Not Half a Year's Rent, But a Three-Year Lease Renewal

Chen Qimeng: "Renew the lease for three years?"

He Jing: "Renew the lease for three years?"

Yi Haizhou: "Renew the lease for three years?"

Lin Yu: "Mm-hmm."

Old Wang paused his palm-leaf fan:

"What's this? Practicing a three-part crosstalk routine, kids?"

Chen Qimeng quickly set down the contract in her hands and hurried over to Old Wang.

"Brother Wang, is there some mistake here?"

"We only owed half a year's rent, didn’t we? How did it become three years?"

No one could blame them for reacting so strongly.

Even half a year’s rent was something Chen Qimeng had to scrape together.

Paying three years upfront? That would be a whopping 180,000 yuan!

They couldn’t scrape that together even if they sold the roof over their heads!

Even if they signed for three years without paying it all upfront, given Old Wang’s temperament, he’d at least demand a year’s rent in advance.

"Hey, you messing with me here?"

"Didn’t your family member say over the phone that you’d renew for three years and pay it all in one go?"

"I even printed a new contract and wrote out the receipt in advance."

"Leading me on? We don’t do business like this!"

Old Wang’s fan waved accusingly as his temper flared.

Yi Haizhou was left dumbstruck by Old Wang’s outburst and immediately turned to He Jing.

What the hell was going on?

Weren’t they supposed to settle this with just 30,000 yuan?

That 30,000 had been hard enough for him to borrow.

Now half a year had turned into three, and 180,000 yuan had popped up out of nowhere!

How was he supposed to come up with that kind of money?

Meanwhile, Chen Qimeng and He Jing zeroed in on the keywords in Old Wang’s rant.

Family member… phone call…

Both women turned their eyes to Lin Yu!

Lin Yu stepped forward with unshakable calm.

Finally, it was his turn to take charge.

With utmost politeness, he said:

"Uncle Wang, I was the one who called you earlier."

"They weren’t aware of this yet. Renewing for three years with full payment upfront—there’s no mistake."

Chen Qimeng: "!!!"

He Jing: "!!!"

Yi Haizhou: "???"

Old Wang: "..."

Don’t let Old Wang’s appearance fool you—he looked like just another middle-aged guy you’d see haggling at the market.

But he was a shrewd businessman with real influence.

Even in a second or third-tier city, securing an entire row of storefronts on a commercial street wasn’t something just anyone could pull off.

He’d seen it all.

Met all kinds of people.

And he was far savvier than Yi Haizhou.

He wasn’t about to underestimate Lin Yu just because of his youth.

From the clear reasoning and refined manner Lin Yu had shown on the phone, Old Wang already held him in high regard.

And now, standing up to take responsibility in front of everyone? This was no ordinary naive kid.

Chen Qimeng was in her thirties—no way she had a son this old.

Most likely, he was some rich family’s young heir with a thing for divorced women, throwing money around to make a splash.

Old Wang had been around long enough to know—when it came to spoiled rich kids, there was nothing they wouldn’t do.

Dropping cash to impress a woman? Textbook behavior.

That’s how it always played out in the dramas.

But Old Wang didn’t care about the details. He understood how the world worked—his job was to get the contract signed and the money in hand.

Who paid didn’t matter.

"Alright, kid, you’ve got guts. I like your style."

"Chen Qimeng, you’ve got some luck, huh? Hahaha!"

"Contract’s right here. Cash or online transfer?"

Old Wang knew how to handle things—no unnecessary questions, straight to business.

Chen Qimeng grabbed Lin Yu’s arm in a panic.

"Xiao Yu, you…"

"Brother Wang, could you give us a moment to talk privately?"

"Just two minutes, please!"

Old Wang clapped his fan against his palm.

"Got it, totally understandable."

"Take a few minutes, sort things out."

"I’ll step outside for a smoke in the shade. Call me when you’re ready."

With that, he sauntered out, even remembering to close the door behind him.

Lin Yu silently admired the man’s composure.

Now this was what real class looked like.

A true master of discretion—no meddling, no nonsense, just clear purpose and generosity.

Uncle Wang was someone worth knowing.

Once Old Wang was gone, Chen Qimeng’s eyes reddened with urgency.

"Xiao Yu, did you really… tell Brother Wang that over the phone?"

"This isn’t just renting a bedroom in our apartment—do you know how much three years costs?"

"I know you mean well, but Auntie can’t… afford this right now."

Lin Yu patted her hand and sighed.

"Auntie Qimeng, if you’re treating me like a child, you might as well think I’m an idiot."

"Half a year, three years, 180,000 yuan—I’m a college student, I can do the math."

"And the money… I have it."

Chen Qimeng: "???"

He Jing: "???"

Yi Haizhou: "???"

It took Chen Qimeng a long moment to process this before she stammered in shock:

"Xiao Yu, where… where did you get that much money? 180,000? Don’t scare me like this…"

Then, in full panic mode, she yanked up Lin Yu’s shirt, frantically checking him over without a care for appearances.

Lin Yu: "..."

Her brain really went straight to the worst conclusion, huh?

What kind of logic was that?

180,000 wasn’t pocket change, sure—but how many body parts would he have to sell to get that much?

Was he really that desperate?

"Auntie Qimeng… people are watching!"

"It’s not what you think. This is from my writing income."

He quickly grabbed her sweaty hands to stop her from embarrassing them both.

Only after confirming Lin Yu had no suspicious injuries did Chen Qimeng finally relax.

"You scared me half to death…"

"Xiao Yu, what did you just say?"

"What money? Where did you get money from?"

Yi Haizhou and He Jing exchanged glances.

He Jing shook her head first, signaling she had no clue about any of this.

Yi Haizhou took a deep breath.

Something about today felt… off.