A Chance Encounter

No matter what you're selling, adding a story to it will cause price fluctuations.

The fact that Wang Fugui's house was haunted allowed Zhang Xuezhou and his group to get a bargain at the time.

Di Rang's house, on the other hand, was built on his own tragic circumstances in an attempt to fetch a high price.

Zhang Xuezhou had to admit that Di Rang was a businessman; the timing of the other party's move was excellent.

In Chang'an City, buying a house not only requires qualifications, but also the consent of the neighbors. It is difficult to buy a suitable house, and it is even more difficult to buy a house nearby.

Di Rang had an extremely sharp eye; after discerning the needs of Zhang Xuezhou and others, he directly proposed a top price for this kind of wealthy mansion.

The average price of such residences ranged from one hundred to one hundred and twenty taels of silver. One hundred and eighty taels was definitely the highest price allowed by the Jingzhao Yin Prefecture, which was also three times the price Zhang Xuezhou paid for Wang Fugui's residence.

Zhang Xuezhou wasn't sure if Di Rang really needed to give gifts to sell the house, but he did want to buy Di Rang's house.

The reason for this is nothing more than its proximity to the Zhang residence, which is its biggest advantage.

However, the price of the house in Di Rang was indeed higher than normal. Zhang Xuezhou didn't want to buy a house at a low price, but he also had no intention of being ripped off by buying a house at a high price.

"I've been stalling with Lao Di for two days, and he keeps saying he's having trouble. Sigh," Rong Tianding sighed.

"Lord Dongfang, I truly have no other choice!"

Di Rang looked troubled and sighed as he mentioned his various hardships.

"Your price is a bit high," Zhang Xuezhou said.

"Those wealthy and powerful families would give gifts worth hundreds of taels of silver at a time; I would have to go bankrupt to give one," Di Rang said. "Success can save my inn's business and secure an official career for my son; failure means losing everything. I have no choice but to be cautious!"

Di Rang shook his head repeatedly.

For him, the more money he has to give gifts, the better, and he wants to make sure the gifts are given properly the first time; otherwise, any small gifts he gives will be a waste.

This is the path that small and medium-sized business owners must take: either grow bigger or back down to ensure safety, and then never recover.

Di Rang said he would really give gifts, and the gifts he gave would be of high quality.

"Which official are you planning to give a gift to?" Zhang Xuezhou asked.

"Marquis of Wu'an!"

"Lord Tian?"

Di Rang quietly described the recipient of his gift, which made Zhang Xuezhou hesitate for a moment.

Zhang Xuezhou had met Tian Fen. He was not good-looking but polite and generous. Zhang Xuezhou had even earned some medical expenses from Tian Fen's son, Tian Tian.

Di Rang's recipients were of very high status, so the gifts he gave would naturally be of extremely high quality, with hundreds of taels of gold being a normal standard.

But as long as Di Rang succeeds in delivering the gift, the other party will receive a good return. Not only will they be able to keep their residence, but they will also be able to secure a minor official position with real power for their son in the imperial court in Chang'an City.

Zhang Xuezhou couldn't help but be surprised by the recipient of Di Rang's gift. This was almost equivalent to Song Fengying starting her business in Western Capital City a few years ago, suddenly having connections to give gifts to members of the Sequence Committee, and these members even helped Song Fengying solve her business problems, and might even give Zhang Xuezhou or Zhang Manqian some convenient positions in Western Capital City.

This stark contrast made Zhang Xuezhou slightly doubt whether Tian Fen could accept a gift from Di Rang, a mere innkeeper.

"Can you enter the Marquis of Marquis of Wu'an's residence?" Zhang Xuezhou asked doubtfully.

"The Marquis of Wu'an is a humble man, and he never refuses a request to meet," Di Rang said happily. "It's difficult for me to enter other marquis's residences, but entering the Marquis of Marquis of Wu'an's residence is no problem!"

Di Rang and Rong Tianding argued back and forth for several days. When Zhang Xuezhou joined in, after chatting with him for a while, he immediately noticed that Zhang Xuezhou's attitude had softened.

"Since you have connections, I, as your neighbor, cannot stand in your way!"

