Chapter 94

"The steward of Xingyuan Prefecture wants to see me?" Xu Yi was slightly surprised, took the post handed over by Agent Li, and looked down at it.

Manager Li stood in front of him, his shoulders slightly drooped, his hands clasped in front of his abdomen, and he said with a smile: "Butler Cheng seems to be very talkative now. He wants to see you because he wants to buy a house. Didn't Xu Xiaoguan say that he still wants to buy a house? I think this is a good opportunity."

He revealed to Xu Yi privately that Butler Cheng came to Yanting County now and was eager to sell the house. The price could not be raised as high as before. Maybe there would be some. An unexpected surprise.

How could Xu Yi not know this truth?

Therefore, when Manager Li said this, he thought for a while, closed the post, and agreed to the matter.

As the intermediary between the two, Agent Li immediately arranged a time to meet at a teahouse outside East Street.

Towards the end of the day, people were coming and going in the Jinyue Teahouse. Going up the relief staircase, you could see many literati and elegant guests sitting in pairs, chatting and laughing, or commenting on articles and appreciating poems.

In the attic, there is the sound of pipa playing, and a performer is singing a ditty. The music is melodious, like wind chimes tinkling in the wind, attracting people to look at it.

Xu Yi lifted her robe and stepped on the steps. When she glanced at the attic, she saw a girl in her mid-twenties sitting in the center of the attic. She was wearing plain clothes and a white velvet flower in her bun. She had charming red phoenix eyes and a sad expression. Look ahead.

He paused slightly, and Manager Li beside him followed his gaze, thinking that Xu Yi had taken a liking to this girl, so he smiled and said.

"Miss Ayan has been singing at Yuejin Tea House for several months. She wants to sell her body to bury her father, but she doesn't know who will end up with her."

Xu Yi looked at him and asked casually, "No one said anything?"

"No." Li The agent said, "It's Miss Ayan who has made a request. She offers thirty guan of silver."

Thirty guan of silver is not a small amount. Who would be such a stupid man to spend so much money to buy a young actress?

Besides, if you want to buy a concubine and keep her at home, you won’t have to spend so much money. You can rent one for just a few bucks. If you are a slave who sells your body, it will be more affordable, and you can buy it for two or three taels; if you are a skilled servant, such as a kitchen lady, an embroiderer, a hairdresser, etc., it will be more expensive, and you can buy it for a few guan or a dozen guan. It can be leased for several years or ten years.

Xu Yi nodded slightly. He followed Manager Li up to the attic, then turned around and went to a small separated room.

Not long after entering, a waiter came up with tea and snacks.

The two sat in the small room and waited for a while. Butler Cheng came to the tea house with an entourage.

As soon as Butler Cheng came in, he saw the young gentleman next to Manager Li. He looked at him calmly and did not speak.

As the middleman, Manager Li immediately stood up, bowed his hands and called someone, and then introduced Xu Yi to Butler Cheng: "Cheng Naizhi, this is the little official Xu I told you." After that, he turned to Xu Yi and said , "Xu Xiaoguan, Cheng Naizhi is the chief steward of the family of the magistrate of Xingyuan Mansion. He has full authority to decide on the purchase and sale of the house."

Xu Yi saluted and said, "Cheng Naizhi." "Xu

Xiaoguan, this time I asked Manager Li to invite you here because we have business matters to discuss. Let's keep the story short and there is no need to be polite." Butler Cheng waved his hand and motioned for Xu Yi to take a seat.

He is the chief steward of Zhizhou's family, and he always orders others to do things. For him, the purchase and sale of the house is just a formality so that he can go back and explain to the prime minister.

Therefore, he did not deliberately show off his dignity and said bluntly: "It turns out that this house needs four hundred and thirty pieces, which is always indispensable. But now that something has happened, all the furniture in the house has been lost. I believe that there is something in it. This house is sold at a discount

, which means a 50% discount. A 50% discount on four hundred and thirty guan is equivalent to 215 guan.

It's sixty-five dollars lower than the asking price of another house provided by Agent Li.

Xu Yi's eyes brightened: "Seriously?"

