Chapter 57

He laughed and said, "I can't make that decision. If you'd like, let's go outside and I'll make a phone call and ask them."

That would be even better, Gu Jinshui nodded.

The older sister went out and found a phone booth to make a call. She didn't know what the person on the other end said, but after hanging up, she said, "Xiao Gu, let's wait here. The landlord will be here soon."

Gu Jinshui invited his older sister to wait at a nearby tea shop. After a short while, the landlord arrived. He was a 34-year-old man wearing glasses. He looked refined, but his hands were covered with calluses from manual labor.

"Is this Comrade Gu?" The homeowner was taken aback when he saw Gu Jinshui, clearly not expecting him to be so young.

Gu Jinshui was also somewhat surprised by him, and nodded, "It's me. How should I address you?"

"My surname is Zhang, you can just call me Old Zhang." Old Zhang adjusted his glasses. He wasn't a talkative man, and he would cough after saying a few words, clearly indicating that he had some health problems.

As soon as Old Zhang arrived, the eldest sister beckoned the two of them to go over to the Courtyard House. The tea shop was too crowded and noisy; it wasn't a place to talk.

Old Zhang was a very easygoing man. After arriving at the place, he looked around with a complicated expression and then said, "You said you wanted to lower the price of this house, how much cheaper are you willing to pay?"

"How about a discount of two thousand?" Gu Jinshui asked tentatively.

Old Zhang didn't speak, but after thinking for a moment, he suddenly asked something, "I heard from my older sister that when you bought the house, you helped the homeowner get rid of a scoundrel. You have a bit of a reputation in Beijing, don't you?"

Gu Jinshui immediately looked at her eldest sister.

The older woman was extremely embarrassed. She quickly explained, "Xiao Zhang, it's not that simple. Xiao Gu was just trying to help others, not bullying anyone."

"I know that."

Old Zhang nodded. "I wanted to ask if you've seen our family's Courtyard House?"

"That house whose backyard was taken over?"

Gu Jinshui remembered that the house there was much bigger than this one, but the location was worse. Coupled with this incident, Gu Jinshui didn't even consider buying a house when he was thinking about it.

"Right."

Mentioning this, Old Zhang's face showed anger. "If you can help us get rid of that family, we'll sell you both houses for 80,000. If not, we'll only give you a discount of 1,000 on this one house at most."

The eldest sister quickly winked at Gu Jinshui.

Don't get involved in this!

Old Zhang noticed the older sister's look, and he smiled slightly, saying, "You can go and discuss it. I won't force anyone. If it works out, great; if not, then forget it."

The older sister quickly stopped Gu Jinshui and pulled him aside, saying, "Xiao Gu, don't be impulsive. It's not so easy to take advantage of someone like that."

"Sister, from what you're saying, nothing's happened to that house recently?"

Gu Jinshui didn't rush to make a decision, but instead inquired about the situation first.

That apartment was originally worth 28,000, and the two apartments together should have been worth 88,000. But Old Zhang saved him 8,000. With that kind of money, it would take him at least four or five years to spend it all on eating, drinking and having fun.

If there's nothing fishy going on here, then something really strange would happen.

It's true that good things can fall from the sky, but they're always poisoned.

"You don't know this, but last month I took some people to see the house, and it was really unbearable to look at. The owner of the backyard had his relatives move into the front two yards and wouldn't let anyone see the house. If anyone wanted to see the house, a whole bunch of people would stare at them. Tell me, who would dare to buy it?"

My older sister gets a headache just talking about it.

It's truly disgusting to encounter something like this. Those people are never satisfied with taking advantage of others; they not only take over someone's backyard, but also their front yard.

Ordinary people wouldn't dare buy this kind of house. If these scoundrels stay in your house and refuse to leave, it's like you bought the house and gave it away to someone else.

No wonder it was 8,000 cheaper.

I guess Old Zhang was also harboring some resentment, and since he'd heard that Old Zhang had some reputation, he wanted to take advantage of him.

This person was quite honest and didn't hide anything, letting you make your own decision: whether you wanted to take the bait or not was entirely up to you.

Chapter 65 The Sixty-Fifth Day of Being Eavesdropped On

Having made up his mind, Gu Jinshui said to his elder sister, "Thank you for reminding me, elder sister, but this time I want to meddle in other people's business."

