NOVPUB
Chapter 376: Chapter 366 Cheap, huh
Ma Liguo, with his luggage on his back, led Shen Yunfang and her two children straight to the guesthouse, which was near the new site of the Agricultural University in *North.
After placing the luggage, Shen Yunfang, holding Pangpang and Manman, shifted to the newly acquainted Uncle Ma’s arms, and Ma Liguo then took them all to eat.
In the restaurant, while having their meal, Ma Liguo began to describe the situation of the area to Shen Yunfang.
"Sister-in-law, here’s the thing," Ma Liguo said, "Hongjun asked me to help look for a nearby house, and I did find two in the past couple of days, but each has its pros and cons. I’ll ramble on about them for a bit, and you can listen first."
Shen Yunfang quickly put down her chopsticks and said, "Go ahead, Brother Ma."
"Keep eating, our conversation won’t interrupt the meal," he said, urging her to continue eating as she picked up her chopsticks again before he continued, "There are two houses near the school. One is for rent, around seventeen or eighteen square meters. I’ve been there, and the inside is decent; we’d just need to tidy up a bit to live there. It has water and electricity, but the toilet is shared. The rent isn’t expensive, six yuan a month, though the population there is dense, and there’s a shrew next door. But we’re just living there and won’t bother them, so it should be fine."
After listening, Shen Yunfang immediately crossed it off in her mind. She didn’t want to live so close to troublesome people and preferred a quieter place. Now that the school had moved here, she would have to live in the area for almost two and a half years; it didn’t make sense for her to tread on eggshells every day trying to avoid trouble. Moreover, trouble could find her even if she wished otherwise. Hence, after hearing the details, her first thought was to not rent that house.
Ma Liguo seemed to have a knack for reading people, and he could tell what Shen Yunfang was thinking just from her expression. He smiled and then said, "There’s another house, which you can either rent or buy. It’s not far from the one I just mentioned, comes with water and electricity, but the only issue is that it’s quite small, less than ten square meters. However, it is the closest house to Agricultural University; it takes less than five minutes to walk there."
As soon as Shen Yunfang heard it was less than ten square meters, her eyebrows furrowed. It wasn’t that she was picky; when she was in S City, her rented place was just over ten square meters, and she managed, but it was still claustrophobic. Living in a space less than ten square meters now would mean practically climbing onto the bed as soon as she entered the house.
"I think this house, despite being the closest to your school, isn’t quite suitable," Ma Liguo said. "It really is a bit small. You and the kids could squeeze in, but if Hongjun were to come over, there’d be no space at all." He didn’t consider that other families with five or six members managed to live in houses less than ten square meters, still raising children at that.
"Brother Ma, are there any other suitable houses?" Shen Yunfang caught on—there must be other houses Ma Liguo had to offer.
"There are two more houses, but they’re not around here; they’re in Hongsheng Community. One is a bungalow, the other a Tube Building. The building’s conditions are pretty good, a third-floor unit with around fifty square meters, and has its own kitchen and toilet. However, it’s on the third floor, which is somewhat high. It’s a bit far from your school, over thirty minutes by foot, but by bus, it’s just two stops away." n𝚘𝚟pub.𝚌o𝚖
"The third floor isn’t that high," Shen Yunfang said with a smile, finding the house appealing. A thirty-minute walk wasn’t far, and if she bought a house, she’d just get a bicycle, and that’d be that.
"Heh, indeed, all other conditions are nice, but the owner only wants to sell, not rent, and the price is somewhat steep," Ma Liguo admitted, finding the price slightly painful to consider.
"Oh, how much is it?" Shen Yunfang asked. She was keen on the place and preferred to buy rather than rent, if the price was reasonable.
"The owner says, including all the items inside, the total is two thousand three hundred yuan," which was an exorbitant asking price indeed.
Considering that a worker’s salary was only thirty or forty yuan a month, it’d take nearly ten years of saving without spending on anything else.
Shen Yunfang didn’t think the price was too expensive upon hearing it; a couple of thousand for an apartment that wasn’t a Tube Building seemed worth it to her.
"It is a bit pricey. Is the owner firm on the price? Could you negotiate a bit more with him?" She found the house suitable but wasn’t naive enough to show her hand immediately, knowing that by current standards, the price was too high.
"Sister-in-law, if you think it’s viable, I’ll take you to see it tomorrow. If you really like it, I’ll talk to the owner. I’ll make sure he peels off a layer in price," Ma Liguo declared confidently.
"Alright," Shen Yunfang agreed with a smile. "By the way, didn’t you mention another bungalow just before?"
"Oh, that bungalow is actually quite nice too, and honestly speaking, it’s even larger than the flat; it’s a single-entry small courtyard house."
Hearing this, Shen Yunfang’s eyes immediately lit up—a courtyard house in the Capital, that wasn’t just a house, it was stacks of cash.
Earlier this year, the state had returned the property rights to an old lady. But scarcely two days of peace passed before her ungrateful children came out of the woodwork, wanting to move in and ’take care of her in her old age.’ The old lady had grown cold to them over the years and didn’t want to deal with any of them, simply wishing to live out her days in peace.
Seeing the old lady not softening, those ungrateful offspring sent their children to ingratiate themselves with her one after another. As you know, elderly people hold their grandchildren dear, and though she was aware of their motives, she couldn’t resist their persistent wooing. So, she came up with a plan to sell the house. If there was no house left, those children wouldn’t bother with her, the old lady. She’d take the money and find a quiet place to live out the rest of her days," Ma Liguo explained with a hint of sadness.
Shen Yunfang felt sympathy for the old lady but grew hesitant upon hearing about her family’s issues.
"It must be difficult to sell her house, right? Whoever buys it will have to deal with her children’s disputes. Nobody wants to buy a house that brings so much trouble."
"Heh, that’s why the house is so cheap," Ma Liguo said, grinning like a fox.
"How much is it?" Shen Yunfang quickly asked, intrigued by the prospect of a good deal.
Ma Liguo held up two fingers.
"Twenty thousand yuan?" Shen Yunfang guessed higher, thinking that two thousand seemed unlikely.
Ma Liguo chuckled and replied, "What kind of house would that be, without a gold trim to justify twenty thousand yuan? No, it’s two thousand yuan."
"Two thousand yuan? That’s, that’s incredibly cheap," Shen Yunfang said, her heart racing at the thought.
