After seeing off the staff of the guesthouse, Wen Xin sat down at the table in a happy mood. The food in the white porcelain jar gave off a faint aroma. There was soup noodles with several large slices of fragrant beef, chopped chili peppers and chopped green onions on top. The aroma was sweet. The chopsticks were placed horizontally on the white porcelain jar, on which were two pieces of golden rice cakes fried on both sides, emitting a faint aroma.
Wen Xin was unhappy, but she was hungry. She looked at it for a while and thought it would be a waste not to eat it, so she got up, washed up, picked up a piece of rice cake and took a big bite.
After breakfast, Wen Xin cleaned the white porcelain jar and returned it to the restaurant. Private restaurants only have regular customers who would lend them the white porcelain jar, and they had to return it after use.
Looking inside the campus of Shanghai University from the main gate, there are campus roads lined with lush trees. From time to time, students carrying books and backpacks come in and out of the gate. In the eyes of contemporary students, key universities are sacred places. Every student who comes here is excited. This is the most important turning point in their lives and the starting point of their future success.
Wen Xin glanced at the gate, then disguised herself as a student and entered the campus. The campus was quite large, so she ran to the back door of the school. She had sneaked in here twice and was familiar with the door.
Through the back door of the school is a street called Nanqiao Road, which is actually a small alley with old houses facing the street on both sides. She had been here before, so she walked around and took a look.
After walking around for a while, I set my eyes on the ones that were closest to the back gate of the school.
Wen Xin actually doesn't like this place very much. The house is too old and a bit shabby. But it is close to the school. It is just a few steps away from the back door of the school across the street. The location is great.
She didn't feel comfortable going to the door and asking directly, so she happened to see a few old people basking in the sun not far away in the alley, so she took the initiative to run over and chat with them.
Wen Xin is sweet-mouthed and has a lovely smile, which makes her very popular with older people. She said she was a student of Shanghai University, and then she shared the candy in her bag with a few elderly people. After chatting for a while, Wen Xin tentatively asked, "Uncle, do you know where there is a house for sale in this alley? It's right opposite the school, close to it."
"You want to buy a house?" The old men were stunned when they heard this.
"Yes, I plan to work in Huzhou in the future. My partner is also in Luzhou. If we get married, I want to buy a house here and live in it." Wen Xin said with a smile.
"This young girl is going to get married?" Several people asked in surprise as they saw Wen Xin, who was pretty and looked very young. Young people nowadays are not like before, when eighteen years old was considered a grown-up girl, but now they can wait a little longer after they are twenty.
Wen Xin could only explain it as a wedding house, because most people who want to buy a house now are those whose work units don't provide them with housing and they don't have a house to live in. She couldn't think of any other reasons. "Well, we're almost getting married. Uncle and Madam, do you have any houses for sale in your area?"
One of them was an old man in a vest, smoking a pipe and leaning against a stone wall. He smacked his lips, thought for a moment and said, "It's hard to buy a house here. They're all government-owned. You can't sell them even if you want to."
Wen Xin's heart tightened when she heard this. Yes, she had forgotten that now was not the time to buy and sell real estate. The houses of urban residents were not private properties yet. Most of them only had the right of residence and could not be legally bought or sold. If they wanted to use the houses, they could only rent them and not buy them. This gave Wen Xin a headache. She did not lack houses to rent, she only lacked houses to buy.
"But there's a store that sells the area you mentioned." The old man took two puffs from his pipe and knocked the ash against the wall.
"Which one? Uncle?" Wen Xin asked hurriedly when she heard it.
"Little girl, don't be anxious, just sit on the small stool." An old lady nearby took out an empty small stool and gave it to Wen Xin. Wen Xin quickly thanked the old lady, gathered her skirt and sat down.
"Old Chen's has them for sale." When the old man mentioned that they were for sale, an old man basking in the sun nearby also thought of it and mentioned it as well.
"His house is not public property, it is private and can be bought and sold."
"Oh, that house was bought back by Old Chen at the cost of his life." The other elderly people all looked speechless.
