Chapter 10: Rent or Buy? …

“You’re looking for a place?”

He Maozhu sat up slightly and asked tentatively:

“You should know, houses in the city aren’t cheap. Even just renting a room costs two silver dollars, and that’s not even for a proper north-facing room. And according to city custom, renting requires three extra payments — one for rent, one for tea money, and one for cleaning. The first time you rent, you’ll need to pay six dollars in total. Do you have money? Let me be clear — my family has four mouths to feed, and we’re all getting by selling buns. It’s no problem to let you all squeeze in and stay for a few days, even feed you a few meals, but lending money — that’s out of the question.”

To be honest, even though He Maozhu spoke rather bluntly, he handled the matter very thoughtfully. Not only did he explain the rental prices, but he also laid out the rules around renting, which was truly a sincere form of help for someone new to the capital. Who else would spell it all out so clearly? From this, it was clear that He Maozhu, despite his bluntness, was a decent person — acting very much like a proper elder.

Since he seemed decent, then…

Fang Dahai turned to look at his younger siblings and the two members of the He family, then turned back with a smile and said to Wang Guixiang:

“Second Aunt, do you have anything to eat? This little girl of mine doesn’t hold up well when she’s hungry. Could I trouble you for a bite?”

“Aiya, it’s already noon — I really must be muddled from illness. Yulan, your second uncle still has some unsold buns from this morning. Come, help me heat them up. Dajiang, you must be hungry too. Bring your little sister and come with us.”

Fang Dahai was being so obvious that Wang Guixiang immediately realized this older boy had something to say privately to her husband. So she quickly rounded up the kids and led them toward the kitchen. On the way, she even glanced outside the door to keep an eye out for them, helping give the people inside some privacy.

Fang Dajiang also picked up on the unspoken message. After hearing Wang Guixiang’s words, he turned back to glance at his older brother. Seeing Dahai give a slight nod, Dajiang immediately grinned, picked up Xiangcao, and followed behind. He even called out to He Yulan to take He Yulian from Wang Guixiang’s hands and led everyone to stand by the makeshift kitchen outside the main house, effectively blocking the door to the main room.

“Second Uncle, we’re relatives — and you’re the closest elder we have right now. You’re also our only support in settling down here in the capital. So there’s something I won’t hide from you.”

That was quite the hat he just placed on his uncle’s head — and a heavy one, too. Could it be that this boy’s family… was involved in something unspeakable? Had they offended someone? Committed a crime? Oh no, hopefully this won’t end up dragging us down. If so, this newly claimed kinship might be a costly mistake!

He Maozhu’s heart tightened. His eyes instinctively narrowed as he forced himself to stay calm and nodded.

“Alright, go on, I’m listening.”

“This time we came to the capital not only because all the food in our village was looted and we couldn’t survive. There’s another reason: the big landlord in the village — the one with all the wealth — was taken away by retreating soldiers. They took both the people and the property.”

Fang Dahai didn’t say what came next, but that pause was enough for He Maozhu to fill in the blanks himself.

The landlord was taken away? Along with their wealth? Why would that matter to the Fang family? Unless… unless they were involved in some way? Could there be a problem here?

Wait a minute — if he were in the same situation, and the village had no food left, he’d probably go check out the landlord’s place for supplies. And a household like that — well, even he knew to hide money in multiple spots. A wealthy family would definitely have hidden valuables. So this kid probably found something worth money and came to the capital because he didn’t trust his younger siblings to keep it safe.

At that thought, He Maozhu’s eyes lit up with a flash.

“That landlord’s place in your village… everyone’s already been there, right?”

See — Fang Dahai knew it. Anyone who managed to survive these chaotic times wasn’t going to be a fool.

“Yes, everyone’s been. By the time we left, there was nothing left in that house except the building itself. Even the cart we pushed here was found at the landlord’s house.”

He Maozhu now understood completely. He got up and paced a few circles in the room, then sat down beside Fang Dahai again, leaned in, and asked in a low voice:

“Was it a lot?”

“Quite a bit.”

“In that case… I’ll go ask the old lady in the backyard later. Maybe we can buy a room.”

“The landlord’s in the backyard?”

“Well, not exactly the landlord. This courtyard used to belong to a beileye (a Manchu prince) back in the day. That family supported Zhang Xun’s attempted restoration of the monarchy in 1917. After it failed, they were afraid of reprisals and fled the city with their valuables. The old lady is the beileye’s widowed illegitimate daughter. She had bound feet, so it was hard for her to travel. They left the house to her to watch over as the family caretaker.”

