Chapter 13: Renting a Place
Less than half an hour after sending his location, Zoe arrived at Jiang Xu’s side.
“What do you need me to do?” Zoe asked as he stepped down from the cockpit.
Jiang Xu glanced at the time on his communicator. “You weren’t far from here?”
“It was alright.” Zoe thought of the speedometer that had nearly redlined; he had practically been flying.
“Do you know where the office building clusters are nearby?”
“Office buildings? What are you going there for?” A Xiongchong’s responsibility was to eat, drink, and be merry; they didn’t need to work. He looked at Jiang Xu with a teasing, questioning smile. “Are you looking for a job?”
How rare.
Jiang Xu pursed his lips. “Yes.”
He knew it! How could he… wait, what?
“You’re not joking?” Zoe looked at him in shock.
“Am I the type to joke?” Jiang Xu replied with a half-smile.
“Well, no.” Ever since they grew up, Zoe had rarely seen Jiang Xu joke. Forget joking; even a smile was rare. He sighed inwardly: He’s not as cute as when he was a kid.
“Wait, you’re really going to look for a job?” It couldn’t be that bad, could it? Even if he weren’t a Xiongchong, the Jiang family’s assets wouldn’t let him fall this far.
“What were you doing just now?” Jiang Xu bypassed the topic and asked directly.
“Sigh, a family business cocktail party. You know how it is—I’m the only one in the family, so I have to attend, right?” Zoe answered honestly.
“Then why can’t I?” Jiang Xu looked at him, waiting for an answer.
Zoe was stunned for a moment, then laughed. “Fair point. If I can do it, why can’t you?”
Besides, his surname was Jiang.
“Let’s go. I know the commercial office areas very well.”
The destination wasn’t far, and they arrived in the blink of an eye. Jiang Xu realized why Zoe could reach him in half an hour; as for the “not far” comment, it was clearly just to humor him. At the speed Zoe drove, he could cross the entire capital.
“Why are you looking at me?” Zoe led Jiang Xu toward the commercial center, only to see Jiang Xu looking at him with accusing eyes.
Jiang Xu sighed softly. “Nothing. Let’s go.”
Their first stop, the commercial center, was completely different from the market in front of his house. The Zerg here were all dressed formally—clearly white-collar workers. Every Zerg carried an air of pride.
However, Cichong still made up the majority; there were very few Xiongchong scattered about. Thus, when the two of them stepped into the bustling district, they drew the attention of many Cichong.
Zoe seemed accustomed to such attention. He led Jiang Xu to a skyscraper standing in the central area. “By the way, what kind of work are you looking for?” He realized he still didn’t know Jiang Xu’s goal.
“I plan to rent a place to start a studio,” Jiang Xu said without any intention of hiding it.
“Rent a studio?” Zoe was puzzled. “Doesn’t the Jiang family own plenty of real estate? Why do you need to rent?”
“……..” The Jiang family? Plenty? How many was “plenty”? It was just that he didn’t dare go there. Jiang Xu’s eyes were full of helplessness. “I want to try relying on myself.”
He was a bit afraid Zoe would think he had a problem with his head. Why would a Xiongchong want to rely on himself when he had the great tree of the Jiang family to lean on? It was completely out of step with the Xiongchong of this society.
“Uh.” Zoe looked at him seriously. Once he was sure Jiang Xu was telling the truth, he gave him a thumbs up. “You’ve got ambition.”
Only Jiang Xu knew he had to be this “principled.” However, he also had confidence; before coming here, the Jiang family’s company had been supported entirely by him. Since he could flourish there, he wouldn’t do poorly here either.
They looked at several locations, but Jiang Xu felt they were all missing something. It wasn’t that he was picky; it was just that for resource integration and a sharing economy, he needed a place that was convenient for customers to come and go.
Eventually, he took a liking to a spot near a landmark shopping mall with the highest foot traffic.
“Are you sure?” Zoe didn’t quite approve of the location Jiang Xu chose; it wasn’t high-end or grand enough. Instead, it had a bit too much of a “street-level” atmosphere.
“Yes.” Jiang Xu nodded and turned to the real estate agent behind them. “When can we sign the contract?”
“Are you looking to buy or lease?” The agent had accompanied them to several sites. From the high-end central area to this spot, his enthusiasm had clearly cooled.
Jiang Xu noted the change in the agent’s attitude and sighed: It seems the rules of human society apply here as well.
“Lease,” Jiang Xu said.
“Alright. For leasing, we operate on a yearly basis with a five-year contract. Is that feasible for you?” Although his enthusiasm had waned, he was still facing two Xiongchong, so he didn’t dare show too much of it.
“No problem.”
“Then please wait a moment. I will send the contract to you right away.”
The agent searched for nearby communicators and found two signals. “Which account should I send it to?”
Jiang Xu pointed to his own communicator.
The rest of the process proceeded smoothly. After handing the keys to Jiang Xu, the agent left quickly. Only the two Xiongchong remained in the room.
“What do you plan to do with this place?” Zoe asked, looking at the somewhat dilapidated office, which was a far cry from the places he usually frequented.
“It’s a secret for now.” Jiang Xu kept him in suspense. He glanced at the balance on his asset card; there was only a small amount left. He wondered if the original owner of this card would collapse if he knew.
He was poor!
Jiang Xu suddenly thought of something and began to check the asset cards under his own name via his communicator.
He saw a long string of zeros following his name.
He was this rich??
Jiang Xu felt like he had hit the jackpot—it was like picking up a massive fortune. He had previously wondered if he should borrow some from Zoe, but now it seemed he was a wealthy man himself.
Zoe found Jiang Xu’s mix of shock and joy a bit baffling. What was so great about renting a crummy place?
“Let’s go.” Jiang Xu closed his asset information and walked out of the room. After a few steps, he stopped and cautioned Zoe, “I’ve only told you about this…”
Zoe looked at his formal expression. “I know. I won’t tell anyone. You know how tight-lipped I am.”
No, I don’t, Jiang Xu thought silently, though he couldn’t say that aloud. He could only nod solemnly. “In case I don’t succeed, I need a way to save face.”
Zoe thought he made sense. If it failed and no one knew, they could just pretend it never happened, and his reputation would remain intact.
Watching Zoe nod solemnly, Jiang Xu walked out, a cunning smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
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