Mixed in 1980

Chapter 87 I'm so lazy
"Zhao Yuanyuan, you're so lazy!"

Zeng Ali covered her face for her. Yuer Hutong was only a few hundred meters away.

This girl is hopelessly lazy.

Zeng Ali could even imagine that in the future when he went to Yuer Hutong to eat, he would have to ride his bicycle back and forth, carrying the girl on his back.

Yuer Hutong is just next door. Courtyard No. 13 in the hutong is "said to" be purchased with funds from the Ministry of Culture for Master Qi Baishi to live in. It has now been converted into Qi Baishi's former residence.

Why use the word "supposedly"? Because many aunties in the alley said that Master Qi Baishi never lived here.

As for the facts, who cares about that!
Chen Min took Chen Fan and Xu Jinqiu and went straight to Yard No. 27. As soon as they arrived at the door, they knew at a glance at the gate that this yard was not simple and had a background.

This kind of gate, which leaves half a room's worth of space in front of the gate and has all its beams exposed, is called Guangliang Gate or Guangliang Gate in the capital. In ancient times, it was where officials lived.

But the paint on this door has peeled off.

Chen Min went up and knocked on the door, but there was no doorman to open the door in those days. After a long while, a man in his fifties came out to open the door.

"It's Xiao Chen, why are you here?"

"Uncle Ge, I heard that you were going to Hong Kong and were planning to sell this house. I'm here to bring people to see the house today," Chen Min introduced.

"Come in, take a look around!"

Uncle Ge let anyone in and didn't take them around. He moved a stool, lit a cigarette, and looked at the old house silently, with a trace of sadness in his eyes.

In the past, this place was so lively and prosperous. All the furniture was made of mahogany, and all the furniture was decorated with precious porcelain. The walls were hung with paintings and calligraphy by famous artists.

What a pity, that time was wasted.

The yard was returned this year, but it was in a state of disrepair, with illegal sheds, kitchens and other things everywhere. The mansion has turned into a slum.

“Isn’t this too shabby?”

Xu Jinqiu frowned as soon as she entered the door. There were too many illegal buildings, and they were all dilapidated. The originally large yard was occupied, but only a small aisle was left.

After passing through the hanging flower gate and arriving at the central courtyard, the damage is even more serious. None of the doors and windows are intact, and the walls are full of potholes. It looks like a beggar's den.

The only thing that is still intact is probably the tiles on the roof.

"Do you really want to buy a house like this?"

Xu Jinqiu frowned. This place looked even worse than the slum where he lived now.

"I think it's pretty good. It's a little shabby, but it's big enough. I can find someone to renovate it and it will be comfortable to live in." Chen Fan raised the corner of his mouth slightly.

The place is a bit shabby, but this yard is not ordinary. It was where the rich and powerful lived in ancient times. It is much more spacious than ordinary yards, and the houses inside are also much larger.

In an ordinary courtyard house, a room is normally about 12 square meters, but the rooms here are almost 16 square meters, with the main room being more than 20 square meters.

Moreover, there are ear rooms on both sides of the east and west rows of wing rooms, which adds four more rooms. The courtyard outside is also made longer and more spacious.

After passing through the Moon Gate, we went to see the cross courtyard.

The cross courtyard is on the east side, also called the East Cross Courtyard. Its area is almost the same as the main courtyard, but there are very few houses here, only on the back side, imitating the layout of the central courtyard.

Three main rooms and two side rooms were built, with three east and three west wing rooms on each side.

As for the front, it was empty.

It should have been a garden before, but after it was converted into a staff dormitory, who would take care of these things? Now there are only two big trees and dense weeds left in the yard.

"Uncle Ge, how much do you want to pay for this yard?"

Chen Fan only asked one question and then he had nothing to do afterwards. Chen Min and Xu Jinqiu took over the bargaining.

Chen Min is the main force!
After doing business for so long, bargaining has become very handy for me.

Uncle Wang's asking price is still relatively high, and his explanation is reasonable. This yard is bigger than other yards, and the house is also bigger than other yards.

These all cost extra money!

In later times, there is nothing wrong with this statement. When housing prices rise, people will still ask for the price of new houses for old and dilapidated houses. If you raise the price slowly, they will not sell it to you.

But there was no concept of real estate back then. A larger area was an advantage, but renovating this dilapidated house would cost a lot of money.

You can spend 1,800 yuan to buy a room from someone else and move in right away. But after buying this place, you have to replace the doors and windows, paint the walls, and spend a lot of money.

Also, this yard is full of illegal sheds and kitchens, and it would cost a lot of money to demolish them. It seems like a losing business no matter how you look at it.

