Free Web NovelChapter 481: Chapter 171: Encountering Shen Tong (Part 3)
Jie Jingshan was studying inside. With Jie Jingchen and Qin Mei at home, Jie Jingjue couldn’t stand to stay put.
Qin Mei was thinking about buying a storefront near the train station and wondering who would be reliable to ask. After some thought, she decided Second Great-Aunt was her best bet. ’No time like the present,’ she thought. Qin Mei got up and walked toward the courtyard gate.
Finding people was so inconvenient in this era. It wasn’t like later generations with their convenient cell phones, where you could reach anyone with a single call.
"Fourth Sister-in-law, where are you going?" Jie Jingjue called out to stop Qin Mei.
"To find Second Great-Aunt," Qin Mei replied, not breaking her stride.
"Second Great-Aunt was called to the school by Xiao Ping’s teacher," Jie Jingjue said.
Qin Mei stopped in her tracks and turned to look at Jie Jingjue. Her almond-shaped eyes narrowed slightly. "Did something happen to Xiao Ping?"
Xiao Ping had taken to calling her his godmother. She hadn’t taken it seriously, but the Fang Family had, so she had no choice but to go along with it.
"I’m not sure." Jie Jingjue shook his head, then added, "Second Great-Aunt is back now. You can ask her and find out."
Everyone in the whole alley knew that Xiao Ping had taken his Fourth Sister-in-law as his godmother.
Since Second Great-Aunt wasn’t home, Qin Mei went back and sat down in her wicker chair. Seeing Jie Jingjue pushing his bicycle, she asked on a whim, "Jing Wu, are you familiar with the area around the train station?"
Jie Jingjue picked up his bicycle and was lifting it over the threshold when he heard Qin Mei’s question. He gave a perfunctory reply, "Sure am!"
"Then do you know if anyone is selling property nearby? Especially on the ground floor," Qin Mei asked casually, not getting her hopes up.
This piqued Jie Jingjue’s interest. A few days ago, a buddy of his had asked him for a favor—to see if anyone wanted to buy a house near the train station. His friend’s parents had both passed away, and the house had been empty for several years. Since no one was renting it, he was thinking of just selling it.
Jie Jingjue picked up his bicycle again, moved it back into the courtyard, and tossed it to the side. He walked over to Qin Mei and asked curiously, "Fourth Sister-in-law, you want to buy a house?"
Qin Mei met his gaze. "I’m considering it."
"Fourth Sister-in-law." Jie Jingjue sat down in the wicker chair next to her. "Are you unhappy living in this house?"
Qin Mei was taken aback for a moment, then quickly shook her head. "You’ve misunderstood. I’m planning to buy a house, but not to move out. I want to start a business."
"Start a business?" Jie Jingjue exclaimed. Realizing what he’d said, he immediately clapped a hand over his mouth and glanced around warily. "Fourth Sister-in-law, have you lost your mind? They’ll arrest you for speculation!"
Qin Mei had spoken too freely. Seeing how badly she’d scared Jie Jingjue, she quickly backtracked. "Not to start a business now. For later. What if the policies change in the future?"
Jie Jingjue waved his hand dismissively. He didn’t have that kind of foresight. "Fourth Sister-in-law, this is the kind of thing we should only talk about at home. Don’t you dare say it outside. You’ll get yourself into serious trouble."
"Fine, I won’t do business. I’ll buy it to live in, okay?" Qin Mei said. It was impossible to reason with such a one-track-minded person.
"Well, okay, but... buying a house by the train station to live in? It’s too noisy, it’s not a good idea," Jie Jingjue tried to persuade her.
"You’re so long-winded," Qin Mei said, losing her patience. When she told Jie Jingchen about it, he hadn’t said a thing against it, yet here was Jie Jingjue trying to talk her out of it.
She had made up her mind and wouldn’t give up so easily. A house near the train station was a bad place to live, but for a business, it was prime real estate.
With the constant flow of people coming and going, any business would thrive.
"I have a buddy who wants to sell his house near the train station," Jie Jingjue said.
"Really?" Qin Mei’s eyes lit up.
"Really, it’s just..." Jie Jingjue hesitated.
"Just what?" Qin Mei pressed. She resisted the urge to declare magnanimously that price was no object.
"It was the house his parents lived in. They passed away," Jie Jingjue said, stopping just short of calling it a haunted house.
Qin Mei waved a hand dismissively. She didn’t believe in that stuff. To her, birth, aging, sickness, and death were all part of the natural order.
’If I really felt squeamish about it, I could find a feng shui master... Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey, we’re supposed to be breaking the Four Olds!’
"That’s fine," Qin Mei said nonchalantly.
"You’re not scared?" Jie Jingjue asked worriedly. ’Living in a house where people have died, aren’t you scared at all?’
