When Xia Jianguo returned home, he presented several property ownership certificates on the coffee table in front of Li Chunmei and Xia Minmin as if they were treasures.
Li Chunmei's eyes widened. "Three houses? You bought three houses in Shanghai! Didn't you say you were only allowed to buy two?"
Xia Minmin touched the three property certificates on the coffee table. It was unbelievable. She never thought that she could exceed her goal in this lifetime and collect houses in three first-tier cities ahead of schedule. She was one step closer to financial freedom.
"We saved a lot of money this time thanks to Brother Wang and his group. Twenty or thirty people bought 40% of the developer's units. The three apartments we bought are small units of about 50 square meters each."
Xia Jianguo took a slow sip of tea while speaking.
Anxious, Li Chunmei urged, "Why is this person keeping us in suspense? Doesn't he know my daughter and I are anxious to know the result?"
Seeing that they had reached their destination, Xia Jianguo readily continued, "Since there were many of us who went and we paid in full, the sales manager directly notified their company's CEO, and we ultimately bought each unit at an 8.8% discount."
Li Chunmei asked, "How much did our house originally cost?"
“Each apartment cost 180,000 yuan, and I saved more than 20,000 yuan per apartment. It would be a waste of the price not to buy more than one. So I borrowed 50,000 yuan from my brother Wang and added more than 400,000 yuan that I had saved at home to buy three apartments.”
"Wouldn't that save us over 60,000 yuan on three apartments? That's much more cost-effective than going to the sales office ourselves!"
"Who can argue with that? I learned a lot on this trip. Brother Wang and his friends are very professional when it comes to buying houses, and even more professional when it comes to negotiating prices. I wonder if I'll ever have the chance to go with them to buy a house again in the future?"
“We’ll buy one when we have the chance. If not, we’ll buy a house in Shenzhen. I quite like Shenzhen. Except for the frequent typhoons in the summer, the spring, autumn and winter seasons are very comfortable.” Li Chunmei put the property certificate on the coffee table into the safe in the room.
Xia Minmin remembered that Li Zhonghua hadn't gone to Shanghai because of restaurant business. "8.8% off! Uncle will probably be furious if he finds out!"
No one expected to be able to buy a house at an 88% discount. Buying a house with a tycoon really makes a difference.
That night, Xia Minmin had sweet dreams. Those were three apartments in Shanghai! How much would they be worth in the future?
Xia Minmin's good mood continued until Monday when she started school. Even Tang Meng noticed that the two of them met at their usual spot in the neighborhood. Since handing over the classroom key to Gu Fei, Xia Minmin and Gu Fei's school start time had been delayed by twenty minutes.
Parents rushing to drop their children off at school are a common sight in the community. Seventy percent of the children in Dudu Garden attend several schools nearby.
Tang Meng listened to her tone-deaf best friend humming a song, something she would never have dared to imagine before. "Xiao Min, Uncle Xia is back. Why are you so happy?"
Xia Minmin whispered to Tang Meng, "My family bought three houses in Shanghai."
Tang Meng's eyes widened and she exclaimed, "What? Shanghai? Uncle Xia went to Shanghai a few days ago."
Xia Minmin covered Tang Meng's mouth, "Mengmeng, keep your voice down."
Tang Meng looked around and asked, "Oh, where did you buy it?"
"Pudong is cheap."
Tang Meng's expression changed when she heard it was Pudong. "Why didn't you buy in Puxi? My house is right by the river. There are so many houses in Pudong that can't be sold."
“Mengmeng, houses along the river in Puxi are so expensive. The price of three houses in Pudong would probably only buy one house in Puxi. Doesn’t that seem like a good deal? Besides, we plan to rent out these three houses in the future, so the location is just so-so.”
Tang Meng fell into deep thought. As she walked out of the residential area onto the sidewalk, she almost bumped into a pedestrian. Xia Minmin quickly grabbed her arm. Tang Meng was also startled and kept bowing and apologizing to the pedestrian.
Xia Minmin looked at her still shaken best friend and asked, "Mengmeng, what are you thinking about so intently?"
Tang Meng told her best friend, "Xiaomin, I think you're right. Although our home in Shanghai is by the river, it's too small, only 20 square meters. I don't want to go back to Shanghai every summer. Tonight I'm going to have a good talk with my parents and buy an apartment in Pudong."
Tang Meng's family lives in Shanghai and she needs to go back there often; the house is too small and it's inconvenient for her to live there.
Xia Minmin recalled watching videos of houses along the Puxi River in her past life, "They probably still have communal kitchens and bathrooms!"
Tang Meng nodded, her expression complex.
Xia Minmin has always had a question: "Why don't people in Puxi buy houses in Pudong? Aren't houses in Pudong quite cheap? It would also improve their living environment."
Tang Meng thought for a moment and said, "In the eyes of old Shanghainese, a river is the difference between the city and the countryside. Haven't you heard the saying, 'I'd rather have a bed in Puxi than a house in Pudong'? Besides, Puxi has better schools and a more convenient living environment, but commercial housing in Puxi is too expensive. Even houses like ours without a kitchen or bathroom are not cheap."
Xia Minmin understood after Tang Meng explained. The environment in Bu Xi was similar to that of the Dudu Garden residential area, with excellent primary and secondary schools nearby, and convenient transportation with shopping malls and hospitals within easy reach. An apartment in a residential complex was acceptable, but sharing a kitchen and bathroom was truly unacceptable.
jingle…
Xia Minmin and Tang Meng walked into the classroom as the bell rang; this was not the first time they had walked into the classroom as the bell rang.
Teacher Lu was already standing on the podium, and Xia Minmin gave her a fawning smile.
"Ahem, quiet down! The results of our class's monthly exam are out. I won't name names of those whose grades dropped, to save you some face. You should reflect on yourselves. There's only one month left until the final exams."
Time really flies; it's almost time for final exams.
After school that evening, Tang Meng grabbed Xia Minmin and rushed out of the classroom.
During break today, Tang Meng kept discussing with Xia Minmin whether or not they should buy a house in Pudong. Before meeting Xia Minmin, Tang Meng was unaware of things like buying a house; after learning about it, she subconsciously started researching the topic.
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