Chapter 14,
Early the next morning, Su Guoer arrived at Wang Po's house in the East and West Lanes of the city early, just because she was the only female landlord in the city of Bianjing, and she had made an appointment with her to see houses and shops today.
She will be leaving the house tomorrow, so she needs to decide where to live first.
Wang Pozi was a woman with a round belly, about the same age as Su Guoer's deceased mother. She looked very friendly and had a good reputation in Bianjing. When she saw her, she immediately came forward, waving her handkerchief, and took Su Guoer's arm to get into the carriage.
"Young lady, you came really early today, but is it a day off?"
Su Guoer: "The old lady has been kind enough to allow me not to be busy with the work in the mansion these days, so I thought of coming here early this morning to see you."
Mrs. Wang said, "Yes, I have heard that the old lady of the Duke's Mansion is a kind person and is very tolerant towards the servants. However, it is not easy to enter the Duke's Mansion. The other day, my sister wanted to join the Duke's Mansion as a maid, but they didn't want her."
Su Guoer explained, "Most of the maids of noble families are bought from human traffickers. They don't hire maids from outside."
Mrs. Wang said, "No wonder," and fumbled around in the carriage with her other hand. Finally, she took out a few drawings from a cloth bag beside her, stretched them out and handed them to Su Guoer to see.
While explaining to Su Guoer, "Today we have more than a dozen houses and shops to look at. First, take a look at the blueprint. It shows the location of each house and shop. Once you've chosen one, we'll look at them one by one."
Upon hearing this, Su Guoer took the drawing and started to look at it.
There are more than a dozen drawings in total, with various house patterns drawn on them and the locations marked on the side.
"This first house is located at the intersection of Qingshi Street and Yangliu Street. It is an independent courtyard, a small courtyard with three entrances and three exits. The front faces the gate of Honglu Temple, but from the perspective of feng shui, it has a bit of a road-blocking evil," Wang Po explained in detail.
Hearing the word "roadblock", Su Guoer looked up in confusion.
Mrs. Wang: "Oh, you are still young, you probably don't understand these things. This road-blocking evil is a bad thing for the residents in Feng Shui. However, this yard is very cheap and it is a large house, so I took it out to show you."
Su Guo'er didn't care about this, so she asked directly: "How much silver does this house cost?"
Mrs. Wang held up a finger and said, "100 taels!"
"100 taels is okay." To be honest, spending 100 taels of silver to buy a three-in-three-exit house in the city of Bianjing is extremely cost-effective. Moreover, it is located in a relatively precious area of the capital, with the Honglu Temple in front and the Duke's Mansion in the back, giving a full sense of security.
"I haven't finished yet. It's gold." Mrs. Wang flicked her handkerchief. "How can it be silver? In Bianjing, people don't use silver to buy houses. We all say gold is more valuable. Besides, one hundred taels of silver? You can only buy a palm-sized piece of land in a crowded market near Xuanwu Gate. It's uninhabitable, and it's even worse for a girl like you."
Su Guoer was speechless.
Then she quickly changed the blueprint. She decided to give up on this place. If she bought it, she wouldn't have to open her shop. She didn't have enough money.
The next house was on the first floor of Pyongyang Street, with a small shop in front, but it was a little small, not even half the size of the previous one.
Mrs. Wang: "This one is nice."
Su Guoer pointed at the blueprint and asked, "How many taels of gold would it cost to buy this house? Or to rent it?"
Mrs. Wang: "This house is a little out of the way, but it's close to the East Market and the price is not expensive, so it's still good.
But I have to tell you in advance that this house facing the street once caught fire and two people were burned to death inside. Do you mind?
Su Guoer's eyebrows jumped when she heard this. She wanted to say something but found that she couldn't open her mouth. Could this be a haunted house?
It seemed inappropriate for a girl like her to live here. Besides, the shop in the front was too small and the kitchen was in the backyard, which would make it inconvenient to serve food when opening the restaurant.
So he gave up: "No, I'd better look at something else."
After saying that, she flipped through seven or eight more drawings, but couldn't find the house she wanted.
Now it seemed that buying the house was out of the question, so she could only rent it instead.
The prices of the remaining mansions were too high, and she couldn't afford any of them. She had to save the money for opening a restaurant.
But in fact, if possible, she still wants to buy herself a house. Having a place to stay will make her feel more at ease. If she puts all her money into the fresh food restaurant, it will be very insecure.
If the restaurant fails to open and all the money is used up, she will be really desperate.
Therefore...
Anyway, she was not too worried about this matter. Since she was going to do it, she would just go for it. There was no way she would be timid from the beginning. If that was the case, she might as well not open the restaurant.
After flipping through the pages, she finally reached the bottom and only had the last drawing left in her hand.
After taking a look, she found that the price was still beyond her reach.
Then she sighed. She finally understood why houses in Bianjing City were more expensive than people. Without some wealth, she would not be able to survive in this huge city of Bianjing.
Perhaps seeing her difficulty, Mrs. Wang took the drawings from her hand, flipped through them, and pulled out another one, saying to Su Guoer, "You can take another look at this."
Su Guoer looked over.
This is a house facing the street. There is a two-story tavern in the front, a yard and three tiled houses in the back, and a kitchen and a utility room on the side.
It's not very big, but it's about two acres, which is enough for living. The front tavern can also be used as a shop. The layout is good.
Su Guoer had just noticed this shop, but... it looked very expensive. This shop was considered the best one among all the drawings. So she didn't ask at the time.
As for the price, it’s definitely not cheap.
"How much money does this house cost?"
Mrs. Wang: "If you want to buy it, it will cost one thousand taels of gold."
Su Guoer was shocked after hearing this and almost blurted out, "Then I'm afraid I can't afford it."
This is the truth. All the silver she had added up to less than three hundred taels of gold.
I really can't afford it.
But Mrs. Wang had anticipated this. Seeing this, she smiled and said, "Young lady, there's no need to worry. We never planned to sell this house. It's the owner's own shop. They've said that if we don't sell it, we'll keep it for rent."
"If you want a long-term lease, it can be cheaper. It depends on whether you like it or not. If you like it, we can discuss the price and go take a look. If you don't like it, I have a few other options, but none of them are as good as these. I've told you, just have an idea in mind."
Su Guoer: "How much money does it cost to rent this house?"
Mrs. Wang: "If it's calculated on a monthly basis, it's five hundred taels of silver a month."
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