novellhall Chapter 304 Buying a House
Chapter 304 Buying a House
Zhuang Qingxiang suppressed a laugh and called her daughter to her side, asking her to coax her two younger brothers to crawl on the kang (a heated brick bed).
She then picked up the embroidery hoop herself.
She bought the house, but she doesn't know what it's like inside or if it needs renovation, which would cost more money. She needs to make some handkerchiefs and embroider some pillowcases, which she can then sell on the black market when she has time.
Zhuang Qingxiang couldn't allow herself to be without cash on hand; it would make her panic.
The next day, Lu Congyue sent Xiao Luyue to kindergarten, took a morning off from work, and then took Zhuang Qingxiang and the two children to buy a house.
Zhuang Qingxiang led her two children into the courtyard and, accompanied by the homeowner, looked around each room.
Although the house is old, it is a brick and tile house, so it looks sturdy. Moreover, the family living here is very clean, and the house is kept very clean inside and out.
The furniture is quite old, and you can tell that some of it has been vandalized.
"We can't take the furniture with us, so you can keep it as you see fit." The homeowner touched the eight-immortal table in the main room and sighed. "It's all made of good materials; it can last a long time if you keep it."
Zhuang Qingxiang and Lu Congyue exchanged a glance, and Lu Congyue nodded: "Okay."
Since all the furniture was left behind, Zhuang Qingxiang, who had originally wanted to negotiate the price further, decided not to.
The main reason is that the homeowners are honest people, and it's unclear how they ended up in this predicament. Besides, they have a five or six-year-old child at home.
It's so pitiful that such young children have to be sent down to the countryside.
Zhuang Qingxiang felt embarrassed to lower the price any further, so she simply agreed to the offer of 1,200.
After viewing the house, they went to complete the formalities and sign the contract.
I had just come out of the courtyard and hadn't even reached the alley entrance when a man blocked my way.
"What are you all doing here?"
The homeowner immediately chickened out; he opened his mouth but no sound came out.
Lu Congyue's expression was cold: "This is none of your business, get out of the way!"
"Pah! You're the one who came to look at the house yesterday, aren't you? I warned you, that house belongs to the Huang family now, didn't you understand?"
The homeowner panicked and stammered, "Huang Yuejin, don't talk nonsense! That's my house! When did it become yours?!"
"Didn't I tell you? I'll take that house for five hundred yuan! We agreed that once I raised the money, we'd go through with the paperwork. What, are you going back on your word now?" Huang Yuejin's face turned sinister. "You, surnamed Chen, don't push your luck. Believe me, if you anger me, I'll make you spend another two days at the Revolutionary Committee!"
"Such arrogance." Lu Congyue sneered. "It sounds like the Revolutionary Committee is your family's property."
The homeowner anxiously tried to tug at Lu Congyue's sleeve, repeatedly giving him meaningful glances to tell him not to say anything out of line.
Lu Congyue saw it and guessed that the reason the homeowner was so afraid must be because Huang Yuejin had a relationship with a staff member of the Revolutionary Committee.
Lu Congyue was too lazy to argue, so he grabbed Huang Yuejin by the collar and easily tossed him aside, letting the homeowner and Zhuang Qingxiang go first.
After they left, he released Huang Yuejin, who was still struggling, and said coldly, "My surname is Lu, and I work in the Commerce Bureau. You can go find your connections and see if they can touch me!"
Lu Congyue kicked Huang Yuejin aside and strode away, catching up with Zhuang Qingxiang.
Zhuang Qingxiang and the homeowner both looked back with some concern.
"Are you alright?" Zhuang Qingxiang asked worriedly.
Lu Congyue smiled and said, "It's nothing, just a small-time hoodlum. Don't worry about him."
The homeowner breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.
He was in a hurry to sell the house, but all the people who wanted to buy it were scared away by Huang Yuejin's few words.
When he saw Lu Congyue visiting yesterday, he felt that Lu Congyue had an extraordinary demeanor, like a cadre, and thought that he wouldn't be afraid of Huang Yuejin's threats.
I can't believe he actually guessed right, that's great!
However, he still reminded Lu Congyue: "Huang Yuejin's cousin-in-law is some kind of cadre in the Revolutionary Committee. He talks about his cousin-in-law all the time, which makes everyone quite afraid of him."
He paused, then said angrily, "Huang Yuejin is lawless because of this connection. My family has fallen to this state because of him."
"Did he force you to leave?" Zhuang Qingxiang asked.
The homeowner nodded: "His house is small and not enough space for everyone. He wants to get married, and the girl wanted a house, so he set his sights on my house."
As the homeowner spoke, tears welled up in his eyes, and he kept wiping them away.
He's been honest and unassuming all his life, never cursing, hitting, or offending anyone. So how did Huang Yuejin come to target him?
That day, for no apparent reason, Huang Yuejin led his men in to search the place. They found three foreign language books, and immediately accused them of crimes. Their house was also smashed up.
But heaven knows, those three foreign language books didn't even belong to his family.
He was indignant and wanted to file a complaint, because Huang Yuejin had clearly framed him.
But nobody believed him, nobody believed him...
Then came Huang Yuejin's endless harassment and threats. He insisted on buying his house for 300 yuan, and after being scolded away several times, the price was raised to 500 yuan.
How is this any different from robbery?!
The homeowner was also afraid of Huang Yuejin, so he wanted to get away from this unreasonable bully. He was even less afraid of being sent to the countryside, and just wanted to take more money with him.
Zhuang Qingxiang looked at the homeowner who kept wiping away tears, and felt a little panicked thinking that she had such a bullying neighbor in the house she bought.
On second thought, I realized that I had only bought the property and wasn't going to live there, so I probably wouldn't run into them or have any dealings with them in the future. Thinking about this made me feel much more at ease.
With Lu Congyue's intervention, the contract and procedures were completed very quickly.
The homeowner also realized that Lu Congyue was able to handle things so efficiently because he knew people.
Someone with such a background shouldn't be afraid of Huang Yuejin, so Huang Yuejin has really bitten off more than he can chew.
The original homeowner, who was worried about causing trouble for Lu Congyue and Zhuang Qingxiang, finally felt at ease.
"We bought tickets for the day after tomorrow. You can come and collect the room after we leave the day after tomorrow." The landlord handed the keys to Lu Congyue.
Zhuang Qingxiang said worriedly, "Then you'll have to stay at home for another day. You'd better be careful of Huang Yuejin."
"I know, I know," the homeowner said gratefully. "We discussed it last night. We'll keep the door tightly closed and won't open it for anyone. We'll pack everything we can take in the next couple of days, and we'll go to the train station early the day after tomorrow to wait for the train. That way, we can avoid running into Huang Yuejin."
"That's good." Zhuang Qingxiang smiled gently. "Be careful."
After finishing their business, Lu Congyue took Zhuang Qingxiang and the children to say goodbye to the homeowner.
Zhuang Qingxiang was still a little worried: "Why don't you take him back? I'm worried that Huang Yuejin is waiting for him to return so he can do something bad to him."
"That's a problem he should have solved himself." Lu Congyue said expressionlessly. "I can't stand Huang Yuejin, and I can't stand his kind of pushover. There's no need for others to lend a hand to someone who doesn't fight back when they're being bullied."
Zhuang Qingxiang thought of the haggard woman and two children in the courtyard. They were all in a daze, and their condition was much worse than that of the original homeowner.
Zhuang Qingxiang thought to herself, Lu Congyue is right.
If the original homeowner can't stand it up themselves, no amount of help will help.