Chapter 12 Buying a House in the County Town
The largest room on the left side of the first floor of the small building can be used as a main room for meals and receiving guests. The other room is a much smaller kitchen, with a ready-made stove and a large iron pot with a chip.
There is a staircase on the outermost side of the small building that leads to the second floor.
Coming up the stairs with handrails, there were two rooms of similar size upstairs. He compared them and realized that one of the rooms could be partitioned into two smaller rooms by having a carpenter make a wall panel. He and Xiaohua would each have a room, with the doors on one side, so it wouldn't be difficult for them to come and go.
The people who lived here back then must have taken good care of this house; the hallways and stairs are well-maintained. As he walked, he didn't hear any creaking or groaning sounds from the wood.
The larger room on the second floor can be reserved for Grandma Guo.
Coming down the stairs, there was a separate toilet at the bottom of the stairs. He glanced at it and saw that although it was still a dry toilet, it was much better than the one in Guojia Village.
Moreover, a back door was specially opened in the wall of the courtyard, so that the night soil could be taken out directly from the toilet without having to go through the front yard. In the morning, someone from the county town would come to collect it.
He had looked at so many houses on the way, but this one was the one that suited his taste best.
The only problem is that the staircase outside is not very good. It's inevitably slippery when it rains or snows. But since it's not a house that you built bit by bit yourself, there will always be some imperfections.
What's more, this house also comes with its own storefront.
He peered over the railing, wondering how much it would cost to have someone come and add a canopy to the stairs.
As he looked him up and down, Granny Sun didn't urge him. She sat down at the stone table under the ginkgo tree, took out a bamboo water jug from somewhere, and slowly drank the water.
Granny Sun had led me all this way, and she had indeed put a lot of effort into explaining things to me.
Guo Baiwen genuinely liked the house, so when he came down from upstairs and couldn't see anyone else, he took out fifty-one taels of silver from the storeroom and put it in the basket on his back.
Seeing that someone had taken a liking to the house, Granny Sun slowly stood up from the stone bench. "This house is really nice, isn't it?" She turned around, intending to take Guo Baiwen out. "I've brought quite a few people here to see it, and they all say it's good, but the price is a bit expensive—"
Before she could finish speaking, Guo Baiwen grabbed her arm. "Yes, this house is very nice, Mother-in-law. I want to buy this house."
“Yes, you want to buy—” Granny Sun was speaking calmly when she suddenly stopped, slowly turning to look at Guo Baiwen, unconsciously repeating what she had just heard, her tone suddenly rising, “You said you want to buy this house?”
"Yes, I want to buy this house."
“Young man, the asking price for this house is fifty taels, not five taels,” Granny Sun wondered if she had walked too much today and was hallucinating. “Moreover, the owner said that this house is for sale only and not for rent, and there is no room for negotiation on this price.”
“Yes, it’s to buy, not to rent. Fifty taels, Mother-in-law, I want to buy this house.”
As if afraid that Granny Sun still didn't understand, Guo Baiwen took out the fifty taels of silver from the basket on his back, "Look, I brought all the money with me."
"You, you!" Granny Sun was a little stunned, and it took her a long time to utter a sentence, "My goodness—so much money, and you just casually put it in the basket on your back?!"
It wasn't until Granny Sun brought the homeowner over and watched the two sign the officially certified house deed that she belatedly realized that she had actually sold the house, which was worth fifty taels of silver.
Her commission for selling houses is five percent, split equally between the buyer and seller. In other words, she earned two and a half taels of silver just by walking around today!
The contract was made in triplicate. Granny Sun signed her name in the middle position of the contract, and then sent the middle copy to the county government for filing. That was the end of the matter.
After Guo Baiwen saw the old owner off and carefully put away the house deed and keys, he saw Granny Sun still clutching the two taels of silver in her hand, her expression a mix of crying and laughing, "I actually sold the house—"
Guo Baiwen chuckled at this remark, "Has your mother-in-law never sold a house before?"
Granny Sun's face flushed slightly. "I used to do a lot of matchmaking for people. I've only been a matchmaker for a few months. Before that, I was in charge of livestock transactions. This is the first house I've ever sold." As she spoke, she couldn't help but put the silver in her mouth and bite it lightly. She continued, biting the silver indistinctly, "No wonder... everyone says that being a house matchmaker is lucrative. The money from just one day of business... is enough for me to sell all that livestock for half a year."
Livestock trading?
Guo Baiwen suddenly became a little happy, "Then, Grandma, does that mean you can buy a donkey too?"
This question hit a nerve with Granny Sun. She carefully put away the commission she had taken several bites of from selling the house, then patted her shoulder forcefully, "Of course, not a single donkey that has passed through my hands has been bad."
She also shared some tips on choosing a donkey by looking at its eyes, head shape, and hooves, which taught Guo Baiwen, who only knew how to look at the teeth, quite a bit.
But right now, it's not the right time to buy a donkey.
Let's wait a little longer.
