Siheyuan's Journey Through the Ages

Chapter 114 The Unfortunate Landlord

Ma Qing walked out of the door and turned around to look at the house. He quite liked it. The architectural style and price were quite suitable. Forget it, he decided to take another look. A living person should not be suffocated to death by a bird.

Ma Qing took this store as the starting point and searched within a one-kilometer radius, but he couldn't find a satisfactory one because either the building was too old, the price was too high, or the stores were too big or too small.

In the evening, Ma Qing invited Lao Huang to have a street meal. He originally wanted to ask him to take him to see the world of beauty, but after thinking about it, he decided to give up. He would talk about it later when there was a chance.

In the evening, when Ma Qing was taking a bubble bath in the space, the phone in the hotel room rang.

Ma Qing had no choice but to wipe himself off, walk out of the space and answer the phone.

"Hey, who's there?"

"Hello, is this Mr. Ma? I'm Zhang Xingkui, the Zhang Xingkui who came to our store to look at the house this morning. Do you still remember me?" An anxious voice came from the phone, and Ma Qing's mind emerged with the image of a middle-aged man, a middle-aged man who was in desperate need of help.

"Oh, Mr. Zhang, is this Mr. Zhang from Xintiandi Street? What's the matter that makes you call so late?" Ma Qing replied.

"Mr. Ma, you came to see the house today and I saw that you were very satisfied. I wonder if you are still interested in this house now." Zhang Xingkui said anxiously.

"Of course I am interested, but your price is too high. I can't afford it." Ma Qing said jokingly.

Zhang Xingkui was anxious. "The price is negotiable. Something happened in my family and I need money urgently. If Mr. Ma can come up with the money right away, the price is negotiable. I will sell it to you. Do you think it's convenient for you now? Can we trade?"

"Mr. Zhang, you are too anxious. It's so late, how can I come up with the money? No, no, I can't come." Ma Qing felt that this matter was a bit strange.

Zhang Xingkui probably felt that he was too impatient, so he hurriedly said, "How about this, Mr. Ma, come to my shop at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning, I'll treat you to morning tea, and we can talk about the transaction, okay?"

This was not a problem. Ma Qing thought about it and agreed. After all, the house was nice and he might be able to get a bargain under the current circumstances. He would be very happy.

Ma Qing called Huang Hongtu and made an appointment to pick him up early the next morning, then went back to the space to continue taking a bath.

The next morning, Ma Qing took Huang Hongtu's car to Xintiandi Street, in front of the shop he had chosen yesterday. Zhang Xingkui was already standing in front of the shop, pacing back and forth, looking very irritable and anxious.

Zhang Xingkui saw Ma Qing coming and hurried forward to greet him, "Mr. Ma, you are here. There is a Changji noodle shop in front. Let's go there to talk."

Seeing Zhang Xingkui's attitude, Ma Qing thought that someone was inviting him to breakfast, so he just walked away.

When Ma Qing walked into the morning tea shop, it was already crowded.

Outside the door, steaming dim sum exudes an alluring aroma, beckoning passers-by. Inside the teahouse, the rosewood tables and chairs are shiny, and every table is packed with people.

The guests were either in groups of three or five, chatting with each other or reading newspapers alone. They held porcelain bowls in their hands, sipping tea, with a look of satisfaction on their faces.

Zhang Xingkui requested a private room, and the two of them sat in it and ordered four or five kinds of dim sum. The "Four Heavenly Kings" of course were must-orders, including shrimp dumplings, steamed pork dumplings, barbecued pork buns, and egg tarts. They also ordered a pot of Pu'er tea to relieve greasiness and clear the throat. "Come on, Mr. Ma, try this shrimp dumpling. Changji's shrimp dumplings are a must." Zhang Xingkui greeted enthusiastically.

Seeing that Zhang Xingkui was quite generous, Ma Qing couldn't help but feel a liking for him. The saying "one should be grateful for what one has received, and one should be grateful for what one has received" does have some truth to it.

However, Ma Qing has been in Hong Kong for many days and has had no idea how many times he has had Hong Kong's morning tea. The novelty of it is long gone as it was when he first arrived.

"You're welcome, you're welcome, just come on your own." Ma Qing said politely.

Zhang Xingkui didn't say much. The two of them finished breakfast first. Zhang Xingkui seemed to be very hungry and ate two trays of barbecued pork buns. Of course, considering the portion size at Xiangjiang Tea House, it was only four.

"Mr. Zhang, what are you doing..." Ma Qing asked when he saw this.

Zhang Xingkui sighed when he saw Ma Qing asking the question, "Oh, it's unfortunate for our family. My son lost a lot of money in the gambling house last night and owed Xinji a loan shark of 3 yuan. It's unfortunate for our family. Where can I find so much money all of a sudden?"

Zhang Xingkui complained: "You just came to Hong Kong, I'm afraid you don't know what Xinji is. They are a group of people who eat meat and don't spit out bones, and lick blood on the tip of a knife. There is no good for owing money to them. The usury is rising every day. Yesterday I saw that Mr. Ma liked my house very much. If you can come up with the money right away, we can do the deal right away."

Ma Qing felt a little strange. Could it be that his luck was so good that he could get whatever he wanted? "Money is no problem. The money for the house is in the bank and can be paid at any time. This is the price..."

"Two hundred thousand. I'll reduce it by another ten thousand. Mr. Ma, this price is already very low." Zhang Xingkui said hurriedly.

Good man, you're trying to play this trick on me, right? Two hundred thousand is not a low price at all.

Ma Qing took a sip of tea and said, "Mr. Zhang, you are taking advantage of me because I don't understand the market, right? The market price of your building is only 18 yuan, and you are offering 20 yuan now, and you are acting like I am taking advantage of you. That's really unfair."

Zhang Xingkui looked embarrassed when he heard this. He pretended to think for a while and then said, "Okay, 18 is 18. Who made me run into this kind of thing? The property market is so good now, I really don't want to sell it."

"170,000, how about that? In your current situation, I would be sorry to myself if I don't bargain." Ma Qing decided to take advantage of the situation. After all, money is not easy to earn. Ten thousand yuan can marry several wives.

Zhang Xingkui was so angry that he pointed at Ma Qing and said, "You are taking advantage of someone's misfortune, you...you..."

Ma Qing was unmoved. Who told you to look down on me at the beginning yesterday? "It's just business. I didn't take advantage of others. There is room for market price and transaction price, don't you think?"

"Okay, I admit it. If you can give me the money, we can make the deal right away. This is the deed to my house. Where's your money?" Zhang Xingkui took out a piece of paper from his pocket and slammed it on the dining table in angrily.

Ma Qing took the paper. It was quite thick and felt good. It should be high-quality paper.

But when Ma Qing opened it, he almost cursed. The printing on this piece of paper was indeed very beautiful, and it looked very high-end and formal. However, the foreign words written on it only stated one thing. This was a bond of a British company in the 1950s. And it was the kind of company whose name was unknown to anyone. Most of them had probably been buried in the historical garbage dump of the market long ago.

(End of this chapter)