Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 170 Magical Reality

In the old days, there was a saying in Yanjing that the east was rich, the west was noble, the north was poor, and the south was humble. There were several versions of this saying passed down by the common people, but in summary, it was:

Most wealthy businessmen live in the East City, high-ranking officials live in the West City, and the North City is generally where ordinary people live. The population of the South City is more complicated. In addition to the poor people, there are also many wandering performers.

For many people in Yanjing, the identity of the previous owner can be known by looking at the structure of the courtyard house in the alley.

The tiles on the roofs of the houses of officials are double-layered, while the tiles on the roofs of ordinary people can only be single-layered;

Officials have pillars on the doorframes of their main gates, but ordinary people are not allowed to have them;
Officials have stone pillars in front of their doors. The round ones are for military officials, and the square ones are for civil officials.

In some courtyards, there are squatting or lying lions in front of the gate, which means that the owner is a royal relative. The bigger the lion, the closer the relationship with the royal family.

The houses with four pillars on the door frame belong to officials above the fourth rank, while the houses with two pillars belong to officials below the fourth rank.

After entering the alley, Lin Erchun kept showing off to Lin Chaoyang the knowledge he had learned from looking at houses in recent days.

Lin Chaoyang couldn't help but look at him with admiration, "Not bad! Comrade Lin, you've only been in Yanjing for more than half a month, and you're almost catching up with old Yanjing!"

Lin Erchun showed a proud look on his face, but he said modestly: "You will understand it naturally after seeing it more."

When he arrived at the gate of the courtyard, Lin Chaoyang looked at the gate of the house as Lin Erchun had told him.

There are no lions in front of the gate, so he is not a royal relative. There are no pillars on the gate, so he is not an official. There are stone pillars in front of the gate, but they are about the size of larger bricks.

"Can you give me some guidance? What kind of family is this?"

"This family is an official and not an official."

"What do you mean?"

"The eunuch's house!"

"Eunuch?"

Lin Chaoyang couldn't hold back and almost laughed out loud.

Comrade Lao Lin entered Yenching University and his cultural level was obviously greatly enhanced. He even knew the word "eunuch".

"What's the matter? Do you look down on eunuchs?" Lin Erchun asked.

"That's not true."

The father and son chatted and knocked on the gate.

The person who opened the door was a young man with a long face and triangular eyes. He was the owner of the house, named Li Quanfu.

After saying hello and entering the yard, Li Quanfu took Lin Chaoyang and his son around the yard.

After entering the courtyard, there is a landscape screen wall, the pattern on which has become blurred. On the south side of the first courtyard, there is a north-facing back house, which is now idle.

After passing through the hanging flower gate, I entered the main courtyard. There were two pomegranate trees standing on the east and west sides of the courtyard, both of which were bare at this season.

There are three main rooms in the courtyard, and three wing rooms on the east and west sides. The layout is clear at a glance.

According to Li Quanfu, his great-grandfather's eldest brother worked in the palace in his early years. Because he was related to the eunuch Li Lianying, he became an eunuch. Later, he got married and adopted his grandfather as his own.

Later, the Qing Dynasty fell, and his eunuch great-grandfather died a few years later, and the house was passed on to his grandfather.

Because his grandfather and father had a miserable life during the Republic of China, the house was managed to be preserved in his generation.

"Then why did you want to sell it?" Lin Chaoyang couldn't help asking after listening to Li Quanfu's painful account of his family history.

"Hey! Isn't this all because of the company's housing allocation? I've been married for several years and have a child. Logically, the company should allocate a house to me.

But the company said that some colleagues reported that their mother’s family has an ancestral home, so they have to give priority to those colleagues who have no house.

It's my fault that my mother owns a house! Tell me, how can I get justice for this?

My wife and I discussed it and decided that we should just sell the ancestral house. Didn’t the company say that we won’t get any share if we already have a house?
Now there is no room, let’s see what they will do!”

Li Quanfu said this with some anger, but it sounded magical to Lin Chaoyang.