Guo Baiwen turned around and looked at the newly bought house. Although it was in relatively good condition, there were still many places that needed to be repaired, and it was also missing a lot of furniture. "After that, when the boy has money, he will come to you, Grandma, to buy a donkey. Right now, I also want to ask if there are any carpenters available in the county town at this time?"
This question stumped Granny Sun, but remembering that Guo Baiwen had just made a sale with her, she wanted to do her part as well. So she thought carefully for a long time, then suddenly clapped her hands, "Oh, I remember now! When I was a matchmaker before, I acted as a matchmaker for the carpenter Hu's family who lives not far from here. They have quite a few apprentices, and I heard that some of them will graduate after the New Year. I'll go ask them for you later."
Carpentry apprentice?
Guo Baiwen was tempted and quickly cupped his hands in thanks, "Then thank you very much, Mother-in-law."
"Oh, it's nothing, Mother-in-law should be thanking you!"
It was almost past noon. Guo Baiwen told Granny Sun that he would just grab something to eat at a small stall outside. If she found out that anyone in Carpenter Hu's family was willing to take on the job, they could just come to this house; he could see them.
After seeing off Granny Sun, he first counted the silver and copper coins he had left. After buying the house and paying the commission, he still had 357 taels and 50 copper coins. After thinking for a moment, he took out 7 taels and 50 copper coins of the extra change, wondering if it would be enough to pay the deposit for the carpenter's timber.
He still misses the large solid wood cabinet he saw at the market last time, and now that he has money, he wants someone to make him one with carvings.
Thinking about it, I first went to the door and bought two meat buns, and then sat down at the stall and ordered a pot of tea.
The tea was homemade chrysanthemum tea, served with two pork buns, which was quite refreshing. I don't know what seasoning the owner used for the filling, but it tasted really good.
He ate two in one go. He was no longer hungry, but he still felt a little hungry. Afraid of indigestion from eating too much at once, he picked up his teacup and slowly sipped a couple of times. He casually asked the owner how long the steamed bun stall would be open, as he planned to bring two for Grandma Guo and Xiaohua to try when he returned to Guojia Village.
As he was asking the question, he caught a glimpse of a tall, thin man carrying a woodworking box walking towards him on the bluestone path not far away.
So he stopped talking, quickly paid the stall owner for the steamed buns and tea, and went forward to ask, "Did you come here through Aunt Sun's introduction?"
Upon hearing this, the tall, thin man politely put down the box. "Yes, I am Hu Qingshan, the carpenter introduced by Granny Sun. Are you Young Master Guo?"
Hearing that title, Guo Baiwen instinctively shuddered.
I never imagined that I would still be called Young Master Guo in my current state.
He quickly waved his hand under the other person's questioning gaze, "No, no, you don't need to call me young master. We look about the same age, you can just call me Xiao Guo."
As he spoke, he led his people toward the new house.
“That won’t do, you’re the customer,” Hu Qingshan had his own ideas, but seeing that Guo Baiwen was really resistant to the word “young master,” he could only change his tune. “Then I’ll call you Brother Guo, that should be fine, right?”
That's fine too, Brother Guo is better than Young Master Guo.
Seeing Guo Baiwen nod in agreement with the title, Hu Qingshan breathed a sigh of relief.
The two were now inside the house, and when he got to cook something he was familiar with, he seemed to relax completely.
Guo Baiwen watched as he first tapped on the stair railing, then crawled under it to get something to measure the dimensions of the wooden planks, before nodding to himself, "This staircase is in pretty good condition. After the roof is added, I'll reinforce it with some wooden strips. After it's painted, it should last at least another twenty years."
“Okay, as long as we can add a roof.” He led his men upstairs and pointed to the railing in the second-floor corridor. “Brother Qingshan, take a look at this one. I think the carvings on these are quite nice, but they’re not very sturdy to lean against.”
He leaned slightly against the railing, and heard it make a soft sound of wood chips falling, as if it couldn't bear the weight.
Hu Qingshan's expression was somewhat serious. "These railings all need to be replaced." He squatted down and touched the joints. The railings on both sides were already a bit loose. "Don't worry, Brother Guo. If you like this carving, I can make you an exact replica based on this design."
"That's fine then." With the major issues of the railings and staircase roof resolved, Guo Baiwen relaxed considerably. He pushed open the doors to two rooms on the second floor, only to find them completely empty.
Hu Qingshan was very perceptive: "We also need to order some new beds, cabinets, tables, and chairs, right?"
"right!"
Guo Baiwen originally planned to divide the second-floor room into three rooms, but after thinking about Grandma Guo's knees and how difficult it would be for her to climb up and down every day, he decided to divide the large hall room on the first floor into a smaller room.
The main hall on the left and right is big enough; even if another room were partitioned off, it would still be sufficient.
So they ordered another wooden partition wall.
When Hu Qingshan heard that it was for the elderly, he pounded his chest loudly, making Guo Baiwen feel a pain in his chest. He said that when the rooms were partitioned off, the thresholds would be made very low, so that they wouldn't strain the knees.
A note from the author:
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There's a military parade today, September 3rd! [fireworks]
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