Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 526 Wealthy Households, City Bricks

"In the old feudal society, there was a saying that the east was rich and the west was noble, while the south was poor and the north was lowly. It meant that there were more rich people living in the east of the city and more noble people living in the west."

Therefore, the old houses in Dongcheng are exquisite, but not large in scale. They are generally three-courtyard houses, and some that can be built to five courtyards are considered relatively large.

The houses in Xicheng were generally of higher standard, occupying larger areas, with more rooms and gardens. Statistics show that there were as many as 132 princely residences in Beijing, but more than 70 of them were located in Xicheng. Of course, now they have all become residences for ordinary people or offices for various organizations.

However, things have changed quite a bit in recent years, especially after the earthquake two years ago. Many old houses were damaged; some were dilapidated, with even the roof beams collapsed, and they haven't been repaired. Others were vacated because the original work units relocated, and the old addresses were handed over to the housing management bureau for unified redistribution.

A middle-aged man in his forties, dressed in a Zhongshan suit and looking like a cadre, pointed to a location on the map and said, "Look here."

Zhang Xuansong, Lin Yuanxiang, Li Shangde, and Chen Fan all went over together.

Chen Fan frowned. "Director Li, do you have a larger map? Old Mr. Li's eyesight isn't good, he can't see it clearly."

Just as Li Shangde was about to say it was nothing, Director Li quickly patted his head and said, "I was confused. Yes, yes, yes, I'll get it now."

As he spoke, he squatted down and pulled out a hand-drawn map from the cabinet, which included the entire inner and outer city, with the Forbidden City as the center.

The old capital city was divided into four layers by the city walls: the outer city, the inner city, the imperial city, and the Forbidden City. The so-called "four-nine city" refers to the four gates of the imperial city and the nine gates of the inner city.

The outer city was formerly Chongwen and Xuanwu districts, while the inner city consisted of Dongcheng and Xicheng districts. The saying "outside the city walls, you're a country bumpkin" originated from this.

(The inner city is shown in the top box, and the outer city is shown in the bottom box.)

Director Li spread the map out on the table, pointed to the north of the imperial city, and said with a smile, "Look here."

Chen Fan leaned over and asked, "Shichahai?"

Director Li nodded and smiled, "Yes, there are two courtyards here, which better suits Comrade Zhang's requirements."

While speaking, she cautiously glanced at Zhang Xuansong.

This afternoon, just as I started work, Secretary Zhang from the Municipal Party Committee came over with these people, asking for his help. They said they wanted to buy a larger house, and the buyer was none other than his own father.

Everyone knows that Secretary Zhang comes from a military compound and has formed a circle with a group of young comrades with powerful backgrounds. If I were to offend him, it would be the same as offending a whole bunch of people...

Needless to say, just think about it—this person in front of him is his own father. He's not some young talent at all; he's a powerful figure in his own right. As a mere deputy director of a small department under the Housing Management Bureau of the Municipal Construction Commission, who is so many ranks below him, how could he dare not serve him properly?!
Zhang Xuansong stared at the location on the map and nodded slightly. "Then tell me about it."

What he really wanted was for the Taoist Association to be able to resume its activities, so that he could acquire a separate plot of land and rebuild the temple according to the original regulations.

However, the time is not right now. It is impossible to buy land in the name of a private individual or a Taoist temple. There is only one way to acquire land: apply to the unit and get approval from the superior!
It would be better to listen to the apprentice's advice and buy a courtyard to occupy, even if it's dilapidated.

When the Taoist temple can be reopened in the future, we can either sell the courtyard and buy a piece of land outside the city to build a new one, or we can renovate the current courtyard.

It would be bad if, as he said, house prices kept rising and money became scarce.

He didn't want to be so old and have to shamelessly borrow money everywhere.

Director Li took out another booklet, turned to a certain page, and said, "This house is located west of Shichahai, which is in Xicheng District. It used to be a very large courtyard with five courtyards in the front and back, as well as several side courtyards and a back garden. Later, it was divided up."

The houses were allocated to several nearby work units as staff dormitories, and many people still live there.

