We Chinese like to think we're smart people. But being smart can be dangerous. You can be too smart for your own good, or think you know everything. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss. Sometimes, it's better to keep some knowledge to yourself. Niuniu has been told that buying real estate in China right now is a good investment. So, she looks around, and finally finds an apartment in Shenzhen that faces a golf course. Niuniu falls in love with it instantly. She signs a contract with the owner, a local woman, through a real estate agency and pays a 20,000 yuan deposit. Niuniu is happy because, at the age of 30, she'll own not only a house in Beijing, but an apartment in Shenzhen. She even dreams of perhaps spending the winter there. But the woman selling the home keeps coming up with excuses to delay finalising the sale: I have a headache; I need to take care of my parents; and so on. The woman thinks she's smart. Within weeks of Niuniu paying the deposit, she sells the same apartment to another buyer for 30,000 yuan more. Niuniu and her real estate agent don't find out for two months. Clearly, the seller is in breach of the contract (under which she's obliged to pay 20,000 yuan compensation to Niuniu and a further 20,000 to the real estate agent). Niuniu sits in the agent's office while she tries to speak to the seller by phone. She soon hangs up. 'She refuses to pay the penalty,' the agent says. 'I'll have to consult with our management. Maybe we need to go to court.' Niuniu leaves the office perplexed. After she gets home, she receives a phone call from the seller. 'I know your boss,' she says. 'I can make you lose your job if you continue to ask for the penalty. I also know the boss of the real estate agency and I can have the agent fired.' Niuniu hangs up without saying a word. She knows her boss' friends wouldn't sell their credibility for less than US$3,000. The woman's scare tactics might work on a migrant from the countryside, but not Niuniu. Seeing that Niuniu won't back down, the woman tries a new strategy. A week later, she turns up at Niuniu's office and causes a big scene. She harasses the receptionist, calling Niuniu names and yelling and screaming. She demands to see Niuniu's boss. Instead, she's shown the door, and all but put forcibly into the elevator. Unfortunately for the woman, the second buyer decides to pull out. And he refuses to pay the penalty. So, the woman winds up with no offers on her apartment and no compensation. Niuniu has to decide whether to hire a lawyer and sue for the penalty plus damages. But what if the court isn't honest? Does she really want to face this crazy woman again? As she's thinking, the agent calls. 'We've got other flats in the development,' she says. 'Do you want to see them?' Niuniu pauses for a second, then says, 'I've changed my mind. Perhaps the investment return will be better if I buy in Shanghai.'