Chapter 1837

Lin Dongxue returned that same evening and said that if it were convenient, she would like to come over for a visit the day after tomorrow morning. She asked him to prepare a little for it tomorrow, but it would also depend on whether the two of them were free; if they weren't, it would be pushed back another day.

The two of them naturally said they were free and would set aside half a day to host them; they could still go about their business in the afternoon.

The next morning, Ye Yaodong and his wife drove to Director Zhang's real estate agency.

Director Zhang had received his call the day before and had already spent the previous day having people compile all the property information that met their requirements. As soon as they arrived, he came out immediately to welcome them.

"Wow, Boss Ye, you're impressive! You're already driving a Mercedes-Benz?"

"My wife is driving it. I haven't even driven it myself yet; I haven't even taken my driver's test."

"The boss's wife is amazing too. You two are both impressive. Come, come, please come inside."

The two of them walked inside while shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries.

When Ye Yaodong went to the shipyard, he didn't send many cars, and if he did, they were sent to the main gate, and he would go in himself to find people. Director Zhang really hadn't seen his Mercedes.

"Director Zhang, I hope you've been well. After the New Year, you seem to have even more good fortune."

"Haha, Boss Ye, you are still so good with words. I've just been eating too well over the New Year and have gained a few pounds."

"That's not called being fat; it's called good fortune. Life is comfortable, and you can only gain weight if you have no worries."

"I really love talking to Boss Ye. If your factory weren't located in the Magic City, I would love to go over to your place for tea every day."

"There will be opportunities. I've set up a Dongsheng Freight Transport Department here, and I've also set up an office that I've handed over to my wife to manage."

Director Zhang looked surprised and smiled as he congratulated him, "Boss Ye's business is truly getting bigger and bigger. You have a processing plant, an office, and transport—it's getting more and more prosperous. Congratulations, congratulations."

"Haha, you're the same. I see your storefront has expanded and you've redecorated too. Even this tea table has been replaced with a new one."

"It's because I wanted a new look for the New Year. I couldn't keep staying in that small, broken room. The facade that needs to be fixed must be fixed, otherwise, I'll be outdone by others."

"Well, once you've earned money, you have to spruce things up to make people feel more trust."

Ye Yaodong wasn't in that much of a hurry. Seeing that he had started brewing tea, he sat down to wait for a drink. Having some tea early in the morning to refresh himself was good too.

"As soon as you called, I immediately had people consolidate all the suitable property listings. Shall I tell you about them first?"

"Sure. Let's talk about these listings while we drink tea. I don't know as much as you do, so you tell us first, and then we'll consider where to go look first."

"Alright. Actually, there are mostly new houses available now; very few people are selling employee housing..."

Those were places where veteran workers had struggled for decades, and many of them had whole families living in just thirty or fifty square meters.

Even if there were some for sale, they were usually absorbed by relatives and friends and didn't circulate to outsiders.

"There are indeed some newly completed commercial housing complexes available for selection now. I also suggest you buy these new houses. After all, they are newly built. Those houses that are ten or twenty years old definitely can't compare to new ones. These developments are mainly concentrated in Xuhui, Baoshan, and Pudong in Puxi, and also involve areas like Jiading. The prices vary quite a bit..."

Ye Yaodong and his wife didn't interrupt, letting him speak first while they drank tea and listened.

After they understood, he expressed his opinion, asking Director Zhang to take him to see the nearest complex first, going from near to far, taking it slowly.

They weren't in a hurry to make a decision immediately; it wouldn't be too late to decide after seeing a few more complexes and understanding the location and environment.

They drove their car when they went, which was convenient and fast.

"Your car is comfortable. It's truly high-end, very impressive. Boss Ye is so young, yet his business is getting bigger and bigger, and he's already driving such a good car."

"I'm not young anymore; I'm almost 40..."

"What? You're 40? Stop joking..."

"Do I look like I'm joking? We've known each other for five or six years, right?"

"That's true, but I haven't seen any changes in you in five or six years..."

Ye Yaodong was smug. His skin was naturally fair. A few years ago, when he went out to sea, although he wore a mask and took protective measures, he still got a bit darker.

