I Became the Darling of the Wealthy Through Gossip - Chapter 14

“Mr. Qi, this is the last set. 3,000 yuan a month, on the tenth floor, with a bathroom and kitchen, transparent front and back, and a small balcony. The lighting is quite good. Usually, you can sunbathe and plant some flowers. Besides being a bit old, it has no disadvantages. Right downstairs is the subway entrance, very convenient.”

Splash… The window was opened halfway.

Right downstairs was the subway entrance, clearly visible to the naked eye. It was just this price that made his heart ache a little insufficient balance on his card, no money in his pocket; poverty was the original sin.

Qi Beichen stood in the middle of the living room. It was old, broken, and small. In the corner was a spiderweb, and he didn’t know where the little spider that had been on it went. Looking at this house, you could tell it had some age, and it carried a musty, damp smell.

“Mr. Qi, if you think this house is still too expensive, then you really won’t find a better one. The average rent here is 4,000 per month. This family is preparing to go abroad and wants to rent it out quickly, which is why it’s at a low price.”

The young agent kept whispering in his ear.

Splash…

After the window on the other side was opened, what met him was a smell like rotting apples, which went straight to his brain.

“This is a small balcony connecting to the outside. It hasn’t been used for some days; perhaps some cats or dogs have made it their home, so there’s some smell. It just needs cleaning. The landlord said if you rent it, they’ll generously provide one housekeeping service.”

Shen Zhiyu looked outside. A small balcony? It was less than ten square meters in total, piled full of garbage. It didn’t look at all like something cats or dogs would do—it was likely high-altitude littering that had just happened to land on the open-air platform.

The young agent still wouldn’t give up; it looked as if he had found Qi Beichen just to boost his sales performance.

He brought Qi Beichen out a bit. “On the left is the bathroom, connected to the shower room, and it even has a washing machine very convenient.”

Creak— The wooden door, having been in disrepair for a long time, looked ruined.

“Mr. Qi, look, this shower room should meet your expectations, right? A bathtub this big; you can take a bath after work very comfortable.”

Qi Beichen glanced at it. The room wasn’t very big, but the bathtub occupied more than half of the corner. Once you entered, it felt extremely cramped, and the toilet was tucked in the very back. He didn’t know how the designer had designed it in the first place; no matter how you looked at it, it just felt wrong.

His mouth twitched. After running around for half the day, he hadn’t found one he liked. Instead, he had wandered around this residential area and even saw someone selling sugar figures on the overpass. The “making a fortune” part was actually true.

“How about I look some more? This floor plan really doesn’t meet my psychological expectations.”

Qi Beichen really couldn’t bear the rot in the house. If it weren’t for seeing that pile of garbage outside, he might have even thought it was a crime scene with a corpse hidden under the bed.

The young man followed behind him, looking unhappy and muttering, “No money, yet still want to rent a good place. This area’s rent is already considered low.”

Low? Qi Beichen missed the house from his previous world. Although it was very small, it was something he had bought with his own savings—one bedroom and one living room, just right. After his internship ended, he could lie down beautifully and play games. Days like that were gone forever.

The two returned to the real estate agency hall one after the other.

[Look, does that young man look like the eldest son the Qi family recognized a few days ago?] [You said it, and now I think he does look like him. It can’t be such a coincidence, right?] [Who knows about the matters of the wealthy? It might just be him. Did he make some mistake and get kicked out?]

Qi Beichen’s face went from pale to green, and he didn’t know what to say.

Seeing Qi Beichen walking over there, this group stopped gossiping. “Um, I heard you. I just happen to look like him, I don’t have that kind of destiny.”

[I said so! It’s impossible; he’s the eldest young master. Look at the headlines didn’t it say he got a house the moment he was recognized?] [Ai, when will I have that kind of luck? Perhaps, I was also one of those who were switched at birth? When will that “Autumn in My Heart” trope be my turn!] [That’s a dog-blood drama from twenty years ago, and you’re still thinking about it!]

Qi Beichen saw this situation and realized this was no place to stay long. If his flaws were really discovered, wouldn’t it be an uproar?

