Buying a House

As soon as Shen Jingchuan put down his bowl and chopsticks, steady footsteps sounded outside the courtyard gate. He looked up to see Lin Weiyuan strolling in and hurried to his feet to welcome him.

"Chief Escort Lin, what brought you here? Please, come inside and have a seat."

Lin Weiyuan nodded slightly and followed him into the main hall. His gaze swept over the cups and dishes still on the table, and he remarked, "Just had a meal? Looks like I came at the right time."

"Just finished." Shen Jingchuan respectfully invited him to sit in the seat of honor. Qingshu, who was standing by, hurried over to pour hot tea, then quietly gathered the dishes and withdrew.

Lin Weiyuan came straight to the point. He pulled a sheet of mulberry-bark paper bearing a vermilion seal from his sleeve and pushed it toward Shen Jingchuan:

"I've got most of your household registration taken care of. The yamen still needs another three to five days to complete the official filing, and it won't all be settled until the approval comes through. But with this household registration document, you can travel and stay at inns without trouble. No one will question you."

Shen Jingchuan picked up the paper, his fingertips tracing the slightly raised seal. Relief washed over him. He had been planning to bring the matter up in a few days, but Lin Weiyuan had already taken care of it on his own initiative. He immediately cupped his hands and said:

"Chief Escort, you've thought of everything. I was just planning to mention it to you in the next few days, but you've already gone to the trouble."

"It was no trouble at all."

Lin Weiyuan waved a hand, his voice steady. "To be frank, I put you under the registration of a collateral branch of my Lin Household, with myself as your guarantor. You're registered as a resident of this county.

"Your original name hasn't been changed. You haven't been adopted as an heir, and you're not taking the name of a family with no descendants. This is simply a way to settle here with a local guarantor, so the authorities won't treat you as a wandering refugee and give you trouble.

"Once the official seal is approved, you'll be a bona fide resident of this county. You'll be free to buy land or do business in the future."

"Chief Escort, you've been so thoughtful. Jingchuan can't thank you enough." Shen Jingchuan cupped his hands again, his expression earnest.

Lin Weiyuan smiled and waved it off. After a few more casual remarks, he rose and said:

"All right, there's still a pile of things to deal with at the escort agency, so I won't stay. If you need anything in the future, just tell the girl Yue'er."

He turned to Xiaoyue, who stood nearby, and instructed her gravely, "See that you take good care of Young Master Shen. If you neglect him in the slightest, you'll answer to the household rules."

"Rest assured, Master. This servant understands." Xiaoyue lowered her head and answered obediently.

Lin Weiyuan nodded, then gave Shen Jingchuan a parting nod and strode out of the main hall. Shen Jingchuan saw him to the courtyard gate, then returned to his seat, quietly breathing a sigh of relief. He had been worried that he had no way to settle his household registration, but Lin Weiyuan had taken care of it outright, sparing him countless troubles.

Early the next morning, after breakfast, Shen Jingchuan casually told the maids in the courtyard that he was "going out for a stroll," then shouldered his already packed backpack and left. Following his memory, he headed straight for the general store where he had sold the glass mirror last time.

Shopkeeper Wang was working his abacus to check the accounts. When he looked up and saw Shen Jingchuan enter, his eyes lit up. He quickly put down the abacus and came forward to greet him. "Oh, Young Master, you're here! Please, come in, come in. Are you here to...?"

Shen Jingchuan glanced around.

The shopkeeper understood. He quickly cast a couple of glances at the street, and this time, without even inviting him into the counting room, led Shen Jingchuan straight through the back door to the main hall in the rear courtyard.

No sooner had they sat down than a young maid brought in fine hot tea. The hospitality was more than twice as attentive as last time; he was plainly treating Shen Jingchuan as an honored guest who brought him wealth.

Once the maid had withdrawn, Shopkeeper Wang rubbed his hands and asked with a smile:

"Young Master, have you come today with more fine goods to sell?"

Shen Jingchuan got straight to the point. He took the backpack off his shoulder and set it on the table:

"Shopkeeper Wang, we've done business before, so I won't beat around the bush. Take a look at these."

He took the mirrors out of the bag one by one and laid them across half the table, twenty-two in all, both large and small. He had removed all their packaging in his bedroom the day before so he could fit more in the bag.

Shopkeeper Wang leaned forward and inspected them one by one, running his fingertips over their smooth, clear surfaces. The smile in his eyes grew wider and wider.

He had found someone to make a frame from fine wood for the mirror he had bought last time that very evening, then sold it the next day.

He had approached five wealthy men from the prefectural city, and they had fought fiercely over it. In the end, it sold for six hundred taels.

He had filled his bowls and pots to overflowing with profit. Now, with more than twenty mirrors arriving at once, this was a major deal indeed.

Neither man wasted words. They went back and forth over the price for three or four rounds. Shopkeeper Wang held fast and refused to add the slightest bit more, while Shen Jingchuan couldn't be bothered to haggle over every detail. In the end, they settled on exactly one thousand taels of silver.

That worked out to less than fifty taels per mirror. Since the mirrors were smaller this time, the price per piece was much lower than before, but he made up for it in volume. They also sold quickly, saving him a great deal of trouble.