"How about Cheng lying to you? This is what your husband said. I am just doing things on your behalf." Butler Cheng squinted his eyes and said with no trace of joy, "Xu Xiaoguan, this is The price is only this. If you miss it today, you will not be considered tomorrow. "

If my husband hadn't been in urgent need of money, he wouldn't have been so eager to sell the house.

Two hundred dollars is the lowest price requested by my husband. This price is not particularly low in Yanting County, but in this area of ​​​​East Street, it is a huge bargain.

As long as he lets the word out, many people will rush to get it.

But that would waste a few days. If these little officials wanted to buy it, it would be easier to buy it directly from him.

Xu Yi agreed to buy the house without hesitation.

He doesn't know how to invest in real estate, but he also knows that housing prices in Yanting County are not that high today.

The price offered by Butler Cheng was an unexpected surprise. Even if there is no furniture, it is not a big problem. Just ask the carpenter to build another one.

"Okay." After getting the answer he wanted, Butler Cheng looked at Xu Yi and smiled with satisfaction.

However, the housekeeper Cheng said that he only accepted the two hundred and fifteen silver coins, not copper coins or handouts.

Xu Yi had all the money in his hands converted into deals for the convenience of storage. In this case, he would go to Jiaoyin Shop to exchange all the Jiaozi.

Jiaozi of the same price can be exchanged for copper coins of the same price, but it is different if it is exchanged for silver. [Note 1]

Sometimes a jiaozi with a face value of twelve taels can only be exchanged for eight to nine taels of silver. This is not only the rule of the court, and you have to pay taxes when exchanging Jiaozi, but also the Shu land is short of money, copper and iron, which results in the people being short of money.

Therefore, people prefer to conduct transactions directly with Jiaozi. After all, money will be deducted when exchanging money, so there is really no choice.

...

Coming out of the compartment, Xu Yi found that the girl named Ayan was still singing in the middle of the attic.

Xu Yi has good eyesight and immediately saw familiar figures in the crowd.

It's Tao Qinghao.

Tao Qinghao half-closed his eyes with an intoxicated look on his face, shaking his head as he listened to the other party playing the pipa and singing.

Suddenly, a dark shadow fell next to his table, and someone sat across from him.

Tao Qinghao opened his eyes and looked over, stunned.

"Xu Yi?! Why are you here at Yuejin Tea House?"

Xu Yi said calmly: "Come to do something."

"To do something..." Tao Qinghao muttered, thinking of the recent things that have been spreading in the city, he stared at him as he thought of something. Xu Yi. "You...could it be that Xu Xiaoguan is you?"

Xu Yi raised his eyebrows and looked at him without denying: "It's me."

Tao Qinghao was still a little surprised when he received his answer. He looked around, leaned over and asked in a low voice: "I remember that the former county magistrate's house was sold at a very high price. Do you have so much money to buy that house?"

Xu Yi smiled and said, He said that he wanted to see that house because he thought its layout was good and more reasonable than other houses.

By the way, he also told Tao Qinghao that he was just looking at the house and had no intention of buying it.

Tao Qinghao was in a daze after hearing this. Can he go see a house at that price without having that much money?

"Do you want to buy a house now?" he asked.

Xu Yi nodded and said with a smile: "Of course I want to buy it. I have made an agreement with Butler Cheng. When I go to the Yamen tomorrow to get the paperwork and seal it, the house can be transferred to my name."

Tao Qinghao opened his mouth: "... "

Although he is the husband of the Tao family and the future heir, his monthly income now is only ten guang of silver. His mother occasionally gives him part of her private house, but it does not exceed ten guan of silver.

Coupled with the private treasury he has saved over the years, the amount converted into silver coins will not exceed hundreds of dollars.

Unexpectedly, Xu Yi, who was ordinary, was actually richer than him.

Tao Qinghao suddenly felt a little melancholy as he was being compared. He then looked at Miss Ayan who was singing Yingying tunes on the stage and wanted to buy her even more.

At this time, Xu Yi suddenly said: "Still thinking of buying her?"

Tao Qinghao was startled. He subconsciously touched his nose and sighed: "My father still doesn't agree."

"If you don't agree, why do you still want to buy her?" Come?" Xu Yi was also a little curious. This girl's music had a strong ancient charm, which was not very attractive to Xu Yi.

