Shichahai, Houhai!

Tang Ren Teahouse!

Su Chen and Jiang Hui were leisurely drinking tea, appreciating the view of Houhai and... the sea of people.

There were far too many people visiting Houhai, the vast majority being tourists from out of town, holding up their phones and snapping pictures nonstop.

Fortunately, the teahouse Su Chen had chosen was in an elevated position, offering a nice view of Houhai from its windows.

"Old Jiang, didn’t you schedule the meeting with the homeowner for three p.m.? Why haven’t they called yet? It’s almost three-thirty! Don’t tell me they’re standing us up," Su Chen said, glancing at his watch.

Hearing Su Chen’s form of address, Jiang Hui could only swallow his anger. At first, he had resisted with all his might, but he was ultimately no match for a single glance from Su Chen.

Helpless, he could only silently endure the nickname "Old Jiang."

"Sir, the traffic is probably bad because of the holiday. I imagine they’ll be here soon."

Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, a call came in.

Jiang Hui answered the phone, said a few words, and hung up.

"Boss, the homeowner has arrived. We can head over now."

"Let’s go." Su Chen picked up his teacup and drained it in one gulp.

The courtyard house wasn’t far from the teahouse, only a two- or three-minute walk.

Soon, Su Chen and Jiang Hui arrived in front of a courtyard house.

On either side of the entrance stood a drum-shaped stone lion doorstop. The wide main gate projected the courtyard’s grandeur.

Just as Jiang Hui was about to step forward and knock, the main gate swung open.

A young man of about twenty-seven or twenty-eight, dressed in casual clothes, walked out.

"You’re the ones here to see the house?" The man looked at Su Chen and Jiang Hui, a flash of surprise in his eyes.

His gaze swept over the two. ’The one in the lead is so young, maybe twenty-four or twenty-five. The middle-aged man behind him looks like a professional butler. Tsk, tsk. Looks like this kid’s background is anything but simple!’

Su Chen had no idea the man before him had already analyzed him from head to toe.

"Hello, I’m Su Chen," Su Chen said with a smile.

When the man heard Su Chen’s name, a smile bloomed on his face. "What a coincidence. My name also has the character ’Chen’ in it. Hello, I’m Xiao Chen."

"Hahaha, it really is fate!" Su Chen hadn’t expected such a coincidence either.

The two even shared an enthusiastic handshake.

The passing crowd occasionally glanced their way. Xiao Chen knew this wasn’t the time for a chat, so he gestured for Su Chen and Jiang Hui to enter the courtyard house.

"This house used to be my dad’s. He tossed it to me later on."

"The old courtyard house design didn’t really fit the aesthetic of modern young people, so I just had the whole place renovated. I just don’t know if you’ll like the style!"

With Xiao Chen leading the way, Su Chen began his tour of the courtyard house.

The entire complex was a three-entry courtyard house. The front courtyard was where staff like the nanny and butler lived, decorated in a relatively simple style. But when Su Chen passed through the Hanging Flower Gate and entered the central courtyard, he was stunned by the sight before him.

A small bridge over flowing water, pavilions and terraces, all connected by a winding covered corridor!

"You’ve basically moved the Suzhou Gardens to the Imperial Capital!" Su Chen said, looking at Xiao Chen beside him.

"Hahaha, I wish! It’s just that this courtyard is a bit on the small side. Otherwise, I would have definitely replicated the Suzhou Gardens."

The central courtyard was about five hundred square meters, and the garden alone took up half that space.

The rear courtyard was the owner’s residence, a small two-story building. From the second floor, you could not only see the entire central courtyard but also gaze out at nearby Houhai.

"Waking up to a view like this every morning would put anyone in a better mood," Su Chen remarked with a sigh.

At his side, Xiao Chen’s eyes shifted, a strange light flashing within them. ’This Su Chen guy... he gives off a pretty good vibe...’

"Actually, the real magic of this courtyard house isn’t here."

"Hmm?" Su Chen looked at him, curious.

Xiao Chen deliberately kept him in suspense, leading Su Chen to a wall.

Just as Su Chen was expecting some kind of hidden mechanism, Xiao Chen pressed the wall twice... and an elevator appeared.

An elevator in a courtyard house??

Su Chen was instantly dumbfounded.

’People actually do things like this??’

They took the elevator down to the basement level. When he stepped out, Su Chen was shocked once again.

Although Su Chen’s mansions in Shanghai and Xiangjiang were priceless, neither had ever surprised him this much.

The entire basement level was decorated with extraordinary luxury. Decorative plants, a wine cabinet and bar, a game room, a tea room, a media room... basically anything you could think of was there.

If it were just that, Su Chen would have at most thought that a lot of care went into the design and decoration...

But what if there was also a fully equipped, one-hundred-square-meter swimming pool?

Who wouldn’t be astonished? This was a courtyard house! A courtyard house in the Houhai area of Shichahai!

Can you even imagine such a scene?

"So? Not bad, right?" Xiao Chen took a bottle of wine from the cabinet, poured three glasses, and handed one to both Su Chen and Jiang Hui.

Su Chen was a little surprised by Xiao Chen’s gesture.

"It’s definitely not bad. I thought you moving the Suzhou Gardens into a courtyard house was already outrageous, but after seeing this, I feel like that was totally acceptable!"

"You’ve basically replicated a luxury villa inside a courtyard house!"

Low-key on the outside, luxurious on the inside. It seemed Xiao Chen was also a man who knew how to enjoy life.

Speaking of which, Su Chen was a bit puzzled. If Xiao Chen had put so much effort into this courtyard house, why was he trying to sell it?

After a moment of contemplation, Su Chen voiced his question.

"Hahaha, I was wondering if you were going to ask!"

Xiao Chen then let out a long sigh. "Sigh... To be honest, this courtyard house was my secret base. I don’t know which bastard leaked it, but a rumor spread that I built it just to party with women. My family found out, and they were afraid it would cause a scandal... so they told me to sell the place!"

As if he’d thought of something, Xiao Chen looked at Su Chen with a playful expression and said, "This house has been on the market for almost a month, and you’re the first person to come see it!"

Hearing this, Su Chen cursed inwardly. ’What the hell...’ He now understood that the man in front of him was most likely a second-generation heir from the Imperial Capital, and a "colorful" one at that.

As for why no one else had come to see the house, Su Chen didn’t even have to think to guess what was going on...

’It’s just the usual dirty drama within their circle.’

But was Su Chen afraid? ’Afraid of what? Hell no.’ As long as they didn’t resort to underhanded tactics, Su Chen could handle anything they threw at him.

"I think this house is great. I like it a lot. I’ll buy it," Su Chen said with a smile.

Xiao Chen was taken aback. He looked at Su Chen’s calm and composed demeanor and then burst out laughing.

"Alright! I’ll knock another fifty million off the price!"

But Su Chen shook his head. "If you do that, then I won’t buy it."

After a pause, Su Chen continued, "Even if this courtyard house were listed for four or five hundred million, plenty of people would still want to buy it. I’m already getting a huge bargain by getting it for what I am. If you lower it any more, you’ll be taking too much of a loss."

"Hmm?" Xiao Chen was surprised again. He gave Su Chen a long, deep look...

"Hahaha, alright! We’ll do it your way!"