Chapter 11 Goat Beard and Granny Sun
When Guo Baiwen left the pawnshop, his legs were a little unsteady. He looked at the silver coin slot in the system warehouse and saw the words written on it—
[Ancient currency: one tael of silver x 408]
The remaining three hundred coins were still in his basket, heavy with weight, which suddenly gave him confidence.
It wasn't noon yet, and he wasn't hungry. He was still thinking about renting a house in the county town, but now he had a lot more money on hand. Not to mention renting a house, he should be able to buy one in the county town.
While he was drinking tea and waiting for the pawnshop owner to collect the money, he chatted with the owner's grandson, Arui, for a while. He learned that the county was called Xiuning County, not the "Little Girl County" that his grandmother had told him before.
Xiuning County is about a three-day journey from the capital of Qianzhou, which is not too far, so the local public security is quite good and there are quite a few residents.
He inquired about the distribution of the county town. The eastern and southern parts of the town were generally inhabited by officials, gentry, landlords, and wealthy merchants. The larger restaurants and shops in Xiuning County were also located there. Tongfu Restaurant, where he sold dried white fungus last time, was the second largest restaurant in the county town, located right at the junction of the eastern and southern parts of the town.
The north side of the city was inhabited by artisans or slightly wealthier commoners, and a food street and various artisan shops were located there.
As for the west side of the city, there are more poor people there and not many shops. The further west you go, the cheaper the housing and rent are.
However, if we're talking about the safest place, it's naturally the city center, which is closest to the county government office. Houses there are more expensive than shops in the north of the city.
After gathering this information, he planned to stroll from the city center to the north of the city to take a look.
Last time I came, I didn't bring much money with me. I was only focused on selling the goods, so I didn't look around carefully on the way. I only vaguely remembered the locations of a few rice shops and Tongfu Restaurant.
Now, a trip here gives me plenty of leisure time to wander around and explore.
Just as Ari had described, the houses and roads became more refined towards the east of the city. He drove from the north of the city towards the center, passing through a bustling market with rice shops and various food stalls. Turning right, he reached the east side of the city, where the stone lions at the entrances of the houses were larger, and a special road had been built for horse-drawn carriages.
He first looked at the houses. At the very end of the town market, near the county government office, there was a wooden sign with a lot of information about houses for rent and sale. Some people were waiting downstairs for others to come and ask.
Upon seeing Guo Baiwen approach, a man with a goatee who looked to be in his thirties came over and asked, "Young man, are you planning to rent a house in the county town?"
Seeing that Guo Baiwen's clothes were worn out, he immediately introduced the houses in the west of the city, "Young man, look here, in Huaihua Alley, that's the best location. Renting a house that's nine feet wide and ten feet long will only cost three to five coins a day. In such a big Xiuning County, there's no cheaper price than this."
Nine feet wide and ten feet long, that's about ten square meters. Three coins a day, ninety coins a month, is indeed very cheap.
But he remembered that Arui had told him that the poorest families in the county lived in this locust flower alley, and even though there were patrolling constables every day, there were still five, six, seven or eight thefts every month.
If I weren't really short of money, I would never stay there.
How come it became such a cheap and good place in the mouth of this goatee?
“Huaihua Alley is a bit far. I want to find a place closer to the city.”
Upon hearing this, the man with the goatee looked him up and down, his smile fading slightly. “Young master, if you don’t like Locust Blossom Alley, then Willow Alley, which isn’t far away, is quite nice. It’s close to the city, but the rent will be much higher, and you can’t just rent one room.”
Willow Lane, what a coincidence.
He had heard Arui mention this place before, but he wasn't talking about whether the location of the houses there was good or not.
It was originally just casual conversation, about a dispute that had happened in the city a few days ago.
Several children were playing together when, somehow, one of them fell into a well. The child's parents went to the county government to report the incident, and after several days of investigation, they learned that it was the other children who had pushed him in.
This news was truly shocking.
Those who originally lived in Willow Alley and had some spare money gradually moved away after hearing the news. He also realized that Willow Alley was simply a large courtyard with seven or eight rooms divided up for different people to live in. Several families shared one courtyard, and it was far from the county government office in the city, at most only a little closer than Plum Blossom Alley.
Living in the same courtyard with other families inevitably leads to numerous conflicts, both big and small.
He knew this man with the goatee wasn't telling the truth, so he immediately said, "Oh, but I don't need so many rooms by myself. Are you trying to trick me into renting more rooms?"
Being poor and picky, the man with the goatee lost interest in continuing his introduction and his tone turned completely cold. "Then you can see for yourself. There's nothing better than what I've described." After saying that, he turned his head without looking back and stared at another person who was approaching from not far away, and went forward to promote his houses in Locust Blossom Alley and Willow Alley.