However, several gardens were separated and used by the neighborhood committee as a match factory and warehouse. Last year, a fire broke out. Although it didn't cause any major incident and was quickly extinguished, the residents still felt uneasy.

So this year, the neighborhood committee found another place and moved the match factory away, leaving this place empty.

They wanted to rebuild the dormitory building, but they didn't have the money. Just relocating several production units, including the match factory, had almost depleted their funds. Other places also needed the money, so in the end, the neighborhood committee held a meeting and decided to put the place up for sale.

As he spoke, he glanced at Zhang Xuansong and smiled, "This courtyard covers a total area of ​​about 4 mu (approximately 2800 square meters). Do you think it's suitable?"

Two years ago, he wouldn't have dared to introduce such a large courtyard to a private individual. In the past year or two, although private residential transactions are still not allowed, the practice of "house swapping" has become rampant, and government units selling houses to private individuals has also begun.

The courtyard is only "slightly" large, but it doesn't violate any regulations, otherwise he wouldn't have dared to show it off.

Zhang Xuansong stared at the map for a while before asking, "Is there anything else?"

"Have."

Director Li immediately pointed to a spot on the map. "It's not far, just across the street, next to Nanluoguxiang, near Baimi Xiejie. There's a courtyard in Lechunfang, which also belongs to the street office. There were a dozen or so rooms there, but they moved away with the match factory. The courtyard is empty, but it's a bit small, only about 800 square meters."

Zhang Xuansong grunted twice, "It is indeed too small."

Director Li chuckled twice, "The others are even smaller, so I didn't take them out."

Chen Fan was a little envious. He craned his neck to look at the place, wondering if he could buy it and renovate it to have a view of the sea.
These days there are no laws protecting ancient buildings, especially private residences. Once you buy one, you can change it however you want, even tearing it all down and building a small Western-style house.

Believe it or not, there are quite a few small Western-style buildings in this ancient architectural complex. I wonder when they were built.

When Director Li heard Zhang Xuansong say it wouldn't work, he first explained, then moved his finger down, "Then here it is. To the east is Jingshan Park and to the west is Beihai Park. It used to be the property of the Qing Dynasty's Imperial Household Department. It was a large warehouse area, but it's not usable anymore because it's been in disrepair for years. If you want to buy this place, you'll have to put a lot of effort into renovating it."

Zhang Xuansong pursed his lips. "It's a good place. It's fine to renovate it, since the bricks and tiles are still usable. It'll just take a bit of labor."

These days, labor is the least valuable commodity, while materials are hard to find. Old bricks and tiles from old houses can indeed be quite useful.

He looked up and asked, "How big?"

Director Li glanced at the data and said, "A little over three acres, which is exactly two thousand square meters."

Chen Fan glanced at it and saw that it was clearly 2024.8, so how could it be exactly two thousand?
After looking at three, Zhang Xuansong thought for a moment and then asked, "Are there any bigger ones?"

He paused for a moment, then added, "I'm not picky about the location; the area outside the city is fine too."

Director Li gave a wry smile and explained cautiously, "Comrade Zhang, we do have such a large space, but I dare not show it to you. Those are factory buildings belonging to factories and institutions. If you want to buy them, the buyer must also be a factory that intends to put them into production."

To be precise, the allocation is handled by the relevant departments, and the subdistrict office has only the obligation to cooperate, not the right to intervene.

As for the farmers' homesteads in the production team, they are not allowed to be transferred, unless they belong to someone from the same production team.

Moreover, a typical rural house is only about one acre in size, which does not meet Zhang Xuansong's requirements.

Hearing Director Li's words, Zhang Xuansong didn't care. He looked up at Li Shangde and Lin Yuanxiang, who had been silent, and said, "Give me some advice."

Li Shangde squinted at him and said, "Opinion? If I had to choose, the bigger the better."

Lin Yuanxiang nodded in deep agreement, "I agree."

Zhang Xuansong rolled his eyes. "Asking is pointless."

He then turned to Chen Fan and asked, "What about you? Tell me."

Chen Fan clicked his tongue, looked up and smiled, "Director Li, you've been introducing it for so long, but you haven't mentioned a price yet. What if we can't afford it?"

