I can bless thousands of magical powers.

Chapter 21 Buying a House
The next morning, Zhang Yuan left Chenjia Village and headed for the county town.

He went to sell rock ginseng.

When I came back yesterday evening, fortunately, this valuable medicinal herb was not discovered by Zhang Xiong, otherwise it would have been robbed by the other party just like the mountain goat.

Zhang Xiong gave Zhang Yuan a very dangerous feeling. This martial artist was definitely stronger than Gao Liehu.

Zhang Yuan tried to kill the lame hunter Gao by using a sneak attack and sprinkling lime on him, but he almost failed.

With his current strength, he has no confidence at all in facing Zhang Xiong head-on!
So you need to be patient for some time.

But Zhang Yuan believes that this time will be very short!
On the way, he disguised himself in a remote and deserted place, put on new clothes, and entered Linhe County wearing a bamboo hat.

Before stepping into the pharmacy, Zhang Yuan activated the power of the black giant ant.

Just the addition of double strength made his aura suddenly different.

Walking straight to the counter, Zhang Yuan took out the rock ginseng wrapped in a cloth bag and placed it on the counter and opened it.

He said in a deep voice: "Boss, please give me an estimate."

The drugstore owner behind the counter was startled and felt a chill on his neck, as if he was being stared at by a wild beast.

"Please wait a moment."

The drugstore owner did not dare to be negligent in the slightest and immediately began to weigh and identify the products.

Although he was quite scared, when he saw this old ginseng with almost perfect appearance, his eyes still revealed excitement, and even contained a trace of imperceptible greed.

However, Zhang Yuan's amazing aura made the drugstore owner suppress his evil thoughts.

He said respectfully, "Dear guest, this rock ginseng weighs five liang, three qian and four fen, and is between seventy-five and eighty years old. It is flawless and is a top-grade old ginseng."

If the customer is an ordinary ginseng customer, the owner of the drugstore will inevitably be picky and try to lower the price.

Zhang Yuan is obviously a warrior, so he is not someone he can easily provoke.

The owner of the drugstore observed the man's expression and asked cautiously, "We are willing to pay the highest price of 115 taels of silver for it. What do you think?"

Zhang Yuan hesitated for a moment.

This price is actually similar to his psychological price range.

Zhang Yuan tapped the counter with his fingers and said firmly, "One hundred and twenty taels!"

The owner of the drugstore replied with a bitter face: "Dear customer, the profit of this small shop is actually very meager..."

He suddenly changed the subject: "Then let's be friends!"

The profit cannot be meager, even if there is some fear in your heart, business is business!
The two sides reached a deal on this.

Zhang Yuan asked for cash.

Originally, he wanted to buy a batch of ingredients needed to make medicinal soup.

But considering that even if he sold the rock ginseng, he would not have enough silver on hand, he gave up this idea for the time being.

The top priority is to settle down in the county town!
Without any further hesitation, Zhang Yuan went straight to the dental clinic he had visited last time.

Of course, he no longer maintained the state of double strength and took off his hat.

The dentist in that dental shop still remembers Zhang Yuan.

After understanding Zhang Yuan's needs, he immediately slapped his thigh and said happily: "This is really a coincidence. Just yesterday, a family wanted to sell their house and listed it in our shop."

“I think that house is perfect for you!”

Zhang Yuan just smiled at the agent's rhetoric.

But you must go see the house.

So, accompanied by the broker, the two came to the Chang'anfang Fishing Lane in the east of Linhe City.

The house that the broker was talking about was at the very end of the alley. It had five rooms and a small courtyard made of blue bricks, black tiles and white walls. Although it was not very large, its layout and quality were good.

It is one of the better houses in Fishing Lane.

Moreover, the house has been vacated and no one is currently living there. The asking price for it is 147 taels.

Zhang Yuan bargained with the other party and only managed to get down to seven taels of silver, just to make it an even number.

I won’t give in any more.

The broker smiled bitterly and explained, "Dear guest, this is already the owner's reserve price. It really can't be any lower!"

Zhang Yuan knew very well that houses in Linhe County were always in short supply, and looking for another one might not necessarily be better.

And if he doesn't buy it today, he might sell it tomorrow.

That would require a lot more trouble.

So even though the price was beyond his original budget, this little house was really suitable.

Therefore, Zhang Yuan gritted his teeth and decided to buy it on the spot: "When can the ownership be transferred?"

The broker said, "If you are in a hurry, I can take you to the government office today to exchange the deed, but it will cost you extra money."

He spread out his five fingers and shook them: "Five taels of silver."

Zhang Yuan did some calculations.

It costs one hundred and forty taels to buy a house, ten taels for the transfer tax, and an additional five taels for expedited service, for a total of one hundred and fifty-five taels.

This does not include the commission paid to the dental clinic!

This was all the cash he had on hand, and he brought with him all the money he had hidden at home.

It’s so tight!
After all the hard work, Zhang Yuan and his mother are still unable to obtain citizenship.

The settlement fee for the two plus the first year's head tax would cost another twenty-six taels of silver!
He was thinking of buying the house first, but he didn't expect the broker next to him to read his expression and said with a smile: "Dear guest, if you are short of money at the moment, our bank can lend you some money for emergency."

Do dental clinics offer such services?
Zhang Yuan immediately changed his mind: "How much is the interest?"

The dentist held up two fingers: "Two points."

Zhang Yuan was a little surprised—a monthly interest rate of 2% is so good?

But he instinctively felt something was wrong: "Monthly interest?"

The broker looked as if he had been hit by a brick: "How is that possible? Of course it's one day's interest!"

Daily interest?

Zhang Yuan almost drew out his sword and killed the evil-minded villain in front of him.

60% interest per month is really costly!

He endured it again and again, and couldn't help but complain: "This interest rate is too high."

“Not high!”

The broker shouted: "Dear guest, you can go and ask around. In the entire Linhe County, except for the Fu Ji Bank, our brokerage has the cheapest loan interest rate."

"But if you want to borrow money from Fu Ji Bank, you not only need collateral, but you also need to find a middleman to guarantee it. It's very troublesome!"

"I really didn't cheat you!"

Zhang Yuan was silent.

He still borrowed fifty taels of silver from the pawnshop at a high interest rate.

After collecting enough money, Zhang Yuan, with the help of a broker, not only successfully exchanged the property deed, but also registered himself and his mother as residents in the county.

As the saying goes, money makes the world go round. The whole process was handled by a broker who was familiar with the yamen, and money was slid through all the way, without encountering any setbacks or troubles.

But in the end, Zhang Yuan not only emptied his own pockets, but also owed a large amount of high-interest loans to the pawnshop.

On the way back to Chenjia Village, he couldn't help but sigh that houses and household registration are really cannibalistic things.

Even if you change the world, you still can't escape the fate of being eaten!

(End of this chapter)