But he glanced around and saw that there were many literati and elegant guests coming to listen to the music.

Some even ask the young man standing next to them to come forward and reward them, and they are generous with their rewards. There are many cases where a reward is a few big bucks.

Tao Qinghao said: "Xu Yi, you don't know, this girl Ayan's songs are all written by herself, and there are no other songs. She is the only one who can sing and play. If such a wonderful person can be invited to sing in the teahouse, It will definitely bring a lot of customers to the teahouse. "

How could the Yuejin Teahouse be so lively without Miss Ayan? It's not all because of her appearance that there is such a good business.

Tao Qinghao has been obsessed with money since he was a child. When he was a few years old, he became quite experienced in business. On several occasions, he came up with good ways to earn a lot of money for his family. But this time, when it came to women, Tao Qinghao's father was worried that his son would go astray, and no matter how he explained, he would not agree.

He didn't lack thirty guan of silver, but the Song Dynasty valued filial piety. If he was disobedient and unfilial, it would damage his reputation to the Tao family.

Xu Yi looked at the person on the stage, frowned in thought, and asked him, "What if it's someone else?"

"Who?" Tao Qinghao didn't react.

Xu Yi said: "What if it's not you who bought Miss Ayan, but someone else, and then put her in your teahouse to sing?"

Tao Qinghao was stunned. He rolled his eyes and immediately understood the meaning of Xu Yi's words. .

"You..."

His breathing became slightly heavier, and he jumped up from the chair and asked Xu Yi, "Xu Yi, are you willing to help me with this?"

Xu Yi nodded and looked at him.

Tao Qinghao was so happy that he immediately took Xu Yi to find this girl Ayan.

Xu Yi blocked his hand with his backhand and shook his head at him: "It's not urgent. You can go back and think about it carefully. If you think it's really feasible, come back to me."

"Just take a look at this idea. I'm a fan of the person involved, so I've thought about it. " It's hard to figure it out, but Xu Yi, the bystander, can see it more clearly." Tao Qinghao sighed, if he didn't buy it on the surface, then his father would have no reason not to let him bring the person to the teahouse to sing. .

Xu Yi was not as optimistic as him.

The Tao family is different from the Xing family. The old man of the Xing family and the current head of the family, Mr. Xing, have both met Xu Yi and have a high impression of him.

But that was not the case with the Tao family. His interactions with Tao Qinghao were limited to the two of them and did not involve the family. If you know that he is a doctor and still hires actors, it would feel wrong if you tell him about it.

After Xu Yi reminded him, Tao Qinghao calmed down.

"Yes, what you said makes sense." Tao Qinghao said, "This matter needs to be discussed in the long term and cannot be rushed."

...

At 6 o'clock the next day, Xu Yi took Jiaozi out and came to the Jiaoyin shop in Yanting County.

In the past few months, he had saved a lot of money, part of which was the silver coin of the piece of agarwood he sold, which amounted to dozens of coins. In addition, he treated several wealthy families, and they were very generous, giving them a lot of money for consultation, adding up to dozens of taels of silver.

The silver was given as broken silver at that time, and Xu Yi did not exchange it for money to keep.

The other bits and pieces were money from selling medicinal materials, money from treating people, and gifts given by Xing Yuesen and Xin Shengyuan. If they were not useful, he thought they would take up space and sell them to the longevity warehouse. The money is also stored.

Xu Yi and A Xu A Jin do not need this money for their daily expenses. Just selling Xiaoshi Pills is enough for their monthly living expenses. Therefore, in the past few months, Xu Yi had accumulated more than two hundred dollars without knowing it.

The money was used to buy a house. Xu Yi felt a little distressed when he exchanged it for pieces of shiny silver. After coming out of the exchange shop, he went directly to the dental shop to find Agent Li.

Agent Li had been waiting for a long time. When he saw him coming, he couldn't wait to take Xu Yi to see Butler Cheng.

He hurriedly said to Xu Yi: "Earlier, I got news from elsewhere that someone also wants to buy this house. I think we can't delay, otherwise others will get it first."

Xu Yi asked him "Does Manager Li know who it is?"

he asked, not slowing down on his feet as he hurriedly followed Manager Li and got on the bullock cart with him.

