Reborn in 1977

Chapter 506: Ignorance

Panyu Road is an old road in Shanghai.

When we call it an old road, it doesn't mean it's old in age, but that its name has never been changed from beginning to end, using the same name for decades.

Unlike Huaihai Road, which used to be called Avenue Joffre.

The villas on Avenue Joffre were the favorite of Shanghai capitalists, which is what we're talking about here.

Strictly speaking, the small western-style buildings on Panyu Road can also be considered villas on Avenue Joffre, because Huaihai Road itself doesn't have many villas or residential houses. Those old villas and small western-style houses are basically concentrated on the branch roads attached to Avenue Joffre.

For example, Wukang Road and Hunan Road are places where villas are concentrated.

Panyu Road is also like this.

This old street is 1768 meters long, starting from Yan'an West Road in the north, passing through Huaihai Road and Hongqiao Road, and ending at Kaixuan Road in the south, located in the core area of the most prosperous old city of Shanghai.

Although the house An Quan bought yesterday is also in the core area and closer to the Huangpu River, that area is basically Shikumen buildings, which is considered an ordinary residential area. In comparison, this street is better.

There are very good social resources in this area, such as hospitals, schools, shopping malls, etc., everything is available.

For example, Shanghai Jiaotong University, where An Quan is going, and the East China Institute of Textile Science and Technology, where Jiang Lili was admitted, are on both sides of this road, and you can walk there, very close.

Especially the northern section of Panyu Road, which is the essence of it, has many well-known buildings and former residences of celebrities. It is most appropriate to describe it as being quiet in the midst of noise.

Panyu Road is not very wide, with only two lanes, and tall plane trees are planted on both sides of the road.

"It's winter now, and most of the plane tree leaves have fallen. It's different in summer."

Director Wang led the way and said as he walked, "In summer, the trees are shady, and you can hardly get any sun when you walk on this road. Moreover, there are not many factories or units in this area. The few that are here are all research institutions, so it won't be noisy, which is very suitable for living."

Chen Fan nodded repeatedly while listening, "Yes, yes, yes."

I didn't expect that Panyu Road in this era is still okay.

In later generations, this place was called Treasure Road. Almost every few steps there is a "check-in holy place", from quiet cafes to inconspicuous shopping malls, from various themed quiet bars to exquisite bookstores, as well as clubs, hotels, homestays…

This makes it one of the quiet spiritual holy places pursued by many "new Shanghainese" after being tired of the hustle and bustle.

Even many old Shanghainese come to this area to look for past memories, and then compare the transformed houses with the differences in their memories one by one.

Director Wang was talking in front, and Chen Fan was listening carefully.

As for An Quan, he muttered softly behind Chen Fan, "It's just so-so."

Chen Fan glanced at him, looking at the small western-style building surrounded by the courtyard wall, and then looking at him, the meaning was obvious.

Just so-so? Is the small western-style building here better-looking, or is the Shikumen building you bought more beautiful?

An Quan obediently shut his mouth, not wanting to say anything.

At this time, Director Wang suddenly stopped and pointed to a courtyard and said, "Look, have you seen it? That is the Shanghai Institute of Biological Products, specializing in the research and production of albumin injections."

Chen Fan was a little strange, why mention the research institute for no reason?

Then Director Wang turned his finger, "Have you seen that? It used to be the residence of 'Young Master Sun'. The house was built by the Hungarian architect László Hudec in the 1930s. It was originally prepared for himself, but at that time, Young Master Sun helped him a lot, so he sold it to Young Master Sun at a low price.

Speaking of this László Hudec, you may not be very clear, but he was a very famous architect in Shanghai at that time. He designed more than 60 houses in Shanghai, including the American Citibank General Assembly on Fuzhou Middle Road, and the famous Wukang Building on Huaihai Middle Road, oh, formerly called the Normandy Apartments.

In those years, the garden residence of the great capitalist Liu Jisheng was also his work, and now it is the Shanghai Writers Association office building. There is also the 'Green House' of Wu Tongwen, who was also a great capitalist…"

Hearing this, An Quan couldn't help but turn his head and glanced at Chen Fan.

The Writers Association?

Chen Fan pursed his lips and smiled, pretending not to see it.

Director Wang was still talking eloquently, and reported a lot of well-known buildings in a row.

After he finished speaking, Chen Fan blinked and asked softly, "Director Wang, that small western-style building I want to buy… ?"

