◎First update◎
Mr. Qian left only after the TV reporter came in. The group of people dispersed in a noisy manner, still swearing as they left. Mr. Qian is a cultured man, good at studying but not at quarreling.
Because he had been sent down to the countryside for several years, he had suffered major changes and setbacks in his life. He was originally in his early sixties, but now he looked like a man in his seventies, with a look of grief on his face.
"Comrade Li, you're here." He had a hunched back, gray hair, and wore a long gown that was wrinkled because he was pushed around by the tenants in the courtyard. As he spoke, he raised his hand and slowly straightened his clothes, trying his best to maintain a bit of the dignity of a respectable man.
"Mr. Qian, are you feeling well? Come sit down and rest for a while." Reporter Li also introduced Liang Baozhen, who was traveling with him.
Liang Baozhen saw the fatigue on Mr. Qian's face and just said hello.
"Come in and have a cup of tea."
This courtyard house is a standard two-entry courtyard house, square and neat, and now there are six families living in it. As the owner of the house, Mr. Qian was squeezed into the narrow and closed west wing. Although he got the house back after being rehabilitated, he did not get it back completely.
The house nominally belonged to him, but the tenants did not treat him as the owner of the house. They only allowed him to live in the west wing, while the most spacious main room was occupied by a domineering family named Wang, who only paid Mr. Qian two or three yuan in rent every month.
Mr. Qian went to the street office and the housing management office, but he could not prevail over the unreasonable. In addition, it took a long time from the time this courtyard house was taken over to the time it was confiscated and returned to its original owner, and there were too many complications, so it was really difficult to manage.
Liang Baozhen followed the two men into the west wing and took a look at the courtyard. The yard was actually nice, but the residents had placed miscellaneous things everywhere, filling the yard. There were several lines in the middle of the yard for drying clothes, and each household had buckets and basins in the middle, and some people had packages thrown around, so the yard looked messy.
"Have some tea." Master Qian made a cup of tea for the two of them. The tea cakes were given to him by his former students when they came to visit him. Master Qian broke off a little bit every day and slowly savored the tea, but all he tasted was bitterness.
"Master Qian, we want to come and talk to you for a report." Reporter Li came once a month ago, but was rejected by Master Qian.
This time, he still refused.
"There's nothing about my story that can be broadcasted. You can have some tea and chat with me, or just accept the interview." Mr. Qian waved his hands. He had always been a respectable intellectual. Later he became the vice president of a certain university, but was labeled as a "stinking ninth" and demoted to a low position. He had suffered for several years, and his edges had been smoothed out. In addition, his only relative passed away unexpectedly. He looked down on everything and just wanted a stable life.
Reporter Li was not forcing himself. He has been covering the news for many years, and most of the time not all his articles can be completed. He might hear ten stories but only be able to report one or two, which is normal.
Putting down the teacup, he asked about what had just happened, "Master Qian, let's just chat and have a chat."
"Well, that's good." Mr. Qian sat on a stool. The sunlight from outside shone in, but he sat in the shade and could not see the light.
"I just heard a lot of noise. What's going on? Do you want to sell your house?"
"I have this idea." Mr. Qian sighed, "It's uncomfortable to live here. I want to go back to my hometown and just sell this yard."
“But the residents here disagree?”
"Yes, a man came to look at the house a while ago, but they ruined his plan. He was so scared that he ran away." It was not easy for Mr. Qian to meet someone who was willing to look at the house. After all, at his age, few people could afford to buy a courtyard house at a high price, and he just wanted to try his luck.
"It's not easy." Reporter Li laughed, "For such a big yard, not many people can afford this money, not to mention that there are a group of difficult people living in the yard."
Liang Baozhen was sipping tea and listening quietly. At this point, she finally spoke, "Master Qian, how much do you plan to sell this courtyard for?"
Mr. Qian thought it was just a casual question and replied, "The asking price is 22,000. I originally wanted 25,000, but the yard is a bit messy. It has been messed up by the tenants in recent years. There are a lot of troubles. But it is not easy to sell at this price."
Reporter Li has been covering news for many years and knows a lot of information. He suggested to him, "Why don't you sell it to the Housing Authority and let them take over."
Previously, private housing transactions were not allowed. The occasional sale of housing was sold to the Housing Authority, which then rented out and managed the housing. Only in the past one or two years have the authorities proposed allowing private housing transactions, but who has the spare money to buy a house these days? Not much!
Mr. Qian shook his head. "I'm waiting in line. The Housing Authority can't transfer funds. They said they can't buy my place for the time being. To be honest with you, my health is getting worse day by day. I would rather go back to my hometown in the countryside to live for the last few years than live a miserable life here."
"Yes, I just took a look, it's a mess."
In fact, the five families who rent houses here are not unable to find places to live, but because they think that Mr. Qian is rehabilitated and is easy to bully. They charge low rent and sometimes delay paying the rent for three to five months, and Mr. Qian can do nothing about it.
With rent like this, how could they bear to move out?
The more Liang Baozhen listened, the more excited she became. "Master Qian, can you get a property certificate for your house?"
Mr. Qian didn't expect this lady to ask such a detailed question. "Of course, I can. This courtyard was bought by my grandfather for five hundred dollars. It has been well maintained. There is no problem with the ownership."
Liang Baozhen knew what was going on.
After chatting with Mr. Qian for a while, reporter Li saw that Mr. Qian really didn't want to be reported, so he had to give up and left with Liang Baozhen.
After leaving Chunri Lane, he was not in a hurry. "Okay, I went to the news again for nothing this afternoon."
