Seeing Ji Yuan's groping movements and seeing Ji Yuan's eyes clearly, the broker next to him realized that Ji Yuan was actually a blind man. He had not noticed him on the road just now. The shop assistant next to him also realized that the man looking at the pen holder seemed to be a blind man.
"Uh, sir, do you like this pen holder?"
The shop assistant felt a little embarrassed. After all, how could a blind man buy the four treasures of the study? Asking this question was just a polite reminder to Ji Yuan to put down the pen holder. This pen holder was not cheap, and it would be bad if it fell.
This voice also brought Ji Yuan back to reality. Although he could hear the waiter's enthusiasm cooling, he was not unhappy.
"Shopkeeper, how much is this pen holder?"
Because of what he just said, Lu Chengfeng gave the shop assistant a cold look. The shop assistant realized his mistake and answered more respectfully.
"In reply to the guest's question, although this yellow flower pen holder is displayed outside, it is very exquisite from the materials to the workmanship. It is fair to everyone. Two hundred coins, out of Ning'an County, to other states and prefectures, the starting price is one tael of silver!"
Ji Yuan had no exact idea whether two hundred coins were expensive or not, but he had spent three coins on a bowl of plain noodles before. This pen holder was worth sixty or seventy meals. If ordinary people cooked for themselves, it should be enough for a hundred meals, so it was not cheap.
Ji Yuan could be considered to have a huge sum of money now. One hundred and fifty taels of silver was equivalent to one hundred and fifty strings of coins, and one string of coins had 1,000 copper coins. This was more than enough to buy a pen holder, but without any reliable source of income, Ji Yuan was still stingy and didn't want to buy anything.
In fact, it's of no use. If I get down and out in the future, these two hundred coins can save my life!
In the past, Jiyuan’s consumption concept was very conservative. Throughout the year, apart from buying games and computer accessories, he basically didn’t spend much money on anything else. This is even more so now that he is under a bit of pressure.
As for feeling embarrassed when asked for something but not buying it, Ji Yuan has never experienced this. His thick skin may be innate.
Ji Yuan put down the pen holder, stood up, and nodded in the direction of the real estate broker.
"We've almost finished shopping. Let's go and look at houses."
"Oh, this way, this way, let's go to the east of the city first."
The broker walked in front, and Ji Yuan followed.
Lu Chengfeng deliberately fell behind, looked at the pen holder on the table, and took out a piece of silver while the shop assistant was puzzled.
"I want the pen holder."
The shop assistant never thought that he could actually make this deal, and immediately took the change with a smile.
"Sir, wait a moment. I'll weigh it first and then pack it for you!"
The shop assistant quickly ran into the store with the pen holder and the silver change and handed the silver change to the shopkeeper, who took out a mini scale to weigh the silver change and then counted it a few times on the abacus.
Seeing that Lu Chengfeng had no intention of coming in, the shop assistant came out after a while with a roughly wrapped pen holder and change.
"Sir, take this. The silver weighs 6 baht, which is 250 coins. Here is your change. Ten coins are worth five Tongbao coins!"
"Wu Tong Bao" is a common saying among the common people, because this copper coin is equivalent to 5 wen in terms of weight and face value, and it should really be called "Hong Yuan Tong Bao".
Lu Chengfeng took the thing without even looking at it and quickly chased after Ji Yuan and the broker who were already quite far away.
. . .
I visited several places from morning to noon, but they were either too remote, too small, or too noisy.
Under the guidance of the broker, Ji Yuan has arrived at the fifth location they have visited today, which is in the south of the city.
After a quick look, he saw a plaque on the gate. Before Ji Yuan could ask, the broker had already started introducing it.
"Mr. Ji, this is it, Ju'an Xiaoge. I guarantee you'll be satisfied with this place. It's quiet and peaceful. There's a well in the courtyard as soon as you enter. The back door of the courtyard is connected to the vacant land, which also belongs to this house. If you expand it, it's big enough to build a large house for a wealthy family!"
As he spoke, the broker looked up at the strongest sunlight at noon, then he took out the copper key and opened the copper lock on the door.
"Kacha...squeak~~"
When the door was opened, a cloud of dust fell.
"Ahem... ahem... no one has lived here for a long time..."
The broker waved his hand and patted himself, then invited Ji Yuan and Lu Chengfeng to come in.
Arriving here, Ji Yuan finally felt a little excited. Although his eyesight was not good, he could vaguely see that this was the best house he had seen today.
The courtyard wall was not high and the gate was not very exquisite. The inside was somewhat like the exquisite small courtyard house that Ji Yuan remembered. There was a back door between the main house and the side house.
There is a well in the fairly spacious yard, but it is covered with a large wooden lid, probably because it has not been used for a long time to keep out dust and fallen leaves. There are also a few round stones on top to prevent the lid from falling off.
There is a big tree in the yard, and its branches and leaves sway in the wind, making a rustling sound. Perhaps because of the shade of the tree, the yard is obviously cooler.