After not going out to sea for the past two years, he had turned fair again. Sure enough, fair skin makes one look younger, while dark skin makes one look mature.

"There hasn't been much change in five or six years. I haven't seen any changes in you either."

"There are changes, though. I see that in these five or six years, you must have earned a fortune, as you've been building boats every year."

"Speaking of boats, I still need Director Zhang to help keep an eye on things and urge them along. It would be best if they could be delivered by the first half of next year. After the house matter is settled, I'll go to the shipyard to take a look."

"I will definitely help you keep an eye on your boat. You can rest assured about that. I'll accompany you these few days."

Lin Xiuqing interjected to remind him, "Let's just take a look today. We definitely can't finish seeing so many houses in one day. We have things to do tomorrow morning and won't be free, so let's come back tomorrow afternoon."

"No problem. Since you told me in advance, I will definitely arrange it well and cooperate with your schedule. You are my distinguished guests. If it were anyone else, I wouldn't even bother hosting them myself; I'd just throw them to the girls in the shop."

"Thank you, Director Zhang, for accompanying us to look at houses despite your busy schedule."

"Isn't this what I should do? I already said, you are my distinguished guests..."

The two of them flattered and praised each other; they spent the whole day looking at houses and flattering each other.

When they returned home after dinner, Ye Yaodong and Lin Xiuqing were exhausted. They didn't want to move a single finger. The two heads leaned together, slumped on the sofa, and then slid down to lie flat.

"So tired. Working wasn't even this tiring."

"You still have the energy to talk; I don't even have the energy to speak."

"You spent the whole day flattering that Director Zhang; of course you have no energy left. You've used up all your words."

"He was flattering me so politely; I had to flatter him back. It's reciprocity. Only by praising each other can our relationship get better and better."

"I'm not talking anymore. Let me recover. It's clear there are elevators, and we didn't climb many stairs, yet we're exhausted to death."

Ye Yaodong didn't speak either; he also needed to lie down and rest well to recover his strength.

After a long while, he asked Lin Xiuqing, "We saw a few complexes today; did you see any you liked?"

"I think Xuhui is quite good. It's close to our house in Jing'an and is also in the center of the Magic City. The nearby hospitals and schools are all quite complete."

"That's definitely good. It's one of the first batches of commercial housing; how could it not be good?"

"But it's not cheap. I just asked, and the cheapest is over 3,000 per square meter, and the expensive ones are five or six thousand. If we buy one of seventy or eighty square meters, it would be three or five hundred thousand for one."

"Expensive has its reasons. Didn't we also happen to see a set of employee housing? That was only over 1,000 per square meter, and there are sets of thirty or fifty square meters. Do you like those?"

"It's not that the employee housing isn't good; the location is very good. It's just that we've seen the good ones, so having a comparison, we'll definitely compare."

"Let's go see Pudong tomorrow afternoon. Pudong is also being developed. Let's decide after we see it."

Lin Xiuqing turned over, propped her chin on her hand, and looked at him, "How many sets are we going to buy?"

"What do you think?"

"I think five?"

Ye Yaodong smiled and shook his head, "We have forty or fifty million in liquid cash assets right now. We didn't earn little last year because of the Canton Fair, and there are the fishing boats. Although we spent a lot, compared to what we earned, it's nothing."

"Then buy ten sets? One set is three or five hundred thousand; ten sets would be three or five million. My god, if all this is used to buy houses, don't we have too many houses?"

"I saw that in Xuhui, there is one building that only has 52 units..."

Lin Xiuqing's eyes widened, and she stuttered, "A... a whole building?"

Ye Yaodong touched his chin, "I estimate that buying it down should be around 20 million? Or a little less? Shall we take half the money to buy it?"

Lin Xiuqing couldn't speak as her mouth opened and closed.

"How about it? No objections? If no objections, then it's settled?"

Lin Xiuqing hurriedly grabbed his arm, "No, you're joking, right? Buy a whole building? Who buys a whole building of houses?"

"You bought land in Zhoushan before, built a fish meal processing plant, including all those machines and labor, and it only cost a few million. A building like this, 20 million..."

Spending money like this...

She was about to stop breathing.

