Starting a new chapter in life

Chapter 180 Buying a House in Beijing

He Zhijun explained to her, "We still have more than 9,000 yuan left. Even if we add the 30,000 yuan in your uncle's savings account, we're still short more than 10,000 yuan. Your savings account is at home; it's too far to help us in the present."

Jing Yan smiled and comforted him, "Yuan Xiaoling and the others should have some money. Let's look at houses first. If we find one we like, we can call her and ask her to lend us some money first. We'll pay her back when we get back. It won't take more than a few days."

He Zhijun was still quite hesitant, but seeing that Jing Yan really wanted it, he gritted his teeth and agreed: "This house is in your name, it's your private property, and you can't give it to anyone else. Ci'en can live there, but we can't give it to her, it's too expensive."

Listening to his rambling, Jingyan thought he was actually quite cute, and nodded with a smile, "Okay, I'll listen to you."

After looking at four or five houses with the neighborhood committee staff, the two of them both took a liking to one. It was well-ventilated with good natural light, and there was a small garden in front of the house and a small river behind it. It was truly unobstructed from anywhere. Although it was on the first floor, nowadays, the tallest buildings are only four or five stories, so it didn't affect anything at all.

Of course, what Jingyan valued most was the price discount, and also the spaciousness of the apartment. While other apartments are already considered large at 60 or 70 square meters, this one, though listed as 98 square meters on the property certificate, actually exceeds 100 square meters when including the front and back balconies.

There are four bedrooms, each of which is quite spacious. The kitchen is also quite large. The bathroom has a flush toilet, a sink, and a shower. Looking at it this way, the configuration is really good. The only inconvenience is that the water heater requires you to boil water before using it. Everything else is very good.

The average price of this house is nearly 700, but this one is on the first floor. The owner had renovated it before, but hadn't lived there for long when the children started clamoring to go abroad. These days, going abroad costs a lot of money, so the parents had no choice but to sell the house to send their children to study abroad. Therefore, the price per unit is 600.

The couple haggled with the homeowner for a long time, finally managing to reduce the price from 58,800 yuan to 56,000 yuan. They made an appointment with the homeowner to bring the full amount to the housing management bureau within a week to complete the transfer of ownership. If the homeowner did not come to buy the property within a week, he could sell it to someone else. The matter was considered settled, and the deal was practically done.

After leaving with the people from the neighborhood committee, they were told that the house was a staff housing unit of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and could be bought and sold. However, when they bought it as internal staff, it was only a little over 300 yuan per square meter. The price has risen quite quickly now, but the price is still considered reasonable.

Jing Yan understands that if there is no profit margin, even if the homeowner is in urgent need of money, they will not sell. But the overall housing prices are what they are now, and the prices will only get higher over time; that's the trend.

Back at the hotel, Jingyan told her grandmother about what had happened that day. Her grandmother was also a little surprised by the price of the room, but she was supportive: "If I had known, I would have put the savings book I left for your older brother with your uncle. That way, we would have had enough money."

Jingyan smiled and comforted her, "It's alright, Grandma. I have 100,000 yuan in savings in my bank account at home. It's all from the store's earnings over the past few years. I'll borrow 20,000 yuan from Sister Xiaoling first, and we can pay it back when we get back."

Grandma nodded: "Then we should contact them as soon as possible, and give them enough time to raise the money."

Jingyan and He Zhijun borrowed the hotel's phone to call the renovation company. Fortunately, Yuan Xiaoling was at the company today. When she received the call and heard that Jingyan wanted to borrow 20,000 yuan to buy a house, she agreed without hesitation, asked for Jingyan's hotel address, and promised to go to the post office to remit the money the next day.

Immediately afterwards, I called my uncle's house. When my uncle heard that the house there cost more than 50,000 yuan, almost 60,000 yuan, he was a little confused: "Why is the house there so expensive? Xiaojun's wife, are you sure you want to buy it?"

All the money you have combined isn't enough. I have over five thousand in my savings account, I'll transfer that to you too. See if you can delay the transfer a bit. I'll ask your older brothers if they have any spare cash, and we can all chip in to help you.”

At this moment, Jingyan felt the warmth of family ties very strongly, but she still refused: "No need, Uncle. I have enough money, but I didn't bring it with me. I've already borrowed 20,000 from a friend, plus the 30,000 I left with you, so we still have 9,000 left, which is enough. When we get back, I can go back to the bank on the island to withdraw the money and pay it back. Please don't ask my two brothers for money."

