Qian Duoduo prepared her things, thought for a moment, and left the key to her courtyard with Qian Mao, asking him to help water the vegetables in the garden when he had free time, and to pick them and eat them when they were ripe.
Qian Mao nodded: "Are there any on the other side of the road?"
Qian Duoduo shook her head and said, "He's in closed-door experiments right now. He can't come out, so I didn't give him any. Here are two. If he asks for one, just give him one. As for the vegetables in the yard, you can divide them up."
Qian Mao looked at the backpack she was carrying and said, "That's a nice bag!"
Qian Duoduo smiled and said, "You like it? I'll buy you one next time."
Qian Mao nodded: "I think it's a good idea. I'm going on a business trip to Haishi in a couple of days."
Qian Duoduo was taken aback. What? You're leaving too?
Qian Mao laughed and said, "I'm definitely not as fast as you. I reckon Qian Xiang and his family should be here soon. When they arrive, I'll give them the keys and ask them to take a look. Also, there really were houses on Shitoudao Street last time I went there. I'm planning to go check them out. Do you still want a house there?"
Qian Duoduo nodded and said, "Yes, Third Brother, if you have spare money, buy one over there too, and we brothers can be neighbors."
Qian Mao smiled and said, "Okay, I understand."
Qian Duoduo said, "I'll give you the money here. When you buy, make sure it's a big one. If it's small, see if you can buy me two. Anyway, when it comes to houses, the more the better. I'm not afraid of having too many."
Qian Mao asked, puzzled, "Why are you buying so many? Isn't one enough?" Although the courtyard at the Agricultural University was quite nicely maintained, Qian Duoduo's words, "It's not as convenient to buy things here," did indeed touch Qian Mao's heart. However, he did not expect Qian Duoduo to be so ambitious, and what surprised him even more was that Qian Duoduo was so rich.
With a smile, Qian Duoduo handed her savings book to Qian Mao and said, "Third Brother, this is all my savings, so I'm entrusting it to you."
Qian Mao chuckled as he stared at the four zeros on his savings account, his mouth agape. He knew that after all these years of working, he'd only saved about the same amount of money as her!
Qian Duoduo said, "Hehe, you didn't expect that, did you? All my scholarships from the past few years are here."
When this was mentioned, Qian Mao shut his mouth. It wasn't surprising that a student who received a scholarship every semester could save up so much money.
Qian Mao said, "Alright, I'll use this money to buy it!"
Qian Duoduo nodded and said, "Then I'll be going now. I'll take the train tomorrow."
Qian Mao nodded.
A week later, Guo Ni brought Qian Xiang to Harbin. Not only did she have to go to work, but Qian Mao also called to say that he had found a house and wanted Qian Xiang to bring his household registration and other documents to transfer the ownership.
Guo Ni was dumbfounded as she looked at the bustling street. She pulled Qian Mao and asked, "Third brother, didn't we agree to meet around the Forestry Bureau? How did we end up here?"
Qian Mao said, "Duoduo and I went to check out the area near your workplace. After Duoduo went there, she immediately rejected it. The area is surrounded by fields, which makes it very inconvenient for the children to go to school. This place is in the city center, which is more prosperous. There is an elementary school just two streets away, and a middle school is just one bus stop away. It is very convenient for the children to go to school. Besides, there are buses that go to your workplace, which is convenient for you to get there."
Guo Ni listened to Qian Mao's reasoning and thought about it; it didn't seem like a bad idea.
Qian Xiang said, "The houses here must be expensive, right?"
Qian Mao nodded and said, "That's a must. The price of houses here could buy two next to the Forestry Bureau."
Upon hearing this, Qian Xiang said, "Then let's go buy it next to the Forestry Bureau!"
Qian Mao rolled his eyes at him: "Then your son has to get up at 5 a.m. to go to school and doesn't get home until 7 p.m. Do you want the adults to be more tired or the child to be more tired?"
Qian Xiang immediately fell silent. He looked at Guo Ni and asked, "Wife, what do you think?" After all, if they bought a house here, it would be his wife who would be exhausted.
Guo Ni said, "Third brother, is there anything else you haven't finished saying?"
Qian Mao laughed: "Sister-in-law, you and Duoduo have a really good relationship. Duoduo said that if we stay here, Brother Qianxiang can rent a shop in the market next door. That way, he won't be idle and can still take care of the children, so you won't have to work so hard."
Qian Xiang's eyes lit up when he heard Qian Mao's words. He looked at the market Qian Mao mentioned and felt a little eager to try it out.
Seeing Qian Xiang's expression, Guo Ni smiled and said, "Okay, let's buy it here then."
Qian Mao led Guo Ni and Qian Xiang to the gate of a courtyard. A middle-aged man was standing there. Upon seeing Qian Mao, he immediately smiled and said, "Secretary Qian, hello. I'm Xiao Liu from the real estate office. Let me show you around these houses."
When Qian Xiang first saw Comrade Liu, his heart tightened, as if he were seeing a high-ranking leader. However, when this man saw Qian Mao, the fawning smile on his face made him fully understand the power of officialdom. Even though Qian Mao was just a secretary, he was the secretary of the deputy mayor, which was like a seventh-rank official in front of the prime minister.
Qian Mao said, "We want to go and see the house."
Xiao Liu immediately said, "Okay, okay." Then he took out a bunch of keys from his bag, found one, unlocked the door, and went in. As he walked in, he said, "This family originally had a son who studied abroad. The old man had a tough time in those years. Although he survived, he was still worried. This time, the country opened up its policies, and the old man's son asked him to go abroad. So, he wanted to sell all the properties he owned. This is one of them."
As Guo Ni listened to Xiao Liu's introduction, she slowly strolled around the courtyard. Qian Mao asked, "How many sets does the old lady have?"
Xiao Liu immediately said, "The old man owns four houses. This is the one here, two are in Anzi area, and one is in Dongda Street."
Guo Ni looked at it and asked, "What's the price of this house?"
Xiao Liu said, "The old man said this house would cost 600 yuan."
Guo Ni was stunned. She hadn't expected the house to be so expensive. She looked at Qian Mao, feeling a little uncertain. Qian Xiang was even more surprised when he heard the price. He then looked at the courtyard again and walked around inside. The house was worth more than 100 yuan a month when he built a house in Beian Village. This courtyard was worth six courtyards.
Qian Mao asked, "Are the old man's other three courtyards as big as this?"
Xiao Liu said, "The courtyard in Anzi area is about the same size as this one. One of them was borrowed by the government and is well preserved. The other one is vacant, and it's hard to say what's inside. The one on Dongda Street is an old-style tenement building. It's not very big, only about 50 square meters."
Qian Mao said, "It's rare to find a seller like this. Ask the old man if we can negotiate the price if I buy them all."
Upon hearing this, Qian Xiang looked at Qian Mao in surprise. Wait, how much money does Qian Mao have? He just said he'd buy four houses?
Guo Ni's eyes lit up. She knew that Qian Duoduo and Qian Mao both wanted to buy a house, and if they bought it together, the price would definitely be easier to negotiate than if they bought it one by one.
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