"Isn't it because I'm thinking it's cheap, so I should buy it quickly? In the future, even if I want to buy it, I won't be able to get this price."

"This is still cheap? One square meter is three or five thousand; this is called cheap? An ordinary person can only buy one or two square meters with a year's salary, right?"

"Ordinary workers are like that, but you underestimate the senior employees here. Director Zhang said that some technical talents earn thousands more a month, especially in foreign-funded enterprises."

Lin Xiuqing's heart was still trembling. Looking at a house, just opening his mouth meant 20 million. She really hadn't even thought about it; she had thought at most it would cost a few million.

She had even thought that saying she would buy 10 sets was already a big deal, but she didn't expect there to be something even crazier.

"Do you want to reconsider?"

"Reconsider? Then let's consider it. Let's decide after seeing Pudong tomorrow afternoon."

She hurriedly nodded, "Right, right, decide after seeing Pudong. Pudong will definitely be cheaper. It's also being developed now, and there will definitely be more listings to choose from in the future."

"Pudong is being developed and there will be more choices, then we can buy Pudong in two years. Shall we buy that building in XH district first?"

Lin Xiuqing clutched her heart, "Let's wait until tomorrow afternoon after seeing Pudong to decide. By the way, ask if there are more discounts if we buy more. Will it be cheaper if we buy directly from the developer?"

"Not necessarily. If their agency negotiates, they can definitely get a lower price than us."

"Let's summarize our funds. It's estimated to be only forty or fifty million. You're spending half of it..."

"Isn't there still half left? What are you afraid of? Several factories are making money, and the fishing boats are also making money. I'm even afraid of having so much cash in the bank. Isn't it better to exchange half of it for houses directly? Houses will definitely rise in price in the future."

"It's already three or five thousand per square meter; how can it rise? Ordinary people can't afford this price to begin with."

"Ordinary people can't afford it to begin with, but the rich can afford it. Is there a shortage of rich people in this world?"

"There is no shortage of rich people..."

"We already belong to the group of rich people. There are so many rich people in this world, and we are just one of them, and still an unknown rich person. There are plenty of people richer than us, and of course, they also need to buy houses."

Lin Xiuqing still felt a bit of heartache, having to spend half of the family fortune all at once.

"We don't seem to need to buy so many houses; we can't live in them all..."

"Of course we can't live in them all. There are only a few of us; we can't even live in one house each. Buying so many houses is for renting out, just like those two rows of rental houses in Pudong. A whole building is our own, so we don't have to run around to rent houses. It's more convenient to take a bunch of keys and collect rent from house to house."

"Collecting rent for a whole building, that seems a bit tiring..."

Ye Yaodong couldn't help but laugh, "Is collecting money tiring?"

Lin Xiuqing also laughed.

At this moment, the sound of opening the door came from the main entrance. The two of them looked at the door together; it was Lin Dongxue returning with big and small bags.

Lin Xiuqing smiled and teased, "Did you bring back the gifts for the man's side to visit tomorrow in advance?"

"No, I bought these myself. I bought an electric shaver for the uncle, a silk scarf for the aunt, sneakers for Chenghu, an Ultraman for Ye Chengyang, and new sneakers for Ye Xiaoxi."

Not a single gift for the family was left out; everyone had one.

Ye Yaodong had already taken the shaver and started shaving his beard to try it out.

Lin Xiuqing also took the scarf and touched and wrapped it in her hand. She smiled and said, "Why did you suddenly buy us gifts?"

"Politeness costs nothing. Last time I came, I was hospitalized, so it wasn't good to buy other gifts, so I had to give up and just buy some things for visiting. Coming back this time, of course, I have to make up for it. The uncle is so good to me."

Ye Yaodong touched his chin, "Not bad, it shaves quite cleanly."

"Wei Songyuan recommended it. I don't understand it either. It just so happened that I accompanied him to buy gifts for tomorrow's visit, so I picked up a few things by the way."

"Don't spend so much money next time. We aren't outsiders, and tomorrow we'll even be receiving gifts for your parents."

"Then you were also helping me keep an eye on things."

Lin Xiuqing smiled and accepted it, "Have you eaten? Do you want me to cook you some noodles?"

