Chapter 82: COFCO Seaview No. 1

Early the next morning, Zhang Yang had just woken up in his apartment when he received a call from Pei Xiaoru.

“Old classmate, come look at a house.”

“So fast? You already made an appointment?” Zhang Yang checked the time, a bit surprised. It was only a little past seven. Pei Xiaoru actually dared to bother the homeowner this early?

“You don’t know. Last night I saw the owner posting emotional stuff on Moments in the middle of the night, lamenting about all sorts of messy things. Anyway, I could hear a sense that the family fortune might be declining. So I seized the opportunity and commented on her Moments. And look, it worked.” Pei Xiaoru laughed.

“So that’s what’s going on. No wonder she wants to sell the house.” Zhang Yang muttered to himself.

“Anyway, that’s the situation. This young lady has a very sharp eye. Just put on your usual outfit and gear. Don’t think of it as being deliberate. In short, please help me out, old classmate.” Even through the phone, Pei Xiaoru sounded like she was pleading.

“Alright. Send me an address. I’ll come pick you up once I’m ready,” Zhang Yang said casually.

Soon after, Pei Xiaoru sent the address.

Zhang Yang glanced at it. It was the address of the branch where Pei Xiaoru worked.

After a morning warm-up workout, Zhang Yang took a shower, opened his wardrobe, ran his fingers across a row of clothes, then picked out a Gucci Eaton-collar shirt worth a little over ten thousand yuan and paired it with a pair of pants.

Then he casually put on his Audemars Piguet watch.

In front of the mirror, his unbeatable physique immediately showed through the shirt. He was tall, with thin lips and a straight nose. Beneath the shirt, his figure looked perfect.

If there were a standard for a male god, it would probably look like him.

“Alright, this will do.” Zhang Yang had no intention of following Pei Xiaoru’s suggestion to pile on luxury items.

When do people pile things on? When they’re pretending to be rich and need outfits to cover it up.

Sorry, he, Zhang Yang, was a genuinely wealthy client. What was the point of piling things on?

He simply put together a comfortable early-summer outfit according to his own taste.

Down in the underground parking lot of the apartment building, Zhang Yang walked past his Porsche and Bentley in sequence, and finally stopped in front of his new ride - the Rolls-Royce Cullinan BB edition.

“Now this feels right,” Zhang Yang said with a smile.

Although it couldn’t be called a lineup of luxury cars, putting Porsche aside, owning both Bentley and Rolls-Royce - the absolute top tier of luxury cars - was already something to be proud of.

“Huh? Who the hell wrote a WeChat number with lipstick?” Zhang Yang didn’t even think about it. He took out a wet wipe and wiped the lipstick off the car window glass completely clean.

A moment later, he drove the Cullinan straight to the real estate branch where Pei Xiaoru was currently working, preparing to meet up with her.

Cornerstone Real Estate, Lujiazui Financial District Branch

Pei Xiaoru had arrived at the store early today. Sitting at her desk, she occasionally lowered her head to check herself in a compact mirror.

Compared to the confidence she had yesterday, she felt inexplicably nervous today.

“Xiaoru, you seem a bit off today.” A female colleague from the luxury housing department sitting nearby looked at Pei Xiaoru’s absent-minded appearance and asked curiously.

Pei Xiaoru wasn’t someone who could hide her thoughts. Now that someone asked, she immediately picked up the conversation.

“I found someone to go see the apartment at COFCO Seaview No. 1 with me,” Pei Xiaoru whispered to her colleague Liu Fei.

“Nice. At least you can finally figure out the internal condition of that apartment. By the way, who did you find? Be careful not to give yourself away. Before, a colleague got exposed and was immediately rejected - they didn’t even let her enter the door.” Liu Fei repeatedly emphasized.

“That part won’t be a problem.” Instead, Pei Xiaoru let out a faint sigh.

“If it’s not a problem, why are you sighing?” Liu Fei widened her eyes.

“Liu Fei, let me ask you something. Suppose one day an ordinary old classmate suddenly transforms - becomes rich and handsome - and suddenly appears in front of you. What would you think?” Pei Xiaoru looked at Liu Fei.

