The issue of housing had always been on Cheng Ruyi's agenda. However, she had only thought about making the house more comfortable and livable. But plans can't keep up with changes, and in just a few months, the house became very crowded. Recently, she has gradually started to think about whether she should just move to a different house.
Actually, during this period, my family members also felt that the house was a bit crowded and sometimes inconvenient. However, they were thinking about how to move around or just bear with it, rather than moving to another house.
Although Huai Shan County can only be considered a third-tier city in the Great Yue Dynasty, prices are not low. In particular, there is the famous Ling Shan Academy here, which attracts many students every year. As a result, housing prices have always been high. Ordinary families are already very satisfied with owning their own house and dare not easily think about changing houses.
But things are different now. Although they don't know exactly how much wealth their family has, their business has been doing very well lately, and they just sold a house for three hundred taels of silver. Perhaps... they really can buy a bigger house?
“I’ve been thinking about this problem for a long time. We have so many animals at home, they almost fill both the front and back yards, and the sprouts even take up a room. This can’t go on. The rabbits and chickens will only increase. Even if we don’t expand the scale, it’s still inconvenient to live here now, not to mention that Mande will gradually grow bigger in the future…”
As Ruyi spoke, she observed the reactions of the others and, noticing their thoughtful expressions, continued, "I currently have a few options. The first is to find a house nearby, one for living and one for business, or we could all live separately. However, houses near our home are probably scarce, and I doubt anyone will be selling; we'll likely have to rent."
However, before she could finish speaking, Cheng Yan strongly objected, "That's not good! Renting a place is like giving money away for nothing. We can't live separately either. We haven't separated our family. What kind of talk is it for a family to live separately? No way!"
"Okay, then let's go with the second option: find a house in another part of the county. That would require at least two courtyards, and ideally three. However, I've never paid attention to the exact price of houses in the county before, so I don't know if we can afford it."
"If we really can't afford it, there's one last option: buy land outside the city and build our own house! That way we can buy a few acres of land, grow soybeans, and let the chicks roam freely. Maybe we can even buy a hilltop and plant some fruit trees, then we'll have fresh fruit to eat every day. It doesn't matter if it's far away; we can buy a mule cart then, and it'll be convenient to go anywhere!"
Cheng Ruyi's words were so packed with information that everyone struggled to keep up with her train of thought, and they were indeed beyond their comprehension, leaving them with little to no advice.
In the end, only Cheng Yan patted Cheng Ruyi on the shoulder and gave the only advice he could offer: "Ruyi, you decide this matter yourself. I think either way is fine!"
The others nodded in agreement, indicating that they had no objections and would follow her arrangements.
Looking at the unconditional trust in the eyes of her family members, Cheng Ruyi couldn't help but feel incredibly lucky to have transmigrated into this family.
Back in her room, she sat alone at her desk, intending to carefully calculate the available cash in the house. With the 300 taels she received from selling her house today, she had a total of about 700 taels.
For the past two months, the family's monthly income has been around fifty taels, which comes from rabbits, cakes, bean sprouts, and furniture. If nothing unexpected happens, it will likely remain within this range for some time to come.
It's now the eighth day of the tenth lunar month, and the weather is starting to get cold. If you're going to move, it's best to finish before December so you have time to pack and then celebrate the New Year in your new home.
This gives you about a month to look at and choose a property, which is quite a lot of time!
The next day, Ruyi specifically asked Cheng Yan about the brokerage firms in the county town. These brokerage firms were actually intermediary agencies that handled everything from buying and selling houses and shops for rent, hiring workers and apprentices, and even buying and selling servants. Basically, as long as there was a need, they could help connect people and make deals in exchange for commissions.
The county town was small, and there were only two legitimate brokerage firms: Jinyuan Brokerage Firm in the west of the town and Cheng'an Brokerage Firm in the north. Jinyuan Brokerage Firm mainly served ordinary people, while Cheng'an Brokerage Firm served more wealthy people. Ruyi didn't know the difference for the time being, so she decided to visit both brokerage firms.
Jinyuan Pawnshop was located at the West Wharf. Ruyi had passed by it several times before. The shop was not large, but there were a lot of people coming and going, and the staff were always very busy.
Ruyi randomly found someone, explained her needs, and the shop assistant immediately brought over the manager to receive her.
After hearing her needs, the steward's eyes lit up. Finally, a big client had arrived! So he invited Cheng Ruyi to walk through the courtyard to the backyard.
Ruyi never expected that the backyard was a hidden paradise, a very large courtyard with a moon gate on each side. She could vaguely see that there were other courtyards inside. In the left courtyard, a group of men, women, old and young were standing with their heads down, listening to someone giving instructions.
After the manager led her into a side hall, tea was immediately served, and the service was quite good.
"My surname is Zhang. May I ask how this lady is addressed?"
My surname is Cheng.
"So it's Madam Cheng. Come, come, please have some tea!" Manager Zhang watched Cheng Ruyi take a sip of tea before smiling and saying, "You just mentioned that you wanted to buy a house. Do you have any specific requirements?"
Ruyi thought for a moment, "Two or three courtyards, with shops outside. It doesn't matter if the location is a little remote, the most important thing is that the place is big enough!"
The request wasn't difficult. Manager Zhang flipped through the booklet in his hand. "So that Madam Cheng may know, our city isn't that big, and there are currently two places that meet your requirements."
The first place is in the west of the city, near the dock. The advantage is that the shop has three large rooms and is not far from the main street, so the foot traffic is very good. However, it only has two courtyards inside and no well. The price is three hundred taels.
The second place is also in the west of the city, but in a relatively remote southwest corner. The shop is about the same size as the current Cheng family's, but it has three courtyards. Although it also does not have a well, it is next to the inner city moat, so it is very convenient to fetch water. It can be considered a river view room. This room is cheaper, priced at 270 taels.
"Aren't there any houses in the south of the city?" Ruyi thought about how her family had lived in the south of the city for so long, and she still wanted to find a place she was familiar with.
"Oh dear, what a pity. The houses in the south of the city are all for rent, not for sale, and most of them are single-family homes. There are currently no houses that meet Madam Cheng's requirements!"
The situation in the south of the city was pretty much what Cheng Ruyi had imagined, but she wasn't very satisfied with either of the two places in the west. "I wonder if there will be more options after a while?"
"Well... it's hard to say. How about this, let's schedule a time to go and take a look at these two houses? When it comes to buying a house, we actually recommend that you go and see them for yourselves. Many people who were not satisfied with their houses at first turn out to like them a lot after visiting them. It all comes down to whether it clicks with you!"
Manager Zhang continued to lobby, arguing that these two companies were the best among their resources, and if neither of them were interested, the deal would likely fall through.
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