"Brother Xiao Chuan, I've taken care of the matter you asked me to inquire about." Jin Wei hadn't gone over since he saw people moving goods earlier.
They only came over after seeing people board the ship.
"Found a suitable house?" Li Baichuan was taken aback. So fast?
"Yes, it's the brother on the ship. I thought about it and his house fits your requirements. It's big enough. It's just that he doesn't live there for many years. I guess it needs to be cleaned up properly."
Jinwei explained the man's situation: his family had been the only son in generations, and now he, his wife, and their child lived on a boat.
He hasn't been back to the old house since his parents passed away. He was thinking that if he sold the house, he could save enough money to buy a boat.
“Brother Xiaochuan, there’s open space around his house. If you think it’s too small, you can apply to the brigade to expand it.”
Jinwei had been to Beijing and thought that the city was full of courtyard houses. He figured that Xiao Chuan and his brother were probably used to living in those big courtyards.
I prefer a bigger one, with a yard, and it wouldn't hurt to expand it a bit more, since it's all land belonging to the production team anyway.
Little did he know that while there were indeed many courtyard houses in Beijing, they weren't all occupied by one family; they were packed with people.
"Okay, we'll go take a look tomorrow morning." Li Baichuan nodded and went back to discuss it with his wife first.
Suti was surprised to hear the news, and she felt that she had made the right decision to come.
"Try to buy a bigger one, then build a simple fence first to reserve the land, and then tidy up the inside a bit."
"You can stay here and rest there from now on, which is equivalent to settling down in the area. It's a win-win situation, and you can ask for help if you need anything."
Suti didn't expect it to happen so quickly; it seems houses here are really worthless now.
"Okay." Li Baichuan listened to his wife; this trip was basically free.
His wife earned back the money from just a few pieces of paper. She's really amazing. You can never go wrong by listening to her.
"Where did Lu Guoan go?" Su Ti looked to the side. The boat was about to leave, so why hadn't he boarded yet?
"He's worried, so he's keeping an eye on the goods down there." Li Baichuan shook his head as he said this. There was so much stuff; surely someone couldn't just jump ship halfway through the journey?
But Lu Guoan was timid and insisted on watching over things himself to feel at ease, so Li Baichuan let him have his way.
"He's reliable." Suti thought this kind of person was good; dealing with someone with a simple mind is easy.
On the return trip, because she had the medicine, Suti was prepared, and since the cargo on the ship had been unloaded and the smell wasn't so bad, she didn't feel so uncomfortable.
When the group arrived at their destination, Li Baichuan asked Lu Guoan to stay and watch over the place while he went to drive the car over.
They loaded the things into the car, and then the two of them took turns keeping watch and slept in the car. Suti went back to the guesthouse by himself.
The next morning, after everyone had breakfast, Li Baichuan asked Lu Guoan to watch over their things while he took his wife to Jinwei's brigade.
“Brother Xiaochuan, this is the guy I told you about who wants to sell his house. You can call him Ergou. His house is one of the bigger ones in the brigade.”
“His family is all on the boat, so this house is empty. It’s just been empty for a long time, so you’ll have to tidy it up if you want to stay here.”
"I'll take you to see the house first, and if it's suitable, we'll go find the captain together." Jin Wei thought that they still had to go back, and he also wanted to get things settled as soon as possible.
"Okay, thank you for your trouble, Brother Wei." Li Baichuan went to see the house with the man.
The house was more dilapidated than he had imagined; it was just a simple frame. None of the houses in this area had yards.
The area in front of the houses consisted of each family's private plots, and there wasn't much inside. It was said that they were buying houses, but now it seems they were just buying a piece of land.
If you want people to live there, you'll have to do the repairs yourself, but the surrounding open space is quite large, so you can buy it at the same time.
"How much are you planning to sell this house for?" Li Baichuan didn't ask the person selling the house, but asked Jin Wei directly.
They must have discussed it beforehand; Li Baichuan and Su Ti didn't think the houses here would be too expensive.
"How about I give you eighty yuan? The private plot in front of the house also belongs to his family. We can ask the brigade leader to approve it for you later."
“If you don’t like living in this kind of house, you can modify it yourself. If you feel it’s too small and want to build a yard, you can ask the brigade leader for approval for the land next to it.”
Jin Wei thought about it for a moment. He still believed that his heart was with his own people, and he thought that Li Baichuan could accept this price.
"..."
Even though Su Ti and Li Baichuan had prepared themselves mentally, they were still taken aback by the price.
“Brother Wei, you know we bought this house for our own convenience, but we can’t stay here for too long.”
"We can accept this price, but we have one request. Could you please help us find someone to clean the house?"
Li Baichuan thought it best not to bother two people, and since he bought the house from Brother Wei, he could also put some effort into it.
Even if they're not here anymore, they can still help look after the house.
He didn't ask for much; he just wanted to buy up all the available land around the area and then build a warehouse. Wei Ge should understand what he meant.
The courtyard here also needs to be fenced off, and the house inside needs to be decorated and tidied up.
These house and courtyard wall repair jobs can only be done by hiring local residents.
“No problem, shall we go directly to the captain?” Jinwei had thought he would try to bargain, but he agreed so readily.
Jinwei knew he wasn't short of money, but he also knew how much risk he had taken to earn it.
He took advantage of him because he didn't understand the local situation, and ripped him off once. He gave away the house, but the person who bought it complained about the cost of repairs.
If he really wanted what was best for him, he should have advised people not to buy it.
Now that he's already bought it, he'll definitely find a reliable person to fix it properly, which will make up for it.
When the brigade leader heard their purpose, he thought the man had something wrong with his head. Even if he wanted to find a place to stay, he might as well walk a little further to the commune.
The houses over there are better than the ones here, so what's the point of buying these houses here?
They don't stay for long periods of time; they only come occasionally to buy things and stay for a while.
But he didn't say anything. They wanted to give money to their brigade, so why should he stop them?
He had heard of similar things before; some educated youth in the better brigades wanted to live in better conditions, so they built houses there.
The brigade also approved the land, which means that the land is not only for people in the brigade to use. As long as it is stamped and the proper procedures are followed, it is fine.
"Once you buy it, you can't regret it." The brigade leader was afraid they would regret it, so this guy even bought the whole plot of land behind it, because Wei Zi said he was going to build a warehouse to store the goods.
He also knew that Wei Zi had been traveling all over the country over the years, and that these people were all involved in shady businesses.
But now that the country has allowed it, he has even less reason to stop it.
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