Even though Chen Yiyang couldn't immediately think of how to redeem half of a Bitcoin paper wallet.
Still, it was better to have it in hand first, and he could figure out the way slowly.
If he didn't go tonight and sanitation workers cleared the trash bin the next morning, it would be a hassle.
So, Chen Yiyang ordered a ride-sharing car and had the driver take him all the way there.
"By the way, do you have gloves, Sir?" Chen Yiyang asked the ride-share driver before getting out of the car.
"I have a pair of work gloves that I use," the driver asked curiously, "What do you need them for?"
"I'll need them later; would you sell them to me for fifty bucks?"
"No problem." The driver, still working late at night, promptly handed the gloves over to Chen Yiyang, afraid he might change his mind.
After paying the fare and the glove money together, Chen Yiyang got out of the car and started rummaging through the trash bin as mentioned in the intel.
The trash bin, filled with garbage accumulated over an entire day, gave off a really unpleasant odor in the night.
Chen Yiyang regretted not asking the driver for a mask.
But he didn't give up.
If he could really redeem even half of the Bitcoin paper wallet, that would be more than seven hundred thousand.
Making more than seven hundred thousand just by scavenging through trash, no one would disdain that no matter how dirty.
Fortunately, the metal box mentioned in the intel was positioned near the top of the trash bin.
After searching for over ten minutes, Chen Yiyang found what he wanted.
Sitting by the roadside, he opened the metal box, which quietly held half a sheet of paper inside, recording some numbers and symbols.
Because the metal box itself had been tainted with stench by the garbage from the trash bin.
Chen Yiyang had to carefully fold the half sheet of paper and secure it inside his phone case.
The next morning, after taking Hans, who finally was willing to go out again, for a walk.
He took out the half sheet of the paper wallet and glanced at it.
Well, nothing much to see.
Supposedly, a paper wallet is just a string of keys and doesn't contain any additional information.
If it wasn't for the intel hint, he wouldn't even know how many Bitcoins were stored in this paper wallet.
But just as he put the paper wallet down, his phone rang with a call.
"Hello, Mr. Chen. I'm Lawyer Zhang from Yida Law Firm. Mr. Li Changliang has entrusted us to process a real estate power of attorney. The electronic version of the power of attorney is completed now, while the physical copy is still in transit. Can we send you the electronic certificate first?"
"No problem." Chen Yiyang realized this was the earlier real estate bargain deal.
"Great, please add me on WeChat. If you have any requirements in the future, feel free to contact me."
Once the law firm added him on WeChat, they quickly sent over the relevant certificates and materials.
Chen Yiyang carefully reviewed all the materials and contracts.
Then he discovered something different in the power of attorney regarding the payment of the house sale than he anticipated.
The power of attorney stated that if the buyer was purchasing through a bank loan, the payment would be transferred directly by the bank to the seller's bank account, where the funds would be subject to regulation.
Only if the buyer bought the house in full would the payment be deposited into the account of the agent, namely Chen Yiyang.
This meant that if Chen Yiyang wanted to securely obtain this money, he had to persuade the buyer to pay in full.
Otherwise, if the money was transferred to the seller's account, whether he could get that agency fee or not depended entirely on the other party's conscience.
After all, the other party was abroad and didn't appear to plan on returning. Chen Yiyang, even if he litigated a cross-country case, wouldn't be able to enforce the payment.
Upon realizing this, Chen Yiyang picked up the phone and dialed the number of the buyer mentioned in the bargain intel, having noted it down earlier.
"Hello, I'm off today, not taking any classes."
A woman's voice came from the other end of the phone.
"You're mistaken," Chen Yiyang said politely. "I'm the real estate sale agent for Mr. Li Changliang. He owns a two-bedroom property located in Huifeng District, 502, Building 4, Guan City District, Jin City."
According to what I found, you and your father have resided in this two-bedroom since nine years ago, correct?"
Chen Yiyang's words led to a few minutes of silence from the other side.
"Where are you now? Can you come to Jin City?"
"I'm in Jin City right now."
"Then come to this café, and we'll discuss this face-to-face."
After arranging a time and place, Chen Yiyang, worried he'd return late that night, left plenty of dog food and clean water for Hans before heading out.
When he arrived at the agreed-upon café, the other party was already there.
"Hello." The woman stood to greet Chen Yiyang as he walked over.
She was a very fit woman, wearing tight clothing that revealed her forearms and half of her legs.
The muscle tone she had developed over regular exercising was elegantly defined yet powerful.