This is right in the heart of Beijing, inside the Imperial City, right next to the Forbidden City. These properties are often two or three thousand square meters! Do you even have that much money?!

Then he thought of his little villa in Shanghai, which was so small and cost 3 yuan!

How much do we need here?

Then Director Li said, "It's indeed not cheap, considering how big it is."

He chuckled twice. "The first and largest one is 2800 square meters. Although there aren't many rooms, only seven or eight, the key is that it's spacious, so it'll cost at least 1 yuan!"

Chen Fan's eyes widened instantly. "How much?"

Director Li thought he was complaining about the price and said with a wry smile, "Comrade Chen, this price really can't be lowered any further! Otherwise, the street office would rather wait a few years and try to raise some money to build a few dormitories on that land, which would also solve the housing problem for some families."

He paused for a moment, then added, "Actually, the money from selling these courtyards will also be used to repair some of the damaged houses, which are then distributed to other properties."

Chen Fan clicked his tongue, then looked at the map again. Was I complaining about the price?
I think the place is too small!

At this moment, Zhang Xuansong waved his hand, signaling to Director Li, "You continue."

Director Li smiled and said, "Although the courtyard of Lechunfang is not large, only 800 square meters, it is not cheap because it has many rooms. The minimum price is 5000 yuan."

He glanced at Zhang Xuansong, but seeing that he didn't seem inclined to speak, he continued, "Finally, there's the warehouse next to Beihai Park. Although it doesn't occupy as much land as the garden that was converted into a courtyard, it has significantly more rooms, so the price is even higher."

He then carefully gestured, "It will cost 12000 yuan."

Chen Fan now understood that their price was not calculated based on the land area, but on the building area.

In other words, the valuable asset is the house, not the land!
But the houses are very cheap!

In comparison, housing prices in Shanghai are much higher.

Upon hearing the price, the three old men exchanged a glance.

It doesn't seem that expensive, so why buy a house and land in advance?

Chen Fan turned to Zhang Xuansong with expectant eyes, "Which one do you want?"

Zhang Xuansong turned to look at him, "Didn't I just ask you? This is your decision. I'm just responsible for providing the money."

Chen Fan blinked, and seeing the old man's serious expression, he couldn't help but ask, "If you're letting me decide, does that mean the deed should also be in my name?"

"That's not."

Zhang Xuansong said matter-of-factly, "Anyway, you'll be the abbot of Chaoyang Temple from now on, so of course you'll decide which piece of land to buy. Who else could it be but me?"

Chaoyang Temple?
Director Li's eyes immediately went blank, then his ears closed, his gaze became unfocused, and he seemed to be lost in thought.

I can't see, I can't hear, I can't see, I can't hear...

Hmm, I heard that General Xu used to be a monk. Could this old comrade have been a Taoist priest before?
The organization is indeed full of talented people!

Just as he was lost in thought, he suddenly felt as if someone was calling him.

Chen Fan, "Director Li, Director Li...?"

He called out two or three times before he saw Director Li come to his senses. "Huh? What's wrong?"

Chen Fan smiled calmly, "Well, we'd like to see it in person before deciding which one to buy, is that alright?"

Director Li nodded repeatedly, "Of course, I'll take you there." Without even packing his things, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Xiao Wang, Xiao Wang."

A young man rushed in, stood at attention, and said, "Director Li, I'm here."

Director Li said, "Tell the drivers to get ready; I need to take some senior comrades out to look at houses."

Xiao Wang nodded immediately, "Yes."

After saying that, he turned and ran outside.

When Director Li saw the slightly surprised look in Chen Fan's eyes, he quickly grinned.

Hmph, who isn't a leader!

Then, after straightening his clothes and putting on the coat hanging to the side, he gestured outside, saying, "Please."

He then stood tall and followed the others out.

I was able to view properties in a small Lada, which was quite efficient.

First, go to the first courtyard, the large garden by Houhai Lake.

This is a place by the sea, surrounded by a wall, with access through an iron gate. The entrance opens right onto the Houhai Lake, making it a true sea-view property.

Across the sea lies the Dazang Longhua Temple.

Zhang Xuansong disliked it immediately. "There's a Buddhist temple across the street. How can we build a Taoist temple here? No way!"

