National Tide 1980.

October 8, 1990, 10:15 a.m., No. 59, Nanluoguxiang, Jiaodaokou, Chengdong District, Beijing.

As the driver pulled up in a Mercedes-Benz with a W140 design at the intersection, three people got out of the car: two men and one woman.

The first one to get out was a round-faced guy who got out of the passenger seat.

"Please come down and take a look. We've arrived. This is the courtyard."

As he said this, he walked up the steps, took out a bunch of keys he was carrying, found one, and unlocked the small courtyard.

Following closely behind him was Luo Guangliang, dressed like a Hong Kong gangster, wearing a silver-gray suit, sunglasses, and carrying a mobile phone.

Behind him stood a beautiful young woman, Mi Xiaohui, dressed in a white business suit and white high heels, carrying his bag and looking like a secretary.

However, once they entered the courtyard, Luo Guangliang and Mi Xiaohui didn't have a chance to properly inspect the house.

The round-headed boy couldn't wait any longer, and with his cheeks agape, he began a vigorous and earnest attempt to deceive people.

"Mr. Luo, look at this courtyard. It's the first house you see as soon as you enter the alley, a square courtyard of 400 square meters facing south. Strictly speaking, it's not a traditional courtyard house, because a proper courtyard house should have rooms in the east, west, south, and north. However, this north-facing house is tall and bright, warm in winter and cool in summer, with a front porch and a back veranda, making it eight meters wide – it's truly beautiful. Moreover, the owner is a man of great stature, not some nobody. This is the former residence of Hong Chengchou, a high-ranking official of the first rank. Think about it, let's not even talk about the house itself, just consider the auspiciousness of this place! Isn't it auspicious? This isn't a place for ordinary people; living here would definitely bring promotions and wealth. I won't ask for more; 380,000 yuan – do you think that price is reasonable…?"

Hearing the price quote made Mi Xiaohui's heart skip a beat, and she almost cried out.

There's nothing we can do. This girl just graduated from university and hasn't had much contact with society yet. Although she has an older sister in the United States, she's struggling to survive and doesn't send money home much anymore.

The son who stayed with the Mi family was actually supported by the elderly Mi couple.

So, she, who originally only acted as a temporary actress today to save face for Luo Guangliang, was naturally unable to remain calm when she heard that the price of a courtyard was equivalent to the combined salaries of her parents for a hundred years.

"Hong Chengchou?"

However, Luo Guangliang's attention was on other things.

He wasn't very knowledgeable about history, and the name sounded unfamiliar to him, so he couldn't help but look to Mi Xiaohui for clarification.

I must say, Mi Xiaohui truly lives up to her reputation as a contemporary college student; her knowledge base is quite impressive.

Luo Guangliang was not disappointed at all, and immediately gave a more detailed explanation.

Hong Chengchou was a Ming Dynasty general who surrendered to the Qing Dynasty and a founding hero. He held high-ranking positions in both the Ming and Qing dynasties. In the Ming Dynasty, he served as Minister of War and Governor-General of Jiliao. Emperor Shunzhi of the Qing Dynasty also highly valued Hong Chengchou, promoting him to Grand Secretary and putting him in charge of the southern war. At that time, Hong Chengchou adopted a strategy of "primarily appeasement and secondarily suppression," pacifying Jiangnan for the Qing Dynasty at a relatively low cost. He died during the reign of Emperor Kangxi, who issued an imperial edict posthumously granting him the title of Junior Tutor, the posthumous name Wenxiang, and ordering his burial in Chedaogou, the capital, with an imperial stele erected. In short, he was a meritorious official for the Qing Dynasty but a traitor to the Ming Dynasty.

This, in turn, provided Luo Guangliang with a good opportunity to negotiate a lower price.

“Traitors…” Luo Guangliang complained, immediately finding his point.

"Manager Meng, you made it sound so impressive, I thought you were some kind of remarkable person. Turns out you're just a traitor to the nation? You've gone too far with this joke. Do you think this price is reasonable?"

