Put away your magical powers now!.

Chapter 163 [The Lumberjack's Remarks] (7800 words)

Chapter 158 [The Lumberjack's Words] (7800)

Assistant Liu smiled politely, showing none of the imposing manner one would expect from someone from a large company, maintaining a very calm demeanor.

Fang Dahai, his chubby face still beaming with smiles, said, "President Liu, you're too modest! Please sit down! Please sit down!"

He warmly invited Assistant Liu to sit down and exchanged pleasantries for a while—with Boss Fang's shrewdness, he tried to extract some useful information from her words, wanting to know the other party's purpose in coming to his door.

However, Assistant Liu didn't want him to guess. After sitting down and taking a couple of sips of tea, he directly stated his purpose.

"Here's the thing, our Chairman He has taken a liking to one of your properties, Mr. Fang. That's why he sent me here to ask if you're willing to part with it. If you are, the price is negotiable!"

Upon hearing this, Boss Fang was taken aback for a moment, but then a look of joy appeared on his face!
What the hell!

Is this... an attempt to acquire me?
Acquired by a major corporation! I'm about to become rich!!

Mr. Fang beamed with joy, quickly calculating in his mind the companies under his name: a trading company, a transportation company, and a factory.

Regardless of which one they sell to, being acquired by such a large capital firm is a great opportunity for them!
He then coughed and said slowly, "I wonder which company in which segment of my business your company is interested in? Actually, it doesn't necessarily have to be a complete acquisition. If there's a lot of room for cooperation, I'm open to financing, and we can have deeper cooperation in the future..."

Assistant Liu smiled and said politely, "President Fang may have misunderstood. I'm really sorry, my explanation wasn't clear enough. I apologize."

"Well, we've taken a liking to one of your properties."

As she spoke, Assistant Liu took out a residential property certificate from her bag: "We found that this property is currently registered under your name, right?"

Mr. Fang was stunned, but after taking a look at the document, he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine!
This is the haunted villa that Teacher Chen rented!
After a moment's thought, Mr. Fang slowly said, "Is it this villa? Hmm... I currently have no intention of selling or transferring this property..."

"It's like this, Mr. Fang." Assistant Liu said calmly with a smile, "Our Chairman He really likes this house, so he specifically told me two things before I came."

Firstly, if Mr. Fang is willing to part with the property, then Mr. He is willing to offer a price that fully demonstrates his sincerity.

Secondly, we've also gained a general understanding of Mr. Fang's business areas. Mr. He feels interested in developing in-depth cooperation with Mr. Fang in the fields of commerce and logistics.

Boss Fang fell silent!

·
Judging from Mr. Fang's mindset, he certainly didn't want to sell this house.

This house is the biggest link between me and that incredibly capable teacher, Mr. Chen!

But... this is an opportunity to connect with the country's top billionaires and big capital!
What truly moved Mr. Fang was not the "price that fully demonstrated sincerity".

It's just a villa. Even if it sells for a high price, how much more can it go? At most, they might ask for ten million more than the original price.

He Fang Dahai isn't a top-tier billionaire, but he's quite wealthy. Does he really need ten million to make ends meet?

But... if we could have a "deep business partnership" with Mr. He, one of China's top tycoons...

That's equivalent to entering someone else's business system!

Even if you become a long-term outsourcing partner, the money will keep flowing in!
Money is only one aspect.

More importantly, they've all established connections!
Putting everything else aside, if my company can be associated with the title of "Chairman He's Partner," then I can use this brand to attract more business opportunities in other places in the future!
Fang Dahai took a deep breath, his expression gradually calming down. He remained outwardly composed, but inwardly he was struggling with inner turmoil.

"...Mr. Liu, what you said is a bit sudden for me, and I need to think about it carefully."

“Of course, that’s only right.” Assistant Liu replied immediately with a smile, then slowly took out a piece of paper and wrote a number on it: “This is our quote for the house, you can discuss it.”

He then stood up and said with a smile, "Then I'll await your reply."

