Chapter 120 The Rich Little Jingkong (First Update)
Gu Jiao glanced at Xiao Liulang.
Xiao Liulang said without changing his expression, "I heard it from the dean of our academy."
Gu Jiao said to Zhang Baoren, "My husband's dean lived in the capital for more than ten years."
Zhang Baoren suddenly realized: "Ah, I see."
Gu Jiao asked, "Are there any houses on these two streets?"
“Ah, yes, there is…” Zhang Baoren looked the two men over. Both of them were dressed very simply. One of them was a student of the Imperial Academy, but he was lame. The other had an extraordinary temperament, but his face was disfigured.
These two... are they short of money?
Zhang Baoren smiled and asked, "Would you two like a single-courtyard house or a two-courtyard house?"
Gu Jiao thought for a moment and said, "We need at least five rooms."
“Then it would have to be two or three courtyards,” Zhang Baoren said with a smile. “A house with two or three courtyards is not cheap. A two-courtyard house costs at least ten taels a month, and a three-courtyard house costs twenty taels.”
Ten taels of silver is enough to feed a large family for one or two years in the countryside.
However, this is Beijing, where land is incredibly valuable, so Gu Jiao felt relieved after thinking about it.
Gu Jiao suggested going to take a look.
Zhang Baoren couldn't tell from either of them that they could afford the money, and he was worried that he would have made a wasted trip. Although the other party was a student of the Imperial Academy, was there a shortage of students in the capital? The capital was a place where a plaque falling down could kill three officials, so Zhang Baoren really didn't take Xiao Liulang seriously.
He hadn't opened for business for several days, and since he had nothing else to do, he decided to take the two of them with him.
Gu Jiao and Xiao Liulang looked at more than ten houses, some with two courtyards and some with three, but they were not very satisfied with any of them.
The two returned to the post station.
Zhang Baoren followed over: "Do you two want to finalize the deal today? If we wait any longer, students from all over the country will arrive to take the imperial examinations in the capital, and there won't be any left to rent. Besides, the price won't be the same anymore."
Gu Jiao said, "It's too small and too remote."
It was said to be near the Imperial College, but it wasn't actually the houses on the two streets. Instead, it was in the most secluded alley at the end of the street. It was dark and damp, and there were also noisy shops right next to each other, such as blacksmith shops, carpentry shops, and even a coffin shop.
How can anyone concentrate on studying like this?
"This is the price for all the houses we have. If you want something better, you'll have to pay this much." Zhang Baoren gestured.
"Thirty taels?" Gu Jiao asked.
“It’s a house with one courtyard,” Zhang Baoren said.
The first courtyard costs thirty taels, not to mention the second and third courtyards. It seems that school district housing is always ridiculously expensive, no matter which dynasty it is.
"Sigh," Zhang Baoren sighed, "Alright, I'll just tell you the truth. This is the price for houses in the capital. The good locations and houses have all been bought up by the nobles in the capital. Those nobles are not short of money and will not rent out their houses! Even if you change a hundred guarantors, you can only rent the houses you just saw!"
Gu Jiao asked, "Didn't you say you had nice houses, but they were more expensive?"
Zhang Baoren laughed and said, "There's a three-courtyard house, and it costs one hundred taels a month."
Gu Jiao frowned: "What kind of house costs one hundred taels?"
Zhang Baoren gestured: "Diagonally opposite the Imperial Academy, five hundred steps away! The former residence of the young Marquis of Zhaodu and the young Chancellor!"
Xiao Liulang's lips twitched: "When did he ever live here?"
Zhang Baoren slammed his fist on the table and said, "He did live there! If you live there, you'll absorb his good fortune and pass every exam!"
Xiao Liulang said calmly, "He has never lived here."
Zhang Baoren rolled up his sleeves: "How do you know he didn't live there? You're not him!"
"This price is too high, at most thirty taels," Xiao Liulang said calmly.
Zhang Baoren certainly understood that his price was too high. In the past, he could have gotten the property for thirty taels of silver, but now that the Imperial College was about to reopen, the price of the property had gone up again.
His bottom line was fifty taels. If this family refused, he would look for someone else. He didn't believe that a house in the school district near the Imperial College would be hard to rent out.
"Jiaojiao, what are you doing?" Xiao Jingkong woke up from his afternoon nap, rubbing his eyes as he came to the lobby of the post station to find Gu Jiao.
Gu Jiao picked him up and rubbed his little head. His hair had grown out a bit, so he wasn't bald anymore, but had a buzz cut.
"We're checking on our accommodations," Gu Jiao said. "Did you sleep well?"
"You've slept well, where are we going to stay?" Xiao Jingkong leaned against Gu Jiao's chest, enjoying her stroking his little head.
"I don't know yet." Gu Jiao shook her head.
Xiao Jingkong looked at the several drawings on the table and asked, "What are these?"
Zhang Baoren smiled and said, "It's a house deed."
Worried that the children might break his things, he quickly reached out to put the property deed away.
Xiao Jingkong grunted and said, "I have this too."
The three of them were taken aback.
Xiao Jingkong ran back to the carriage, rummaged through his small trunk and took out a small box. He then took the box back to the main hall and placed it on the wooden table in front of the three of them.
The table was too high; once he put it on, he couldn't reach it to open it.
"I'll do it," Gu Jiao said, extending her hand.
Gu Jiao had seen several such small boxes when she was tidying up Xiao Jingkong's things at home, but she had never opened them.
"Okay! Jiaojiao, come here!" Xiao Jingkong nodded decisively.
Gu Jiao opened the small box, inside were several thumb-sized seals and several documents, but they were not ordinary documents, but house deeds!
