Chapter 54 Buying a House

The people of Puxiang were in the county town, and they had eaten all the melons in the village.

Zhou Fang eventually lost her job as a teacher at a village primary school because the incident had become such a big deal that it had a very bad impact.

However, as everyone expected, the marriage did not end in divorce. Zhou Fang and Mo Xiaodi did not even have a quarrel. They just continued to live their lives in silence.

"Now when we talk about Brother Mo, everyone shakes their heads. It's rare to find someone with such a good temper."

There were some harsh words that Shi Wenya didn't even copy out.

The man has been cuckolded by his wife, and he hasn't even said anything. Not only does he have a good temper, he's also a bit stupid.

Pu Xiang thought about Mo Xiaodi's family conditions and didn't think that he had a good temper, he just didn't have any family background.

If the family is rich, they can get a divorce and then find a new partner without any worries. Even a fool would know that they should get a divorce.

"Her family's financial situation was not good to begin with, and now even Zhou Fang has lost her job. How are they going to make ends meet? Her daughter seems to be in elementary school now, and the expenses are not small."

Pu Xiang and Shi Wenya were still worried about how the woman would live, but less than two months later, when summer arrived and the weather became hot, everyone noticed that Zhou Fang's belly had grown so big.

She’s pregnant with her second child!

Pu Xiang and the other person had exactly the same expression when they heard this gossip. Are they going crazy?

I have lost my job, and my family of three has to rely on a few acres of land at home, but I still want to have a second child!

But I am pregnant.

Shi Wenya felt that she couldn't understand this matter.

"Maybe I just want to have a son."

In the end, she could only find this one possible reason.

They have a relatively good family planning policy here, and there are many families with only one daughter, but there are always people who want to have a son to carry on the family line.

No one here dares to live a life of shame, and no one dares to go out to work, but that doesn't mean there will be no complaints if there is no son in the family.

Shi Wenya didn't know this when she was still living in the countryside, because everyone was poor and just being able to have enough food to eat was good enough.

But in the county, there are always those rich people who don't have sons. What do they do? They get divorced or find a woman to have a child with.

They are now in the women's clothing business, and they come into contact with a lot of people, so they can hear all kinds of gossip.

Some things sound even more exciting than what they are shown on TV.

It is not known whether Zhou Fang wanted to give the Mo family a son, but two months later, Lin Meihua also became pregnant.

These gossips kept coming out one after another, and Pu Xiang didn't even feel bored.

During this period, my sister-in-law Yu Gaozhu also opened a restaurant. I still had to go out early and come back late every day. It was really inconvenient, but there was nothing I could do.

Pu Xiang suggested that her sister-in-law also find a house to rent in the county town. Yu Gaozhu also had the same idea, but Pu Jianguo disagreed. The current store already had to pay several hundred yuan in rent every month. Wouldn't it cost even more money to rent a house?

It was a good idea to set up a small stall at that time, but it was changed into a store.

Pu Jianguo muttered to himself.

Yu Gaozhu thought again, the problem of the child going to school has not been solved. If she rents a house in the county, she won't be able to see the child at all. So she thought about it and let it go. It's okay if it's a little hard on the road.

She is earning more and more money now. Just as Pu Xiang said, she will be able to buy a house in the county sooner or later and bring her children to the county. As for men, it is up to them to come or not.

When Yu Gaozhu saw Pu Xiang getting divorced, she felt worried for her. She also felt that life was hard without a man in the family.

But after a year or two, she discovered that life was difficult without a man.

Aren't things going well?

Just like in her shop, Pu Jianguo just came to help out, sort the vegetables, and clean the tables. If he didn't want to do these jobs, she could pay someone else to do it.

She also understood that, like in their family, if something really happened, if they were still expecting men to come to the rescue, then they would have no chance of living.

The days went smoothly. This year was uneventful for Pu Xiang. In the first half of the year, an extra store was opened. In the second half of the year, the news that the county would build a new shopping mall wholesale market and a times commercial street finally came out.