He slipped away at the first opportunity. Walking out of the real estate hall and smelling fresh air again, Qi Beichen felt a little more comfortable.

He didn’t know if that group of gossip-mongers was busy, but no one had said anything until now.

To be safe, Qi Beichen turned and went to a pharmacy to buy ten masks, randomly unwrapped one, and put it on. With this look, surely no one could recognize him.

Wanting to set up a stall wasn’t easy. The small merchants he encountered when he came earlier had quite a bit of territory, and territory required money to settle. Besides, for the fortune-telling stuff, he’d have to buy another set that counted as start-up capital.

He walked and wandered, going back up the overpass. It was just past noon, and he hadn’t expected it to still be this hot.

“Young man, I say, why are you back? Do you believe in metaphysics now to change your destiny?”

Qi Beichen glanced at that “fortune teller” and then at the flag beside him, and he squatted down directly. “You didn’t just say I had an extraordinary bone structure—where is it extraordinary?”

The fortune teller wasn’t annoyed; as long as there was business, who would fight with money?

He took a small folding stool and threw it in front of Qi Beichen. “Young man, sit down and let’s talk.”

Qi Beichen took the stool and sat down in front of the fortune teller.

“Young man, I’ve been in this line for a few years, and I’ve seen my fair share of people and things. It’s rare to see an aura like yours. Do you have an ultrasound report from the Jiangcheng People’s Hospital across the street? I guarantee accuracy!”

Qi Beichen suddenly remembered no wonder this person looked so familiar. It seemed the reports from before had some truth to them after all.

Qi Beichen tugged at his mask. “I heard that in Jiangcheng People’s Hospital, there’s a department director who is a doctor during work hours and a fortune teller after work. Is this your stall?”

Clearly, the man’s eyes became evasive. “How could that be? I’ve been in this line for forty years; setting up a stall here is considered quite accurate. Or do you want to join?”

Joining wasn’t actually impossible. There was a lot of foot traffic here. Given his current situation, he had to make money first regardless of anything else.

“What kind of joining?”

“Young man, I see you have an extraordinary bone structure…”

Before the man could continue, Qi Beichen said, “…extraordinary bone structure, Qimen Dunjia, Bagua Liaozhai—you can say a few words about all of it, right?”

“Cough, cough, cough young man, you’re stealing my lines. That won’t do. These days, you understand, I’m quite busy. You’re the one from the Qi family, right? I know.”

Qi Beichen’s complexion suddenly darkened. “How do you know?”

“Don’t you see that I’ve also realized you’re that director from Jiangcheng People’s Hospital across the street? When you passed by just now, I recognized you. Jiangcheng isn’t that big a place; the upper circles are just full of those dog-blood stories. The biggest fuss right now is the Qi family’s recognition look, how many trending searches there are.”

Qi Beichen really hadn’t had time to check his phone. Now, public opinion had turned completely against Qi Beixing, and there were even photos of him injured in the hospital. He didn’t even need to think about it this kind of stuff was all public relations.

“It’s already a high-society gossip story; everyone is talking about it with relish.”

“Can I apprentice under you?”

“Of course you can! When I’m in the department, you just man the stall here. Wearing a mask is best, but not wearing one is also fine. The foot traffic here is great. How about a four-six split? You get four, I get six.”

“How much can you earn in a day?”

“My stall makes nearly 3,000 a day. It’s very profitable.”

I have to say, this was an excellent opportunity. But could this person really be trusted? Qi Beichen was skeptical.

“Young man, anyway, you don’t have any good places to go right now. How about you just watch this stall of mine for these few days? Besides, the money falls into your pocket, and I can’t take a single cent. When we settle the accounts later, whatever you say it is, that’s what it is. I’m the one who’s taking the loss.”

Qi Beichen considered it in silence. What this fortune teller said was true there was nothing opaque about it. Besides, looking at it now, this partnership was a stable win without any losses.

“Fine. When do we start? Is there anyone who will smash the stall here?”