"No need, I ate before coming back."

"Then sit down and rest for a while, eat some fruit."

"How did your house hunting go today? When did you get back?"

Lin Xiuqing glanced at Ye Yaodong, but didn't go into detail, vaguely saying, "We got back half an hour earlier than you. We looked, but after walking around, we didn't decide. Let's wait until tomorrow afternoon to take another look before saying. Anyway, we aren't in a hurry."

"Right, although you have money, buying a house is a big deal. You have to think clearly, make decisions slowly, and can't be too impulsive."

"Indeed, we can't be too impulsive; we have to think about it carefully."

Having to spend 20 million all at once, isn't that impulsive? They have to think about it more, maybe calculate the accounts again, and calculate this year's business volume to see how much profit it can create.

"Wei Songyuan is coming over at 9 o'clock tomorrow morning, right? I'll clean up the house a bit first."

Lin Xiuqing slumped down as soon as she got back, and the house wasn't cleaned. Guests were coming soon, so everything had to be wiped and mopped. The cleaning done before the New Year probably had dust on the TV now.

"Don't worry, you just got back too. Rest for a while, and we'll do it together later."

"It's okay, you rest. I'll go to the kitchen to clean up first, and then see what vegetables to buy tomorrow. I have to get up early to buy vegetables."

"I'll have to trouble the aunt to organize it tomorrow..."

"What trouble? Don't be so polite." Lin Xiuqing walked to the kitchen while talking, first tying on her apron, preparing to wipe everywhere first.

Ye Yaodong curiously asked her, "Why don't you tell us about the man's family situation first? We can also understand a little more."

"Okay, I just found out too. Aunt, Aunt, you come and listen too."

Lin Xiuqing was called out by her again.

"His family has 4 siblings, three brothers. He is the third, and there is an older sister above him. The brothers, sister, and younger brother are all married, only he isn't, so his parents are quite anxious. His family is in Huangpu, but it's also an ordinary employee family. The housing is also quite crowded, just over 60 square meters."

"His older brother and sister-in-law moved out three years ago when the unit allocated housing, so it was considered a bit more spacious. I heard that his previous partner also broke up because his family didn't have another house for them. At that time, the whole family lived together, and the sister wasn't married, so it fell apart."

"Later, his younger brother got married, and the sister wasn't married, so each occupied a room. For the past two years, he could only sleep in the living room. After the sister got married, there is now a room for him to live in."

"Now his older brother and sister-in-law have moved out, the younger brother and sister-in-law also went out to rent a house after getting married, and the sister also got married, so the family isn't crowded anymore. Actually, I don't know very clearly either. Anyway, I'll know after going to his house in two days."

"His family basically all have jobs. I guess only the younger sister-in-law and his sister don't have jobs, right? Anyway, his sister is already married."

"And his uncles seem to be quite numerous, but they don't live together and are far away. They just go back to the countryside together for the New Year, right? I don't know much about this."

Lin Xiuqing listened carefully and said, "That's not bad. It's equivalent to living separately. The older brother and sister-in-law have their own house, the younger brother and sister-in-law also went out to rent a house, and the sister got married, so now he lives with his parents."

"Right, right, that's it."

"That's okay. Living with the old couple is also quiet. If you can't get along, you can go out and rent a house to live in, and no one will say anything."

"Yes, anyway, there are three brothers, and when the time comes, they will support the elderly together. When they are old, there will also be daughters helping to take care of them."

Ye Yaodong nodded, "Since you said this, we have an idea. It's good not to live together. If a whole family lived in those 60-something square meters, it would really be over. A fart could echo from the living room to the room, and no one would be left out; everyone would have to smell it."

The two women laughed.

Lin Xiuqing glared at him, "What kind of metaphor is that."

"It's true. Farting in the room can echo in other rooms. This kind of life is full of friction."

Lin Xiuqing said again, "Now if you get married, if you have to live with the old ones in the future, you can also go out to live."

"That's what I think too. If I get along well with his parents, living together is nothing. If I can't get along, going out to rent a house is also refreshing, just like his younger brother's family. Just come back to visit during festivals, and be there when needed."

Ps: I will make up for one tomorrow during the day.