Chapter 12: Viewing Properties

According to regulations, everyone in the village must move out of Qiaodong Village by the third of next month. The fruits and vegetables in the orchards and gardens have all been pulled out. Fortunately, the transitional housing is already renovated; they just need to move in the furniture and luggage to settle down.

Third Uncle found a big truck to help transport Chen Jin’s bed and some small furniture and clothing from third Uncle’s house in one trip. The truck service included moving assistance, saving them the trouble of carrying everything upstairs, although they still had to pay for the truck and moving fees.

Seeing that everyone in Qiaodong Village was moving, they started taking orders in the village.

Chen Jin only went to see the new place on the first day of the move. The one-bedroom apartment was spacious enough for her. It was relatively clean, likely because someone had come to tidy up. She only brought over a bed, a set of tables and chairs, kitchenware, clothing, and some leftover goods from the small shop. In the living room, aside from the dining area, the rest of the space was reserved for the small shop. Chen Jin decided to continue employing Tian Miao to work for her, leaving a copy of the key to the turnover house with her.

With only eight days left in the month, Chen Jin couldn’t sit still. She called Third Uncle to ask if there was any news about houses near NTU. If not, she planned to buy an apartment in the city center of West District first.

Third Uncle slapped his forehead, having forgotten to mention it amidst his busy days.

“Let’s say tomorrow at eleven o’clock. You should leave early and take a bus to the west gate of NTU. The area used to house NTU professors, and the bungalows are all stair houses. The ones that are up for sale are about fifty to sixty square meters, and the environment is decent, though it’s crowded. There are also two small villas for sale. If you want to buy, I recommend the villas. You’ll know after you see them tomorrow. I need to call your second uncle and see if he wants to come along.”

Chen Jin’s decision to buy a house puzzled third Uncle and third Aunt.

“You already have nine units of resettlement housing. If you think it’s not spacious enough to live in, you can just connect two of them; why buy one outside when those houses are so expensive?”

“third Uncle, third Aunt, leaving money in the bank doesn’t earn much interest. Third Uncle said that house prices in the city rise every year. I think it’s better to use the money to buy a house rather than let it sit in the bank. Even if the house price only increases a little each year, it’s still higher than the bank interest. Besides, if I ever need money, I can just sell the house. I plan to use half of my money to buy property. Even if I don’t work in the future, I can still live well on the rent.”

“Think about it. A hundred yuan twenty years ago, a hundred yuan ten years ago, compared to a hundred yuan now—aren’t they worth less and less? But houses now are definitely much more expensive than those from ten or twenty years ago.”

Chen Jin dropped another bombshell: “If you keep the money and worry about distributing it to your cousins later, they might waste it. Buying houses is a better idea. Let each of them have a few apartments and use the rent for their expenses each month.”

With this point, third Uncle and third Aunt began to soften their stance.

With money in their hands, their biggest fear was that their descendants would be unsuccessful and spend carelessly. So, buying property did indeed seem like a good plan.

“Then should we go along to take a look?”

“Yes!” Chen Jin made the decision for them. “third Aunt, you don’t know, the elementary and middle schools near our school are among the best in the city. Think about it, your cousin is of marrying age, right? If the kids can attend a good school, then they should definitely go to a good school…”

The village had scheduled the relocation of ancestral graves for August 3rd. There was a piece of land in the village that wasn’t included in the demolition zone, where all the graves would be moved. Chen Jin and her three uncles agreed to relocate the graves of her grandparents, her maternal grandparents, and her mother to the peach orchard.

third Uncle also mentioned that he would come back to take care of his plot in the peach orchard whenever he had time.

On the morning of July 24, Chen Jin set out with her three uncles’ family of four. She called for Tian Miao, but Tian Miao said she needed to organize the small shop in the turnover house. Seeing that Aunt Zhou’s family was also heading over, third Aunt asked Aunt Zhou to keep an eye on Tian Miao and told her to stay in the resettlement house for the night.

“This child,” third Aunt sighed, “her dad came to borrow money from me yesterday, saying he wanted to buy a house for his son, but I scolded him away. It’s definitely that stepmother of hers pushing him to do this; all she thinks about every day is how to get something for herself!”

Chen Jin said, “Miao Miao’s mom has been gone for many years, and her dad and stepmom treat her badly. How shameless can they be to come to you for money? Anyway, Miao Miao is an adult now and doesn’t have to be under their control. If they come again, just call me, and I’ll give them a good scolding.”

Third Aunt shot her a glance. “There’s no need for you to do that; don’t worry, they won’t be able to borrow a penny from me.”

They were all troublesome relatives who had kept their distance before the demolition. Now that they knew the village was being redeveloped and money was involved, they all came sniffing around. Chen Jin thought about her biological father’s family; weren’t they just as bad?!

Chen Jin and her uncles took the bus to the east gate of NTU and walked through the school to the west gate.

It was their first time visiting NTU. When she first started college, it was eldest Uncle who brought her and her mother here for enrollment.

“Look at your third and fourth sisters studying at this university; you should make me proud!” Third Aunt admonished her cousin.

Chen Yongan secretly stuck his tongue out at Chen Jin and shrugged helplessly: My mom really has high hopes. Does she think NTU is just a cabbage? Even if he studied for a few more years, he wouldn’t be able to get in.

Just as they reached the west gate, eldest Uncle was chatting happily with an old man dressed in a gray Tai Chi outfit. The old man laughed heartily about something.

“Here they are.” eldest Uncle called her over and introduced her: “Professor Shen, this is my niece Chen Jin, who studies in the Chinese Department at NTU. This is Professor Shen Yibai from your school’s Foreign Languages Department, who teaches French.”

“Coincidentally, Professor Shen has two small villas for sale. We’re lucky to catch this opportunity; these houses have cultural heritage.”