Director Wang suddenly sucked his teeth, "Yes, yes, it's there, No. 55 courtyard is it, I'll take you there."

After he turned around and walked forward, Chen Fan couldn't help but curl his lips, so it turned out that it had nothing to do with László Hudec?

Well, it's okay if it doesn't matter, so I don't have to submit a report and apply for any renovations in the future, which is too troublesome.

Young Master Sun's villa is on the west side of the road, not far away on the opposite side. Director Wang stopped and stubbornly pointed to a courtyard not far from the entrance of the alley, "That is the former residence of László Hudec."

When speaking, his expression was still a little proud, and the implication seemed to be saying that this is a treasure land of Feng Shui, and even the architect himself lives here.

Before Chen Fan could speak, he changed direction again, "The house you want to see is here, No. 55 Panyu Road (fake, there is no No. 55, only No. 55 Lane)."

Several people were walking by the side of the road. When Chen Fan heard his words, he immediately took a few steps back to the middle of the road and looked around to get a better view.

This small courtyard is not big. The courtyard wall is more than 20 meters long, and the gate is not in the middle, but in the corner near the south.

The thick iron gate and the courtyard wall block the line of sight. You can only see the attic of a small western-style building over the wall.

Chen Fan's mind flashed the information about this courtyard.

The entire courtyard covers an area of 388 square meters, and the small building covers an area of 118 square meters. The front is 10 meters wide, the side is 11.8 meters long, and the total height is two and a half floors, with a building area of 288 square meters.

Around the building there is a gradually widening open space. The small road on the east side separating the house from the wall is only 2 meters wide, and it becomes 3 meters to the north. The width on the west side near the road becomes 5 meters, and the open space in front of the house is 8 meters wide, enough to park several small cars.

Director Wang took out the key to unlock, uh, not the gate lock, but a small side door on the iron gate.

Pushing open the small door, he turned around and said, "This used to be the residence of a capitalist before liberation. Although it was not designed by László Hudec, he also hired a well-known architectural designer at that time, and used the best materials, some of which were imported. It is said that it cost 300,000 silver dollars that year, which is not a small amount."

Chen Fan smacked his lips, 300,000 silver dollars is indeed not a small amount.

Well, it's more than not a small amount, it's sky-high, okay!

Let's put it this way, at the same time in Beiping, a good three-in-one courtyard would not cost 5,000 silver dollars.

And this house only cost 300,000 for construction, which shows how outrageous it is.

Outrageous!

Chen Fan glanced around and found that this courtyard was more beautiful than in the photos, and the traces left by time were also heavier.

He noticed the camphor tree planted in the flower bed on the left hand side of the entrance. The tall branches just blocked the small building, so at least there is no need to worry about the afternoon sun. Moreover, camphor wood has the effect of repelling insects, so this courtyard should be relatively "clean."

As for the most important small building, it is now fully visible.

The base of the building uses a lot of granite, raising the foundation by about 80 centimeters. Even the wall base is made of granite, and then the wall is painted white.

There are a lot of glass windows on the first and second floors, especially on the first floor. The entire west wall is actually "hollowed out."

That is, only the half-meter-high granite wall base is left, and then two super-large hollow iron frames are used, and each is divided into rectangular grids, and transparent glass is embedded in the grids. Unfortunately, bamboo-patterned curtains are drawn inside, and you can't see what the room looks like.

But you can know without looking that the lighting inside should be very good.

There is also a semicircular large balcony protruding from the second floor, which just covers the entrance on the first floor, and the balcony is supported by several Roman columns.

The half of the building on the third floor is on the west side, and the east side is a large balcony, which should be a place for drying clothes.

As for the open space between the building and the courtyard wall, it is a lawn, but it is enough to build a small garden in this place.

Only the large open space in front of the small building is paved with cement, but now the open space is empty, except for a few cracks and inconspicuous pits, there is nothing else.

When Chen Fan and An Quan came in, Director Wang quickly closed the small door, and then put on the crossbolt from the inside, and then continued to say as he walked inside, "Anyway, the past is over. Later, like many capitalists at that time, some people went out and the rest stayed.

Later, it was taken for granted, that silly thing happened, and this house was confiscated a few years ago.

Then when the meeting was held in November, didn't the superiors want to engage in united front work and let people with overseas relations go back to find relatives? Shanghai also introduced corresponding policies and returned the house, giving priority to handling it.

