Chapter 18: Paying back the high price
Sang Yongfeng asked the others to wait where they were, while he led a few people and Sun Xing to take a tour of the Qian's house.
Although it was not as grand as the Sang Mansion in the capital, it was still quite unique and he was very satisfied.
Sun Xing observed his expression subtly and saw that although he still looked serious, his eyebrows and eyes were relaxed, and he seemed to be quite satisfied with the house.
It’s good to be satisfied. I’m not afraid of you being satisfied, I’m just afraid of you being dissatisfied.
After all, things are valuable because they are rare. There are so many people in the family and there is only one big house like this, so I guess they would buy it even if it is a little more expensive.
After returning to the market town, Sun Xing led Sang Yongfeng to a teahouse and sat him down. He smiled and poured him a cup of tea: "I wonder if Master Sang is satisfied with the house?"
Sang Yongfeng wanted to say directly that he was satisfied, but his robe under the table was pulled by Sang Yongnian next to him, and he instantly understood the meaning.
He picked up the teacup and took a sip, then put it down in disgust. Is this tea suitable for people to drink?
He lost interest in sipping his tea, tapping his fingertips lightly on the tabletop as he spoke, "It's indeed a remote place. The house is large but not exquisite, barely enough for a rest stop."
The words were harsh, but Sun Xing didn't take them to heart. He praised him and said, "That's right, our Lingnan City's advantage is that it's vast and sparsely populated. The houses we build here are indeed not as exquisite as those in other places."
The two of them exchanged a few words, neither of them asking about the price first.
Knowing that his eldest brother didn't like to argue about money, Sang Yongnian asked, "I wonder how much that house was sold for?"
Finally, the question hit the point. Sun Xing kept a smile on his face and said a number: "Five thousand taels."
"What!?" Sang Yongnian stood up instantly, staring at him in disbelief with wide eyes.
This broker is really bold in asking for a price. Five thousand taels is a big deal. Even in the capital, five thousand taels is enough to buy a decent house.
Even Sang Yongfeng, who didn't care much about money, was shocked when he heard this number.
He had some money hidden on him, but his house was raided so quickly that he only had time to take a small stack of banknotes.
Excluding the money he had used to bribe the officials, he now only had five thousand taels on him.
I thought Lingnan was just a small place, and buying a house would cost at most two or three thousand taels, and the remaining money would be enough to use as capital to start a business and make money.
However, he didn't expect that the prices here were comparable to those in the capital, and his five thousand taels were not enough.
Unlike the two stunned men, Sun Xing slowly poured himself a cup of tea and sipped it carefully. After finishing it, he spoke again, "You two gentlemen, you don't know how difficult it was to build Lingnan City. Outside the city, there were dense miasma forests. I wonder how many people died before such a city was built."
Those who died were naturally the criminals who were originally exiled.
They were not as lucky as this group of people who were pardoned and given their freedom. Instead, they were all forced by cruel officials to cut down trees and build cities.
The open space outside the city did not exist since ancient times, but was specially built as an isolation zone to prevent miasma from drifting into the city.
It can be said that every inch of land in Lingnan City is soaked in blood.
"What does that have to do with us buying a house?" Sang Yongfeng didn't care about the history of the founding of Lingnan City at all. He just wanted to know why the house was sold so expensively.
Sun Xing smiled faintly: "Of course it is related. There is only so much land in the city. The bigger the house, the more land it takes up. There will be less land available for building houses elsewhere."
"With more and more people coming to Lingnan, the price of mansions is rising rapidly."
What he said was true. Like the Sang family, a new group of people were exiled to Lingnan and their property was confiscated. Every once in a while, a new group arrived. Some of them were criminals who were forced to do labor, while others were free.
Those who were confiscated and exiled were not unknown people, but officials and generals. After all, if a commoner made a mistake, he would be beheaded directly, so there was no chance of exile.
There are many people like Sang Yongfeng who secretly hide money. They are used to a good life and it is impossible for them to be willing to live in a shabby little house.
Every household has to buy a house, so the housing prices in Lingnan City are naturally getting higher and higher.
Of course, this high price is only relative to other houses in Lingnan City, and is far from as expensive as in Beijing.
But when doing business, you have to ask for a high price and pay the low price.
The owner in front of him was obviously a fat sheep, so he offered a higher price. Even if he lowered the price a little later, it was still much higher than the normal selling price.
Naturally, his little thoughts did not escape the attention of Sang Yongnian, who was experienced in business. He winked at Sang Yongfeng, indicating that he would do the talking.
"But your house is located in an ordinary area, and there are no valuable items. At most, one thousand taels."
Sang Yongnian felt that the price he offered was too much. In such a remote area, even the best house would only cost eight hundred taels at most.
Hearing him quote a thousand taels, Sun Xing was not angry at all, but his face darkened: "At this price, I'm afraid you two are not really interested in buying it."
He is not afraid that the other party will offer a low price, but he is afraid that the other party will turn around and leave. Since they are willing to bid, it means that they really want it.
"That's all. If you think it's not enough, we'll go find another broker." Sang Yongnian knew that he couldn't show weakness or make threatening remarks at this time.
Negotiation is like this: if you give in a little, the other party will push for more. If you hold on tight and act like you don't have to compromise, the other party will back down.
Sun Xing smiled and shook his head, then refilled his cup of tea. The green tea in this shop is good, and he will buy two kilograms to try it later.
"Everyone in Lingnan City knows that I, Sun Xing, am the fairest of brokers. If you two masters don't trust me, you can ask someone else for a price. I'm waiting here."
He was really fearless. The reason was that not everyone could be a pawnbroker. One had to have connections and background.
His brother-in-law works in the county magistrate's office, and his colleagues all give him some face.
They would go looking for other brokers, and when they heard that he wanted to buy a house, the price they quoted would only be higher than his, never lower.
The Qian residence is such a big piece of fat meat. Now that it has fallen into his hands, how could he let it go easily without squeezing out some oil?
Seeing that he didn't seem to be faking it, Sang Yongnian suddenly felt something was wrong. Could it be that this person had other abilities?
But just in case, he sent someone to find another broker to ask for the price.
While waiting for the news, Sang Yongnian chatted with Sun Xing with a smile on his face.
He was used to doing business and did not look down on brokers as much as Sang Yongfeng did.
This is a good opportunity to take advantage of the chat to understand the situation in Lingnan City, so that it will be easier to do business in the future.
The man who went to ask the price came back after a while and whispered something in Sang Yongnian's ear. His face suddenly turned ugly.
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