Chapter 219: Love Sealed with Tian Xianma!

Soon, the two arrived at a building in the center of the complex and followed the gate guard upstairs.

The building has one unit per floor, a clear step above the one‑or‑two‑unit‑per‑floor layouts in Jia Su Yuan.

The gate guard led them to the third floor, stopped, and knocked on the door.

"Manager Chen, please open the door."

"One moment."

A gentle, refined male voice came from inside.

When the door opened, an elderly gentleman in a silk shirt with graying hair appeared before them.

"Good day, sir. We heard you are selling a house and have come to view it."

Xu Yuexin greeted him first.

"Yes, I brought them to see the house. Manager Chen, are you available now?"

The gate guard asked respectfully.

"Convenient, very convenient."

The elderly man, called Manager Chen, smiled and invited the group inside.

Manager Chen's home has a four‑room, two‑hall, two‑bath layout and is tastefully renovated.

It features a crystal chandelier, marble floor tiles, and a coffee‑colored leather sofa—a full‑blown old‑money vibe.

In the living room, a 21‑inch large Color TV (abbr) was playing, announcing its presence with sound.

Seeing such luxurious decor, Tian Xianma felt nervous and thought it was too extravagant for her.

"Take a look. My apartment has four south‑facing rooms, and both bathrooms are bright‑type."

"The lighting is undeniable."

Manager Chen gave a brief introduction and then fell silent, appearing very composed.

Xu Yuexin asked little, merely touring the living room and each room.

The apartment's condition was excellent; although its age was certainly considerable, it looked almost brand‑new.

Each bedroom had fish‑tail‑joint solid‑wood flooring, a relatively high‑end style even by later standards.

Regarding appliances, besides the living‑room TV, the master bedroom also contained a smaller Color TV.

Both bathrooms had hot water and featured a dry‑wet separation layout.

If described in two words, this apartment is "top‑grade."

"Manager Chen, this apartment is privately owned, right?"

After viewing, Xu Yuexin confirmed with him.

Ownership is no trivial matter; even if the gate guard told him it was a private house, the buyer must reconfirm with the seller.

"Correct, I bought this apartment before liberation."

"Now my child is doing business in Guangzhou, and I plan to sell and move south to live with him."

Manager Chen said, "I'll give you the property deed to look at."

After speaking, he turned back to the master bedroom, crouched, opened a large drawer, and took out a big red property deed, placing it before Xu Yuexin.

Xu Yuexin opened the deed, examined it carefully, and verified the apartment's details.

The floor area is 182 sqm, owned solely by Manager Chen.

Since the concept of shared public area does not exist in this era, there is no distinction between building area and usable area.

"Alright, thank you."

Xu Yuexin returned the deed to Manager Chen, then turned to the gate guard, "We'll go see the next unit."

There is no need to ask Manager Chen for a price immediately; that would make us seem too eager.

"Mm‑mm, okay."

The gate guard nodded and greeted Manager Chen, "Sorry to bother you today."

"No problem."

Manager Chen nodded and turned to Xu Yuexin, "Shall we exchange contact information?"

"Sure, this is my home phone number."

"Please write it down."

Xu Yuexin said, reciting a string of digits to Manager Chen.

Manager Chen returned to the master bedroom, fetched paper and pen, wrote down the number, confirmed it again with Xu Yuexin, and then escorted them out.

At the first meeting, both sides seemed unhurried.

The gate guard led Xu Yuexin and Tian Xianma to another house, located in a different building, which looked fairly plain.

Compared with Manager Chen's home, it fell short in many ways; the area was smaller and the decor a lower tier.

During the viewing, Xu Yuexin, just as at Manager Chen's place, exchanged phone numbers with the seller before leaving.

"Let's look at another place."

When leaving Jia Su Yuan, Tian Xianma said uneasily, "The houses here are too good."

"If I'm buying it for you to live in, it has to be good."

Xu Yuexin replied indifferently, "You can stay at my place for now; when the house is finalized, we'll move you over."

Tian Xianma nodded silently, still worrying that Xu Yuexin's purchase might be too expensive.

Back home, Xu Yuexin did whatever needed to be done, not at all hurried.

These days, few are willing to pay out of pocket for a house; he believes Manager Chen will contact him proactively.

…

Sure enough, a few days later he received a call from Manager Chen.

"Hello, may I ask if you're the comrade who viewed the house last time; are you still planning to buy a house now?"

"I'm still looking at other houses."

"Oh, I was wondering when you'll be free to come over and look; I'm waiting for you at home."

