Father Tong was very angry: "You, you are just desperate for money, crazy about getting rich, daydreaming! How could a big leader suddenly come to our house to give you benefits?"
"Don't you think about it, those businessmen are all opportunistic. Why would they give you an internal price for no reason? Why would they specifically say it when you, a middle-aged woman, are present? Don't end up being sold and still counting money for others!"
Mother Tong thought, that made sense.
Could these two be trying to scam her out of money?
But then she thought, they looked so young and refined, how could they be scammers?
With a complicated mood, she waited until the next day. She didn't contact Zhang Yang, but Zhang Yang contacted her.
"Auntie, are you ready? I'm driving to pick you up now."
Mother Tong was cautious: "Let's make it clear first, I'm just going to take a look, I don't have a penny on me. Don't expect me to sign on the spot."
"Don't worry, Auntie, I won't make any decisions for you. Whether it's successful or not, whether you like it or not, it's up to you."
Zhang Yang drove to pick up Mother Tong and took her to the residential area. He showed her around the shops, and Mother Tong was very satisfied.
"Xiao Zhang, tell me the truth. If Auntie wants this one, how much will it cost?"
Zhang Yang told her the truth: "At Nancheng's current prices, it would be at least 11,000 per square meter. Even for 70 square meters, it would be 700,000. But who told you to know our leader? He finds you approachable and likes you, so he's willing to give you a 50% discount, only requiring 350,000."
A storefront in such a good location for 350,000?
Mother Tong's heart was moved again.
"Are you sure you two aren't tricking me? I've told you, this is your uncle's and my life savings. If you trick me, you'll be struck by lightning!"
Zhang Yang was speechless: "Auntie, if you don't believe me, you can call your husband, son, and daughter to come over. I can trick you alone, but I can't trick your whole family, can I?"
"It's not too late to sign after you've discussed it."
Mother Tong thought, Tong An'an was in the city, not far away, and her son was not far either. Such a good opportunity, she couldn't let it slip away, so she called them.
Tong An'an received her mother's call, and then her brother's call. Her brother was driving her there in a taxi.
On the way, the two were still angry.
How could their mother, who had been shrewd her whole life, believe such a low-level scam in her old age?
Buying a house at half price? Ha! Unheard of! How could she not see such obvious fraud?
As a result, when they arrived and saw Zhang Yang, Tong An'an was stunned.
"Assistant Zhang, why are you here too?"
Then she belatedly remembered that it was Zhang Yang and Jiang Jingyu who had gone to their restaurant that day.
So her mother was right, she hadn't encountered a scammer, but a developer?
"So our town's demolition is being handled by our company... Was it you and General Manager Jiang who went to eat that day?"
Zhang Yang couldn't help but laugh at her, "Your eyes and reaction speed are truly more than a degree worse than Auntie's. Last night, General Manager Jiang and I went again, and Auntie recognized us at a glance.
We've been colleagues for so long, and you're only just remembering?"
Then he told her about the company undertaking the high-speed rail project.
Finally, Zhang Yang said again.
"Because you are an internal employee of our company, plus internal benefits, a total of 300,000 is enough. If you are sure you want it, you can sign now."
"Honestly, these storefronts are quite sought after. Many people in your town want to buy them. The salespeople are not enough to sell them, and I had to use my privilege to get them from them."
Seeing that it was handled by her own company, Tong An'an was relieved and decided to let her mother buy it.
But her brother was still worried and pulled her aside to say.
"He's just a junior assistant. What if he abuses his power for personal gain and does something under some pretext... This is 300,000."
Tong An'an thought about it, and it made sense.
It wasn't that he didn't trust Zhang Yang's character, but such news was common.
"Do you have General Manager Jiang's phone number? Why don't you call him to confirm?"
Tong An'an was reluctant to bother General Manager Jiang with such a small matter.
Her brother said, "If we buy this shop, Mom and Dad won't have to work odd jobs anymore. We have houses in the residential area and shops outside. Our family will be settled from now on. It's something you can settle with one phone call, so why not do it? Is your pride worth that much?"
Tong An'an had no choice but to brace herself and send a WeChat message to Jiang Jingyu.
"General Manager Jiang, are you resting?"
Jiang Jingyu didn't have the habit of napping; he used his lunch break for fitness.
Ever since he had Tong An'an in his heart, he always carried his phone with him, for fear of missing any of her messages. Although he knew she wouldn't proactively send him messages.
While sweating profusely on the treadmill, his phone screen lit up.
He glanced up and saw the familiar WeChat name of Tong An'an.
A surge of joy went through him. He swiped and saw that Tong An'an had indeed sent him a message.
Jiang Jingyu quickly replied, "Is there something?"
Tong An'an then told him about Zhang Yang wanting to give them a discount on the shops.
Jiang Jingyu said it was true.
Tong An'an asked why the company would give such a big discount. Jiang Jingyu lied to her.
He said that the internal resettlement housing was exchanged for the villagers' homesteads, and the street-facing shops were built along with them, so there was no cost. All the money from the sales was company profit, so the prices could be high or low as they pleased.
Because Tong An'an's mother was particularly likable to him, he decided to give her a lower price.
"Besides, you are an internal employee of the group, so it's normal to get a discount, isn't it?"
Tong An'an felt very embarrassed, feeling like she had gotten hundreds of thousands of yuan for free.
Jiang Jingyu said, "Don't feel burdened. 400,000 might be a significant sum for you, but it's a drop in the bucket for the entire Zhan Group. I'm just doing you a favor."
"If I can use 400,000 to stabilize your heart and make you work for Zhan Group for a lifetime, then I won't have come in vain. Sign it."
"If you play the pride game with me, let others take advantage of this great opportunity, and make your parents suffer. That would be too meaningless."
Tong An'an felt that what he said made sense.
She couldn't let her parents suffer because of her own pride.
At worst, she would work hard in the future and repay the group.
The contract was successfully signed, and her mother was overjoyed, repeatedly praising Tong An'an for her success.
"I originally thought that your father and I had hard lives, toiling our whole lives, and in our old age, we would still have to work as cleaners and endure people's moods, but now my daughter has succeeded."
"Not only did you get us a good house, but you also got a shop. Your brother will have more status when he goes on blind dates in the future! Oh, you are truly our family's lucky star!"
"When will you have time? Invite Assistant Zhang and General Manager Jiang to our house for a meal! I must thank them properly for such a great favor!"