Landlords? Not that silly after all

Here I am, having an apple juice at the side of the pool and seething because the silly landlord I spoke about earlier has double crossed us.
All this time we were told that the Chinese way requires both parties not to lose face in front of each other and that is the way business should be conducted and bla, bla, bla. So, we have answered every request in such a way that would make the owner look good as long as he just said yes and signed the lease. After a gruelling weekend back and forth trying to appease the guy we finally find out today that he was working with another "secret" agent and had been keeping us on the line because he was waiting for the downpayment to clear since he had sold the flat 1 WEEK ago. Is this supposed to be the Chinese way? It feels to me more like the London way or should I say the international way?
In theory he was supposed to be a little bed ridden old guy and we were supposed to feel sorry for him but I have a sneaky suspicion he is just as able as I am even with my wobbly ankle and that he is more than happy to go the western way if it means taking potential tenants like us for a ride. So the conclusion is that the old, traditional ways are nothing more than smoke screens that conceal a darker, more sinister truth. There is no such thing as little old bed ridden men but instead the world is populated by loads of silver surfers spending the kids inheritance and telling their 20 year old girlfriends stories about gullible newcomers.