"Then I'll go over the day after tomorrow."

"Alright, anytime works."

"Beep—"

Xu Yuexin hangs up the phone, revealing a knowing smile: the seller really couldn't wait.

Two days later, he returns to Manager Chen's home, and, just like before, looks at the house again.

"I've seen so many houses lately that I can hardly remember them."

Xu Yuexin says cheerfully, "I remember your surname is Chen, right?"

"Right, what do you think of my house?"

"Whether it's good or not, it all comes down to the price."

Xu Yuexin smiles politely.

"You're asking about the price??"

"It's not very cheap; it comes to over three hundred per square meter."

Xu Yuexin shakes his head, looking disapproving, and says.

"The houses by Tuanjie Lake sold for 400 per square meter the year before last."

Manager Chen defends himself, "I'm selling at 300 per square meter; that's a conscience price."

"You can't put it that way; theirs are new houses."

Xu Yuexin spreads his hands and says, "How about this: a lump sum of 40,000, and I don't want any of the furniture inside."

"No, no, 40,000 is definitely too low; even a bungalow wouldn't be that price."

Manager Chen furrows his brows and says, "If you offer that price, we can't negotiate."

"Don't say we can't negotiate; give me a price too."

"Didn't I already give one? Six ten‑thousand yuan."

"I mean, lower it a bit more."

"Lower it? Then 59,500, how about that?"

"Damn, you only lowered less than three yuan per square meter; it's practically no discount."

Xu Yuexin forces a wry smile, "We shouldn't haggle like this over a transaction, right?"

"Well, I have lowered the price already."

"Fine, then I'll add a thousand, 41,000."

"Your addition isn't much either."

"No, no, at least I'm adding in thousands, which is better than adding a few hundred here and there."

Xu Yuexin says with a pointed meaning.

Xu Yuexin's plan is to secure the deal for under 54,000, i. e., keep the per‑square‑meter price below 300.

"Alright, you mean I lowered too little, right?"

Manager Chen falls silent and says, "How about this: I'll go to my room and call my wife to discuss."

"Okay, you go ahead with the call."

After Xu Yuexin finishes speaking, he steps onto the balcony to wait.

The view from this apartment is excellent; looking south it stretches endlessly, and you can see Earth Temple, Moon Altar and other famous Jingcheng landmarks.

The surroundings are under rapid construction, with commercial areas and parks among the public facilities.

Must secure this apartment.

Moreover, the unit price must stay below 300.

Xu Yuexin silently resolves.

"Comrade, I've placed the call."

Shortly after, Manager Chen's voice came from the living room.

Xu Yuexin turned and walked back to the living room, sitting on opposite sides of the table from him.

"Actually I'm willing to lower a bit; the main obstacle is my wife's approval."

"Just now on the phone I asked her if lowering to 55,000 would work, and she gave me a tirade."

Manager Chen, looking troubled, says, "How about this: I'll take the initiative and lower it to 55,000 for you, and you don't ask me to lower any further, okay?"

55,000…

It's getting closer to Xu Yuexin's target price.

Yet it's still a bit high.

Moreover, Manager Chen dropped the price by nearly 10% in one go, making him think it could be cut further.

"I can't come up with 55,000."

"My maximum is 45,000."

Xu Yuexin says resolutely.

"Damn, at 45,000 we really can't negotiate."

Manager Chen takes a deep breath, shifts his gaze out the window, and says.

"Then how much do you think we can agree on?"

"I've already said 55,000; I won't lower a single cent more."

Then I can only say there's nothing I can do; perhaps I'm not meant for this house.

Alright, I wish you find a house you're satisfied with.

Sorry to disturb.

Xu Yuexin finished speaking and was about to stand up, when Manager Chen also rose.

Just add a little; if you raise it a bit more, we can still negotiate.

He changed his previously firm attitude, speaking softly.

I've already increased; you said 55,000, I raised it to 45,000, now shouldn't it be your turn to lower the price?

My house is a good one; if I lower it by less than 300 per square meter, I'll incur a loss.

It's not you, Manager Chen; didn't you say we could negotiate? Why are you unwilling to lower it now?

……

Manager Chen, a bit flustered by Xu Yuexin's words, fell silent, clasped his hands and looked out the window.

Xu Yuexin just stood there, staring at the doorway, looking ready to leave at any moment.

53,000—how about it? That's my bottom line.

After a moment, Manager Chen, biting his back molar, said; from his tense cheek it was evident he truly had no intention of lowering any further.

The 53,000 price was indeed lower than Xu Yuexin's original expectation of 54,000.

