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Chapter 377: Chapter 367 Buying a House
Early the next morning, Ma Liguo came to pick up Shen Yunfang and her two children from the guesthouse. They had agreed to go house viewing together today.
As they entered the Hongsheng Residential Area, whenever there were people passing by, they would greet Ma Liguo with a smile, calling out "Director Ma, Director Ma," and some male comrades would even come over to offer him cigarettes.
Shen Yunfang was somewhat surprised; she hadn’t expected Li Hongjun’s comrade-in-arms to be so influential. Most importantly, it made these common folks—well... how should she put it—flatter him; it was indeed quite rare.
After Ma Liguo rejected another comrade offering cigarettes, he chuckled and said, "My sister-in-law finds this strange, huh? Hehe, I don’t have any great skills, can’t be a high official, just a neighborhood committee director, in charge of these areas."
"That’s not bad at all. Looking at how well Brother Ma manages things, everyone greets you with a smile. This is already quite impressive." Shen Yunfang didn’t grasp his meaning. The position of a neighborhood committee director didn’t seem to be that important an official. What was there for him to be proud of? But it wasn’t appropriate for her to voice this at the moment, so she just agreed with what he said.
Ma Liguo saw that Shen Yunfang hadn’t grasped the crux of the matter, which was no surprise, given that Li Hongjun’s wife hailed from the countryside. Even though she was now a university student, she was still of the countryside, and since she had never lived in the city, it was understandable that she didn’t get these things.
"Hehe, their warm greetings aren’t because they like me so much, but because of my job. There are things they need from me, so they dare not offend me," explained Ma Liguo. After a few words, seeing that she still didn’t understand, he spelled it out, "The neighborhood committee is responsible for distributing various types of household documents and also writing recommendation letters every month. Do you understand now?"
Oh! Shen Yunfang finally understood. His official position might not be high, but it was closely related to the lives of the locals, which was why they all tried to curry favor and didn’t dare to offend him.
"That’s why I said, I know everything about the houses available for rent or sale in this area," Ma Liguo laughed.
The two had reached the entrance of a courtyard house while they were talking.
Shen Yunfang took a look around. The courtyard house was still made of blue bricks, but perhaps due to many years without maintenance, it looked somewhat dilapidated from the outside. The entrance was a Ruyi Gate, the most common type used in courtyard houses, with the characters for "good fortune" carved on the gate. An already faded "Fu" character was pasted on the door.
"Wait here, I’ll knock on the door." Ma Liguo handed Manman back to Shen Yunfang and went forward to knock on the door.
"Who is it?" It took a while for a voice to come from inside the house.
"Auntie Zhao, it’s me, Ma Liguo," he called out loudly from the doorway.
If no one spoke up, Auntie Zhao inside would not open the door, as her children would come to bother her whenever they had the chance.
The door creaked open, revealing a haggard-looking old lady.
"Auntie Zhao, I’m Ma Liguo. Didn’t you say a few days ago that you wanted my help to sell your house? I’ve brought someone today," Ma Liguo explained to Auntie Zhao.
"Ah, ah, they’re here to buy the house, right? Hurry on in, let’s talk inside." Auntie Zhao’s eyes lit up upon hearing this, energetically inviting Shen Yunfang inside.
Shen Yunfang stepped over the threshold with a smile, watching Pangpang crawl in as well and then continued to walk into the courtyard.
Standing in the courtyard, Shen Yunfang looked around. The entire space of the courtyard was not very large, she estimated about seventy to eighty square meters by eye. The inside of the courtyard didn’t have a single blade of grass, but the corners were covered in dark grime.
Following Shen Yunfang’s gaze, Ma Liguo explained, "After this house was confiscated by the state, it was split and given to several families to live in. It was only when the state decided to return the houses last year that these people moved out. The yard looks a bit messy, those are coal cinders. Just needs a bit of cleaning."
"Right, right, I did intend to clean the place up properly, but as an old lady whose days are numbered, I just don’t have the energy for it anymore. If you can buy the house, I’ll give you an even lower price, you just need to tidy it up yourself," the old lady said, quickly offering to lower the price for fear that Shen Yunfang would be put off and not make the purchase.
Shen Yunfang didn’t speak, but she pursed her lips to keep from laughing. This old lady was really something, offering discounts before the buyer even mentioned negotiating the price.
Won’t she be losing money if she sells the house like this?
Without a word, Shen Yunfang followed the old lady and looked around the main house, the west wing, the east wing, and the rear house. The old lady had cleaned up the main house for herself to live in and had left the other rooms alone, which left no doubt about just how dirty and messy they were.
However, Shen Yunfang was very satisfied with the layout of the house and its price. She decided she would buy it as long as there was nothing wrong with the property.
Seizing the moment when the old lady went inside to pour them some water, Shen Yunfang voiced the question she had in mind.
Ma Liguo immediately assured her, tapping his chest, "Don’t worry, sister-in-law, this house is clean. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have brought you here. Just rest assured."
Then Shen Yunfang felt at ease, "All right, Big Brother Ma, I think the house isn’t bad, and I want to buy it. But I’ll need your help to negotiate the price."
"You’re not going to discuss it with Hongjun?" Ma Liguo was surprised. Buying a house was no small matter and usually, in such situations, wouldn’t the men make the decision?
"No need, when I left, Li Hongjun said I could make the decision myself. Besides, he’s gone back to his hometown and won’t have time anytime soon. If we wait for him to have the time to buy the house, the opportunity will have passed," Shen Yunfang said with a smile.
"Haha, okay, but sister-in-law, aren’t you going to take a look at that apartment before you decide?" Ma Liguo still thought Shen Yunfang’s decision was too hasty. In his opinion, although the apartment was a bit more expensive than the courtyard house, it was more suitable for her to live in with the children. He was also particularly inclined to recommend the apartment to her.
He hadn’t expected his sister-in-law to say she wanted to buy the house after just seeing this one. Oh, well!
"Let’s talk with this family first, and then we can go to look at that one," Shen Yunfang of course intended to do so. With housing prices so low, it was good to buy as much as possible. Even if she didn’t live there herself, it could be a worthwhile investment.
Ma Liguo raised his eyebrows, not expecting his sister-in-law to be so affluent. He remembered how Li Hongjun had mentioned on the phone that his sister-in-law was talented, that a foreigner had taken an interest in a picture album she casually drew for the children and had bought it. Ma Liguo hadn’t asked Li Hongjun how much it sold for, but seeing how his sister-in-law was acting, it seemed she must have made a considerable amount.
"Okay, as long as you like the house, leave the rest to me," Ma Liguo patted his chest.
As Shen Yunfang strolled around the yard with the children, Ma Liguo went into the house to discuss the price with Old Lady Zhao.
It didn’t take long before both of them came out, with the house ultimately being sold for 1,800 yuan.
Shen Yunfang had Old Lady Zhao find some paper and a pen, and she quickly wrote up the purchase agreement.
Shen Yunfang would pay 900 yuan first, and the remaining amount would be paid after the transfer of the property. However, if Old Lady Zhao signed the agreement, took the money, and then changed her mind about selling the house, that would not be allowed. If she wanted to back out, she would have to return five times the deposit.
Old Lady Zhao thought it over and ultimately signed the agreement, with just one request—that the property transfer be done as soon as possible.
Ma Liguo immediately said that the transfer could happen the next day. Shen Yunfang happily agreed.
