Chapter 157: Journey to Nanguang (Part 1)
Zhang Ze took Tong Yuanhang to the bus station and went to the address left in the letter, which was Yuexiu District.
Yuexiu District is the oldest central urban area in Guangzhou, and it is also one of the most prosperous places in Guangzhou in this era.
Zhang Ze was planning to buy a house here. The house prices here would be ridiculously high in the future! If he could get one or two buildings, he could wear slippers and shorts and carry a sack to collect rent and become the most handsome guy on the street.
However, Zhang Ze doesn’t have to think about buildings now, as all the high-rise commercial housing are currently sold to foreigners, at four hundred yuan per square meter.
This price may seem like a bargain from the perspective of future generations, but it is still a sky-high price for most people who earn 40 or 50 yuan a month today.
Many of the houses are small two-story buildings next to the street, and the better ones are three-story buildings with small courtyards.
The prices of these houses are much lower than those sold to foreigners, and they are also Zhang Ze’s goal this time.
But now the first task is to find Tong Yuanhang’s cousin, and then do his own thing.
The railway station is in Yuexiu District, and the foreign guesthouse where Tong Yuanhang's cousin lives is also in Yuexiu District. It's quite far to get there by tricycle, but it's still very fast to take the bus.
Walking into the guesthouse, Zhang Ze found that this place for receiving foreign guests was different. Other guesthouses basically had middle-aged women and uncles receiving guests, but here there were young and beautiful ladies who could even speak a few words of English.
Because they had called when they came by train, they went straight to the front desk and asked, "Hello, we are here to look for Lu Wenbin. I am Zhang Ze, and this is Tong Yuanhang, Lu Wenbin's cousin. Could you please notify him for us?"
Perhaps because Lu Wenbin had made advance instructions, the front desk clerk didn't seem surprised by their arrival. After agreeing, they called the room's phone.
Not long after, a young man dressed formally in a suit and glasses came to the hall. Although he was five years older than Tong Yuanhang, he looked younger than him.
"Brother Bin!"
When Tong Yuanhang saw the person coming, he immediately shouted excitedly.
They often played together when they were young and were very familiar with each other. Although so many years have passed, they are still recognizable at a glance, except that they have become more mature in appearance.
"Haha, Ahang!" Lu Wenbin was also very excited to see his cousin. Their good relationship would not become dull because of time, otherwise they would not have taken the initiative to write to contact Lu Man.
Zhang Ze stood by and watched the two brothers get together quietly without disturbing them.
After a while, Tong Yuanhang remembered his brother-in-law and quickly pulled his cousin to introduce him: "Brother Bin, this is Aze, Shuyao's husband."
Lu Wenbin smiled and shook hands with Zhang Ze: "Aze, I finally meet you in person. I was wondering on the phone before what kind of man Shuyao would like. Sure enough, he is handsome."
No matter how much truth there is in what he said, at least on the surface it makes people feel comfortable to approach him.
The Lu family used to be one of the upper-middle class in Wenshui City, and most people in Wenshui City have good business acumen, especially the Lu family itself which started out as a business.
So when they arrived in Hong Kong Island, it was not easy at first. They couldn’t speak the language, and their actual wealth was not as much as the capital that those who fled to Hong Kong Island from other places in the north had.
But with his flexible business acumen and adaptability, he quickly integrated into Hong Kong Island.
The Lu family used to be in the clothing industry, and they still do it in Hong Kong Island today.
This time, Lu Wenbin came to Nanfang, not only to look for his aunt's family, but also to plan to build a garment factory in Nanfang.
After the domestic market was opened, the Lu family saw the business opportunities there.
The labor cost here is far lower than that of Hong Kong Island. The only thing I worry about is whether the situation in China will recur.
But nowadays, coming here as a foreign guest, it is relatively much better.
There is a tradition in our country to be very caring and polite to foreign guests.
After a few pleasantries, Lu Wenbin helped them to get a double bed room at the foreign guest house, and made an appointment to go out for dinner in the evening, asking them to wash up and have a good rest first.
Walking into the room, Zhang Ze was somewhat surprised to see the layout inside.
It looks like a modern hotel, with two beds, a TV and an electric fan.
It has a separate bathroom with hot water for taking a shower.
"Wow, this room is so nice! There is even a TV and an electric fan. Hey, Aze, what is this?" Compared to Zhang Ze, Tong Yuanhang completely showed the feeling of a countryman coming to the city.
"This should be an air conditioner! It's hot in Nanfang in the summer, and families with particularly good conditions will install air conditioners." Zhang Ze explained. Just now when he was riding in the car, he did vaguely see an air conditioner outdoor unit on the roof of a small Western-style building.
The external unit was very large, like a water tank in later times. There was no exhaust vent on the side, but it was facing upwards, which was very different from the external units of air conditioners in later times.
His house is in a high-rise building, and it is probably an air-conditioned room that Lu Wenbin specially opened for them.
Nanfang in May is already a bit hot, just like the early summer in June in Wenshui City.
The room has air conditioning, so they can sleep much more comfortably at night.
Zhang Ze picked up a small black remote control on the bedside table and found that it was made very carelessly.
There is absolutely no text description on it, only icons.