In order to get the house allocated by the company, you sold your ancestral courtyard house in Xicheng District of Yanjing?
At first glance, this seems irrational, but if you think about it carefully, considering the social conditions and people's ideas in the 1970s and 1980s, it seems to make sense.

First of all, nowadays, the house itself does not have financial and investment attributes, only residential attributes.

Whether it is the mud houses in the rural areas of Northeast China or the courtyard houses in the city of Yanjing, the price and value gap is not that big.

Nowadays, as long as there is a formal company, the employees can generally be allocated a house to live in, it’s just a matter of size.

If Li Quanfu and his wife are both working, then they have completely given up the opportunity to own a separate house. From the perspective of ordinary people, this is indeed a disadvantage.

When Lin Chaoyang wanted to buy a house, didn’t his relatives and friends persuade them from this perspective?

It’s just that Lin Chaoyang’s perspective on thinking is different from that of most ordinary people today, so he firmly chose to buy a house.

Li Quanfu said with a sly look on his face. He winked at Lin Chaoyang and said, "Besides, isn't it a lot of money if we sell our ancestral home? If we put it in the bank, the interest in a year is higher than my salary."

After Li Quanfu said this, a smug look appeared on his face, leaving Lin Chaoyang speechless for a moment.

Since 72, the five-year deposit interest rate of domestic banks has been above 7%, and in the mid-9s it soared to %.

From today's perspective, Li Quanfu's choice was definitely a good one.

Even Lin Erchun who was standing by was moved after hearing this. He was a calculating person, and he was thinking about it in his mind. He pulled Lin Chaoyang aside.

"Son, what he said makes sense! Instead of using the money to buy a house, it is better to deposit it in a bank for five years. In seven or eight years, the money will double. Isn't it much better than buying a house?

This money was deposited in the bank for ten years, and all the money for the house came out.”

In another ten years, you won’t be able to buy this house even if you pay two or three times the price, Lin Chaoyang muttered to himself.

“It just sounds reasonable.”

"What do you mean?"

As the father and son were talking in private, Li Quanfu seemed to have noticed something and realized that his words might have backfired and discouraged the buyer from buying the house. He felt very regretful. He thought about it and quickly tried to make up for it.

"But it depends on how you look at it. My family left a few years ago, so I don't need to worry about her parents. The company gave us a small house, which is enough for us to live in.

I heard from Uncle Lin that your hometown is in the Northeast, and your family will live together in the future. This house of ours is just right, with many rooms and a large space, which is enough for whatever you want to do."

Lin Chaoyang smiled and nodded, "Indeed."

Lin Erchun touched him implicitly, signaling him not to agree with Li Quanfu, otherwise it would be difficult to bargain when the time came.

After chatting with Li Quanfu for a while, Lin Chaoyang and his son looked around the courtyard inside and out.

The overall structure of the yard is well maintained, but it is impossible to take a close look. Apart from anything else, the repairs alone would probably cost a considerable amount of money.

This house is nearly a hundred years old. By the time it was passed down to Grandpa Li Quanfu’s generation, the family’s financial situation had deteriorated and they didn’t have the money to renovate it, so they just lived in it as is.

If you want to live more comfortably and renovate the house, it will cost you more money.

After looking at the house, several people sat in the main room. Li Quanfu asked, "How is it? What do you two think?"

Lin Chaoyang said: "The house is not bad."

Lin Erchun frowned. "It looks good at first glance, but a closer look reveals that there are too many broken and tattered places. If I buy it, it will cost a lot of money just to repair it."

Bargaining is something that is ingrained in the Chinese people's genes, so Li Quanfu naturally knew the purpose of Lin Erchun's words.

"Uncle Lin, you can't look at it that way. This house is over a hundred years old, and it's already very valuable to be able to maintain the condition it is in today. In a few years, it might even be an antique."

Lin Erchun said with a smile: "If you keep it, it will probably become a family heirloom."

Li Quanfu was rejected by him and looked at Lin Chaoyang again.

