chapter 1

My name is Chen Mo. Two years ago, after I lost my job, I went to work at my childhood friend’s real estate agency.

My childhood friend, Meng Yifan, runs a real estate business. He owns two branches, and I worked at one of them.

Thanks to my gift of the gab, I did pretty well in this line of work. In my first year, I paid cash for a car worth over 300,000 yuan, and in the second year, I managed to save quite a bit of money.

I thought to myself, if I kept this up for another ten years or so, wouldn’t I be at the pinnacle of my life?

But just a few days ago, something happened at the agency.

It all started with a property I had sold. Less than half a year after the sale, the couple who bought it came to me demanding a refund, claiming I had sold them a Stigmatized Property.

What is a Stigmatized Property?

Generally speaking, a property where an unnatural death has occurred-such as murder, suicide, or accidental death-is called a Stigmatized Property.

For homebuyers, as long as someone has died in the house, regardless of whether it was a natural death, they consider it a Stigmatized Property.

In our industry, there are clear rules: if a property being listed has had a death occur in it, regardless of whether it was natural, it must be clearly stated in the contract for the client. You cannot sell it without the client’s knowledge. Otherwise, it’s a violation of industry regulations and damages the reputation of the entire field.

Of course, there are always some who break the rules, but I’m someone who sticks to them.

I repeatedly assured the couple that there was no way anyone had died in that property. I even called the seller in front of them to confirm.

The seller also said the property was not a Stigmatized Property and that no one had died there.

But the couple seemed mentally unstable, insisting that someone must have died there. They claimed that whenever they slept in the master bedroom, they always felt a pair of eyes watching them, causing them to have nightmares every night for the past six months.

The couple made a scene at our agency every day, seriously affecting our business. In the end, we had no choice but to call the police to handle the situation.

Later, I went to the police station with Meng Yifan and the couple.

After hearing the whole story, the police were at a loss.

After all, the couple couldn’t provide any evidence that someone had died in the property. All they could say was that they felt like they were being watched while they slept.

Since the agency’s business was being affected, Meng Yifan was furious, saying the couple had mental issues and should see a psychiatrist.

This led to another heated argument at the police station.

The police were very responsible. They assigned two officers to visit the neighborhood and investigate whether anyone had died in that property. They also checked their internal system to see if there had been any criminal cases in the area.

The conclusion: no one had died in that property, and there had been no criminal cases in that area.

My name was cleared, and the police warned the couple not to cause trouble at our agency again.

I thought this farce was finally over, but less than two days later, the couple came back.

They started acting shamelessly, demanding we refund the property and compensate them for their emotional distress.

“Unbelievable, truly unbelievable. We’re stuck with two lunatics!”

Meng Yifan was so angry he wanted to hit someone. He called all of us over: “Everyone, think of something. If they keep this up, we won’t be able to do business. Next month, we’ll all be eating dirt.”

My colleagues were all helpless. Even the police had mediated-what else could we do?

If it weren’t illegal to hit people these days, those two would have ended up in the hospital’s orthopedics department long ago.

I said, “Since they claim the property is a Stigmatized Property, let’s stay there for a couple of nights. If we all find it normal, then it’s not the property that’s the problem-it’s the two of them.”

Everyone agreed with my suggestion.

“The Second-in-Command always has good ideas.”

“Let’s see how they can keep making trouble then!”

Meng Yifan also agreed with my suggestion, patting me on the shoulder: “Since the property was sold by the Second-in-Command and the idea was his, this tough task is yours, Second-in-Command.”

Of course, I didn’t object. I didn’t think it was a big deal.

Even if it were a Stigmatized Property, I wouldn’t be afraid.

In the end, Meng Yifan brought the couple in and, after much persuasion, they finally agreed to let someone from our agency stay in the property for two nights.

They seemed very confident, saying that if there was a problem with the property, we would have to bring in the seller and discuss a refund.
We’ve already prepared for the worst. If we really have to cancel the deal in the end, at most we’ll just lose an agency fee. I won’t even ask for my ten thousand commission. After all, if we let them keep making a fuss, our losses will only get bigger.

But there’s one thing I really don’t understand.

This couple is absurdly confident, as if we’d definitely encounter something abnormal just by staying there for two nights.

I thought to myself, even if we really do encounter something strange, if I don’t say anything and just lie about it, wouldn’t that mean they can’t cancel the deal?

Of course, since they’ve made a verbal promise, it’s very much in our favor.

Honestly, I don’t believe in any of that feudal superstition.

That night.

Meng Yifan brought several high-definition cameras to the office.

Since we need to prove there’s nothing wrong with the apartment, we naturally need evidence to back it up.

These high-definition cameras can record video as evidence-not just clear images, but also sound.

“Thanks for your hard work, my Second-in-Command.”

Meng Yifan handed me the cameras, joking, “If there’s a haunting, call me. Preferably a female ghost-I’ll come over and deal with her myself.”

My relationship with Meng Yifan is even better than his with his girlfriend, so we joke around a lot.

Besides, he never treats me like an employee; otherwise, the people in the office wouldn’t call me Second-in-Command.

“Alright, it’s no big deal. I’ll just treat it as a two-day vacation.”

I carried a bag full of cameras and drove to the apartment.

The buyers had moved out of Unit 5-2 half a month ago and hadn’t been back since. Today, before leaving, they handed us the keys.

Half an hour later, I arrived at the entrance of the complex.

This is an old residential complex, built twenty years ago with a large flat layout.

Back then, it was considered a pretty good place. Although it was a walk-up, they installed elevators a few years ago and renovated the whole place, so the complex still looks quite nice.

I found a spot to park and entered the complex.

The apartment is on the fifth floor of Unit 3, number 2. As I walked up to Unit 3, I noticed an Old Woman staring at me.

She was quite elderly, leaning on a cane, and seemed very curious about me.

“Young man, you’re not from our complex, are you?”

“Ah, no, I’m not.”

Out of professional habit, I enjoy chatting with people, so I struck up a conversation with the Old Woman: “There’s an apartment here that I sold, but the buyers insist there’s something wrong with it. I’m going to stay there for two nights to see if there’s actually a problem.”

The Old Woman was momentarily stunned and asked, “Which one?”

I pointed, “That building, Unit 5-2.”

Her expression changed noticeably. She stepped back and looked at me: “Unit 5-2… Wasn’t that sold half a year ago?”

I nodded quickly, “Yes. You’ve lived here a long time, right? Do you know anything about that apartment?”

The Old Woman was quite talkative. She said, “When this complex was first built, my husband and I moved in. I’ve lived here for twenty years.”

Looks like she’s a long-time resident.

I asked, “Do you know if anything ever happened in this complex? Like with Unit 5-2…”

The Old Woman glanced up, as if looking at the fifth floor, then said, “That apartment has been sold twice. Once was when you sold it, and once fifteen years ago. After the first sale, no one ever lived there.”

I was shocked. This apartment had already been sold once before?

The previous owner never mentioned this to me.

Of course, whether they mention it or not is up to them. After all, how many times a property has been sold doesn’t affect future transactions.

But why did no one ever live there after the first sale?

If you buy it but don’t live in it, what’s the point?

“Ma’am, was the apartment ever rented out before?” I asked.

The Old Woman shook her head, “Never rented out, it’s always been empty. Young man, there’s nothing good about living there. You’d better go home early.”

With that, she walked away and entered the elevator in Unit 4.

These elevators were added to the outside of the building-they’re transparent lifts.

I watched from downstairs and saw that the Old Woman also lived on the fifth floor.

She went into Unit 4, and I went into Unit 3.