"Scared of what? Ghosts? Jing Wu, sometimes people are more terrifying than ghosts." Qin Mei reached out, patted Jie Jingjue’s shoulder, and dangled the bait. "I’ll give you a commission."
"Commission?" Jie Jingjue was confused.
Qin Mei thought for a moment and said, "An introduction fee."
Jie Jingjue was tempted. "How much?"
"How much do you want?" Qin Mei asked generously. Jie Jingjue hesitated for a few seconds, then grinned and held up his index finger. Qin Mei assumed he meant a thousand. It was no wonder she thought so; her mother-in-law and sister-in-law would casually hand out a thousand yuan. She’d forgotten that while they were rich, Jie Jingjue was not.
’I’m still holding his IOU. Even though he thumped his chest and swore he’d pay it back, I don’t think he can afford to. This could cancel out that one-thousand-yuan debt. And after the Reform and Opening-Up policies, the profits this place will bring me will be far more than a thousand.’
"Okay, I agree," Qin Mei said without hesitation.
"For real?" Seeing how readily Qin Mei agreed, Jie Jingjue couldn’t believe it.
"We can put it in writing," Qin Mei said, showing her sincerity.
"Oh, that won’t be necessary." Jie Jingjue chuckled. ’If I don’t even have that much trust, Fourth Brother will beat me up.’ "Fourth Sister-in-law, it’s settled then. I’ll go find my buddy, you wait here for news. Once it’s done, you’ll give me a one-hundred-yuan introduction fee."
"How much of an introduction fee?" Qin Mei suspected she had misheard.
"One hundred." Jie Jingjue held up his index finger, frowning slightly. "Is that too much?"
’Fourth Sister-in-law couldn’t have thought I meant ten yuan, could she?’ Jie Jingjue thought. Then again, he felt he was being a bit greedy. An introduction fee of one hundred yuan was several tens of yuan more than his monthly salary. It would be normal if she couldn’t accept it. Jie Jingjue wondered if he should ask for less.
"It’s not too much. One hundred it is," Qin Mei said immediately. She had thought he was going to ask for a thousand, but he only wanted a hundred. ’Sigh! My perspective on money has been totally warped by my mother-in-law and sister-in-law. I’m starting to think a thousand is the baseline for everything.’
Worried that Jie Jingjue might change his mind, Qin Mei got up, went inside, and came out with ten ten-yuan bills for Jing Wu.
Jing Wu excitedly took the money. Now that he had cash in hand, he was motivated to get the job done.
As soon as Jie Jingjue left, Jie Jingshan came out of the house. Qin Mei smiled as she watched Jing Qi walk steadily toward her. She was recovering very well, a testament to how hard she must have been working in private. Before long, Jing Qi would be able to walk just like a normal person.
Jie Jingshan came up to Qin Mei and got straight to the point. "Fourth Sister-in-law, you want to buy a house near the train station?"
"Mhm," Qin Mei nodded.
"Ask Mom," Jie Jingshan said.
Qin Mei’s smile deepened. She understood what Jing Qi meant. She hadn’t initially planned to involve her mother-in-law, and she wouldn’t ask for her help now. Property prices weren’t high at the moment, and the money Qin Xiang had given her was more than enough.
’Using money from my own family gave me more peace of mind than using money from my in-laws.’
"Jing Qi, you have to help me keep this a secret," Qin Mei said with a serious expression.
Jie Jingshan’s brows furrowed slightly. She tilted her head as she looked at Qin Mei. "Why?"
"It’ll be a secret between you and me," Qin Mei coaxed Jing Qi.
Jie Jingshan hesitated for a long time before asking weakly, "Not even let Fourth Brother know?"
"That’s right," Qin Mei nodded solemnly.
Jie Jingchen had just finished washing the clothes. He was holding the bucket and about to step over the threshold when he heard what Qin Mei said. He immediately stopped and stepped back.
’She’d already told me she wanted to buy a house at the train station. I don’t understand why she’s lying to Jing Qi.’
Qin Mei didn’t intend to hide it from anyone in the family; she just didn’t want her mother-in-law getting involved. With the Qiao Family’s financial power and her mother-in-law’s capabilities, if she got involved, there was nothing that couldn’t be done.
’What was the difference between letting her mother-in-law participate and asking her for money directly?’
She wouldn’t refuse the money and passbooks her mother-in-law gave her, but she would never take the initiative to ask. A gift freely given and something you had to ask for were completely different in nature.
It took no effort at all for Qin Mei to convince Jing Qi. Only after Jing Qi had gone back inside did Jie Jingchen emerge from the room to hang the laundry in the courtyard.
Qin Mei watched the capable Jie Jingchen. ’It’s a good thing my mother-in-law is so open-minded. If she had even a trace of old feudalistic thinking, she’d definitely chew me out for seeing this.’
