Volume One: The Eight Coffins of the Corpse Field Chapter 53: The Forceful Woman

As expected, that woman’s face showed an expression of disdain, and she barely managed to force a smile.

I stood up and went over to pull out a chair for her. She nodded at me with satisfaction and asked, “And this gentleman is…?”

Before I could answer, my third uncle quickly introduced me, “This is my executive assistant, Mr. Li Yang.”

Good grief, my third uncle was really putting on airs. I hadn’t been prepared for this at all, and I almost burst out laughing.

Once we were seated, the woman formally introduced herself. It turned out she was Fei Yao’s assistant in the country, named Xu Ruoxi. To be honest, after she took off her sunglasses, her face was quite striking. She looked to be in her thirties, but thanks to good maintenance, her skin was flawless. Her every gesture was elegant and poised, clearly someone of status—an obvious contrast with our ragtag group.

After sitting down, Xu Ruoxi ordered a pot of premium Biluochun tea. When it arrived, its fragrance filled the air, leagues above the watery brew we had ordered.

However, Xu Ruoxi obviously looked down on us, her words laced with sarcasm, and her attitude left us quite displeased.

She was also completely opposed to my third uncle’s proposed terms.

In the end, Xu Ruoxi tossed out a final statement: it would only be a one-time buyout, and the price was non-negotiable. With that, she slapped two hundred yuan on the table and sashayed away.

Left behind, my third uncle and I just stared at each other. Pointing at Xu Ruoxi’s retreating figure, my third uncle cursed, “What kind of manners are those? Is that how you negotiate? She’s way too overbearing.”

I gave a wry smile. “Uncle, didn’t you say you had everything under control? We didn’t even get a chance to discuss the price before she stormed off.”

My third uncle kept fuming. “That idiotic woman is just impossible to reason with.”

I sighed. “I was still holding out a little hope, but now it seems the two hundred thousand is out of reach again.”

“Who says it’s out of reach?”

“She’s already left. What hope is there?”

My third uncle replied mysteriously, “Trust me, nephew. Before sundown, that woman will call me back and beg to negotiate on our terms.”

I scoffed, “You’re bluffing. She sounded so determined—there’s no way she’ll reconsider.”

My third uncle waved dismissively. “You’re too green, nephew. I just can’t stand her attitude. Fei Yao has been trying to sell that property for nearly a year, and she reportedly has nightmares about it every night. She doesn’t have many contacts here, so she entrusts everything to this assistant. But they haven’t been able to close the deal—she must be getting anxious. Our appearance is something she can’t ignore. My guess is this assistant can’t make the final call and has to consult Fei Yao. When she calls back, the initiative will be in our hands.”

I nodded, picking up the two hundred yuan Xu Ruoxi had left behind. “Let’s hope so. Still, it wasn’t a wasted trip—at least she left us two hundred yuan.”

My third uncle glared at me. “Look at you. Let’s settle the bill and stroll around the street.”

We spent nearly the whole day at the teahouse. After settling the bill, there was still money left over from Xu Ruoxi’s payment.

My uncle and I wandered out of the teahouse and onto the famous old street, following its winding path.

By then, the sun was sinking in the west, and only a sparse scattering of tourists remained, all of them hurrying along as if eager to be gone.

The ancient houses lining the street looked much the same, but each exuded a sense of history and accumulated age. Walking down this road, one couldn’t help but feel a certain chill in the air.

As we walked, my uncle remarked, “See? The country is putting more and more effort into preserving these historical sites. Old houses like these are getting rarer and more valuable. Honestly, if we solve the haunting in that house, the owner would be better off giving us a hefty reward than selling for cheap. That’s why I’m confident Xu Ruoxi will call us back.”

I chuckled, “Uncle, Xu Ruoxi is such an elegant name, and you keep calling her ‘Xu Something Xi.’”

He waved me off. “Whatever her name is, that woman is far too arrogant—she’s probably used to getting her way. Given the chance, I’d love to teach her a lesson.”

I glanced at the darkening sky. “It’s getting late. Do you really think Xu Ruoxi will contact us again?”

No sooner had I spoken than my uncle’s phone rang.

He perked up, delighted. “See? What did I tell you?”

He answered at once. “Hello?… Damn it, I don’t do stocks or investments!”

He hung up, annoyed, while I struggled to keep a straight face.

But then the phone rang again.

This time, my uncle answered irritably, “Didn’t I tell you, I don’t do stocks… Oh? Assistant Xu, hello…”

As soon as I heard the name, I realized Assistant Xu really had called back, just as my uncle predicted.

This time, my uncle’s tone was far more assertive. After a brief exchange, he told Xu Ruoxi that we’d be leaving the old street in half an hour. If she wanted to continue negotiations, she should bring the contract within that time and meet us at the teahouse entrance.

A little over twenty minutes later, a flashy sports car pulled up, and out stepped none other than Xu Ruoxi.

After another round of negotiations, my uncle raised the price to five hundred thousand. In other words, if we resolved the haunting in the property, they would pay us a reward of five hundred thousand.

That was no small sum. Even for the massive job at Tianyou Plaza, we’d only received five hundred thousand. I felt uneasy asking for that much, but to my surprise, Xu Ruoxi agreed after only a short pause and was ready to sign the contract immediately. It seemed she really had received instructions from Fei Yao, just as my uncle suspected.

The contract signing went smoothly. My uncle, representing Grand Fortune Real Estate Agency, signed an agreement with Xu Ruoxi. The contract stipulated that we had ten days to resolve the haunting, and during that period, Xu Ruoxi would provide full cooperation on Fei Yao’s behalf.

Once we each had a copy of the contract, I felt relieved. At least this time, there wouldn’t be a repeat of our last fiasco. Still, I knew we were burning our bridges—there was no turning back now. All we had heard about the haunted house was secondhand rumor; we hadn’t even done an on-site inspection. There was real risk involved.

Xu Ruoxi shot us a sidelong glance and said coldly, “Fine, you’ve practically swindled your five hundred thousand out of us. I’m done here.” With that, she took her contract and turned to leave.

My uncle called after her, “Assistant Xu, we’ll need you to tell us in detail about the hauntings in the house, so we can figure out how to deal with them.”

(End of this chapter)