“Right now! I have a surgery in a bit; if there’s no one at this stall, I’d have to pack it up anyway. It just so happens I met you. You’ll take my place. For the next few days, this territory is yours.”

“There aren’t any who smash stalls, but if you’re unlucky, perhaps there might be. You just take the things and run quickly. Cross the overpass, take a left, and that’s the hospital’s back door. Once you’re inside, no one will dare to follow you.”

Before Qi Beichen could ask anything else he should be aware of, the man ran away in a flash.

Qi Beichen even thought this might have been Bai Muxuan’s doing, but then he thought again: Bai Muxuan was at work now and probably didn’t know what was currently happening.

Qi Beichen packed up the folding stool and sat directly in the position where the fortune teller had been sitting earlier. He squinted—the sun seemed a bit harsh, and his mouth was dry.

“Popsicles for sale! Jiangcheng’s unique old-fashioned popsicles, one yuan each!”

Qi Beichen happened to be extremely thirsty. “Give me an old-fashioned popsicle!”

“Alrighty! Scan the code or pay cash?”

“Scan the code!”

“Beep… 1 yuan received.”

“Here is your popsicle.”

One yuan really not expensive. Compared to those housing prices, it was simply fantastic.

He opened the outer packaging, and a milky scent rushed toward him. No wonder it’s cheap, he thought. Damn, it’s made with milk flavoring. Forget it, for one yuan, it was very cheap what more could he ask for?

He looked at the stall while licking the popsicle. It was indeed thirst-quenching. The weather had clearly been cold enough to kill yesterday, but with the sun out, it was much warmer.

“Don’t miss out as you pass by!”

Qi Beichen shouted, but immediately regretted it. The people coming and going were quite numerous. It wasn’t that he hadn’t learned Bagua in those years, when he was bored, he’d taken an interest in Chinese studies from the School of Literature and had sat in on a few classes. Back then, they were teaching Zhou Yi, and he had learned at least something.

Shouting was one thing, but there weren’t many people at this time. However, the small box in front of him was truly full tsk, I have to say, it really was profitable.

Qi Beichen licked the corner of his lips. The milky flavoring taste was good and left a lingering aftertaste. What was this? A real-life version of a “large-scale face-slapping” recording.

The “Whisper” group chat suddenly became lively.

Su Haoxuan: Qi Beichen, what’s going on with you? A new trending search every minute? Have you been kicked out of the house? Xie Zhixu: Really? I was just swimming, and after a while of not looking, a new search appeared? The Qi family has really saved face. Liang Han: Isn’t that normal? For the past few days, the focus of the gossip headlines has been the Qi family. Everyone is watching. Su Haoxuan: Tsk, have you noticed? Every time, only we three are actively gossiping, and those two are always absent. Su Haoxuan: Tsk, there’s an affair. Liang Han: Tsk, there’s an affair. Qi Beichen: Tsk, there’s an affair. Xie Zhixu: Isn’t this Qi Beichen? Did you say you have an affair, or did you copy and paste without looking clearly? Qi Beichen: Brothers, I’m miserable now. Whoever gives me a mouthful of food to eat is my parent who gave me life! Xie Zhixu: Hurry, hurry, hurry! Bai Muxuan, where is he? Working overtime at this hour? Come out quickly and adopt this giant infant. Liang Han: Give it a rest. Bai Muxuan should be in the operating room right now.

Qi Beichen sat with his legs crossed, braving the sun, and rubbed his face. “Next time I come, I must put on sunscreen, just in case.”

A shadow fell over his head. “Little brother, you’re not very old, but you write quite big: ‘100% effective’. Is it for real?”

Qi Beichen didn’t look up, flustered, as he picked up a bamboo stick. This was the first time a customer had come. “Effective. Of course, it’s effective.”

He was being forced to ride a duck, but Heaven is spiritual, Earth is spiritual. He hoped for a great start.

“Sir, what do you want to calculate?”

“Simple. Calculate if you have me in your destiny.”

“Who are you!”

Qi Beichen blurted out, and the moment he looked up, he met Bai Muxuan’s pair of phoenix eyes. “Damn! How is it you!”