Chen Fan was still walking around the courtyard. The courtyard was quite large, but its shape was not very regular, being slightly curved. There were a few houses at the southern end of the courtyard, and the rest was flat dirt ground, looking like a large open space in the countryside, with tire tracks on the ground.

There weren't many things, and unlike a traditional courtyard house with several courtyards, you could see everything at a glance. Just then, Zhang Xuansong's voice was heard, so he walked over and said, "If you don't like it, go look at the next one."

The courtyard of Lechunfang was too small and had already been abandoned by Zhang Xuansong, so he skipped it.

The car drove directly to the shore of Beihai Park and the foot of Jingshan Hill.

Director Li personally took the key to open the door and entered a courtyard.

This place is another extreme compared to the garden we just visited.

There's a path leading in, with rows of warehouses made of blue bricks and tiles on both sides, packed full of space with hardly any open area.

However, as Director Li said, the beams and walls of these houses are deformed, and unless a lot of money is spent to reinforce or rebuild them, the place is unusable.

Zhang Xuansong, leaning on his cane, walked from one end to the other, even going around to the alley behind the warehouse to take a look.

Looking at Jingshan Park to the east, and then to the west, well, the courtyard wall blocked my view.

He then turned around and said to Chen Fan, who was following behind him, "This place is better than that one. It has a regular shape and a good location. The imperial city is to the south, there are mountains to the east, and flowing water to the west. It's a good place to gather and retain auspicious energy. Let's keep it here."

Chen Fan's lips twitched slightly. "You said I was supposed to make the decision."

Zhang Xuansong seemed to understand what he was thinking and immediately said, "You decide, is this place okay?"

Chen Fan's lips twitched slightly. "Okay."

"it is good."

Zhang Xuansong turned to Director Li and said, "Little Li, I'll take this one, 15,000."

Director Li had just put on a smile when he heard this and was taken aback. "Old comrade, it's only 12,000 here."

Zhang Xuansong snorted twice, "I don't want the lowest price. I already broke the rules by having my son bring me here to find you, so how can I lower the price?"

You said it yourself, this money is for repairing houses and allocating housing, how could I possibly skimp on it? I said, 15,000, that's settled.”

Director Li's face immediately lit up with excitement. He stepped forward and firmly grasped the man's right hand, exclaiming, "Truly a veteran comrade, so noble and virtuous! Deal!"

He then said, "Our Urban Construction Committee has construction companies; they're all part of the same unit. Tell me what you want to change it to, and I'll find a construction company to complete the task for you quickly and efficiently, with guaranteed quality!"

He didn't dare mention the words "discounted price," knowing that doing business with this kind of older man was definitely a sure way to avoid losses.

Of course, he wouldn't dare cheat anyone; he couldn't bear the consequences.

Seeing Director Li's excitement, Zhang Xuansong blinked. "Uh, thank you for your kindness, but I don't plan to change it for now. We'll talk about it later."

Director Li blinked, and then, remembering what they had just mentioned about "Chaoyang Temple," he instantly understood. He quickly nodded and said, "I understand, I understand. If you need any renovations in the future, come to me again, and I will definitely provide you with excellent service."

Once the agreement is reached, the next step is to complete the formalities.

Back at the housing management bureau, Director Li personally prepared the documents and processed the paperwork.

Chen Fan sat on the wooden sofa, took off the canvas bag he was carrying, opened the lid, and poured the contents out by lifting the bottom.

Bundles of banknotes were scattered on the coffee table, startling Director Li.

Chen Fan neatly stacked the banknotes, each bundle containing a thousand yuan, and there were a total of 36 bundles.

Zhang Xuansong sipped his tea and said with a sneer, "You made it sound so scary, which led me to withdraw all my savings, and I didn't even use half of it."

Lin Yuanxiang nodded in agreement, "I even brought my bankbook, just in case you didn't have enough money, but it turned out I didn't need it."

Li Shangde grinned and chuckled, "It's not that Xiao Chen is exaggerating, it's that you guys are too rich. How much is my little courtyard worth? No matter how much you ask for, it won't even reach a thousand. You bought a courtyard for 15000, that's really shocking."

