Reborn in 1977

"A house?"

Chen Fan blinked a couple of times before he suddenly realized, "Oh, oh, you're talking about the Prince Ning Manor?"

It was bought in August, and it's almost 1979 now.

Almost half a year has passed without any news.

If Deputy Director Li hadn't come over, he would have almost forgotten that he had a manor in his hands.

Deputy Director Li looked at him speechlessly, "Of course, it's the Prince Ning Manor.

You didn't buy any other big courtyards."

Chen Fan immediately corrected him with a serious face, "It wasn't me who bought it, it was my uncle."

The difference here is huge.

In this day and age, if anyone bought a small courtyard house, it would cause a lot of discussion.

If people knew that Chen Fan had bought the Prince Ning Manor, it would cause discussion for a lifetime.

They would say things like: 'Back in 1977, the average national employee salary was only 50 yuan, but someone spent hundreds of thousands to buy a manor,' and so on.

It would be even more talked about than when Liu Xing's grandmother spent 26,000 yuan to buy a small courtyard house next to the Forbidden City.

Yeah, the courtyard house in the movie 'Dream Factory'.

In short, it would be a big commotion.

Right now, many units in the provincial capital are discussing the Literary New Village, and there are many people in the Literary New Village discussing the leaders' lakeside bungalows.

Gossip is a natural skill, and no one can escape it.

It's not appropriate for Chen Fan to spend hundreds of thousands to buy a house.

If his uncle comes forward, there won't be this problem.

A big businessman from America must be rich.

At most, people will just exclaim a few times.

Even those in the know will only sigh that Chen Fan's relatives are really rich.

Faced with Chen Fan's denial, Deputy Director Li nodded indifferently, "Yes, yes, your uncle bought it."

At this time, he also caught his breath and continued, "Just yesterday, the last household moved out.

Now the entire mansion has been vacated.

The next step is to carry out demolition and renovation.

Although you left some renovation suggestions before, it's always better to have more details.

The design institute has already produced a version of the design drawings, so I wanted to ask you to come over and discuss it to see how to do it."

Speaking of this, he turned to look at the three old men and smiled at Zhang Xuansong, "I didn't know that Writer Chen had come to the capital.

I originally wanted to ask you to help pass the message, but I didn't find anyone when I went over in the morning.

I was thinking of going again tomorrow, but I didn't expect to run into you here."

Chen Fan looked at the direction he came from and asked curiously, "Are you bringing people to see the house?"

The Housing Management Bureau isn't here, so coming here must be for something.

Deputy Director Li nodded with a smile, "Wasn't the announcement made the day before yesterday?

China and the United States are about to become friendly, so some overseas Chinese Americans want to buy a courtyard house so they can come and go often.

I just brought them to see it.

They've all gone back, and I was about to return to my unit.

I passed by here and heard some noise in the courtyard, so I came over to take a look.

I didn't expect to run into you, isn't that a coincidence?"

Chen Fan nodded to show that he understood.

After pondering for two seconds, he said, "In that case, my uncle is about to return to China.

After he arrives, I'll go with him to take a look, how about that?"

Zhou Zhengdong and the others are carrying out a secret mission, so it's naturally not good to tell everyone that he's in the capital.

It's better to wait until the mission is declassified before saying anything.

Deputy Director Li naturally had no objections and immediately said with a smile, "That's fine too.

Anyway, I usually don't have anything important to do here.

Just give me a call in advance."

He handed over a cigarette, waved goodbye, and after Deputy Director Li walked away, Chen Fan and the others got into the car and left.

It wasn't until this time that Zhang Xuansong asked curiously, "Your uncle bought a manor?"

Chen Fan "hmm"ed and turned back with a smile, "Wasn't Zhou Yali here to play during the summer vacation last time?

She's very interested in these traditional buildings and wanted to buy a beautiful courtyard house for her collection,…"

Hearing this, Li Shangde, Lin Yuanxiang, and Zhang Xuansong all couldn't understand it.

Collecting houses?

What's wrong with that?

Mr. Huo sat next to Zhang Xuansong and couldn't help but laugh when he saw the expression on his face, "Westerners are different from us.

We collect valuable and meaningful things, but they collect whatever they like.

In Europe, there are many people who collect castles, and there are also people who collect vineyards and cars.

But these are nothing.

Some things are weird and strange, and normal people can't even imagine them."

Zhang Xuansong was very curious, "What things are weird and strange?"

Mr. Huo counted on his fingers, "King Charles II of England liked to collect dust from mummies,…"

Just as he started, Lin Yuanxiang asked, "What is a mummy?"

Mr. Huo opened his mouth, thinking about how to explain it, and Chen Fan, who was driving in front, said, "It's the Western version of a dried corpse."

The three masters grimaced together, "Ew…, how disgusting."

Then Zhang Xuansong pulled Mr. Huo and asked, "What else is there?"

Mr. Huo smacked his lips and continued, "Peter the Great of Russia liked to collect other people's teeth, King George IV of England collected his lover's hair, and the current Queen of England likes to collect animals,…"

Chen Fan nodded in front, "Yeah, that's a bit like me."

