Go back to the prosperous days and become a layman

Chapter 914 913 Obstacles on the Road to Changing Houses
“I think… this is a good plan, but shouldn’t we go back and discuss it with Mom?” Xiao Wang was afraid that her husband would speak too quickly. If they decided on it on the spot, her mother-in-law might be dissatisfied later, which would inevitably lead to conflict. She didn’t want to see such a scene.

"Okay, let's go back and discuss it." Tang Zhitong also thought that Dashizuo Hutong was a good place, nestled against the mountains and by the water. Now it might not seem like a big deal, but once living conditions improve, the young couple can take their child for a stroll in the park after dinner. Just thinking about it is wonderful.

"No rush, just let me know when you've decided. I've already spoken with the staff on duty here, so you can come over anytime you want to see the house." Although Huang Liren had reported on the vegetable garden in the Tang family's courtyard to him many times, Meng Qingfeng no longer coveted it. Compared to interpersonal relationships, the vegetable garden was insignificant.

"Thank you, Director Meng. We'll go back and discuss it, and get back to you as soon as possible." Meng Qingfeng wasn't in a hurry, but Tang Zhitong was very concerned. Having the opportunity to move to the foot of the capital was a stroke of good luck, and they had to seize this rare opportunity.

"Hmm, I'll have to burn some more money for the old lady later," Tang Zhitong secretly decided in his heart.

“Okay, whatever your schedule,” Meng Qingfeng replied cheerfully from the side.

"Director Meng, how much extra money would we need to pay if we exchanged this house?" Although he said he would go back to discuss it, Tang Zhitong felt that this house was about right, so he paid extra attention to the price.

"We've finished looking at the house, let's talk as we walk." Meng Qingfeng didn't offer a price, but instead stretched out his hand, intending to invite the young couple out.

The workers here are less tactful than the one in Xishiku. The other person opened the door and went to smoke outside, while this one just stood by and watched. How can you talk about something like this in front of unrelated people?
Meng Qingfeng could tell that Tang Zhitong and his wife liked the house in Dashizuo, so he put extra care into the price quote, even to the point of being considerate.

As the three walked out of the courtyard, Meng Qingfeng was completely considering things from Tang Zhitong's perspective: "Brother Tang, this house is quite old, and the paint on the doors, windows, and pillars is inevitably peeling, and the roof leaks. My suggestion is not to repair it for now, so that we can lower the score when the house is assessed. After the assessment is completed and the certificate is renewed, I will approve some paint for you, and you can find someone to repaint it. This way, we can save a lot of money."

"Thank you, Brother Meng, you're so thoughtful!" Tang Zhitong grabbed Meng Qingfeng's hand and shook it vigorously. What is social etiquette? This is it.

"Hey~ It's true that our company took a liking to your courtyard, which caused you some inconvenience. We'll definitely make sure to provide good aftercare." Feeling Tang Zhitong's enthusiasm, Meng Qingfeng felt the wind blowing from the lake was slightly cool, like he had eaten several ice creams, and he felt refreshed.

"Thank you, thank you! Our scoring must be fair. As your younger brother, I don't want Brother Meng to give anyone something to criticize." Tang Zhitong appreciated Meng Qingfeng's kindness but also made a request.

Money is a minor matter; the main thing is that the entire process must be flawless, both for Meng Qingfeng's sake and for my own.

"Don't worry, the rating and house exchange will be handled properly. Your side room was built with bricks from the city wall, right? The materials look very solid. The materials used in the houses here are a bit inferior, and they're a bit older than yours. Although they're larger, the total price shouldn't be too different." Meng Qingfeng naturally understood this principle. All relationships and favors depend on ensuring that people are in positions of power. If people are gone, everything else becomes meaningless.

“There are three extra rooms here, so it’s only fair that there’s a price difference. Whatever the difference is, I can make up the difference.” Although Meng Qingfeng meant well, Tang Zhitong didn’t want him to go too far. The two houses were in different locations, and if they were on the market, the price difference would be huge. It wouldn’t be right for him not to pay a penny.

“Okay, then let the comrades from the Housing Management Bureau evaluate it. That way, there won’t be any mistakes.” Meng Qingfeng was happy to see Tang Zhitong’s insistence and felt relieved.

"Director Meng, will changing houses in different districts involve land prices?" Xiao Wang, who was listening to her husband and Meng Qingfeng discussing changing houses but never mentioning land prices, interjected and asked.

"Right, I forgot about that. I kept thinking about something, but I just couldn't remember." Tang Zhitong slapped his forehead. He was so focused on changing houses that he forgot about the main expense.

These days, private houses are owned by individuals, but two taxes need to be paid every year.