"Brother Li, I don't think you are sad." Liang Baozhen did not see any regret or sadness on the reporter's face.
Reporter Li smiled and said, "I have been covering the news for so long, and there are so many things that have been wasted. But it's not a loss, I just heard a story for nothing!"
The next day, reporter Li turned around to cover other news, while Liang Baozhen took Xu Shengjie to Chunri Hutong.
Xu Shengjie was a little shocked when he heard his wife say on the way that she wanted to buy a courtyard house.
In fact, in the past two years, Liang Baozhen had mentioned to him several times that she wanted to buy a house. Her own house was indeed too small and the space was too narrow. With the increasing number of people in the family, it was simply not suitable for living there.
But he still didn't expect that his wife was serious about it.
On the tree-lined path, Liang Baozhen explained the situation of Mr. Qian's courtyard to Xu Shengjie in detail.
"It's a courtyard house with clear property rights, which is very rare. I went in to see it yesterday. The foundation of the courtyard is actually good, but the people living in it are too careless to clean up. It looks dirty and messy."
If Liang Baozhen remembered correctly, the housing prices in this area will skyrocket in the future. The most important thing is that it will be a key area for school district housing in Beijing. There will be good schools nearby, which will be convenient for Shanshan to study.
"You have found out everything, right?" Xu Shengjie sometimes admired his wife's courage. Now she was talking about a transaction of more than 20,000 yuan. "Comrade Liang Baozhen, this is more than 20,000 yuan, not 20 yuan."
Liang Baozhen nodded. "Why would I ask you to come and see a deal worth more than 20 yuan? I'll just make the decision."
"That's right." Xu Shengjie was speechless after hearing what his wife said.
In fact, he had heard of people buying houses, but they were very rare. Even among those who had made a fortune through business in the past two years, not many people would spend a lot of money to buy houses. Everyone was waiting to get a share of the house or to rent one. Anyone who spent ten or twenty thousand to buy a house would be considered a sucker, wouldn't he?
Now, look what happens, my wife has become the one being taken advantage of.
When Liang Baozhen and Xu Shengjie arrived at Mr. Qian's courtyard, they heard a commotion in the courtyard again. They listened carefully and found out that it was the Wen family, the tenants living in the west wing, who wanted to extort rent.
How could Mr. Qian, who was used to studying, compete with the scoundrels in the market? Moreover, he was not feeling well and was breathing heavily. He wanted to go back to his room to rest for a while, but the resident pulled him by the sleeve and continued to argue with him.
"Master Qian, let's be reasonable. Our family is in financial difficulty and we haven't had a meal of meat in months. Why do you insist on asking us to pay the rent? You are a cultured person, but you are so unkind!"
"I...I..."
"What's wrong with you? We just paid the rent a few months late. You have a wealthy family, why are you fussing with us? There's no need!"
"Master Qian!" Liang Baozhen suddenly spoke, interrupting the middle-aged man's shouting.
"Comrade Xiao Liang." Mr. Qian recognized Liang Baozhen, the female comrade from the TV station who came yesterday.
Seeing that there was a stranger coming, and he was from the TV station, the tenant of that room finally gave up and left. Before leaving, he unilaterally agreed with Mr. Qian that he would pay the rent in a few months.
"Are you okay?" Liang Baozhen asked with concern when she saw that he was not in good health.
Xu Shengjie helped the man back to the house to rest and poured him a glass of water.
"Just take a break." Mr. Qian took a deep breath and finally said, "I don't accept interviews. You don't have to run back and forth."
Liang Baozhen knew that he had misunderstood, so she came straight to the point and stated her purpose, "Master Qian, I'm not here for an interview. Didn't we hear yesterday that you wanted to sell the courtyard house? We want to buy a house."
Mr. Qian looked at the young man and woman in front of him, a little surprised, "You want to buy my courtyard?"
"yes."
"This is more than 20,000 yuan. Can you really afford it?" The price Mr. Qian quoted was actually quite reasonable. However, it was rare to come up with more than 20,000 yuan these days, especially when he looked at these two people. How could they, at such a young age, have so much money?
"Don't worry about the money. If everything is settled, we will pay you in full."
Seeing how confident she was, Mr. Qian believed her. However... he sighed, "As you can see, the tenants in my yard are not very reasonable. I'm afraid I'll have to deal with them when I sell the house. You two young people can't beat them."
Mr. Qian is an honest man. He tells everyone the truth about the Siheyuan and does not want to hide anything from the other party. He is having difficulty selling the house now because, firstly, there are few people who can afford the price, and secondly, the tenants of the Siheyuan are difficult to deal with.
Buying a house also brings a lot of troubles. Especially yesterday, when he came back from outside, he heard several tenants gathered together and talked about occupying the courtyard house after he died.
Mr. Qian is now a lonely man. Even if he really dies, he has no relatives to inherit the courtyard house. They can take the house into their hands by just running around.
Hearing this, Mr. Qian almost vomited blood, and it accelerated his determination to sell the house. However, selling a house is difficult.
When Xu Shengjie first came in, he took a quick look around. The place was indeed not well maintained, dirty, and messy. The tenants were all very rude, looking around quickly, as if on guard against people.
But the yard was square and spacious, with a total of six rooms. He remembered what Baozhen said, and thought that it would be nice if he moved in. Everyone could have a separate spacious room, and no longer have to live in a crowded place.
Xu Shengjie, who had never made a transaction worth more than 20,000 yuan, suddenly had an impulse. Buying a house seemed like a good idea?
"Don't worry about dealing with the tenant's problems. I'll find a solution."
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