Assistant Liu declined Mr. Fang's invitation to dinner and took her leave immediately.

After seeing Assistant Liu off, Boss Fang picked up the paper and glanced at the numbers on it.

Thirty million.

The price was higher than he had expected.

Although that villa is a luxury home, the real estate market has been sluggish this year, and prices have been falling all the way down.

The same house would now be worth around 15 million on the market.

Thirty million, doubled.

But his own house is actually a haunted house, and if he sold it normally, the price would be even lower! The price of 30 million is not just doubled, but several times higher!

but……

Mr. Fang pondered to himself.

Why would one of the country's top billionaires take a fancy to this house? Why would he send someone all the way to Jinling Mansion, specifically asking to buy it?
He, Fang Dahai, is not stupid.

Logically, people wouldn't sell or buy property when housing prices are declining.

What's more, it's a haunted house!
What's more, the price has doubled!

This house... it doesn't deserve it!
The only possibility is...

They must have come for Teacher Chen!

After thinking for a while, Boss Fang suddenly sighed.

He figured it out!
What do they want to do with this house?
Do you want to make things difficult for someone as eccentric as Teacher Chen?

After buying the house, will you kick Teacher Chen out?

Is he crazy?

Putting himself in her shoes, Mr. Fang thought to himself, if he were Chairman He and had met a remarkable person like Teacher Chen with extraordinary abilities, he would definitely take the initiative to befriend him! He wouldn't go out of his way to offend him.

Wouldn't that just be asking for trouble and making yourself miserable?
Therefore, the other party must have bought this house because of Teacher Chen! After buying the house, they must have used it to curry favor with Teacher Chen!!
Mr. Fang believed that his judgment was almost entirely accurate.

Can you stop them yourself?
Boss Fang has the right to stop someone like Teacher Chen from making friends with whomever he wants.
Or is it that Boss Fang has the authority to arrange for top tycoons like Chairman He to make friends with whom?
Unless he offers up the house himself to curry favor with Chen Yan first?

To be honest, I genuinely wanted to curry favor and make friends.

However, the cost was too high, and the other side of the ocean was unwilling to pay it!
The asking price for this house is now 30 million! And there's the prospect of deeper cooperation! This ticket to deeper cooperation will allow my business to be linked to He Dong, a major domestic capital firm! And there will be a steady stream of revenue in the future!

Without further ado, if I seize this opportunity, my net worth could very well double within the next ten years!

My desire to please and befriend Teacher Chen is genuine.

But are you willing to pay such a high price?
(I can't bear to part with it!)
Mr. Fang quickly came to a conclusion.

Teacher Chen is such an extraordinary person. He can help me solve my problems in critical moments, but... what if I don't encounter any major difficulties in the future that I can rely on him for?

Since you can't bear to part with it yourself, you can't stop others from doing it.

Otherwise, what if this gets back to Teacher Chen's ears?

Oh, a top-tier, super-rich capitalist is trying to curry favor with you; I've ruined the whole thing.

Will Teacher Chen be happy or unhappy? It's obvious even to a fool.

She didn't want to sell the house because she didn't want to sever her relationship with Teacher Chen. But if doing so caused Teacher Chen to harbor resentment towards her...

That's called cutting off one's own penis as an offering to the gods; as a result, one suffers excruciating pain and offends the gods.

Thinking of this, Boss Fang gritted his teeth, picked up the phone, and called Assistant Liu.

"Assistant Liu, have you gone back yet? I have something I'd like to discuss with you."

"Please speak, Mr. Fang," Assistant Liu replied calmly.

“The house you want to buy is currently rented by a friend of mine. If you want to buy it, you must sign a supplementary agreement with me. This agreement stipulates that even after the property is transferred, you cannot make my friend move out; you must continue to fulfill the lease and cannot evict him.”

After a moment of silence on the other end of the line, Assistant Liu suddenly laughed, her tone becoming warmer: "Your request is perfectly fine... Actually, I didn't do my job properly before; I didn't even know that Mr. Fang was Mr. Chen's friend! From now on, we're all on the same side!"

