I’d barely graduated from college when the boss lady took me by force!
Looking back, I should thank her. She took a fresh college graduate like me and launched me into the world of real estate brokerage.
I was twenty-two that year. I couldn’t even recognize all the different apartment layouts, yet I plunged headfirst into the secondhand housing business.
It was the industry’s golden age, and its wildest.
Sometimes a single deal earned more than an ordinary person made in a whole year.
Money came so fast you didn’t think twice about spending it. A life of excess was the norm, and the unspoken rules of the business were stricter than the law.
While finding properties, I met brothers I could trust with my life, and came across scams that would swallow you whole without leaving a trace.
My fellow agents all said those were the best of times, when gold lay everywhere, just waiting to be
picked up.
But no one told me what lay buried beneath the gold.
This is my story.
I’m Lin An.
In 2004, with just 327 yuan in my pocket, I set off alone for Guancheng to make my way in the world.
For the next twenty years, I rode the highs and lows, witnessed the real estate market’s splendor, and saw the warmth and coldness of human nature.