"There's a tree in the yard? What kind of tree is it?"
Ji Yuan suddenly asked the broker a question.
"Uh, you know there are trees?"
Ji Yuan smiled and pointed to his ear, then pointed in the direction of the big tree.
"My hearing is quite sharp. The tree wants to be still but the wind does not stop."
"Sir, that is a date tree. It looks quite old."
Lu Chengfeng took the lead and answered respectfully.
"Yes, yes, it's a jujube tree. In autumn, we can eat lots of sweet jujubes!"
The broker said with a smile.
"Come on, let's take a look outside the back door."
Sometimes the broker would forget that the gentleman was blind, and then recall it in some details.
Outside the back door was a completely wasteland covered with weeds, as well as some abandoned vegetable fields and gourd racks. It was obviously the place where the original owner grew his own vegetables and fruits.
But the place is indeed not small. On the outermost side, there is a fence that can be stepped over with one foot, which serves as the boundary. When the broker explained this, Ji Yuan even thought with a smile, if the fence was expanded outward, would his land become bigger
Afterwards, the three of them went to see the main house, side rooms, kitchen and other things in the courtyard. The house and yard were not very big. Although there was a layer of dust inside the house, the overall structure was sound and the house was elegant.
Most of the furniture had been moved out, except for the largest main room which still had a bed, a table and two stools.
To be honest, even if it was the 21st century in his previous life, if Ji Yuan was allowed to live in a place like this, as long as there was an internet and some minor decoration, he would be willing to do so.
When he returned to the yard after a walk, Ji Yuan's smile never faded.
"Hehehe, are you satisfied, sir? I knew you would like this, and this house is cheap. It only costs 36 taels of silver to buy it. A house like this with such a spacious place, it must be sold for 100 taels of silver!!"
"Huh? So cheap?"
Ji Yuan was a little surprised. Of course, he didn't know the housing prices here, but he could compare them. Those small bungalows and earthen courtyards used to cost twenty or thirty taels.
The class of this place is obviously different from the previous ones, so it is definitely not excessive to double or triple the price. Selling it for less than forty taels can indeed be considered a bargain.
"Hehe, hey, sir, you don't know..."
The broker spoke in a clumsy, flowery way but could not find the words to follow through.
"Well, the original owner of this place has long passed away. Now the house deeds and land deeds belong to the government. Plus, the location is quite remote... so it has never been sold. Rich people may not be interested in it, and ordinary people can't afford thirty or forty taels. It would be much more cost-effective to build a house by yourself, so this place has never been sold, and the government keeps lowering the price!"
"Oh!! Then I have to go to the county government office in person to buy it?"
"Sir, are you determined to buy it?"
The broker looked at Ji Yuan expectantly and asked.
"Such a cheap and elegant house, why not buy it? It's just a little dusty, just clean it up!"
Ji Yuan was smiling and in a good mood.
"Okay, sir, you have a good eye! How about we go to the county government office while it's still early and hand over the house and land deeds?"
The broker was obviously eager to get his hard-earned money. For this business of more than thirty taels, he could get a commission of almost two taels, which was no small amount of money!
In fact, Ji Yuan has a similar mentality. He always wants to get the things he likes as soon as possible. In his previous life, he couldn't afford a house and could only envy others, but in this life, he has become more upscale.
Lu Chengfeng on the side smiled.
"Sir, you can go back to the inn and rest. Chengfeng will go with him to the county government office to buy the house deed!"
He is a good young man with a bright future. Ji Yuan was very happy and it was great that he didn’t have to run errands himself.
"Well, thank you, Young Master Lu, for making the trip."
"Mr. Ji, you are too polite. Let us take you back to the inn first!"
The right path is the right path, and the future is limitless! Ji Yuan felt that Lu Chengfeng's personality would allow him to do well in the 21st century. This was called being good at thinking about problems from other people's perspectives.
. . .
Half an hour later, in a room in a side courtyard of the Ning'an County Government Office, the chief clerk under the county magistrate looked at Lu Chengfeng in surprise.
"Mr. Lu, do you really want to buy this house? To live in it yourself? You don't seem to be from Ning'an, right?"
After asking this question, the chief clerk looked at the broker named Zhou, squinting his eyes and stroking his beard. The latter felt a little guilty when he was looked at by him.
"What's the matter? Master Zhubu, is there something wrong with this house? Will it collapse or is there a dispute?"
The chief clerk looked at Lu Chengfeng again with an expression that said "as expected".
"Young Master Lu, you are the benefactor of our Ning'an County. I cannot lie to you. To tell you the truth, this house is solid and elegant, but it has a bad reputation in the market. The three owners in the past seven years have either died of illness or had accidents. In particular, a scholar was found dead in the yard two years ago. Since then, no one has cared about Ju'an Pavilion!"
As he spoke, the chief clerk turned the record book in his hand, which was usually not shown to outsiders, towards Lu Chengfeng, allowing him to read the internal official comments on it: It is said in the streets that this is a haunted house.