Mr. Fang breathed a sigh of relief; the other party clearly had a good relationship with Teacher Chen! At the same time, the phrase "from now on, we're all on the same side" achieved his goal: "Then I'll be frank. The price doesn't need to be thirty million; let's just go with the market price of fifteen million. To be honest, my house had some problems before, so actually, if we consider the current market price of fifteen million, I'm already making a profit. And since Chairman He also has a connection with Teacher Chen, I'd like to make friends with your company as well."

Between friends, I won't ask for an exorbitant amount.

Assistant Liu was silent for a moment, then spoke with even more enthusiasm: "I will definitely convey Mr. Fang's good intentions to the boss! Don't worry, Chairman He never mistreats his friends."

The two then agreed on a time to complete the transfer procedures.

Just a few minutes after hanging up the phone, Assistant Liu sent over a document.

After opening the file, it surprisingly listed all the business areas that Mr. Fang's company currently operates in, and then marked the areas where he could cooperate with Mr. He's company.

It was also noted that Mr. Fang would receive the same pricing and benefits as a Level A partner.

Chairman He's meaning is very clear:
As long as there's a suitable area in my business that you can collaborate with, I'll take you into it!
It's all about making money for you!

Immediately afterwards, Mr. Fang also made a phone call to Chen Yan.

"Teacher Chen, I hope I haven't disturbed you... Hahaha, it's me, Fatty Fang! There's something I need to tell you, about the house you're currently living in... Um, do you know Chairman He Jianbo... Ah, oh! He's your friend, I understand now, I get it now."

Hahaha! That's perfect then! I just spoke with Mr. He's people; they want to buy the house you're currently living in... um, yes, yes... ah...

I knew it! Since he's your friend, I didn't quote a high price. We agreed to transfer it to Chairman He at market price.

Yes, Mr. He was very generous and gave me a lot of business cooperation projects.

Ah! Okay, I understand! Don't worry, Teacher Chen, I've spoken with Chairman He. You're a friend of my friend, Fatty Fang, so even though the house is being transferred, it won't affect your right to live there..."

After hanging up the phone, Boss Fang wiped the sweat from his forehead and let out a long sigh of relief.

The goal is achieved!
He made two phone calls, for two reasons.

Let Chairman He know that I am Teacher Chen's "friend".

Let Teacher Chen know and acknowledge this matter!
·
college town.

Extreme Internet Cafe.

The proprietress was sweeping the floor. She was wearing a short-sleeved, tight-fitting T-shirt, which accentuated the curves of her upper body. Her jeans hugged her hips tightly.

A small waist in the middle makes it appear as if it could be pinched thin.

This figure made many young people in the internet cafe unable to help but glance at him.

Of course, it's enough to just take a look and enjoy it; no one would dare to actually make any verbal or physical offenses.

After all, everyone knows that this proprietress has three ravenous younger brothers.

After the internet cafe door was pushed open, a middle-aged man with a receding hairline and a slightly overweight build walked in. As he entered, he felt the cool air from the air conditioner in the room, exhaled, and his eyes, filled with a hint of amazement, fell on the proprietress. He squinted at her for a while before reluctantly looking away.

"Boss lady!"

The proprietress turned around, saw the balding man, and smiled: "Old Xia."

As she spoke, she put the broom and dustpan she was holding against the wall, walked over, and casually took a bottle of mineral water from the freezer next to the counter and handed it over: "Why did you come here on such a hot day? It's not time to pay the rent yet."

"Don't be like that, do you think I only come here to collect rent?" Old Xia chuckled, his words carrying a hint of subtle flirting, but he only went as far as he could before saying anything more explicit.

Although he was the landlady's landlord, her three younger brothers were not to be underestimated.

"Speak, what is it?" The proprietress scrutinized Old Xia.

The landlord is alright. He's been renting this office building for a few years now, and the price is reasonable. Even when his internet cafe business was good, Lao Xia didn't try to raise the rent; he stuck to the contract—he's a man of his word.