Whoa — clearly not a drama, yet here comes a mysterious old lady? Are all big mansions in Beijing like this? That’s a bit much!

Whether it’s exaggerated or not is hard to say, but one thing’s for sure — this old lady is definitely not the same as that self-proclaimed ‘ancestor’ Dahai had heard of before. This one lives far more comfortably!

“Speaking of that old lady, she’s quite the character.”

They were clearly talking about real estate — yet He Maozhu, being the character he was, somehow veered off into gossip while introducing the landlord. The way he leaned in like he had some inside scoop was almost laughable — and yet, as a younger relative and someone looking to rely on He Maozhu’s help to gain a foothold in the capital, Fang Dahai had no choice but to play along.

“Oh? Odd man out? How?”

“Odd? Indeed, it is strange, at least in this era it’s strange enough.”

As a widow of a great return, according to the traditional aristocratic family education of this era, there is no other way than widowhood. But what about this old lady? Hey, she doesn’t do that! Since the family ran away, she opened up the big heroine’s playbook. Not only did she marry off her own personal maid, but she also found a son-in-law who was two years younger than her.

“What is that old forest head? The mellow prince of the household under the people, the baggage flag, or a master abandoned, with no family, no mouth, and only a lackey? Such a person is fancied by a Gege? Even if this Gege is a widow, that still can’t be right? Waiting to have a son, aigoo, this is even more remarkable! Really, when the old lady sneezes, he has to rush to wipe her nose.”

These adjectives, Fang Dahai was laughing so hard his stomach almost hurt.

“Door-to-door son-in-law, gave birth to a son…hey, then this son…”

“Don’t even mention that this old lady is capable, when it comes to the door-to-door son-in-law, but the first time she found someone, the person was directly targeted. You see, the old lady is from Xilin Jueluo, and her Chinese surname is Lin. This old man Lin, well, also has the surname Lin—what difference does it make who’s surname it is?”

“Indeed, she is a clever old lady, her calculations are beyond ordinary understanding. But this old lady has a top man and son, so this yard…I see there are quite a few people living here.”

“This couldn’t have been avoided. In those years, the head of the city changed the king flag too often. She wasn’t married yet, living alone and afraid, so she began renting out. First, to figure out the popularity of the people; second, she was also thinking of earning some money to support the house. When you have a man and a son, it’s even more important to rent. Otherwise, how would they feed a family of three? The old base is still thick, but it can’t withstand years of wear, can it? By the time the ghosts came…oh, that republican noodles (from 1941) really weren’t something a person could eat. But for her son, she would have to spend a lot of money, right? And by this time, not selling the house would have been impossible. My family, for example, bought at that time, but we spent 200 yang—most of the life savings were used up for that. If not, I wouldn’t be in such a difficult situation now.”

If you want to put it that way, it’s a reasonable explanation. But there’s not much use in figuring all this out; the key right now is the price of the house.

“Then, Second Uncle, what are the prices of houses nowadays?”

“Today, well, honestly, the price of houses is a bit lower than before. After all, in addition to the big staff that came for a while, year after year, some people left. The house price has been dropping every year. The most important thing is that…the fruit party, but there’s not much left of the territory.”

“Yo, I didn’t expect you, a cook, to understand the situation so well! Yes, what kind of people go to restaurants these days? Officials, rich merchants—those who are well-informed people. They always surround these people, and even if they just overhear a few things, they know more than the average person.”

“According to my estimation, if you buy a room now, there’s a difference of about 50 dollars. Hey, thinking about it, you kid actually managed to catch a good time!”

Fang Dahai didn’t want to admit it—he hadn’t been liberated yet. What good time? He hadn’t heard of it. The most difficult part is often the darkness before dawn!

“If so, uncle, what if I buy more rooms?”

Uh-huh? Buy more? Looks like this kid has some good luck! Otherwise, he wouldn’t be talking so big!

“How much can you actually put together? Give me a realistic figure.”

“Two small yellow croakers, thirty yang.”

“That will buy two rooms at most. Nowadays, one small yellowtail can be exchanged for 50 dongs at the money changer, so two would be 100, and that’s just right for two rooms.”

Just right? Not really, huh? There are four of them, and three siblings. Men and women can live separately for now, but what about later? Thinking about the future shortage of houses in the capital, if they don’t get it done this time, they might not get another chance.

“Can’t I add another room?”

“Boy, hey, I’ll teach you a lesson. When buying a house in the capital, once the deed is changed, you have to pay the tax, which is 16% of the house price. If you buy a house worth 100 yang, you’ll need to prepare 16 yang for the tax. Plus, there are other costs like giving gifts to the people transferring the house, covering food and drink expenses for the Chinese people, and so on. By the time you’ve dealt with all that, it’s hard to say how much you’ll have left.”

