Chapter 454: Can’t Fit
Fang Zhao had really wanted to keep a low profile and rest. However, things just didn’t stop happening.
The ruckus had been too great. The district’s security system had detected an anomaly and a housing representative had quickly called to inquire.
“Is there anything I can assist you with, sir?”
“No need, it’s just my dog making trouble,” Fang Zhao replied.
The realtor gave a dry chuckle.
Alright, if you say so, then that’s what it is. On the surface, I will believe you.
The realtor didn’t persist with the questions. Everything was fine as long as it didn’t affect other households or endanger any lives.
However, many others were still paying close attention to Fang Zhao’s recent move-in. Despite the distance to the other houses, those people would definitely know if there was any activity from the Yanzhou celebrity.
Thus, people were already asking around what had happened.
A middle aged businessman with a dog in tow said he was just passing by, but his roving eyeballs were clearly trying to find some answers.
Fang Zhao didn’t let the businessman enter, saying that his house was a mess. Instead, Fang Zhao exchanged pleasantries with him by the table and chairs in the front yard.
“Your dog made a mess? *Sigh*, I can understand where you are coming from. There are some troubles that only dog owners like us would understand,” the businessman sympathized as though he was a veteran.
After a while, the businessman felt that he had gotten enough information and wouldn’t gain anything else with more probing. Thus, he pulled his dog along and left.
He immediately told his other friends about everything the moment he left.
“There was quite a bit of ruckus over there today. It sounded like many things being smashed… Didn’t see the dog. Maybe he was beating his dog just now… No, you know how some people behave totally different in private and public though. Who knows what goes on in their own home? Hehehe…
“Too much stress from outside, so they can only vent when they get home. It is rather common for celebrities like these to have terrible tempers in private…
“I know, I know, everyone has their own secrets. It’s easier to just blame the dog when anything happens. After all, the dog can’t say anything.”
Fang Zhao’s neighbors wouldn’t talk to the media. They would only mention it in private conversations.
Nevertheless, in a short time, some shocking news began circulating in some social circles.
Apparently, Fang Zhao had violent tendencies and wasn’t honest when it came to private matters.
At the same time, there were all sorts of rumors.
They ranged from Fang Zhao being smeared by competitors, a relationship dispute, a terrorist attack and many others.
There were even people who observed silently and reckoned they had deciphered the truth. Something had happened just after Fang Zhao had moved houses. Who had Fang Zhao offended?
Fang Zhao knew what these people were discussing in private, but he didn’t really care. He got Nanfeng to renovate the house once more and handle this as quietly as possible.
The huge paw print was too obvious in the area Curly Hair had damaged. Fang Zhao could only get rid of this paw print by bashing a hole in the floorboards himself.
On the second day after moving in, this house had to go through another major renovation.
Yan Biao and Zuo Yu both looked ashamed. Such destructive power definitely meant there had been a sneak attack by someone! They had failed as bodyguards!
Even though Fang Zhao had given them time off, all the security installations in the house had been installed by them. None of these had been of any use!
They felt it was still their responsibility and that they had let down their boss and their high salaries!
The two were discussing how to upgrade the house’s security system.
Nanfeng’s face was pale as he touched the flattened chair with trembling hands.
What sort of force had actually flattened an alloy chair that was said to be capable of withstanding the weight of an elephant?!
The ground floor was still fine, but the second floor was damaged significantly. Half of the newly bought electronic devices inside the house were damaged, and two-thirds of the lights needed to be replaced. The flooring had to be redone as well.
Scenarios of assassination, revenge, and lovers’ quarrel spun through Nanfeng’s mind. He was very worried for Fang Zhao’s personal safety.
He didn’t ask any questions. Since Fang Zhao didn’t talk about it, Nanfeng could only keep his doubts to himself.
“Boss, do you want to employ a few more people?” Nanfeng asked.
“No need.”
Fang Zhao let Nanfeng handle the renovation and called Curly Hair who had been standing in the corner all this time over to his study.
The incident had happened on the second floor. Fortunately, the house was sturdy. Otherwise, it might have collapsed following that swipe.
It was also lucky that they had moved. If this had happened in their previous house, the neighbor would have suffered a tremendous shock.
Fang Zhao shut the door behind Curly Hair. The study was rather well soundproofed.
At this moment, Curly Hair was still doubting himself.
He had fallen into a state of shock after Fang Zhao had told him the truth. The degree of shock was even greater than when he had discovered he sung while gaming.
“You really don’t remember?” Fang Zhao asked.
“I really don’t!”
Curly Hair absolutely believed that he wasn’t the sort of dog that wrecked houses!
Fang Zhao nodded and took out a sound recording. Although all the surveillance devices in the house were destroyed, there was still a short sound recording taken before the system was damaged. There was a shrill sound of static.
“Listen.”
Curly Hair’s ears pricked up. He slowly began doubting his own memory.
“Sounds familiar,” Curly Hair said feebly.
Fang Zhao raised an eyebrow. Could this have happened before?
“When did you last hear this?” Fang Zhao asked.
Curly Hair thought seriously. “When you were locked up.”