Some wanted to raise the price, while others wanted to lower the price. Listening to the three people's verbal sparring, Chen Fan found it quite interesting, especially Xu Jinqiu, who was quite good at bargaining.

"How about this, everyone make a compromise and not calculate based on size. Let's just charge 1800 yuan per room." Uncle Ge had no choice but to take a step back.

Xu Jinqiu and Chen Min quickly calculated. This yard is not small, there is a gatehouse in the front yard and three houses in the back.

There are 3 main rooms with 2 side rooms in the central courtyard, and 6 east and west wing rooms with 4 side rooms.

Simple backyard with 5 back rooms.

There are 3 main rooms and 2 secondary rooms across the courtyard, as well as 6 east and west wing rooms.

There are 35 rooms in the whole courtyard.

Assuming 1800 per room, the total cost would be 6.3.

Xu Jinqiu quickly calculated the bill and said, "Uncle Ge, let's make it an even number, 60,000 yuan."

"This is not just a round-up, they cut it down to three thousand at once." Uncle Ge shook his head quickly.

Xu Jinqiu smiled and said, "Uncle, these days everyone has little money. The houses in Tuanjiehu are still not selling at 30,000 yuan. It's not that people don't want to buy them, but they simply don't have the money to buy them. If you take a step back, you can sell the house earlier."

Uncle Ge thought about it and agreed.

The girl was right. Everyone was short of money. There were very few people with an annual income of over 10,000 yuan. Who would be willing to spend tens of thousands of yuan to buy such a shabby yard?

Those who are really rich buy houses.

"Uncle Ge, I heard you are going to Hong Kong? If I pay directly with Hong Kong dollars or foreign exchange certificates, what price do you think is appropriate?"

Chen Fan spoke at the right time.

The country was really short of foreign exchange those days. In 1980, its foreign exchange reserves were less than 13 billion US dollars.

Moreover, as relations with the United States and the West thaw, almost all foreign exchange is used to introduce advanced technology and equipment from the West, making it almost impossible for individuals to apply for foreign exchange.

Last year, a delegation went to Egypt and negotiated an arms sale worth 1.67 million US dollars. When the delegation went out to play, they wanted to buy some local specialties, and the seven people only had 5 US dollars in their pockets.

It can be seen how scarce foreign exchange is!
This results in the price of foreign exchange being higher than the actual exchange rate.

“Do you have foreign exchange?”

Uncle Ge's eyes lit up. He was still worried. If he wanted to exchange so much money into foreign currency, he would have to go to the ghost market and spend a lot of time there. He might even be arrested.

Seeing Chen Fan nod, Uncle Ge immediately said, "100 for 80, how about that?"

"That's 4.8 foreign exchange certificates?"

"That's right!"

"I'm going to exchange foreign exchange certificates tomorrow and transfer the property tomorrow afternoon. Do you have the property deeds?"

"Don't worry, everything is complete."

"See you tomorrow then."

Coming out of the courtyard, Chen Fan was still a little excited. He was about to own a courtyard house, in Nanluoguxiang, with an extended courtyard.

Thinking about my past life, I started several businesses and although I saved up a lot of wealth, all added up was not as much as this courtyard house.

When I got home, it was just after two o'clock.

Xu Jinqiu accompanied Guan Yuemei to chat about things in the yard. Chen Fan thought it was still early, so he took the manuscript he wrote last night and went straight to the People's Daily.

"Brother Li, take a look and see if this manuscript can be published."

Li Haiyang took the manuscript, took a look at it, and couldn't help laughing: "I finally figured it out. Don't offend your little fiancée, or you'll end up in trouble."

"It's mainly because of these people. They are so foul-mouthed and always annoy people. I have no choice but to think of ways to annoy them."

"You're firing at them."

The more Li Haiyang read, the more he couldn't help laughing. When he finished reading it all, he held his stomach and just laughed. It took him a while to calm down.

"It's a good manuscript, but the words and sentences you used are too sharp, almost like insults. It's hard to say whether it can be published."

Li Haiyang took out a cigarette, lit one for each of them, and slowly exhaled a puff of smoke.

"There is nothing wrong with the nature of the article and the social phenomenon it addresses, but it is still difficult to pass the review with this kind of writing."

"Although the words and sentences you used in the three articles you wrote earlier were very sharp, the overall style was still relatively objective."

"This article is different. It clearly contains personal emotions. I will go back to the editor-in-chief and have a meeting to discuss it before we can decide whether it can be published."

PS: I only need 200 votes to reach 1000 votes. My friends, please give me some more support so that I can draw a prize. Thank you!

(End of this chapter)