154: Chapter 154 Field Mission

"Don't forget, Wang Lichun arrives in Jiangcheng tomorrow at noon. You have to pick her up then."

Zhang Menglu shouted a reminder from the doorway; Chen Hao waved his hand.

"I know, no need to remind me. Go back."

Late at night, Chen Hao left the commercial street and hailed a taxi to the hospital to accompany Shayiva.

It was too late; when Chen Hao arrived, Shayiva was already asleep. Not wanting to disturb her, he fell asleep on the companion bed.

At dawn the next day, Chen Hao was woken up by Shayiva. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw Shayiva in her hospital gown, standing before him with a puzzled look.

"When did you get here?"

Chen Hao yawned.

"Last night around 3 AM."

She frowned slightly.

"Coming here so late, are you homeless?"

Chen Hao rolled his eyes, took out some eye drops, and said while applying them:

"The investigation has a direction, and I wanted to let you know."

Next, Chen Hao recounted everything Manager Huang had told him about the three people.

"The renovation contractor is Boss Qiu, and the sourcing channel is Boss Wu, Wu Lei. They're in cahoots, lining their own pockets."

"Also, the mortgage channels are irregular. I only know it's related to Jiang Tao, but I'm not sure if it's true or false yet."

After Shayiva memorized all the information and names Chen Hao provided, she spoke.

"I only found out yesterday that Pang Dahai used to be a criminal investigator. Leave the investigation to him. Once we have all the evidence, we can give CEO Wei an explanation."

While washing up, Chen Hao asked casually:

"What's CEO Wei's attitude? Why do I feel like he's not worried at all?"

"I'm not sure either."

Shayiva didn't know CEO Wei's attitude either. If it were her, she would have been furious long ago, but Wei Xinglong showed no reaction at all, which was quite baffling.

"I'm not a mind reader for CEO Wei. How could I know what he's thinking?"

Chen Hao came out of the bathroom.

"Forget I asked. I'm going back undercover."

"Wait."

Shayiva suddenly stopped Chen Hao.

"The news of my hospitalization has spread. There have been quite a few visitors lately. Don't come over unless necessary to avoid blowing your cover. If anything comes up, have Pang Dahai contact me."

"Understood."

After leaving the hospital, Chen Hao took a taxi to the sales office.

Morning meeting.

As usual, there was shouting and cheering, all pure formalism.

After it finished, Chen Hao applied to go on fieldwork again. However, for some reason, Liu Jiayin insisted on following him today, claiming:

"Technically, I'm your group leader. You're so good at selling houses, won't you let me learn a thing or two?"

"Go ahead and learn, as long as you don't mind the heat."

Chen Hao took a large stack of purchase contracts from logistics and took a taxi with Liu Jiayin, arriving near the Yichun Garden residential area.

When getting off, Liu Jiayin was bewildered.

"There are still several hundred meters to go. Why stop here?"

Chen Hao said cryptically:

"To do a good job, one must first sharpen one's tools."

"Whatever."

Liu Jiayin muttered under her breath but followed Chen Hao into a nearby supermarket.

"Little Chen, you're back?"

In just a few days, Chen Hao had become familiar with the supermarket staff.

"Old Man Shang, let me get a few more cartons of cigarettes."

The supermarket owner, Old Man Shang, took the cigarettes from the shelf and said with a smile:

"Because of you, my cigarette sales have increased several times over."

"Isn't making money a good thing?"

Liu Jiayin stepped forward and looked—good grief, four cartons of Huazi, four cartons of Yellow Crane Tower, and two cartons of Double Happiness.

After bagging them separately, Chen Hao scanned the code to pay, took the ten cartons of cigarettes out of the supermarket, and strolled over to Yichun Garden.

When the security guards saw Chen Hao, they greeted him with smiles.

"Brother Hao, out on fieldwork again today?"

"It's all to make a living. Captain Zhao, this is a little something for you."

Chen Hao took out a carton of Yellow Crane Tower and forced it into the security captain's hands.

"I haven't even finished the ones you gave me two days ago. Why are you giving me more?"

"Everyone gets a share; it's only right. If you guys didn't help me out, I wouldn't be able to sell houses so smoothly. Take it, don't be polite with me."

The security captain happily accepted. Chen Hao entered the security room. Including Captain Zhao, there were four people. Chen Hao didn't play favorites and gave each of them a carton of Yellow Crane Tower.

In just three days, Chen Hao had bonded with these guards, calling each other brothers like old pals.

"Sorry to trouble you, brothers. Another group might come to see the houses today."

"Don't worry. As long as they're your customers, we'll make things easy for them."

After finishing at the security room, Chen Hao took a puzzled Liu Jiayin to the property management office. Just like at the security room, Chen Hao started handing out cigarettes as soon as he entered, giving everyone a carton of Huazi.

"Brother Hao, you're too kind. You bring us cigarettes every time you come. It's quite embarrassing."

"We're all in the same company. Even if we're in different departments, you're being too formal."

Chen Hao said with a smile.

"Everyone gets a share. Without everyone's help, I wouldn't be able to sell any houses."

Liu Jiayin finally understood. It turned out that Chen Hao had already bribed all the management personnel at Yichun Garden.

Next, they began setting up the property management office, setting aside a specific workspace for Chen Hao.

Not long after, a minibus drove into the neighborhood. The security guards personally directed the minibus to park, and then everyone on board got off. Judging by their clothes, they were all farmers.

Led by the security guards, this group was brought into the property management hall. The staff there greeted them warmly, led them on a tour, and gave everyone a bottle of mineral water.

Chen Hao also went over to introduce himself, chatting and laughing with the farmers. He even handed each person a pack of Double Happiness, calling it:

"One pack for each person to share in the good fortune."

Chen Hao's maneuvers took care of every aspect and every group of people, which was an eye-opener for Liu Jiayin.

Next, led by Chen Hao, they first visited the model of Yichun Garden. He focused on introducing the benefits for residents on the first and second floors, which came with a private garden.

"Yichun Garden has six buildings in total, and each building has three entrances. So there are only 108 units on the first and second floors with gardens. First come, first served, until they're all sold out."

"If you miss this chance, you won't find it elsewhere. You won't find another house in Jiangcheng with a 100-square-meter garden later on."

Liu Jiayin could tell that Chen Hao was using scarcity marketing tactics to create a sense of urgency among the farmers.

"Come, let me take everyone to see the houses."

While Chen Hao led the way to see the houses, Liu Jiayin accompanied them the whole time. They started from the top floor, where the high vantage point offered an unobstructed and beautiful view of the scenery.

"This is a special case in Jiangcheng and a unique feature of this neighborhood. Anyone can come up to the top floor to enjoy the view; it's a public area."

Liu Jiayin marveled to herself. Calling the shared floor space a public area for viewing the scenery—you really know how to smooth-talk.

Coming down from the roof, they went straight to the first and second floors. In Liu Jiayin's view, city people didn't like living on the first or second floors when buying houses.

But farmers and elderly people were different; most weren't used to elevators and didn't like climbing stairs, so the bottom three floors were their first choice.