Chapter 24: Viewing the House

Junzi took the money, made a phone call home, and left first. Just as he departed, the lead dancer approached again, her eyes lighting up at the sight of the V60. She wrapped an arm around Jiang Xuan's neck and playfully said, “Xuan Xuan, how stylish! Using the same phone as President Song, can I borrow it for a few days?” This woman was heavily made up, with eyeliner that could reach the heavens, but Zhao Zejun estimated she was barely in her early twenties.

Jiang Xuan chuckled, “Cut that out! It’s more like I’d consider lending it to you for a couple of days. This phone was a gift from my brother, not for borrowing.”

“Oh, such a treasure! It wouldn’t be a token of love, would it?” The woman turned to Zhao Zejun and winked, giggling as she reached out to touch his face. “This handsome brother is quite the catch, no wonder…”

“Please, you two, continue your romantic antics. I’ll take my leave!” Zhao Zejun smiled, tilting his head to evade her hand as he stood up to leave.

“Don’t go! Come watch me dance tonight. After work, I’ll take you out to have fun…”

“Absolutely not! I have something important to do tonight!” Zhao Zejun halted, turning back with a serious expression.

“What’s that? Planning to cut someone?” The woman was taken aback.

“Writing my winter vacation homework!” Zhao Zejun declared, turned, and left.

The woman rolled her eyes at his retreating figure, muttering, “Scholars are such pretenders!”

Jiang Xuan burst into laughter, slipping a hand into the woman's open neckline. “I’m the real deal! Come on, let’s talk about life and dreams…”

As the so-called pretender entered his home, he found his father, Zhao Tao, and mother, Zhou Ya, in his room. Two unopened Nokia phones were on the table, and his parents sat across from each other at the desk, staring at the brand new devices as if they were time bombs ready to explode.

“Son, what’s going on with these phones?” Zhou Ya’s expression was akin to that of someone examining a potentially dangerous device.

“I bought them. One for me, one for each of you,” Zhao Zejun said confidently, his tone casual as if he were discussing purchasing two pounds of cucumbers rather than three phones worth several months’ salary.

“Huh? Another one? Three?” Zhou Ya’s multitude of questions were silenced by her son’s straightforward answer, while Zhao Tao cleared his throat, asking, “How much did you spend?”

“About six thousand altogether.”

Zhou Ya shot up from her chair in shock, eyes wide in disbelief as she stared at Zhao Zejun. Zhao Tao was equally surprised, exclaiming, “Where did you get so much money?”

“I mentioned it last time, didn’t I? I was helping a classmate online. His family is wealthy; his father is the head of the Industrial and Commercial Bureau.” Zhao Zejun repeated his previous explanation. He believed in taking things step by step, revealing his earning potential gradually, starting with a phone to build his family's confidence in his financial abilities. When the time came to profit from demolitions, he hoped they would adjust smoothly. If he suddenly presented them with a significant amount of property, they might only feel shock, not joy, and he certainly didn’t want them to think he was involved in something illicit.

Zhao's parents were not well-versed in online affairs. In this era, everyone spoke of the digital age and online economy, yet few truly understood how to make money online. Zhao Tao even looked up a novel by Yu Zhe to get a sense of things.

The content was, to put it mildly, unimpressive, but the site was very popular, featuring large advertisements for the novel that indicated it was a hit.

That night, Zhou Ya and Zhao Tao had a late-night conversation.

“Who would’ve thought our son had such talent in this area? He could be a screenwriter one day!” Zhou Ya said, playing with her phone.

Zhao Tao, while exploring the phone’s alarm features, proudly replied, “Of course! Just look at what your husband does. Our son’s talent for storytelling is definitely inherited from me. By the way, doesn’t that lady at your workplace constantly flaunt her domestic phone in front of you? Tomorrow, when you’re at work, bring the phone our son bought you. During lunch, I’ll call you and tease her.”

“Oh please, I won’t stoop to her level. Her phone costs only a thousand, while our son’s model is worth twice that.”

Zhou Ya set her phone down and leaned against Zhao Tao's arm. “You know, I’m facing job loss soon, yet I don’t feel unhappy at all. In fact, I feel like life is getting better and better.”

Zhao Tao pondered for a moment before saying, “Our son has grown up.”

In the first week of winter vacation, Zhao Zejun began wandering around Gaogang Village. His startup capital was in place—400,000, and after deducting the cost of the phones and setting aside some for emergencies, he could use at least 350,000 to buy property.

In 2002, the average housing price in Yijiang City was around 1,200. The exact price varied greatly due to factors such as location, building structure, age, and neighborhood environment. For example, the Amber Garden where Xia Yubing lived had prices exceeding 4,000, while Yu Zhe’s government housing was close to 3,000.

The building where Zhao Zejun’s family lived was situated within the first ring, by the inner city river, only a river’s width away from the city park, and a half-hour walk to the pedestrian street, making its location quite favorable. However, due to the surrounding urban village’s influence, it had never appreciated significantly, selling for slightly above the average at about 1,300 per square meter.

But the housing prices in Gaogang Village remained a mystery. Strangely, despite living in Yijiang City for so long, Zhao Zejun had never heard how much it cost per square meter in Gaogang Village.

Based on his estimation, the environment in Gaogang Village was poor, the quality of the houses was subpar—mostly brick structures that were bungalows, long neglected. Many properties also had unclear ownership, so selling at five to six hundred per square meter would be quite fortunate. If it weren’t for the upcoming demolitions, such houses wouldn’t attract any interest, even if given away for free.

After wandering around Gaogang Village for a few days, he gleaned some useful information but still couldn’t find out the housing prices. When he asked several families indirectly, they either didn’t respond or spoke vaguely, with some even shutting the door in his face.

This didn’t feel right. Zhao Zejun clearly remembered that Gaogang Village had numerous property transactions every year. A few years back, people with thoughts similar to his tried to wait for demolitions to profit, but they ended up buying several houses, which never got demolished and couldn’t be rented out, leaving them stuck.

This indicated that there should be many sellers in Gaogang Village, so why couldn’t he find out? After pondering for a long time, Zhao Zejun finally figured out a few reasons.

Firstly, the residents of urban villages had a unique nature. On one hand, they were quite insular and closed off; on the other, there were various conflicts among the residents. As an outsider inquiring about money-related matters would naturally result in reluctance to share information.

Secondly, many of Gaogang Village's residents were tenants, not homeowners; since the houses weren’t theirs, they wouldn’t concern themselves with buying or selling issues. Among these tenants, there were mixed backgrounds, and he’d even heard there were fugitives, so they’d be suspicious of outsiders and wouldn’t engage in deep conversations.

Most importantly, Zhao Zejun was simply too young. To others, he was just a student with a youthful face and barely any facial hair. Who would take a student seriously?

Zhao Zejun thought about the fact that he wasn’t just looking to buy one or two properties; relying solely on himself to gather information wouldn’t suffice. Professional matters should be left to professionals. He needed to find a real estate agent.