Chapter 45: This Feels Familiar
“Did you want to rent a house, or were you thinking of buying one?”
Chen Maoqian was experienced and did not assume that Zhang Fei wanted to rent a house like the young and naive boy from earlier; he was neither young nor naïve.
Zhang Fei paused for a moment and replied, “Both are options; it depends on whether the price is right.”
Chen Maoqian stroked his beard and said, “If you’re looking to buy a house, the most ordinary residence I have in hand is probably around thirteen hundred strings. If you want one with front and back courtyards, it would cost at least 5400 strings.”
A loud thud sounded.
“Oh!”
Li Si slid directly off the chair.
Zhang Fei glanced at him awkwardly. “You better stand.”
“Oh!”
Li Si nodded awkwardly. To be honest, he couldn’t sit down either. 5400 strings?
Is this a house for human beings to live in?
Li Si couldn’t earn that much money even if he lived for ten lifetimes!
Zhang Fei, on the other hand, remained very calm, like a still pond. This wasn’t because he was rich or pretending to be calm; he was genuinely accustomed to it. The feeling of his hometown from his past life rushed over him, filling him with warmth and familiarity.[1] He asked, “How much for a more presentable residence?”
It seemed that this person was quite wealthy, which wasn’t surprising. He had earned five hundred strings from just one lawsuit. Chen Maoqian saw that Zhang Fei wasn’t one to be frightened by high prices. He said, “For a decent one, it would cost over 10,000 strings.”
“Over 10,000 strings.” Zhang Fei smiled and asked, “How many people can afford such an expensive place?”
Chen Maoqian nodded and said, “Indeed, not many can afford it. Many officials choose to rent a house when they’re starting out. They save money for ten years, and then buy a residence.”
Zhang Fei shook his head, laughing. “After saving money for ten years, the person would already be old. How much time would they have to enjoy the property? Why don’t they borrow money to buy earlier? There’s a saying, ‘Buy early, enjoy early!'”
Chen Maoqian nodded and said, “Some do borrow money to buy, and it’s not uncommon. After all, this amount of money is substantial, and they might not be able to come up with it all at once.”
Zhang Fei asked again, “It’s such a hefty loan. Won’t they still have to pay interest?”
Chen Maoqian hurriedly said, “Even if they borrow money to buy, they usually won’t go to the pawnshop. Who would want to pay the interest rates there? Unless they are in urgent need or have connections, they usually borrow from relatives and friends. Although there’s still interest, it’s much less than the pawnshop!”
Zhang Fei said, “In other words, many people still want to buy houses.”
Chen Maoqian smiled, “Who wouldn’t want to buy if they have the money! In the past, renting was more common. However, in recent years, there has been a slight change in the situation. In the past, court officials sent to various places for official duties found it more economical to rent a property while they are in the capital.
But in recent years, many official families would have several family members serving in the imperial government, so someone from the family would always be in the capital. These people would think about buying a house.”
Zhang Fei asked, “But I heard that court officials receive a substantial salary. If have several family members serving in government, shouldn’t they be able to afford it?”
Chen Maoqian looked at Zhang Fei with sudden suspicion and said, “Forgive me for asking, but are you really here to look at houses?”
Zhang Fei nodded and smiled, “Of course, but recently, I’ve also thought about getting into the lending business. Since so many people want to buy houses and lack money, why not specifically lend to these people.”
Lend money specifically for buying houses? How much money does he have? Chen Maoqian’s heart shivered, and he said, “That is not just hundreds of strings of cash, but tens of thousands of strings of cash. Who would dare lend such a large amount, and who would be willing to repay such high interest? I dare not say it’s impossible, but it’s very rare.”
“Well, that’s true.”
Zhang Fei nodded with a smile, saying, “It seems that this business won’t work!”
Chen Maoqian chuckled, “If someone dares to borrow, and the interest is relatively low, the business will surely thrive. But the risk is just too high.”
“That’s right, that’s right.”
Zhang Fei nodded repeatedly and asked, “What about renting?”
“Renting is the same as buying; it depends on the location. For residential places in more remote areas, it’s about one string per month. Here, at the market, there are no purely residential places. It’s either a shop facing the street or a two-story building, with the first floor as a shop and the second floor as a residence. The monthly rent is around twenty strings. It can be said to be the most expensive area in Bianjing. But in more remote places, there are places for seven or eight strings.”
This market was the trading place for large commodities. Those who do business here were all wealthy. Rent was naturally expensive.
Zhang Fei couldn’t help but think, twenty strings a month? I only have a total of four hundred strings. It’s not enough for two years of rent.
Actually, four hundred strings was quite a sum, enough if one wanted to lie low in Bianjing for two years. But it was extremely far from housing prices!
Zhang Fei said, “I didn’t come here with the intention of doing business. I hope to rent a small house with front and back yards. It doesn’t need to be in the bustling market; a slightly remote location is fine. It would be best if the rent is around ten strings per month. I can’t afford more.”
“A small house for around ten strings?” Chen Maoqian was disappointed. They were just discussing huge real estate transactions a moment ago, and all of a sudden, they were talking about a small rental of a mere ten strings. It was genuinely puzzling, but being an experienced person, he didn’t reveal his thoughts. After some contemplation, he said, “If you don’t care about the location, I might be able to help you find one.”