“Are you okay? Have you been watching too many movies or reading too many novels?” Liu Fei stared at her. “You’re not saying the person going to see the house with you is that classmate, right? Rich and handsome… that’s what you mean?”

“You don’t believe me?” Pei Xiaoru pouted.

Liu Fei could only smile in response and didn’t comment further.

While they were talking, Pei Xiaoru looked down at her phone and suddenly stood up nervously.

“Your classmate’s here?” Liu Fei asked.

Pei Xiaoru nodded quickly.

“Then hurry up. Look how nervous you are. Honestly… come on, I’ll go with you.” Liu Fei helplessly looked at her usually confident colleague acting like this and pulled her toward the door.

Outside the Cornerstone Real Estate office.

“Where is he?” Liu Fei asked Pei Xiaoru.

“Over there.” Pei Xiaoru looked around and suddenly pointed into the distance.

Liu Fei followed her direction and her expression froze.

Not far away, a Cullinan was parked. A tall figure had just stepped out. From a distance, the figure beneath the white shirt had an incredible physique, and his face was extremely handsome.

Then that figure walked directly toward them.

“Pei Xiaoru, get in the car?” Zhang Yang immediately spotted the two people at the shop entrance and glanced at the woman next to Pei Xiaoru, who was also wearing a shirt, small blazer, and short skirt. “Your colleague?”

“Hello.” Liu Fei’s voice was barely above a whisper. Faced with the wave of handsomeness approaching her, she didn’t even dare breathe loudly.

Zhang Yang nodded, then looked at Pei Xiaoru.

Hmm? His old classmate’s makeup today…

Yesterday her makeup had been bright and eye-catching, as if she wanted to show herself off fully. But today it was fresh and elegant - yet somehow looked even more carefully done.

Inside the Cullinan.

Pei Xiaoru sat upright. Usually she was very talkative, but today she behaved quite ladylike.

Especially when pedestrians outside the window curiously looked into the car, she deliberately acted particularly reserved and cool, afraid people might think she wasn’t qualified to sit in the passenger seat of a Cullinan.

“Hey.” Zhang Yang casually slapped her bare thigh.

Pei Xiaoru trembled but didn’t dare say anything. Her legs only rubbed lightly together in slight unease.

“Tell me about the house. If I know nothing, I won’t look like a real client, right?” Zhang Yang glanced at her with amusement. Normally she was quite outgoing, yet today she acted so reserved and shy.

“Oh, right.” Pei Xiaoru snapped back to reality and began explaining the situation.

The apartment was in COFCO Seaview No. 1.
340 square meters (~3,660 sq ft).
Four bedrooms, two living rooms, three bathrooms, plus a maid’s room.
Mid-level floor.
Double balconies overlooking both the garden landscape and a front-row view of the Huangpu River.
Ultra-luxury interior decoration.

The asking price was 120 million yuan.

“Although I haven’t seen the house, by coincidence I added the owner on WeChat. Looking at her Moments, she’s seriously rich. Sometimes I feel like we’re not even living in the same world,” Pei Xiaoru sighed endlessly.

According to her, the owner was a girl in her twenties. Young, but her father was extremely wealthy.

“Didn’t you say her family was declining?” Zhang Yang asked.

“Even a dying camel is bigger than a horse. Just because she says they’re declining doesn’t mean they actually are. Maybe their investments failed and they’re selling the house to raise liquidity.” Pei Xiaoru thought for a moment.

Zhang Yang nodded.

Living in a mansion worth over 100 million yuan - that was truly a top-tier rich beauty.

Girls like Gu Jiani and Bei Jiajia around him could only be considered well-off rich girls. Compared to this one, the gap was still huge.

As for the apartment:

COFCO Seaview No. 1 was a very famous luxury residence in Little Lujiazui, right next to Tomson Riviera, with excellent river views. Some people mocked it, saying buyers of Tomson Riviera looked down on people living in Seaview No. 1 - like someone who couldn’t afford a Rolls-Royce settling for a Bentley.

But think about it - even if they couldn’t afford a Rolls-Royce, they were still buying a Bentley.

It was just the difference between first place and second place.