As for the way she looks at herself, it sometimes seems a little strange... but the landlady is used to it.

She knew that her figure and face were very attractive, and she had been looked at like that by men many times since she was a child, so she was used to it.

Old Xia would at most steal a glance, but over the years he hadn't done anything outrageous or offensive in his words or actions, so he was considered quite well-behaved. Old Xia took out a cigarette, lit it, and said with a smile, "Just came over to say hello. My house... I sold it!"

As he spoke, he pointed to the ceiling of the shop with the finger holding the cigarette: "We'll go transfer the ownership in a few days."

"what?"

The proprietress's expression changed, and she immediately said, "Old Xia! My lease hasn't expired yet! Look at this internet cafe, I've invested a lot of money in the renovation..."

"Look, don't rush." ​​Old Xia smiled, enjoying the landlady's anxious attitude, and slowly said, "I did sell it, but I also agreed with the buyer that the house was sold with a lease, and it won't affect the lease. This clause is written in black and white in the contract, and the buyer has signed it! You can put your mind at ease."

The landlady's expression softened slightly, but she was still a little worried: "But... after the house is sold, what if the new owner tries to use it for other businesses? What if they try to raise the rent after a while and then use other means to kick me out..."

"No way!" Old Xia laughed heartily. "You've got it wrong. This buyer is a super-rich man! He bought this house not to start a business himself, but as an investment, purely for investment. He'd be happy to let you continue renting it out and running your business!"
This is called selling with a lease. You pay rent, and the landlord gets extra income. Otherwise, if they don't plan to run a business here, are they just going to kick you out and leave the place vacant? Then they'd have to find another tenant, wouldn't that just create trouble for themselves?

The proprietress said slowly, "Old Xia, is what you're saying reliable? Are you sure?"

"Absolutely reliable!" Old Xia laughed. "You don't know yet, do you? They've bought more than just this house! On this street, well, the chicken feet shop, duck products shop, cold drink shop, bakery, milk tea shop up ahead, and the stationery shop, hot pot restaurant, ramen shop at the intersection..."

This street, including your internet cafe, has a total of twenty-four shops. They bought all the buildings in one go! All the shops on this street will belong to them from now on.”

As he spoke, Old Xia couldn't help but exclaim, "These rich tycoons are really something. The market is sluggish right now, and shop prices are dropping, but they just came up and offered me a high price! Holy crap, that's a huge sum of money, they bought an entire street... I secretly did the math myself, and they spent almost a hundred million!"

One hundred million!
I'm starting to wonder if these super-rich tycoons and big bosses have inside information, or if property prices are about to rise.

The proprietress glared at Lao Xia: "The house prices are going to rise, and you're still selling? Why don't you wait until they go up before you talk about it?"

"Who can say for sure?" Old Xia waved his hand. "What if it doesn't go up? Besides, the price they offered is already quite high. We ordinary people can't afford to gamble. If they offer a price higher than the current market price, I'll just sell and secure my profits."

"You call yourself an ordinary citizen?" the landlady said irritably. "You have a three-story office building! You charge me hundreds of thousands in rent every year! And you call yourself an ordinary citizen?"

Old Xia chuckled and said, "I just came to say hello. Later, I need you to sign an agreement to make sure your lease won't be affected. The buyer will send someone to your door then."

After seeing Old Xia off, the proprietress seemed a little distracted. Although Old Xia had been very clear, she still felt somewhat uneasy.

After waiting all afternoon, as evening approached, two very professional-looking men in suits walked in, followed by a real estate agent.

The proprietress immediately stood up from behind the counter.

"Hello." One of the middle-aged men in a suit walked over and smiled, "Are you the owner of this internet cafe?"

"I'm."

"Yes, it's like this... Mr. Xia Lingming, the owner of this property, has already sold it to us... Oh, please don't worry, Mr. Xia should have informed you. We're just here today to take a look and confirm with you that we are willing to continue fulfilling your previous lease agreement with Mr. Xia."