“It’s not as exaggerated as you say.” Professor Shen waved his hand, but eldest Uncle’s words made his smile even broader. Looking at Chen Jin, he thought she seemed quite refined, indeed having the temperament of a Chinese Department student. After Chen Jin greeted him, Professor Shen asked, “Jiang Chaosheng is your teacher, right?”

“Yes, Professor Shen, do you know Professor Jiang?”

“Ha ha, yes, we studied abroad together back in the day.” Professor Shen walked with them towards the small villas, asking Chen Jin about her school life. When she mentioned her intention to stay at school after graduation to work as a counselor, he assured her that her grades would definitely be fine.

“We’re here.” Professor Shen pointed to the two small villas in front of them. “These villas in the area have been around for over seventy years. My grandfather taught at NTU, and the family purchased three small villas; one of them was taken back in the 1980s. My wife and I live in the one further inside. The two villas were rented out in previous years, and we were reluctant to sell them. Now… sigh, let’s not talk about that.”

Chen Jin listened quietly. She could sense that Professor Shen was reluctant to talk, so she didn’t press him for details.

The fact that he only reclaimed the house in 1980, having not thought to sell it for thirteen years in between, indicated that Professor Shen was quite attached to it. However, it seemed he might now be in need of cash flow, prompting him to consider selling these two properties.

They walked from the west gate of the school for about ten minutes. This area was a residential district for faculty and staff of NTU, with three rows of small villas primarily occupied by the school’s senior professors. Not far away were additional staff apartment buildings, comprising several blocks. Along the way, both sides of the street were lined with various shops, and a bit further ahead were Nanda Kindergarten, Nanda Affiliated Primary School, and Nanda Affiliated High School.

Because there are Affiliated Primary School of Nanjing University and Affiliated High School nearby Nanjing University, the houses here are in high demand. Even those who aren’t faculty or staff of the university have a keen interest in buying property here, as it makes it convenient for their children to attend good schools.

It was clear that Uncle had invested a lot of effort to find these two small villas.

“The layouts of both buildings are the same; let’s check this one first—it’s in better condition,” Professor Shen said as he unlocked the front door of the right villa.

“There are small courtyards in the front and back, two stories, and four rooms.” After briefly introducing the property, Professor Shen let them explore on their own.

The interior was empty, with no furniture remaining, and some walls bore remnants of graffiti, likely left by previous tenants. Upon entering the first floor, there was a spacious living room, leading into a guest bedroom, as well as the kitchen and dining area. Upstairs, there was a master bedroom, another guest room, and a study, along with a guest bathroom. The master bedroom also had its own separate toilet, and there was a small living room on the second floor.

The four rooms, aside from the master bedroom, are all relatively small. The total area of the house is at most 90 square meters. However, this does not include the front and back courtyards. The house has a higher ceiling, and with no furniture, it gives the impression of being quite spacious inside.

Regardless of whether it’s upstairs or downstairs, the rooms are very bright and well-lit.

The walls of the front and back courtyards don’t offer much privacy, as neighbors can easily see what’s happening. However, Professor Shen mentioned that most of the residents here are retired or soon-to-be-retired professors, so there shouldn’t be any major conflicts between neighbors.

Taking advantage of Professor Shen waiting downstairs, Uncle quietly followed Chen Jin upstairs and whispered, “Professor Shen is asking for one million. If we buy both villas, we can negotiate it down to 950,000 each.”

Chen Jin had been studying the city’s housing prices at home for the past few days. Prices range from a few hundred to five or six thousand per square meter, but those are rare. In the urban area of Rong City, most housing prices fall between one thousand to two thousand per square meter, while the asking price for these villas, at one million, translates to about four thousand six hundred per square meter, which is quite expensive.

Chen Jin remembered that some people were missing today. “Didn’t Auntie say she also wanted to buy a place near Nanda for Jia Jia? Aren’t they coming?”

Uncle replied, “They discussed it and decided to buy an elevator apartment in Xicheng (West) District instead.”

Chen Jin nodded, speculating that Second Uncle and his family probably didn’t have that much disposable cash on hand and felt that buying in Xicheng (West) District would be more cost-effective. Second Uncle only had a piece of land and two dilapidated earthen houses, and his household registration wasn’t even in the village. They had only received a little over two hundred thousand and an eighty-square-meter relocation house. They still needed to pay the price difference for the additional twenty square meters, so if they wanted to buy two homes, they might consider selling their current work unit house or getting a mortgage.

Sure enough, Uncle said they had already secured loans for two houses, providing half of the down payment, and the monthly repayment for both houses would be a thousand.

Chen Jin immediately became interested. “Uncle, where are these houses? I want to buy a few myself.”

Uncle looked at her approvingly, thinking to himself that she truly is the “pride of his teachings,” sharing the same investment insight as him. “They’re near the wholesale market in Xicheng (West) District. I have a good feeling about that area; the commercial center in West District is definitely going to expand there. After we finish here, we can head over in the afternoon. I know the developer of that property, and we’ll get discounts for buying multiple units.”

After saying that, he looked at his cousin beside him. “Wenkang, you should go over and take a look too. It’s always a good idea to invest in property when you have money.”

third Uncle and third Aunt were very convinced by Uncle’s words. “Alright.”

After checking out the second floor, they went downstairs, and Professor Shen wasn’t in a hurry to ask them. He led them to the neighboring small villa for a look. It was indeed true that the right one was better; this house still had some clutter that hadn’t been cleared away.

“Third Sister, what do you think?” Uncle asked.

Chen Jin had already been eager to buy this house as soon as she saw it from the outside.

It was beautiful, in a great location, and had excellent educational resources, with high-quality neighbors living nearby.

However, living alone in a whole villa felt a bit too spacious for her.