Although COFCO Seaview No. 1 couldn’t compare to Tomson Riviera’s prices of hundreds of millions or even several hundred million yuan, it still started at tens of millions, and apartments exceeding 100 million yuan were common.

Only owners of other super luxury residences like Tomson Riviera would criticize it.

As for everyone else - were they even qualified?

Zhang Yang calculated the costs in his mind.

The asking price was 120 million yuan. With his 10% property coupon, he would still need to pay 30 million yuan in cash.

Even if the shop property sold successfully and he used all his current cash, he would still be short by a few million.

Of course, that gap wasn’t much.

But if he could buy it outright now, why wait?

Forget it. Better see the house first. If he really liked it, he could try bargaining.

That morning, beneath China’s tallest skyscraper - the Shanghai Tower - stood COFCO Seaview No. 1, a luxury residence comparable to the famous Tomson Riviera.

The entire complex covered 24,000 square meters (~258,334 sq ft), with a total building area of 120,000 square meters (~1.29 million sq ft). Five super-high-rise riverfront towers enclosed the property, located directly along the Huangpu River with absolute first-line river views.

Zhang Yang drove the Cullinan to the core area of the Lujiazui CBD and parked near Binjiang Avenue.

After getting out of the car, he looked up at the towering Shanghai Tower and then at COFCO Seaview No. 1 beneath it. Under the sunlight, the beige steel panels paired with light stone and glass curtain walls created a stunning yet refreshing visual effect.

“So this is COFCO Seaview No. 1,” Zhang Yang said with emotion.

Even though Tomson Riviera - the ceiling of river-view luxury residences - stood next door, this place still deserved the name “No. 1” thanks to its prime riverfront location.

Beside him, Pei Xiaoru was calling the owner.

Because Zhang Yang was standing close and had sharp hearing, he heard every word clearly.

“Hello?” The voice on the other end was cool and slightly arrogant.

“Miss Luo, I’ve brought my client. Are you available?” Pei Xiaoru asked enthusiastically.

“What time did we agree on?” The voice sounded lazy, as if she had just woken up. “Is your client reliable?”

“Absolutely reliable, Miss Luo,” Pei Xiaoru quickly assured, though slightly guilty.

The client she brought was indeed rich, but not really her client.

So she couldn’t say it with complete confidence.

“Alright. Wait there. I’ll ask the maid to- …forget it, I’ll come down myself.”

Before Pei Xiaoru could say anything, the call ended.

Pei Xiaoru awkwardly looked at Zhang Yang.

“Zhang Yang, maybe we should wait here for a bit?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Zhang Yang said casually.

They didn’t wait long before a tall figure walked out from the east gate of COFCO Seaview No. 1.

“You’re the agent who contacted me, right?” the girl asked, looking at Pei Xiaoru.

“You must be Miss Luo?” Pei Xiaoru immediately recognized the owner and greeted her warmly.

“This is my client, Mr. Zhang.”

Pei Xiaoru formally introduced Zhang Yang.

Miss Luo looked at the tall and handsome figure leaning against the Cullinan and carefully examined him.

The car was a nearly 10-million-yuan Cullinan BB edition.
The watch on his wrist was an Audemars Piguet worth around two million.
His shirt was only about ten thousand yuan from Gucci, but it perfectly showed off his incredible physique.

Good temperament.
Great body.
Handsome.
And wealthy.

He looked like a capable client with excellent presence.

“Hello, I’m Luo Xinyu. Nice to meet you.” She stepped forward confidently and extended her hand, observing him more closely.

“Hello. Zhang Yang.” Zhang Yang also looked at the female owner.

She was beautiful, with a great figure and flawless skin.

Her clothing didn’t intentionally show off luxury brands, but a glimpse of the Bulgari jewelry watch on her wrist likely started at one million yuan.

“Zhang Yang? Shall we go upstairs and look at the apartment?” Luo Xinyu put away the faint arrogance she had shown to Pei Xiaoru earlier. Now she only wore a friendly smile.

“Sure. Let’s take a look.” Zhang Yang nodded.