Yes, how could he forget this? Since the Yamen is easy to enter, but the little ghost is difficult to deal with… In the Ming Dynasty, even Jinyiwei couldn’t avoid it, let alone in such a chaotic time when corruption has become the norm in government offices. Now, he has no backing, no powerful connections. If it weren’t for He Daqing, such a famous cook stepping in, he feared that the meeting money alone could turn these people into flowers.

Fang Dahai thought this over, his mind starting to work again.

He wanted to buy one more small yellow fish, but considering this was the first time meeting He Maozhu, even though he acted very much like an elder, his guidance was sweet. But as the saying goes, there are two sides to everything. As long as he revealed a hint of any backhanded meaning, it could turn into a five-handed or six-handed affair in the future… Not acting now doesn’t mean he won’t need to act later, right? So, he figured he should keep some things hidden.

If that’s the case, then if he wanted three rooms, he would have to start with the house.

Fang Dahai’s mind began pondering various house options in the compound, trying to see how he could stretch this 100 dollars to buy more rooms.

Fang Dahai was pondering here, and He Maozhu was also deep in thought on the other side. Just as Fang Dahai had suspected in his heart, people were indeed wondering if Fang Dahai had hidden something up his sleeve.

Think about it: a young child suddenly comes into a fortune, having seen money for the first time in his life, and yet doesn’t show it off. Instead, he decisively takes his family away and plans to buy a house in the capital to settle down. How is this decisive? With such a mindset, do you think he could reveal his entire family history at the first meeting, or would he bare his heart and soul to a relative he hasn’t seen for years, letting the whole family’s secrets be exposed?

He Maozhu thought it was impossible! At least if it were him, he would never reveal his entire family history so quickly. This kid seems more cautious than he was when he was young—capable? In the end, he is the late-born generation of his own family. Even though such suspicions crossed his mind, he couldn’t directly ask about it. However, because of this, he felt a little more positive about Fang Dahai wanting to settle in the courtyard.

Why? Well, it was for the child’s sake! His daughter-in-law gave birth to He Yulian despite her body being injured. According to the doctor, she needed at least four or five years to recover. And after four or five years, how old would they both be? Over 35—at that age, it becomes difficult to have another child, and whether it’s a boy or a girl would still be uncertain. If they don’t have another child, He Maozhu fears that He Yusong may be the only one to carry on the family name.

It’s said that a father loves his son dearly, but even with that love, He Maozhu can’t be blind. He knows his own son well—he’s not someone who thinks things through, and he tends to be reckless and impulsive, lacking a sense of proportion when it comes to human relationships. With a child like that, as long as he’s around to support the family, it’s fine. But what if one day he’s not around?

The head of the Fang family is at least a brother-in-law, living in the courtyard. The family’s young boy can also be considered to have a strong support. If these two brothers are counted together, the number of male heirs in the next generation of the family would be counted among the top in the courtyard, and there would be no need to worry about their son being bullied.

Thinking of this, and seeing that Fang Dahai still hadn’t made up his mind, He Maozhu’s eyes flickered. He quickly came up with a plan.

“Dahai, ah, do you see that foyer?”

“Huh? The foyer? The one that leads from the front yard to the central yard?”

“The three rooms in the center of that foyer are designated for the main house, but on weekdays, only the central one is used. The two rooms on the side for the sedan chair are left empty. Do you think that if you seal up one side of the sedan chair room and add the two ear rooms next to it, the combined space would be too small?”

“Huh, you don’t say, this is actually a good idea. Although the main room, because of the stone foundation steps, can only be accessed through the foyer, and isn’t as neat as the other houses, the room size itself isn’t a problem. What’s more, both the sedan chair room and the ear rooms on the side can be considered as north-facing rooms, meaning they have good ventilation and won’t be damp.”

“This can work?”

Fang Dahai knew this could be a viable option. With housing becoming more scarce later on, even illegal construction wouldn’t be an issue. Sealing up a sedan chair room wouldn’t be a problem. It could likely be considered a single room, and counted as welfare housing.

But since he had just arrived, he needed to be a little more cautious. He had to give the elders room to make decisions without losing face.

“Why not? Although that house is smaller than my main room, sealing up more than 20 square feet would be enough for a room.”

“Right, the space is fine, but what about the cost…?”

“How big are the two ear rooms? The palanquin room isn’t exactly a proper room, but if you seal it up yourself, the price should be negotiable.”

“Okay, although I don’t know why you’re being so helpful, since you say it will work, then I’ll trust your advice.”