CHAPTER 172: CHAPTER 38: ROYALTIES RECEIVED, RENTING A HOUSE, AND HOUSE HUNTING WITH RONG XIYI_4

After a minute, a real estate agent drove over on her little electric scooter.

"Classmate Xu, you two, this way please!"

The agent was a woman in her thirties.

"Classmate Xu, are you looking to rent a place to live with your girlfriend?"

The agent glanced at Rong Xiyan, thinking that this couple was really good-looking.

These days, many couples live together, so it’s not unusual at all. There are lots of university students renting places, mostly taking up a fair portion of various apartment buildings.

However, Xu Lin wasn’t looking for an apartment building right now; he was looking in a residential community.

A huge difference between residential communities and apartments is that people in communities change less frequently, while in apartments, they change a lot.

Xu Lin preferred communities; people in apartments were too mixed.

Since he was renting and had the money, of course he wanted to consider all conditions and have the best possible option.

Xu Lin responded mildly, "Hmm."

The agent smiled, "Classmate Xu’s girlfriend is really pretty!"

"Hmm."

Xu Lin’s tone was flat.

Later, the three of them came out of the elevator, with the agent leading the way.

Rong Xiyan leaned closer to Xu Lin and whispered, "Since when did I become your girlfriend?"

"Then you can argue with the agent and say you’re not my girlfriend."

"Forget it!"

Rong Xiyan thought the agent was a stranger anyway, so she couldn’t be bothered to correct her.

Soon, the agent led Xu Lin to the door of one of the apartments.

Xu Lin had picked three apartments in this community, all of them duplexes, with a ceiling height of 5.9 meters, about equal to six meters.

As for the size, the duplexes here came in two kinds: large and small. The small ones were 45 square meters per floor, totaling 90 square meters for two levels, while the large ones were 65 square meters per floor, totaling 130 square meters for two levels.

Xu Lin picked one small and two large ones because the décor suited his aesthetic preferences.

The first one they viewed was the smaller one.

"This one looks well-decorated!" Rong Xiyan took a walk around; the décor was modern and quite exquisite, so she found it pleasing to the eye.

Xu Lin was in good health with a keen sense of smell. He sniffed the indoor air and felt something was off; the smell from the renovation was pretty strong.

The agent asked, "How about it, Classmate Xu?"

"Next one, this one won’t do."

Xu Lin said calmly.

"Then Classmate Xu, follow me!"

The agent continued to lead the way to another building.

"Why didn’t that one work?"

Rong Xiyan whispered, "I thought it was pretty good."

"The renovation smell was too strong."

"I didn’t smell anything!"

"With your kind of nose, you can’t smell it. You’re not at my level."

"Pfft!"

Soon, Xu Lin arrived at the second apartment. The next two were both 65 square meters per floor duplexes, and they appeared much larger than the previous one.

In this one, Xu Lin didn’t smell the same strong renovation materials as before, although there was still a slight smell. Since they’re newly renovated, he asked the agent and found out they were completed four months ago.

The rent for this one was 3,800 per month.

The rent in this community was relatively high, not typically affordable for general wage earners. Even those earning over ten thousand a month wouldn’t spend 3,800 on rent, since that’s just the rental fee and doesn’t include utilities and maintenance charges, which could add up to over four or five thousand.

Xu Lin thought this one was pretty good but wanted to check the orientation; he felt the sun might not reach here.

"Let’s take a look at the next one!"

The agent took them to another building.

This one had an even more exquisite and upscale décor, with a nice wooden floor different from the tiles in the previous two. It had already been several months since it was renovated.

"What do you think of this one, Classmate Xu?"

This unit had a rent of six thousand a month, one of the highest-priced in the community.

Additionally, this one had never been rented out before.

"Are there any other listings in this community?"

Xu Lin thought this one was quite nice but wanted to compare further to choose the best one and, considering he wasn’t short on cash, could easily afford even a ten-thousand-a-month rent.

"Yes, would Classmate Xu like to see them?"

"Let’s look at two more of the same level."

"Then follow me!"

Over the next half hour, Xu Lin viewed two more apartments with rent in the five to six thousand range.

However, Xu Lin returned because, although the ones he saw later were nice, they had already been lived in, which bothered him a bit.

"Let’s go back to the third one!"

They returned to the third apartment, and Xu Lin examined both floors once again. After comparing horizontally, he was overall more satisfied with this one.

"Five thousand!"

Xu Lin slashed a thousand off, "If that works, I’ll take it. If not, I’ll keep looking!"

Up to you.

"Classmate Xu, let me check with the owner first."

"OK."

The agent then made a phone call, chatting with the owner for a while.

Not long after, she returned.

"Classmate Xu, the owner says the lowest is 5,300, and they’ll cover the maintenance fee. How about it?"

"That works too!"

This duplex, with a total area of 130 square meters, was in a relatively upscale community. The maintenance fee alone was a few hundred at least, and with the owner covering it, Xu Lin could accept it.

Xu Lin: "Is it convenient to sign the contract tonight?"

"Let me ask the owner... The owner says it’s fine to sign tonight, but it’ll take half an hour for them to get here. Is that convenient for you, Classmate Xu?"

"It’s convenient."

Xu Lin wanted to get things over quickly and not waste time on renting.

"Classmate Xu, the owner is on the way."

"Hmm,"

"Classmate Xu, let me tell you, the owner is a real beauty, and she owns over twenty properties in Jiangdu. This is just one of them!"

Over twenty properties...