Chapter 5: Chapter 5 How Much?
"You said you just took a photo of me buying a big pile of takeout and were planning to post it online?" Jiang Yan asked nonchalantly as she flipped open his press ID and quickly logged onto the national press website with her phone.
She rapidly entered his name and press ID number.
Good.
No such person found.
The anti-counterfeit features on the ID also looked somewhat crude.
"Yes, however, if Miss Jiang could..." the curly-haired man started to say but then stopped, not bothering to hide the greed in his eyes.
Jiang Yan inwardly sneered but kept her face impassive as she bluntly asked, "How much?"
The curly-haired man's eyes lit up as he chuckled and raised his index finger.
Jiang Yan: "A thousand?"
With a mischievous grin, the curly-haired man said, "Miss Jiang, no, not really, with your status and position, a thousand is hardly appropriate, is it?"
"Ten thousand?!" Jiang Yan pretended to be shocked for a second.
Seeing her reaction, the curly-haired man felt inwardly pleased.
As expected, she was just like the other small-time internet celebrities he had blackmailed in the past, who couldn't handle threats either.
Rumors had it that Jiang Yan was worth billions, so asking her for one million would probably be like sprinkling water to her.
But for now, getting his hands on ten thousand was the first step.
After all, he had kept a copy of the photo; once he had blackmailed this cash cow, he wouldn't have to worry about money continuing to come in.
Thinking this, the curly-haired man bit his lip and boldly demanded, "One hundred thousand!"
Jiang Yan thought to herself: He's daring enough to ask for one hundred thousand with a photo shoddily fabricated! Does he think I'm stupid or just plain foolish?
Yes, she was rich, but her money didn't come from thin air!
Moreover, she found herself dealing with a low-level swindler who knew nothing about the law and had no moral bottom line.
"What?! One hundred thousand?! Are you sure that's the price to buy your sneakily taken photo?" Jiang Yan raised her voice and asked again.
The curly-haired man, suppressing the joy in his heart, nodded solemnly, his expression slyly adding, "Yes!"
He wanted to add that he only accepted cash but then heard rapid footsteps coming from not far away.
As he turned his head, he saw the local security captain running towards them with two police officers and a few security guards.
"Stop!!"
"Stop!!"
Stunned, curly-haired man turned and ran, but Jiang Yan swiftly swept her leg under him.
"Bang!"
Before he could dodge, the curly-haired man fell face-first to the ground and was quickly subdued by the approaching police and security guards.
The statement at the scene was completed quickly, and the fake journalist was naturally taken away by the police.
Jiang Yan's house cameras, which already had audio-recording capabilities, preserved all the evidence.
Perpetrating extortion with a false press ID for amounts over ten thousand could land him stitching in prison for ten years!
Though another scumbag was dealt with, Jiang Yan couldn't feel happy.
This person, in his efforts to follow and get close to her, had deliberately rented the houses of her neighbors.
What about other ill-intentioned people?
It appeared that the matter of selling her old house and finding a new one could not be delayed.
Jiang Yan locked the door and entered the house.
After taking a moment to reflect as she sat on the sofa, she dug out the contact of the real estate agency that had helped her mother handle real estate transactions and directly called their boss.
The boss of the real estate agency, Du Ziteng, might have a somewhat funny-sounding name but was reliable in getting things done.
Importantly, he had worked in Jiang Yan's mother's company for a long time before starting his agency and had served as a supply department head, performing well and possessing good character.
After her mother sold the company, he had chosen not to stay with the new owner but instead turned to real estate, taking many of his former subordinates with him.
In a way, he was someone Jiang Yan could relatively trust.
"Young President Jiang!" Du was naturally very surprised to receive a call from Jiang Yan.
Jiang Yan chuckled helplessly, "Don't 'president' me, it makes my head swell."
Quickly realizing, Du responded, "Oh, Sister Yan, I'm sorry for your loss. By the way, is there anything I can help with? Please give me a moment; I will head back to my office where it's more private to talk."
Jiang Yan got straight to the point and briefly discussed selling and buying properties as well as finding a warehouse with him.
For the house she was buying, her requirements were that the community should not be too large, ideally having only two or three buildings.
After all, with the impending harsh weather and potential natural disasters, larger communities tend to have more neighbor-related issues.
Furthermore, the community should be far from the city center but ideally surrounded by shopping malls, supermarkets, hospitals, etc., and she wasn't considering properties developed by smaller companies.
Relatively speaking, the properties by bigger developers tend to be of better quality.
That is to say, their foundations tend to be more stable.
Ideally, the building should be over thirty floors high, and she only considered the topmost floor.
Even though top floors generally have issues with heat insulation and waterproofing, she was planning to remodel the property anyway, so she didn't see that as a major problem.
As for the warehouse, her requirements were that the space should be large, without surveillance, and well-secluded but also ideally close to a highway or a major city transport hub.
Additionally, whether it was a high-rise or a warehouse, they should be ready to move in or rent immediately, even if it meant paying a premium.
This was also one of the reasons she hadn't considered the Half Mountain Villa area where Song Deming lived.
That area was also one of the few high-altitude locations in Anming City and had withstood the storms and heavy rains of the apocalypse.
But apart from leaving her with many psychological scars, the remaining few residents there had been living as large families for a long time.
Buying a property there was practically unrealistic.
Moreover, after heavy rains lead to flooding, living halfway up a mountain could lead to landslides and debris flows, posing significant safety hazards.
After Jiang Yan detailed her requirements and preferences, the suitable choices for both the high-rise and the warehouse were significantly narrowed down and more precise.
Although Du Ziteng was the boss, he always liked to handle business matters personally.
Having listened to her, he had an idea and said, "Sister Yan, I can come and complete the details for selling your house later and list it on the trading platform. As for the high-rise and the warehouse you mentioned, I currently have a few options on hand. Whenever you're ready, I can personally take you to see them."
Without a second thought, Jiang Yan responded, "That works, send me the address; I'll head there now."
Du was momentarily taken aback, "Ah, you want to go now? Sister Yan, don't you want to rest and get over the jet lag?"
Due to the accidental death of her mother and her rush return to the country, the local Anming media, which ranged in size, had all written about her.
Additionally, being somewhat of a local celebrity and internet personality, she had very little privacy.
It was only because the police station had sealed off the information about her being detained in the basement that morning and the deaths of Song Deming and Zhang Kai.
Otherwise, just stepping outside to look at houses and buy stuff could drown her in public scrutiny and criticism.
Jiang Yan, taking a bottle of black coffee from the refrigerator, said, "I'm fine, just send the address."
"Alright, right away, Sister Yan," Du replied, no longer insisting.
Having been in the business world for so many years, Du maintained a sense of boundary and didn't pry further into Jiang Yan's personal matters.