"Fine, I'll just watch it myself," Guo Baiwen muttered to himself, and moved further away from the man with the goatee.
He went to look at the rental and sales information posted on the wooden board.
[A small house occupying half a acre, for urgent sale, only two taels of silver]
Half a square meter, or about 30 square meters, means the house is indeed a bit small, but it's cheap enough. The only downside is the location; it's in the west of the city. While it's called a courtyard house, at 30 square meters, it's probably just a single-story house with its own entrance.
He continued reading.
A courtyard house with three main rooms, three side rooms, and a three-room storefront is priced at eighty-five taels of silver.
Although the size of the land wasn't mentioned, these few houses combined probably make up a courtyard. The courtyard is located in the north of the city, no wonder it's not cheap.
It has three storefronts, so it's probably a street-facing house. He doesn't know if there's a night market in Xiuning County, or if it will disturb his sleep at night.
Moreover, there are only three people in their family, and these six rooms and three storefronts are all empty.
Let's take another look.
[A two-story building, with four rooms on the upper and lower floors plus a storefront, occupying one and a half fen of land, selling for fifty taels of silver.]
This is good. The house won't be too big, and it's located in the north of the city, close to the city center, so the security must be very good.
He leaned closer, trying to memorize the house's location. An older woman nearby noticed his actions and came over, "Young man, have you taken a fancy to this house? Would you like me to take you to see it?"
The man with the goatee saw this and couldn't help but sneer, "Old hag, don't you even look at what kind of clothes this young man you're talking about is wearing? Are you so desperate for commission that you really think he can afford such an expensive house?"
The woman he was referring to, Granny Sun, was a woman who looked to be in her forties. She had a round, smiling face and a very kind appearance. She was one of the few women among the group of brokers working for the village under the wooden plank.
Guo Baiwen thought she would be angry to hear such words, after all, his current appearance did not seem like that of someone who could afford such a house.
But Granny Sun seemed to have heard such words many times before, and she didn't get angry. She just smiled and said, "It's okay if we can't buy this house. The young man is still young. Even if the deal falls through, we can still be friendly."
Seeing her so timid and listless, the man with the goatee lost interest in continuing his conversation. He still needed to take his men to check out Willow Lane. The homeowner whose well had run into trouble was eager to find more tenants and had promised to pay double the commission compared to other houses.
"Then you can just stick to your righteousness! Let's see if you'll still be a matchmaker then!"
Seeing that the man with the goatee had walked away, and that Granny Sun was still watching him, Guo Baiwen spoke up, “Grandma, aren’t you angry? What the man with the goatee said wasn’t wrong; my clothes are indeed worn out.”
"A goatee?" Granny Sun grinned from ear to ear. "Yes, he does have a goatee. Why would I be angry with him?"
She pointed to the list he had just been looking at, "A two-story house, five rooms in total, in the north of the city, close to the city center. Is this the one you were looking at, young master?"
"Isn't my mother-in-law worried that I won't be able to afford it and that all my efforts will have been wasted today?"
“Hey, young man, don’t worry. Xiuning County is only so big. There are only a few people who come to the city to rent or buy houses every day. How can a broker make a sale every day?” She walked ahead and began to lead the way for Guo Baiwen. “Standing under that wooden sign all the time is tiring. It’s better to walk around and relax.”
Grandma Sun led the way, pointing out houses that were for rent or sale but not yet marked with wooden signs to Guo Baiwen.
Having already looked at houses, checking out shops is just something I do on the way.
It was only through chatting with Granny Sun as they walked that Guo Baiwen learned that a storefront in an ordinary location in the north of the city cost thirty-five taels of silver for a two-story shop with two rooms, and ten to twenty taels for a shop of a dozen square meters. Compared to that, storefronts in the bustling south of the city were even more expensive, with the cheapest shop of a dozen square meters costing forty taels.
The two walked and stopped, talking all the way, and it wasn't too far.
The house was indeed very close to the county government office. Although it was said to be a two-story building, Guo Baiwen thought it was the kind of modern two-story villa.
Only when I walked straight to the door and saw the house did I realize that this was the layout of the house.
At the very front is a storefront of about ten square meters. A small door opens on the side of the storefront against the wall. Passing through the small door and down a narrow passageway, you arrive at a small courtyard of about twenty square meters in the middle of the house.
Right next to the courtyard is a two-story building at the back, which is much taller than the single-story storefront in front, with a total of four rooms.
There is an old ginkgo tree in the yard that looks bare in winter, and there is a well under the tree.
He glanced inside and saw that the water hadn't dried up, but there were still quite a few ginkgo leaves inside. After cleaning them up, it should still be usable.
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