Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 435 Negotiating the Price

Zhang Huzi laughed, tossing the steamed bun in his hand into a basin beside the earthen stove, and said, "It hasn't been that long, more than fifty years. It was built after Liberation, I mean after the liberation of Fengtian. My grandfather was in the army at the time. After they came in, he brought the whole family here and built this courtyard. It's not as big as it used to be. These three buildings next to the road also use our land. The school in front also took up some of it. It used to be quite big, with vegetable gardens attached."

Xiao Wei laughed and said, "Your family must have made a fortune. How much money did they give you? Such a big piece of land!"

Zhang the Bearded Man took out a cigarette and lit it, saying, "What money? Back then, the government was so poor they couldn't even pay salaries. They just arranged jobs for my two uncles and the four of us brothers. Back then, being able to work was better than anything else."

From its founding until the early 80s, the government of the People's Republic of China was the poorest government in the world. This is no joke. Not being able to pay salaries was not a big deal. It was common for police officers to pay out of their own pockets to handle cases. Back then, people would rather spend money to get a job in a factory than work in the government. Most of the people with connections and abilities worked in factories and enterprises.

The factory manager drives a car, and the mayor rides a bicycle; no one finds it strange anymore.

Then, the first generation of corruption was entirely within corporations.

Xiao Wei said, "This house belongs to you now, right? Don't let it fall into the wrong hands if you try to sell it later."

Zhang Huzi laughed and said, "How could that be? This house belongs to both my brother and me. He works in Tiexi and his company allocated him a house. I discussed the sale with him, and he agreed, so I made the arrangements. We'll just split the money when the time comes."

Chen Hui said, "Why would you sell a house when everything else is fine?"

Zhang Huzi said, "I've lived here for decades, I'm fed up. My workplace gave me an apartment building with heating and running water, it's much more comfortable than this place. This building will collapse if no one lives in it, and it needs someone to take care of it, but we don't have the money to do that. Besides, we were thinking of selling it to make some money to start a small business."

Chen Hui said, "You have such a big house, why not do business here? It'll save you the expense of finding another place."

Zhang Huzi said, "Come on, don't try to fool me, brother. What can you do with a house sandwiched between a school and a park? Besides, look at this area, it's full of poor people. Who are you going to sell it to? I understand you haggle when you buy things, but this is way too obvious."

All four of them burst into laughter. Xiao Wei asked, "How much are you planning to sell it for? How big is your entire plot of land left? Does that include the pond?"

Zhang, stroking his beard, looked out the gate and said, "This whole area is mine. It extends from the school to the side, and even the drip edge of that building is mine. And over here, see that shed? The green one? That's the neighborhood committee's property, but that's mine too. The neighborhood committee building is that one; half of it is mine. The area behind it, and the area between it and the park wall, is also mine. But my sister-in-law works there, so I can't really say anything. In total, it's at least eight mu (approximately 0.33 acres)."

Xiao Wei glanced at Chen Hui and said to Zhang Huzi, "Can we take back the land that these units and stuff occupy?" Chen Hui didn't understand what he meant, but he didn't say anything more.

Zhang Huzi said, "I'm not good at asking, we've been neighbors for decades. But if it's for sale, I can take it. Just say the word. If you want to buy it, I'll help you get it back. You can just put something on the ground to block it. Why do you want to buy it?"

Xiao Wei said, "My parents are from the countryside and they're not used to apartment buildings. They'd like to live in a bungalow with a vegetable garden and raise some chickens and ducks. Your place is enough, but the house is a bit old, and it'll cost some money to clean it up."

Zhang Huzi said, "The beams are all in good condition. They collapsed a few years ago under the weight of snow, so they leak a bit. The purlins were a bit rotten, but I've repaired them all. If you want to fix it, just remove the top and replace the purlins and rafters. You don't need to do much else, but you might have to replace all the tiles. These tiles are older than me."

Chen Hui said, "No wonder others always take over your land. You can't even put up a wall or a fence, how can you tell the difference?"

Zhang Huzi laughed and said, "It's too big. It will take a lot of time and money to repair the fence. Besides, everyone in this area is an old person. They all came over and said something when it was occupied. Anyway, it's so big, it won't make a difference if it's just a little bit more."

Back then, people didn't think land was valuable at all. Unless they were farmers, they didn't care about the land. In the city, everyone who could work was working, so who would farm? Xiaowei kept talking to Zhang Huzi about buying a house. Only a fool would discuss buying land. Land follows the house. Once you buy a house, the land naturally belongs to you. That's why he stopped Chen Hui from discussing land earlier.

Xiao Wei said, "Look at the state of this place now. It looks so awkward. The three of us were talking about it before you left. It's uncomfortable to look at. If we buy it, you have to help us tidy up the edges. I need to build a fence so we can farm. Besides, it looks better when everything is neat and tidy."

Northeasterners tend to be a bit obsessive-compulsive, always striving for neatness and straight lines in everything they do.

Zhang the Bearded Man said, "You're new here? I've been watching for decades, I'm used to it. How much money can you offer?"

Xiao Wei said, "You name your price for the house. If it's right, we'll buy it; if not, we can just consider it a casual stroll."

Zhang Huzi said, "Although this house is a bit old, it's spacious. The house and the annex together are over 400 square meters. Originally, about 20 people lived here. Including the yard and the pond, which my dad and his family dug back then, it was just a water pit. There was also a well next to it, about 30 meters deep. My brother and I discussed that we should sell it for at least 50,000 yuan, otherwise it wouldn't be worth it."

Xiao Wei looked at the pond outside and thought for a while before saying, "Okay, I'll call a few people over. You help me point out your land so I can mark it, and we can build the fence first. I won't take advantage of you; your price is a bit high. I'll give you 35,000 yuan. I'll give it to you after you sign and put your fingerprint on it. I won't owe you a penny, okay?"

Zhang the Bearded Man took a drag of his cigarette, his hand trembling slightly, and said, "Thirty-five thousand, isn't that a bit low? How about I lower the price to forty-five thousand?"

Xiaowei said, "Reconstruction requires approval and costs money. If it doesn't get approved, I'll be stuck with it. Do you think that's true? Forget it, I won't argue with you. You're quite honest. Forty thousand yuan, don't even mention it. Xiaohui, do you have any money in the car?"

Chen Hui said, "Yes, I scraped together some money before going to Jibei, but I didn't have it with me. I'll use it for now, and I'll figure something out over there." He went out to get the money from the car. Xia Maosheng stared blankly at Chen Hui's back, completely taken aback. What perfect teamwork!

(End of this chapter)