Chapter 150 - 125: Who Do You Think She’s Still Waiting For?
"Over six thousand?! That’s a bit expensive!" Mrs. Zhao gasped.
The owner’s wife smiled and said, "It is expensive, but the house is quite nice. It’s a traditional blue-brick-and-tile-roof building. You can rent out the first-floor storefront and still live on the second floor."
Zhou Yan was lost in thought. ’Spending six thousand to buy a building in this era definitely isn’t cheap.’
’In an age when a ’ten-thousand-yuan household’ was considered rich nationwide, anyone who could fork over six thousand for a house had to be a self-employed entrepreneur who’d made some money.’
’But the restaurant’s daily net profit was nearly two hundred yuan now. If they were frugal, they could save over five thousand a month.’
’They could earn enough in one month to buy a building in Jiazhou!’
’When he calculated it that way, it didn’t seem so expensive after all!’
’The fact that people were buying and selling meant the policies allowed for it.’
Besides, Ban Chang Street wasn’t far from East Main Street. While there would be a price difference, it shouldn’t be too drastic.
This only strengthened Zhou Yan’s resolve to come to Jiazhou and buy a building.
In this era, the price of a siheyuan in a more remote part of the Capital was probably about the same.
He wasn’t afraid to admit it, even if it sounded ridiculous—he had never even been to the Capital in his previous life.
Now, in a place where he was a total stranger, the idea of him carrying several thousand yuan and taking a train for days and nights to go buy property up north... he’d probably be fleeced so badly there wouldn’t be anything left of him.
Jiazhou was different. His uncle was the Head of the Armed Forces Department now, a bona fide deputy section-level cadre. At the very least, if anything happened, his uncle could back him up and prevent him from being bullied.
Of course, the ceiling for property investment in Jiazhou was low. One building would be enough. Once he had more money, he would definitely move his investments to Rongcheng.
He was familiar with Rongcheng, too. He could buy property in Taikoo Li, Chunxi Road, or the Financial City with his eyes closed.
He didn’t have to aim for Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, or Shenzhen.
He had a good mindset—content with being comfortably well-off, not harboring any huge ambitions.
Zhou Momo was three and a half this year. Zhou Yan’s goal was to have her attend elementary school in Jiazhou and middle school in Rongcheng. If she could get into No. 7 Middle School, wouldn’t getting into a university be a piece of cake?
Mrs. Zhao and Comrade Zhou didn’t understand these things. As her older brother, he definitely had to plan ahead for her.
Zhou Yan didn’t expect her to achieve great things in the future, but he hoped that when she figured out what she wanted in life, she would have more options to choose from.
Two steamers of shaomai later, the whole family was full.
Zhou Yan paid the bill and returned the steamer baskets and dipping saucers.
"I told you to just leave them there and I’d collect them. No need to trouble yourself bringing them over," the lady said with a smile as she took the baskets.
"It was no trouble." Zhou Yan smiled and asked casually, "Ma’am, does your boss own this building, or is it rented? I’m thinking of starting a small business on East Main Street and wanted to ask about the situation."
The lady lowered her voice. "Our boss bought this place. It’s his own storefront. If you were to rent, a single unit this size would cost at least fifteen yuan a month."
"Do you know how much he paid for it?" Zhou Yan also lowered his voice.
"I don’t know." The lady shook her head, then glanced toward the port. "A couple of days ago, our boss mentioned that the building at the intersection up ahead seems to be for sale, but the price is ridiculously high, and it’s a huge hassle."
"Ma’am, one steamer of shaomai."
"Okay! I’ll get it for you!"
The lady got busy, so Zhou Yan didn’t ask any more questions. But his mind was now completely focused on that building at the intersection.
What kind of storefront was the most valuable?
It was always the conspicuous corner property.
The intersection of East Main Street faced Jiazhou Port directly and was right by the river.
Zhou Yan pushed his cart, said a word to his parents, and headed straight for Jiazhou Port.
Soon, a blue-brick-and-tile-roof building came into view.
This building was huge!
It stood at the end of East Main Street, straddling both East Main Street and Binjiang Road.
It directly faced the main gate of Jiazhou Port, and diagonally across from it was the Shancheng Navigation Company. Merchants traveling by boat would see this shop the moment they disembarked.
People strolling along Binjiang Road would also stop here to watch the cruise boats in the port.
The location of this building was just too good!
Zhou Yan glanced around. The property covered at least three or four hundred square meters, and that was a conservative estimate.
Like the other buildings on East Main Street, holes had been knocked into the wall to create two rentable storefronts—one sold noodles, the other sold braised foods.
If Zhou Yan remembered correctly, this entire area was later demolished and redeveloped into a commercial street.
The building looked quite old. It had a blue-brick perimeter wall, flying eaves with blue tiles, and even a gatehouse at the entrance. Behind the tightly shut main gates, he couldn’t tell how many courtyards it contained, but it looked like the former residence of a prominent family.
However, he looked around but didn’t see any "For Sale" notices posted.
"What are you looking at?" Mrs. Zhao couldn’t help but ask, seeing Zhou Yan looking all around.
"Is there something yummy?" Zhou Momo piped up, looking around with him.
"The lady from the shaomai shop said this building is for sale. The location is amazing. I’m going to go ask around. Have Dad watch the cart, and you take Momo to the port to see the boats," Zhou Yan whispered to her. He then headed straight for the braised food shop.
Mrs. Zhao’s eyes widened when she heard this. Staring at the grand residence before them, she thought, ’Just how much would this cost?!’
"Mommy, I want to see the big boats," Zhou Momo said, hugging her mother’s leg and swaying back and forth, her eyes full of anticipation.
"Alright, let’s go. I’ll take you." Mrs. Zhao scooped her up, said a word to Zhou Miao, and headed toward the riverbank.
Zhou Yan walked into the braised food shop. The owner was a middle-aged man who had just finished weighing some pig’s head meat for a customer. He smiled and said, "Young man, what can I get for you?"
"I’ll take a pig’s ear," Zhou Yan said with a smile, glancing at the price list on the wall.
"You got it!" The owner put a pig’s ear on the scale. "Three liang. That’s ninety cents."
"Okay, please slice it." Zhou Yan nodded. He waited until the owner started cutting the pig’s ear before asking, "Sir, I heard this building is for sale?"