Knock, knock, knock. A gentle knock sounded on the door, and Chen Jing's voice rang out from outside: "Xia, are you awake? I've prepared hot water for you; it's outside. What would you like to eat for breakfast? I'll go buy it for you."
"Let's go together, no need to buy it back."
Ji Xia opened the door and took the kettle. Chen Jing's eyes lit up when he saw her specially dressed up.
However, the thought of Ji Xia shining brightly here made him feel a strong sense of crisis.
Now that Ji Xia has become a college student, the gap between them has widened even further, and he must achieve something more to succeed.
However, he also noticed that most of the houses in Beijing were multi-story buildings, and houses with courtyards seemed to be very rare.
Chen Jing knew that Ji Xia liked houses with yards, not only because the rooms were larger and more spacious, but also because she could plant flowers and plants in the yard to cultivate her temperament.
In Beijing, houses with courtyards seem to be hard to find!
After washing up, Ji Xia put the artwork she had prepared into her backpack and packed the gifts for Rong Xiaorou into another bag.
As an art teacher, it was a bit inappropriate for Rong Xiaorou to give cured meat as a gift, but Ji Xia put a lot of thought into it.
Thanks to the information age in her previous life, she had made handmade essential oil soaps. This time when she went to Beijing, she specially asked Chen Jing to pick a lot of unopened flower buds in the countryside to make a whole box of fresh flower essential oil soaps.
A beautifully carved wooden box contained twelve of the finest essential oil soaps, along with imported perfumes that Su Yujing had bought. This beautiful and artistic gift was intended to please Rong Xiaorou.
She and Rong Xiaorou had exchanged several letters, agreeing on a date to go to Beijing, and she left Rong Xiaorou's address.
After having breakfast, the two arrived at a courtyard house near Shichahai with gifts.
Upon seeing this courtyard house, Chen Jing's eyes lit up. He had been wondering where to find a house with a courtyard, and these houses did! They even looked quite spacious.
However, there seem to be quite a few people living in this area with courtyards, and the alleys are bustling with people. We'll have to look carefully to find a house for sale or rent.
Thinking of this, Chen Jing whispered with a chuckle, "Xia, the houses around here seem quite nice. How about we buy one?"
Ji Xia immediately recognized that this area consisted of courtyard houses, and upon hearing this, she couldn't help but chuckle: "Buy a courtyard house? These must be quite expensive."
Chen Jing raised an eyebrow: "These are old houses, not high-rise buildings, how expensive can they be?"
Ji Xia couldn't help but sneer: "Ignorance is bliss. Do you even know what kind of houses these are? These are courtyard houses, all old houses passed down from the Ming and Qing dynasties."
Those houses that have been well-preserved and preserved to this day, unaffected by war, are ancestral homes of high-ranking officials and royalty; they are cultural relics. Such houses are many times more valuable than apartment buildings. I estimate that even a single or double courtyard house would cost over ten thousand.
Courtyard houses sold for astronomical prices in later generations. Even one or two courtyards could fetch over ten million yuan, and larger courtyard houses could fetch over one hundred million yuan.
Ji Xia once read a story about a person who sold his ancestral courtyard house for 300,000 yuan in the early 1990s and then went abroad for more than 30 years.
Over the course of more than thirty years, he spent many years abroad, earning eight or nine million, and thought he would return home in glory.
Upon returning, I inquired about the courtyard house I had sold before and heard that its price had risen to twenty or thirty million.
So all those decades of hard work have been for nothing, and they still can't buy back their original courtyard house.
It's not even 1980 yet, but it will cost 300,000 in ten years. It's probably worth tens of thousands now, right?
Chen Jing looked around in surprise: "No way, a house like this costs over ten thousand?"
“I said one or two courtyards would cost over ten thousand. If it’s three or four courtyards or more, it would probably be even more expensive. Those are cultural relics and heritage, with collection value. Forget about it.”
Upon hearing this, Chen Jing narrowed his eyes. Houses with collectible value, belonging to high-ranking officials and royalty, sounded very prestigious.
If he buys one and brags about it to his family, countless people will be envious!
As for breaking ten thousand or tens of thousands of yuan, Chen Jing really didn't care.
In just six months, from last year to now, the three of them have earned more than 200,000 yuan together.
Following the address on the paper, they quickly found Rong Xiaorou's courtyard.
I knocked gently on the door, and after a while, someone inside finally answered, "Coming!"
A young woman with shoulder-length short hair, who looked to be about twenty years old, came out and opened the door, looking at the handsome man and beautiful woman outside with suspicion.
Who are you?
Ji Xia quickly stepped forward and asked with a smile, "Hello, is this Teacher Rong Xiaorou's home? My name is Ji Xia, and I'm a friend from Guangdong. I've been corresponding with Teacher Rong since last year."
"From Guangdong? You're a friend my aunt met in Guangzhou?"
The short-haired girl readily opened the door: "Come in and sit down. Auntie went out to buy breakfast and should be back soon."
"Did you buy breakfast?"
Ji Xia's smile was a little awkward. She was too early; she should have come half an hour earlier.
However, she glanced at her watch and realized it was already past nine o'clock. Did people in the capital get up this late in the morning?
The girl said generously, "Come in, it's alright. My name is Rong Ruoshi, and Rong Xiaorou is my aunt. You're the promising young man she discovered outside, right?"
"I wouldn't call myself a promising talent, but I just love drawing, and Teacher Rong has given me a lot of help."
Ji Xia modestly walked into the courtyard with Chen Jing.
As soon as she entered the courtyard, she heard the sound of a bicycle bell behind her. Rong Ruoshi turned her head and waved with a mixture of surprise and delight: "Auntie, the person you're looking for has returned."
Ji Xia turned around and saw that Rong Xiaorou had indeed returned.
Half a year later, Rong Xiaorou has an even more refined temperament than last year. Wearing a plaid hat and scarf, and a camel-colored wool coat, she looks particularly artistic.
Even while carrying soy milk, fried dough sticks, and pan-fried buns, she maintained an elegant and composed demeanor.
Upon seeing Ji Xia, Rong Xiaorou couldn't help but smile gently: "You're finally here! I thought you wouldn't be here for a few more days!"
"Teacher Rong, I'm a little unsure of myself, so I came a little early to ask for your advice."
The group entered the living room, and Rong Xiaorou warmly invited the two to have breakfast together, but they quickly declined.
Rong Xiaorou didn't stand on ceremony and had Rong Ruoshi pour them tea, while she took breakfast to the small side hall.
Ji Xia took the opportunity to look around the small courtyard. The square courtyard, with its blue bricks and red tiles, seemed to exude a sense of antiquity.
The courtyard isn't very big, with side rooms on both sides, a row of six or seven rooms at the back, and a small courtyard in the middle. It's probably two or three hundred square meters in total, and it should be a single-courtyard house.
She explained to Chen Jing in a low voice, and Chen Jing couldn't help but be surprised: "Two or three hundred square meters is one courtyard? How many square meters are four or five courtyards?"
Rong Ruoshi came out carrying a pot of hot tea: "Four or five courtyards? There are big ones and small ones. Some are over a thousand square meters, and some are eight or nine hundred square meters. There are even seven courtyards, covering more than ten acres!"
Upon hearing this, Chen Jing couldn't help but gasp in surprise. So the houses of the wealthy were this big back then?
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