And construction will begin soon.

Pu Xiang was extremely happy to hear the news. What made her even happier was that the construction of the first few commercial housing communities in the county had also started.

It is estimated that she will be able to buy a house by next year at the latest.

Pu Xiang is really energetic and only thinks about making money. People like Shi Dafu and Lin Meihua are just idle talkers when he has free time.

This year passed exceptionally quickly, and by the turn of the year, the construction of Times Commercial Street was almost completed.

And the store's sales are finally about to begin.

Pu Xiang should instead thank the shop next door that imitated hers. The young woman who accidentally walked into her shop that time was married to a small boss who was a contractor.

Because of that incident, she bought clothes from Puxiang again and was satisfied with the quality and style. From then on, she became a regular customer of Puxiang's store.

After meeting each other many times, they always talked and chatted, and before she knew it, Pu Xiang knew a lot of news related to the project.

Especially when the other party knew that she was planning to buy a house, she would talk more to Pu Xiang about matters related to this aspect.

"Baihuali and Taoyuanli were probably the first to be built. I heard from my husband that there are preferential policies for the first batch of buyers. If you want to live there yourself, Baihuali is better than Taoyuanli's community, and the apartment type is better."

Liu Xiaoyu analyzed the situation to Pu Xiang very seriously.

Pu Xiang was not very familiar with these two communities based on her memories from later life, but she remembered them pretty clearly.

Baihuali is a really nice neighborhood, but there is one thing: the best elementary school in the county will be moved to Taoyuanli, and the housing prices in Taoyuanli will be much more expensive than those in Baihuali.

Pu Xiang naturally has no intention of living in the house she bought now for the rest of her life. When there are more properties available in the county in the future, she will definitely change her house. Since she is planning to sell it, she will of course choose one that can be sold at a good price.

"I am more optimistic about the area in Taoyuanli. It is close to the city next to Baihuali and cannot be moved anymore. However, there is still vacant land next to Taoyuanli and the location is also good. I think the school may be moved there in the future. Even if it is not a school, the location is good and it will definitely not be a loss if you buy it."

Pu Xiang reciprocated the favor. When people shared information with her, she was also generous in sharing her own opinions with them.

There are so many houses there, and she can't buy them all by herself.

Liu Xiaoyu didn't take it to heart, but she suddenly talked about it with her husband when she got home that night. Her husband was quite surprised.

"The lady boss you know is quite insightful. I just heard about it two days ago. The government has a plan and our little group is planning to move."

Liu Xiaoyu's mouth immediately opened wide: "Is this true? If the school is to be changed, the housing prices in Taoyuan will be more expensive than those in Baihua."

Her husband also shared the same view: "So we will buy Taoyuanli when the time comes, and the problem of the child going to primary school will also be solved."

Two days later, Liu Xiaoyu went to Puxiang's store again. When she saw Puxiang, she couldn't help but talk to her about the house.

"When we can look at houses, we can go together. Maybe we can even become neighbors."

Pu Xiang agreed immediately: "Okay, let's go together. You are more informed than me. Call me when you have news."

Communication was still not very convenient at that time. She did have mobile phones, but each one cost twenty or thirty thousand yuan, plus five or six thousand yuan for the internet access fee, and the ridiculously expensive call charges. With that money, she would rather buy a house and a car.

She wanted to install a landline, but the current landline subscription costs four or five thousand yuan. Thinking of the future when you can get a landline for free by topping up your phone bill, she didn't want to spend the money.

Besides, this place was rented, and she was going to buy a shop and move there once the Times Commercial Street was finished, which wouldn't take long, so she didn't want to waste the money.

Liu Xiaoyu is also a straightforward person. After some time, the other party came to find her.

The houses in Taoyuan started to be sold. Liu Xiaoyu was well-informed and took Pu Xiang with her to join the first batch.

Nowadays, there are no particularly large house types. Most of them are around 80 or 90 square meters. There are not many that are over 100 square meters. The smallest ones are around 50 or 60 square meters.