Wen Xin looked at their faces and felt something was not right, so she quickly asked around.
"I can buy it, but his family needs money right now, so the price is a bit high."
Wen Xin was worried when she heard this, "How much does it cost?"
"His son said that he won't sell it for less than twelve hundred yuan. Girl, the house is worth eight hundred yuan at most." The old man who interrupted her told her while chewing the candy she gave him that if it weren't for the girl's sweet talk and the candy, the old people wouldn't have said anything. After all, they are neighbors, and no matter how much they dislike them, they are better than outsiders.
Wen Xin thought the price was okay and within her affordable range. However, judging from their tone, it seemed that the family was not very nice. Maybe they were the kind of people who were very aggressive.
She thought for a moment, then said to the old man who was knocking on the pipe, "Uncle, can you take me to his house? Please help me talk to them. After all, your old neighbors are easy to talk to. I'm a young girl from outside, so it's not easy to ask for help. The price is fine, just help me to build up the courage. I'll buy you a pound of the best tobacco, what do you think?"
If Wen Xin wants to, she is very discerning and will try to please others. Seeing that the old man likes to touch the pipe, she knows that he must be a smoker and likes good tobacco. She may not be able to impress people by giving them farewell gifts, but if she gives him good tobacco, he will definitely be moved.
Sure enough, the old man looked at her twice, took two puffs of his cigarette, patted the ashes on his pants, and stood up. "I don't want your tobacco. Come on, I'll take you there."
With someone leading the way, Wen Xin was no longer worried. She immediately stood up with a smile, waved goodbye to the other elderly people, and followed the old man to the Chen family's house.
The Chen family happened to be one of the three families that Wen Xin had her eyes on, the one on the left directly opposite the back door of Shanghai University.
The front door is tattered, and it's obvious that the family's conditions are not very good. They haven't even built a new wooden door. But even though the door is broken, the house looks okay. Although it's tattered, the structure is still there.
There are some decorations on the eaves, and the upturned part on the left is a little damaged, but it does not affect the appearance that this family was well off in the past.
The old man walked up and knocked on the door. After a long while, someone opened the door. It was a woman in her forties with a sallow face.
"Uncle Zhang? Why are you here?" She glanced at the old man, who was followed by a very pretty little girl with a rosy face and rosy lips, who was looking at her with sparkling eyes.
"I'm here to bring you the God of Wealth." Uncle Zhang seemed to be quite majestic in this alley. After he said that, he went straight into the door. The woman didn't dare to stop him. Wen Xin hurriedly smiled at the middle-aged woman and followed her in.
The yard was dirty, the stone road had not been swept clean, and things were placed haphazardly on both sides, piled here and there.
Wen Xin looked at the yard carefully. It was narrow and long. Although it was not big, the walls were quite high, so it could be converted into a second entrance.
"Is Chen Wende at home?" The woman closed the door at the back and heard the old man ask.
"I'm here." She replied quickly, and then shouted into the house at the top of her voice: "Dezi, Dezi! Uncle Zhang is looking for you."
The three of them walked into the living room and sat down at the dim table. The woman poured some water for the two of them. After a while, a man came out of the right room, dressed in his clothes. He looked like he had just woken up, with messy hair.
As soon as he saw Uncle Zhang, he grinned, "Oh, Uncle Zhang, you're here. You haven't visited our house since my father passed away. What spring breeze brings you here today?" After he said that, his eyes began to stare at the little girl next to the old man. She was so pretty. His living room had small windows and seemed dim, but when the girl sat there, she looked so white that she seemed to glow by herself, and even the light in the living room became much brighter.
"I'm afraid that when I come, I will not be able to help but teach you a lesson on behalf of your father. You have squandered all the Chen family's inheritance! Are you really determined to sell this house? Where will you live after you sell the house?" Uncle Zhang slammed the table and questioned Chen Wende. This prodigal son owed a lot of debts and could not make ends meet. The only thing left was to sell the house left by his father.
