Chapter 322
However, Jiang Yexun’s calm confidence left He Xingzhi trembling. If this was the standard for marrying a wife, He Xingzhi feared he might never get married in this lifetime.
“Alright, now that we’ve got everything back, you need to hurry up and find a house. Make sure it’s close to Xiaoxiao’s place. A single-story house won’t do; we need a two-story building with a yard. It doesn’t matter if it’s a bit expensive, but it must be secured before we meet Xiaoxiao’s parents,” Aunt Guo urged them anxiously from the side.
Back in the day, her father had hidden several chests of gold in the mountains. Though it was difficult to exchange them for money now, it didn’t mean they were short on cash. If properties and items weren’t so undervalued at present, they would have prepared even more extravagant gifts.
So, paying a bit more for a house was no issue. The important thing was to make sure that when Xiaoxiao’s parents wanted to visit in the evening, there wouldn’t be other people living there.
“Got it,” Jiang Yexun nodded in agreement and headed out again with He Xingzhi.
Aunt Guo didn’t go with them, mainly because she felt she would slow them down. Buying a house would require a lot of back-and-forth, and she didn’t want to waste any time.
As for He Xingzhi, he didn’t even think to ask where the gold brick that Jiang Yexun had just pulled out came from. In the early years after Aunt Guo married Uncle Jiang, there had been rumors in the village that the Guo family must have secretly hidden a lot of treasure. But as they lived through the same hard times as everyone else in the village over the next decade, those rumors gradually faded. Now it seemed that those suspicions had been confirmed.
Moreover, He Xingzhi didn’t care what the Jiang family had hidden. The good life they’d enjoyed for years was all thanks to Jiang Yexun, and one must not be ungrateful.
Jiang Yexun and He Xingzhi headed straight to the area near the steel factory’s residential compound and began looking for two-story houses with yards, using that area as their center.
When they encountered an auntie sitting outside picking vegetables, they handed her some fruit candies to ask for information. When they saw men playing chess, they offered them cigarettes and inquired further.
People were particularly friendly during those times, and when they heard the pair was looking for a house, they eagerly gave them all sorts of suggestions.
But at this time, those who still held on to two-story houses with yards had likely gone to great lengths to do so. If it wasn’t an ancestral home, it belonged to someone with foresight, who believed that China would eventually recover, and Shanghai would once again become a commercial hub. Such owners usually wouldn’t sell their properties; at most, they’d split them into single rooms to rent out, to avoid trouble.
Jiang Yexun and He Xingzhi asked at many houses but either couldn’t find the owners, or the owners simply wouldn’t sell. After three or four hours, they finally found someone willing to sell.
They waited for a while at the agreed-upon location before a man dressed in patched clothes, looking worn out, hurriedly arrived. He scrutinized Jiang Yexun and He Xingzhi for a long time before finally showing a satisfied expression.
“The house I’m selling has been passed down from my ancestors. Everything inside is finely crafted, and I’ve never rented it out to others. If it weren’t for the difficulties my family is facing, I wouldn’t even consider selling the property,” the man muttered as he led Jiang Yexun and He Xingzhi to the house.
Jiang Yexun remained silent, instead giving He Xingzhi a meaningful glance. He Xingzhi, understanding the cue, nodded slightly.
After about ten minutes of walking, they arrived at the entrance of a small Western-style house with a tightly shut iron gate. The house was made of blue bricks with red tiles, two stories tall, with a slanted roof extending into a third floor. The house was spacious, with French-style arched windows. A long balcony stretched out from the second floor, while the neighboring three-story section also had terraces extending from the second and third-floor bedrooms. It seemed like an ideal spot to place a chair and enjoy the sun without worrying about rain.
The yard outside was free of trees, neatly paved with blue stone bricks, and looked clean and well-maintained. The house itself was quite large, with neighboring houses being only half its size. Clearly, this was an ancestral home, likely belonging to a family that had once donated significant amounts of money and goods to the revolution, allowing them to keep such a fine property.
However, the interior was a different story. The electric wiring was a mess, and the bathrooms were filthy and disorganized, indicating that the house hadn’t been well taken care of in the past decade.
“What do you think? Isn’t this house nice? If you want to buy it, you’d better hurry. Otherwise, someone else might snatch it up,” the man boasted confidently.
Jiang Yexun listened calmly, his expression unchanged. “So, how much are you asking?”
“Ten thousand,” the man replied bluntly.
He Xingzhi immediately flared up, “Are you crazy? Who has ten thousand to spend on a house? Other houses like this go for around three thousand, and you’re asking three times that!”
“My house is twice the size of others,” the man retorted defiantly.
“Even so, it’s only worth six thousand at most,” He Xingzhi countered firmly.
The man, however, waved his hand dismissively. “I’m not selling it for six thousand! Forget it!”
“Do you think if you don’t sell to us, someone else will pay ten thousand? I bet you need money to pay off gambling debts,” Jiang Yexun scoffed.
The man’s arrogance instantly faded, his eyes filled with fear as they darted nervously. After a long pause, he finally managed to stammer out, “You’re talking nonsense! What gambling debts? With the strict enforcement these days, who would dare to gamble?”
“Fine, believe what you want. But we’re not buying your house. Don’t be surprised if, in a few days, you end up dead in a ditch because you couldn’t pay your debts,” Jiang Yexun retorted mockingly, turning to leave.
The man’s face went pale. Seeing that Jiang Yexun and He Xingzhi were about to leave the courtyard, he rushed after them. “Wait! We can negotiate the price, but six thousand is too low. How about nine thousand five hundred?”
“I’m not negotiating with you. Bring your creditors here to negotiate,” Jiang Yexun replied coldly.
“My debts have nothing to do with you!” the man exclaimed in desperation.
Jiang Yexun’s gaze turned icy as he stared him down. “If you sell the house, take the money, and run, those people will come after the house when they can’t get their money back. I’m not spending my money only to get into trouble.”
The man was stunned, realizing that Jiang Yexun had seen through his scheme completely. He stood there, speechless, unsure of what to say.
Jiang Yexun waited patiently, standing by until the man finally said, “Fine, wait here. I’ll go bring them now.”
Jiang Yexun nodded, and the man hurried off.