Chapter 142: Working Hard to Become the Person You Hate Most

When Yang Meng finally saw the buyer of the house, a sudden realization dawned upon him.

The buyer was none other than Sister Ma's son, Lu Xin.

How could he afford to buy a house in Handong City after being here for less than two months? Is the medical device industry really that lucrative? Maybe a few years ago, but surely not now?

Lu Xin looked completely different from two months ago. His hair was neatly groomed, he wore gold-rimmed glasses, and he was dressed in a well-fitted suit paired with leather shoes and a wristwatch, exuding the air of a successful man.

Upon seeing Yang Meng, Lu Xin wore a smug expression. "Oh, if it isn't Boss Yang?"

Yang Meng waved a hand. "I'm no boss. Are you the one buying this place?"

Lu Xin nodded. "What? Is there something strange about that?"

Yang Meng thought for a moment. "Lu Xin, I don't know how you made your money, but making money isn't easy. Buying a house here is a really bad idea for you."

As soon as he finished speaking, Auntie Zhao widened her eyes. "Little Yang, what kind of talk is that? Why is this house a bad idea? It faces south for great sunlight and has such a huge yard. Isn't a detached villa pretty much the same thing? For sixty thousand, getting a villa balcony would be lucky, yet this place is so nice."

Yang Meng pointed at Lu Xin. "Auntie Zhao, this is Sister Ma's son."

"Sister Ma? Which one?" Auntie Zhao asked, startled.

Yang Meng thought for a moment and said, "Ma Fengying, the one who used to live in the front alley!"

After recalling who Ma Fengying was, Auntie Zhao raised her head and glanced at Lu Xin. "Ma Fengying has such a successful son?"

Yang Meng said, "Sister Ma has lived here for so long; she knows very well what kind of place this house is. My guess is that Lu Xin definitely didn't tell his mother he was buying it. Otherwise, how could Sister Ma possibly let him buy a house here?"

Hearing this, Lu Xin replied, "Boss Yang doesn't need to worry about that. I've bought my mother an apartment in the Dingjiahe Community. Buying this place is purely because of my own personal preference."

Yang Meng frowned upon hearing this. He knew about the properties in the Dingjiahe Community; Longteng had bought an apartment for a young woman there back then. Nowadays, an apartment there started at least at one million, and that was just for a small unit.

Lu Xin had bought an apartment there and still wanted to buy this courtyard—where on earth did he get so much money?

Instead, Lu Xin fished a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes from his pocket. Without offering one to Yang Meng, he lit one himself and said, "To me, this little courtyard was my first landing spot in Handong City. It was right here that someone subjected me to profound humiliation, leaving a deep impression on me. For that reason alone, I am buying this courtyard to constantly remind myself: for three years the river flows east, for three years the river flows west! At the same time, it serves as a warning to myself: never take yourself too seriously, and never take others too lightly!"

Yang Meng frowned. Though Lu Xin claimed the words were a warning to himself, it was blatantly directed at him. He considered the matter and said, "Lu Xin, you haven't gotten yourself mixed up in something illegal, have you? You can't afford to get into trouble, or Sister Ma will be heartbroken."

Lu Xin sneered. "Surname Yang, what is that supposed to mean? Can't bear to see others make money, or what? Is it only right when you make money, and illegal when I make it? Let me spell it out for you! I bought this house specifically because of you. I just wanted to see the look on your face as you slunk away in defeat!"

"Oh?" Yang Meng laughed upon hearing this, turning to Auntie Zhao to say, "Auntie Zhao, that means you should be giving me a commission for selling this house. Hear that? He bought this house just because he wanted to see me make a fool of myself!"

Auntie Zhao looked between Yang Meng and Lu Xin, having no idea what was actually going on here, and decisively chose to remain silent.

Lu Xin looked at Yang Meng with cold eyes and said, "Listen up, surname Yang: you're leaving whether you want to or not! I'm not going to toy with you anymore—I'm telling you, this house is mine now!"

"Huh?" Yang Meng tilted his head to look at Auntie Zhao, who avoided his gaze.

Lu Xin smiled. "What? Don't believe it? My name is written right on the property deed now!" With that, he pulled out his phone and made a call. A moment later, the sound of knocking came from the courtyard, and a young woman in a professional suit hurried in, carrying a briefcase in her hand.

"What took you so long? It's such a short walk from the alley entrance to here, and it took you this long?" Lu Xin immediately reprimanded her upon arrival.

The woman hurriedly explained, "Director Lu, there were four briefcases in the car trunk, and I couldn't afford to mix them up. So it wasted a little time."

"My concern is only whether you can get the job done, not your explanations!" Lu Xin sneered.

The woman took a deep breath. "Director Lu, I'm sorry! These are the cases you asked for."

Lu Xin took the case from the woman's hands and placed it directly on the stone table in the courtyard. Opening the case, it was packed full of cash, with a property ownership certificate resting on top.

"See that? My name!" Lu Xin opened the property deed and placed it in front of Yang Meng!

Yang Meng looked at the deed, and it truly bore Lu Xin's name. It seemed that during the month or so he had been away, they had already transferred the property ownership.