But the problem is…

If we don't keep haggling, how can we know it won't go down again?

I'll add 3,000—48,000.

Xu Yuexin sat back down and said, 'Manager Chen, you see my sincerity, right? You lower by 2,000, I raise by 3,000.'

That's how second‑hand house deals work; you can't just relentlessly push, sometimes you must let the other side perceive your sincerity.

Because whether buying or selling, it's always dealing with people, and people have tempers.

If you haggle too harshly, even an anxious seller may flip out and refuse to sell.

Manager Chen nodded and sat back at the table.

The problem is, in our transaction talk, merely speaking of sincerity is useless; the price gap is still too large.

Manager Chen, still frowning, said.

Big or small is relative; compared to the initial 20,000 difference, our current gap is small enough.

Xu Yuexin comforted Manager Chen, 'If you lower a bit more, we can close the deal.'

You still want me to lower?

Hehe, we have to have give‑and‑take, don't we?

Xu Yuexin said calmly.

He could see that Manager Chen was indeed a bit flustered now.

No, no, I've lowered too much. It was 60,000 before, now 53,000; I've dropped a full 7,000.

If you insist on give‑and‑take, then you should be the one adding money.

I already added 8,000, so in total I'm up by 1,000 more than you.

Moreover, last time it was also my added money, so now it should be your turn to lower.

Xu Yuexin gave no ground.

His tone was gentle, but on principle he could not retreat.

If I lower by 100, is that okay?

Manager Chen pursed his lips and said.

Fine, then I'll add 150, which is 50 more than you.

Xu Yuexin shrugged, 'At this rate, we're definitely not going to make a deal.'

If we can't make a deal, so be it.

Manager Chen, with a completely indifferent expression, said.

That's just a hot‑word.

The fact that we could sit together today means we definitely want to close the deal.

Xu Yuexin said calmly, 'How about this: we go out for tea, my treat, okay?'

Alright, let's go out.

Manager Chen stood up and said, and Xu Yuexin walked out of Jia Su Yuan.

Xu Yuexin had a purpose in taking Manager Chen out.

When the seller stays in his own house, he tends to like the house more the longer he looks, making price negotiation harder.

Taking them outside might achieve a different effect.

Now, seeing the negotiation reach its toughest stage, Xu Yuexin plans to take Manager Chen out for a test.

The two walked onto the street, and Xu Yuexin led Manager Chen into a tea house, ordering a pot of fine green tea Biluochun.

Look, how lively it is around here.

After sitting down, Manager Chen pointed at the crowd inside the tea house and said, 'Selling you at 53,000 is really not a loss.'

Wait, isn't it 52,900?

Xu Yuexin laughed.

Ha, right, it's 52,900.

Manager Chen was also amused, and couldn't help but laugh.

Ladies and gentlemen, the green tea Biluochun you ordered is ready.

Before long, the waiter shouted from the counter.

Xu Yuexin got up, went to the counter to retrieve the teapot, and poured himself a cup of tea.

Manager Chen took the teapot from his hand and poured a cup as well.

"Quite fragrant."

Manager Chen took a sip, set down his cup, and praised, "Thank you, I finally got good tea with you."

"Manager Chen, no need for courtesy; let's continue discussing the price."

"You talk about the price, actually there's not much to discuss; 52900 is already low enough."

"It's okay, when averaged it's close to 300 per square meter, not cheap."

"Then you have to look at the quality of my house; across the whole Si Jiu Cheng, there aren't many places with renovations like mine."

"Lower it a bit more."

"You raise it; I don't want to lower it any more."

"You want me to raise it, huh..."

Xu Yuexin took a deep breath, pretended it was difficult, and said, "Actually I already raised it in the previous round; letting me raise it again would be bad form."

"But since you said so, I'll give a lucky number, 48888; how about that?"

"Lucky as it is, it's still a bit too low."

"Then you name a price."

"51888 then, also a lucky number, hehe."

"Alright, still short by three thousand, right? Then 49998, a middle value, how about it?"

"Fine, this isn't a middle value. I'm short by almost 2000, you're short by about a thousand."

"It's roughly the same. As long as you agree to 49888, I'll pay the transfer tax, okay?"

"Including tax, right..."

Manager Chen felt moved.

If Xu Yuexin covers the tax, he could indeed save an amount.

One should know that the transfer taxes for a second-hand house add up to about a thousand.

"Alright, it's settled at 49998; let's go sign the Contract now."

Manager Chen said cheerfully, "We agreed in advance that I have to take all the furniture and everything."

