This humble Taoist priest wants to take the college entrance exam.

Chapter 236 A New House Was Rented
While the homeowner was there, the siblings and cat parked their bicycles and then came to look at the house together.

They are really very close.

After all, it's in the same building as my current apartment...

Every day when Chen Shi'an walked through the community, he could see the small courtyard of apartment 101. He was curious before that the flowers and plants in the courtyard were almost withered and he had never seen them watered. It turned out that the homeowners had moved to a new house half a year ago.

When the siblings and the cat arrived at room 101, the landlord was already waiting inside with the door open.

"Uncle, what should I call you?" Chen Shi'an asked with a smile.

"My surname is Guo. Young man, what's your name? You look familiar..."

The middle-aged man looked Chen Shi'an up and down, feeling that he looked familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen him before.

"Chen Shi'an".

"...Oh! Aren't you that high school student Taoist priest who's all over Douyin, the one who talks about traditional culture and Chinese classics on the street?!"

"Yes, it's me."

"What a coincidence! I was wondering why you looked so familiar. Haha, I've even seen your videos before!"

"Really? Thanks for your attention, Uncle Guo."

"Hehe, come in, Xiao Chen. Feel free to look around the house. This is the first time I've rented this place out. I've been living here myself, and it's been vacant for half a year. I just hired a cleaner to come and clean it this afternoon..."

Uncle Guo went on and on about the house, while Chen Shi'an and Li Wanyin went inside to take a look.

After all, it's the same neighborhood, the same building, and even the same apartment layout and orientation. The overall layout of apartment 101 is almost identical to the apartment the siblings are currently living in, which is the same as Uncle Lin's apartment.

It's the same layout of over 80 square meters, with three bedrooms and one living room. Even the location and size of the living room, bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen, and balcony are basically the same. The only difference is that it has a small courtyard that can be used independently.

The courtyard was a gift from the developer; it's quite large, about forty or fifty square meters.

Although it's on the first floor, the courtyard and balcony face the right direction, and the house has decent natural light.

Of course, it's an old house that's been around for so many years, so it's definitely not that new. But the good thing is that the house has always been lived in by the family. It's been well-maintained by the family and people. It's even better than Uncle Lin's house. After all, most tenants can't take as good care of a house as family members.

The interior is fully furnished with large appliances such as air conditioners, water heaters, refrigerators, and televisions, as well as large furniture such as sofas, dining tables, coffee tables, wardrobes, and beds, making it a move-in ready home.

Although they were all used by other people, they were only used by the landlord's family before, and most of them were still in very good condition. Since they were renting, Li Wanyin and Chen Shi'an were not demanding in this regard. They could just buy new cushions for things like sofas and beds.

Li Wanyin first checked the water, electricity, gas, and sewer systems, while Chen Shi'an followed the uncle to check every room and every corner.

"The feng shui is alright," Chen Shi'an said with a smile.

"Little Chen, you even know about this! Are you really a Taoist priest?"

"Yes, it's genuine."

Chen Shi'an opened the sliding door of the balcony and walked into the yard, where the fat cat followed him.

Most of the courtyard is paved with tiles, consistent with the design of the sidewalk outside the community, but there are guardrails around it to separate the private and public areas.

Along the railing, there is a green belt, which was probably originally used to grow vegetables and flowers, but it has been abandoned for too long and has mostly withered. On the other hand, the lawns next to it, which have not been trampled for a long time, are now growing quite lushly, seemingly unafraid of the cold winter.

The fat cat loved this little yard. It ran to the lawn and started frolicking around, sniffing here and there. After it was done, it even squatted down and peed on the side...

Chen Shi'an also likes the courtyard; it's down-to-earth, convenient for daily life, and provides ample space for activities.

However, the courtyards of residential communities are different from those of Taoist temples. You have the right to use them but not the ownership. You can plant flowers and vegetables, raise cats and dogs, and set up your own tea tables and chairs, but you can't pave them. Otherwise, Chen Shi'an was thinking of digging a small fish pond and building a small pavilion.

Houses like this, with a yard on the ground floor, have very obvious advantages and disadvantages.

The advantages are obvious: having a small, private courtyard for one's own use greatly enhances the quality of life and the feeling of living there.