Manager Meng, with his round head, was somewhat embarrassed at this point, but he refused to back down verbally.

"That's not how it works. It's normal for historical figures to be controversial, but Hong Chengchou's knowledge and abilities are undeniable. Besides, no matter what, a minister is not the same as a eunuch. Wasn't Yan Song infamous? The signboard of Liubiju restaurant is proud to have his calligraphy on it. If I were to offer you Li Lianying's former residence, I would be ripping you off. Famous figures with significant historical importance in the history books are ultimately different."

It has to be said that this guy is quite eloquent. He knows the story of Liubiju and specifically brought up Yan Song's inscription, which actually helped him cover up the matter. Luo Guangliang really couldn't make a fuss about it anymore.

However, Luo Guangliang was, after all, someone who spent most of his life mingling with the underworld.

He has dealt with all sorts of people, from the most educated to the most uneducated, from the most shady to the most vulgar.

After the reform and opening up, he continued to work with Ning Weimin, and learned a lot about business under his influence.

Although he is honest and kind, not good at speaking or scheming, his social experience is not in vain. He can be considered a very high-quality grassroots hero of this era.

Having long been familiar with the tricks of bargaining in the business world, his eloquence had improved considerably, and he was still able to keep up.

"Okay, okay, even if what you say makes sense, there's something just not right about this house to me..."

"Not right? What's wrong with it?"

"Isn't it obvious? According to what you said, Hong Chengchou was a high-ranking official in two dynasties. Based on that, his residence should have multiple courtyards and buildings to match his status as a high-ranking official. But what's this courtyard like? The gate is small and simple. Pushing it open, the courtyard is cramped and lacks a garden, a covered walkway, or a series of courtyards—no signs of a high-ranking official's residence whatsoever. There are only very practical living rooms and a kitchen, red brick walls, and a small gray building, making the red pillars and green tiles of the three northern-facing rooms seem out of place. We all do this kind of work, you don't think I know nothing, do you? To be honest, we have a small courtyard in Shijia Hutong where an unknown imperial uncle once lived—it was a quiet fourth-rank official's residence." The house was supposed to be three courtyards and two bays across. Your courtyard, at most 400 square meters, is way too small. Where is there any trace of a large scale? And this gate—it's clearly a side gate, not a proper gate. A first-rank official's main gate would have occupied at least a room, perhaps a grand gate with golden pillars or a wide, bright gate? Finally, there's a crucial flaw: after the Qing dynasty entered the Central Plains, they implemented a policy of Manchus living in the inner city and Han Chinese in the outer city. Hong Chengchou was Han Chinese, so he should have lived in the outer city. This is the inner city; even if you were buying an old house in the Ming dynasty, you'd probably have to move out. Is that right? So, with all this, you still dare to ask for 380,000? Don't you have any shame?"

Well, this really hit a nerve. Luo Guangliang's insightful words immediately turned Manager Meng's expression from sunny to cloudy, and he became quite flustered.

Even Mi Xiaohui, a college graduate, showed a gleam in her eyes, revealing a look of surprise.

No one expected Luo Guangliang to be so knowledgeable. He not only found a breakthrough in housing regulations, but he was also not a complete novice when it came to historical allusions.

"Oh dear, what are you saying?" Manager Meng quickly tried to smooth things over. "President Luo, you certainly have a keen eye, and what you're saying is indeed expert advice. But I, Old Meng, am not one to spout nonsense; I'm definitely not making this up. It's like this: the main gate of the Hong residence originally opened in Fangzhuanchang Hutong, and it must have spanned the entire Heizhima Hutong back then. It was quite large, and there were even two Yuan Dynasty iron lions at the entrance of the Hong residence in the old days. But after two hundred years of historical changes, the family gradually declined, and the house has changed hands several times, all of it being demolished and sold off. In addition, after the Qing Dynasty entered the pass, although a policy was implemented that Manchus lived in the inner city and Han people lived in the outer city..." However, there are always exceptions. Hong Chengchou, due to his outstanding achievements, was granted the Bordered Yellow Banner by the emperor, effectively allowing him to reside freely within and outside the city walls. Moreover, he owned two residences. We know this is Hong Chengchou's old residence from historical records. Although historical materials about Hong Chengchou's life are not abundant, we found relevant information in the *Draft History of the Qing Dynasty* and the *Biographies of Qing Officials*, confirming that this is indeed his former residence. You can rest assured about the provenance of this house. Of course, it's also true that the courtyard isn't entirely complete. How about this, I'll give you another discount… I'll reduce the price by 20,000, is that alright?”

