Chapter 156: The West River Water System, Where Did the Glasses Go? (5k)

"Do you have the boss’s number?"

"Yeah."

"I’ll give him a call first to check. Also, this time when we buy furniture, we’ll probably need to order a bit more."

Wen Yan took out his private phone and dialed the number Zhang Laoxi had given him. As soon as the call connected, a voice came through.

"Wen Sheng, oi oi, long time, long time!"

"Uh..." Wen Yan hadn’t even introduced himself yet, but the other party already knew who he was. Clearly, he’d saved Wen Yan’s number long ago. The boss spoke with a strong standard southern accent—very distinctive.

"My name’s Wu Tingsheng, I’ve heard of you for a long time, Wen Sheng. I just didn’t dare to bother you rashly. Are you planning to buy a house?"

"Hello, Boss Wu. I wanted to ask, are there any unsold houses left in the first few rows in front of mine? Preferably ones that are already finished, so I can just move in furniture and live there."

"The front few rows, finished... nope, still bare shells, but in the back rows, there are some units, all nicely renovated and never lived in. If you want one, just come take the key from me—you’re welcome to move in anytime."

"No, actually, I want to buy one. It’s for a friend to live in. Whatever the price is, I’ll pay it. No need to be polite, Boss Wu."

Wu Tingsheng could tell the difference straight away—it wasn’t that the friend wanted to buy, but Wen Yan was buying a place for his friend.

If it was the friend who wanted to buy, Wu Tingsheng might hesitate a bit.

But since Wen Yan wanted to buy, and was giving it as a favor himself, Wu Tingsheng didn’t need to hesitate at all.

He’d always lived in that house at the easternmost edge of the villa area. And actually, when Wen Yan was at home, he didn’t always bother to hide what he did.

Wen Yan practiced boxing in the yard, and there was even a freaky bird with an owl’s head, plus the Little Zombie, who sometimes stepped outside.

And from the house behind, Old Zhao and the five goofy brothers would sometimes come out—Wu Tingsheng had seen them all.

He’d also seen Old Zhao, whose head once fell off and could walk briskly using his hair as legs, acting extra cautious around Wen Yan.

Zhang Laoxi’s desperate bootlicking moves practically had "shameless" written right across his face.

And that Feng Yao from the Scorching Sun Department, the leader who came by all the time, often brought takeout and snacks.

What kind of boss runs errands with food for their staff every single day, right up to their door?

Keeping a close eye on this side for so long, Wu Tingsheng had already picked up on plenty.

He didn’t know all the inside stories, but he was sure Wen Yan definitely had skills.

He knew, on the surface, Wen Yan was just an employee at the Virtue City Funeral House, but he’d never believe Wen Yan was just some ordinary worker.

He’d had Wen Yan’s number saved for days but never dared to call out of the blue. Now, at last, he’d gotten a call.

Just think—what kind of "ordinary employee" can just drop over a million, buy a friend a house like it’s nothing?

With funeral home wages, you could live comfortably, but wanting to get rich and casually drop over a million? Not a chance. He knew full well that the Virtue City Funeral House cracked down super hard on taking bribes from families.

And making money on the side by reselling urns, gold ingot paper, shrouds, or the like? Forget about it—wouldn’t even cross your mind as possible.

Wu Tingsheng’s mind spun fast, but he immediately agreed.

"Wen Sheng, just come by any time, you can see any available unit you want. As long as it’s not already sold, you can pick whichever one you like."

Even if it’s already sold, some owners are actually looking to sell. You can look at those too."

"Just pick the one you want, and I’ll help you negotiate. I guarantee you’ll get a fair price."

"Thanks so much, Boss Wu."

"No need to thank me! Drop by any time, Wen Sheng. I’m home every day lately, just in the eastmost house—the one with the biggest yard."

After hanging up, Zhang Laoxi didn’t ask Wen Yan why he was buying, and as for how much money Wen Yan had, he more or less knew anyway.

"I’ve got some savings. I’m not using them right now. If you need any, just take it," he said.

"No worries, I don’t need it. The fifth of next month, that’s when the bonus comes out. I checked with Feng Yao, and the bonus is definitely enough to cover a house. Let’s go order some furniture first."

At the furniture market Zhang Laoxi mentioned, they did a full round. But looking at all the solid wood furniture, Wen Yan started to worry again—with kids in the house, weren’t these stiff, hard pieces maybe not so great?

The Little Zombie didn’t like this furniture either. In the end, after wandering around, they only ordered furniture for Gan Tang’s room.

Back in Virtue City, after getting home, Wen Yan brought Zhang Laoxi to Wu Tingsheng’s door.

Just as they walked up and pressed the doorbell, Wu Tingsheng came out smiling, striding up and opening the gate himself.

"What an honor, you’re lighting up my humble home! Welcome, Wen Sheng, welcome, Zhang Sheng!"

"Sorry to bother you, Boss Wu. I’m here to take a look at the house."

Wu Tingsheng didn’t waste a moment, immediately grabbing his keys and personally leading Wen Yan to look at houses.

The first few rows, as expected, weren’t right—what was left were all bare shells, and getting those finished would still take months, plus a few months to air out after renovations. So realistically, half a year at best.

If you wanted to wait for a really skilled master craftsman, then getting it done in a year would be doing well.

But in the back rows, most places hadn’t sold. Those who bought wanted to sell now, but couldn’t even pawn them off at a loss.

Yet there were several houses with very nice finishings, some personally renovated by Boss Wu’s own crew—the very same master craftsmen who did Wu’s own house, top-notch work and materials.

Back then, Boss Wu had honestly set out to make this a high-end villa district, so he’d never skimp on quality. Who knew it would all end up like this.