The Fiery Era: Becoming an Industrial Giant

Chapter 110 Deciding to Buy a House, Asking Dad for Money [Please Subscribe]

After spending a day in the hospital, Guo Yuting packed her things and prepared to go home the next day.

At first, Zhou Zhiqiang was a little worried, but later the obstetricians and gynecologists said that everything was fine, so Zhou Zhiqiang hired a car to take Guo Yuting home.

I found a kind old man to pull the cart, and we arrived home in no time.

Pushcarts are not commonly seen now, as the government is gradually banning them, but many drivers still have to pull them; they only have so much strength, and if they don't pull, they won't have any work.

Moreover, they often squat near hospitals because most of the people coming out of the hospital are patients who are weak, and many people are willing to pay a few cents to take a ride in a rickshaw.

When Zhou Zhiqiang got home, he ran into Mao Pingping who was waiting at the door. He then explained, somewhat embarrassed, that Guo Yuting had spent a day in the hospital giving birth.

I was so busy yesterday that I forgot to tell Mao Pingping. I guess she's waiting at the door just like she is today.

However, after returning home, Zhou Zhiqiang slipped Mao Pingping a one-yuan red envelope, using the excuse of sharing in the good fortune to get her to accept it.

Although we are breaking down feudal superstitions, some reasons are still particularly effective, especially the reason of sharing in the joy of celebration.

You can't refuse good fortune, otherwise good fortune will never come to your door; although it's a bit superstitious, it's something that makes most people smile and accept when they hear about good fortune, and at the same time say a few kind words.

"Yuting, you stay home and tidy up. I'll go out and see if there are any chickens for sale."

Zhou Zhiqiang entered the house and said, "If there is any, I'll make you chicken soup for lunch; Tian Dong's wife, please stay for lunch too, I've been troubling you a lot lately."

"How can this be considered troublesome? It's already very good; the work done is not much at all."

Mao Pingping quickly smiled and said, her words were not exaggerated at all. Although she was in charge of taking care of people, Guo Yuting and Zhou Zhiqiang were very polite to her.

The pay was generous, and they often invited her to eat at their home. These days, food was expensive, and she and Zhao Tiandong saved every penny they could, penny by penny.

Earning ten yuan a month for only washing clothes and cooking, Mao Pingping felt a bit embarrassed when she took the money.

She even considered going outside the city to pick up a bundle of firewood for Zhou Zhiqiang's family, otherwise she felt she had taken too much money.

"I'll cook lunch. If you can buy a chicken, Brother Zhou, I'll save the pot."

"Okay, then you guys go ahead and get busy."

After Zhou Zhiqiang finished speaking, he was about to push the car out the door, but before he could leave the backyard, Guo Yuting called him back.

"Zhiqiang, if you happen to pass by the North Alley entrance, go and ask about the houses. If we can buy one, we should do so as soon as possible."

Zhou Zhiqiang asked curiously, "Why are you suddenly in such a hurry about the house?"

"I just feel like the house is a bit small, and you're right, Mom, Dad, and my older brother and sister-in-law will definitely come back in the future."

As Guo Yuting spoke, she looked around the yard and then continued, "Even if we convert the study and storage room back to their original state, it probably still won't be enough for one person per room."

My older brother and sister-in-law have a child, and maybe the two of us will have one in the future too.

Zhou Zhiqiang laughed and said, "Okay, you've learned to plan ahead. I'll ask when I pass by, don't worry."

After saying that, Zhou Zhiqiang pushed his bicycle and left home.

It's past nine o'clock now, I don't know if I can still buy tickets. Zhou Zhiqiang arranged for tickets with someone several days in advance, and he's sure he can buy them if they're available at the market.

I went to Dongdan, but after looking around, I still didn't see any live chickens.

Finally, I bought a hen in Xidan, and it wasn't very heavy.

However, Zhou Zhiqiang had no choice but to buy it; he arrived too late, and all the good stuff had already been bought by others.

After buying the chicken, on his way back, Zhou Zhiqiang passed the North Alley entrance and remembered his wife's instructions. So he turned the handlebars and headed towards the courtyard house he was going to sell.

After searching through the house numbers one by one for a while, it took five or six minutes to finally find house number 131.

Zhou Zhiqiang knocked on the door for a while, but there was no response from inside for a long time. The gate was only opened when he was about to turn around and go home.

The landlord looked at Zhou Zhiqiang and asked, "Who are you looking for?"

Zhou Zhiqiang leaned closer and asked in a low voice, "Comrade, are you the owner of courtyard 131?"

"Yes, this is my home. What do you want?"

Zhou Zhiqiang said, "I heard you're planning to sell this courtyard, so I came to ask if you really intend to."

"Yes, there are, but you..."

Before the homeowner could finish speaking, Zhou Zhiqiang took out his work ID and handed it over.

“I am the head of the technical department of Dafeng Agricultural Machinery Equipment Factory, and I also live in Nanluoguxiang. We are neighbors in the hutong.”

These days, work permits are almost like identity documents; a job can represent a lot and is also a symbol of identity.

Zhou Zhiqiang was the head of the technical department, and he was also in the technical department of Dafeng Agricultural Machinery Equipment Factory.

Anyone who reads the newspaper every day will know about this factory; even if they don't know the factory, they can tell his rank by knowing that Zhou Zhiqiang is a section chief.

A level 16 section chief can represent a lot; the salary level alone can tell a lot.

After checking the work ID, the landlord stepped aside and said to Zhou Zhiqiang, "Come in."