Fortunately, the switch was red and easy to see. Zhang Ze pressed the red button and the air conditioner turned on.
"What the hell, why did the air conditioner suddenly startle him?" Tong Yuanhang was studying the TV that he was more interested in, and the sudden sound of the air conditioner starting up scared him.
"Don't you feel hot? I'll turn on the air conditioner to cool down." When Zhang Ze saw the 25 degrees Celsius displayed on the remote control and the cold air coming out of the air conditioner, he knew that the space had been set up and he just had to turn it on.
So I put down the remote control, opened my luggage bag, took out my clothes and prepared to take a shower.
When he came out of the shower, he saw Tong Yuanhang standing at the air-conditioner vent, enjoying the cool air with an expression of enjoyment on his face.
At this time, the air conditioner had been turned on for a while, and the whole room became much cooler.
"Don't stand in the cold wind all the time. You'll catch a cold easily."
"Hey, you came out of the shower? The air from the air conditioner is so comfortable, so cool. It doesn't feel hot anymore."
"Your cousin is so kind to you that he specially opened an air-conditioned room. Now, go take a shower and have a good rest in the afternoon."
Zhang Ze drove Tong Yuanhang into the bathroom, asked him to tell him about shampoo and soap, and then taught him how to use the water heater. Then he came out, lay on the bed, closed his eyes and rested.
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I hardly got any rest on the train, so of course I was tired from sitting all the time.
After a good night's sleep, the fatigue was much relieved. In the evening, I had a Cantonese meal with Lu Wenbin, and after experiencing the characteristics of Nanfang and the bustle of several streets, I went back.
During this time, Zhang Ze also called home to report his safety, and Tong Yuanhang naturally called home as well.
"Ahhang and Aze, when are you going to go back and bring your uncle and aunt here? When they get here, I can take them to get their documents so that they can go to Hong Kong Island to meet their grandparents." After finishing the call, several people came to Lu Wenbin's guest room and started discussing business.
Zhang Ze pondered for a moment and said, "Here's what I think. My parents will definitely go to Hong Kong Island to visit my grandparents often in the future. So instead of staying in a guesthouse every time and running back and forth between Wenshui City and Nanguan, it would be better to just buy a house here and settle down."
"This place is close to Hong Kong Island, so it's very convenient to go back and forth. In addition, Nanguan has a good environment and a superior geographical location. It will definitely develop faster than Wenshui City in the future. It's much better to come here than to Wenshui City."
Lu Wenbin's eyes lit up: "That's fine. Grandpa and grandma are old and it's hard for them to travel. If you all move in, it will be much more convenient to visit them."
"Then we will go buy a house tomorrow. With my status, I can buy you a building. You can calculate how many households there are in total, and then we can buy that many houses."
A 410-square-meter apartment is not a big deal for Lu Wenbin. It's just a small amount of money. The housing prices here are very different from those in Hong Kong Island.
If he bought a house of 100 square meters there, he would have to spend so much money to buy houses here. For him, it would be the best if his aunt and her family were willing to settle here.
But Zhang Ze chose to refuse Lu Wenbin's generosity: "I'll buy the house here myself! In addition, I don't recommend buying a building. Buildings are on high floors and the space is small. For us who like to grow vegetables in the yard, it's not very free. I'll go around Nanfang tomorrow to see if there is a suitable place."
"But when the time comes to buy a house, you will still have to help us, cousin. If you come forward to help us, it will be much easier for us to buy a house."
When Lu Wenbin heard that Zhang Ze wanted to buy a house himself, he looked at him in surprise.
He has recently learned a lot about the current situation in the country. After all, if one wants to set up a clothing factory, understanding the local consumption and income situation is only the most basic.
Judging from the current per capita income, it is not easy for people to afford to buy a house!
He suddenly felt that he might have made a mistake. This cheap cousin-in-law seemed to have some abilities.
Lu Wenbin naturally agreed to his request. If he wanted to invest and build a factory here, the local government would definitely give him the green light.
It is certainly easy to buy a house for one's relatives. Otherwise, if Zhang Zetong rashly sails far away to a remote coastal area to buy a house and become a fisherman, he might be misunderstood as an enemy spy or a smuggler.
After all, who among the rich would go to a fishing village to live a hard life by the sea?
The next day, Zhang Ze took Tong Yuanhang out for a walk.
Yesterday they strolled around the busy streets, but today they went to some more remote locations.
Compared to the various square buildings in the center, the houses in the more remote areas are all low old houses made of red bricks and tiles.
These were no problem for Zhang Ze. He had no plans to settle in Yuexiu District. He just wanted to understand the housing prices and have an idea of them.
His purpose has always been simple, which is to bring disaster to the South China Sea.
So he needed to live somewhere close to the sea, and his first choice was naturally Pengcheng.
But Pengcheng is still just a small county town, and most of the areas near the coast are small fishing villages without a good market economy.
Besides, there are quite a few second-rate people like him. When they find out that he has money, they will definitely come and cause trouble.
Pengcheng is a place without much historical and cultural heritage, and there don't seem to be many local residents. The population that has grown since then has all been from outside. It may be worth going there after it develops a few years.
So his main target this time was the Lianhuashan Fishing Port in Yangcheng, which became very famous in later generations.
(End of this chapter)
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