Chapter 116 House Viewing
A few days passed in a blink of an eye, and soon it was another Sunday.
Song Yuanchao was not with Lin Yan that day because he had something to do.
Early in the morning, Song Yuanchao left the school on his bike. Half an hour later, he arrived at a place, which was an alley not far from Houhai. After waiting for a while, the man he saw in Dazhalan last time came.
"Mr. Song, sorry to have kept you waiting." Fang Yazi also came here on a bicycle. He pedaled quickly a few times from a distance, then braked in front of Song Yuanchao, got off the bicycle, took two steps, and smiled.
"It's okay, I just arrived too." Song Yuanchao replied with a smile.
"Mr. Song, have you eaten?"
"I ate it, thank you. How about you?"
"I ate it too..." Fang Yazi replied with a smile, then pointed his hand towards the alley: "Since you've already eaten, why don't we go take a look?"
"Okay, thank you for your help today."
"It's not a bother, it's not a bother." Fang Yazi said cheerfully, pushing the cart with Song Yuanchao into the alley, introducing the courtyard house he was bringing him to see today as they walked.
On the National Day, Song Yuanchao happened to meet Luo Yang renting a storefront, and Song Yuanchao had an idea in his mind at that time.
He had been planning to buy an apartment in Yanjing for some time, but he had not taken action because he had no channels. The appearance of this house owner gave Song Yuanchao an opportunity.
In Song Yuanchao's opinion, Fang Yazi is similar to the real estate agents of later generations, and the professional ethics and charging standards of Fang Yazi are much better than those real estate agents in later generations who wear suits and drive electric vehicles. In addition, this Fang Yazi was known to Luo Yang when he met him. Based on Song Yuanchao's understanding of Luo Yang, since Luo Yang can let this Fang Yazi help him find a storefront, then this Fang Yazi should be trustworthy in terms of connections, channels and character.
So at that time, Song Yuanchao specifically communicated with Fang Yazi in private. After listening to Song Yuanchao's request, the other party agreed immediately and left a contact information for Song Yuanchao.
Just yesterday, Song Yuanchao made a special call to Fang Yazi. Fang Yazi told him that he now had three houses that were more suitable for Song Yuanchao, and if Song Yuanchao had no problem with it, he could arrange a time to take him to see them, so the appointment was made today.
Houhai in Yanjing is located near Houhai Park, not far from Shichahai and Beihai. There is a famous place here, the Prince Gong Mansion, which was the residence of Heshen in the past.
There are many old alleys in this area, and deep in these alleys are sets of ancient courtyards. Many of these courtyards were originally the residences of wealthy families and even officials. Walking into the alley, tall ancient trees grow through the high walls on both sides, giving people a different feeling.
The first three-courtyard house that Fang Yazi took Song Yuanchao to see was the ancestral property of a bannerman family. It was said that this family was once royal relatives and descendants of the royal family wearing yellow belts.
But nearly a hundred years have passed, the past glory has long since disappeared, and the ancestral home left behind has been completely changed. It seems to be okay from the outside, but it is a mess once you enter. Except for the back room of the last entrance, which still has some of its original appearance, the other two entrances can no longer be seen in their original appearance.
"There are nine families living in this courtyard now. The east wing has one family, the east ear room has one family, the west wing has been divided into two families, the west ear room has one family, the original corridor has been built into a house and now has another family, the bungalow on the east side of the inner courtyard also has one family, the main house has one family, plus the back room where the owner lives now, there are a total of nine families..."
After entering the house, Fang Yazi pointed to various places and introduced them to Song Yuanchao. This three-courtyard courtyard had long been unrecognizable. The inside was basically no different from a slum. Except for the back wing, the original structure of the house was still maintained in its original appearance, and the rest of the house was almost unrecognizable.
Even the inner courtyard was the same. The water pipes in the yard were laid casually on the ground like a spider web. The good floor tiles had long since fallen into pieces. There were many nails nailed on the two towering trees in the yard, and several ropes were pulled in the middle with wet clothes hanging on them. Water droplets dripped directly onto the ground, and moss grew on the water stains.
When Song Yuanchao and his friends came in, there were a few middle-aged women in their fifties chatting while washing clothes. When they saw Fang Yazi bringing Song Yuanchao in, their smiling faces instantly fell, and they looked at them as if they were class enemies.
With a splash, a fat lady stood up and poured a basin of dirty water directly onto the ground. The movement was so big that it almost splashed on Song Yuanchao and Fang Yazi, scaring them so much that they quickly dodged to the side.
"Aunt Liu, what do you mean? You're pouring water directly on people without paying attention." Fang Yazi was immediately furious.
"Hey, there's someone here? How come he showed up like a thief? I didn't see him just now, where did he come from?" Aunt Liu said sarcastically, with one hand on her waist and the other pointing at the yard: "It's such a long road, why can't you just walk on it? You saw us washing clothes and bumped into us, who can you blame? Besides, who are you? Why don't you stay at home in broad daylight and wander around in someone else's yard? Sister Zhang, Sister Wang, is this your guest?"
"How is it possible? How could such a distinguished guest come from our humble family?"
