Mr. Huang felt this made a lot of sense. After all, even if the property he acquired couldn't be used for business, he could still make a profit by renting it out.

Upon reaching the town, they went to find a brokerage firm.

The broker who received the grandfather and grandson was surnamed Zhou.

Zhou Ya was a perceptive man, always greeting people with a smile. He often said, "Who knows if someone important is coming?"

Sure enough, they saw Mrs. Huang come in with her granddaughter. Both grandmother and granddaughter were dressed in fine cotton, indicating they were either from wealthy families or had some means of support.

"I'm planning to find a house or shop facing the street. Whether I buy or rent depends on the location and price."

Ms. Huang readily stated her request.

"Auntie, may I ask what kind of business your family is planning to engage in, and how much you intend to spend?" Zhou Yaren asked.

After thinking for a moment, Huang said, "It doesn't matter how much money it costs, as long as it's available. Ideally, it would be a shop in the front with a small courtyard in the back."

Zhou Yaren smiled broadly, "It's quite a coincidence, isn't it? I happen to have a few shops that I want to rent or sell."

As he spoke, he took out his notebook, which he used to keep daily records, from his pocket.

"There's a shop on the front street that used to sell general merchandise. It's not wide in front, but it's quite spacious inside. It's a shop in the front and a yard in the back."

There's also a storefront in Wenren Lane, but it's a bit further from the main street.

Another one is on Zhalan Street in the north of the town.

After Zhou Yaren finished his introduction, he looked at Huang Shi with great interest.

“Then let’s take a look at them all,” Huang replied.

Because the brokerage firm was located near the fence street, this was the first shop I looked at.

The shop is about 60 square meters in area, which looks quite spacious. There are three main rooms and east and west wing rooms in the backyard, with a small courtyard in the middle.

Strictly speaking, it's a house similar to a traditional courtyard house, except that the front building has windows facing the street.

The yard is about 30 square meters in size.

Upon entering the main house, we found that the plaster on the walls had peeled off in many places, and the bricks inside could be seen through the loess walls.

However, the bricks looked like they weren't fired very well.

There was no well in the courtyard; if you wanted to fetch water, you had to go to the big well at the street corner, which was about 100 meters away.

The homeowner asked for 50 taels of silver, saying he was getting old and wanted to sell the house to go back to the countryside to retire.

Huang looked around inside and out, said nothing, and then had Zhou Yaren lead her to the next room.

The shops on the front street are about the same size as those on the north street, around 60-70 square meters, with small backyards.

The main house has two rooms, a kitchen in the east wing, and a woodshed in the west wing. The courtyard is about 50 square meters. The asking price is 80 taels of silver. There is no well either.

The house in Wenren Lane is an ordinary residential building.

The location is right on the edge of Wenren Lane, close to the street. It's called Wenren Lane because there was once a scholar named Wen who passed the imperial examination here.

It was a great honor for a small town to produce a scholar who had passed the imperial examination. To commemorate this remarkable event, the house where the scholar had lived was renamed Wenren Lane (Literati Lane).

Fortunately, this courtyard is quite large, a proper siheyuan (traditional courtyard house).

The main house has five rooms, totaling over 100 square meters. There are three rooms each in the east and west wings, each with an area of ​​about 10 square meters.

The north-south width of the rear building is about 3 meters. The rear building is also divided into several rooms, which the homeowner used to store various things.

The yard is quite large, over a hundred square meters. The best part is that there's a well in the yard.

The location wasn't as bustling as the shop on the main street, but it was large in size. Perhaps it was also due to the celebrity effect of having produced a scholar who had passed the imperial examination. The price reached 130 taels.

After viewing the houses, Ms. Huang felt this was the most satisfactory one, as it was quite large.

In particular, there is a well, and since the family plans to run a food business, water is naturally indispensable.

"Zhou Yaren, why would the owner sell this perfectly good house?" Huang asked.

Zhou Yaren's eyes flickered.

"Hey, they said their son is doing business in another city and has made money. He wants to bring his father over to take care of him."

Huang and Zhao Qingyan had been paying close attention to Zhou Yaren's expression.

Huang's keen senses were entirely honed through hunting, while Zhao Qingyan's were simply due to reading psychology books in her spare time in her previous life.

Seeing Zhou Yaren's shifty eyes, Huang smiled faintly, "This house looks quite big. I'll wander around a bit more."

After saying that, he pulled Zhao Qingyan to look through each room again.

Finally, knife marks were found on the windowsill and door frame of the east wing of the main house. The walls were clearly freshly plastered.

I scratched it with my fingernail and saw that the tough outer layer inside the fallen plaster was a dark black.

Combining the marks on the windowsill and door frame with the recent incident of homeless people, the grandfather and grandson exchanged a glance.

Standing in the center of the courtyard under the sun, Zhou Yaren greeted the mother and daughter with a smile as they came out of the main house.

"Are you satisfied, ma'am? The materials used in this house are very exquisite."

The construction took about three months in total.

"If it weren't for his eldest son making a fortune in business, he might not have sold it even for 150 taels."

Huang looked at Zhou Yaren with a half-smile.

"Zhou Yaren, are you sure they sold the house because their son made money to take their elders in and fulfill their filial duties, and not because something terrible happened in the house?"

Zhou Yaren's face turned bright red. Although he was usually quite honest in his business dealings, this house was different.

This was something his cousin had asked him to help sell.

Something did happen in the house. At the height of the refugee crisis, the refugees attacked the town, and Wenren Lane happened to be a gathering place for well-off families.

This place is conveniently located on the edge of the area, making it a prime target for refugees to raid.

Fortunately, there were still a few strong men in the family. When the refugees broke in, they fought with them, and the fighting spread to the east wing of the main house.

Three refugees and the male owner died in this house.

This is why there are knife marks on the window sills and door frames.

After the refugees left, the eldest son, who had been doing business elsewhere, returned. Upon finding his father gone, he packed his belongings and took his entire family with him.

The house was supposedly entrusted to Zhou Yaren, but in reality, it was sold to Zhou Yaren.

The house has been transferred to Zhou Yaren's name, and the price is 60 taels.

As for whether Zhou Yaren will make up the price difference for his cousin in the future, it seems unlikely.

Transportation is underdeveloped, so we may never see it in our lifetime.

Overwhelmed with shame and indignation, Zhou Yaren bowed deeply to Huang Shi with great apology.

"It's all my fault; I didn't explain things clearly. Madam, are you satisfied with the other two houses?"

No one in Zhouya dared to ask Huang if she liked the house anymore.

"What's the lowest price you'd pay for this house?" Madam Huang asked with a smile.

"What, what, no, you know there was some terrible thing that happened here, and you still dare to buy it?"

The people of Zhouya were very puzzled. After all, people in ancient times were very superstitious.