Manager Li shouted to Zhu Shi to hurry up and said to Xu Yi, "It's Mr. Tan who wants to buy this house. I don't know who he got the news about the house being sold at a discount, so he wants to intervene in this matter."

This is Tan . The family is as famous as the other three families, and its financial resources cannot be underestimated. If they want to buy it, Xu Yi may not be able to earn it.

Xu Yi raised his eyebrows. If you want to buy or sell a house in Yanting County, you can only do it through Yaxing, not private transactions.

Since Agent Li can get the news, it means that the Tan family has contacted the agent in the dental shop.

There is also a competitive relationship between brokers. After all, everyone relies on agency fees to make a living, so if the sale of this house is successful, you can get a good agency fee.

Who can not be moved?

At least Manager Li was moved and didn't want such an accident to happen.

This house has been in his hands for several years, and he finally waited for Xu Yi, a customer who wanted to buy it. The customer and the customer had already negotiated the price, and they were just waiting for the money to be paid and the transfer of ownership to be stamped with the other hand.

If Cheng Yaojin comes and buys the house at this time, the agency fee will fall into the hands of others.

The oxcart arrived at the inn where Butler Cheng was staying temporarily as quickly as possible.

As soon as they arrived, they saw an impressive donkey cart parked outside the inn.

Manager Li immediately recognized that the donkey cart belonged to the Tan family. His heart skipped a beat and he looked at Xu Yi uneasily: "Xu Xiaoguan, look..."

Xu Yi said calmly: "If Butler Cheng breaks the contract and sells the house to someone else, That means I have no connection with this house."

Agent Li: "..."

That's true, but I still feel unwilling to give it up for nothing...

They entered the inn and found that the housekeeper of the Tan family was being raped by Butler Cheng. The entourage of the Tan family blocked him outside the room. No matter how much money the Tan family housekeeper asked him to speak for him, the entourage kept an eye on him and seemed not to see him.

Even if he was ignored, the Tan family's butler did not dare to get angry, for fear of offending the other party.

Even though the other party is just a boy, he is also a boy from the Zhizhou Prime Minister's house. He is not an unusually expensive person and cannot be offended.

"Brother, please be accommodating. I am also working for my family member. My family member said that as long as he can buy this house, he will pay any price." The Tan family housekeeper said with an attentive smile.

Don't forget to put the money in his hand.

The attendant glanced at the scraps of silver and felt a little moved in his heart. However, he also remembered Cheng Naizhi's words and did not dare to collect the money in private for fear of missing his husband's future.

Suddenly, he saw Xu Yi and Agent Li. He stepped over the people next to him and said to them, "Cheng Naizhi has been waiting for you inside for a long time."

"Brother, please lead the way." Xu Yi nodded politely to him.

So, the group of them passed through the Tan family housekeeper and went directly to the private room on the second floor.

Not long after, the housekeeper of the Tan family saw the housekeeper Cheng coming out of the private room. He wanted to go up and talk to him, but was stunned by the light look in the housekeeper Cheng's eyes.

That look... didn't take the Tan family seriously at all.

With such a retreat, it was too late for him to stop Butler Cheng, and he could only watch helplessly as he climbed onto the mule cart without looking back.

In another bullock cart, Xu Yi was a little surprised by Butler Cheng's attitude. He didn't expect that the other party would directly ignore the Tan family.

As everyone knows, Butler Cheng doesn't want to cause trouble.

...

The group of people came to the county government office responsible for all kinds of documents and deeds. After the government confirmed the deed and stamped the red deed, the house's deed was successfully transferred to Xu Yi's name even after it had gone through legal procedures. .

Now, Xu Yi finally has a house of his own in Yanting County.

It is still a courtyard of several hundred square meters.

Thinking this way, he felt that his two hundred and fifteen taels of silver were well spent.

After Xu Yi said goodbye to Butler Cheng and the others, he followed Agent Li back to Yahang.

He also has to pay an agency fee to Agent Li.

After all this work, Xu Yi could finally go home with the house deed in hand.

As soon as he arrived outside Xu's house, he saw a strange donkey cart parked in front of his house.

And standing next to the donkey cart was a boy in Tsing Yi.

Xu Yi: "..."

He has seen this boy before.

It’s so impressive that it’s hard to remember.