The four people behind were stunned for a moment, then nodded together, "That's true."

Speaking of which, I haven't seen the little monkey for two days, and I miss him a bit.

Mr. Huo shook his head and said with a smile, "So, collecting houses is already a very normal thing.

Moreover, in the West, houses can appreciate in value.

When you don't like them anymore, you can sell them and make a profit."

Li Shangde suddenly said, "The houses here also appreciate in value.

My small courtyard house only cost two million yuan more than twenty years ago, oh, that's 200 yuan in new currency.

Just recently, someone in the next alley sold a small courtyard house like mine, and I heard that it sold for a full 3,000 yuan, an appreciation of 15 times!

And his wasn't even as good as mine, it didn't even have a toilet."

Mr. Huo was surprised when he heard this, "So expensive?"

In the years he had been in the mainland, what he had heard and seen were basically a few yuan, dozens of yuan, and hundreds of yuan were considered a lot.

Suddenly hearing 3,000 yuan, he was a little unaccustomed to it.

Even if the underlying asset is a house.

Chen Fan smiled and said, "It's not expensive.

This year, many educated youths have returned to the city, and house prices have risen a lot.

Next year, it is estimated that there will be more, and it will probably rise even more.

A house of a dozen square meters in a communal courtyard costs about 500 yuan.

Master's courtyard has three rooms, a separate courtyard with a living room, kitchen, and bathroom, so 3,000 yuan is really not expensive."

Speaking of this, Zhang Xuansong couldn't close his mouth with joy, "Xiao Fan is still far-sighted.

He asked me to buy a house last year.

The large courtyard of the Taoist temple only cost more than 10,000 yuan, which was too cost-effective."

Mr. Huo stared with wide eyes, not quite understanding the situation, "The Taoist temple only cost more than 10,000 yuan?"

Thinking about the cramped courtyard they lived in, and then thinking about the beautiful and spacious Taoist temple, the difference was so small?

Chen Fan looked back and smiled, "It was bought for 15,000 yuan.

However, house prices in the capital are different from those in Hong Kong.

For roughly the same location, it doesn't depend on the size of the land area, but on the condition of the house and whether it is habitable.

Land isn't worth much.

If it's a small courtyard like Master's that is intact, then it's expensive.

A separate courtyard with a kitchen and toilet, ready to move in, costs more than a tenement building.

But if it's a dilapidated house, or even bare land, where you need to build your own house, then the price is almost like cabbage.

It's directly at the bottom and doesn't cost much money."

Zhang Xuansong continued, "That Taoist temple used to be a warehouse of the Internal Affairs Office. When I bought it, the walls were crooked and the beams were collapsing. The renovation was more laborious than rebuilding it, and it cost 15,000 yuan.

Xiao Fan also bought a large yard at that time, but it was basically empty. There were only a few dilapidated tile houses in the yard, which used to be used by the street office's match factory. After two floods, the neighbors were a little scared and moved away. Xiao Fan bought it for 11,000 yuan, which was actually equivalent to buying a piece of open space.

Later, he divided the place into two. He built a small four-story building on the northwest side of 800 square meters, saying it was for their machinery factory's office, but it was never used, and it's still empty there.

On the southeast side, he designed and built a small building with front and back gardens on 2,000 square meters, which is very comfortable…"

Speaking, he nudged Mr. Huo's arm, "Old brother, you haven't been there yet, have you?"

Mr. Huo shook his head, "No."

Zhang Xuansong said, "Then let's go there after dinner. He has radios and TVs there, and a room full of books, which is much more fun than our place."

Mr. Huo smacked his lips, looking at Chen Fan in front of him, thinking that this guy is also a local tyrant.

But that's right, artists are either unknown or very rich.

He wanted to see what Chen Fan's small building looked like.

Chen Fan drove the car, turned the steering wheel, "Then let's not eat out, let's go straight home. I've stocked up a lot of vegetables these days, let's cook ourselves."

Mr. Huo clapped his hands and said happily, "That's the best!"

He can be considered to have seen the world, and has tasted the craftsmanship of chefs from the East and the West. He has met mainland state banquet masters, Hong Kong's God of Cookery, and French Michelin chefs. In his opinion, Chen Fan's craftsmanship is definitely not inferior to any of them, and may even be slightly better.

The skill is seen in the subtleties, and the magic is seen in the ordinary.

Ordinary ingredients, in Chen Fan's hands, can make the taste of top ingredients, and bring the original taste of the materials to the extreme.

If Chen Fan were not a writer and calligrapher, if he went to Hong Kong to be a chef and cooperated with himself, he could definitely easily create a catering group!

After circling around, they returned home, and the sky was already dark.

With Liu Juan and Ma Lan helping out, Chen Fan quickly made a large table of dishes. After dinner, he took Mr. Huo around the house for a tour.

Mr. Huo was originally in the business of building houses, so he was very familiar with building materials.