Zhang Fei said, “Not minding the location doesn’t mean I want to live in a refugee camp. Safety is still a concern.”
Chen Maoqian nodded, “Certainly.”
Zhang Fei hesitated for a moment and added, “But I may still choose not to rent.”
Chen Maoqian smiled, “To rent or not is, of course, your decision. However, we would also need to assign someone to help you find a suitable location, so you need to pay a deposit of one hundred coins. If you decide not to rent, this money won’t be refunded.”
“Very reasonable!”
Zhang Fei nodded, saying, “But what I mean to say is that I also have the intention to buy a house. I just need to calculate and see what’s more cost-effective. I wonder if you would be willing to provide me with an approximate price and the interest rates that the nearby pawnshops can offer. I’ll go back, make a careful calculation, and then make the final decision.”
Chen Maoqian thought for a moment and said, “Actually, the housing prices in Bianjing are not a secret. I can have someone write it down for you. As for the interest rates of nearby pawnshops, I can only tell you what I know, which may not be very accurate.”
Zhang Fei hurriedly said, “Thank you, thank you!”
Chen Maoqian personally wrote down a price list for Zhang Fei, which included some usual prices. After all, there were no accurate statistics in this day and age, and the exact average price couldn’t be calculated. Nor would he disclose the actual prices of the houses he held.
Zhang Fei also signed an agency contract with him. For some reason, Chen Maoqian read through this contract repeatedly, over a dozen times, before handing it to Zhang Fei.
Then Zhang Fei handed over a hundred and ten coins, with ten coins as the administrative fee.
Other than the imperial government, it was realtors who had the most expensive administrative fees.
“Brother San, ten strings per month is too expensive. There are only two of us, and we don’t need a big place!” Li Si whispered to Zhang Fei as they left the realtor’s office.
He couldn’t accept this price.
Back then, a debt of ten strings almost cost him his life!
After learning about housing prices, he realized how little his own life was worth.
But Zhang Fei seemed not to hear and continued walking forward. He was about to head into the river when Li Si quickly grabbed him. “Brother San.”
“Ah!”
Zhang Fei was startled and looked up, realizing he was already at the riverbank. He couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat and breathed out, “Li Si, thank you.”
Li Si asked, “Brother San, what were you thinking?”
Zhang Fei furrowed his brow, “I was thinking about whether to give them a little performance. Unfortunately, I have too little time. Looks like I’ll have to make it up with my verbal prowess.”
Watching them from the door, Chen Maoqian was about to return to the shop.
“Uncle!”
The young lad from earlier rushed out from behind, curious, “Uncle, who are those people?”
Growing up in Bianjing, he had keen powers of recognition. He could easily recognize people from wealthy families. The two men from earlier were definitely not from noble households.
Chen Maoqian glared at him, “Do you know how close you were to causing a big problem just now?”
“Huh?”
The young lad looked at Chen Maoqian fearfully and asked, “Who is he?”
Chen Maoqian said, “A pen-in-cap.”
“A pen-in-cap?”
The young lad was immediately confused, scratching his head and saying, “What’s so scary about that?”
Currently, pen-in-caps were somewhat like brokers; both relied on talking for a living. However, in current society, pen-in-caps were far inferior to brothers when it came to social status, cunningness, and connections.
A pen-in-cap? A young broker like myself would have no trouble scamming him.
Chen Maoqian said, “He’s not an ordinary pen-in-cap.”
Suddenly, the young lad shuddered, “Could it be… Could he be that Zhang San from Dengzhou?”
Chen Maoqian nodded.
He had gone to the Kaifeng Prefectural Office that day and hence could recognize Zhang Fei.
The young lad exclaimed, “So it’s him!”
But then, he curiously asked Chen Maoqian, “I’ve heard that he has offended many officials in the imperial court, and now he’s in trouble. Uncle, why be afraid of him?”
This young broker was definitely well-informed.
Chen Maoqian directly slapped him on the head, scolding, “What have I taught you? Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river.[2] Don’t underestimate others, especially someone like him. Moreover, he hasn’t completely fallen yet. He’s still staying at the Chief Justice Xu’s place. Who can guarantee he won’t turn things around in the future?”
The young lad held his head, not daring to speak.
Chen Maoqian continued, “I will let you handle this deal. Remember, I don’t have five hundred strings to compensate for any losses you might cause.”
The young lad, fearful, suggested, “Uncle, since this person is so formidable, why not send Sixth Uncle? I’m scared…”
Chen Maoqian said, “If you’re scared, then be cautious in your acts. Get rid of your careless and arrogant habits.”
“I understand.” The young lad nodded reluctantly.
[1] This is a joke poking fun at how China today has extremely high housing prices. So Zhang Fei is not shocked by high housing prices in the Song dynasty and instead finds it familiar.
[2] This saying refers to the changing flow of the Yellow River, such that one day you may be on the east side of the river, and after 30 years, you may find yourself on the west side of the river. So it is used convey the idea that fortunes change and someone down and out right now might well become successful in the future.