The uncle confirmed once again that he really had enough money before he felt relieved. He took the address Jingyan gave him and said he would go to the bank first thing the next morning to withdraw the money and then send it to the post office for remittance.

For the remaining days, the couple took their family to climb the Great Wall. After returning to their hotel and resting for two days, their severely trembling legs finally recovered. Around the same time, the money orders began to arrive. The couple went to the post office to collect the money, put it in a small suitcase, and went directly to the local neighborhood office. The person who had shown them the house earlier immediately recognized them.

They quickly contacted the homeowner and went directly to the housing management bureau to complete the transfer of ownership. After the procedures were completed, the previous homeowner counted the money, confirmed that everything was correct, and then handed the house keys to the two of them: "Since you're so straightforward, we can't be too happy. Consider the furniture in the house a gift from us. You can change the locks yourselves later."

After getting the keys, the couple went to see the house again. The house had already been cleaned, and the mattress on the bed hadn't been removed. It looked like they could just buy bedding and move in. They had the locks changed, and the couple happily returned to the hotel, ready to check out with their family.

However, by the time they finished all the formalities today, it was already afternoon. In order not to waste the room fee, the family planned to leave before noon tomorrow, so they could have breakfast at the hotel. Around 11:00 the next day, Jingyan and He Zhijun went to check out.

I stayed in four rooms for three days, which was 20% off, so it was 60 yuan per day, totaling 180 yuan. I stayed in three rooms for six days, which was 20% off, so it was 44 yuan per day, totaling 264 yuan. The total was 444 yuan, such an auspicious number.

After settling the bill, the family headed straight for their new house. Everyone was happy upon entering, as everyone prefers a bright and spacious place. The two boys chose a room to stay in, Grandma and Sister Wang shared one room, and the couple shared another. After putting their belongings away, the couple went to buy bedding.

Four quilts, four sets of sheets, duvet covers, pillowcases, and pillow towels, and all the pots and pans in the kitchen were also purchased. Suddenly, the original two thousand five or six hundred yuan in cash was reduced to just over two thousand two hundred yuan. Looking at the things in her hands, Jingyan kept sighing that money doesn't last long.

With her own home, everyone in the family was very happy, especially Grandma, who no longer had to worry about rent. Later, Sister Wang fully demonstrated her value and quickly found a nearby vegetable market, where she cooked at home every day and ate very comfortably.

With everything prepared, and since it was the weekend, the couple went to the school to find He Ci'en and brought him back to familiarize himself with the place. He Ci'en was truly surprised that his uncle and aunt had acted so quickly, buying the house in just a few days. However, he was still shocked to hear from his aunt that the house was reserved for him to live in.

“Auntie, I’m fine living in the dormitory. Why don’t we rent out this house?” He Ci’en wasn’t a bookworm; she knew how to plan and didn’t want to waste money.

"This house is your responsibility to manage. If you want to rent it, you'll have to choose your own tenants, but you must reserve a room for yourself. Ci'en, you have a quiet personality, and people in dormitories have all sorts of personalities. If you need to be alone, this house will be your safe haven. This is the fallback that your aunt can prepare for you. Your aunt doesn't care about the rent. You can keep the money you rent yourself. University is only four years long. You'll have to walk your own path after that. You should start planning ahead."

With tears welling up in his eyes, He Ci'en could only agree. The remaining room in the house was for He Ci'en. Before going to sleep, he even had the illusion that this was his home on Changxing Island. It was rare for him to find a sense of home in a strange city.

After the weekend ended, He Ci'en ate breakfast prepared by Sister Wang early Monday morning and rode his bicycle to school. When he arrived at the classroom, his roommates surrounded him and asked where he had been for the past two days and why he hadn't returned to the dormitory.

Although it's only been a week since the start of the semester, He Ci'en is handsome and refined, with a tall and straight posture and a strong scholarly air. He's the kind of person who's quite popular during school. Moreover, he entered the school with the highest grades in his major, which adds another layer of prestige. So quite a few girls want to get to know him on weekends, which makes his roommates pay close attention to his whereabouts.

He Ci'en glanced at them and said in a calm voice, "My family is still here. I'm going back to visit them this weekend."

"Will your family stay in Beijing from now on?" someone asked curiously.

He Ci'en shook her head: "No, Auntie wants to stay here for a while longer, so she's staying temporarily."