However, it also has many drawbacks. The yard is only separated from the outside by a low fence, which makes it poor in terms of theft prevention and security. It is close to the green belt and is on the first floor, so mosquitoes and other insects can easily breed. Moreover, the outside is the community activity space, so there is a lot of noise. There are also so many households living upstairs, so it is inevitable that some people with poor manners will throw garbage downstairs. Sure enough, they threw it into the yard on the first floor.

On the other side, Li Wanyin, who had finished checking the water, electricity, and gas, also came into the courtyard.

"Uncle Guo, do you guys ever get clogged in the drains? I heard that the drains on the first floor are prone to getting clogged."

"Don't worry about that. Although the community is old, the sewers on the first floor are independent and not connected to the ones above. Our family has lived here for so many years and has never had a blockage."

"The upstairs neighbors probably throw trash downstairs..."

"Um...hehe, we've been residents for so many years, everyone's still pretty considerate..."

"Then it will still happen."

"..."

The homeowner smiled awkwardly and focused on praising the courtyard, while Li Wanyin calmly listed out its drawbacks one by one.

In fact, whether you are a buyer or a renter, you are aware of the advantages and disadvantages of a ground-floor house with a yard. The reason why you are still willing to rent or buy is because you have weighed your own preferences.

Chen Shi'an listened with a smile as Li Wanyin talked to the landlord. He didn't interrupt, knowing that Wanyin was trying to negotiate a lower price.

What are obvious shortcomings to others are basically not problems for him.

Safety? We have Fei Mo (a type of animal) to guard the house;

Mosquitoes? Wherever he and Fei Mo are, there won't be any mosquitoes. They can't possibly have more mosquitoes than in the mountains.

Noise and litter from upstairs? We can set up a formation to block out the noise and the litter from upstairs.

It has to be said that after this period of training at her stall, Sister Wanyin has become more and more like a strong woman. Although she is still gentle and approachable in front of him, she is very clear-headed when it comes to serious matters with outsiders.

……

"Sigh... alright, girl, you're really good at talking. Here's what I'll do: I'll lower the price by another hundred, two thousand one hundred yuan a month. That's the lowest I can go. If you can't accept it, then I'll have to find another tenant."

“Uncle, even though we live on the top floor now, it only costs 1,200 a month. The environment isn’t good right now, and the rental market isn’t doing so well either. It’s just a good thing that my brother and I ran into each other today, otherwise, Uncle, you might not be able to rent it out anytime soon. It’s a loss to leave it vacant.”

"...Really? Someone in Jiahe Residential Area is renting for 1200?!"

"Here, I can show you the contract from back then."

The landlord was stunned when he saw the photo of the contract on Li Wanyin's phone.

Is the rental market really that bad now?

Although Jiahe Community is an old community, it is located in the city center and has a superior location. Moreover, it is a school district property. He had heard that the lowest rent was at least 2,400 yuan, and some good floors and renovated properties even rented for more than 3,000 yuan.

This is the top floor, renting it for only 1200 is outrageous!

Who's really in this cutthroat market?! Are they doing charity here?!
The landlord was right; Lin Ming's initial idea was to do charity, renting out the property cheaply as a benefit to young people who had just graduated and were struggling to earn money...

Seeing the negotiations stalled, Chen Shi'an smiled and said, "Uncle Guo, I really like this house of yours. You can rest assured that we'll take good care of it. How about this, let's each compromise and lower the price by another hundred, round it up, so it'll be two thousand yuan a month, okay? If that's acceptable, we can sign the contract now, and this month's rent will be calculated as a whole month's rent." The landlord was silent for a moment before smiling wryly and saying, "Alright, then I'll lower it by another hundred, two thousand yuan a month, but the rent requires a two-month deposit and one month's rent in advance, and the contract must be for at least one year. If you terminate the lease midway, you have to help me find someone to renew the contract, otherwise the deposit will not be refunded."

"Sure, we can make everything clear beforehand."

"Okay, shall we sign the contract now?"

"Row."

For the landlord, renting out the property for 2,000 yuan was a little lower than the market price in the same neighborhood, but it was still within an acceptable range. In addition, he also had to work on weekdays and didn't have much time to look for other tenants. If he asked an agent, he would be charged a huge commission. It was fate that he found a tenant as soon as he started listing the property.

For Chen Shi'an and Li Wanyin, although the rent is 800 yuan more expensive than the current one, it is still worthwhile after weighing the pros and cons. After all, a monthly rent of 2,000 yuan is really cheap in Jiahe Community. Changing to another floor would cost more than that.

