Summer in Bianjing is gradually coming to an end.
Since Li Gou left, the quality of food in Taixue Restaurant has dropped to another level.
The soup was truly a refreshing soup. Even if Zhang Yue used the secret of scooping soup, it would not help. Even the Taixue steamed buns from the original 38th trial were gone.
Zhang Yue and his roommates couldn't bear it anymore, so they all went out to have a toothpaste ceremony outside Taixue.
Everyone was not going to another place, but to a famous soup cake shop next to Taixue.
Since the arrival of summer, the business of this soup cake shop has been booming.
Zhang Yue and several others from his room sat down at the soup cake shop and all asked for a piece of cold locust leaves.
This cold locust leaf tao is also a must-have in Bianjing. Su Shi's poem said, "The cold locust leaf is icy on the teeth, and the soup cake and yokan are hot in the stomach." This is the delicacy of Bianjing.
After the locust leaf cold food was served, everyone ate it happily. The noodles are made from locust leaf juice and flour, which have been cooled with well water. When you eat it, it is extremely cold and refreshing in your mouth. The taste is indescribable.
Among the people, Sun Guo ate the noodles very quickly, slurping away, but it wasn't long before he finished a large bowl of Sophora japonica Lengtao.
Everyone joked: "Sun Da, don't you chew the noodles?"
Sun Guo smiled and said, "We Xijing people never chew noodles when we eat it."
Zhang Yue heard this and thought to himself, the legendary Qin people's custom of eating noodles without chewing it has been around for such a long time. I thought it was an allusion to Su Shi and Su Che.
Zhang Yue thought that these two brothers were demoted to the south by Zhang Dun. On the way, they met a soup cake seller and went in to eat noodles. Su Che looked at the poor pasta and couldn't eat it, but Su Shi finished it in a hurry.
Su Che looked at it and asked, "Brother, you are so awesome, how did you eat it?"
Su Shi laughed and said: "Jiusanlang, you still chew the noodles?"
After Qin Guan learned about this, he said that Su Shi ate noodles just like drinking wine. He just drank it, no matter what the taste was.
Everyone was chatting and laughing for a while. Sun Guo had a big appetite, but he couldn't bring himself to order another bowl of noodles, so he shouted to the store owner: "Uncle."
When the shopkeeper arrived, he said to Sun Guo, "What are your orders, sir?"
"Another bowl of milky water!" Sun Guoyan said.
Zhang Yue saw him and said, "I'll give Brother Sun another bowl of noodles."
"Okay, what toppings?"
Zhang Yue said: "Just lean meat topping."
Sun Guo smiled. He loved to eat lean meat with noodles, but Zhang Yue always remembered it in his heart.
Zhang Yue patted him on the shoulder and said, "Just go ahead and eat."
Sun Guo smiled sheepishly.
Everyone ate the cold food with big mouthfuls, which relieved the heat a little.
After eating, Zhang Yue was about to collect the money, but he realized that Huang Lu had already settled the money quietly. As for Fan Zuyu, who wanted to collect the money secretly, he was a step slower.
Although Huang Lu was not the richest person in the house, he was the most generous in his dealings. He was very anxious about people's difficulties, but he never wanted to take credit for it afterwards.
The five of them finished eating their noodles and looked back at Taixue while walking and chatting.
Fan Zuyu occasionally mentioned that the imperial court wanted to build residences for hundreds of officials, so some private houses were demolished. After hearing this, Zhang Yue couldn't help but ask: "How much compensation did the imperial court pay?"
"It's just a piece of land in the north of the city."
Zhang Yue said: "From the inner city to the outside, wouldn't it be a loss of money?"
Huang Lu said: "It's good to be able to do this. In the past, the imperial court would not subsidize the people when they demolished private houses. Emperor Taizong wanted to expand the palace several times, but he gave up because he couldn't bear that the people would have no fixed place to live after the expansion."
Zhang Yue was stunned for a while.
Huang Haoyi suddenly sighed: "Even so, I still want to have a spare room in Bianjing."
Zhang Yue listened to Huang Haoyi's words and wondered if he remembered his previous experience of being divorced and the ruined mansion.
Sun Guo on the side shook his head and said: "Silang, this is difficult. There are quite a lot of officials living in Bianjing's houses now. Besides, even if I buy it, you won't live in it. You have to study in Taixue at night."
Huang Haoyi heard this and said, "Why can't we live in it? After I get married, I can also settle down with my family. Even if I am alone now, I can rent out the house in the future and collect some crazy money, isn't it good?"
Sun Guo said: "That's true. Many people in Bianjing are crazy about money to support their families. The clothes in winter and summer are all provided by crazy money, and their daily food and drink are all provided by crazy money. If they can make a living by themselves, , I can go to a restaurant, and it’s actually a more leisurely life compared to running around and working all day long.”
Huang Haoyi sighed: "No wonder it is called crazy money. The money earned in this way does not require knowledge or hard work. It can ensure harvests during droughts and floods. You can make money all year round. You can just sit at home all day long. I wish I had a room."
Everyone chatted for a while, but no one took it to heart, but they reminded Zhang Yue.
Zhang Yue now has more than a thousand dollars, but he is not in a hurry to buy a house, but he thinks of his experience when he went to Xiang Qijia for a wedding banquet that day. Zhang Yue felt that he still needed a house.
Zhang Yue remembers that during a blind date, when a girl would ask from the front or side if she had a house or a mortgage, Zhang Yue would feel a little ashamed no matter how he answered with words.
If you don’t have it, you don’t have it. You don’t have enough confidence.