All three were surprised.
"Let me see," Xiao Liulang said.
"Hmm." Gu Jiao took out the house deed and handed it to Xiao Liulang.
Zhang Baoren also came over to take a look.
It wouldn't have mattered if I hadn't looked, but when I did, I was almost scared to death.
The houses on Chang'an Avenue, the houses on Xuanwu Avenue, and even the houses on Zhuque Avenue!
Has this guy gone so far as to confront the imperial palace?!
"Is it a real property deed?" Gu Jiao asked Xiao Liulang.
“It’s true,” Xiao Liulang said. “The property deed has Jingkong’s name on it; it’s definitely his property deed.”
Gu Jiao looked at Xiao Jingkong in her arms: "How did you get these?"
Xiao Jingkong glanced at the house deed in Xiao Liulang's hand and counted on his fingers, saying, "Jiaojiao is talking about these papers? They were given to me by my master. He gives me one every year on my birthday. I've had three birthdays in total, so there are three!"
Gu Jiao: "..."
Xiao Liulang: "..."
Zhang Baoren: "..."
Gu Jiao suddenly couldn't look at Xiao Jingkong's big box of junk anymore...
The locations of the three houses were better than the last. Just now, Zhang Baoren was boasting that the house with a rent of one hundred taels was diagonally opposite the Imperial College, only five hundred steps away, but in reality it was more than a thousand steps.
The house that Xiao Jingkong's master gave him was much closer to the Imperial College; just come out of the alley and turn a corner and you'll find the Imperial College.
For the first time in his thirty-plus years of life, Zhang Baoren misjudged someone dressed in a rustic manner, yet he bought three grand mansions. Leaving aside how difficult it was to buy the mansion on Zhuque Street, where almost all the imperial relatives lived, the two mansions on Xuanwu Street and Chang'an Street alone were priceless.
Who are these people?
Xiao Jingkong didn't understand what a house deed was, so Gu Jiao explained to him that it was a very valuable thing, proof that he owned a house.
He decisively placed all the house deeds in front of Gu Jiao: "Give them all to Jiao Jiao!"
Xiao Jingkong's home is wherever Jiaojiao is!
Gu Jiao had already taken his zither, so she couldn't take his house deed anymore. In the end, Gu Jiao proposed to rent Xiao Jingkong's house for thirty taels of silver per month.
Xiao Jingkong said seriously, "I don't want Jiaojiao to give me money!"
Gu Jiao patted his little head and said, "Your brother-in-law gave it to you."
Xiao Jingkong thought about it seriously for a moment, and said, "Brother-in-law, I'll give it to Jiaojiao. No problem!"
Both parties asked Zhang, the guarantor, to act as guarantor and signed a house rental contract.
This was Xiao Jingkong's first time doing business, and he took it very seriously, not only signing the contract but also affixing his fingerprint.
The premium is 30% of the first month's rent, which is nine taels of silver. This is for life coverage, and he needs to come to the site to cancel the contract after the lease ends.
Originally it was 50%, but Zhang Baoren wanted to make a good connection, so he reduced it by 20%.
"We'll each pay half of the premium," Zhang Baoren said with a smile.
"Do you have any money?" Xiao Liulang asked Xiao Jingkong with a leisurely air.
Little Jingkong was in a dilemma; he had no money. This was truly a story more tragic than sadness itself!
But he quickly came up with a solution: "Deduct it from your first month's rent!"
Xiao Liulang was both amused and annoyed; the little monk actually had a knack for business.
It was a two-courtyard house. The front yard was planted with bamboo. The first row had two side rooms, a study, and a kitchen. Passing through the hallway, there was a back yard with an osmanthus tree. Behind the osmanthus tree were three side rooms.
Just like in the village, Xiao Jingkong shared a room with Xiao Liulang, while the others each had their own room.
The house wasn't very big, but it had excellent natural light.
Most importantly, it was not only close to the Imperial Academy, but also close to several private schools, which undoubtedly solved the problem of Gu Yan and his friends going to school.
Upon hearing that they still had to go to school, Gu Yan and Gu Xiaoshun were both dumbfounded.
"No, didn't you drop out of school?" the two asked in unison.
Gu Jiao opened a suitcase and said, "You may have retired in the county, but you'll naturally have to continue your studies after coming to the capital. You're still young, what else can you do if you don't go to school?"
The two men looked ashen-faced: Had they been happy all the way here for nothing? And what do you mean "we're still young"? You don't seem that old either!
The house was fully furnished, but it had accumulated a lot of dust from being uninhabited for a long time. The group tidied up a few rooms and moved in first. They would clean up the courtyard and kitchen later, and buy pots and pans the next day.
Dinner consisted of steamed buns bought from outside, which were eaten with the pickles that Gu Jiao had brought.
The capital city was colder than the county town; even in October, Gu Jiao could feel the chill of winter on the nights.
Unlike the countryside, where you can go up the mountain to cut firewood yourself, you have to buy firewood and charcoal at the market here.
Everyone was exhausted from the bumpy journey and fell asleep as soon as they got back to their rooms.
Beside Xiao Liulang, Xiao Jingkong lay sprawled out, emitting even, soft snores.
Xiao Liulang, however, was wide awake.
He finally returned here.
"Aheng, Mr. Zhuang's class is too difficult. Shall we go out and have some fun?"
"Aheng, this little rabbit is injured. Shall we take it home?"
"Aheng, I want to eat dates. Can you pick some for me from the tree?"
"Aheng, could you go buy me some osmanthus cake?"
...
"Aheng, would you die for me?"
(End of this chapter)
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