After Zhou Zhiqiang pushed the cart into the yard, he took the opportunity to look around.

The courtyard was indeed quite nice; the front yard was spacious, the middle yard was large, and although he hadn't been to the back yard, he could guess it must be quite large as well. The front and middle yards alone had nineteen rooms, and with the back yard included, it would probably be close to thirty.

It is a standard courtyard house with neat bricks and tiles, and the wooden beams do not look old.

“My family is in the backyard, I’ll take you to see it later; just so you know, this yard isn’t sold by the rooms, you have to buy the whole yard.”

The homeowner sighed and said, "My relatives are all in Shanghai, and I want to move there to settle down, but the house has to be dealt with, otherwise it will fall apart in ten years if no one lives there."

But the neighborhood committee keeps coming to my door, trying to get me to switch to public rental housing, saying they'll send me the rent every year. I'd believe them for a year or two, but what about ten or twenty years? Why should I make things difficult for myself for that little bit of rent?

"This house costs around 1,400 yuan, I haven't measured it exactly, but it should be about that; it has a total of 32 rooms in the front, middle, and back, you can count them later."

After a pause, the homeowner continued, "I won't lie to you, if you want to buy it, the neighborhood committee will definitely find out. You can't hide this from them."

"I know there's nothing wrong with public rental housing, as long as the property rights are clear. But how much are you planning to sell it for?"

Zhou Zhiqiang is not very worried about the public rental housing policy, and he had already planned to let the street office rent out the house after he bought it.

With clear property rights, the neighborhood committee will definitely return the house to him in the future.

Zhou Zhiqiang is now a section chief, but he won't still be a section chief in a dozen years. If he becomes a division chief, director, or bureau chief, then the street office staff will have to greet him as "leader."

He'll probably just need to say hello, and his father-in-law, Guo Linhua, probably won't be back anytime soon; he'll most likely be back sometime in the 1970s.

Zhou Zhiqiang was confident, knew the winds of change, and still couldn't rise to a high position, so he might as well just honestly become a worker.

"Four thousand seven hundred is already the lowest price."

The homeowner said, "Don't think it's expensive. I just renovated it five years ago, and it also has a large cellar. Among the three-courtyard houses in the area, mine is considered large."

Of course, if you think it's too expensive, just tell me your price and I'll think about it.

He was also afraid that Zhou Zhiqiang would turn around and leave. It was not easy to find someone who might buy a house. If this person left, it would be uncertain whether he could still go to Shanghai on time at the end of the year.

"Four thousand three, but you need to give me half a month to raise the money. Once I've raised enough, I'll pay you the full amount."

After thinking for a while, Zhou Zhiqiang said, "Comrade, a courtyard worth nearly five thousand yuan is definitely not easy to sell unless you find the previous businessmen or owners who can come up with that much savings."

The landlord's lips twitched. If he could find someone, he would have done so long ago, but after asking around, no one was willing to take over.

Should we buy it and use it as public rental housing for the neighborhood committee?
Aren't they just being taken advantage of? Wouldn't it be better to keep the money in their hands?

"Four thousand three, four thousand three. Okay, I'll wait for you for half a month."

The homeowner finally gritted his teeth and agreed, and then arranged a time with Zhou Zhiqiang, where he would pay the money and go to the housing management office to complete the property transfer.

Once he got the house, Zhou Zhiqiang took the initiative to apply for public rental housing. At that time, he would have both private property rights and street office documents, so the house would be his no matter what.

Otherwise, if you wait until the 1970s to buy, it will be difficult to buy because it's uncertain who will own the property rights at that time.

------

"Tian Dong's wife, could you please clean this chicken? We'll have chicken soup for lunch today."

After Zhou Zhiqiang returned and parked his bicycle, he handed the little hen he was holding to Mao Pingping.

Mao Pingping glanced at it and said, "This is a baby hen. It doesn't look very big."

"I arrived too late. I went to two different farmers' markets, and this was the last chicken."

Zhou Zhiqiang said, "Let's stew it all. It'll be enough for the three of us for one meal."

Mao Pingping immediately agreed and then went to pluck and clean the little hen.

When Zhou Zhiqiang returned to the house, he saw his wife playing with their son and took a closer look.

A well-fed and well-rested baby is quite energetic, constantly waving their arms and legs.

“Yuting, I asked the landlord, and it can be bought for four thousand three hundred.”

Zhou Zhiqiang said, "Tonight I'll write a letter to Dad, tell him about Zhou Bocai, and also borrow three thousand yuan from him."

However, after we buy the three-courtyard house, we'll have to rent it out to the neighborhood committee as public housing, and we won't be able to get it back until the 1970s.

"Huh? That means it'll take twenty years?"

Guo Yuting regretted it after hearing this and quickly said, "Bocai will be all grown up by then."

“When Bo Cai grows up, he’ll need a house too. He’ll get married and have children. Back then, the three-courtyard house will still belong to us.”

Zhou Zhiqiang couldn't say too much to Guo Yuting; he couldn't very well say that the wind would blow for ten years.

"Trust me, I'm confident about this. Besides, Dad and my older brother probably won't be back until the 1970s. I won't lie to you about this."

The Production and Construction Corps was also cut around that time. After the cuts, Guo Kaizhong would definitely return to Beijing, and by then the three-courtyard house would probably be able to be reclaimed.

"You've got an idea? Then we'll go with your suggestion."

Guo Yuting stopped thinking about it and turned to tease her son, saying, "Why don't we ask Dad for some more money? We should keep some money on hand so we don't spend it all on buying a house."

　Asking for a monthly ticket!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)