“Qingqing is right. It’s too difficult to save money to buy a house. You save enough this year, and then the price goes up. You save enough next year, and the price still goes up. I borrowed 100,000 yuan to buy a house the year before last. In the past two years, the house price has increased by hundreds of thousands. If I had saved enough money to buy a house, I would still be renting now!” Another female classmate said with a sense of sympathy. She had learned from past experience.

The others also shared their home-buying experiences, saying that they mostly bought houses with borrowed money, and very few had saved up enough for a down payment before buying a house.

“Ziqun, you have a stable job and a housing provident fund. As long as you can afford the down payment, borrowing a few hundred thousand yuan is no problem. Your and Professor Yu’s salaries are not low either, and you can pay it off in a few years,” someone advised.

“I’ll buy it myself. His family owns three houses,” Lü Ziqun said, somewhat embarrassed.

"With so many houses, why would you buy another one?"

“I just want to buy a house with my own name on it. I always feel uneasy if my name isn’t on it.” Lü Ziqun was even more embarrassed. She had discussed this with Yu Shaoning, but Yu Shaoning said she had a small-farmer mentality and scoffed at it. However, Lü Ziqun remained determined to buy a house.

Even if she doesn't live there herself, her parents and relatives can stay in her house when they come to visit, saving them the cost of a hotel.

“That’s true. Men aren’t as reliable as houses. You should buy one as soon as possible. If you’re short on cash, I have a few tens of thousands of yuan on hand. I can lend it to you first, and you can pay me back slowly.” A female classmate was very generous. She and Lü Ziqun seemed to have a good relationship.

“I’ve got my eye on a small apartment, about 80 square meters. The down payment is around 400,000 yuan, and I’m still short 150,000 yuan. Your tens of thousands of yuan won’t be enough either.” Lu Ziqun sighed. She had saved up a little over 200,000 yuan by scrimping and saving. Her parents couldn’t help her either. Her younger brother had married a formidable woman, and she dared not ask her parents for money, lest they have a hard time making life difficult for them.

The female classmate who wanted to borrow money was also in a dilemma. "I only have 30,000 yuan. Why don't you borrow some from other people and we can all chip in and that will be enough?"

The matter of the bag was thus forgotten. Sun Yurong would occasionally glance at Yu Shaoning, who was chatting at another table. The two exchanged glances, which was quite ambiguous. When she heard Lü Ziqun complaining about being poor, she couldn't help but say sourly, "Eighty-odd square meters is too small. When buying a house, you must buy a big one. Eighty-odd square meters is not enough to accommodate several guests. It should be at least 100 square meters or more."

Lu Ziqun felt uneasy and said indifferently, "Do what you can afford. I can't even afford an 80-square-meter house, where would I get so much money to buy a big house?"

"Sun Yurong, you're so rich, of course you can talk like that without understanding the situation. It's not so easy for ordinary people to buy a house. They have to save every penny and pay for decades to afford one!" The female classmate who was borrowing money said sarcasticly. She couldn't stand Sun Yurong. So what if she had a little money?

“How much money can you save by eating? Money is earned, not saved,” Sun Yurong muttered loudly, and everyone heard her. The others’ expressions also turned sour.

We are all wage earners, living on our salaries. We live a slightly better life than ordinary people, but we can't compare to bosses. So when Lu Ziqun said that it's difficult to buy a house, everyone felt the same way because they shared the same feelings. Naturally, they felt uncomfortable hearing Sun Yurong's words.

Ye Qingqing couldn't take it anymore and said, "Sun Yurong is right. You should buy a bigger house. Ziqun, why don't you just buy a three-bedroom apartment? I'll lend you whatever you're short on the down payment, no interest required. You can pay me back when you have the money."