The road to wealth of a peasant widow

Chapter 152 Buying a House and Land

Sure enough, after returning from the visit to Mr. Zou's house, Changping's originally tense spirit relaxed a little.

"Thanks to Mr. Zou's guidance, otherwise I might have taken some detours in this exam. Thank you, mother, for taking the trouble to arrange it for me." Changping said gratefully.

My mother found Mr. Zou through Mrs. Zhang's relationship, and brought four gifts when she came, which should be worth thirty or forty taels of silver. All of this was to help him pass the exam smoothly.

Chen Cui smiled and said, "It's fine as long as it can help you with the exam. Don't be too nervous. You are young, just think of it as an experience. Let's do our best and leave the rest to fate. Don't worry too much about the result."

Although Changping nodded with a smile on his face, he secretly made up his mind to pass the exam and not let his mother down.

Probably because Chen Cui was a big customer, the people at the dental office were very efficient, and within two or three days, a complete questionnaire appeared in front of Chen Cui.

"Mrs. Chen, these houses basically meet your requirements. They are all close to several well-known schools in the city, and they are quiet in a bustling place. I have listed the information about these houses. Please take a look first, and then we will go to see them one by one."

Chen Cui was a little surprised. The service of these dental shops was quite considerate and they worked very hard. They even knew to let customers screen the resources at hand first. With so many places, there would always be one that the other party liked.

Chen Cui was accompanied by the brothel owner and started to look at the place one by one.

In one day, they looked at a total of six houses, two of which she liked particularly, one near Longnan Academy and the other next to Siyuan School.

These two schools are the best among the many schools in the city. The number of students who pass the exams every year is almost the same, so they are considered to be of equal strength.

Longnan Academy has been established for many years and has many children of commoners. It provides various scholarships for poor students with good grades. The internal environment of Siyuan Academy is more superior and it has more students from wealthy families. However, there is one thing in common: the admission examinations of both schools are very strict.

Before leaving, Chen Cui actually visited the teacher of Dongming Academy and mentioned that her children might have to transfer to the provincial capital. She also sought the teacher's advice to see if her children's level could pass the assessment of a good academy.

At that time, her husband told her with certainty that any of the three children could be admitted, but which one would depend on their personal choice.

Chen Cui talked about the styles of these schools and carefully consulted Changping's opinion. Based on his understanding of his two younger brothers, he decided to choose Longnan Academy.

Chen Cui also likes the house near Longnan Academy. It has two courtyards, many rooms, and spacious front and back yards. Although it was built more than ten years ago, it was renovated last year and the internal facilities are very new.

Moreover, the location is really good. It is quiet in a bustling city, less than one kilometer away from Longnan Academy, and the neighbors on both sides are all wealthy families. The living environment is much better than when I was in the county town.

The price of this house is not cheap either. The owner asked for five hundred and sixty taels. Even if you can bargain it down a little, it won’t be much cheaper in the end.

However, their family may have to live in the capital for several years in the future, so of course they have to choose one that suits their taste, so as to avoid regrets after moving in.

Besides, for Chen Cui now, this amount of money is nothing. In a while, the profits from canned fruit and hot pot will be distributed as dividends, and her savings will increase further. What's the point of earning money if she doesn't spend it?

After some bargaining, Chen Cui bought the house for five hundred and twenty taels, went to the government office to sign the deed, and then found someone through a pawnbroker to renovate the house.

In order to have someone to keep an eye on the progress of the project, Chen Cui bought a house for her family, which consisted of four people: a couple with a son and a daughter.

Xu Dagui and his wife originally worked in the residence of the Tongzhi master, but the master was transferred to another place and could not bring too many people with him, so their family was sold out.

Because there were four people in their family, they didn't want to be separated, but few buyers bought so many at once, so they hadn't been sold for more than a month until they met Chen Cui.

Xu Dagui can drive and repair cars, take care of flowers and plants, and do daily repair work. His wife Ding used to work as a laundryman and sewerman in the prefectural government, and she is very good at needlework.

Xu Dagui's son Xu Xiaoman is thirteen years old. He used to be a servant in the mansion, doing errands and messages. His daughter Xiaoxue is only ten years old and usually does sweeping and some odd jobs in the yard.

Although this family is honest, they are not stupid, and Xu Dagui is not a fool. He is just not good at scheming and values ​​family ties.

He didn't want to go with the adults alone, and would rather stay and be resold with his family, as long as the family could be together.

Chen Cui's family is not a wealthy family, and the population is simple. They don't need servants who are too smart and capable, lest they be too calculating and end up harming their master.

After Xu Dagui's family was bought, they were naturally grateful to Chen Cui, the new owner. Knowing that she was a lady with an imperial decree, they felt much more relieved.

Chen Cui settled Xu Dagui and his family in the back house of the new house, told them her entire renovation plan, and asked him to supervise the construction. She only needed to come regularly to inspect the progress.

Soon, the time for the provincial examination arrived. Changping counted the things he needed to bring with him and walked into the examination room confidently and calmly.

Chen Cui did not wait outside the examination room. She wanted to go to a farm recommended to her by the dentist outside the city.

This farm covers an area of ​​more than 100 acres, with two courtyards and seven or eight households attached. These are all ancillary properties of the farm and must be taken over if one wants to buy it.

"Mr. Yang is in the silk cloth business, but a batch of his goods was caught in the rain in Jiangnan, causing great losses. However, the store cannot be left without goods to sell, so he has to sell this farm to raise funds to restock."

On the way, the broker explained to Chen Cui the reason why the seller wanted to sell the land, and Chen Cui just nodded.

Who knows whether it is true or false? Just like people who sell houses today, the reasons are mostly the same. No matter what the reason is, as long as Zhuangzi meets her requirements and the deed is real, it's fine!

Having said that, this farm is really nice. The wheat and millet are growing well, and the view is a dazzling green.

The land here must be quite fertile, otherwise even if the farmers took good care of it, it would be impossible to achieve such results.

Chen Cui asked about the price and learned that the total price of the farm and the farmers was eight hundred taels, which was not expensive.

But out of shopping habit, she still asked the broker to bargain for the best possible discount.

On the day when Changping's examination was over, Chen Cui paid seven hundred and eighty taels and became the new owner of the farm.