Of course, everything depends on your wishes. If you'd like, we'd like you to sign a supplementary agreement—in the name of the new owner of the property.

The proprietress calmed down a little.

Continue to honor the rental agreement!

She felt reassured and immediately cheered up.

But a few minutes later, when the other party presented a rewritten lease agreement...

The proprietress glanced at it and suddenly froze!

The rent and the lease term remain unchanged!

but……

The homeowner's name and ID number on the contract header...

"Chen, Chen Yan?!"

The proprietress rubbed her eyes vigorously and took another careful look.

That's right! It's Chen Yan!!
The name might be the same as another's, but she recognized the ID number!

Chen Yan studied at this internet cafe for four years and visited countless times. The owner had seen his ID number countless times and almost memorized it.

"The landlord... ah, I mean the new landlord, the one on the contract, right? Just..."

"Yes, this is the new landlord." The middle-aged man smiled. "By the way, let me introduce myself. My surname is Liu. As for the landlord, you can think of me as my boss. From now on, you'll be the tenant here. If you have any questions, you can contact me directly. This is my phone number..."

As he spoke, the middle-aged man pulled out a business card in a very old-fashioned way—these days, almost no one uses business cards anymore.

The proprietress was in a daze, feeling like her mind couldn't function.

Chen Yan...

Did they buy this building that houses my internet cafe?
Oh no!
He bought the whole street!
The proprietress couldn't remember how she vaguely signed the contract and pressed her fingerprint on it.

I don't remember what I said to this man surnamed Liu afterward, or how I sent him away.

After everyone left, the proprietress stood there in a daze for a long time before she suddenly realized what was happening, picked up her phone, and dialed Chen Yan's number.

but……

Soon, a notification tone came that the other party was out of service.

The proprietress hung up in a daze, then put her phone away.

No!

Chen Yan... really bought the whole street?!

·
Chen Yan is cutting down trees!
He was wearing a cold-weather suit and wielding a steel axe.

Despite the frigid temperature, he was already sweating, and white steam was billowing from his mouth and nose!

At this moment, Chen Yan is in the realm!
Not long after receiving a call from Boss Fang Dahai today, Chen Yan entered the domain.

In fact, it was just that Boss Fang made the call at the right time; if he had called a little later, he probably wouldn't have been able to get in touch with Chen Yan.

As for the landlady's subsequent phone call, Chen Yan had no idea. Even if China Mobile is incredibly powerful, its signal can't reach the outer regions...

After a series of axe blows, the strange tree crashed down. Chen Yan swung his axe, cut the trunk into sections, and piled them aside.

After returning last time, the half-step Venerable girl told Chen Yan that the wood of this strange tree was a good thing. It was an excellent material for setting up magic arrays, and its effect was more than ten times better than the spirit-gathering array made of bluestone strips that he was currently using. Chen Yan kept this in mind at the time.

Since he has nothing to do lately, he comes to the realm to chop wood!

This is the second time they've come to cut wood.

Actually, if this place weren't devoid of vital energy, there wouldn't be this much trouble.

However, in this place, there is no external energy, and the cultivator's own energy is suppressed and cannot be activated at all. Therefore, the magical artifacts used for storage cannot be used.

Chen Yan came to cut wood and wanted to take it back, so he could only pack it in a bag—the largest professional mountaineering backpack.

He had come once before, bringing three bags of wood, but it still wasn't enough to rebuild the formation—when he used bluestone slabs to build the formation, the amount of stone they brought was delivered by truck!
However, Chen Yan wasn't in a hurry.

He has plenty of time anyway. With that mysterious ring in his hand, it's like the realm has opened a back door for him, so he can come anytime.

The only restriction is that you have to stay here for seven days each time you come.

However, since there was nothing important to do in the real world anyway, Chen Yan didn't mind wasting a little more time in the realm—he could just treat it as an outdoor survival game.

His hiking backpack was already full, and Chen Yan casually slapped a lightness talisman on it—he was now quite skilled at sealing spirits, and his success rate in making lightness talismans, which were not difficult to make, was already quite considerable.