The eldest sister stared wide-eyed at Gu Jinshui, as if she were looking at a monster with horns on its head.

She asked, "Are you really sure?"

Gu Jinshui nodded.

The older sister had no choice but to say, "Alright, since you're willing, I have nothing more to say."

She sighed and said, "You young people always want to take advantage of a bargain, but you should think about whether it's really that easy to get something for nothing. You'll be in trouble later."

Despite her grumbling, the eldest sister still relayed Gu Jinshui's words to Old Zhang.

Old Zhang looked at Gu Jinshui, "Did your older sister tell you about what happened in that courtyard?"

"Yes, I already know about it," Gu Jinshui said. "If you're willing, I'll give you a deposit of ten thousand, but it will take me some time to raise the rest."

"There's no rush. Just send the money within two months."

Old Zhang looked at Gu Jinshui with an approving expression on his face.

He patted Gu Jinshui on the shoulder, "If you can teach that family a lesson, I'll personally give you an extra hundred yuan off."

Upon hearing this, Gu Jinshui chuckled and said, "You've misjudged me. I'm an extremely easygoing person and don't like arguing with people, but I also don't want anyone to take advantage of me."

Old Zhang understood what he meant and nodded.

Gu Jinshui went home to get the money, his older sister witnessed the transaction, and both of them signed their names, thus settling the matter.

"You bought both sets?"

He Chunlian's jaw nearly dropped. She glanced outside and, seeing no one was around, quickly pulled Gu Jinshui inside. "Where are you going to find that ten thousand? Is it so easy to earn ten thousand?"

She frowned, thinking, "I've saved up over four hundred, but that's not enough."

He Chunlian grew increasingly worried. Seeing her son grinning foolishly beside her, she couldn't help but slap him on the head. "You're still grinning? I told you, why are you so greedy?"

"Mom, you praised me for being smart when you took my money last night."

Gu Jinshui shrank back a little and said with a grin.

He Chunlian rolled her eyes at him. "Times have changed. I'm telling you, how many people are in our family? What do we need so many houses for? Will we even have enough room? Besides, let me tell you, even if we buy those houses, we shouldn't move out right away."

He Chunlian had her own concerns.

Everyone can see that the Old Gu is living a good life. They eat meat every few days, which is nothing special. Everyone knows that Gu Jinshui earns a lot, and everyone in the family has a job, so it's understandable that they eat well.

But if you live in Courtyard House, it will attract too much attention. Not to mention whether the neighbors will be jealous, people will also gossip about how you got the money, and you will inevitably attract some people's attention.

"Mom, you heard from your granddaughter that this house will be valuable in the future."

Gu Jinshui naturally had his own ideas, "Besides, after we buy the house, we can even eat the roof tiles. Don't you think that's great?"

At this point, the old lady was actually quite tempted.

Gu Jinshui quickly added, "Besides, we'll set up a stage for you in a room, and put all your opera gear there, so you won't have to search for a place to perform every time."

He Chunlian's only love in this life is opera, Gu Jinshui's words struck a chord with her.

She relented and said, "Alright, since you've already bought it, just tell me what you're going to do with the money. Stop keeping me in suspense."

"Well, your son is planning to go on a trip out of town and will probably be back in a month or two." Gu Jinshui cupped his hands in greeting to He Chunlian. "I'm afraid you'll have to take good care of our family during these one or two months."

He Chunlian rolled her eyes at Gu Jinshui.

She knew her son was up to no good. "Alright, get out of here. You talk to your wife about this. If she agrees, then there's nothing more to say."

"Alright, thank you, Madam." Gu Jinshui even gave a slight bow, which amused He Chunlian.

Liang Ying didn't say anything more, only saying, "Go by yourself, the road isn't safe."

"I'm thinking of asking Shanhu and Douzi who wants to go with me."

Gu Jinshui was clearly not just after a quick fortune. He said, "These past few months, there have been more and more people trading grain coupons and Foreign Exchange Certificate. This business isn't easy to make money in. I'm planning to take them to do something else. There aren't many people in the antique business yet, and it's considered a respectable line of work. If the two of them are willing, it's good for them to switch to another line of work."