Zhang Xuezhou pondered for only a few seconds before indicating that he could purchase Di Rang's house at a high price. As long as it met the pricing standards set by the Jingzhao Yin Prefecture, he had no problem offering a high price.

Rong Tianding opened his mouth, then closed it again, watching the show with great interest.

Buying a house in Chang'an City doesn't necessarily mean Di Rang's house, but finding a suitable property takes time and requires waiting for the seller. Finding a house that is at a suitable distance from the seller is also a difficult task.

Otherwise, Rong Tianding wouldn't have spent several days Di Rang.

Zhang Xuezhou's change of attitude stemmed from learning Di Rang the gift to, which was obviously good news for Zhang Xuezhou Zhang Xuezhou justified his decision to buy the house at a premium.

When Zhang Xuezhou got up and invited Di Rang to the Jingzhao Yin Mansion to change his household registration, Di Rang was overjoyed.

Zhang Xuezhou was Di Rang's right neighbor, Di Rang invited his left neighbor, Xu, to accompany him.

The Xu family owned three food stalls in the West Market, buying goods at low prices and selling them at high prices. They were quite wealthy, but when they heard about the high prices that Di Rang offering, they almost considered selling their own house as well.

As the group chatted along the way, Zhang Xuezhou became more interested in Xu's residence.

"Lord Dongfang, we've been talking for several days now. My house underwent major renovations last year; it's practically brand new, and it cost a fortune!"

Di Rang used to think that the Jingzhao Yin Prefecture was not far from his home, but today, even though he was in a carriage, it felt like the ends of the earth.

If Zhang Xuezhou and others take a liking to the Xu family's house, his own house, which he has entrusted to others for sale, will have to participate in the bidding, making it difficult to sell at a top-tier price.

"My house was renovated last year too. My husband and Old Di applied the tung oil together," Xu said. "As long as someone wants to buy it, I can sell my house too!"

There were four people in the carriage: Zhang Xuezhou, who was his right neighbor; Xu, who was his left neighbor; and Rong Tianding, who had bought a house with his Chang'an City identity.

After some discussion, Xu also considered listing her house for sale at the Jingzhao Yin Mansion.

The house she bought in Chang'an City ten years ago for sixty and a half strings of cash. Even if she sold it for around one hundred and forty taels of silver, not to mention Di Rang's high price, it would still be more than she had made in many years of business.

Selling a house doesn't preclude buying another. Ziteng a cheaper place to upgrade isn't difficult. Xu is well-informed in the West Market; she even knows of several houses for sale at prices far lower than this one.

Having lived there for over ten years, Xu felt it was a great deal to be able to sell the house for double the price. Stimulated by the price Di Rang offered for the house, she started muttering that she would also sell the house when her husband returned.

"They're so unscrupulous when they sell houses!"

Rong Tianding moved his lips and communicated with Zhang Xuezhou.

"Merchants take pride in selling their goods at high prices," Zhang Xuezhou said, his lips moving slightly. "Last time I bought five hundred taels of gold, which is equivalent to sixteen hundred taels of silver. Buying a house like this won't be a problem. If we could buy a whole area of houses where we live, we'd have a decent place to live!"

"Several old Uncle Zhangs have visited Chang'an City several times, and they find city life very difficult to adjust to," Rong Tianding said, his lips moving slightly. "They say they don't have the skills to make a living in the city and want to hunt for a living outside!"

"Hunting and housing don't conflict; having a house gives you more confidence!"

Zhang Xuezhou whispered something.

Regardless of whether the many people from Zhang Household Village are used to living there or whether they can earn a living in Chang'an City on their own, having an extra house is not a problem.

If we can bring back another group of Zhang Household Village people from Huainan in the future, they will have a place to stay.

Zhang Xuezhou felt that he would buy any house in the neighborhood that was for sale, provided he had the financial means.

The carriage traveled straight to the residence of the Prefect of Jingzhao, where Zhang Xuezhou decided to quickly complete the paperwork for Di Rang's house.

When he arrived at the Jingzhao Yin's residence and boarded his carriage, he happened to see Anguo, a wealthy and generous man who had come to Chang'an City seeking an official position.