However, storage equipment still cannot be obtained using the spirit-sealing technique.

Carrying a large bag of timber, Chen Yan slung his axe over his shoulder and headed east.

After walking for only ten minutes, we arrived at the foot of a mountain ridge.

This mountain ridge is the place where Du Li drew his escape route.

When Chen Yan came to cut wood a few days ago, he had already been here for seven days. That time, he finally reached the ridge.

Chen Yan quickly crouched down and walked out of the strange forest. After reaching the edge and approaching the mountain ridge, the snow on the ground began to thicken, making a crunching sound underfoot.

By the way, the climate here is quite strange. Ever since that time I came to take revenge, when it snowed heavily, it seems like the icy weather has never stopped here.

When Chen Yan came here a few days ago, it had been snowing all day.

And now, it's still snowing here!
Beyond the strange tree forest lies a mountain ridge. This ridge is bare, with jagged rocks and sparse vegetation—the same strange trees as before. However, because there are rocks everywhere, there is little soil on the ridge, so you can occasionally see strange trees standing alone in the crevices of the rocks.

Without the cover of the strange tree, the mountain ridge was covered with a thick layer of white snow.

Chen Yan has already figured out the pattern.

There was no snow in the forest because of the strange trees that seemed to prevent the snow from accumulating and keep the soil from being covered by snow.

It seemed that the falling snow, in the area covered by the strange tree, would disappear before it even hit the ground, turning into moisture, which would then be scattered by the strong wind and blown in all directions.

This is also why the strange forest is full of muddy soil and the air is particularly cold and damp.

At the foot of the mountain ridge, Chen Yan crawled into a rocky cave.

He found this cave a few days ago when he came here.

The cave was originally a bit damp, but he had already set fire to it last time, so it now looked relatively dry.

Inside the rocky cave, the walls were made of hard rock, barren of any vegetation. Chen Yan had already piled up some dried branches in a corner and laid out a fur blanket.

After entering the cave, Chen Yan left a large backpack full of wood in a corner and sighed softly.

The three large bags I brought were already full—at this rate, the amount of timber I could take away each time was really limited.

But each visit wastes seven days.

(Perhaps this ring has other mechanisms that allow me to freely and flexibly control the timing of the return?)
Chen Yan pondered this in his heart, but it was actually of no use.

He has tried many times, but the ring still has no response. Every time he comes to the realm, he has to stay for seven days before he can be teleported back. He has not yet found any other way.

Chen Yan used an alcohol stove to cook a pot of beef soup. After drinking it and warming himself up, he went to the cave entrance to look outside.

With six and a half days left, why not take the opportunity to travel around some more?

I heard in the village that there was a tribe in the mountains that specialized in mining.

The strange trees here are already a valuable material; who knows, the minerals in the mountains might also be some kind of treasure?

Chen Yan pondered the matter, but did not make a decision immediately.

He remained cautious in this place. After all, he couldn't use magic here, and his combat power was weakened, so he had to leave.

All I have are some talismans made using the spirit-sealing technique.

But the most powerful weapon, the "Mother's Love is as Solid as a Mountain" charm, cannot be used by oneself.

And escape methods, such as the transformation technique of the white fox's inner core, which allows it to turn into a bird and fly away... are useless here.

After thinking it over, he suppressed his restless desire and obediently walked back to the corner of the cave, where he sat down on the blanket to rest.

But less than ten minutes after he sat down, Chen Yan's ears suddenly twitched and his expression changed!
Amidst the howling wind outside the cave, a strange sound could be faintly heard!

The sound initially seemed very far away, but after a short while, it became noticeably closer and closer!

·
(April is almost over, so I'd like to let you know in advance that I might need to take a day off during the May Day holiday. I didn't stop updating during the Spring Festival holiday; in fact, I updated extra. This May Day holiday, I want to take a day to spend with my child. Just letting you all know in advance, I'll let you know the exact date later~)

·
(End of this chapter)