If everyone is reborn, who will work for capital?

Chapter 32 First Encounter with Gu Wanning

"Yes, I brought it."

Gu Wanning's sudden question caught Geng Zhi completely off guard, but he didn't panic. He calmly took out Zhao Dezhi's bank card, flashed it in front of her twice, and then put it back in his pocket with a smooth motion.

Gu Wanning didn't ask for a closer look, only noticing that it was indeed a Jiaotong University student ID, the person's surname was Zhao, and the keywords "Computer Science Department," before immediately asking, "What's your entrepreneurial direction?"

"The social networking field. QQ, for example, belongs to the social networking field," he answered straightforwardly.

"Will your startup office be located at my home or at Jiaotong University Science and Technology Park?" Gu Wanning asked again.

"Of course it's in the science and technology park. This house is just for my personal residence, so I only want to rent the master bedroom."

"Moreover, I don't stay here very often. I'm mainly worried that I'll be busy with work in the future and may need to communicate by phone frequently at night. I'm afraid it won't be convenient to stay in the dormitory, so I want to move out."

He answered fluently and straightforwardly, and after finishing, he secretly chuckled to himself that the reason he had made up was a bit exaggerated.

But Gu Wanning didn't seem to delve into it, only saying lightly, "It's really not easy for college students to start their own businesses."

"Yes, it's really tough, so the rent budget is extremely tight." Seeing that his entrepreneurial venture resonated with the landlords, Geng Zhi was secretly pleased, thinking: I've won their sympathy, there's hope for a price reduction!

"However," Gu Wanning suddenly changed the subject, "who has it easy? So, the house can be rented to you, but it must be the whole house, not just a single room."

upright:"……"

Seeing that appealing to sympathy was ineffective, he immediately switched modes and launched a precise attack on the pain points.

"My mom trained me to be a bit obsessive-compulsive from a young age. I mop the floor every day, wipe the kitchen immediately after each use, and never leave trash overnight..."

"I can sign a long-term lease with the landlord for more than three years and I can accept a 5% annual rent increase."

He glanced at the agent and continued, "Long-term rentals can completely save landlords the high costs of agent fees, vacant properties, and frequent tenant turnover."

"For high-earning professionals like landlords, time is extremely valuable. Compared to charging a few hundred more in rent each month, wouldn't a worry-free, stable, high-quality tenant who takes good care of the property like the owner is much more valuable?"

"If the secondary bedroom needs to be rented out in the future, I can help the landlord screen tenants—after all, as a clean freak, I would be even more intolerant of unqualified roommates."

"I can sign a 'House Maintenance Commitment' to ensure the room is clean, and I can also authorize you or someone you designate to open the door at any time for a surprise inspection of the room's cleanliness."

Actually, Geng Zhi was just saying it casually, because it's illegal for a landlord to open a tenant's door without permission. He knew that a landlord who was a lawyer would never do that.

"I can also pay the property management fees for the landlord. If anything is broken, I can handle the minor repairs myself without the landlord having to come to the door."

"With the year-end approaching, the rental market is slowing down. For every month a property remains vacant, the landlord loses nearly three thousand yuan. That's much greater than the loss of a few hundred yuan per month from a rent reduction!"

Having been both a tenant and a landlord in his past life, Geng Zhi understands all too well the pain points of landlords.

So he rattled off a long string of logical arguments, pouring out every possible reason that might appeal to the other party, striving to hit the mark as much as possible.

Gu Wanning's initial calm scrutiny gradually turned into surprise.

The college student in front of me was so meticulous in his thinking, so skilled in his negotiation, and so accurate in his understanding of the landlord's psychology that it completely exceeded his age and status.

More importantly, every point he made hit her sore spots and pain points squarely.

She was silent for a moment, her gaze shifting between the real estate agent and Geng Zhi, before finally nodding almost imperceptibly to the real estate agent.