"Hmm, I originally planned to acquire a new set as well."

After agreeing on the price, the two returned to Manager Chen's home, took the property deed and household registration book to the Fang Guan Ju to handle the transfer procedures.

…

After completing the transfer, Xu Yuexin gave Manager Chen three days to clear out the house.

Three days later, he and Tian Xianma came to the house for inspection.

The originally spacious 180‑square‑meter, four‑room two‑hall layout appeared even more expansive after the furniture was cleared.

The intricate, lavish patterns on the accent wall and the marble floor glittered under the crystal chandelier; with Tian Xianma inside, it felt as if she were living in a dream.

"It's only 200 meters from your academy; walking there in winter won't be cold."

Xu Yuexin pulled a set of keys from his pocket, handed them to Tian Xianma, and said, "I'll have the furniture ready in a couple of days."

"I'll buy the furniture."

Tian Xianma took the keys and said, "We can't just live here for free."

Alright, then let her buy.

Xu Yuexin thought to himself.

The transaction price for this apartment was 49998, averaging 274 per square meter.

In later generations, the average price of old, rundown complexes here is around 100,000, so a large, well‑renovated house like this commands a much higher price.

In a word, it was a huge profit.

Starting from the 1980s, the area with the greatest subsequent price surge in Jing is Haiding District, due to its rapidly rising education sector.

"I'll stay at your place tonight."

"Let's go buy a bed right now."

Xu Yuexin said to Tian Xianma.

His daughter‑in‑law is on a business trip today; he doesn't want to go back, so he'll spend the night here with Tian Xianma.

Is the day finally here? Hearing Xu Yuexin's words, Tian Xianma shyly nodded, her face reddening like an apple.

A moment later, the two went to Dazhaolan, intending to buy a large double bed of size 2.2.

Xu Yuexin is tall, a small bed wouldn't accommodate him.

Unfortunately, large beds are hard to find these days; Xu Yuexin and Tian Xianma kept asking until noon before they finally bought a bed that met the size requirement.

The two hired a three‑wheeled cart to transport the bed back to Jia Su Yuan, and carried it upstairs to assemble.

When assembly was finished, it was already noon, and both were famished.

"Let's go eat."

"Hmm, we'll eat at home."

Tian Xianma said, "Didn't he leave the gas stove behind?"

"Alright, I'll go buy some noodles."

Xu Yuexin said, and with a clatter he went down to buy two cans of noodles and a jar of chili sauce, then returned.

Tian Xianma picked up the noodles, went to the kitchen, and poured water into the pot she brought to prepare to boil the noodles.

"Clack, clack."

Heavenly Mother twisted the switch several times in a row, but it wouldn't turn.

"What's going on?"

Heavenly Mother bent down, shook the gas cylinder, and found it empty.

She had to return to the living room, jostle Xu Yuexin's shoulder: "It's out of gas, we need to replace the cylinder."

"Replace the gas cylinder, right? Got it."

Xu Yuexin stood up, said, and walked into the kitchen to remove the cylinder, then slung it over his shoulder and quickly went downstairs.

After twenty or thirty minutes, he carried the cylinder back home, connected it to the pipe, and turned the flame on.

"Thanks for your effort."

After Xu Yuexin straightened his back, Heavenly Mother took a handkerchief and carefully wiped his sweat.

Then she went to the gas stove, waited for the water to boil, and added a one‑and‑a‑half‑cylinder of noodles.

It was hot, and Heavenly Mother wore only a thin, sleeveless silk mid‑skirt, perfectly displaying her rounded, perky hips and firm, sculpted curves.

"Dear."

Xu Yuexin stayed in the kitchen without leaving, and then from behind he wrapped his arms around Heavenly Mother.

Heavenly Mother, already scantily dressed, flushed instantly when Xu Yuexin pressed close.

"Stop fooling around, I'm cooking the noodles."

Heavenly Mother, both shy and flustered, said, reaching out to try to move Xu Yuexin's hand away.

How could Xu Yuexin possibly let Heavenly Mother off?

He turned off the stove flame, and with his other hand he grabbed Heavenly Mother's chin, forcing her to turn and kiss him.

Between them, intimacy grew ever tighter.

"Hmm…"

Heavenly Mother, under Xu Yuexin's manipulation, quickly fell into a confused, passionate haze, her half‑closed eyes showing a tremor.

Today… really here?

Heavenly Mother thought anxiously, her mind in turmoil.

Soon, Xu Yuexin answered with his actions.

(End of chapter)