He stomped his feet on the floor twice, teak.

He held the wooden railing and went upstairs, touching it a few times, it was extremely oily and smooth, also teak.

When he reached the second floor, he suddenly stared, and asked softly, "This railing?"

Chen Fan glanced at it and smiled, "Oh, it's a whole Hainan Huanghuali sapling, only the bark has been peeled off, so it's a bit uneven, but it's just right as a handrail."

Mr. Huo took a breath of cold air, straightened his back and turned around, and then looked at the door, "Hiss… this door, is it Phoebe zhennan?"

Chen Fan looked at it, "Ah, I heard that Phoebe zhennan is not easy to deform, so I'm not afraid of slamming the door too hard and breaking it."

Mr. Huo opened his mouth, not knowing what to say.

Although he is very rich, he has never spent money like this.

Then, under Chen Fan's leadership, he saw the rows of teak bookshelves, complete sets of ancient rare books in the attic study, as well as a large Huanghuali desk, Zitan furniture,…

This is a museum of precious wood materials from top to bottom!

After the visit, Mr. Huo couldn't help but sigh, "You spent 11,000 on buying the land here, and it must have cost 110,000 to build the house."

Chen Fan shook his head and smiled, "Not that expensive. The main thing is that many of the materials used to build the house are old, so it didn't cost much money."

Speaking, he pointed to the wall, "Just talking about the bricks inside, they are all city bricks left over from the demolition of the city wall that year, and the ones paving the ground in the yard are also, which is much cheaper than using new bricks.

Also, wasn't there an earthquake a few years ago? The city has reserved a lot of building materials, including wood, steel bars, and cement. Wood is okay, but steel bars and cement have a shelf life. Some of them are about to expire, so I specifically bought this kind of material, which can actually be used normally after processing."

He pointed to the floor and wooden stairs again, "These woods cost the most money. The purchase price of Hainan Huanghuali on the island is 8 cents to 10 cents, and it costs 3 cents a catty to transport it here, and 10,000 catties will cost 3,000 yuan.

Also, the Zitan and Phoebe zhennan used to make furniture also cost a lot of money.

This house, the entire cost is almost forty to fifty thousand, which is indeed much more expensive than the land."

Mr. Huo looked up and looked around, sighing in his heart, if this were in Hong Kong, 10 million might not be enough to get it.

Now the housing prices in Hong Kong are actually not cheap. In the 1980s, the average housing price in Hong Kong was 1,000 yuan per square foot, which is equivalent to 9,000 yuan per square meter. At the beginning of 1981, it rose to 1,100 yuan per square foot, which is almost 10,000 yuan per square meter.

Later, wasn't it going to be taken back? As a result, housing prices plummeted, falling to 850 in 1982, 750 yuan in March 1983, and by 1984, when the dust settled, it rebounded to 800 yuan.

So a thousand-foot mansion costs 1 million Hong Kong dollars, and it is even higher in prosperous areas such as Hong Kong Island and Kowloon.

And the so-called "Peak Mansion" is another price.

If this house were placed in Hong Kong, even in a relatively remote villa area, the price would definitely not be less than 10 million Hong Kong dollars, just in terms of the area and the wood inside.

If it is on Victoria Peak, it is priceless, it completely depends on how much the seller is willing to offer and how much the buyer can accept. If the deal is reached, it can be traded, even if it is hundreds of millions, it is not impossible.

In fact, in terms of location, this is the golden location in Beijing, only separated from the Forbidden City by a river, and next to the famous Houhai, calculate the value…

Mr. Huo suddenly felt that the houses in Beijing were really cheap.

After sitting and drinking tea for a while to digest, Chen Fan sent the four of them back to the small courtyard together.

At the entrance of the courtyard, the car that picked up Mr. Huo was still waiting there. After seeing him, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and quickly pulled him into the car and left.

Chen Fan returned home, sat on the sofa, and Liu Juan brought tea over.

After taking a few sips of tea, he picked up the phone and dialed a number.

After a while, the phone was connected, and the one who answered the phone was Zhou Yali, "Hello, who is this?"

Chen Fan, "It's me. When will you be finished?"

Zhou Yali turned her head to look at her father, "It's Xiao Fan. Dad, Xiao Fan is asking when we can be finished."

Zhou Zhengdong was looking at the information, and when he heard this, he raised his head and thought, "It should be almost tomorrow. If nothing unexpected happens, we will go there tomorrow night."

Zhou Yali was holding the phone and was about to speak when she heard Chen Fan's voice coming from the microphone, "Tomorrow at 5 pm, I will pick you up at the entrance of the hotel."

"Uh,…"

Zhou Yali blinked, "Then see you tomorrow afternoon."

She was just about to hang up the phone when she heard Chen Fan say again, "Tell your uncle that the Ning County Prince's Mansion you bought has been vacated. If there is nothing else, we will go there the day after tomorrow to take a look at the site and finalize the decoration plan."

Zhou Yali's eyes lit up instantly, "Okay!"