liu was also somewhat nervous, muttering: "You'll see it soon——"

  Then we heard the phone say: "The number you dialed is an unattended number."

  "You want me to look at this?" I said in surprise.

  "Really?... Did you actually receive a message?"

  "Of course it's true."

  "Is the return number correct?"

  "Absolutely right, 74 and 8 must be there, otherwise you can try dialing one less group of 74?"

  "74748 transforms into Erlang Shen's Xuantian Dog."

  "What's going on? Can't you heavenly court delay paying migrant workers' hard-earned money?"

  Liu Lao Liu suddenly grabbed my shoulder and asked: "Were you using this phone when you received the text message at that time?"

  "I just changed my phone today. Does this have anything to do with it? Are your salaries sent to me or to my phone?"

  "If it's sent to your mobile phone, then it's the one that calls you, not you calling it. The Heavenly Court has this rule, and will never directly attach a special ability to a person's body, but rather through an object, so the legendary Hundred Treasures Basin is actually something like this, therefore you must use the mobile phone that received the message in order to activate its function."

  "I anxiously asked: 'First tell me what this number 7474748 represents, is it useful for others to dial this number on my phone?'"

  "It's available, but who would be so bored? 7474748 is a pretty good superpower - mind-reading. As long as you hold the phone and press this number within 10 meters of someone, what they're thinking will appear on your phone screen. However, note that it can only be used 5 times in 24 hours, and for now, you can't use it on the same person twice. Remember? Next month when you get paid, your phone will automatically upgrade, then you'll be able to use it 5 times a day and even on the same person (by that time I'll probably be like a high-level V)."

  I jumped up and said: "Why didn't you tell me earlier? If I had known about this when buying the house, wouldn't I have known whether White Lotus Sect Master was cheating me or not?"

  "Coming early doesn't help either, what about your old phone? Without it, this month is a waste for you."

  I regretfully said: "Why is it particularly this one? I should have bought a good mobile phone earlier!" I lit the fire and anxiously said, "I'll go home and try right away."

  Liu Lao Liu walked down while handing me back my phone card, holding up my original 5000-yuan mobile phone in front of me and saying: "You won't be using this anymore, right? I'll contact you after I get the card."

  I glared at him and rushed home in a flurry, not even stopping to catch my breath as I ran upstairs and yanked open the drawer - stupid me, my antique camera was gone!

  "Cousin, where's my cell phone? Did your sister-in-law take it again to give to someone?"

  Li Shishi came out of the bedroom and said: "Sister-in-law said that this broken mobile phone is so embarrassing to give to others, she helped you throw it away."

  I stumbled a few steps: "Help me throw it away?"

  "It's in the trash can." said Li Shi

  Then she went into the bedroom and squatted beside the bed to pick up her book.

  I grasped the trash can and shook it vigorously twice, that old thing tumbled out of my sight, I hugged it tightly in my arms, calling it a treasure. Li Shishi saw me like this in the bedroom and smiled: "Brother is really a nostalgic person."

  Suddenly a bad idea popped up in my mind, I quickly inserted the phone card, turned it on, and after the screen stabilized, I pressed "7474748" against Li Shi Shi. Finally, I pressed the dial button, and in less than 2 seconds, a line of text suddenly jumped out: "Where is my book 'History of Chinese Architecture'?"

  I'm a bit disappointed, I'm more enthusiastic about inquiring into other people's privacy, it seems that I pressed the wrong time. I said to Li Shishi: "That book 'History of Chinese Architecture' I'll take it to let a friend have a look."

  Li Shishi turned around in surprise and said: "How did you know I was looking for it?"

  I said: "It's just looking at you to find a book and tell you."

  With this treasure, I'm itching to see what everyone is thinking. Qin Shi Huang is playing games and must be thinking about having fun. Xiang Yu has been letting me open the bread car door and practice driving since I got back, but there's nothing interesting to see. Liu Bang can't be caught, so only Er Sha is left. He's covering his semiconductor and standing still with a silly smile on his face. I'm really curious about what he's thinking, so I sneak up close to him and press the numbers on his phone. The screen doesn't react for a long time, but then a scene that drives me crazy appears:

  It actually displays a row of ellipses...