Chen Wende ignored Uncle Zhang's reprimand and casually pulled a chair over to sit on it. "What's the matter, Uncle Zhang, are you bringing people to buy a house? Is this girl the buyer? Oh, if my old man knew about this, he would definitely thank you. However, I won't sell this house for less than 1,200 yuan. As for where to live, you don't have to worry about it."
Uncle Liu stared, obviously angry at him. They were all young men who had grown up, but after all, he was not his biological father, so he could not care too much. He could only pick up the pipe and take a puff, then said to Wen Xin, "This is his price, twelve thousand. I can't help you with anything else."
Wen Xin thought that the lowest price of a house here was RMB 1,500, but she didn't expect that the current housing prices in Shanghai are so low, much cheaper than she imagined. According to Uncle Liu, the market price of a house like this is only RMB 800, so his house is still RMB 400 more expensive.
So Wen Xin did not bargain. For other people who came to buy a house, four hundred yuan more was a huge gap. Eight hundred yuan would be enough in other places, but here it cost twelve hundred yuan. Only a fool would buy it.
There are still relatively few people buying houses now. After all, those who have money have houses to live in, and those who work in companies also have houses allocated by the state. Ordinary people don't have the time to spend 800 yuan to buy a house. In rural areas, there are also few people who have 800 yuan in their hands. They use it for annual expenses and few save money.
So this house worth twelve thousand yuan cannot be sold at all. Wen Xin likes this location and he will definitely buy it. Moreover, the yard is long and narrow, so he can build a second entrance with a large area and divide it into a front yard and a back yard. It is also close to the street, so he can do whatever he wants.
"Okay, you have completed all the formalities, I have brought all the things, let's go transfer the ownership now, 9 o'clock in the morning is the office hours of the Housing Management Office." Unexpectedly, Wen Xin would be so straightforward, which stunned Chen Wende, who was sitting cross-legged and not saying a penny.
"Do you really want to buy it? Isn't it too expensive?"
"I think it's too expensive, but you won't give me a discount. So, do you agree to sell it to me?" Wen Xin was a little anxious. She was very anxious. Although there were still more than ten days before school started, she wanted to buy a place as soon as possible and move her luggage here to live by herself. The guesthouse was not convenient at all. Of course, she was also a little angry in her heart, but she didn't know what she was angry about. She just wanted to stay away from him so that he wouldn't be anxious. Who made him leave without saying a word, as if she was not important at all.
Chen Wende's eyes turned, "You are in such a hurry, are you in a hurry to use the house? Haha, look at my house, look at the layout, look at the furnishings in the house, and these tables and stools, they are all old items, I will give them all to you, how about adding another two hundred?"
Liu Bo slammed the pipe in his mouth on the table and said, "Chen Dezi, do you have any shame? You dare to raise the price of the people I brought here? If you dare to add two hundred, I will make sure you will never sell this house..." Liu Bo felt that Chen Wende was slapping him in the face. Although the old man didn't say anything, he was very angry.
Wen Xin really felt that the pound of high-quality tobacco leaves she promised to give was worth it. Fortunately, she was thoughtful and found an old man who she thought had some weight to help her make this trip. If she had really come here by herself, it would have been difficult for her to buy the house easily. With Liu Wende's rogue attitude, he might bully her because she was a little girl and raise the price several times.
Uncle Liu obviously had the ability to prevent him from selling the house, so under his threat, Chen Wende finally took the property certificate and other documents reluctantly, and followed Wen Xin and Uncle Liu to the local housing management office.
Chen Wende's family was extremely poor and they could barely afford to eat. Now someone was willing to buy his house for twelve hundred yuan, which was something he had been longing for. It was like timely rain. At his price, four groups of people came to inquire about the house, but they left after asking. There was a house on the next street that was selling for six hundred yuan, but it had been snapped up long ago. His was double the price. People were not stupid. They would not buy the cheaper ones but his. There were not many buyers to begin with, and the price was high, so no one was interested in buying it for more than half a year.
It was because he was in urgent need of money that he agreed. Otherwise, Uncle Liu’s words would not be effective. Of course, his wife kept pulling his clothes from behind, asking him to agree quickly.