Coupled with her earlier reference to booking classes over the phone, Chen Yiyang surmised she was likely a fitness instructor by profession.
"I'm Chen Yiyang." He introduced himself, then pulled out the printed power of attorney and several documents from his bag to hand over to her.
"My name is Chang Yuning." The other party also introduced herself.
After they sat down, Chen Yiyang finally had a chance to take a good look at the other person.
She had short hair that was a bit longer than most guys, from a distance looking like a tomboy.
But up close, her generous and full figure left no doubt about her gender.
If you only looked at her face, she'd be about a six, but with that figure, Chen Yiyang was willing to rate her an eight.
"I've seen enough, I don't have any problems on my end." Chang Yuning flipped through the power of attorney briefly, quickly finished reviewing it.
After all, her family had lived in the house for free for nine years without anyone contacting them.
Now, suddenly someone came forward about the rental details from back then, so she had no choice but to believe them.
"Let me walk you through the whole thing from the beginning."
After retrieving the documents, Chen Yiyang said, "Nine years ago, your father Chang Zhongjun and my client Li Changliang signed a six-month lease agreement. Since they used cash transactions, they only exchanged phone numbers for contact.
But during that time, my client went abroad and changed phone numbers, so they lost contact.
This was my client's oversight, so we'll let go of the rent for these nine years and not include it in any further discussions."
"Thank you," the other party expressed gratitude upon hearing Chen Yiyang's words.
Writing off the rent was Chen Yiyang's own idea.
After all, the homeowner Li Changliang had completely forgotten that he rented out the property nine years ago.
He had even forgotten that he still owned this house.
It's unclear what happened back then that caused Li Changliang to hastily leave the country and never return or check on any properties he still owned domestically.
But this matter can't be delved into too deeply.
Back then, the homeowner Li Changliang unilaterally lost contact, and he probably lost his copy of the lease agreement.
If things were to get messy and go to court, reclaiming the rent might not be possible either.
So Chen Yiyang decided to use the rent as a gesture of goodwill, to lay the groundwork for his next moves.
"Is it okay if I ask out of curiosity why no one contacted us for over nine years?" Chang Yuning inquired.
"The homeowner had too many things going on after going abroad and forgot about this matter, only recently recalling that he still owned a property here. So he tasked me with selling the house," answered Chen Yiyang.
"Oh."
Judging from Chang Yuning's expression,
she probably also found it hard to understand how someone could forget they owned a property.
How wealthy must one be to reach such a level?
Since Chang Yuning hadn't yet expressed any intention of buying the house, Chen Yiyang continued,
"I've already contacted several buyers. They're very interested in the property. But considering your family has lived here for many years, I wanted to first check whether you might be able to move out soon."
"Sure." Chang Yuning obviously took a deep breath and replied with a sigh.
Wait, what the hell?!
Chen Yiyang was stunned.
This development wasn't following the script at all!
Chen Yiyang had everything planned out before coming here today.
He intended to leverage the interest from other buyers to create a sense of competition for Chang Yuning, persuading her to buy the house outright.
If she didn't have enough money, Chen Yiyang even considered investing some himself and co-buying the property with her.
They would just have to clarify the ownership rights on the deed and sign another contract.
Later, when she had enough money, she could buy back the full ownership from him.
But Chen Yiyang never imagined that she had no intentions to buy the property!
What the hell is going on?
Where did it go wrong?!
In his panic, Chen Yiyang instinctively came up with a response.
He pretended to be calm and said, "That's great. But my clients wish to see the current condition of the house, to check for any leaks, aging, or other issues. Would you mind showing me the house?"
"Sure." Chang Yuning stood up, gesturing for Chen Yiyang to follow her.
So Chen Yiyang had to put down his half-finished coffee and follow her out of the café after she settled the bill.
"I drove here, you can ride with me."
Chang Yuning led Chen Yiyang to the parking lot, where she found a domestic car.
"Is this a Haidou? How's it drive?" Chen Yiyang took a look at Chang Yuning's car and recognized it as a domestically-made Haidou, not too pricey.
He had considered getting a car for commuting recently and had been looking at such budget-friendly domestic cars.
"It's fine for commuting, bought it used for seventy thousand."
Chang Yuning motioned for Chen Yiyang to get into the passenger seat.
Chen Yiyang sensed that Chang Yuning seemed to be in a bit of a mood since earlier, so after getting into the car, he kept quiet and let her focus on driving him to see the house.