Fang Zhao: “…”
Fang Zhao thought back to that time. Curly Hair was probably talking about his quarantine.
“On Whale Island?” Fang Zhao asked.
“Right!”
“What did you do back then?”
“Swallowed a person.”
“…”
“But, I pretended to faint on the spot after swallowing! Nobody discovered anything!”
“…Very good. Are there any other similar instances? Think carefully.”
Curly Hair pondered for quite some time.
“There may have been one other time. But, I can’t remember when it was.”
Curly Hair couldn’t remember clearly, but Fang Zhao had a conjecture.
Once, Will had brought Curly Hair along to an art exhibition to seek inspiration for painting. However, there was an accident, and Curly Hair had dragged Will out from a burning building.
At that time, the locks on the dog pens had all broken, and the surveillance systems had gone haywire. Even now, the perpetrator still had yet to be determined. Curly Hair only remembered bitting open the pens but wasn’t clear what he did to the surveillance. Curly Hair hadn’t even aware of it then.
Up till now, Curly Hair still didn’t know that he would damage surveillance systems every time something like this happened.
He had come from biting open cages to swallowing a person whole on Whale Island. Now, a giant paw had nearly destroyed a building.
In the last year, Curly Hair had begun changing faster than ever. Fang Zhao guessed that Curly Hair’s changes had certain forms.
Like evolving.
Nobody knew how long this process would persist for. What would happen in the future was impossible to predict.
What was even more worrying was that Curly Hair himself couldn’t control these changes.
What would they do the next time something like that happened?
They could only try to find a place with no one around.
Fang Zhao recalled the size of that paw which had nearly destroyed the entire floor. That had only been a paw. If it had been an entire body…
It wouldn’t even fit in the house!
“How do you feel now?” Fang Zhao asked.
“I don’t feel much… Does my sole feeling itchy count?”
Curly Hair lifted up one of his front paws.
Fang Zhao inspected Curly Hair’s paw that had supposedly split the floor open and saw only some slight scratches. As Fang Zhao watched, the scratches were disappearing. The paw even seemed like it was well taken care of.
After speaking to Curly Hair about things to take note of, Fang Zhao went through his bank account and frowned.
Alas, supporting a household was hard.
Fang Zhao sighed helplessly then called Nanfeng.
Nanfeng had been fretting over how to strengthen the building during the renovations. He had expected Fang Zhao to ask him to keep the renovations as low-profile as possible and indeed had a few plans, but then…
“I want to buy an island,” Fang Zhao said.
Nanfeng: “???”
Buy a what?
Calm down boss!
Buy anything but an island!!
In Nanfeng’s opinion, there was totally no need for Fang Zhao to buy an island. Even amateurs knew that private islands were currently depreciating!
The New Era had once seen a period when buying islands had been popular. A bunch of merchants had jointly jacked up the prices of islands. Sometime later, due to environmental protection and other reasons, a portion of islands were prohibited from business transactions. Thus, as the supply of private islands decreased, prices had soared.
However, with the continuous development of foreign planets, those with spare cash had set their sights on investing in foreign planets. Who would still be investing on islands here? Larger ones were jacked up to astronomical prices, but the smaller, less popular ones could even have lingering viruses from the Period of Destruction! Who would even buy them?!
With many choices, the value of luxury goods fell. Everyone moved towards better choices.
Currently, there were indeed many private islands on the market that struggled to sell. On the other hand, buying a private island was easy. With enough cash, the transaction could be done right away, and those owners would be more than happy to part ways with their islands.
Nanfeng steadied himself from the shock and cleared his throat. He squeezed out a slight smile before explaining to Fang Zhao the state of islands market.
“Everyone says to buy on the upswing, not on the downturn. Island prices are falling continuously, and it will be difficult to sell if needed… Many buyers ended up not using the islands anyways. Who knows what poisonous bugs and plants are on those islands? It’s very dangerous. Island prices were high to begin with. Even the initial investment to make an island inhabitable is high…” Nanfeng jabbered on with his analysis, telling Fang Zhao that this investment wasn’t worthwhile.
After hearing Nanfeng’s analysis, Fang Zhao said, “Curly Hair needs a much larger space to be active.”
Numbly, Nanfeng looked at Fang Zhao and couldn’t make out any trace of humor.
Seeing that Fang Zhao had already made his decision, Nanfeng could only abide.
“Alright, I will first come up with a budget.”
Nanfeng thought to himself, What exactly did Boss experience? Is it so serious that Boss wants to shun the world?
Nanfeng decided that he would purchase an additional insurance policy for himself when he returned home today.
At this moment he was really itching to ask Fang Zhao, Do you regret donating so much money? If you hadn’t donated that much, even a whole bunch of islands wouldn’t be out of the question!
While having all these ridiculing thoughts, Nanfeng searched for private islands for sale through the Internet. He then filtered islands for sale with landing pads.
He estimated that after buying a small island, Fang Zhao’s savings would be nearly wiped out.
Perhaps Nanfeng would be able to understand if there had been another reason. But, if it was really for the sake of keeping a dog, then that was too…
On this day, Nanfeng learned a life lesson from his boss: Keeping pets could make one poor!
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