A River-View Apartment

When Chen Chuan was on his way back to the hotel, he passed by a shopping mall. He spent 30,000-plus yuan on Off-White fashion brand as well as a small suitcase there.

Once he had returned to the hotel he had booked, he took a shower and changed into new clothes. He then neatly piled his old clothes and placed them into the suitcase. 

Notification on a few missed calls from his cousin was shown on his cell phone.

Chen Chuan had also received some WeChat messages with the same content. He was told to take a taxi to the university and have lunch at the canteen.

Chen Chuan did not refuse Ziyue's offer once he had read the messages. Initially, he had planned to treat Ziyue and her few other friends to a feast. Considering the great hospitality shown by Ziyue's friends, he could not seem to refuse.

When he arrived at Jiaotong University, he saw Ziyue waiting at the campus gate.

As soon as they met each other, they headed together to the first canteen located on the third floor.

A dining table of average size was filled with dishes, including Pork Ribs, Sweet and Sour Fish, Fried Pork with Pepper, Diced Chicken with Peanuts and Dry Pepper as well as Shrimps. These dishes seemed visually impressive, and they were all listed on the canteen register for honored guests.

Three girls sat at the table. Besides the two girls that Chen Chuan had met that morning, there was another new face who looked quite pretty.

"This is my housemate, so-and-so… Deng Yaoyao." Ziyue introduced, "Yaoyao, this is my cousin, Chen Chuan."

Yaoyao stretched her hand and pinched Ziyue's waist, then jokingly asked, "What do you mean by so-and-so? Make it clear."

"Well, it just means so-and-so." Ziyue laughed and replied, "You're desperate for a boyfriend, aren't you? Here's my cousin, so date him now. If the date turns out to be a success, don't come back tonight."

"Shut up, you damned girl…" Yaoyao laughingly shouted, then she cast a glance at Chen Chuan.

...

They had lunch in a joyful atmosphere.

Later, they rented a car as suggested by Ziyue. One of the girls, who was a local, drove around Chongqing City to show Chen Chuan the sights in the region.

During the journey, Chen Chuan had the impulse to go on a road trip.

After all, he was not the sort of person who enjoyed the hustle and bustle.

On the other hand, the girls in the car had a good time. They laughed heartily throughout the journey.

Chen Chuan had become the girls' background plate for their photoshoot as well as their photographer.

"Hey, Chen Yue. Your phone screen is broken. Why don't you get it repaired?" Chen Chuan noticed the spider cracks on Ziyue's Oppo screen.

"I'm going to get a new phone," replied Ziyue.

"You bought this phone right before you started university, didn't you? How careless of you to drop your phone!" Chen Chuan recalled that Chen Yue showed off her new Oppo during the worship.

Her full name was Chen Ziyue, but her family calls her Chen Yue.

Chen Yue came from an ordinary family. Both her parents were farmers in the village, and their income was not stable.

It was good enough that her parents were able to pay for her education at university.

She had bought her new phone at 3,000-plus yuan, and its screen had been broken in less than one month of use. Deep down, she must be overwhelmed with a sense of guilt.

Without waiting for Ziyue's response to Chen Chuan's question, Ziyue's housemate went ahead and replied, "A senior from the polytechnic ran into her, and her phone fell on the stairs. That was how the screen broke. Even her nose was injured. That senior was dashing somewhere and didn't notice Ziyue. He must be blind."

"It wasn't a big deal. He did take responsibility for the cracked screen, but he did not have any money with him at that moment. He told me that he'll compensate me when he has money," Ziyue instantly explained.

Chen Chuan had finally figured out the matter.

He took the phone to look at the broken screen. He noticed that the spider cracks were massive on the outer screen. Even the internal screen had been cracked badly. 

If the phone was sent for repair, replacing an internal screen would cost nearly 2,000 yuan. After all, the screen was the so-called Samsung's original screen. 

Ziyue's housemate added, "The charging port has become dysfunctional, so this phone is practically useless. Ziyue has asked the senior to compensate her with a new phone, but he refused to do so. Ziyue actually doesn't mind, and that's very kind of her. If it was me, I'd haunt him every day. If this didn't work, I'd talk to the counselors. How unreasonable of him to not compensate for something he has damaged." 

"Enough, Yaoyao… He has promised to get it repaired. He didn't mean to shrink the responsibility for it," said Ziyue.

As soon as they arrived at their destination, they got down from the car and enjoyed the surrounding area.

Chen Chuan walked toward Yaoyao and asked, "Do you know the number of the building where the senior lives in and his name?"

"Are you going to look for him? He's… very strong. He plays football." Yaoyao nervously stared at Chen Chuan.

"I'm not going to pick a fight with him. I just want to find out about the phone," said Chen Chuan.

"Alright, I'll come along with you then. I'm not sure if he's still on campus during the break," replied Yaoyao.

Since the topic they were discussing was a bit dull, Chen Chuan moved on to another subject. "The scenery here is quite lovely. The apartments here offer views of the Yangtze River and they look magnificent. It'll be great if I have an apartment here so that I can come for a vacation occasionally and relax by gazing at the Yangtze River."

"You've got such good taste… This is the financial center, and next to it is the Yuzhong campus of Jiaotong University. If you go further south, you'll arrive at the university town which teems with beautiful girls. Go and shop around the financial center on your own, and you'll find a lot of beautiful girls on the street." Yaoyao gazed in admiration at the property, which stood out against the multi-layered landscape. "This new property is called Jade Apartment and costs 27,000 yuan per square meter. It doesn't have a small-sized apartment, as all the apartments are 160 square meters and above. Heh, don't give too much thought about it." 

Yaoyao was a local of Chongqing City. She talked about the future value of the prime location in front of Chen Chuan.

Chen Chuan had an interest in the apartment when he heard what Yaoyao said. 'This girl has an attractive appearance and a glib tongue as well. If she works as a real estate salesperson, she can definitely sell a lot of apartments,' he thought.

"Yaoyao, come over here and take a photo!" Someone from the other side yelled.

"Come on. Let's go and take a photo." Yaoyao headed there.

Chen Chuan said, "Go and join them. I'll take a stroll here."

He ambled around alone after he had finished speaking. Although Chongqing was said to be a mountain city full of stone steps, the land in this area seemed so flat that riding a Segway here would not be an issue.

He looked around while ambling. He then spotted a magnificent building at the front—Jade Apartment Sales Center.

Chen Chuan entered the sales center and noticed a crowd there. A few beautiful real estate saleswomen stood at the entrance and did not seem to be bothered with him as he looked like a student.

He walked into the sales office's hall and saw a saleswoman explaining the architectural model using a laser pointer. Terms such as periphery, subway, supermarket, and CBD entered his ears.

Chen Chuan found this place satisfactory, and what was more, it was a completed apartment. Since he had [Double Expenditure Cash Return], he casually approached one of the saleswomen without hesitation and asked, "I can choose any of these vacant apartment numbers on the wall, right?" 

"Yes." The saleswoman glanced at him.

"Okay. I'd like Apartment 3601, Building 27," said Chen Chuan.

The saleswoman blinked her eyes. She glanced at the floor area '400 square meters' stated beside number 3601, then directed her glance at the guy in front of her again. She could not help but ask, "So you'd like this apartment? You...You're going to buy it?"

Chen Chuan nodded.

Upon receiving his confirmation, the saleswoman appeared calm. In fact, she beamed and could hardly contain her surprise. "Sir, please have a seat. I'm going to get you a cup of tea."