Twelve thousand! This is not a small amount of money. Chen Wende's previous job only paid 40 yuan a month. It would take him three or four years to earn twelve thousand without eating or drinking. Unexpectedly, someone would actually buy this old house for twelve thousand. Later, they will spend another five or six hundred to buy a cheap house to live in, and earn hundreds of dollars for free.
As for the debt, the two of them are being harassed by relatives for paying their debts every day and they can hardly make ends meet. After selling the house this time, they are going to take the money and leave. Isn't it up to them to decide whether to pay or not?
…
Wen Xin put her household registration booklet and letter of introduction in her bag.
After the other party brought his ID, she followed Uncle Liu through twists and turns in the alley. Finally, they saw the light and walked into a three-story building. There were quite a few people inside. They were all here to do government business. The housing management office was on the second floor. The clerks were very arrogant at this time and didn't even look people in the eye. Once you came in, you had to do whatever they asked you to do and answer whatever they asked you.
Wen Xin also realized that buying a house at this time also requires strict examination and looking at household registration file materials. There is a special database to search and confirm that the identity is true and meets the conditions for buying a house before it can be processed. It does not mean that it can be processed directly after checking the household registration.
The two clerks processed the matter quickly on the same day because Wen Xin had an admission letter from Shanghai University. After all, she was a college student and they didn't want to keep her in the dark and give people a bad impression. Who knew where she would be assigned in the future? Moreover, those who could get into college in this era would be looked up to wherever they went. After all, they would be allocated by the government in the future, and the housing management office might be in charge of the allocation. So they didn't make things difficult for her or neglect her.
Otherwise it certainly wouldn’t be so fast, and finding the files wouldn’t be so efficient. Even if it’s done, you still have to wait.
Finally, the clerk smiled and asked Wen Xin for nine yuan for the property tax, and then stamped the official seal on Wen Xin's property certificate.
It turned out that Chen Wende’s property deed was invalidated and was recovered and destroyed.
Probably because he lost his house. Chen Wende was so arrogant when he was selling the house and raising the price before, but when he saw his property deed invalidated with his own eyes, he felt like he had lost something important and was a little distraught. After all, it was his ancestral root, and he sold it, as if he had lost his roots. He was definitely not in a good mood.
So, after leaving the Housing Management Office, Chen Wende had a sullen face, and his small triangular eyes could emit a fierce light. He said to Liu Bo: "Give me the rent money quickly!"
He had asked Wen Xin for rent before. But since the ownership had not been transferred, Wen Xin didn't trust him. What if I give him the money and he still refuses to pay? It was obvious at first glance that this man was not a good person, but fortunately there was Uncle Liu. She handed the money to Uncle Liu in front of Liu Wende at the Housing Management Office, not a penny less, twelve thousand.
Although Chen Wende did not respect Uncle Liu, he could still trust his credit. When Chen Wende saw Uncle Liu's stack of ten-yuan bills, his eyes turned green with envy. So he went to the Housing Management Office and transferred the house without causing any trouble.
He was in a bad mood at the time, so how could he be polite? He snatched the money from Uncle Liu's hand, turned around and left with his wife.
Wen Xin looked at them and felt a little worried because they hadn't said when they would move out.
"Don't worry, they will leave tonight and you can move into the room tomorrow." Uncle Liu probably knew what Wen Xin was thinking and said this while smoking a cigarette.
"Uncle Liu, how do you know they can leave tonight?" Wen Xin saw that they were being stubborn and might delay moving for a month or two.
Uncle Liu snorted, "If you dare not leave, I will spread the news and the debt collectors will be able to step through the threshold of his house."
"Thank you, Uncle Liu." Wen Xin smiled and said, "Please go back to the alley and wait for me in the sun. I'll be back soon." After that, Wen Xin ran away.
She ran away jumping for joy. She now had a property certificate in her bag, a certificate with the leader's badge on it. Don't ask her why she was so happy, because she finally had a place of her own in this world.
Wen Xin was very grateful to Mr. Liu, so she fulfilled her promise and went to the black market to buy a pound of high-quality tobacco, each of which was golden in color, very fragrant, and well-dried.