Liang Ying nodded. "You can decide. I'll pack you some clothes, and you should also bring some National Grain Coupons."

"My wife is so considerate," Gu Jinshui said with a grin.

Gu Jinshui originally thought that Douzi would probably be willing to do this, but Shanhu might not be so sure, since Shanhu had just gotten married and was still newlywed; how could he bear to go out?

Unexpectedly, it was Douzi who didn't go, but Shanhu did.

Douzi scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "This place is too far. My mom is worried about me going. Sorry, bro."

"I'm sorry, you're right." ②This②work②was②compiled②and②uploaded②by②a②user②of②Si②Tu②Online②Reading②.

Gu Jinshui paused for a moment and said, "But Shanhu, you'd better think this through. You've just gotten married, do you think your wife will agree?"

My wife will definitely agree.

Shanhu nodded. "My wife always says I should listen to you more. You're a smart man, listening to you is always the right thing to do."

Gu Jinshui's lips twitched; he didn't know whether to laugh or say something.

He said, "Then you'll have to go back and ask. If your wife agrees, give me a call, and we'll leave the day after tomorrow."

"Okay." Shanhu agreed without hesitation.

Douzi felt embarrassed, probably because he felt he was being unfair, so the next day he went and got a bunch of National Grain Coupons and a wooden gun.

Gu Jinshui was stunned when he saw the wooden gun. "Where... where did it come from?"

"This was a gift from my brother's friend; he said it was a homemade gun he collected from the village."

Douzi said, "This bag is full of bullets, bro, shoot all you want."

Three black lines appeared on Gu Jinshui's forehead. "Are you alright? Your brother and I went to shovel soil and collect stuff. We were just going to fight like mad, you think we're fighting the Japanese?"

"Then, should I take the things back?"

Douzi scratched the back of his head, looking a little embarrassed.

Gu Jinshui glanced at the gun, coughed, and said, "Don't do this again. Don't bring these things again. I'll accept it this time."

This is a wooden gun. Gu Jinshui had seen others play with it before. Which of those thugs didn't have something in their hands, like homemade guns, cannons, and grenades? He never touched it.

I'm going out this time, and I don't know what I might encounter on the road, so it's good to bring some things with me.

"By the way, brother, speaking of which, I encountered something strange today."

"Douzi said."

Gu Jinshui asked, "What's wrong?"

"Didn't I go to find National Grain Coupons for you guys today? I ran into your wife's cousin and your neighbor, they were all exchanging for these, isn't that a coincidence?" Douzi said with a smile, not thinking too much about it at all.

Gu Jinshui didn't think much of it. Liang Renyi had borrowed money from relatives and friends, but he hadn't been able to go abroad and was now heavily in debt. Recently, he had been making a little money by exchanging grain coupons. As for Song Jianshe, that kid had made a fortune and his family was eating meat every day. Who knew why he wanted National Grain Coupons?

After packing my things, I booked my train ticket for 5 PM the next day.

At night, Gu Jinshui asked Liang Ying to take out the few small yellow croakers that Song Jianshe had given to Liang Renyi earlier. These things were hard to sell in Beijing, but it would be easy to exchange them elsewhere.

The next morning, He Chunlian made a lot of pancakes, steamed a pot of buns, and boiled a lot of eggs. Gu Yinxing was envious when she saw it. "Mom, are you going to cook for my brother for a whole month?"

"Go away, go away, what nonsense are you talking about? Your brother went out with Shanhu. Shanhu eats a lot, so I made more so he can have enough to eat on the way."

He Chunlian said, her hands moving swiftly as she cut the dough.

In the afternoon, the Gu Family Members and Lin Lu came to see them off.

The train station was packed with people. Gu Jinshui, worried that they would be jostled, said at the entrance, "You guys go back. There are so many people inside, it'll be too crowded to go in. Shanhu and I will go in."

"Alright, Jin Shui, you and Shanhu have to look after each other on the road. Be careful, understand?"

He Chunlian was filled with worry.

Liang Ying didn't say anything, she just helped Gu Jinshui zip up his bag.

There's always so much to say before someone leaves.

Not to mention Gu Jinshui was somewhat