Chapter 655
Tang Ziyi's car slowly drove into an alley near the Imperial College and stopped in front of a vermilion gate. The copper ring on the door shone with a warm luster in the sunlight.
It must be said that the urban planning of the capital is indeed very straight. Most of the roads are straight, with only slight turns in the alleys.
This is probably why we can use east, south, west and north to give directions in the north.
"We're home, right here." Ye Jiayin said.
Su Miao couldn't wait to jump out of the car and said excitedly: "Sister Jiayin, your courtyard is actually near the Imperial College. I heard that this place used to be inhabited by scholars and officials."
"No matter how expensive it was, it was ancient times. Now it's us ordinary people who have to live here. But the environment here is really good. There are businesses, hospitals, and schools. It's a ten-minute walk up the road to the subway."
Now Line 1 and Line 2 have been opened in Beijing. The two-cent ticket is quite affordable compared to the distance and time cost.
Su Miao looked around the alley curiously. Several old men in vests were sitting on small stools under the shade of a locust tree, fanning themselves with palm-leaf fans and playing chess. When they heard the sound of a car, they looked up.
A middle-aged man pushing a 28-inch bicycle carefully passed by the jeep. A foam box was tied to the back seat of the bicycle, and the cool smell of popsicles faintly emanated from it.
Ye Jiayin took out the key and knocked lightly on the drum stone beside the door. "The lion relief on the doorpost is still from the Qianlong period. The people before used cement to cover most of the carvings. We scraped it for three days before we could see the real thing."
After that, he opened the door and said, "Come in."
As the wooden door opened, what came into view was a screen wall carved with pine trees and cranes. Judging from the rounded patterns on it, it didn't look like it was newly made.
"When we were renovating the courtyard, we tried to preserve what we could. This screen wall was originally there, but the brick carvings on it were damaged. We hired a craftsman to repair it, and it took a month."
Ye Jiayin led them around the screen wall and into the front yard. The lotus pot behind the screen wall was half a person's height, and the edge of the pot was engraved with lotus patterns. Suddenly, a koi with a golden tail and shining scales jumped out from the moss floating on the water.
When Su Miao leaned over to take a look, the fish suddenly flicked its tail and dived into the water, startling the dewdrops on the lotus leaves and causing them to fall into the tank. In the ripples on the water, Su Miao caught a glimpse of a copper coin covered with green rust at the bottom of the tank.
"The front yard is mainly the living room, kitchen and dining room, so the yard is smaller."
Walking further in from the four-pillar gate with hanging flowers connected to the corridor is the inner courtyard.
The inner courtyard was indeed much more spacious, and Su Miao felt that the view before him suddenly opened up.
A square courtyard appeared before everyone. Like the outer courtyard, the courtyard was paved with blue bricks and was clean and tidy. It was surrounded by corridors with red pillars and gray tiles. Although the colorful paintings under the eaves had faded, the pattern of "Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea" could still be made out.
The sunlight shines through the carved corbels, casting diamond-shaped spots of light on the blue brick floor, which interweave with the shadows of the red pillars on the veranda to form a checkerboard pattern. Just then, a colorful butterfly flutters across the "Chu River and Han River".
The main house faces south, with wing rooms on the east and west sides, forming a square patio that is bright and transparent when the sun shines through.
"My parents live in the main house. This is the study and tea room. This is my room, which also has a small living room."
Su Yuanzheng looked around and nodded repeatedly, "It's been renovated beautifully. Are the pillars newly painted?"
Ye Jiayin nodded. "Yes, Uncle Yuan. During the renovation, we tried to preserve the original wooden structure and made necessary reinforcements and repainted it.
The original bricks on the floor were also preserved, and the damaged ones were re-paved. When I first cleaned it last year, the house was full of cobwebs and there were two hornets' nests hanging from the beams.
Tang Ziyi added, "Jiayin's courtyard is lucky. It was previously used as a street office. Although there have been some changes to the interior, the overall structure has not been damaged. Nowadays, most courtyard houses have been divided into more than a dozen households, and they are completely unrecognizable."
After a tour around the yard, since the Ye family had not officially moved in yet, although the hard furnishings were complete, the soft furnishings had not yet been arranged, and it lacked the breath of life.
They came to the hall and sat for a while. There was a plaque hanging in the hall with the words "Cultivate One's Morality and Improve One's Character" written on it.
Seeing Su Miao looking up, Ye Jiayin said, "This was written by my grandfather when he was young. During a special period, it was covered with mud. Later, my father wiped it clean bit by bit."
Suddenly, a fat black cat jumped out from somewhere, circled around Su Miao's trouser legs twice, and suddenly jumped onto the bamboo chair in the corridor, scratching the blue print on the cushion with its claws.
"Yes? Why is there a cat? It's so fat~" Su Miao said in surprise.
The black cat was probably unhappy with Su Miao's comment on its figure, so it turned around and meowed at her.
Ye Jiayin smiled and said, “It’s a native resident and it was here when I first bought the yard.
It was noisy during the renovations, so it moved out half a year later and came back when the yard was almost finished. Now we haven't moved in yet, and we rely on it to watch over the house."
"Ah! How do I feed it then?"
"No need to feed it. It can climb walls and run on rooftops, and its ability to find food is much better than ours."
Su Miao said with envy: "That's great, it must be because the feng shui of your house is good, Sister Jiayin, that's why it's willing to stay here."
Su Yuanzheng brought the conversation to the point: "Jiayin, how much did it cost to buy and renovate this yard? Did it take a long time to renovate it?"
"When I transferred back to Beijing, my parents bought it for 60,000 yuan. However, we bought this yard from the public, so the price might be different from that of a private buyer.
The full renovation cost about 20,000 yuan, including the cost of some old items. If you only count the construction and labor, 10,000 yuan would be enough.
The renovation took more than half a year. The contractor said that restoring a building to its original state takes the most effort, while tearing down and rebuilding a building that is extremely dilapidated is faster.
Su Miao calculated for a moment: "That's about 80,000 yuan, and that was two years ago. I heard that the price of a well-preserved courtyard house has increased now."
Ye Jiayin nodded and said, "That's true. After all, there are not many courtyard houses with suitable locations, housing preservation conditions, and property rights.
Last month, a Hong Kong businessman, somehow finding out about my yard, offered 150,000 yuan for it, but my parents refused. Firstly, the renovations were incredibly well-decorated, and secondly, good properties are hard to come by.
Su Yuanzheng scratched his head and said, "It's already bid up to 150,000? Miaomiao, then we have to buy it quickly. I think the house price will continue to rise in the future. Buying now is still a good opportunity. If we find a suitable one, we can buy two!"
Su Miao exclaimed in surprise, "Wow! Boss Su! You're becoming more and more generous! You even have investment awareness! That's amazing!"
Seeing the three children all giving him a thumbs-up, Su Yuanzheng said proudly, "Okay! Then let's go see the yard now!"
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