She also went to a state-owned store and bought a few cartons of cigarettes that didn't require cigarette coupons, and a bag of candy, packed them together, and ran to the alley. Uncle Liu was still there chatting and basking in the sun. She gave all the things to Uncle Liu, left, and then said to him from a distance: "Thank you."
She ran too fast and Uncle Liu seemed to stand up and say something to her, but she didn't hear him and thought he wanted to return the things, so she quickened her pace.
Then I happily went to a private restaurant, ordered a dish and a soup, ate my fill, and went to the guesthouse to have a good sleep.
…
The next day, Chen Wende's family was gone, and the house was empty. Wen Xin went to buy a new lock first, and then stayed there to clean the house. All the quilts and mattresses in the house were gone. It was estimated that Liu Wende took them away in his car. Even if he couldn't take them away, he might have sold them on the black market, where they were still worth some money. Only some heavy old furniture that could not be lifted was left inside.
This made it easier for Wen Xin to clean up, and she didn't have to throw things out. She changed her clothes and put on a homemade headscarf mask. It took her three days, during which time she hired someone to remove the paint from the wall and paint it white.
Once the walls were painted white, the room immediately became brighter. She then spent a lot of effort to clean the room thoroughly, and she kept the few pieces of furniture.
Just as Chen Wende said, they are indeed old items, made of authentic and affordable materials, and are particularly heavy. It is precisely because of their heaviness that they cannot be sold, otherwise they would have been moved out and sold long ago. Wen Xin thought the furniture looked pretty good, with an antique feel, so she kept them and wiped them clean.
She painted the windows white and bought new pink curtains to hang up. She also made a quilt with new cotton and put it on the bed, which was very soft. She also bought a thin pink blanket. The floor of the house was paved with bluestone, so she didn't have to re-pave the floor.
It took her a whole day just to scrub the floor until the true color of the stone surface came out. This family is really dirty. They probably haven't cleaned up for years.
Wild flowers were placed in the living room, and new vases with fresh flowers were placed in the bedroom.
Having to go to the public toilet every day is a bit unbearable for Wen Xin. Every time she comes back from the toilet she feels like she has suffered a lot.
Five days later, when the paint smell finally dissipated, Wen Xin moved from the guesthouse into a bright and spacious courtyard that looked like a new house.
She also went to Songtao Gardens and took out her luggage piece by piece, leaving no trace inside, not even a strand of hair.
She stayed there that night.
She placed the clothes, cups, towels and toiletries in her two suitcases on the cabinet, and went to a state-owned store to buy a washbasin and a thermos. I made myself something to eat.
After eating, she spread the quilt and put on the pillows in the house.
People go to bed early at this time, and eight o'clock is considered late at night. Wen Xin has to sleep alone in this small courtyard. When it becomes so quiet, she doesn't know why, but she feels a little scared while cleaning up.
When she came to this world, she was first in the Yan family, living with her family. Later, she went to Longzhou and lived with the two elders of the Wei family. Later, she came to Shanghai and lived with Yan Zeyang. Although he was not at home, Songtao Garden was very safe and quiet. She did not feel scared at all. After all, it was a high-end residence and messy people would not come in.
Then there was that night at the guesthouse. Yan Mo's car was outside. She felt at ease knowing he was outside. But now, she had to live alone in such a strange place, without knowing any of the neighbors around her. There was an empty room, an empty living room, and an empty yard.
Wen Xin was timid. She began to have wild thoughts, wondering if Chen Wende would come back at night. She also thought about when Chen Wende's father died. She didn't ask. If it was a few years ago, it would be fine. If it was recently...
The more she thought about it, the more scared she became. Her heart was pounding as she folded the quilt. She was wearing the white pajamas she had made herself. Her legs were shaking as she tried to get under the quilt, cover her head, and go to sleep quickly without thinking about anything.
As a result, as soon as I climbed onto the bed, I heard three "knock knock knock" sounds outside the window with the pink curtains drawn, which seemed to be angry and rapid.
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