Manager Meng was quite tactful; he first perfectly explained Luo Guangliang's suspicions.

After all, Yunyuan is a case in point; the original main gate of the Ma Family Garden, along with a two-courtyard complex, was taken away.

Currently, Yunyuan can only be entered and exited through the back gate. The courtyard is quite nice, but the lintel's design doesn't match the overall style, a situation Luo Guangliang is aware of.

Moreover, what made Manager Meng so shrewd was that after explaining things clearly, he took a step back.

In this way, he completely shut down the regulatory loopholes with a mere 20,000 yuan price reduction, which made him appear "noble and virtuous".

Dissatisfied, Luo Guangliang remained silent for a while before shifting his focus and nitpicking about the quality of the house once again.

“What you say makes sense, I admit. According to you, this courtyard does look decent. But 360,000 is still a bit too expensive. Because you’ve made quite a few changes to the structure. Look, you’ve turned this porch into a house, haven’t you? And these trees, they’re half-dead, are they even straight? Should I uproot them? And this little courtyard, the door’s broken, should I add a new door? And this, what’s this little building? It looks like a self-built house, I have to tear it all down. The grape trellis is alright, I can keep it…”

After he had been nitpicking enough, he sighed again.

“I told you to think about it too. If I were to buy it, just this one renovation would be like rebuilding the entire place. Wouldn’t it cost at least 140,000 to 150,000 yuan? To be honest, your yard is too old. It would be too expensive for me to repair it.”

Now that his weakness had been hit again, Manager Meng couldn't back down. "Actually, this yard hasn't been in our company's hands for very long. It was all done by the previous people..."

But just as he was about to explain, Luo Guangliang refused, not letting him say anything more this time.

"Hey, let's just talk about the immediate issue of buying the house. Nothing else matters, let's not discuss that, okay?"

"So, you mean..."

"Please give me a fair price."

"Three hundred and fifty thousand..."

"That's the price..."

"Still not enough? You're so wealthy, you can't be short of money, right? I've calculated this price, it's not high. If it weren't for you paying the full amount upfront, I wouldn't sell it for 400,000."

Manager Meng's face had turned completely gloomy; it looked like it was about to rain.

Luo Guangliang seemed to know that was about it, but he still had a workaround.

"I'm not bad, but I don't just plan to buy this one set from you. I'd like to have a long-term business relationship with you. Could you lower the price a bit more and let me have a turnaround, so we can have a clean and straightforward deal? How about it?"

"Really? You want other apartments too? Our company has dozens of residential and commercial apartments in Shijingshan. We got them through connections. Would you like to buy a few? We'll charge you 1,600 yuan per square meter."

"Isn't the location a bit too remote?"

"It's not far, just next to the Third Ring Road. The subway station is only a few hundred meters away..."

"It's the suburbs, after all. You can see fields right there. I still prefer the traditional courtyard houses in the city. Do you have one? Preferably one like this. Or even bigger would be fine..."

"And don't even mention it, we also have a courtyard house we just acquired in Guangningbo Hutong, Xicheng District. It's in better condition than this house, and twice the size..."

"Alright, alright, let's talk about housing in Shijingshan instead..."

In the end, Luo Guangliang acquired the 400-square-meter former residence of Hong Chengchou, along with several three-bedroom apartments in Shijingshan District, for 600,000 yuan.

This generous gesture finally pleased Manager Meng, making him feel that his trip today had been worthwhile.

Mi Xiaohui, on the other hand, felt a surge of curiosity and doubt, eager to find out the answers as soon as possible. (End of Chapter)