In fact, the case was overturned for them two years ago, but the house was not dealt with at that time, so this time it will be settled together.

Unification work was an urgent and important task. After the higher-ups made a decision, it wasn't long, just last month, that the local street committee found someone to reinforce and repaint this house, and then gave it back to them."

Comrade Wang slowly walked over and opened the front door of the building.

Although it had been newly renovated not long ago, there was no strange smell inside.

Whether it was lime, paint, or coating, most of the materials used these days were natural. The smell would dissipate in a few days, and there were no harmful substances like formaldehyde. People could move in after airing it out for a few days.

Not to mention that it had been renovated for more than a month.

As soon as he walked through the door, Chen Fan's eyes lit up.

The entire patterned solid wood floor, judging by its color, was made of high-quality teak. The wainscoting and wooden stairs, which were more than a meter high, were also the same, giving it an antique feel.

Wainscoting is wooden paneling attached to the walls to protect them.

However, the house was empty, with no furniture, except for a fireplace built into the wall.

Chen Fan walked over, squatted down to take a look, and nodded. Yes, this fireplace was real and could be used.

Comrade Wang turned around on the spot and said with emotion, "The floor was cleaned, polished, and waxed. The walls were painted with 'Kesai Silver'. Even the windows were repainted and three new toilets were installed. It's much better than when it was confiscated.

As a result, when it was returned to the owners, they didn't want it. The comrades in charge tried to persuade them, and they finally agreed to accept it, but then entrusted the housing management office to sell it."

Anquan didn't understand. "Why?"

Such a good house, he couldn't even imagine it. If his family had such a house in their hands, why would they need to 'split the family property'?!

He was thinking about the details of this house: two rooms and two halls on the first floor, plus a bathroom and a large kitchen; three rooms and one hall on the second floor, also with a bathroom; the third floor was said to be an attic, but it was much larger than the attic of the dilapidated house he had just bought. Not only was it built like regular rooms, with two rooms, a hall, and a bathroom, but a small triangular partition was added on top for heat insulation. That was the real attic.

So, strictly speaking, this house should be a two-and-a-half-story house with seven rooms, plus a small attic.

And there was such a large yard empty. Wouldn't that be enough for many people to live in?!

They don't want it?

Are they crazy!

Comrade Wang glanced at him, pursed his lips, and didn't say anything.

Chen Fan was pacing around in the living room. Hearing this, he turned to look at him. "They're afraid of it happening again."

Anquan suddenly realized and raised his hand to pat his forehead. "I didn't react just now."

Comrade Wang turned to look at Chen Fan and said with a smile, "Take a look around upstairs and downstairs first. Write down any problems, because I don't know much either. I'll have to ask other people again."

After a pause, he explained, "This house doesn't belong to the area I'm in charge of, but because of special reasons, almost every housing management office in the city has a copy of the information, in addition to this one, there are three other similar ones."

Anquan blinked. "Are their situations the same?"

Comrade Wang shrugged. He was about to take out a cigarette, but suddenly remembered that it wasn't good to smoke here, so he held back. He simply put his hands in his pockets, pursed his lips, shook his head, and said, "Those few are even more outrageous. After contacting relatives outside, they directly applied to go out to reunite with them. When they arrived outside, they sent back a letter, saying they wouldn't come back and entrusted us to help them sell the house."

He shrugged as he spoke. "I heard that the letter was written politely, but between the lines, it was full of threats, saying that if we didn't handle this matter for them, it didn't matter. They would just spread rumors outside. At worst, they would lose some money, but we would lose face."

At this time, Anquan couldn't hold back either. His mouth twitched for a long time before he sighed, "Talent!"

Chen Fan ran upstairs and downstairs for a while. After coming down, he went straight to Comrade Wang with curiosity on his face. "Is there water, electricity, and gas here?"

It was easy to understand about water and electricity. It was normal to have a flush toilet.

After all, this area was in the old city. Sewage pipes were installed during the Republic of China era, and they had been renovated and expanded many times after the founding of the country. There weren't too many residences nearby, unlike the densely packed residences in Nanluoguxiang in the capital, where there were construction difficulties. It was impossible to renovate. It was reasonable to have such supporting facilities here.

The question was about piped gas!

In later generations, after entering the new century, many places still didn't have piped gas. Did they have it here now?

Comrade Wang turned around, said "Oh," and then said, "This piped gas was installed when the house was built. I heard that it cost two large gold bars to install gas at that time."