One is called property tax, with a tax rate of 1.2%, which is 1.2% of the total value of the house paid annually. The total value of the house is determined by multiplying the house's assessed value by the guide price of each unit.

Another tax is property tax, which has a rate of 1.8%. This means that 1.8% of the total value of the property is paid annually. The property value is the average price per acre of the property's location multiplied by the area occupied by the yard.

To be fair, this wasn't strictly enforced.

After liberation, the Tang family paid taxes infrequently, but when the old lady transferred the house to Tang Zhitong, in addition to paying the deed tax during the transfer, she also paid off the outstanding property tax and land tax.

At that time, the Housing Administration Bureau had not yet issued a new "18-level standard land price" and was still relying on the one established in the early days of the People's Republic of China.

In the early days after liberation, the eastern end of Huashi Street was still a mass grave, and the place where the Tang family lived was also known as "Poor Eight Families," barely ranking as the thirteenth level in the "Eighteen-Level Standard" system of land in the old city area.

The price of land at grade 13 is about 140 yuan per mu. Based on this price, the Tang family only paid less than five yuan in property tax at the time.

"It's best not to get involved in this..." Meng Qingfeng responded with a wry smile upon hearing the question.

Next, Meng Qingfeng described in detail the process of searching for a house on Huashi Street:

"Both the Huashi Subdistrict Office and our company did a lot of work in the early stages of opening the store."

According to regulations, when we open a store, we need to coordinate housing with other units internally, which means exchanging housing on a business-to-business basis. However, the housing adjustment committee is very busy and has not been able to find housing.

The factories near the flower market have a lot of complaints, and the pressure is coming our way. We were forced to come and see your property.

“I understand, it’s all for the sake of work.” Tang Zhitong nodded in agreement. The Housing Adjustment Committee, also known as the Housing Exchange Office, was familiar to Tang Zhitong. This unit left forms in every unit, and anyone who wanted to exchange housing could go and register. However, most of the registrations never came to fruition. After all, they had limited manpower, and with so many requests, how could they have so much time to compare them one by one?

"According to the regulations of the Joint Office for Housing Exchange, the principle of housing exchange is 'appropriate location and basically equal quantity'. The same idea applies to housing exchange by the Housing Adjustment Committee."

The original intention of the housing exchange was to solve the problem of long commutes and scattered office and dormitory rooms for employees in Beijing. In addition, with the shortage of gasoline and the reduction of bus services this year, commuting for employees has become increasingly difficult. I believe that the office will not hold back on the housing exchange.

"I'm going to try this approach." Meng Qingfeng said frankly, yet also subtly.

Tang Zhitong had never heard of a joint office for exchanging housing with employers before, but he and his classmate Xiao Wang both understood what Meng Qingfeng meant.

"Appropriate location" means there is flexibility in it. Meng Qingfeng wanted to ignore the impact of location and try to get as close to "equal quantity" as possible.

The young couple exchanged a glance, understanding that difficulties were real, but they couldn't use them as an excuse. Tang Zhitong then asked, "Brother Meng, isn't this a bit much? It's like we're taking advantage of the public." "You can't say that," Meng Qingfeng replied, ignoring the land price and emphasizing the Tang family's contributions. "Your agreement to exchange houses is also supporting our company and the neighborhood's work!"

"Supporting your work is also for the convenience of the masses, and who knows, we might even leave behind a reputation for promoting good conduct."

Do you know how much the land price is in the Dashizuo Hutong area?
If the difference is too great, we won't only fail to gain a reputation for promoting good conduct, but we'll probably also be accused of taking advantage of public resources.

There aren't many people who dare to openly take advantage of public resources these days, and Tang Zhitong doesn't want to lose more than he gains.

"This..." Meeting Tang Zhitong's inquisitive gaze, Meng Qingfeng wiped his sweat and finally spoke: "According to the standard real estate price assessed by the Real Estate Evaluation Committee in 57, Dashizuo Hutong belongs to the fourth level, with approximately 2660 yuan per mu."

“Well, the difference in land price alone is a thousand or so yuan. If Mom knew the price, she definitely wouldn’t be happy to exchange it.” Tang Zhitong said to Xiao Wang with a wry smile as soon as he heard the price.

The Tang family's courtyard covers an area of ​​about 300 square meters, or four and a half fen of land. By subtracting the price of thirteenth-grade land from the price of fourth-grade land, it is easy to find the price difference of one mu of land.

This was no small sum of money, but Tang Zhitong didn't regret refusing Meng Qingfeng's offer of a free replacement. Compared to his bright future, the price difference had to be made up according to the rules.

