Chapter 35 Housewarming Celebration
After eating, Lin Zhaozhao took a nap, thinking that there was no chance today. However, near dusk, the broker from the brokerage firm came and said that they had found a secluded courtyard house on the edge of the East and West markets. It had two gates and four rooms, but the rent was a bit expensive, costing eight taels a month.
Lin Zhaozhao was immediately interested and went to see the house with the broker. As he said, the house was indeed to her liking, but the rent of eight taels a month was too expensive. In the West Market, the price would be two or three times higher, but it was located on the edge of the East and West Markets. People in the East Market looked down on it, and people in the West Market thought it was too expensive.
Too good for some jobs and not good enough for others, so I'm stuck in this situation.
"Eight taels is too expensive. Do you think we can lower the price a bit more?"
“I’ll talk to the landlord about this, but if you really want to rent it, the landlord has another requirement: you need to pay six months’ rent in advance.” The broker, named Zhao Xu, said this with his ears clearly turning red, because this requirement was indeed very offensive.
Even if the monthly rent is two or three taels, it would cost more than ten taels over six months. If one could come up with ten taels of silver at once, there would definitely be a better option, not to mention that Huichun's rent is paid monthly.
"If we can reach an agreement, paying six months' rent in advance is not out of the question."
"Then I'll send a message to the homeowner first. If I can get the price down, I'll come back to you."
"Okay." Zhao Xu escorted Lin Zhaozhao back to the orphanage, then hurried off to the brokerage firm.
After two days of effort, Zhao Xu finally settled on a rent of six taels and five mace.
The two parties met at the brokerage firm. Since six months' rent needed to be prepaid, Lin Zhaozhao requested the brokerage firm to provide a guarantee that if the firm breached the contract, it would have to compensate the tenant with double the rent.
The homeowner was a straightforward person; he immediately signed and sealed the contract and handed over the keys.
Lin Zhaozhao prepaid six months' rent and agency fees, then returned to the nursing home with the keys and documents.
That evening, the Lin family moved into their new house.
Grandma Lin and Li Xiujuan had cleaned the house beforehand and fumigated it with mugwort, so it was ready for immediate occupancy.
"The yard is really spacious. Now Meimei and Xiaoguai can fight freely without worrying about bumping into people."
"We can also build a grape trellis in the inner courtyard."
"Today is our housewarming day, we should have a proper celebration." Li Xiujuan ran happily towards the kitchen, where Lin Zhaozhao had already taken out rice, fish, shrimp, chicken, and vegetables from her spatial storage.
Having grown accustomed to Lin Zhaozhao's ability to conjure things out of thin air, Li Xiujuan calmly began preparing the ingredients, while Lin Zhaozhao pulled Lin Yangyang along to get busy.
First, Xiao Li was released. As soon as Meimei saw Xiao Li, she was like a dog seeing a meat bun. The two little ones had a good fight, and the fallen cherries were a treat for Xiao Guai and Lin Yangyang, who happily ate them.
It was only when Lin Zhaozhao stepped forward to stop them, and they were both punished equally, that the matter was finally settled.
Lin Zhaozhao let Xiaoli choose a good spot herself. Originally, she wanted to dig a hole for it to go in, but Xiaoli took a fancy to the pottery jar that she had just picked up and put into her space.
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