Zhulan put down her rouge and looked back. The coachman was indeed familiar. Zhulan looked up at the sky in speechless resignation. The capital city was so large, yet she still happened to run into this person.

The curtain of the carriage was opened, and Zhou Shuren suppressed the twitching of his mouth and said, “Yao Gōngzi.”

Yao Zheyu leaned against the car window, thinking playfully, “Zhou Xiucai doesn’t look like he just arrived in the capital. If he came to the capital, why didn’t he come to the Marquis’ Mansion to look for me?”

Zhou Shuren thought to himself, that he was not complaining about his long life, “Sir, you are joking. How dare we, small people like us, go to the rich and powerful in West City? Besides, we don’t have a deep friendship. Zhou still knows his limitations.”

Yao Zheyu stared at Zhou Shuren’s eyes for a while, and suddenly smiled, “Zhou Xiucai is not only of noble character, but also very self-aware.”

Zhou Shuren lowered his head and said, “This is also the way for small people like me to survive.”

Yao Zheyu stopped the car just to confirm whether Zhou Xiucai had come to Beijing to look for him. Since he didn’t, there was no need to pay attention to him. He didn’t have the time to pay attention to a small xiucai. As for the life-saving grace, if he said yes, then yes, if he said no, then no, “Yao has something to do first.”

Zhou Shuren said, “Please, Gōngzi.

Zhulan felt that the male protagonist was becoming more and more fake. She had no idea what he had experienced since returning to the capital. Not only was he becoming more and more imposing, but he was also becoming less and less concerned about the Zhou family’s life-saving grace. He didn’t even mention the life-saving grace just now!

Zhulan waited for the carriage to leave, then bought the rouge she had selected. She and Zhou Shuren stopped walking outside and went straight back to the inn.

After returning to the inn, Zhu Lan said, “Yao Zheyu has changed a lot. I feel like he has been greatly stimulated. Why does he seem to have turned evil and doesn’t trust anyone anymore?”

Zhou Shuren also feels this way, “I can only say that we are too arrogant because we have indirectly changed too much.”

Zhulan was happy. She and Zhou Shuren were indeed strong. However, it was better for the male protagonist to stay as far away from them as possible, otherwise they would be easily used as cannon fodder.

The next day, Zhulan met Deng Xiucai, who was in his thirties. Knowing that he wanted to buy a property, Deng Xiucai said, “Since Brother Zhao recommended you, I will certainly handle this matter properly. However, I won’t lower the price just because of Brother Zhao’s introduction. I have a family to support as well. Brother Zhou has been to my home, so I hope you understand.”

Zhou Shuren, “I understand, I understand. I’ll leave this matter to Brother Deng.”

Deng Xiucai patted his chest and said, “With me here, Brother Zhou will never buy a house with problems. I will try my best to find a better place. Brother Zhou just needs to wait for good news.”

“I would like to thank Brother Deng here. The food and drinks are ready. Let’s eat and chat.”

“Well.”

Zhulan ate in the guest room and waited for an hour before Zhou Shuren came back.

Zhulan was very curious, “Deng Xiucai is just a xiucai, can we trust his promise?”

Although she trusted Zhao Bo very much, he was just a xiucai in the capital, how could she dare to make such a guarantee?

Zhou Shuren also deliberately got drunk and got some information from them before he knew why he dared to make such a guarantee. “He can be trusted. Deng Xiucai just revealed that his sister is the concubine of the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and gave birth to his only son. He will naturally take good care of this cheap brother-in-law. Deng Xiucai is not good at studying. He can only pass the exam to become a scholar. He makes a living by reselling information. He is reliable in his work.”

Zhulan really didn’t expect there was such a strong relationship, “Then why is Deng Xiucai’s house still a mess?”

Zhou Shuren, “Marry a virtuous wife.”

Five words sum it all up.

The next day, Deng Xiucai came with his brokers. Brokers were the most deceptive. Brokers from all places were the same. As long as you were not a local, they would cheat you.

Deng Xiucai personally brought his broker here. The houses the broker mentioned were all safe and without disputes. “Zhou Xiucai picked a great time to buy a house. Recently, many people have left Beijing to return to their hometowns, so many people are not selling their houses. I will not cheat Zhou Xiucai as you are a person introduced by Deng Xiucai. I have four good houses, two in the south city, and two at the junction of the west city and the east city.”

Zhou Shuren asked, “How about the two households in South City?”

