The story of this house in Douzui Hutong is a mess.

To give a recent example, ten years ago, after it was occupied by someone, no one lived there, and the house has remained vacant ever since.

Until recently, for some reason, the owner was in a hurry to sell, so the price was set very low, with only one requirement: to sell it as soon as possible.

"However, their stated reason was that they were going abroad, and since they no longer lived in the house, they sold it."

Xiao Sun whispered to Zhou Hongsong, "But I've vaguely heard that the old man of this family is under investigation and is currently clearing out his assets!"

Li Xiangdong was short of cash, but after hearing what Xiao Sun said, he had an idea. "I have a small yellow croaker weighing about a pound. Do you want to ask that shop for it?"

Gold is valuable, retains its value, and is easy to hide.

Xiao Sun agreed to ask. By this time, he already knew that the real buyer was Li Xiangdong. "But you'd better be prepared for both possibilities. If they don't want the small yellow fish, you'll have cash to go with."

Early the next morning.

Xiao Sun came running over, panting, just as Li Xiangdong and the others were having breakfast. Zhou Hongsong even offered him a bowl of soy milk.

"No more drinking, bro. That family's waiting in Douzui Hutong with their property certificate. Let's hurry and grab the money and go over there! Let's transfer the property now! Oh, and bring Little Yellow Fish with us!"

When Xiao Sun mentioned the small yellow croaker at the end, he deliberately lowered his voice.

Li Xiangdong stuffed the fried dough stick into his mouth in a few bites, wiped his hands, and went inside to get the money he had prepared in advance.

Zhou Hongsong, Bai Yulong, Luo Yonggang, and Wu Jianjun, who had been waiting at home, followed behind him and accompanied him.

The property transfer was completed quickly; before noon, the name on the property certificate had changed to Li Xiangdong.

Wu Jianjun said enviously, "Xiang Dong, you're really amazing. You're so young and you already own two courtyard houses in Yanjing."

Just think about his family: his parents, his eldest brother and sister-in-law, his second brother and sister-in-law, and his eldest sister and brother-in-law—four families crammed into three small rooms of 40 square meters, and they still look down on their neighbors who live in upper, middle, and lower bunks!

Li Xiangdong patted Wu Jianjun on the shoulder, "Brother Jianjun, don't be sad about your savings. If we have any good business opportunities in the future, you should invest in them. I believe that in the near future, you will be able to own your own house."

Wu Jianjun scratched his head and smiled sheepishly. He was indeed a little reluctant to risk his family's savings, after all, it was the capital he and Zhou Hongmei would use to make a living in the future.

However, Xiang Dong is right. If we just rely on saving our salary, we'll never be able to afford our own new house!

Thinking of this, he exclaimed loudly, "I understand!"

Wu Jianjun is a kind person, and most importantly, he is not greedy.

He was quite at ease having someone like that keep an eye on his antique business.

Since he was going to use this person, Li Xiangdong couldn't treat his own people poorly, so he kindly gave him a couple of pointers and also offered him a glimpse of the future.

"I think you've learned enough from Grandpa Jin. Once we find a suitable shop, we'll open an antique shop, and you'll be the head manager!"

Before Wu Jianjun could even get excited, Xiao Sun came over first.

It's possible that this little Sun is indeed a descendant of Sun Wukong, and the skill of taking advantage of others might be ingrained in his blood.

"Brother Xiangdong, you just said you wanted to buy a shop? I happen to have a few, would you like to take a look?"

As he spoke, he pulled a tattered, frayed notebook from his military satchel, spat on his fingers, flipped through a few pages, and finally pointed to a few lines of scrawled handwriting, saying, "Look, this shop is on the west side of Qianmen Street, three storefronts, 57 square meters in area, selling for 18,500 yuan. This one is in Xiaojiang Hutong, two large storefronts, 89 square meters in area, two floors. This one is a bit expensive, asking price is over 39,000 yuan, but this one is negotiable..."

Looking at how excited he got when talking about selling houses, Li Xiangdong wondered, "What kind of person can succeed?"

That's just the kind of person he is!

Love your job, and be shameless.

However, the information that Xiao Sun has now is actually very useful to him.

Li Xiangdong first paid him the 500 yuan agency fee for Douzui Hutong before discussing the shop.

Xiao Sun never expected that Li Xiangdong would actually give him 500 yuan. At first, he wanted to refuse, but seeing that Li Xiangdong was sincere in giving it to him, he accepted it with great gratitude.

After receiving the money, Xiao Sun became even more attentive when recommending the shops.

He strongly urged Li Xiangdong to go and see for himself, offering to guide him for free.

Li Xiangdong interrupted his rambling, "Putting everything else aside, today is a good day, let's go to Quanjude for some roast duck to celebrate! Oh, and Jianjun, go home and invite Sister Hongmei and Grandpa Jin over too."

The crowd cheered and applauded. Wu Jianjun hurriedly ran home, while Xiao Sun, looking embarrassed, prepared to leave on his own.

Li Xiangdong stopped him, "You're the hero of this operation, where are you going if you're not going to eat?"

Xiao Sun looked completely bewildered. "Uh, me, I can go too?"

Li Xiangdong was puzzled by his question, "Of course!"

"Hehe~ Okay! Hehe~"

With a silly grin on his face, it was only then that one could see through the shrewdness of a businessman and discern a trace of youthful naiveté.

The group sat down, ordered two roast ducks and several other dishes, and then drank tea while waiting for Wu Jianjun to bring Zhou Hongmei and Jin Deji over.

Li Xiangdong carefully flipped through the diary filled with house information in Xiao Sun's hand. Looking at the properties that would be worth tens of millions in the future, but now only cost a few thousand or tens of thousands of yuan, Li Xiangdong couldn't help but sigh, "They're really cheap!"

But then again, how much money can people earn in a year these days?

These thousands of courtyard houses remain a luxury that ordinary people cannot afford.

No matter when, living in the capital is never an easy thing.

Closing his notebook, Li Xiangdong became even more interested in Xiao Sun.

"Brother Sun, are you not working a regular job and just making money this way?"

Xiao Sun rubbed his hands together, looking embarrassed, and said, "I took over my grandfather's job as a bookbinder at the printing factory, but the job was too tiring, and I only earned a little over fifty yuan a month. I quit because I thought the pay was too low!"

"The printing factory has legitimate workers; you can't just quit like that?"

"There's no other way; fifty yuan a month isn't enough to support my family."

Xiao Sun sighed as he spoke, "My grandma is eighty-five this year. She has asthma and has to take medication all year round. My sister..."

He choked back a sob, forcing back his tears, "My sister died in childbirth, and my child is two years old and has a heart condition."

He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "Fifty yuan isn't enough for my mother and me to live on. So I came out with them to deal in houses, hoping to earn more."

Xiao Sun let out a long breath, then grinned as if he had thought of something good. "Once I've saved enough money, I'll have my nephew and my grandma both hospitalized and get proper treatment. Then things will be better at home."