Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 1252 Someone Invited Sister Xuemei to Dinner

The homeowner said, "There's nothing I can do, we have to stay here. The other houses behind us all have hanging beds, it looks so precarious to me. The yard is only so big, and there are so many people, we're just grateful to have a place to lie down, why think about anything else?"

This courtyard, in your eyes, is history, a place that inspires pride; but in the eyes of us ordinary folks, it's just a crammed-in place, the kind that's barely big enough. If we weren't looking for somewhere else, we would have run away long ago. Who would want to squeeze in here?

As the group walked away, Xiao Wei asked, "What do people do in this courtyard?"

The landlord said, "I just live off the rent, so I run a small shop to make ends meet. Mr. and Mrs. Wang are both teachers; his wife went to the elementary school in Sesame Alley behind the school, and he went to No. 5 Middle School. There are a few retired people here; the older ones are all working, and the younger ones are just loafing around. These days, there's no job assignment anymore, so finding a job is a real worry."

The entire courtyard was divided into four smaller courtyards, and the original layout was no longer visible. Only the rear building at the very back still retained some of its original appearance, housing four families.

Then there's the homeowner's yard. Since there are only two houses, it's not very well built. The other two yards, on the other hand, feel like they've practically built houses over the passageways.

After looking around, Engineer Wang said, "The only thing we can do is rebuild it. I reckon the structures we've built will be ruined once the main structure is dismantled; the damage is too complete."

Mi Zhiqi said, "It's over a thousand square meters. The back cover and front door are intact. Even if it's completely destroyed, it would be a decent place to rebuild. It's still worth doing some work."

Xiao Wei said to the homeowner, San'er, "Could you help me count how many households there are? See if they're all willing to move. If everyone can reach an agreement, we'll sign the contract and settle things. If not, then forget it. We'll continue with the old arrangement."

The landlord said, "Okay, I'll help you fix it tonight."

As he left the courtyard, he encountered several residents returning home. San'er greeted them one by one, showing that he was quite popular in the courtyard.

After walking around the half-entrance courtyard again, Xiaowei said, "Let's settle it like this. Let's go to my place and sign the contract. Then I'll arrange for someone to clean up."

San'er asked, "What do you guys want this courtyard for? It doesn't look like it's for living in."

Xiao Wei said, "That's about right. My sister wants to open a coffee shop and sell books, just for leisure. I doubt she'll make any money; she might even lose money. But she's happy, so let her do it."

San'er's eyes widened: "A coffee shop? Selling books? Young master, you'd better think this through. It's not just a possibility of losing money, it's a guaranteed loss."

Chen Hui said, "Alright, then you don't need to worry about it. Do you need to close this shop? Can it run without someone watching over it?"

San'er said, "It's alright, we're all old neighbors. They'll leave you some money if you take something. Let's go. Is it far?" He had just looked around and saw that none of the people had driven. Either they lived nearby, or they were trying to scam him. Anyway, he wasn't afraid. There were still quite a few shady characters in Beijing these days.

As the group walked back, Commander Hou said as they crossed the bridge, "Actually, this restaurant is a pretty good location, with a lake view right on the street. If it's properly developed, it could be a great place."

Chen Hui turned his head and looked around, then thought for a moment and said, "Why don't you go check the price, Lao Jing, and I'll buy it? Anyway, we're going to repair both sides, so let's do it together and see what we can do with it after we're done."

The manager nodded in agreement and said, "It shouldn't exceed two hundred thousand."

The back gate of this courtyard can only be opened from the inside, so everyone has to go around to the front and come in through the main gate.

Chen Hui asked San'er, "What's your surname? I don't know how to address you. My name is Chen Hui, and his name is Zhang Wei. He's Manager Jing from our Kyoto company, and his surname is Jing."

This is Engineer Wang, our chief engineer. This is Hao Dawei, the manager of our development company. This is Commander Hou, the manager of our construction company, a colonel.