Pu Xiang bought the largest one without hesitation. A house of more than 100 square meters may sound very big to people today, but it is not really big in later generations.

I asked about the house prices. The price of commercial housing is a bit higher than that of welfare housing, but the current house price in small county towns is only 380 yuan per square meter.

The houses that Pu Xiang liked cost a total of more than 41,000 yuan.

To many people, this amount of money is an astronomical figure, but Pu Xiang thinks it is cheap.

If you buy a house for 40,000 yuan, it won't even be enough to buy a bathroom in a few decades.

Pu Xiang was really efficient. After asking about the house price, she also asked about the household registration transfer.

These were among the earliest batches of commercial housing in the county. In order to ensure a smooth sale, many preferential policies were offered, such as the blue-stamped household registration that Pu Xiang had always dreamed of.

This policy was initially introduced to attract people to buy commercial housing. A few years later, some people spent money to "buy" a blue-stamp household registration in order to achieve the goal of changing from agricultural to non-agricultural.

More than 10,000 yuan per person.

Pu Xiang can get the house for free when he buys it, which means he can save more than 10,000 yuan.

No matter how you look at it, she thinks it's worth it.

Pu Xiang decided to buy the house so quickly that Liu Xiaoyu was dumbfounded. She was still picking and choosing, but the person had already been decided.

"Why are you in such a hurry? Why don't you look around? What if there's a better one, or one that's cheaper?"

Pu Xiang shook her head: "I have to take care of two stores, so I don't have the time. Anyway, I think this house will be easy to sell. It's impossible to get a cheap one. The longer I choose, the better ones will be taken."

Liu Xiaoyu thought about it and it made sense. She would buy whatever she liked first and then talk later.

She had also looked around outside, and the house prices in big cities were incomparable to those in a small place like theirs.

There are only a few good houses in a residential area. Everyone wants to pick one on the third or fourth floor. They also have to choose the orientation and whether there are any obstructions in front. It is rare to find a house that you are particularly satisfied with.

If she had hesitated like this, and acted too late, and got robbed, she wouldn't even have time to cry.

Pu Xiang bought this house, Liu Xiaoyu bought it, and Shi Wenya, who had heard Pu Xiang talk about it countless times, also bought it.

She and Pu Xiang chose the same residential complex, but theirs was a smaller one, a bungalow of about 80 rooms, with two bedrooms, two living rooms, a kitchen and a bathroom. Although it was small, it had all the necessary facilities.

I also bought the third floor with the best location, and the total cost was more than 30,000 yuan.

Shi Wenya certainly couldn't come up with that much money herself. She now earns a little more, about 5,000 or 6,000 yuan a year, but all she had was about 8,000 yuan.

Fortunately, her husband later found a job and earned a few hundred yuan a month. The two of them together made up 15,000 yuan. Her parents-in-law gave them another 10,000 yuan, and they borrowed the rest from relatives, and finally they had the money together.

At that time, most people had no concept of bank loans, and they only paid in full for everything they bought.

Pu Xiang did not try to persuade them much. She said that they would have to pay bank interest on the loan, and the other party might not be willing to do so. Every family had their own plans, so it was not easy for her to interfere.

Everyone around her bought one, and her sister-in-law Yu Gaozhu followed her lead.

Her restaurant business was doing very well, and Yu Gaozhu was a hardworking person. When the time came for her to buy a house, she did it without hesitation. She chose the top floor, which had a high floor but an attic and was a little cheaper.

There are two children at home, and the room is too small and they feel uncomfortable living there.

Moreover, Yu Gaozhu thought that as a daughter-in-law, when she bought a house in the city, she would always leave a room at home for the elderly, whether they lived there or not.

Although he had spent all the money he had, Yu Gaozhu was still happy.

However, her happiness only lasted a few days, because the owner of the store she rented suddenly said he wanted to sell the store and asked Yu Gaozhu if she wanted to buy it directly.