Chapter 28: 28. Preparing to Buy a House (Seeking collections, seeking recommendation votes!)

Zhang Ran went downstairs after finishing his call; having nothing to do, he happened to see an old man sitting by a chessboard playing against himself.

"Brother, shall I play a round with you?" Zhang Ran said with a smile.

That's the one good thing about old residential compounds: there are many elderly people who all know each other, so you can always see groups of old men and women gathered together chatting, playing chess, or square dancing.

The old man glanced at Zhang Ran and said crossly, "Who are you calling 'brother'? I'm old enough to be your grandfather; have you no manners?"

It was clear the old man wasn't in a very good mood right now; he was likely stood up by someone he had arranged to play chess with.

Zhang Ran didn't get angry, instead saying with a chuckle, "That's really hard to say. This is my ID card; would you like to take a look, brother?"

The old man subconsciously glanced at Zhang Ran's ID card and was immediately stunned. "Born in 1967? You're 51 now?"

"This is an ID card issued by the state, so it shouldn't be wrong. How old are you this year, brother?" Zhang Ran said while sitting down to set up the board.

"With the way you look, tell me, brother, how do you maintain yourself?" The old man was interested now.

"It's natural. Brother, are you playing or not? If you aren't playing, I'm leaving." Zhang Ran didn't offer an explanation.

"Playing, playing, playing, here I come." It was rare to have someone to play chess with, and someone of a similar age to boot, even if they looked vastly different.

During the subsequent chat with Zhang Ran, the old man completely dispelled his remaining doubts. When chatting with Zhang Ran about things from their era, Zhang Ran didn't falter at all and spoke with great authority.

Unless one had lived through that era, it would be hard to know things in such detail.

However, Zhang Ran also realized why no one would play chess with the old man; his chess skills were truly terrible, and most importantly, he was shameless and loved to take back his moves.

"Wait, I misread that just now; it doesn't count, it doesn't count."

"Oh, my hand slipped; let's do it over, do it over."

For half an hour, Zhang Ran and the old man didn't even finish one game. By the end, the old man could take back a single move three times. It was fortunate that Zhang Ran had good self-control, otherwise he would have flipped the table and left long ago.

Even so, when a supercar stopped near Zhang Ran and he saw the person who stepped out of it, he immediately dropped the chess piece and left.

"Brother, let's play next time; my nephew has come to pick me up." After saying this, Zhang Ran took off running; playing chess with this old man was just too stifling.

"Hey, hey, hey, finish this game!" The old man was a bit reluctant; it was the first time he had met someone who could play chess with him for so long, so how could he bear to let him go?

But Zhang Ran acted as if he hadn't heard and quickly arrived at Meng Mingxuan's side.

"Let's go, hurry up," Zhang Ran urged.

Seeing Zhang Ran acting as if he were fleeing, Meng Mingxuan became a bit curious. After getting in the car and starting it, he asked curiously, "Uncle Zhang, what's wrong with you?"

"What else could be wrong? I ran into an old rascal," Zhang Ran said crossly.

Seeing Zhang Ran like this, Meng Mingxuan didn't ask further. "Uncle Zhang, where are we going now? What are we planning to do?"

Zhang Ran said, "Buy a house. See if there are any suitable houses nearby; the house at home is a bit small."

"What kind of house do you want to buy? How big? I know of a luxury residential compound in Shanghai; shall we go take a look there?" Meng Mingxuan said.

From the meaning of Zhang Ran's words, he also knew it must be a pre-owned home; he probably couldn't wait that long for a new property.

Zhang Ran waved his hand and said, "No need for anything that luxurious. Just buy one in a regular residential compound nearby will do."

Meng Mingxuan wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Zhang Ran. "Don't worry about other things for now; just do as I say."

Hearing Zhang Ran put it that way, Meng Mingxuan didn't say anything more. In any case, Meng He's instruction to him was to listen to Zhang Ran, not to ask too many questions, and certainly not to act on his own initiative.

As for Zhang Ran saying he wasn't short of money, in Meng Mingxuan's view, it must be that Meng He had left Zhang Ran a lot of money when he left a while ago.

"Then I'll take you to find an agency company; nowadays, buying and selling pre-owned homes is all done through agency companies," Meng Mingxuan said.

He had never bought a pre-owned home himself, or rather, he had never bought a house at all. Wherever he went, he just stayed in hotels; living at home was so inconvenient, and you had to clean up.

Zhang Ran nodded, signaling him to drive.

They didn't go far before they stopped at an agency company. Because Meng Mingxuan was driving a supercar, someone came out to inquire before the two of them even walked in.

"Hello, you two, are you looking to buy a house?" Meng Xin asked with a smile.

She had just poured a glass of water when she saw a supercar stop in front of their storefront, so she immediately put down her cup and came out to wait.

It just so happened that it was her turn to receive walk-in clients today, so there was no issue of fighting over customers.

Meng Xin's gaze was mainly on Meng Mingxuan; after all, this guy was wearing designer brands, and the bracelet and watch on his wrist were clearly worth a fortune.

As for Zhang Ran, his entire outfit didn't add up to more than a thousand yuan, so in Meng Xin's heart, she most hoped that Meng Mingxuan would be the one buying the house.

But to her disappointment, it was Zhang Ran who spoke up. "I want a pre-owned home, around 140 square meters will do. It's best if it's already renovated, but hasn't been lived in for long."

Although Meng Xin was a bit disappointed, the smile on her face didn't change in the slightest. "Then please take a seat, you two; I'll look into it for you right now."

Meng Xin welcomed them in, and after pouring water, she sat in front of the computer to search for suitable listings.

"Do you have any requirements for the residential compound?" Meng Xin asked while searching.

Zhang Ran thought for a moment and said, "It's best if it's a relatively new compound, less than ten years old. The property management of the compound should be good, the environment shouldn't be bad, and as for the school district, it should be this Fuyuan Primary School nearby."

Zhang Ran had also carefully considered the matter of the school district—whether to have Zhang Xiaotao change schools and switch to a private elite primary school.

Currently, Zhang Xiaotao's Fuyuan Primary School was just an ordinary primary school, and it didn't have any advantages in terms of teaching.

Even so, Zhang Xiaotao's current school was something Zhang Sicheng had asked a friend to help arrange at the time, and it had cost quite a bit of money.

Zhang Ran actually wanted to help Zhang Xiaotao change primary schools; after all, you get what you pay for, and the teaching resources at elite schools were indeed much stronger than at ordinary schools.

However, Zhang Ran had also asked for Zhang Xiaotao's opinion, and Zhang Xiaotao didn't want to change schools, saying he had his good friends there.

In the end, Zhang Ran respected his decision, and besides, it wouldn't be too late to change when Zhang Xiaotao started middle school.

Meng Xin searched for listings according to Zhang Ran's requirements, while also asking her colleagues nearby if they had any suitable listings.

A colleague walked over to her side and whispered a few words to her, then handed her a key; Meng Xin's eyes lit up after hearing this.