"Brother Lin, our house is not like those big compound outside. Since it was built, only this family has lived here.

Do you see the tiles on the roof? They are double-layered. The beams and columns were all made of yellow pine wood, which is good stuff.

With the materials used in this house, you can live here for another hundred years without any problems."

After Li Quanfu finished speaking, he saw Lin Chaoyang was silent and felt a little uneasy.

Although the volume of private housing transactions is now higher than before, without agents and the Internet, it is not easy to meet a buyer who sincerely wants to buy a house.

What's more, Li Quanfu also knew that the price of his house was much more expensive than ordinary houses, so it would be even more difficult to find a suitable one.

If he delays it for another year or two, he will feel sad just thinking about how much interest the money can earn in the bank.

"Brother Li, if you are sincere in selling it, you might as well give us a sincere price." After waiting for a long time, Lin Chaoyang finally spoke.

Li Quanfu felt relieved after listening to his words. It was good that they could negotiate the price.

But at the same time, he was a little embarrassed. Lin Chaoyang asked him to make an offer first, which was not good for him.

"Brother, you have seen my house, there are good things inside and outside..."

Before Li Quanfu could finish his words, he was interrupted by Lin Erchun, "Xiao Li, let's talk about something practical."

"How much money do you say?"

Lin Chaoyang and Lin Erchun looked at each other, opened their lips slightly, and uttered a number: "Four thousand yuan."

"That won't work!"

When Li Quanfu heard the price, he stood up and said, "Go ask around in Yanjing. When has a courtyard house with two courtyards ever been sold for this price?"

Lin Chaoyang looked at Li Quanfu's reaction. Didn't he curse? Good news!

He said amiably, "Brother Li, no matter how good the materials used were, that is what happened back then. If this house is not repaired after a hundred years, how many years can we still live in it? If your house is new, let alone four thousand yuan, I can accept ten thousand yuan. Isn't that right?"

"It's your business if you guys come in and spend money, but it's fine for us to live in this house, right?
Four thousand dollars is definitely not enough. I’m in West City, and even a house here doesn’t cost that much!”

Lin Chaoyang asked: "Then tell me what you think, how much money do you think is appropriate?"

Li Quanfu hesitated for a moment and did not dare to say more, "Six thousand eight."

Lin Chaoyang shook his head. "Too high."

Li Quanfu was still waiting for him to continue bargaining, but he didn't expect Lin Chaoyang to keep silent after saying these two words.

The atmosphere in the room fell into silence.

After a while, Lin Chaoyang pretended to get up, and Li Quanfu's heart skipped a beat.

Without waiting for Lin Chaoyang to speak, he took the initiative to ask: "Then tell me, how much is it?"

Lin Chaoyang looked at Li Quanfu and said, "You are sincere in selling, and I am sincere in buying. How about this, 5,500 yuan. If you think it's okay, let's go to the Housing Management Office tomorrow. If not, you can try again, maybe you can meet a buyer who is willing to pay an offer."

Lin Chaoyang's words were like an ultimatum. After hearing this, Li Quanfu hesitated and looked embarrassed.

His desired price was actually 6,000 yuan, which is also the general market price for two-story houses in Xicheng today.

Lin Chaoyang offered 5,500 yuan, which was just at the limit of what he could afford.

This price seemed to be five hundred yuan less than the reserve price in his mind, but if he missed the buyer Lin Chaoyang and had to wait another year or two, he would not get the money and would not get the bank interest. It would be the same inside and out, so he might as well sell it first.

While Li Quanfu was frowning and thinking, Lin Erchun was secretly observing his expression. After exchanging glances with Lin Chaoyang, he understood what he meant.

“Xiao Li, selling a house is a big deal, there’s no rush.

We have already offered our prices, you can go back and discuss it with your family. Don't force yourself, maybe you can meet a buyer who offers higher prices than us later.

That's all for today, we two will leave first."

After Lin Erchun finished speaking, the father and son stood up and prepared to leave.

(End of this chapter)