Chapter 69
Finally, they found two empty courtyards for rent among the vast amount of information. One of them could be viewed directly, while the other required a phone call to make an appointment.
Su Miao took out a pen and paper from his backpack and wrote down the information of the two courtyards. Then he said, "Dad, Brother Yu, let's go to this one where there are people there first, and then contact the other one."
According to the map, walk two minutes deeper into the main alley, turn into a small alley and go 20 meters forward. You will see a dark red wooden gate with Xiwuxiang 005 written on it.
"Miao Miao, judging by the door number, this should be the one. Daddy will go knock on the door to see if anyone is home."
This residential area wasn't noisy, so the knock on the door was easy to hear. A somewhat elderly voice answered casually from inside: "Coming, wait a minute."
In less than half a minute, an old man who looked to be nearly seventy years old and was leaning on a cane came out to open the door. He was dressed neatly, and his hair and beard were well-groomed.
He glanced at Su Miao and the other two with an inquiring look, and said to Su Yuanzheng: "Are you here to rent a house?"
Su Yuanzheng nodded and said, "Yes, we saw the information on the bulletin board. Are you the owner of this house?"
"Yes, yes, it's me. Please come in." The old man opened the door and invited them to sit on the bench in the yard.
Seeing Su Miao's age, the old man guessed that Su Yuanzheng was probably here to accompany his children to study, but Su Yu's age didn't seem that old, so he asked Su Miao, "Are you a family?"
Su Miao replied, "Yes, Grandpa, this is my dad, and this is my cousin. I'm going to study at No. 1 Middle School, and my dad wants to rent a house nearby."
"Oh, what does your father do for a living?"
"My father runs a restaurant, and my cousin helps out at my house."
The old man nodded in understanding and said, "Then let me tell you about my house. I'm the only one living there now. I'm old, and my daughter wants me to move in with her so she can take care of me. So I want to rent out this yard. I'll show you around."
"You can see the yard here, it's quite big, perfect for drying quilts, practicing Tai Chi, or anything else. There are two rooms on the left: a kitchen and a bedroom. On the right is a bathroom. Both the bathroom and the toilet were just renovated two years ago. Oh, and the toilets here are all ventilated, so there's no need to empty the toilet."
Su Miao nodded in satisfaction: "Grandpa, this toilet with a pipe is so convenient."
The old man chuckled helplessly, "It was because of that Innovation City campaign two years ago. They said that toilets that didn't flush could easily breed plague, so the government took the lead in renovating all the toilets in the courtyards of this area. They said it was the government's job, but we're the ones paying for it!"
He led the three of them to the main house. There was a living room inside and bedrooms on both sides. The bedrooms could be entered from the living room, and there was also a door leading directly to the yard.
The living room and every room are spacious, with good lighting and ventilation. Because people have always lived there, there is no sense of dilapidation.
The furniture in the house is quite complete, with tables, chairs, sofas, beds and wardrobes.
The old man showed them around, then sat down in the yard and said, "My daughter has been urging me to do this for a long time. As soon as someone comes to rent it, I can vacate the house immediately. I'll leave all the furniture for you to use, and I'll pack up all the valuables."
Su Yuanzheng looked at his daughter. Su Miao thought the yard was nice. It was clean and quiet, and the facilities were complete. So he asked, "Grandpa, how much is the rent for your yard? How do I pay it, and how much is the deposit?"
"For the whole yard, 25 yuan a month, payable monthly, but you have to pay a two-month deposit first. After all, my furniture is pretty good."
If calculated based on the monthly salary of regular workers, the city's salary is higher than the county's, about 80 yuan a month.
So the rent is one-third of a worker's monthly salary, which is very cheap to accommodate a whole family.
Su Miao was just about to signal to his father that he could reserve this yard when a rough voice came from outside the door.
"Who said 25? It's 55!"
A middle-aged couple hurriedly climbed in from outside. They were both sweating profusely because they ran so fast in the hot weather.
When the old man saw them, he stood up angrily and said, "What are you doing here to cause trouble again? What does the rent of my house have to do with you?"
The middle-aged man said with a scoundrel look on his face: "Dad, I am your only son. This yard will be mine sooner or later. If you want to rent it out, you have to get our consent!"
"You! This is my house! My name is on the property deed, it has nothing to do with you!"
The old man's daughter-in-law said with a sneer on her face, "Oh! Do you think we're all fools? My younger sister is trying to get you to move in with her so we can rent out this yard to help her. She's got some good calculations on her part."
The old man knocked the ground with his cane and said sadly, "Your own heart makes everything look dirty. Jiayue took me in because she saw that I was old and had no one to take care of me. She didn't ask me for a penny."
"Oh! In the final analysis, you're still blaming us for not taking you to live in the new building! Don't you think about it? We only got a two-bedroom apartment, and your grandson is getting married next year, so where would we find a room for you?"
"Okay, okay, stop talking nonsense and get down to business."
The middle-aged man waved his hand to silence his wife, then turned to Su Yuanzheng and said, "You're here to rent a house, right? What my father just said doesn't count. This house has three bedrooms, a living room, and a large yard. The market price is 55, and you have to pay it quarterly."
The price suddenly doubled, and there were family disputes, so this yard cannot be rented out, which is indeed a pity.
Su Miao stood up and said to the old man, "Grandpa, since your family hasn't reached a consensus yet, let's go to other people's homes first."
The old man sighed helplessly and nodded: "Okay, sorry, you made this trip in vain."
"It's okay, take care."
After saying that, he walked out of the yard with his father and cousin. Su Yu looked back at the old man worriedly and said, "Grandpa's son and daughter-in-law don't look like good people. Should we help him speak up?"
Su Miao said, "Brother Yu, it's difficult for a judge to judge family affairs, not to mention that we are just strangers. If we anger them, Grandpa's situation may be even worse after we leave."
Su Yu nodded and said, "I understand. Should we call the other company now?"
"Well, that's all we can do. It's okay. We'll take our time and see. Renting a house also depends on fate!"
They came out of the alley and met a tall girl wearing a short-sleeved sports suit, a sun hat, and a badminton racket on her shoulder. She looked young and very energetic.
Su Miao shouted in surprise: "Sister Jiayin!"
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