"Less than a thousand, while the land in your area is now worth over six hundred per mu, so the difference is only nine hundred yuan. If you don't have the money on hand, I'll cover half for you first!"
To be honest, many employees are hoping that they can use this place as company dormitory after they move out. They have a lot of opinions about changing houses, and I have spent a lot of time and effort at the company trying to persuade them to change houses.

If you just don't change it, you'll be leaving me stranded halfway through my journey.

Meng Qingfeng brought up the matter of lending Tang Zhitong money again, fearing that Tang Zhitong might not agree to the exchange. He had gone to great lengths and finally managed to overcome all opposition and get the agreement passed in a meeting to exchange one of the two courtyards for the house. If Tang Zhitong went back on his word, he would not only lose favor but also his prestige at work.

"Brother Meng, don't worry, I definitely won't let you down. I was just saying, let's discuss how much money we still need." Tang Zhitong took out a cigarette from his pocket, offered one to Meng Qingfeng, lit it for him, and then took a few steps to join Xiao Wang in discussing the matter.

"We should have about the same amount of money. We have 400 together. I'll ask Director Ye to lend me a little more."

Ms. Wang had heard her husband's theories about school district housing quite a bit. As someone who was about to become a mother herself, she naturally wanted to provide her child with better educational opportunities. Director Ye also supported this. However, a thousand yuan was indeed a bit much, and she wasn't sure how much savings her mother had.

“I reckon your mother-in-law has about two hundred yuan. I can scrape together the rest. The key is how to explain it to our mother when we get back.” Tang Zhitong was having a headache.

The couple's savings, plus the two hundred yuan or so they made from selling chickens a while ago, are all they have on the surface. They do have quite a bit more in their personal storage space, but how can they reasonably take it out?
Xiao Wang remained silent, unsure of what to say when she got back.

Tang Zhitong was troubled: "Forget it, let's talk about it when we get back."

"Brother Meng, the price difference is indeed a bit too big. Let's go back today and discuss it with my mother."

If nothing unexpected happens, it should be this house in Dashizuo Hutong. I really like this house.

Regarding the price difference, I'd like to come see you in person tomorrow to discuss it, is that alright?

Tang Zhitong decided to put her troubles aside for the time being and get rid of Meng Qingfeng first.

Tang Zhitong loves this house; the location is too good. If she misses it, she may not have the chance to buy it again. Moreover, Meng Qingfeng has already said so much. If she gives up halfway, the two of them will be practically enemies in the future.

"Okay, I'll wait for you at work, little brother." Meng Qingfeng breathed a sigh of relief and agreed to the replacement. As for the matter of paying out of pocket, he didn't mention it again.

Meng Qingfeng has already asked him for money twice today. If he asks a third time, he'll really lose face.

After seeing Meng Qingfeng off, Tang Zhitong said to Xiao Wang, "I'm not going to work today. I'm going home now to pick up Mom, and then we'll go to Dashizuo Hutong to let her see the house. Are you coming home with me?"

"I'll wait until I get off work. You go home first. Drive carefully and talk to your mom nicely. Don't make her angry." Xiao Wang was a little worried, but he was the only one on duty delivering books today. There was always a need to deliver books, so he couldn't be away from his post for too long.

"Okay, don't worry. My bag is still in your office, you can take it back with you later." Tang Zhitong smiled, turned around, pushed out his bicycle, waved to Xiao Wang, and rode off in a flash.

Once home, Tang Zhitong didn't even bother to wipe his sweat before telling Zhang Guifang about the house-hunting trip.

"You can watch it as you like, I won't watch it anymore." Zhang Guifang took a towel off the washbasin stand and handed it to her son.

"No, that won't do. You have to go and take a look. That's where you'll spend your retirement."

The house is bordered by Jingshan Park to the east and Beihai Park to the west; both of these areas were formerly private imperial gardens.

I'll get you annual passes for Jingshan Park and Beihai Park later. Whenever you have free time, go for a stroll. Just treat it like your own home, enjoy the atmosphere, experience what it's like to be an empress dowager, and cultivate your mind and spirit.

Tang Zhitong kept trying to sweet-talk his mother, ignoring the fact that the ground in Dashizuo Hutong was solid, and tricked her into going to see a house with him.

Only after viewing the property and being satisfied with it should one bring up the price difference.

Tang Zhitong knew that his mother liked to grow vegetables in the yard, and he also knew that it would be better to use a tamper to turn the soil before taking his mother there. However, before looking at the house with his classmate Xiao Wang, Tang Zhitong did not know that the ground of the house in Dashizuo Hutong was so hard.

Now that Xiao Wang knows, Tang Zhitong can no longer use cheats to deal with it. He can only find an opportunity to "slowly" turn over the land, or find another reason to use cheats to deal with it.

(End of this chapter)