Chapter 36 Buying a House

The new semester began. Except for some ripples caused by Mei Ting's withdrawal from school, everything else was calm.

When I entered my sophomore year, the homework assignments in the Department of Drama and Literature started to increase.

Although these assignments are not difficult for Liu Zhou, they still take some time.

Add to that the fact that he also has to take directing courses and write novels, and Liu Zhou's schedule is once again fully booked.

However, Liu Zhou was used to it, as he had gone through the same process during his freshman year.

On this day, the head teacher, Mr. Huang, gave them a rare lesson.

After class, Liu Zhou was about to leave when he was stopped by Lao Huang.

"Liu Zhou, the thing you asked me to find out last time has come to fruition."

For a moment, Liu Zhou didn't react to what was happening. After a pause, he remembered that he had asked Lao Huang to help him inquire about the Siheyuan.

"Really? Then when can we go and see the house, teacher?"

If Liu Zhou had been a little hesitant about whether to buy a courtyard house before, now he would not have any hesitation at all.

Money is a person's courage, and Liu Zhou is very courageous now.

Liu Zhou's novel Twinkle Twinkle Star was officially published in late April, and by early September, in less than five months, 800,000 copies had been printed.

Although sales have slowed down now, the editor Qu He assured Liu Zhou that sales would exceed one million copies before the end of the year.

This sales volume only refers to the sales volume of genuine products. If pirated products are included, the number will be even higher.

The royalties for the 800,000 copies that have already been printed have been transferred to Liu Zhou in installments from Mengya magazine.

With 6% royalties, Liu Zhou can get RMB 1.5 for each copy, so 800,000 copies would be RMB 1.2 million.

Apart from investing 120,000 yuan in Jia Zhangke, Liu Zhou doesn't spend much money on a regular basis, so he now has a little over one million yuan in his bank account.

This was one million yuan in 1997. Now the average person’s salary is only four or five hundred yuan.

With one million yuan in your pocket, you may not be able to afford a large courtyard house, but you should have no pressure at all to buy a slightly smaller one.

Moreover, it is only in the past two years that more people have been buying and selling these courtyard houses. In the new century, the prices of courtyard houses will skyrocket.

So while he has money now, Liu Zhou also wants to buy one as soon as possible.

"I don't know much about the specifics of house viewing, but if you want to go and see it, you can call this number and he will take you there."

After Huang Weiruo finished speaking, he took out a business card and handed it to Liu Zhou.

"Thank you, teacher. I'll treat you to a meal when I buy the yard."

"Then I'll be waiting."

Liu Zhou got the business card, went outside the school, and immediately called the number on it.

"Hello, is this Mr. Wang Yang? I was introduced by Professor Huang Weiruo from the Central Academy of Drama to visit the Siheyuan."

"Yes, okay, no problem. I'll wait for you at the school gate this Saturday."

After making an appointment with someone to view a house on Saturday, Liu Zhou returned to the dormitory humming a tune.

Looking at the somewhat messy and noisy dormitory, Liu Zhou became more determined to move out.

After two days of classes, it was Saturday in the blink of an eye.

At nine o'clock in the morning, Liu Zhou arrived at the school gate and saw a middle-aged man in a suit and tie standing there.

Liu Zhou stepped forward and asked, and it turned out to be Wang Yang introduced by Lao Huang.

"Mr. Liu, I didn't expect you to buy a house at such a young age. You are really young and promising."

"I was lucky enough to make some money, and I will probably stay in Beijing in the future, so I plan to buy a house."

"Then let's go first. I've already made an appointment with the landlord. It's not far from here, just in Dengcao Hutong."

When Liu Zhou heard that the house was in Dengcao Hutong, he was quite satisfied with the location.

Liu Zhou has been in the capital for a year and has gained some understanding of some of the alleys in the capital.

Dengcao Hutong is one of the oldest hutongs in Beijing. Many dignitaries have lived here, and it is also close to the Forbidden City.

On the way, I briefly learned about the situation with Wang Yang.

The house that the landlord is going to sell is a two-story courtyard house that is very well preserved.

The landlord is not selling the house to do business or go abroad. He has settled in the United States in the 1980s and has a stable job.

He had planned to bring his parents to the United States a long time ago, but his parents were reluctant to leave their hometown.

Until his parents passed away one after another, the courtyard house they lived in was left to him.

He obviously had no intention of returning to his country, so he planned to sell the house.

There were many people like him in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. After seeing the outside world, they became disgusted with their hometown and never returned.

I just wonder if he will regret it twenty years later when he sees that the value he has created from working hard all his life is not as high as the value of the courtyard house left to him by his parents.

Not long after, Wang Yang brought Liu Zhou to Dengcao Hutong.

Unlike many narrow hutong roads, the road in Dengcao Hutong is quite spacious. If the driver has good skills, he should be able to pass other vehicles.