What impressed Zhang Yue most was an advertisement in which an ordinary-looking man met his fiancée's parents in a hotel for the first time. At first, his parents-in-law were very dissatisfied.
As a result, this man escaped with real estate certificates, celebrity photos, prestigious school education, luxury car keys, and various black and gold cards. The father-in-law's face turned pale, and he finally shouted, "Waiter, order!"
No matter how good the relationship is, it cannot escape the gravity of reality.
Buying a house is not just for getting married, it can also be used to collect money.
And there is nothing wrong with buying a house in the capital area with your eyes closed. Before Jingkang, the top-class mansions in Bianjing were worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Zhang Yue suddenly remembered that when he passed by Chen Xiang's house that day, he saw a door post in front of a house.
No matter what, take a look first before talking. Don’t buy it or can’t afford it.
So Zhang Yue dressed up and went straight to Chen Xiang's house during the first lunar month.
Zhang Yue went to the door and took a look. The sticker on the door was still there. It seemed that the house had not been sold yet.
At first glance, the house seems to be quite old.
Because it was still early, Zhang Yue stepped on the 'plate' first. He looked around and saw that ordinary people lived here. There were not only six or seven restaurants and teahouses, but also two or three brothels.
Although this is a slum in Bianjing, it is very atmospheric.
Thinking about it, Zhang Yue quite likes such an old man. At least the neighbors know his kindness, and he is also very enthusiastic about gossip. You take the girl to your house at night, and the next day they can tell you her three-generation resume.
They will rush to tell you where the food is cheaper on weekdays, supermarket sales, etc.
Living here, Zhang Yue always feels that you don't have to work too hard in life. Living so leisurely, even haggling with the vegetable seller and fussing over every detail is a first-class pleasure in life.
Soon the door of this house opened. It was a middle-aged woman carrying a bucket as if she was going to fetch water from the well at the entrance of the alley.
When Zhang Yue saw him, he bowed and asked, "May I ask this lady if you want to sell a house here?"
Although this woman looked simple, she was also very capable. She smiled and said, "What? Are you going to look at the house on behalf of your elders?"
Zhang Yue patted the dust on his robe and said, "I don't need anyone else to make the decision."
The woman was still hesitant.
"Madam, let this scholar come in!" someone called from inside the room.
Zhang Yue walked into the yard and looked around. The layout was actually similar to the house in Pucheng's hometown.
My house is surrounded by a fence, but this household is surrounded by an earthen wall.
There is a small yard inside, with some chickens and ducks on the left, and a large urn with water in it on the right.
The middle-aged man was busy weaving rattan and said to Zhang Yue: "Xiucai, see for yourself, we don't have a living room or a side room here, just two rooms inside and outside."
Zhang Yue thought to himself that it is much smaller than his own home, but if a first floor is added in the future, it will be more spacious.
But Bianjing is no better than Pucheng.
Pucheng is very humid and it is best not to live on the first floor, but Bianjing can.
Zhang Yue walked into the door and saw the woman carrying the bucket without putting it down. She looked like she didn't believe she could buy a house.
Zhang Yue didn't care and walked in directly.
Zhang Yue looked at the kitchen stove in the outer room, a small square dining table, and two chairs on the side. He opened the curtain and walked to the inner room. A bed took up half of the room, and there were also clothes racks, washbasins, and the like. There are plenty of miscellaneous things.
After Zhang Yue read it, he went out. The middle-aged man asked: "Do you like the scholar? I have seen three or five buyers, and two or three said they would go back and wait for news."
Zhang Yue said: "It's quite quiet here."
The man stood up after hearing Zhang Yue's tone and said, "Of course."
Zhang Yue asked: "How much is it worth?"
The man said: "I have asked my neighbors before. This house is worth 1,100 yuan. We will not sell it for less than this price."
Zhang Yue understood that the process of selling a house in the Song Dynasty was very cumbersome.
For example, if you ask your relatives and neighbors, how should you ask?
First, list your neighbors and relatives on a ledger, and then put the sale price in this ledger. Ask your relatives and neighbors one by one, and if they are allowed to sell the house, put a deposit on it.
The house can only be sold for a price higher than this price and cannot be sold for a price lower than this price.
Zhang Yue knew that the average house price in Bianjing was 1,300 guan. Considering the location here, 1,100 guan was quite reasonable.
However, Zhang Yue remembered that the deed tax of the Song Dynasty was 4%, and the price for renting a fang in the future was 1,200 guan.
Zhang Yue is still short of dozens of guans, but borrowing the money won't be a problem.
The man and the woman couldn't help but smile when they saw that Zhang Yue seemed to be calculating.
"I'll think about it when I go back. I don't care about these two days anyway."
Zhang Yue said: "Can I see the account book?"
The couple looked at each other, and the middle-aged man said to the woman: "Go get it and show it to the young man."
The woman was a little reluctant, but finally went to the house to get it and showed it to Zhang Yue.
Zhang Yue confirmed the account book and said, "Okay, you better show it to others. I bought this house."
The woman's face changed from suspicion at the beginning to surprise as she said: "Xiao Langjun, you have really good taste. If nothing else, our house is definitely one of the best in Bianjing."
The man ignored the exaggeration in the other person's words and said, "I'll go to Fang Ya right away and make a written deed, and then go to the Yamen to make a white deed."
Zhang Yue looked at the two of them and said, "Don't be busy now. I'll invite Fang Ya myself. When the time comes to get the order, I will give you the money first. But the white deed is not counted in the government. After we make the red deed, If everything is paid in full, what do you two think?"
When the man and woman heard this, they looked at each other and thought that this man was young but he had a good reputation.