Chen Fan's eyes widened instantly. "Two large gold bars?"

He knew about large and small gold bars, but the large gold bars of the 1930s were different from the large gold bars after the 1940s. Only the large gold bars of the 1930s were the standard large gold bars. Later, they were all 'shrunk'.

According to the 'Republic of China Weights and Measures Standard Plan' promulgated by the Nanjing National Government, 1 jin = 500 grams = 16 taels. This standard was gradually promoted in 1930.

So, each large gold bar in the 1930s weighed 1 jin, which was equal to 500 grams, which was also equal to 16 old taels.

Then, in September 1943, Chongqing launched a 'Gold Release Plan', reducing the weight of gold bars from 16 taels to 10 taels, and then it decreased even more. Let's not talk about that.

So, how many silver dollars were two large gold bars from the 1930s equal to?

In 1932, Fu Jen Catholic University bought Langrun Garden in Prince Gong's Mansion, which used to be the residence of He Shen, covering an area of 40 mu, for a total price of 108 gold bars, offsetting 90,000 silver dollars.

So, two large gold bars were equivalent to 1,668 silver dollars.

Anquan also clicked his tongue on the side, muttering, "It's almost enough to buy my house!"

Hearing this, Chen Fan turned his head and said, "It's still a lot short. In 1928, Lu Xun and his wife lived in a shikumen house in Jingyunli. The monthly rent was 80 silver dollars, which was equal to two or three months' salary for an ordinary worker. If you wanted to buy that house, it would cost at least 50,000 silver dollars. Even with Lu Xun's monthly salary of more than 200 dollars back then, it would take more than ten or twenty years without eating or drinking. This amount of money is indeed far off."

After saying that, he himself was stunned for a moment.

A shikumen house cost 50,000 silver dollars, so a construction cost of 300,000 silver dollars for this house seemed normal?

Did house prices already skyrocket in those years?!

At this time, Comrade Wang also said with a smile, "The eras are different, and the situations are certainly different. Back then, Peiping had tap water. Guess how much it cost to connect tap water to your home?"

The two of them turned to look at him together.

Anquan blinked and thought for a while, giving a number, "2,000?"

Comrade Wang smiled wryly, shaking his head and laughing, "Not that much. You could buy a courtyard with several entrances for a few thousand more. Even the rich wouldn't be willing to spend that kind of money. Those rich tycoons aren't fools anyway. They don't have to fetch water themselves, so they can just continue to let the water carriers work hard."

After a pause, he stopped guessing riddles and directly held out a hand, "The minimum cost to install a faucet at home is 500 silver dollars!"

Chen Fan gently rubbed his face and closed his dropped jaw.

It cost 500 silver dollars to install tap water? Thinking about it this way, it doesn't seem expensive to charge two large gold bars for installing piped gas.

Not expensive my ass!

Forgive my ignorance, I really don't understand the world of the rich!

He shook his head, throwing this ridiculous thought to the back of his mind. Then, he coughed softly and asked in a low voice, "Comrade Wang, do you think the price of this house is negotiable?"

Comrade Wang shook his head with a wry smile. After a two-second pause, he explained to him, "I just told you about the special nature of this house. The owner didn't want it at first, but he only accepted it after we forced it on him. Then, he just put it up at the housing management office and didn't care about it anymore.

So, for houses with this special nature, we generally don't deal with them flexibly. We do whatever the owner says. This price can't be reduced by a single cent."

Chen Fan nodded lightly, smacked his lips, and asked again, "What about the furniture? There's no furniture in this house. If I want to buy furniture, I can't get the corresponding coupons."

Comrade Wang's eyes lit up, and he looked at him and asked, "So, you really want to buy this house?"

Chen Fan smiled and said, "Look at what you're saying. If I didn't want to buy it, would I have dragged you over to see the house? Wouldn't that be playing with you?"

Comrade Wang laughed heartily and said, "Okay, as long as you buy it, the furniture issue is simple."

He lowered his voice as he spoke, "We have a partnership with the second-hand company. I know they have a lot of old furniture in their warehouse that they bought cheaply a few years ago. It's all good furniture. As long as you buy this house, I'll take you to pick it out."

Chen Fan immediately clapped his hands and nodded, saying, "Okay, I can complete the procedures today."

Comrade Wang was still not at ease and held out three fingers, "30,000, pay today?"

Chen Fan nodded lightly, "30,000, pay today!"