Chapter 664 House Viewing
At noon, the family finally left the house.
Qin Feng couldn't help but sigh happily: "I haven't slept so soundly in a long time."
There were nine people in the group, five adults and four children.
Yin Le, Awang and the four children rode in a carriage, while Qin Yao and his wife and Qin Feng each rode a horse. They seemed anxious but also leisurely as they headed towards the west of the city at a leisurely pace.
In Kyoto, the house rental and sale market is very mature. There are people who specialize in this business. Some of them have become so big that they have opened shops and are responsible for connecting buyers and sellers for negotiations.
The shop is well decorated, and the staff will warmly welcome any customer who comes. They will accept anyone who comes, no matter how small the business is, from renting out a cowshed to selling something big, like selling something in a mansion.
Qin Yao would never worry about things that could be done with money, and followed Qin Feng directly into the largest house rental and trading store in the west of the city.
A big store has its advantages. After hearing Qin Yao's intention, he immediately gave her a stack of house sale drawings.
The picture shows a house plan specially drawn by an artist, indicating the address and area, as well as which private schools or famous shops are nearby.
If there is a celebrity living near your home, it will be marked.
If you are illiterate, there are staff who can help you look and take you to see the house in person if they find one you like.
If the buyer and seller are satisfied, they will have a meeting and agree on the price, and then the house sale procedures can be completed on the spot.
This entire process is basically the same as that of real estate agencies in later generations.
There were even money shop assistants squatting near the shop, so borrowing and withdrawing money could be done in one place, which was extremely efficient.
Of course, usurers would come here specifically to watch, and many people who were in a hurry to sell their houses would be deceived and borrow large sums of high-interest loans by mortgaging their houses.
Qin Yao and Qin Feng were screening properties in the store, while Liu Ji and Awang Yinle were strolling outside with their four children, joining in the fun.
When Liu Ji saw a foreigner selling spices, he immediately thought of hot pot.
And it’s the kind of hotpot my wife has been talking about, a fragrant and spicy hotpot, used to cook meat, and paired with a pot of wine, it’s so delicious!
Liu Ji swallowed secretly, stopped in front of the spice stall, unable to move, and asked someone to weigh some fennel, star anise, peppercorns and so on for him.
The foreigner had a foreign face but spoke fluent Mandarin. He shouted for a long time but no one came. He finally caught a customer and while wrapping the spices skillfully, he praised the good looks of the five men, father and sons.
Who doesn't like to hear nice words? Liu Ji was instantly excited. Seeing that there were still some useful goods on the stall, he said happily:
"Give me another serving of this dark black dried fungus. I'll take it back and try it to see if it's as delicious as you say."
The stall owner smiled happily and praised even more enthusiastically.
"The total is four taels and eight cents of silver." The stall owner handed the packaged spices to Liu Ji and said the total price with a smile.
Liu Ji took the things and patted Awang on the shoulder naturally, "Give him the money."
Awang: "I don't have any money."
Liu Ji snorted at him and said, "Okay, sir, I'll pay for it myself."
He reached for the purse at his waist and suddenly remembered that he had used all the money to treat people to tea in order to pretend to be a big shot in order to get information.
Without changing his expression, he took out two taels of silver, signaled the stall owner to wait, left the child in the care of Yin Le and Awang, and strode into the broker's shop.
"My wife, I bought some spices. We are going to cook spicy hot pot tonight, but we are still short of five taels of silver."
While Qin Yao was looking at the blueprints, Liu Ji covered his face with his hand and whispered in her ear.
Justified.
Qin Yao didn't even raise her head, and uttered one word lightly: "Get lost."
Liu Ji: “Okay.”
He who knows the times is a hero!
Qin Feng watched Liu Ji leave the shop and walk towards the spice stall, then looked at Qin Yao in confusion: "What's wrong?"
Qin Yao smiled slightly, "It's okay, they bought spices, and we'll have hot pot tonight, spicy."
She was a little greedy after hearing that. Liu Ji's hotpot base was cooked very well, and it was no different from what she had eaten in hotpot restaurants in her previous life.
Pointing to the two house drawings he had just selected, he said to the clerk in the store, "These two, can we go and see the houses right now?"
The waiter took the map and looked at it. It was two small courtyards with three entrances, one located in Xiuxingfang and the other located in Kuanzhengfang.
The former is adjacent to Zhengpingfang where the Imperial College is located, and the latter is on the main street entering the city through Beidingmen, to the west of Zhengpingfang, with only one block separating the two.
Taking another look outside the shop, the clerk saw a father and his four children strolling on the street, and he had an idea in mind.
This family has many children, and when choosing a house, they don’t consider the price but only the location and layout. They seem to have quite a bit of assets, so the only thing they care about should be the school resources.
"Madam, do you want a house that's close to several colleges and private schools, and in a quiet location?" the waiter asked with a tentative smile.
Seeing Qin Yao nod, he praised her for her good taste and said that the two houses she chose met her requirements.
But the guy recommends Kuanzhengfang more.
"Why?" Qin Yao asked.
The waiter said, "First, the houses in Kuanzhengfang are newer, second, the neighbors in Kuanzhengfang get along better, and third, there is a good private school in this block, and the price is more reasonable."
Even if the guests are not short of money, who wouldn't be happy to save a little money?
Qin Yao had no words to say about the first and third points. This information was written on the property map, and she selected them out because of these two points.
But what does the second one mean?
The waiter didn't say it explicitly, he just took them over to see it, and they knew it after seeing it.
Liu Ji had already bought the spices, but he returned the black fungus because he didn't have enough money. He was still short of three coins of silver. Dalang couldn't bear to see this, so he sighed and poked Erlang's arm.
Erlang glared at his father reluctantly and took out the remaining three coins.
Liu Ji said unhappily, "I'll find it for you later, you're so stingy!"
Erlang then snorted and stopped glaring at him. After all, he was also craving for the delicious hotpot meat.
The two houses Qin Yao chose were not far away, just nearby. The family and their servants went to see the houses in the practice workshop first.
Passing by the gate of the Imperial Academy, Liu Ji and his four children looked at it for a long time. This was the highest institution of learning in Sheng State.
There is no scholar in the world who does not yearn for it.
Walk north from the gate of the Imperial College and you will reach your destination in a short while.
The neighbors all knew that the family was going to sell the house, and when they saw someone coming to see it, many of them curiously stuck their heads out to check it out.
However, the way these people were dressed, they looked like either maids or servants, and none of their masters showed up.
Awang stayed outside watching the carriage and the horses, and two servants came up to him to ask questions.
"Hey, what does your master do?"
"This is Dr. Cui's house. Could it be that your master is also working at the Imperial College?"
A woman in the distance shook her head and said, "I don't think so. Their accent sounds like they are from other places."
"See those little ones? They don't have any servants to serve them. They don't look like young ladies or young masters. Can they afford such a big house? Tsk tsk tsk~"
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