Chapter 196 - 192: Price, Monthly Ticket, and Bonus - for 990
The old lady was somewhat displeased when Li Xianglu asked about this house, but seeing the girl’s clothes, which looked quite decent, and her well-kept appearance, she didn’t seem like an ordinary junk collector, so she explained: "This courtyard is my relative’s. It was returned to us after the political rehabilitations. The family is now all working in Shanghai, so the house has been left empty. That’s why I came over to clean it up, sort through any old junk to sell, and if it looks right, we’ll sell the courtyard as well."
Li Xianglu, hearing this, had a good idea and cautiously asked: "Grandma, how much does your relative want to sell this courtyard for?"
The old lady secretly gestured the number eight with her fingers and whispered: "Gold is also fine."
Li Xianglu’s eyes sparkled. Just yesterday, Grandpa took out a remittance slip with one hundred thousand US dollars, which converts to nearly two hundred thousand RMB. Purchasing such a courtyard would be easy, but eighty thousand yuan seemed a bit expensive. If it were a typical four-sided courtyard, it might be justifiable, but the rooms in the back of this one were all in ruins, and the ground needed complete restoration.
Li Xianglu shook her head with a hint of disappointment: "Grandma, the price is a bit steep."
The old lady, upon hearing this, her eyes lit up: "Yo, I couldn’t tell, you actually know that the price is too high. Then tell me, how much do you think is reasonable?"
Li Xianglu stretched out her hand to gesture the number six and then whispered: "If you can negotiate it down, I will give you a two thousand yuan intermediary fee."
Intermediary fee? That must mean a middleman’s commission. This girl is quite interesting and seems to know a lot. In fact, her relative who asked her to sell the house had already agreed to give her five hundred yuan as a finder’s fee, but she never expected the girl to offer two thousand right off the bat. However, sixty thousand yuan seemed a bit too low.
Seeing the old lady’s hesitation, Li Xianglu pretended to be worried: "Grandma, look at the back rooms of this courtyard, they are all dilapidated, and the ground needs complete restoration. Now this area has running water; if you want people to live here, you would have to dig up the whole place. Just buying bricks, tiles, and paying for the labor alone would cost at least..." Li Xianglu gestured a two.
The old lady nodded and said: "That’s right. You all start moving the stuff. I’ll go make a phone call right now. If they agree on the other end, we can go through with it. How does that sound?"