Chapter 59 You heard it wrong
"Right, Squad Leader Wang?" Qian Jingsheng asked again when he saw that Officer Wang didn't say anything.
Officer Wang glanced at his former comrade, a bit bewildered. This wasn't what they had agreed on. What should he say? Should he report the number too high or too low?
"Yes, yes, it should be... not expensive."
Wen Zhu looked at Officer Wang in confusion, "Didn't you say you knew the owner of this house? Could you give me an exact figure so I can use it as a reference?"
Officer Wang looked at Qian Jingsheng calmly, and seeing his expressionless face, he seemed to understand.
So he smiled and said, "Probably more than 500 a year."
When Wen Zhu heard this, he thought, it’s more than 500 yuan, or about 40 yuan a month, which is not cheap.
Giving it all at once would be a bit painful, but it's something they can come up with if they grit their teeth. Their family wants to make money, and for a better life in the future, they have to move out. If they stay in the village, there's no way they can make a difference. And the house is big enough, so it's acceptable.
Besides, his dad had mentioned at noon that many of these large, single-family houses with yards were either being sold as a whole or renting out an extra room. He'd barely seen any that were rented out entirely. That's why he'd spent the entire morning searching without finding anything suitable.
Wen Zhu: "Can you contact the landlord? I'd like to meet him and see if there's any room for discussion."
Although her mother could make money selling snacks now, the recipe for this snack was not difficult and was not impossible to replicate. Someone would definitely be able to imitate it quickly. It was only the second day, and Xu Niannian had already started learning how to make it. Although her imitation was not very good, someone would eventually be able to make it just like her. So she had to save money wherever possible.
"Yes, it seems a bit expensive." Qian Jingsheng nodded in agreement.
Officer Wang touched his head, looked at the person behind him calmly, and immediately changed his words.
"Oh, well, it's like this. The landlord himself isn't very available. Well, he's already in the provincial capital with his son and grandchildren, so it's not convenient for us to meet. But he asked me to rent it out quickly. If I can rent it for a year at a time, paying it in full, that's fine. The rent will be much lower, just..."
"Just 350 yuan a year."
Qian Jingsheng glanced at him vaguely.
Meeting his old comrade's gaze, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and corrected himself again, "Oh, I remembered it wrong. The owner of this house said that since no one lives in it anyway, if someone can rent it, just give them some money and rent it out. As long as it's not idle, it's fine. The one with 350 is another acquaintance's house. That's right, that's not this one, not here. I remembered it wrong. Look at my poor memory!"
As he said this, he slapped his forehead seriously.
"180 yuan a year, right? Captain Qian, that's a good price, right?"
Wen Zhu had already walked inside to take a look. There was a kitchen, a living room, three bedrooms, and a smaller study. It was just right for her family to live in, and the smaller room could also be used as her clinic and pharmacy.
As she was looking around, she heard Officer Wang say 180 yuan a year. She turned around in surprise and said, "Such a big house with a yard, is it so cheap?" She hadn't said anything else yet, could this be a haunted house?
It's not that she doesn't believe it. Today, she heard from his father that renting a single room in a tube-shaped building for workers costs about ten yuan a month. And there's nothing left.
Seeing that the furniture and everything else are there, even the kitchen is fully equipped, and it is so cheap, it is hard not to suspect that there is something fishy going on.
"Don't worry, there's absolutely nothing wrong with this house. They just figured it's better to have a hundred and eighty dollars than nothing. Besides, not many people are renting houses this big right now."
Except for one extremely picky and complaining person.
"Well, Squad Leader Wang is a trustworthy person, and Comrade Wen can trust him," Qian Jingsheng added.
Qian Xusen, who had been strolling around the house for several times, just came out and asked, "What are you talking about? What rent? It's not..."
"Nothing. Can you go buy something for me now?" Qian Jingsheng interrupted him and said immediately.
"I won't go!" Qian Xusen refused without thinking.
Qian Jingsheng ignored his refusal and carried Qian Xusen out of the gate with his good hand.
I stuffed some money into his pocket, not allowing him to refuse. "Go buy me two packs of cigarettes."
"Brother Sheng, when did you learn to smoke? I didn't expect you to have this hobby."
"Why so much nonsense? Just give it away."
Qian Xusen took the money and walked away scratching his head.
Suddenly he turned around and said, "By the way, what did you say about rent? Didn't we all buy..."
"You heard wrong."
Qian Xusen thought he might have misheard. Brother Sheng had received professional training and his hearing was so good, it was impossible for him to have misheard. So there must be something wrong with his ears.
After sending Qian Xusen away, Qian Jingsheng walked into the yard again.
"Comrade Wen said he wanted to rent these utensils and kitchenware and other small items together and pay a little more. I, no, I'm charging an extra ten yuan for someone else. Isn't that too much?"
"Well, you just need to check it for others yourself, and you don't need to report to me." Qian Jingsheng said.
Officer Wang's mouth twitched, wondering who was interfering just now.
In the end, Wen Zhu discussed it with Jiang Jianbei, and Jiang Jianbei also felt that such a good yard and this price were hard to come by, so he decided to make a deal on the spot.
The brother and sister immediately counted out 190 yuan and handed it to Officer Wang. Just in case, Wen Zhu also wrote a simple rental contract and both parties put their fingerprints on it.
Wen Zhu took out two packs of cigarettes from his pocket and handed them to Officer Wang. "Thank you for your help today, otherwise we wouldn't have found a suitable house so quickly."
Officer Wang refused but to no avail and had no choice but to accept it.
Wen Zhu remembered that he had always wanted to ask about the human traffickers, so he said, "Officer Wang, I wonder how the interrogation of that human trafficker went last time? If it's not convenient to talk about it, then there's no need to say it."
"Speaking of which, I've wanted to tell you about the situation before, but I never got around to it. After they were arrested, through interrogation and follow-up investigation, we were able to dismantle a ring of fifty or sixty people involved in abduction, transportation, and trafficking. Speaking of which, I have to thank you, young comrade. If you hadn't managed to escape this time and pass on the information to the police, who knows how many more women and children would have been harmed by this ring."
When Wen Zhu heard that the human traffickers' accomplices had also been arrested, he felt relieved but also a little worried.
"They won't spend a few years in jail and come out to take revenge on me, right?"
Officer Wang smiled and said, "Don't worry, your information will be kept confidential. Furthermore, this gang has committed more than just this one crime. Investigations have revealed they've previously trafficked women and children, and have also committed beatings to death and abuse. Now, at this crucial time to crack down on criminals, no one can escape. We're going to have to wait and see! It's a shame the trafficker leader is so mysterious. Some say he's an old man, others say he's young; they themselves can't explain it. Furthermore, he's very aware of counter-detection, and he even noticed something was wrong beforehand and abandoned his men and ran away. But don't worry, we'll continue our pursuit!"
Wen Zhu understood after hearing this. However, she still planned to put self-defense and physical strengthening on the agenda as early as possible. It is always better to be prepared.
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