San'er nodded to each of them and said, "My surname is Ma, just call me Ma San'er. Your company is quite large, how come you have military officers here?"

Commander Hou said, "Our construction company is a joint venture between the military region and Xiaowei and his team. I serve as the manager. It's a joint military-civilian construction unit."

Once inside the courtyard, the entire front yard was a huge construction site with a large pond. Everyone had to walk around it along the covered walkway. Engineer Wang squatted down, glanced at it, and then stood up, saying, "It's alright, it can be flooded. Xiaowei, Xiaohui, in the future, if you want to do anything, just let me know first. This is a very risky situation."

Xiao Wei and Chen Hui exchanged a glance and chuckled.

Ma San'er asked, "What are we digging for?"

Chen Hui scratched the back of his head: "I originally wanted to build a swimming pool, but it turned out to be too big, and the underground water is overflowing."

Ma San'er paused for a moment, then laughed and said, "You guys are really bold. Even when we're building a well, we have to think twice and ask someone to come and check the location."

"Dad, Xiaowei's dad, where did you go to play?" Xiao Xiaohui leaned against the wall, standing under the hanging flower door on the gable of the office, tilting his head to look this way. This child was indeed well-behaved and obedient. If he wasn't allowed to leave through this door by himself, he really wouldn't come out. At most, he would secretly peek out like this.

Chen Hui walked over, picked up Xiao Xiao Hui, and kissed him: "We went to look at houses for Auntie. Where did you go to play?"

Xiao Xiaohui said, "Go, go, there are so many people in the big shopping mall. Dad, come in quickly, Grandma said it's dangerous there, if you fall in, you'll be gone in a flash."

Chen Hui turned to Manager Jing and said, "Have someone prepare a contract and bring it over. We'll sit in the back."

After the manager agreed, he went to the office. Commander Hou was talking to the construction workers. Engineer Wang, Hao Dawei, and Mi Zhiqi were all fine. Xiao Wei said, "Come sit down in the back and have a cup of tea. This place is a mess."

A group of people passed through the hanging flower gate to the back. Wang Jiwei and a few others were practicing military boxing in the courtyard. They nodded when they saw Xiaowei and the others come in. Xiaowei asked, "Is everything alright here?"

Wang Jiwei said, "It's nothing. Someone in the class asked Xuemei out to dinner, and she declined. That's all. Xiuer is doing fine."

Chen Hui turned his head and asked, "Who is it?"

Wang Jiwei said, "As for those state-owned enterprises, you should ask Xuemei for details. It's not appropriate for me to ask them directly."

Xiao Liu came out of the house: "Xiao Hui, are you having dinner at home?"

Chen Hui turned his head and looked around. There were no outsiders there. He said, "Let's eat at home. There are no outsiders here. Just grab something to eat." Xiao Liu nodded and checked the number of people.

Upon arriving at the back, everyone sat down in the cool lounge, where staff brewed tea and brought it over.

Old Chen has become familiar with the place, and the staff are also familiar with him. Xiao Wei no longer needs to go and boil water to make tea. Since they need more people anyway, they simply gave these people a raise.

These people are professionals. Even if you hire someone from outside, they might not be able to do a better job, and more importantly, you wouldn't trust them.

Ma San'er examined the items for a while, thanked the staff member who poured the tea, and asked Xiao Wei in surprise, "Are all of these yours? Did you buy them?"

Xiao Wei said, "I need a place to stay, and this place feels more comfortable. I only spent 150 yuan on this whole yard, but you charged me 20 yuan for half a yard. You're really ripping me off."

Ma San'er chuckled a few times and said, "It's all because of housing. These days, it's so hard to buy a house. With housing prices rising, which of these people in the communal courtyards of Beijing doesn't want to move out and live a quiet life?"

Everyone nodded in agreement. Back in 95, houses in Kyoto were indeed very difficult to buy, and this was true not only in Kyoto but throughout the country. The transition from subsidized housing to commercial housing was not easy.

(End of this chapter)