Chapter 340: The Courtyard in Beijing University
Chapter 340: Chapter 340: The Courtyard in Beijing University
When it came to houses near Beijing University, Yan Dongjun actually knew of two or three that were for sale. Due to the political climate of the past, many people had their homes confiscated. Now that the winds had changed, the properties were being returned to their original owners, so quite a few people were selling their houses recently.
Since Su Qing wanted to buy a house, Li Wan naturally took the day off to go house-hunting with her. Li Huan also insisted on tagging along, so Mr. Li had the family driver take the three of them to Beijing University. Su Qing and Yan Dongjun had arranged to meet at the university gate.
As soon as the three of them got out of the car, they saw Yan Dongjun already waiting outside the main gate of Beijing University. Seeing Su Qing, Yan Dongjun quickly smiled and waved, then turned to Li Wan with a grin. "Hello, Auntie. I’m a friend of Su Qing’s. My name is Yan Dongjun."
"Hello, Xiao Yan," Li Wan said with a smile of her own. "Thank you for your trouble today."
"Not at all, not at all. Su Qing and I are friends. This is nothing," Yan Dongjun said quickly, beaming.
After greeting Li Huan, he turned to Su Qing and said, "Of the few houses I mentioned, two of them aren’t far from here. If we walk, we can get there in ten minutes."
Li Huan said in pleasant surprise, "That’s so close!"
"Yeah, they’re right over there." Yan Dongjun pointed to a stretch of single-story houses in the distance. "These houses also come with courtyards, but because they weren’t well-maintained, they look a bit more dilapidated than the ones in Xilin Alley. If you buy one, you’ll probably need to do some repairs before you can move in."
After a moment, Yan Dongjun smiled again and added, "There’s another courtyard house right inside Beijing University. It’s a two-courtyard residence, very well-preserved. You could move in right away."
Su Qing was taken aback. "Inside Beijing University? There’s actually a house for sale *inside* the university?"
"That’s right. It’s the private property of an old professor from the university," Yan Dongjun explained. "Unfortunately, the old professor passed away, and his children are all going abroad. So, after they got the house back, they decided to sell it. The title and everything are legitimate, you can rest assured about that. It’s just... rather expensive."
"How expensive?" Hearing that the house was inside Beijing University, Su Qing’s interest was piqued. ’If I could buy it, I wouldn’t even have to leave campus to go home and rest. That would be perfect.’ No wonder Yan Dongjun had asked to meet at the university gate.
"At least this much." Yan Dongjun held up his index, middle, and ring fingers.
"Three thousand?" Li Huan had no concept of how much a house should cost. She hadn’t asked about the price of Su Qing’s previous properties. And although she had witnessed the prosperity of Xiangcheng, she still had her old perspective on money. The most she’d ever had in her pocket was less than a hundred yuan. To her, three thousand yuan for a house was already an astronomical price. After all, people didn’t lack housing these days.
Yan Dongjun shook his head. "Thirty thousand."
"How much? Did you say how much?" Li Huan’s eyes went wide. ’Good heavens, thirty thousand!’
Even Li Wan was quite surprised. She had thought the money she had on hand would be enough to help her daughter buy a house. It seemed now that it was far from enough.
That’s right, Li Wan had come along today with the intention of paying for the house herself. In her eyes, Su Qing was her daughter, and it was only natural and right for a mother to buy her daughter a house.
The only one who remained calm was Su Qing.
Never mind that Su Qing had seen the sky-high housing prices of the future, where thirty thousand yuan might not even buy a single square meter—the money she had right now was more than enough to give her confidence.
"Then let’s go see the house inside Beijing University first," Su Qing said to Yan Dongjun.
Hearing her words, Yan Dongjun understood immediately. ’She’s not short on cash.’
’But it makes sense,’ he thought. ’Cheng Beize was the one who introduced me to her. For her to have such a good relationship with the Cheng Family that they’d be willing to share their connections with her, on top of having already bought two courtyard houses in a row... how could she possibly be short on cash?’
"Alright, let’s go see the house inside Beijing University first then," Yan Dongjun said. "I contacted the owner yesterday, and he said he’d be there all day today."
"Okay, let’s go over now," Su Qing said to Yan Dongjun with a smile.
Since both Su Qing and Li Huan wanted to get a feel for the atmosphere of Beijing University, they left the car outside the main gate and the four of them walked onto campus. The day after tomorrow was first-year registration day, so the campus was already bustling with returning students. Combined with the faculty housing areas that were already on campus, the university was quite lively.
As she walked, Su Qing took in the sights of this world’s Beijing University, sighing to herself in admiration. ’It truly lives up to its reputation as the nation’s most famous university.’ You could feel the scholarly atmosphere the moment you walked in. On stone benches along the path and under large trees by the lake, you could see students everywhere, engrossed in their textbooks.
"Wow, they’re still studying so hard even after getting into university," Li Huan remarked. She had thought that getting into college meant you could finally let loose. As long as you got a diploma in the end, that’s what mattered. But now it seemed the competition was still fierce.
"Isn’t it?" Yan Dongjun said with a laugh. "It’s such a stroke of luck to get into university. You have to cherish this hard-won opportunity. It’s a shame my grades were so terrible, otherwise I definitely would have tried my best to get into a university."
Li Huan blinked. ’Okay, maybe I haven’t been trying hard enough. It looks like I’ll have to work harder in the future.’
The group of four continued chatting and soon arrived outside the two-courtyard residence. Yan Dongjun knocked on the door. A moment later, a man in his forties opened it. Seeing Su Qing and the others, he asked, "Are you here to see the house? Is your surname Yan or Tang?"
Yan Dongjun was surprised. "Someone else is coming to see the house today besides us? My surname is Yan. I’m the one who contacted you yesterday, Mr. Lu."
"Ah, yes, please come in." Lu Changsheng nodded quickly. "That’s right, another family is coming to see the house today. Since you’re here first, please come in and have a look."
Su Qing and the others followed Lu Changsheng into the courtyard.
Su Qing began to examine the courtyard in detail. The main gate of this two-courtyard residence was on the right side. Upon entering, one was greeted by an exquisitely carved screen wall. To the left was a moon gate, and beyond it, another moon gate straight ahead. The two moon gates, connected by the south-facing building, divided the entire first courtyard into three separate spaces.
This first courtyard must have once been planted with flowers and bamboo. It was probably neglected later on, as the flowerbeds were now empty and the bamboo along the wall was withered and yellow. The ground, however, was swept clean.
Passing from the first courtyard through the Flowery Drooping Gate, they arrived in the second courtyard.
The moment they entered the second courtyard, Li Huan’s eyes lit up. She hugged Su Qing’s arm and whispered, "Qingqing, this courtyard is gorgeous!"