After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 760 Buying a House
Hu had no objection to what Ma said.

She also hated the Chang family, but considering that she was a younger daughter-in-law, it was not easy to speak ill of the Chang family openly. But when her mother-in-law scolded the Chang family, how could she, as a daughter-in-law, refute her mother-in-law? As a filial daughter-in-law, she would of course support her mother-in-law without thinking, not to mention that her mother-in-law was supporting her husband's behavior.

Therefore, as soon as Ma finished speaking, she nodded repeatedly: "Mother is right, mother is absolutely right!"

Haitang nodded in agreement with a big smile on her face. Ma urged her, "Hurry up and read on. What did your second uncle do later?"

Hai Changan did nothing but perform his duties honestly, which won him a good reputation in the Banner Guard. Within two days, a colleague came to him and asked him if he was interested in buying a house in the capital. How much money did he have? How big a house did he want to buy? When Hai Changan heard that there was a way, he asked the other party if he had any houses to recommend.

The other party actually had news about this. A relative of his was working in the guard post. His mother was sick and there was no one to take care of her. This relative had no brothers or sisters to help him, so he tried to transfer back to his hometown guard post so that he could take care of his mother nearby. Now his transfer order has come down, and he will leave before the end of the year, but he has not yet sold his house in the capital, so he wants to get rid of it as soon as possible.

The house is not far from the guard camp and very close to Zhengyangmen Street. The location is quite good. The house was built more than 20 years ago. It was renovated five years ago when the owner was promoted. It is now well maintained and has flourishing flowers and trees. If you buy it, you can move in directly without worrying about repairs. However, this house is called three-story, but it is not a formal layout, so ordinary officials may not be used to it. In addition, the price is not low. People without a certain amount of wealth may not be able to afford it.

However, the owner of the house was reluctant to sell the house at a low price and hoped to get more money so that he could buy some precious medicinal herbs in the capital and give them to his mother when he returned home. Therefore, he was determined not to lower the price.

However, when the colleague told Hai Chang'an the news, he also told him the advantages of the house: good location, well-maintained, surrounded by many imperial guards, close to Zhengyangmen Street, and many famous restaurants in the nearby alleys, etc. Hai Chang'an didn't care and only asked to see the house in person before making a decision.

Haijiao went with his second uncle to see the house and found that it was indeed nice. The so-called layout is different from the general three-courtyard house because it is generally a normal two-courtyard layout plus a large cross-courtyard layout. There are three courtyards, but there are two independent entrances to the outside. Among them, the normal two-courtyard has a main entrance in the alley, a normal north-facing south layout, and a doorway on the west side of the front yard leading to another courtyard. It is called a cross-courtyard, but it is actually the size and layout of a normal one-courtyard, but it opens to the outside on the west side of the courtyard. The reason for this layout is that when the owner of the house built the house, his wife's brother from her natal family also lived with them. The west cross-courtyard was actually where his wife's uncle and his family lived. In order to facilitate life, another door was opened for entry and exit.

The brother-in-law passed away a few years ago, and his family returned to their hometown, so the large courtyard had long been owned by the owner's eldest son. Now that the house was sold, naturally both houses were sold together. The owner had originally thought that if no one came to buy it, he would use some bricks and soil to seal the door leading to the large courtyard, and divide the large house into a two-entry house and a single-entry single courtyard, and sell them separately. However, in this way, the price could not be too high. He was unable to make up his mind.

Hai Changan and Hai Jiao went to see the house, and they felt that this layout was not a bad thing. The large courtyard on the west side was just right for Hai Changan's family to move in. It could be connected to other members of the Hai family, and they could have a relatively independent living space. It was much better than the current situation where he occupied the second courtyard of the Hai family, and the Hai family had to walk past his house all day to enter the main courtyard. Hai Jiao also thought the house was good. After asking the price, he felt that the money he brought from home was enough to pay for it. Moreover, the owner of the house had left most of the furniture, and the furniture was almost 70% to 80% new. All of them were re-ordered when the house was renovated five years ago. Except for some that did not suit the Hai family's preferences and needed to be replaced, the rest could all be kept, saving them a lot of trouble. Therefore, after the uncle and nephew discussed it, they immediately signed a contract with the owner of the house, and the transaction was completed within three days, and they also went to the government to file it.

Originally, Haijiao had discussed with his second uncle Hai Changan that they planned to divide the title deed of the house into two parts, with the side with two courtyards registered under his own name and the side with a large span courtyard having a separate title deed belonging to his second uncle. However, Hai Changan refused and insisted on registering the entire house under Haijiao's name.

He was still extremely wary of the Chang family, fearing that if anything happened to him, the Chang family would take over the property based on their blood relationship and bring trouble to his adoptive parents. The house was originally bought with the money from the Hai family, so how could he let the Hai family take the risk?

Hai Jiao told his grandparents about this in a letter, and asked them to persuade his uncle. At worst, the house deed could be registered under the name of his younger cousin, Xiao Shitou. Otherwise, the house he lived in could not be registered under the name of the owner. What would happen? He didn't think the Chang family would covet such a small courtyard, but with a house under their name, his uncle's family could live more at ease. After all, Hai Chang'an was also a centurion of the Qishouwei. He couldn't be a poor man without a permanent property, right? If his colleagues knew about it, who knows what kind of gossip would spread!
Upon hearing this, Ma said to Hu: "This is Chang'an's fault. He also has a share in the house we bought, but he divided it so clearly with us. Could it be that he doesn't consider us as his family?"

Mrs. Hu actually wanted to own her own house, but she could understand her husband's concerns: "Mom, don't worry about it. Second Master has just seen how snobbish and ruthless the Chang family is, so it's normal for him to be on guard. When he stays in Beijing for a few more years and cuts ties with the Chang family, he won't have to worry about them targeting him. Then it won't be too late to bring up the matter of subdividing the house. Anyway, we are at home, and we are living in the family's house. What difference does it make whose name it is in?"

Ma glared at her but said no more. Anyway, when the Hai family came to Beijing next year, her parents would decide on the deed to the house. How could the son disobey the order?
Haitang continued reading the letter.

After the house was bought, the original owner began to move out with his family. Hai Jiao temporarily lived in the inn, and took the opportunity to find out about the situation near his new home, where it was convenient to shop, where he could eat, where the neighbors of the imperial guards were, where Tao Ge Lao and the old students of Wumen lived... He was freer in his movements than his second uncle Hai Changan, so he didn't need to have any taboos. Before writing a letter back to Changan to report his safety, he had already paid a visit to Tao Ge Lao. Although the other party was very busy and could not keep him a meal, he had personally handed over the letters and gifts from his cousin Xie Wenzai, Grandpa Cao, and Grandpa Lu to him, and also met several old students of Wumen with whom he had a good relationship, and had meals at their homes.

Haijiao also met General Gu in the capital after not seeing him for several years. Now General Gu was serving in Shanhaiguan, but his younger brother had been wandering around the capital. He was very surprised to see him and directly captured his able-bodied man to help him!

Ma was puzzled when she heard this: "General Gu captured Baoshun's men? Baoshun is just a military candidate, how can he help him?"

(End of this chapter)