I have to get lucky right away.

Chapter 21 Are you a wholesaler?
"Sir, what do you think of this house? It's a Victorian-style house, 90% new, two stories, with a courtyard. The back room offers a view of the North Mountain. There's a rooftop terrace where you can plant some flowers and plants, get some sun, and the location is quiet. It definitely meets your standards. The house has water and electricity, and all the furniture is complete. Such a nice house, only 300 wen a month, and we'll take care of the water and electricity for you. If you pay an extra 50 wen a month, I can also arrange for a maid to clean and cook for you. She's definitely one who worked in a wealthy family..."

While listening to Fang Yazi's chattering words, Feng Xue looked at this "mansion" carefully.

Although Fang Yazi obviously did not rent it out as a luxury house, for Feng Xue, who comes from a modern society where every inch of land is valuable, this small villa covering an area of ​​200 to 300 square meters and a yard is undoubtedly a luxury house.

However, the cheap price of three hundred coins really made Feng Xue a little unsure. Although he was very satisfied, he still asked:

"Such a nice house, why didn't the original owner live in it?"

"Alas, you don't know. The original owner of this house was also a person of some character. However, his prodigal son was addicted to gambling. He was set up in Hong Kong and owed a large gambling debt. His father was a sensible man. He knew that someone was plotting against his family's business. He was worried that his son would do something stupid again, so he simply sold his local property and returned to his hometown. This newly completed house was also sold at a low price.

"Gangdu is so close to us, so businessmen from outside will go directly to Gangdu. The rich families in the county all have ancestral homes, and the poorer ones can't afford to rent them. So this house has fallen into the hands of our brokerage firm. If you're interested, you can take it away with the house deed and the land title for 30 guan! If you find it troublesome to pay for water and electricity, we can also help you with it. I'll consider it my gift for the first three years, and I'll pay you annually thereafter!"

Feng Xue was a little tempted. After all, this little money was nothing to him. But he had only been traveling for three days and didn't even know the roads in this county. If he settled down so easily, he might get into trouble. After thinking about it, he said:
"There's no rush to buy it. I'll just live here for a few months and see how it goes. Do you have the deed with you?"

"I've got it!" Although he failed to sell the house, it was good to have some income. Fang Yazi quickly took out the carefully rolled up deed from his small cloth bag, spread it out, and explained:
"This house is rented for three months, with a five-month deposit and one-month rent. It's not that I don't trust you, but the furniture and furnishings here aren't cheap. The flowers and plants in the front and back yards have grown wild, so if you don't like them, you can dig them up and plant something else. Of course, I'll accompany you to inspect them first, so if anything's amiss, we can spot it early. Also, although this is south of the city, it's a bit remote, so you'd better get a dog or hire two security guards. Although the people in Ping'an County are simple and honest, we can't be immune to the few thieves who might steal."

During the conversation, the deed was already signed. Feng Xue simply paid the money and asked his broker to buy some new sheets and quilts for him.

The broker also had something to gain from this, so he happily agreed. But before leaving, Feng Xue suddenly stopped the broker:

"By the way, I heard that you have a witch named Jiugu here?"

Fang Yazi was not surprised when he heard this, and nodded:
"Nine-Aunt's family lives next to the rice shop in the west of the city. I happen to be going there to help you with household expenses, so I'll go with you. However, if you need anything in this regard in the future, you must go to the rice shop and ask the owner. This is also a rule."

Upon hearing this, Feng Xue nodded in agreement, and the two of them walked straight towards the west of the city without any further ado.

……

Under the guidance of the escort, Feng Xue went around the main road and soon saw a small courtyard. It looked more like an ancestral hall than a house. Standing outside the door, he could smell the scent of incense and candles.

Looking inside from the doorway, one could see the flickering eternal lamps and candles, but no statues of gods were to be seen. Instead, there were many nameless tablets and bizarrely shaped wood carvings neatly arranged on the altar. It was broad daylight and brightly lit, but it gave people a gloomy feeling that was unique to Chinese horror.

Although he had already mastered the technique, Feng Xue did not give up on this last family. However, just as he was trying to find the trace of the "Ninth Aunt", a voice suddenly sounded:
"Don't just stand there. If you have anything to say, go inside and talk."

