Huang smiled and thought to herself, "This young constable is quite shrewd."
If what Feng Jinshan just said is true, then she doesn't intend to set the price too low for the Feng family.
If I don't buy this house, at least the other person will have a place to live.
If the price you set is too low, the other party might end up with no place to live, which would be really bad.
Looking at the Feng family mother and son,
"The prices in this prefecture are roughly like this. You should always have a bottom line in mind. Here's what I'm thinking. Listen to me first."
If I were to buy your house, the land itself would be worth something, but the houses on it would be worthless to me.
But if I buy this house, that money certainly won't be enough to buy another house elsewhere.
This is what I'm thinking: after I buy a house in this area,
We can exchange the courtyard on the far side for you.
In this way, your mother will still have a courtyard to live in, and it won't affect my building of the orphanage.
Of course, if you need travel expenses, that's another matter.
As for your mother, I don't have a way to find her a job yet.
However, I am planning to buy another courtyard in this city.
Your mother can help look after our house then. Room and board will be provided, and the monthly salary will be 500 coins.
The Feng family mother and son were quite surprised by Huang's generosity; the wages were indeed quite high.
In the past, Feng's mother would wash clothes all day long, her hands would be covered in cracks, and she could earn more than 300 coins a month, which was considered a high wage.
Now, food and lodging are provided, and there's also a 500-wen allowance. If you add that to the monthly food and drink expenses, it's more than 500-wen; it's at least 700-800-wen.
Both mother and son nodded in agreement. Ultimately, the Feng family did not choose to exchange their house.
They need money.
Feng Jinshan never told his mother that he didn't actually want to find work; he wanted to join the army.
After all, he had only learned a few words from his father since childhood, and had no other skills. Apart from his great strength, he seemed to be of no use.
For so many years, living in malice, he spent every day trying to figure out how to protect his mother and how to take revenge on the neighbors. There was nothing else he could do.
He always remembered a phrase his father often said: "To stand out from the crowd."
Therefore, the only way to get ahead is to risk your life.
Both parties agreed to go to the prefectural government office together. After signing the house deed, they also wrote up the employment contract and filed it at the government office.
This was also the insurance Feng Jinshan got for his mother. After all, the house was sold, and if the old lady changed her mind later, who would he turn to?
The house was sold for 50 taels of silver. Feng Jinshan only planned to take 2 taels with him and save the rest for his mother.
Although the Zhao family signed an employment agreement with Mrs. Feng, they haven't actually bought a new house yet.
These days, Feng's mother still has to live in her own home.
Naturally, Feng Jinshan still had to maintain his domineering persona.
"Wang Wu, have you heard? The prefectural government has posted a notice saying that a wealthy person wants to buy our land."
Let's go to the government office to discuss the price.
"I don't know if it's true or not. Do you think we should go and take a look?" Chen Qi said.
Wang Wu was adding firewood to the stove. For some reason, the business of selling coarse flour pancakes had become increasingly difficult lately.
I was quite surprised to hear Chen Qi's words.
"What, Brother Chen, are you serious?"
Look at the state of our neighborhood, ruined by that scoundrel, who would dare to buy our house?
"What kind of important person has a screw loose? Is there something wrong with their head?"
Chen Qi nodded, then shook his head.
"Who cares? As long as he dares to buy, we dare to sell. I suppose this important person isn't afraid of that scoundrel from the Feng family."
How much silver do you think is appropriate for selling that house? How about we ask for two hundred taels?
"Wouldn't it be great to use that money to rent a shop nearby?"
Wang Wu shook his head.
“Brother Chen, we want to sell it for a high price, but we’re afraid that the important person will find out about our situation. In that case, let alone 200 taels, we might not be able to sell it for even 20 taels.”
Chen Qi thought about it and it seemed to make sense.
So the neighbors who had moved away from the Feng family gathered together to discuss selling the house.
I've always been determined not to make a move unless a suitable price is offered.
On this day, a large crowd gathered around the prefectural government office, including men, women, and children.
When the constables saw so many people, they assumed that someone was about to cause trouble, and a group of men carrying knives came out of the yamen.
The gathered people were so frightened that they cried out in terror.
After inquiring about the situation, it was discovered that they wanted to sell the house.
After the constables who went with Huang returned, they gossiped with their colleagues in the yamen about the stories they had heard that day. Naturally, it was easy for the people in the yamen to investigate anything.
In the past few days, I have thoroughly investigated the experiences of the Feng family mother and son over the years.
Therefore, everyone in the prefectural government now looks down on this group of people.
Since they were there to sell the house, there naturally had to be a buyer. The government sent someone to the inn where the Huang family was staying.
When Huang heard that those people had finally shown up, he was a little surprised. These people really knew how to stall.
They gave the messenger a piece of silver as payment for tea, and the grandfather and grandson rode in a carriage to the entrance of the prefectural government office.
"Everyone, I am the old lady Huang who wants to buy your house. Can you tell me about the general situation of your house and how much you plan to sell it for?"
My old woman wants to know if we can come up with such a large sum of money.
As soon as Huang finished speaking, a group of people started chattering away.
"Grandma, my family lives in No. 3 Courtyard, Northwest Alley."
My courtyard is about three-tenths of an acre in size, with three main rooms and two rooms each in the east and west wing rooms.
"It cost me 120 taels of silver to build it back then, plus the cost of buying the land and stuff, you should give me at least 200 taels of silver."
After one finished speaking, the other began to speak.
“I live in courtyard number seven in Northwest Hutong. My courtyard is much bigger than hers, a full four and a half fen (a unit of land area). It’s a big house that’s half brick and half mud. You should give me at least 250 taels of silver…”
One after another, they raised their bids, which Huang found increasingly tiresome.
"Everyone, since we're going to buy a house, we need to inspect the property, right? Although I have some money, I'm not stupid."
Do you really think this old woman hasn't inquired about housing prices in your area? I'm afraid even if I paid someone else, no one would be willing to buy.
As for the reason, I've recently found out exactly what happened.
"Alright, my wife has a record of that house over there, with the deed. If they're willing to sell, let's go to the government office now to complete the transfer procedures."
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