"No problems now, right?" Lu Xin took two bundles of cash out of the case. "I don't know how much time is left on your lease, but twenty thousand should be enough, right?"

Seeing this scene from the side, Auntie Zhao hurriedly spoke up, "It doesn't need that much. Deducting one month's deposit, plus three months' double rent, it won't even take ten thousand."

Lu Xin wore a smug expression. "It's fine. Didn't Mr. Yang make my mother live here for a month back then? This is just the rent for that month!"

Auntie Zhao looked at the twenty thousand yuan with envy. "Ah, Ma Fengying has such a filial son!"

"Take it! Don't just stand there!" Lu Xin handed the money to Yang Meng. "Take your money and pack your bags to get out! I want to renovate this house before the New Year, so don't waste my precious time. Oh, right, Mr. Yang seems like a man of considerable means himself—is it that you think this money is too little? If you think it's too little, you can ask for more; I'm very easy to talk to!"

"Pack my things?" Yang Meng took the twenty thousand yuan and waved it around. "Lu Xin, let me leave you with this: I don't know how you got your money, but as far as I know, those so-called 'overnight riches' stories are mostly written in the criminal code. Let me gift you ten words—never consume anything toxic, never commit anything illegal. If you get into trouble, you'll be letting down your mother's upbringing."

"Surname Yang, you're only a few years older than me—what gives you the right to lecture me?" Lu Xin sneered.

Yang Meng waved his hand and directly lifted the cover off the Triumph Rocket 3 motorcycle, revealing a black metal monster before everyone's eyes.

"Young lady, are you Lu Xin's secretary?" Yang Meng looked toward the young woman who had walked in.

The young woman nodded. "Hello, I am Lu Xin's secretary..."

"Hey! You're my secretary! I didn't hire you to chat idly with these irrelevant people!" Lu Xin interrupted her.

The young woman looked at Yang Meng apologetically, and Yang Meng smiled and waved his hand. "Beauty, I truly understand how you feel. There is nothing more miserable than working for an idiot. My former boss was also an idiot, the kind who only had eyes for money; following someone like that won't get you far. My previous boss was so unlucky—not only did he focus solely on making money and bleeding his employees dry while exploiting them in every way possible, but now he's packed up and gone home, and I hear he's facing legal liability. Your future prospects depend entirely on what kind of leader you have. How many employees have ended up behind bars because their leader took the wrong path?"

Lu Xin widened his eyes. "Surname Yang, what kind of nonsense are you spouting? Hurry up and pack your things and get out of my house!"

Yang Meng grinned broadly at Lu Xin and kickstarted the motorcycle. "To be honest, even if you hadn't bought this house, I was going to move out anyway. You have no idea—once you get used to living in a place with a bathroom, living in a place without one is absolute torture! But now that this house is yours, you can just build a bathroom right next to the bed. As for the things in my room? They're all garbage, which matches your garbage house perfectly! Alright, why waste any breath on you? Beauty, if you're willing to jump ship and stop working for this guy, you can come find me at Longyun Fitness Club. Just say you're looking for Chief Instructor Yang. Lu Xin, go hug your new house and enjoy yourself slowly. If Sister Ma finds out you spent a fortune buying a place like this, haha, you better get ready for a severe beating."

Without waiting for Lu Xin's retort, Yang Meng deliberately revved the engine a few times to create a massive roar, shifted into first gear, held the front brake while releasing the clutch, propped himself on one foot as the rear tire spun furiously right in front of Lu Xin, kicking up a cloud of dust that covered Lu Xin from head to toe, before finally speeding away!

"Cough, cough, cough, cough!" Even from far away, Yang Meng could still hear Lu Xin coughing behind him.

Where to go now? Simple! Spicy crawfish!

Since he knew where Hu Erleng and Qi Kun were eating, he'd go join them!

"Wait, are you saying Sister Ma's son is such a big shot now? Isn't he still doing his college internship?" Qi Kun asked in bewilderment.

Yang Meng easily located Hu Erleng and Qi Kun. After recounting what happened today, Qi Kun was too distracted to even eat his crawfish and asked Yang Meng, "Is that true? Who knows what he's been up to, having a secretary by his side when he goes out. But you can tell he's made money. I estimate at least two million, maybe more." Yang Meng popped a piece of crawfish meat into his mouth.

Hu Erleng frowned. "How come I feel like we don't live in the same world? Why is making money so hard for us, yet so easy for other people?"

Yang Meng smiled. "Making quick money is easy. If you want to make quick money, go rob a bank tomorrow—guaranteed to be fast enough! But you have to stay alive long enough to spend that kind of money. Heaven knows what kind of things he did to make that money. Staying safe and sound is the ultimate truth."

Qi Kun frowned and said, "Remember how happy we used to be eating barbecue with Sister Ma? How did her son turn out like this?"

"What's so strange about that? Nobody can stay true to their original self once they get rich. Look at me—now that I have money, I don't want to do anything; all I think about is how to slack off and have fun, let alone other people. We are all just working hard to become the very people we once despised."