Pei Xiaoru quickly followed beside them as they entered the river-view luxury residence beneath China’s tallest skyscraper.

The apartment was in the front row, only about 100 meters (~328 ft) from the Huangpu River, with a three-elevator, two-units-per-floor design.

Along the way, Miss Luo was far more talkative than she had sounded on the phone.

Pei Xiaoru, however, could barely get a word in.

As another woman, she rolled her eyes inwardly seeing Miss Luo acting so proactive.

So what if she was a rich family’s daughter?

She still judged people by appearance.

In that regard, rich or poor, everyone seemed the same.

“This apartment was bought for me by my dad two years ago. For the decoration, I asked a classmate from Rhode Island School of Design to invite a top international designer to personally handle it,” Miss Luo explained.

“Talking about how much the renovation cost would be vulgar. But in terms of design sense, it’s absolutely unique.”

“So I hope to find a buyer I get along with. Our family does need the money, but I personally don’t want to sell it casually to just anyone.”

Zhang Yang nodded as they exited the elevator and arrived at the apartment door.

Earlier she had been talking about design concepts. Zhang Yang thought she would explain the interior style in more detail once inside.

But after entering, the style of explanation changed completely.

Before, she barely mentioned money - only design aesthetics.

Now, every sentence revolved around money.

A Cardiff armored door worth hundreds of thousands.
A Gaggenau kitchen with Boffi appliances, eleven-piece set - easily over one million.

A 300,000-yuan THG faucet reportedly incorporating platinum, red jasper, semi-precious stones, crystal, porcelain, onyx, lapis lazuli, and other materials.

The bathtub was cheaper - but still starting at 100,000 yuan, from Bette.

Then there were full Fendi furniture sets, a 100-inch Samsung TV worth over one million, and more.

Anything related to money and the value of the renovation - Miss Luo mentioned every single item.

“Except for my personal belongings, everything else stays. I’ll leave it all. If I weren’t in urgent need of money, I would never sell it at this price,” Miss Luo said with deep reluctance in her eyes.

“Can the price be negotiated?” Zhang Yang asked.

At that moment he was standing on the massive balcony of the 340-square-meter (~3,660 sq ft) apartment.

The essence of buying a river-view mansion was obvious - the river view.

As one of the two best river-view luxury residences in Little Lujiazui besides Tomson Riviera, the view from COFCO Seaview No. 1 was truly breathtaking.

A 360-degree river panorama, capturing the century-old Bund and the Huangpu River entirely.

Standing there, Zhang Yang suddenly experienced a sense of elevation and finally understood the meaning of wealth.

Honestly, owning this apartment now was somewhat premature for him.

Only someone who had struggled in the business world, experienced countless ups and downs, and finally stood at the top could fully appreciate the feeling of standing at the peak beyond the sea of commerce.

But even if it was premature growth - it was still growth.

At least Zhang Yang’s perspective now was completely different from before.

“The price? The price is already very low,” Miss Luo said in surprise, clearly shocked that someone would still want to negotiate.

She looked at Zhang Yang’s handsome back and sharp side profile and muttered:

“For others it’s non-negotiable. But for you… at most… I could give you a few million off. At most.”

“A few million?” Zhang Yang murmured, glancing at Pei Xiaoru not far away, who was busy taking photos after getting Miss Luo’s permission.

Hmm. She seemed almost finished.

So Zhang Yang exchanged a glance with Pei Xiaoru and gestured slightly.

“I’ll think about it,” he said.

Although he was inclined to buy it, he wasn’t in a hurry.

After all, his money hadn’t fully arrived yet. At least he needed to wait until the shop property sold.

“Then… then you’d better decide quickly. Several others have seen it and are quite interested. If you’re interested, I can prioritize negotiating with you,” Miss Luo said, somewhat disappointed that Zhang Yang didn’t show strong buying intent.

“No need. If someone else is sincere and interested, you can talk with them first. No need to wait for me. I’m not certain yet,” Zhang Yang shook his head.

“Miss Luo, I’ll take my client back now,” Pei Xiaoru said at the right moment.

“Alright.” Luo Xinyu hid the disappointment in her eyes and forced a smile as she prepared to see them out.