Soon we arrived at the entrance of a courtyard house. The main gate of the courtyard house was a very common Ruyi gate. A wall was built between the front eaves pillars, with a doorway of appropriate size in the center of the wall. The door frame, threshold, door leaf and drum-shaped stone were installed in the doorway.

The door piers are mostly rectangular, and the stone carvings on them often depict patterns such as two dragons playing with a pearl, a qilin delivering a child, the two immortals of harmony and union, and auspicious clouds. Above the door frame are wooden hexagonal door studs, engraved with the characters "如意" (ruyi, meaning good fortune).

Gate tower roofs commonly feature either exposed gable ridges or barrel vaults. Exposed gable ridges are decorated with upturned scorpion tails and other ornamental elements, with floral bricks below. Barrel vaults, on the other hand, have an arched ridge. Roof tiles are typically either flat-topped tiles or barrel tiles.

The main gate is red, and its double-door design reflects the traditional Chinese symmetry. Couplets are also pasted on the gate, showcasing the unique charm and cultural atmosphere of Beijing's courtyard houses.

Li Yanjun knocked on the door, and after a while, the door slowly opened, and a tall, thin old man came out. He looked at Li Yanjun and said, "It's Xiaojun! What's the matter?" Li Yanjun quickly replied, "Uncle Hu, are you looking to rent out this house?"

The old man sized up Lin Jin and then looked at Li Yanjun, nodded and said, "It's for rent, but actually I wanted to sell. Several people came to look, but they all thought I was asking for too much!"

"Come in and talk," the old man said, opening the door wider. The two entered the courtyard. The courtyard wasn't large; there was a persimmon tree planted on the south side. In the middle of the courtyard was a stone table, with three stone benches beside it.

There's a tea set on the stone table! It seems this old man Hu knows how to enjoy life!

There are three rooms in the north building, two rooms each in the east and west wings, and three rooms in the south building. The courtyard is paved with bricks and a path connects the doors of each room. There are steps in front of each room.

The house looks old and dilapidated, but the layout is good. It would be best to buy it! Li Yanjun was chatting with Grandpa Hu about the price of the house. If they rented it all out, they finally negotiated the price down to 10 yuan a month.

Li Yanjun pulled Lin Jin aside and said, "Xiao Jin, how about this? If you think it's too expensive, we can go look at another store." Lin Jin looked at Li Yanjun and said, "Aunt Li, could you ask him how much it would cost if I bought it?"

Li Yanjun was a little shocked, but quickly went over and asked: "Uncle Hu, how much would it cost if I bought this house?"

"I quoted 20,000 yuan before, but if you want it, I'll give it to you for 19,500!"

Li Yanjun said, "Your courtyard house is indeed too old. You see, although there are several rooms, only the three on the south side are probably habitable!"

Grandpa Hu quickly said, "I only bought it cheaply because it was too old. I wouldn't have sold it if my son hadn't wanted to take me abroad. This is already the cheapest I can get. Go ask around here and see if there's anything cheaper than mine."

Lin Jin was surprised to hear that it was only 20,000 yuan, which was indeed very cheap, especially considering it was a courtyard house!

Lin Jin looked at Li Yanjun and then said, "Uncle Hu, when can we complete the formalities? I want this house."