One thousand two... that's definitely not a normal price, it's Lin Shushan's price!
……

Negotiations were one thing, but once an agreement was reached, the signing of the contract went quite smoothly for both parties.

The landlord took out the rental contract from his bag; there were two copies.

"So, which of you two siblings will sign?"

"Sister Wanyin, please sign it."

"Good~"

Li Wanyin took the pen, carefully read through the contract, and signed her name after confirming that everything was correct.

"Oh... your surname is Li?"

"Uh-huh."

"I thought you were siblings."

"We've always shared an apartment, so if we have to move, we'll move together," Chen Shi'an said with a smile.

"Oh, so you two have a good relationship."

The landlord had a good impression of the brother and sister. They didn't seem like slovenly people, especially the girl in front of him, who was carrying freshly bought soy sauce, eggs, and other household items. She looked very domestic. If it were any other girl who looked glamorous on the outside but made a mess of her rented apartment, it would be a real headache to rent it out.

After signing the contract, the landlord added Li Wanyin and Chen Shi'an on WeChat.

Li Wanyin transferred two months' deposit and this month's rent together, totaling six thousand yuan.

It's true what they say: money in your pocket is great, but money out of your pocket is terrible...

The sister was really heartbroken about spending such a large sum of money, and she thought to herself that she wanted to be a landlord herself someday...

"Okay, here is your receipt."

The landlord happily accepted the transfer and handed the house keys to the two of them.

"There are three keys here, and I have a spare one. Don't worry, I don't live here, so I won't bother you unless it's absolutely necessary. Just transfer the rent to me on WeChat on the 1st of each month. I'll send you the gas and water account numbers, and you can pay them yourselves. Also..."

"Ok."

"Okay, if there's nothing else, I'll be going now. Contact me via WeChat or phone if needed."

The landlord then took his copy of the contract and left.

Chen Shi'an also transferred 3,500 yuan to Li Wanyin.

"...Hey! Shi'an, why did you transfer so much money to me?"

“We rented this house together, and this month’s rent and deposit still need to be transferred to Sister Wanyin.”

"No need, no need... You don't need to transfer the deposit to me, just transfer the 1,000 yuan rent. What's this extra 500 yuan for?"

"It's on public funds."

Chen Shi'an thought of something, "Right, there might be a lot of things to buy again when we move. I'll transfer another two thousand to Sister Wanyin, and we can buy them together. If it's not enough, Sister Wanyin can tell me."

"Shi'an, no need for so many! We have all the basic appliances and furniture. We can just bring the usable ones we bought before when we move."

"It's okay, Sister Wanyin, just keep it for me for now. We can use it as public funds, since we'll need it eventually anyway."

"All right……"

These were all shared expenses for the siblings, and Li Wanyin couldn't find a reason to refuse, so she had no choice but to accept Chen Shi'an's transfers.

"Then I won't be setting up my stall tonight. I need to check what I need to buy at home, and I also need to clean up."

"Okay, I'll help Wanyin with the cleaning when I get back from get out of class."

“It’s alright, Shi’an, you still have classes. Leave the house to me. The sooner we get it done, the sooner we can move, and that will give us more time to help Uncle Lin find a new tenant to renew the lease.”

"Then I'll call Uncle Lin first and let him know."

"Uh-huh!"

Chen Shi'an took out his phone and called Lin Ming to tell him about the siblings' plans to move.

Lin Ming didn't mind at all. Renting his house was the same as renting someone else's house. As long as Shi An and Xiao Li felt it was convenient for them, that was fine.

"Okay, Shi'an, is there anything you can help with? Just tell your uncle. If the house isn't ready yet, you can continue to stay here with me for now!"

"It's alright, Uncle Lin, Wanyin and I can handle it. We'll help you find a new tenant for the lease renewal first. The move will have to wait a few more days."

"No rush, no rush, Uncle will go and have the agent find someone."

"Yes, Uncle Lin, I can't let you go to such trouble."

"well……"

Chen Shi'an hung up the phone and turned around to see Li Wanyin staring blankly at the new home she was about to move into.

"What is Sister Wanyin thinking about?"

"Hehe, it's nothing!"

Li Wanyin couldn't help but sigh, "I've been thinking, when will I be able to have my own house?"

"Don't worry, Sister Wanyin, it will happen."

"Haha, right! Shi'an, you still have class! Quick, let's go upstairs and cook some noodles—"

(End of this chapter)