Chen Fan's lips twitched slightly. He counted out 10,000 yuan, put it in his bag, then divided the 26,000 yuan on the coffee table into two piles. He looked up and said, "Director Li, could you please also complete the formalities for that courtyard by Houhai Lake? I'll take it."

As soon as he said that, everyone in the office turned to look at him.

Director Li stared blankly. "You...you took it?"

Chen Fan nodded seriously, "Yes, I'll take it. You said 10,000, so you must have bargained down. I'll give you 11,000 here."

As he spoke, he glanced at Zhang Xuansong, as if to say, "Look, because of you, I spent an extra thousand."

But honestly, if Zhang Xuansong hadn't been there, with such a big courtyard and eight large rooms, it wouldn't have been unreasonable for someone to charge 8 yuan. In the end, he would have made a profit.

Zhang Xuansong was taken aback at first, "Why did you buy such a big yard?"

Chen Fan grinned. "I'll keep it for myself."

Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes widened in astonishment.

How many people are in your family that you bought such a big yard?

Lin Yuanxiang then asked, "Are you going to settle down in Beijing from now on?"

Chen Fan coughed lightly and brought out the reason he had already prepared, "This courtyard is not for me. For example, Lujiawan, Yunhu Cotton Mill, and Machinery Factory may have some business in Beijing in the future. They can build a small building there and save themselves the trouble of finding a place."

Do you have business in Beijing?

The three old men remained expressionless. As for those two factories, that was one thing; many enterprises and institutions set up offices in Beijing, mainly to strengthen their connections with their superiors.

But what kind of office do you need for a production team?

However, they didn't say much; as long as they had a reason, that was enough.

As for Director Li, he had already been racking his brains to get an extra copy of the documents to complete the procedures.

With Secretary Xiao Wang running around, the property transfer was completed in no time, and two new property deeds were freshly issued.

The head of the household is Chen Fan!

In Zhang Xuansong's words, since he would be the abbot of Chaoyang Temple in the future, the property deed should naturally be in his name.

We can rebuild Chaoyang Temple when it reopens, and then transfer the property deeds to the temple's property.

As for the other one, it is naturally Chen Fan's private property.

With two courtyards in hand, from this day forward, he is also a prominent figure in the capital!
Chen Fan carefully put away the two property deeds and said to Zhang Xuansong, "Don't look at me like that. Consider this money a loan from me. I'll pay you back when I get home."

Zhang Xuansong immediately breathed a sigh of relief, "Ahem, originally you were my last disciple, so money wasn't important. The main thing is that we'll need money to build the new temple later..."

Then he asked in a low voice, "Do you really have that much money?"

Chen Fan's lips twitched slightly. He didn't want to pay attention to him and turned to Director Li. "Director, I need to renovate my yard. What are the procedures?"

Director Li walked to the coffee table and sat down, smiling, "That's simple. You just need to tell me how to change it and prepare the money, and I'll take care of the rest."

He looked at the three old men as he spoke, "With this money, we can help the district solve many problems. It's only right that I come to handle some follow-up matters."

The banknotes Chen Fan had just poured out made him a little envious. It was a pity that he couldn't build the Taoist temple yet, otherwise he would have really wanted to bring back a big contract for the construction company.

There aren't any big orders right now, so getting a small one is fine too.

Zhang Xuansong neither agreed nor disagreed with Director Li's statement. He was a man of principle, but not an old-fashioned person. As long as Chen Fan paid him, what was wrong with asking them for help?

Chen Fan smiled and said, "Then thank you very much, Director Li. I will send over the house design drawings tomorrow, and then I will ask you to find someone to evaluate them to see how much it will cost and whether it can be constructed."

Director Li nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, no problem."

Chen Fan added, "Another issue is how we're going to secure the construction materials?"

Director Li smiled and said, "Don't worry about that. The construction company is a professional in this field. They can provide the materials. They handle both labor and materials."

He paused for a moment, then added, "Actually, if you don't insist on using new materials, we can significantly reduce your construction costs, and the quality will be even better than ordinary bricks and tiles."

Chen Fan was somewhat puzzled. "You mean the old bricks?"

Director Li laughed and said, "I was referring to the city bricks."

(End of this chapter)