The broker introduced, “There are many merchants in the south city, so naturally their houses are all exquisite and spacious. One of these two families has a two-courtyard house, and the other has a three-courtyard house. The two-courtyard house cost 1,800 taels, and the three-courtyard house cost 4,600 taels. This is the price only because they are in a hurry to sell. If they had sold it last year, they would not have been able to get the three-courtyard house for 6,000 taels.”

Zhulan took a deep breath and thought it was too expensive and she couldn’t afford it.

Zhou Shuren asked calmly, “What about the two houses at the junction of West City and East City?”

The broker didn’t even need to look through the book in his hand, he just spoke, “West City is inhabited by the rich and powerful, Zhou Xiucai should know that East City has many ordinary people, but there are also many officials living there. The location of these two houses is really good, but the house is just a square courtyard, the courtyard is not very big, but because of the location, the two houses are priced at 1,200 taels without bargaining. By the way, the decoration inside the house is not as good as the merchant’s house.”

Zhulan was quickly calculating in her mind. Some residents in the capital had experienced several major wars in the capital and had left the capital because they did not trust the imperial military force. They were in a hurry to sell their houses at a lower price than usual.

This was a rare opportunity. When the war ends, housing prices will definitely go back up. Moreover, the people will have more confidence in the court as the Emperor could have won the war, and housing prices in the capital may double.

Zhulan pulled Zhou Shuren and blinked at him three times. Zhou Shuren was happy. He was thinking of buying the two houses at the junction of West City. Zhulan meant to buy three houses. He could not compare with Zhulan in business, so he nodded slightly.

Zhou Shuren said to Yazi, “We want to go and see the two-entry house in the south city and both the houses at the junction of the east and the west city.”

The hawker knew that Zhou Xiucai didn’t have that much money to buy three of them. “Okay, let’s go and take a look now.”

The broker paused and continued, “Zhou Xiucai, this is because Deng Xiucai introduced you. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have kept it in my hands. Many people asked about it yesterday!”

Zhou Shuren took out a silver coin and handed it to Yazi, “Take this and have tea.”

The broker said cheerfully, “Zhou Xiucai is so polite, let’s go!”

Zhulan curled her lips in her heart. In the capital, money was needed everywhere. Without money, you couldn’t move at all!

Zhou Shuren asked the waiter to call two carriages, one for Deng Xiucai and the broker, and one for Zhulan and Zhou Shuren.

When only Zhulan and Zhou Shuren were left, Zhulan whispered, “If it looks good, buy three sets. I calculated that it would cost 4,200 taels. Give 50 taels to Deng Xiucai, some to the broker, and the money for exchanging the deeds. We will still have 200 taels left, including the 100 taels in the eldest brother’s hand and the 100 taels of silver from home. That leaves 400 taels in hand. Add the money from selling grain in the fall, and we will have enough to spend.”

Zhulan paused and continued, “If the war ends next year, the housing prices in the capital will definitely go up. If we sell one then, it will be enough for our family.”

Zhou Shuren said: “Okay, I’ll listen to you.”

Zhulan was happy. She could finally make some money. This opportunity was rare and she would be letting herself down if she didn’t seize it.

Because the inn was in the southern part of the city, they first looked at the two-story house. Zhulan looked carefully and found that the merchants’ houses were exquisite. If it weren’t located in the south city, the two-story house would be worth at least three thousand taels.

Zhulan liked it and then went to see two houses at the junction of West City. The yards were indeed not very good and the houses looked dilapidated. The value of the houses was indeed their location, otherwise Zhulan would not have bought them for eight hundred taels.

The broker asked, “Is Zhou Xiucai ready?”

Zhou Shuren smiled and said, “Okay, I want all three. It’s not too late, can we transfer the ownership today?”

The broker was stunned. He didn’t expect them to buy all three. He was very happy. It was good to buy all three. He could get a lot of commission. It was a big deal recently. Although there were many people selling houses recently, there were not many buyers. They were all waiting and watching.

The broker said, “You can come with me with the money. I will get everything done for you today.”

Zhulan was worried about Zhou Shuren, so she said to him, “Let’s go together.”

Zhou Shuren nodded, “Okay.”

The broker had his own ways. Zhou Shuren paid the silver to the seller and the broker handled the deed. As long as there was silver, Zhulan got the house deed in the afternoon. She gave benefits to the broker and also to Deng Xiucai. Zhulan returned to the inn with the house deed. Now that she had three properties in the capital, she felt a little proud.

But the good mood lasted until we returned to the inn, where the waiter said, “Dear guests, someone has been waiting for you for a long time.”

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