  After a while, a parenthesis appeared, which read: This person is in a state of no thinking for a long time, and this prompt will not appear again.

  Wow, is this what they mean by "still waters run deep"? Er Tai is too powerful!

  But I'm still quite happy, at first I thought this reward wasn't that great, but slowly I came to my senses, this is much more useful than opening the heavenly eye, opening the heavenly eye is dealing with ghosts, this is directly conversing with human thoughts. Human thoughts are much more terrifying than ghosts, isn't there a saying "Gods and ghosts are unpredictable"?

  It's not entirely accurate to say that it can't bring me any benefits. At the very least, I should be invincible when playing Go with others or trying to figure out what those stock market and futures giants are thinking. No matter how good or bad a person is, they can put on an act, but the one thing that won't deceive you is their thoughts - or rather, their soul.

  I'm increasingly feeling that I possess a very evil ability. No wonder a philosopher once said: I'd rather they see my ** than see my thoughts.

  It's said so well, anyway I'd rather watch some people's **.

  Just then, the phone rang loudly. I was startled and saw that the number displayed was Song Qing. I answered it saying: "Hello, Little Song?"

  Song Qing was always so gentle: "Hehe, Qiang Ge, Xu Xiao Wei is looking for you."

  I hadn't even reacted yet as to who it was, when Xudelong took over the phone and said: "Xiao Zhuangshi, can you come again?" He actually knew how to use a phone.

  I asked him what was wrong, and it seemed he didn't want to say anything in front of Song Qing. I readily agreed - I was just thinking of finding An Daoquan to get a fire cupping treatment anyway.

  I rushed to school with a great mood, and from afar, the main building in blue had been completed. Li Yun said that if we just do some simple decoration, we can move in within a week. I gave him Li Shi Shi's book "The History of Chinese Architecture", and now I want him to help me decorate my villa. He has become quite familiar with the construction team and the building materials suppliers.

  The 300-yuan deposit is empty land. Xu DeLong deliberately stayed behind to wait for me, the soldier on duty was Li JingShui.

  He looked very serious when he saw me and said: "Someone else came to visit yesterday!"

  I casually said: "Will you be too nervous?"

  Xu Delong carefully took out a small package from the tent, slowly opened it with great care, and inside the small cloth bag was a needle. I was about to take it when Xu Delong said: "Be careful! It's poisonous." I hastily retreated several steps and examined the needle carefully. This was not an ordinary sewing needle that we had seen before. It resembled a miniature bamboo stick, with a long tail and no eyelet, similar to those used for acupuncture in traditional Chinese medicine.

  "What's going on?" I picked up a blade of grass and fiddled with it as I asked.

  "Last night, Jing Shui was on duty when it suddenly shot out from a nearby clump of grass not far from his feet. At the time, he didn't know what it was, fortunately he dodged it. The person's movements were extremely fast, and as soon as things went awry, they vanished into thin air in an instant. We found this thing on the tent this morning."

  I took a glance at Li Jing Shui. Puzzled, I said: "How come something always happens when you're on duty? Do you think that person has any relation to the last time we went exploring?"

  Li Jing Shui said firmly: "It's just one person! And he must be from our time!"

  "How did you know?"

  "He was wearing a night-traveling outfit, and that movement was unmistakable. Almost all of us in the Northern Army had practiced martial arts before joining the army. Some of his habits and movements were only found in people from our time, he's definitely a practitioner."

  I supported my chin and thought for half a day, suddenly stood up and said: "There's a way!"

  Xu Delong and Li Jing Shui both looked at me with eyes full of expectation and admiration.

  "I'm going to consult with Wu Yong!"

  Two people fell down.

  I still don't think this is very reliable, apart from them, how could there be people from the Song Dynasty in this era? Even if what Li Jing Shui said was true, it's possible that they are modern people, after all, martial arts have been passed down and aren't necessarily limited to ancient people.

  It wasn't until then that I had a chance to ask Xu Delong: "What about the others?"

  Li Jing Shui said: "Was led by teacher Yan to go running, he said something about needing comprehensive development of morality, intelligence and physique, and insisted on dragging us to run 5 miles every day."

  I shook my head and said: "Can't he find a better way to commit suicide than this?"