plumnovel Chapter 37 Moving
Chapter 37 Moving
Zhou Qiuyuan finally persevered to the end and successfully ended this nightmare.
He took a deep breath, a trace of horror still lingering in his eyes.
The frustration of being unable to control one's body and being manipulated by unknown forces is hard to shake off.
Whether it was Song Ming sent by Huixianzhai or the unknown evil spirits encountered outside the city, Zhou Qiuyuan felt a sense of powerlessness from the bottom of his heart.
My strength is still too weak!
If he possessed the strength of his master Wei Jin, how could Huixianzhai dare to attack him? Song Ming would undoubtedly bow down before him. Even if he encountered an unknown, mournful, evil spirit, his perfectly cultivated Zhenxie Leiyin might be able to defeat it.
Next, he needs to do everything he can to improve his strength.
Zhou Qiuyuan told his parents his thoughts, "Father and Mother, I plan to raise fire-feathered chickens."
Zhou Chengwu had anticipated this, and nodded with a smile, saying, "Leave this to Father without worry."
Zhou Chengwu worked in the dangerous outer city mines, earning only twenty-five copper coins a day. This amount of money was barely enough to feed his family, let alone support a body cultivator.
Since heaven has given the family the opportunity of the Fire Feather Chicken, they must seize it no matter what.
"The smell of chicken manure in the house is getting stronger and stronger!"
"With so many people and eyes in the courtyard, it won't be easy to hide the fire-feathered chickens from others." Zhou Qiuyuan put forward his long-considered idea, "We must prepare a courtyard to raise chickens."
"Where would we get the money to buy a yard? Even renting one wouldn't be cheap." Shen Wan looked at the father and son who seemed to understand each other, and felt that they were hiding something from her.
Now that things had come to this, Zhou Chengwu made no attempt to hide anything. He carefully took out the golden dragon teapot hidden in the kang (a heated brick bed) and told the whole story about his son finding the teapot.
Shen Wan examined the pure gold Nine Dragons Pot with admiration.
When her family was relatively well-off in her early years, she never had the opportunity to handle so much gold. After her initial excitement, Shen Wan sighed as she thought about the exorbitant housing prices in Black Swamp City.
The worst tenement in Black Swamp City has an annual rent of 4,500 wen.
This amount was close to half of the parents' total income. After deducting various miscellaneous taxes paid each year, the family had less than four thousand coins left for food, drink, and other necessities.
Renting a private yard can cost a fortune.
A poorly located courtyard house in the western part of the city can cost 20,000 wen (a unit of currency) in rent every year. The same size house in the most expensive eastern district would cost more than double.
The price of purchasing a small courtyard house was extremely high, reaching three million coins, which was roughly equivalent to 150 years' rent.
After the great disaster, Black Swamp City became the only refuge for ordinary people, and housing prices remained high year after year. Once prices in Black Swamp City rose, housing prices and rents would also rise accordingly.
After all, a traditional courtyard house can be passed down through generations, supporting three generations with just one house.
Zhou Qiuyuan reminded him, "I heard some news from a wealthy young man yesterday: the price of grain in the city is about to rise."
Zhou Chengwu and Shen Wan were both startled, and fear appeared on their faces as they couldn't help but recall that painful memory.
Having experienced the darkness of the shrinking city, they knew very well how precious food was.
It's better to believe this is true than not to believe it is not.
Zhou Qiuyuan continued, "We don't have enough money at home, so we have to sell the gold pot to raise funds to rent a house and stockpile grain. The gold pot is too conspicuous and could easily attract trouble, so it's safest to dismantle it."
The owner of Huixianzhai knew that the Nine Dragons Golden Pot was related to the Qian Dynasty's Golden Essence, and that there were many other people who knew about it. If the Nine Dragons Golden Pot were sold as an antique, there would be endless troubles.
Although Zhou Chengwu was heartbroken, he acquiesced to this cautious approach.
Shen Wan and Zhou Chengwu were worried that the commotion would be too great, so they went out to keep watch.
Like the two porcelain pieces, this exquisite antique is destined to be destroyed.
Zhou Qiuyuan used a hammer to flatten the dragon pattern on the gold pot, and then cut it into gold leaves of different sizes.
When the hammer struck the golden dragon ball, it did not deform like ordinary gold, but instead became deeply embedded in the wooden table.
Zhou Qiuyuan took out the golden dragon pearl, which was about the size of a fingertip, and examined it carefully, but found nothing unusual about it.
After some time, he planned to go into the inner city to inquire how many spirit stones he could exchange for gold essence, and whether he could buy a postnatal thunder spirit root.
Zhou Qiuyuan put the gold leaves and the golden dragon pearl into his money bag, took out two gold leaves and handed them to Zhou Chengwu for family use, "Father, take good care of the house."
"Mom, grain prices are going to rise. You should tell your brother-in-law's family so they can be prepared and not spread rumors, lest they get into trouble."
Seeing that the family had money, Shen Wan felt much more at ease and hurriedly went to inform her daughter.
Zhou Qiuyuan left the tenement and headed towards the brokerage firm in the west of the city.
Real estate agencies act as intermediaries, renting and selling houses.
This is the business that is out in the open, but they also run a human trafficking business in secret. It is said that at least 70% of the human trafficking in the city is related to the human trafficking business.
Zhou Qiuyuan didn't know anyone who rented or sold houses, so to avoid trouble, he went to the real estate agency.
The brokerage business was rather slow, and when the broker saw someone come to the door, he would quickly step forward with a smile to greet them.
"Sir, what kind of business would you like to do?"
"Are you looking to rent a house?"
Ya Zi has been dealing with people for many years. Just by looking at a person's temperament and attire, he can guess about their family background.
Although the boy was poorly dressed, he was strong and had bright eyes. He was not as reserved as ordinary people when they first entered the brokerage business, but had a unique demeanor.
This is very similar to a newly rich person who has climbed up from the bottom and plans to change their residence when they have spare money.
Zhou Qiuyuan wasted no time and asked clearly, "That's right, are there any two-courtyard houses in the western part of the city?"
The residences vary in size, ranging from one courtyard to seven.
The house is big enough for a family to live in, but it's not quite enough for raising chickens and storing grain.
A three-courtyard house is a bit too big and would be much more expensive, which would reduce the money available for cultivation and food storage. A two-courtyard house would be just right.
The broker bowed and scraped, saying, "Sir, what a coincidence! Not long ago, a family moved from the west city to the east city, and their house became vacant. The rent is not expensive; it's only 45,000 cash a year."
"I'll take you to see it right away."
The two arrived at Willow Leaf Alley in the west of the city. It was a bit far from the west gate and there were no large courtyards around, only two- or three-courtyard houses.
The people coming and going mostly wore rather decent silk clothes, and many of them even employed servants, making them respectable people.
Willow Leaf Lane is in a pretty good location. The original residents of the house haven't been gone for long, and the furniture is still there, which tenants can use at will.
Zhou Qiuyuan didn't waste time searching. After some bargaining, he reduced the rent to 42,000 cash and was willing to pay two years' rent in one lump sum.
With rising food prices, rents will also increase. Paying two years' rent in advance can definitely save you a lot of money.
Zhou Qiuyuan readily signed and sealed the document, and after having it notarized at the yamen, he paid 84,000 cash.
You can move now!