The two came to the gate of a courtyard house. Although the paint on the red-painted gate had not peeled off, it was obvious that the paint was a bit old. However, it looked more harmonious and simple.

Wang Yang walked up and knocked on the door. After a while, a middle-aged man wearing glasses opened the door for them.

"Mr. Guo, this is Mr. Liu Zhou who is here to look at the house." Wang Yang turned to Liu Zhou and said, "This is the landlord, Mr. Guo Ping." Liu Zhou and Guo Ping greeted each other, and he led the two of them inside.

As soon as you enter the door, you will see a screen wall made of blue bricks. When you come to the front yard, there is a jujube tree and a simple pavilion. Under the pavilion there is a stone table and several stone benches.

I think the previous owner was also a person who knew how to live well.

The front yard is mainly a place for meeting and dining, and the kitchen and living room are here.

When we came to the backyard, it looked quite large. The main room was a bedroom, the left wing was also converted into a bedroom, and the right wing was a study.

After a quick tour, Liu Zhou immediately fell in love with the house.

This courtyard house is larger than the ordinary two-entry courtyard house, and it is estimated to cover an area of ​​600 square meters.

The entire yard was kept very clean by the previous owner and had undergone certain modern renovations, so there was no need to worry about heating and toilet issues.

Moreover, the furniture in the front and back yards is all made of mahogany furniture, and it can be seen that they are a set.

Although mahogany is not as good as red sandalwood and huanghuali, it is also expensive.

This courtyard can be said to perfectly match my imagination of a siheyuan.

Although Liu Zhou liked this courtyard very much, he did not show it on his face.

"Mr. Liu, are you satisfied with this yard?"

Guo Ping was obviously also a person with higher education, and he looked relatively gentle. He did not look down on Liu Zhou at all just because he was young.

"Mr. Guo, how much do you plan to sell this yard for?"

"One million and two hundred thousand, including everything in the yard you just saw."

Liu Zhou shook his head and said:
"It's too expensive. Although your yard is nice, it's obviously not worth the price."

"So what's your target price?"

"Eight hundred thousand!"

"Mr. Liu, eight hundred thousand is impossible. I have also looked into the market of courtyard houses. Some large courtyard houses can be sold for five or six hundred thousand, not to mention my house with its own door and courtyard.

In order to make my parents' lives more convenient, some renovations were done, and with this complete set of furniture, one million and two hundred thousand is not too high."

Liu Zhou also knew that what the other party said was right. Considering the area and location, and the fact that it was well preserved, one million and two hundred thousand was indeed not expensive.

But when it comes to business, there is always bargaining, and Liu Zhou doesn’t have that much money anyway.

"Mr. Guo, what you said is correct, but it is not impossible to find such a courtyard in the whole capital. I really want to buy it, so Mr. Guo, please give me a sincere price."

"Then I'll reduce the price by another 50,000 yuan."

"Mr. Guo, I can see that you really want to sell the house. We don't have to haggle like the aunties at the vegetable market. The price is one million. If possible, we can sign the contract immediately and pay the full amount within three days."

After hearing Liu Zhou's words, Guo Ping couldn't help but fall silent.

He is indeed in a hurry to deal with his assets here. He has already become a citizen there and will not return to live here in the future.

But the price of one million was still a little bit different from what he expected.

Seeing that he was silent, Liu Zhou obviously knew that he was moved but still a little hesitant, so he couldn't help but increase the bet.

"Mr. Guo, one million and five hundred thousand is my final price, and it is also the total budget I can use. I also like this yard and I can move in right away.

If you still disagree, then we can just be friends today."

"Will the full amount be paid within three days after signing the contract?"

"Of course!"

"Then it's 1.05 million. Sign the contract."

Wang Yang helped to handle the subsequent matters. It took a week for Liu Zhou to get the property certificate for the courtyard house.

More than one million was exchanged for a thin piece of paper.

After buying the house and paying the agency fees, Liu Zhou had less than 10,000 yuan left.

But it was all worth it. Twenty years later, that courtyard house would have cost at least 100 or 200 million yuan.

Liu Zhou is not greedy for its appreciation. Of course, appreciation is important, but the most important thing is that he likes it.

After buying the house, Liu Zhou immediately went to Lao Huang to get an application form.

Looking at Liu Zhou filling out the form, Huang Weiruo said with a smile:

"Have you bought the house?"

"bought it."

"Don't mess around when you live outside. Don't forget that you are still a student."

"Teacher, when have you ever seen me messing around? I don't even have a girlfriend. Please sign for me." After saying that, he put the application form for living outside in front of Lao Huang.

Old Huang signed his name and said:

"Don't forget the meal you owe me."

"Don't worry, I won't forget it."

With this form, Liu Zhou can prepare to pack his luggage.

After moving, you can invite a few good friends over for a meal to warm up the atmosphere, and that will mean you have officially moved into your new home.

(End of this chapter)