With a huge weight lifted from his shoulders, Geng Zhi pressed his advantage: "I don't know if the real estate agent mentioned to you that I need to pay one month's rent as a deposit and one month's rent in advance."

"Huh? One month's rent as deposit and one month's rent in advance?" Gu Wanning frowned and looked at the real estate agent. "Isn't the usual practice for renting a place one month's rent as deposit and three months' rent in advance?"

Geng Zhi hadn't made this request beforehand, but the real estate agent now regarded Geng Zhi as "God," so how could he possibly slap "God's" face?

He had no choice but to take the blame, and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Ms. Gu, I forgot to tell you on the phone just now."

"Does your Lianjia company still have a policy of 'one month's deposit and one month's rent in advance'?" Gu Wanning's gaze suddenly sharpened.

"Yes, but it's relatively rare. Usually... it's the result of a special negotiation between the tenant and the landlord," the agent quickly explained.

Gu Wanning fell silent again, clearly weighing her options.

"I'm still a student, what bad intentions could I possibly have?" Geng Zhi added.

Seeing that Gu Wanning seemed to be moved, he continued in a sincere tone:

"In the early stages of our startup, we were really short of cash flow. However, our project just won an award at the Jiaotong University Startup Roadshow Competition, and once the funding comes in, the pressure will be much less."

"An entrepreneurship competition?" Gu Wanning's eyebrows twitched slightly upon hearing this.

Her aunt seemed to have casually mentioned this matter when she was having lunch at her uncle's house this morning.

"Yes." Geng immediately noticed the fleeting interest in her eyes, took out his phone, opened QQ, and showed her the award-winning group photo from the "Busiest Five" group chat.

In the photo, the top three teams are clearly visible, with Geng Zhi standing prominently in the center, next to him in a group photo with the judges and mentors.

Gu Wanning's gaze swept across the photos, pausing slightly on one of the people in them, before she nodded almost imperceptibly.

She saw her uncle.

A college student, well-mannered, with obsessive-compulsive tendencies, approved by his uncle, and meticulous in thinking... This profile of a tenant made her quite satisfied.

As for the rent amount, that's secondary.

It was 1,200 yuan, which was just her consultation fee for half an hour.

"Okay..." Just as Gu Wan Ning's red lips parted slightly, about to say that she agreed to rent the master bedroom for 1,500, Geng Zhi spoke up at the same time.

"Sister Gu, I've thought about it carefully, and it's really a waste for you to only rent one room. I feel bad about it. How about this, I'll add five hundred, making it two thousand a month, to rent the whole place. That way, you won't have to worry about finding a tenant for the second bedroom later. I'll take care of all the trouble."

"..."

The air suddenly became quiet.

Gu Wanning stopped abruptly, taken aback by this sudden reversal.

The real estate agent next to him also stared wide-eyed, a little confused—they were just negotiating hard to save 1,200 yuan, how come they suddenly offered to increase the price by 500 yuan to rent the whole place?

"You...find another roommate yourself?" Gu Wanning asked, puzzled.

"No, I live alone." Geng Zhi said frankly, even with a hint of helplessness. "Thinking about it, with my level of germaphobia, I probably wouldn't be able to find a roommate who could tolerate me. I might as well keep it quiet."

Looking at this unpredictable college student in front of her, Gu Wanning first found it amusing, then somewhat admiring, and finally felt a pang of sympathy.

She didn't say anything more, only uttering two simple words: "Deal."

The real estate agent was overjoyed and quickly led both parties back to the store to sign the contract.

When signing the contract, Geng Zhi finally saw the landlord's name: Gu Wan Ning. Very elegant, just like her.

They added each other on QQ; her profile picture was a fresh slice of lemon.

At this moment, Gu Wanning also learned that the tenant's full name was Geng Zhi, and his handwriting was elegant and powerful, showing a lot of integrity.

Just looking at the name, a very subtle sense of unease flashed through her mind, as if something didn't quite add up.

But the thought flashed by in an instant, too fleeting to grasp.