As for the others... "What's wrong with you saying a few more words? You only answer one question at a time, you're too stingy."

He Ci'en went straight to his seat and began to take out a book from his bag and read it by himself, ignoring the noise around him. Little did he know that his aloof demeanor was even more captivating.

They had visited all the places they wanted to visit, and bought a house. Everyone was preparing to leave Beijing for Shanghai on September 13th. He Zhijun called the factory's logistics department to ask for help in buying sleeper tickets. This time, they needed five tickets. The department readily agreed, and when they called back the next day, they received news. He Zhijun took his work ID to the train station, found the deputy stationmaster, picked up the five sleeper tickets, and settled the ticket costs.

Jingyan hadn't expected things to move so quickly this time. There were still three days before she left. That day, Jingyan took her grandmother and Sister Wang to the school for a stroll and to check on He Ci'en's dormitory, otherwise her grandmother would be a little worried.

The three of them strolled slowly and casually through the campus. The grandmother sighed with emotion, "I went to a girls' school back then, but our school wasn't this big. I'd never seen a co-educational school before. It seems pretty good now."

Jing Yan, standing nearby, said coolly, "Yeah, it's very convenient for solving personal problems."

grandmother……

As they passed the basketball court, a commotion arose. Curious, the three followed the sound and found several boys playing basketball. They were wearing tank tops, and the sweat on their bodies glistened in the sunlight, exuding youthful energy. A group of boys and girls stood around the court watching, cheering every time a ball was put into the basket.

Grandma's eyesight wasn't very good, but Jingyan's eyes were fine. She felt that one of the figures was somewhat familiar, so she helped Grandma and couldn't help but move forward. When they got to the inner side of the field, they finally confirmed that the person wearing the red tank top was their nephew, He Ci'en.

Jingyan's eyes widened, and she pointed at the person, saying to her grandmother, "Grandma, that's Ci'en. He can even play basketball?"

Grandma squinted for a while and said, "I'm getting old. I can't see these kids running and jumping anymore. But it's good that they can play basketball. Boys need to exercise more, otherwise their bodies will be too weak in the future. But you don't need to worry about our children. They've been trained since they were little, so their stamina won't be bad."

Jing Yan... "Who was talking about physical strength? In my memory, Ci En has always been quiet. I've never actually seen him play ball before, so I'm just a little surprised."

As the game ended, several girls ran onto the court to give water bottles to the boys who were playing. Jing Yan saw that some girls were also handing him water, but He Ci'en acted as if she didn't see them and walked away to her rest area. However, when she looked up, she saw the three conspicuous people standing next to her, and a smile appeared on her otherwise expressionless face.

He ran over and greeted them, "Great-Grandma, Auntie, Aunt Wang, what brings you here at this hour? Aren't you tired of standing? Shall we sit over there?"

Jingyan handed him the military water bottle she was holding: "Have some mung bean soup. Sister Wang cooked this this morning with sugar. Drink some to cool down."

He Ci'en happily took the water bottle and gulped down quite a bit. Jing Yan took the water bottle back and screwed the cap on: "This is the first time I've known you can play basketball. It seems you get along well with your classmates."

"I played so-so. Not many of our classmates can play. We're going to have a basketball game against other departments soon, and I was just dragged in to make up the numbers," He Ci'en said casually.

"Playing ball is good. We're all young, and we should be full of energy. If we meet the right girl later, it's fine to have a relationship. Don't be like a monk in a temple, without feelings or desires, at such a young age," Jing Yan joked.

He Ci'en...

"Are you going to continue playing ball later?" Jing Yan asked, noticing that the crowd of onlookers hadn't dispersed.

"Other classes will be playing ball in a little while. We've already finished. Let me tidy up and take you to the cafeteria for lunch. Great-Grandma must be really curious about how good the food is at our school." He Ci'en smiled gently.

The three of them left the basketball court and stood at the entrance of the sports field waiting for He Ci'en. After a while, He Ci'en, wearing a sports uniform, with a towel around his neck and a water bottle in his hand, ran over. The sunlight shone on him, and he was indeed very pleasing to the eye. No wonder many girls around him were looking at him. Jing Yan also found it pleasing to the eye. Of course, most importantly, this was her own child, and she was proud of him.

After he arrived, we went to the cafeteria together: "Our school campus is big, with three cafeterias. This is the third cafeteria, which is closest to our dormitory. Let's eat here today."