After leaving the general store, Shen Jingchuan tucked away the silver notes for one thousand taels and headed toward East Street, following his memory. The official brokerage was not far from the slave market where he had bought the maids last time, only half a street away. It occupied two storefronts in the bustling market district, with a wooden sign reading "Official Brokerage" hanging outside. It looked much more orderly than the private brokers along the street.

As soon as he reached the entrance, a sharp-eyed clerk at the counter noticed his satin clothes and distinguished bearing. Smiling broadly, the clerk hurried out to greet him:

"Please come inside, Young Master! Are you looking to buy property, hire people, or entrust goods to us for sale?"

"A house." Shen Jingchuan stepped inside. "Somewhere quiet and safe. I don't like noise. Something larger, too."

The clerk's eyes lit up. Property was the biggest business a brokerage handled, and it paid the fattest commission. He immediately led Shen Jingchuan to a seat at the side and served him tea, saying with a smile:

"Young Master, you've come at just the right time. We have three suitable properties at present. One is a small two-courtyard house in an alley in the south of the city. It's quiet, but a little small. There are also two three-courtyard houses. One is the former residence of a retired local official; it's conventional and well laid out. The best of the lot was built by a wealthy merchant from the Chu Kingdom in the style of a garden estate. The owner is in a hurry to return home and has entrusted us with full authority to sell it. None of the furniture or furnishings inside has been touched. Which would you like to see?"

"Let's look at the Chu Kingdom merchant's house first, then."

The clerk hurried to lead the way. After turning through two streets, they entered a quiet, secluded alley.

He pushed open the black-lacquered gate. The first courtyard held the front rooms and gatehouse, with blue-brick paving underfoot and intertwining floral patterns carved beneath the eaves. Through the ornamental inner gate lay the second courtyard. Its main hall was spacious, the side rooms neatly arranged. Though the painted beams were not ostentatious, the work was delicate throughout.

Farther back was the third, inner courtyard, complete with bedchambers, adjoining rooms, and a heated sitting room. Best of all, a small garden of half a mu had been laid out in the western side courtyard.

Rocks had been piled into an artificial mountain beside a pool of clear water. A covered walkway wound around it and connected to a pavilion. The plants were neatly trimmed. It looked exactly like the Suzhou gardens he had seen in videos, exquisitely crafted and almost impossibly elegant.

The interior was even less trouble: the tables, chairs, beds, and cabinets were all made from fine wood, with delicate grain and meticulous carvings. Even the porcelain vases and ornaments on the display shelves had been left untouched. It was no exaggeration to say he could move straight in with just his bag.

"How much is the asking price for this house?" Shen Jingchuan was already tempted, but his face betrayed nothing.

The clerk smiled ingratiatingly. "One thousand taels of silver. The wood and labor alone cost more than that, and it comes with a full set of furniture. It really isn't expensive."

Shen Jingchuan's heart skipped a beat. Wasn't that exactly how much he had in his pocket? He scoffed:

"Don't try to fool me. An ordinary local three-courtyard house costs only five or six hundred taels. No matter how good this one is, you can't just double the price out of thin air."

"Young Master, look at what's inside!"

The clerk hurried to point things out to him. "Look at this furniture—it's all made from solid nanmu. And the rockery and pond in the garden were built by craftsmen specially brought in from the Chu Kingdom. The owner has a long journey ahead and can't take a single piece with him, so he's throwing it all in for free! If you bought these furnishings separately, they'd cost several hundred taels at least."

Shen Jingchuan looked around. He knew the furniture and furnishings really were valuable. They were worth quite a bit in this other world, and if he took them back to the modern world, they would fetch astronomical prices. He tapped the tabletop:

"Six hundred taels. If that works, we can talk."

"Oh, Young Master, who haggles like that?"

The clerk's face fell. "I'll be straight with you. The owner left a minimum price, and he absolutely won't sell for less than eight hundred taels. We're an official brokerage. Our prices are clearly marked, and we don't profit from the difference; we only earn a brokerage fee. We really can't go any lower."

Shen Jingchuan pondered for a moment. Eight hundred taels was within the range he could accept. He changed tack:

"All right, we'll go with your price. Tell me, who's required by law to pay the deed tax? How much is it? And how do you calculate your brokerage fee?"

Seeing him relent, the clerk hurried to answer:

"Young Master, the rule is that the buyer pays the deed tax. Here, the regular tax is one part in thirty. Add the deed preparation fee and a shared allowance for losses, and it comes to about five percent in all."

He paused, then added the brokerage's rule:

"As for the brokerage fee, the old rule in the trade is three from the buyer and two from the seller: the buyer pays three percent, and the seller pays two, for five percent altogether. That's how we do it at the official brokerage. We never charge arbitrary fees."

Shen Jingchuan quickly worked out the figures in his head:

The house cost eight hundred taels. At three percent, the deed tax was only twenty-four taels, and with miscellaneous fees it would be forty at most. The buyer's three-percent brokerage fee was another twenty-four taels. Altogether, that came to a little over eight hundred and sixty taels. With one thousand taels in his pocket, he really did have enough.