"That's right. I don't have such guests at home. Let me see, someone probably didn't tie his belt properly and let this thing show out? Tsk tsk, coming here so early in the morning to show off? What a joke!"
A few middle-aged ladies spoke to each other in a sarcastic and harsh manner, which made Fang Yazi's face turn pale.
"That's enough!" Fang Yazi yelled at the aunties, "I'm giving you old ladies some face, right? Today I'm here to see Master Guan."
"Bah! Master Guan?" Aunt Liu spat at Fang Yazi's feet and yelled at the top of her voice, "Guan the old ghost, so what master? If it were a few years ago, I would have given him a high hat and beaten this old turtle to death. What era is this? Is he still thinking he was the master in the feudal society? Let me tell you, the world has changed a long time ago. The people have been the masters of their own house a long time ago. Now this is our world!"
"Second Yue, I'm putting this on hold today. If you want to do something bad and ask Guan Laogui to sell the house and drive us away, don't say that Aunt Liu won't give you face today. Throwing water all over you is the least of my worries. I'll call someone to beat you up and you'll regret it!"
"Yes! Sisters, this Yue Lao Er was not a good person before, and now he is planning to instigate Guan Lao Gui to sell the house? Is there any law? Is there any justice? Get out! Get out!"
"Get out!"
As the voices of the three aunts became louder and louder, several other families living there also came out one after another. Suddenly, there were more than ten people gathered in the yard, including men and women, young and old. They all looked extremely excited when they saw Fang Yazi. A few hot-tempered young men even went into the house to find the door bar, and held it in their hands as if they were going to beat Fang Yazi and Song Yuanchao.
When Song Yuanchao realized that something was wrong, he turned around and ran without saying a word. Even after he walked out the door, he could still hear faint shouting and cursing coming from the yard.
After a while, Fang Yazi, with someone's spit all over his face, ran out in a panic with his head in his hands. He saw from afar that Song Yuanchao was already more than ten meters away from the courtyard gate, so he quickly wiped his face with his sleeve and walked over.
"Song... Mr. Song... I'm really sorry, this... this..." Fang Yazi's face turned blue and red, and he looked extremely embarrassed. He didn't expect to encounter such a thing today.
The last time he came, Aunt Liu and the others were very polite. They probably thought that he had privately approached Mr. Guan to discuss selling the house but the news had leaked out, so they deliberately taught him a lesson today.
A good thing had turned into such a mess, and Fang Yazi didn't know how to explain it to Song Yuanchao. Song Yuanchao waved his hand, took out a cigarette from his pocket and handed it to Fang Yazi, then lit it himself with the match that the other party had struck.
"Let's not look at this house. You've seen the situation just now. It's a big trouble to buy this land." Song Yuanchao was not too angry. After all, he understood the situation. Such a situation is not only in Yanjing, but also in Shanghai. As a person who has experienced it before, Song Yuanchao knows it very well.
Song Yuanchao did not blame Fang Yazi for his idea. After all, from a legal point of view, there should be no problem with the property rights of the house. Although the house was a bit old and the internal structure was damaged a lot, it generally met the requirements that Song Yuanchao and Fang Yazi had originally proposed.
But now, it is difficult to deal with the people living here. If Song Yuanchao buys the house, it will be difficult to drive them away. Even if he can do it, it will not be a matter of one or two days, and it will cause a lot of unnecessary trouble.
There are so many courtyard houses in Yanjing, why did Song Yuanchao choose to buy this one? So Song Yuanchao said this to Fang Yazi directly.
"Thank you, Mr. Song, for your understanding. Actually, this matter... Well, it's also my fault for not thinking it through. Blame it on me." Fang Yazi raised his head and slapped himself twice, then apologized to Song Yuanchao with a smile.
"What's the situation with the other two apartments? If they're similar, I won't go to see them today." After taking a puff of cigarette, Song Yuanchao asked.
Fang Yazi smiled bitterly and said, "The other one is similar to this one, but there are fewer people living there. Since Mr. Song doesn't like trouble, I won't take you there. The last one is simple, but it's not as big as the first two. It's just a two-yard house."
"Two courtyards? Two courtyards are fine too. What does this householder do?"
"The owner works in a machinery factory. His ancestors were merchants and had some wealth. Before liberation, his parents went overseas, and he and his grandparents stayed behind. The old people passed away a few years ago, and he is the only one left at home. He is in his forties and has never been married because of his bad class background. As for why he wants to sell the house, I don't know, but I think he is sincere. How about I take you to have a look?"
"Is it far?"
"Not far, not far. Just to the northeast. Just a few minutes."
"Okay, let's go!" Song Yuanchao nodded, got on his bike and followed Fang Yazi out of the alley, then walked east, walked one street and turned north, and soon they arrived at another alley.
The apartment that Fang Yazi mentioned is on the north side of this alley. It has a very good location, close to the intersection and very close to Shichahai. It only takes a few minutes to walk from the house to Shichahai. Judging from the location, it is roughly the area of Houhai Bar Street in later generations.
Looking around, Song Yuanchao became somewhat interested in this house. Although Fang Yazi's introduction suggested that this courtyard house was a little smaller, its location was much better than the one they had just seen.
