The next morning, Sun Zhengguo arrived at the office door with a nervous heart. After hesitating for a long time, he finally knocked on the door.
"Knock knock knock...!"
"Please come in!"
After receiving a response, Sun Zhengguo opened the door and went inside.
Inside, Teacher Zhao was grading homework. She looked up at the person who had come in and asked.
"Sun Zhengguo, is there something you need from me?"
"Teacher Zhao, I need to ask for leave for one class this afternoon. There's something I need to do at home, and I need to go back for a bit."
Upon hearing Sun Zhengguo's words, Teacher Zhao's mood instantly soured, and she asked with a stern face.
"Sun Zhengguo, the college entrance exam is just around the corner, it's a crucial time, you can't let family matters distract you every day! Can you tell me what they are?"
Faced with Teacher Zhao's persistent questioning, Sun Zhengguo was at a loss. It seemed that he wouldn't be able to get away with this today without coming up with an excuse. So, he pretended to be sad and said...
“I have an uncle named Yi Zhonghai who has been very good to me since I was a child. I just heard that he might not make it. I wanted to go see him at noon, but I was worried that I wouldn’t have enough time, so I wanted to ask for a holiday.”
Seeing Sun Zhengguo wiping his eyes, Teacher Zhao felt helpless. He was going back to see his seriously ill grandfather one last time, and she couldn't very well stop him, could she? That would make her seem too heartless.
"Okay, don't be sad. Go quickly and come back soon. Try not to delay your studies. You also need to think about your future."
"Thank you, Teacher Zhao. I will definitely get there as soon as possible and won't delay my studies."
"Alright, you can go back now! Remember, your most important task right now is to study."
After saying that, Teacher Zhao continued to grading homework.
Once outside the gate, Sun Zhengguo breathed a sigh of relief, realizing he had gotten away with it. As for the fabricated story about Yi Zhonghai being seriously ill? Who cared?
During lunch, Sun Zhengguo instructed Zheng Wenhua that if he was late in the afternoon and a teacher asked, he should say that he had already asked the homeroom teacher for leave.
After lunch, Sun Zhengguo rode his bike and hurried to Ding Qizhen's house, where Ding Qizhen had been waiting for a long time. The two of them then met up with Professor Zhang, and the three of them went to the neighborhood office together.
When the three arrived at the subdistrict office, they found they were too early and it wasn't time for them to start work yet. However, Ding Qizhen reassured them that he had already made arrangements.
Upon arriving at the housing management office, there were indeed people waiting inside, including a clerk in his thirties. The clerk saw Ding Qizhen and hurried over to greet him.
"Uncle, why are you so late? We've been waiting for you for ages."
Ding Qizhen was relieved when he saw who was speaking. The speaker was his nephew, Ding Yu, a level 2 clerk in the Housing Management Section. This was the source of Ding Qizhen's confidence to make such a guarantee.
"I'm relieved to have you here. Both families are busy, so this is the only time we could spare to come."
After Ding Qizhen finished speaking, he introduced the group to everyone before handing over the materials that had been prepared in advance.
Sun Zhengguo and Professor Zhang couldn't help either; they could only wait on the sidelines. When a signature was needed, they could simply step forward and sign it. In a total of half an hour, a brand-new property certificate was produced.
After expressing their gratitude, the three left the housing management department and went to the courtyard house in Ju'er Hutong to complete the final handover.
Sun Zhengguo took out the $1,600 he had prepared beforehand and handed it to Professor Zhang. In return, the professor handed over the property certificate, the keys, and the deposit. Only after both parties had checked the money did the transaction truly become complete.
Professor Zhang took one last look at the courtyard house, feeling extremely reluctant to leave. This place no longer belonged to him, and he didn't know if he would ever be able to return to it in his lifetime.
Professor Zhang has passed away, leaving behind a lifetime of regrets in the place where he was born and raised.
Sun Zhengguo, standing to the side, stared blankly at the property certificate in his hand, his mind reeling, seemingly lost in thought. He even forgot to see Professor Zhang off as he left.
Ding Qizhen, who was standing next to him, reminded him, but Sun Zhengguo didn't react at all and was still immersed in his own world. Finally, Ding Qizhen couldn't stand it anymore and coughed a few times.
"Cough cough cough!"
Hearing the cough, Sun Zhengguo snapped out of his reverie. Seeing that Professor Zhang was not there, he guessed that Professor Zhang had already left, and then said apologetically.
"Uncle Ding, you really are something. You didn't even remind Professor Zhang to leave. You have no manners at all."
Ding Qizhen rolled his eyes, feeling a surge of contempt. "Didn't I warn you? You've been standing there like an idiot, is it my fault? If it weren't for the money, I'd have kicked you. I..."
Seeing Ding Qizhen's unfriendly gaze, Sun Zhengguo guessed that Ding must have reminded him, and that he should blame himself for overthinking. He quickly tried to salvage the situation.
"Alright, let's not talk about that anymore, Uncle Ding. Let's talk about something you're interested in, like the commission issue?"
Sure enough, as soon as money was mentioned, Ding Qizhen immediately forgot the unpleasantness and reverted to his old self, saying with a happy expression.
"Master, look at what you're saying. You're relying entirely on your care. You can just give me a reward."
Although Ding Qizhen spoke lightly, Sun Zhengguo knew that he was just saying it and you couldn't take it seriously. If you actually gave him 10 or 8 yuan, see if he would get angry.
Sun Zhengguo did a quick mental calculation and finally gave the highest commission of 3%. 3% of $1600 was about 120 RMB. Ding Qizhen was quite satisfied with this amount and said with a fawning expression.
“Sir, if there’s ever anything you need from me, Old Ding, just call on me. I’ll go through wind and rain. If I, Ding Qizhen, utter a single word of dissent, I’m a son of a bitch…”
Seeing that Ding Qizhen's words were becoming increasingly outrageous, Sun Zhengguo spoke up to stop him.
"Alright, alright, Uncle Ding, I know what you mean. I'll definitely come to you again if I need anything next time. You can go ahead and get busy! I need to take another look."
"Alright, alright! You're busy, sir, I'll be going now."
After Ding Qizhen left, Sun Zhengguo began to examine the furnishings in the room. He planned to store all the antiques and furniture in the room into his spatial storage.
As for why it was stored in the space?
The main reason is that no one lives in this courtyard right now, and we're afraid it will be stolen. Secondly, we're afraid it will be vandalized by police during any unrest, which would be a huge loss.
Before long, everything in the room went into the space. Seeing that the room was empty, Sun Zhengguo thought that he should buy some ordinary furniture in the future, in case someone moved in, it would be impossible to live there.
After leaving the room, Sun Zhengguo was still not at ease, so he used his mental power to scan the entire courtyard inside and out, but unfortunately, he did not find the legendary treasure.
After finishing everything and changing the locks, Sun Zhengguo left Juer Hutong.
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