"!" Feng Xue shuddered suddenly and looked in the direction of the voice. He saw a woman walking towards him carrying a huge wine jar. She looked to be in her early thirties, not young, but not old either. She was not beautiful, but quite attractive. Of course, since he was looking at a person, Feng Xue naturally would not forget to take a look at her age.

Well, 22791, it’s a long-lived one.

"What are you standing there for? I told you to go in, didn't you understand? Don't you know you can't block the road?"

As the woman spoke, she took a step forward and pushed Feng Xue into the door. Then, without saying a word, she carried the jar of wine to the altar that was filled with all kinds of strange things and poured the liquid in the jar into the lamp.

Only then did Feng Xue realize that the jar contained not wine but lamp oil. "Why are you still standing there? Are you possessed?"

The woman put down the lamp oil and looked at Feng Xue with a frown. Feng Xue knew that her behavior was a bit strange, so she immediately said:
"This... um, this girl, I'm here to see Aunt Jiu..."

When the woman heard Feng Xue's words, she suddenly laughed and sat down at the table in the middle of the ancestral hall. She said, "You are so sweet, young man. I am the Ninth Aunt. Tell me what you want. I'll give you a 20% discount!"

"?" Feng Xue was a little surprised when he heard this, because although this woman was not beautiful, she was definitely not the same as those fortune-tellers in his impression. But since she said so, Feng Xue could only sit down and say:
"I'm a self-taught cultivator, I don't have any mentors, I only know the basics, so I wanted to ask..."

Feng Xue was still observing the other person's expression with a relatively slow speech speed, but Jiu Gu waved her hand very decisively:

"Learn magic, huh? Sure, but you're too old, a man, and you have other skills, so forget about your main skills. I'll just sell you the other minor spells. I promised you a 20% discount, so each spell costs 800 wen. I don't guarantee you'll learn it, but I guarantee you'll learn it."

"Learn!" Feng Xue did not hesitate at all for Jiugu's directness. Seeing this, Jiugu also pulled out a dozen colorful secret manuals from under the table, just like the old beggar in Kung Fu, and slapped them on the table, saying casually:

"Pick it yourself, it's absolutely authentic!"

"..." Feng Xue's mouth twitched as he looked at the pile of secret manuals on the table. He couldn't help but glance under the table from an over-the-shoulder perspective...

"Boiled!"

Just one glance and Feng Xue almost suffered a cardiac arrest, because under the table, a black-faced ghost who looked like the most filial son of Hokage was lying there at some point!
　Regarding the imbalance in food prices and rents, this is not a bug. I made some adjustments to the prices in the book by comparing them with the late Qing Dynasty and the Shangguo period, and set them after eliminating the price chaos caused by the war.

　　As for why an ordinary sugar-coated pancake costs only one cent, a two-story villa with a small courtyard of several hundred square meters, including water and electricity, only costs three hundred cents per month.

　　The point is not just that houses are cheap, but that food prices are high.

　　Let’s put it this way, modern food is cheap because of modern planting, high-yield crops, cheap fertilizers and other factors, but in the past, food prices have always been a major consumer item.

　　For example, during the best harvest period of the Republic of China, the lowest price of grain was one silver dollar per dou of rice (twenty to thirty jin). When it was high, it was common to see seven silver dollars per dou. In modern times, even some brand-name rice with excellent taste would not cost more than one hundred yuan for thirty jin.

　　At the same time, the rent for a courtyard house in Beijing was about 20 silver dollars a month, and the most expensive house in Shanghai with water and electricity for 20 square meters did not exceed 6 silver dollars a month.

　　Mr. Lu Xun and his brother bought a beautifully decorated courtyard house in Beijing for only 3000 silver dollars.

　　So don’t always look at marketing accounts and convert their income based on grain prices. This is very inappropriate.

　　The small county in the book is equivalent to a satellite county near Shanghai, somewhat of a transportation hub, so it's quite affluent. There are some foreign-style businesses and buildings, and some wealthy businessmen have built their own houses, but the prices aren't too high; otherwise, you'd be living in Shanghai. Food prices, however, are quite the opposite: the less prosperous the area, the more expensive it is.

　　If you really have to find a conversion logic, just use one cent as 10 yuan.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)