Zhou Shuren explained: “The location of his yard is not good, so he wants to move to a better location. He heard from Deng Xiucai that we bought three houses and he wants to buy one.”

Zhulan said, “It doesn’t matter who you sell it to. Zhao Bo has helped us a lot. Let’s sell this house to him at the purchase price. It can also repay some favors.”

Zhou Shuren burped, “He’s not stupid. He won’t let us repay the favor easily. He will definitely pay us according to the market price.”

Zhuan thought so too, and then curled her lips, “He came to buy our house, which shows that there are no houses for sale in the capital. Even if someone wants to sell the house, the location is not good.”

“True.”

Zhulan supported Zhou Shuren, who had drunk quite a lot. “You should take a rest first.”

Zhou Shuren was indeed feeling a little dizzy. He hummed in a daze and lay down on the bed to sleep.

Zhulan took off Zhou Shuren’s coat and covered him with a quilt. Zhulan looked at the bed and sighed. She was somewhat accustomed to the warm kang and was not used to sleeping on the bed!

They had to buy charcoal for winter this year. The small kang in the house was not enough to dissipate heat, which was a huge expense. Fortunately, she could make a lot of money by selling the houses!

The next morning, Zhou Shuren took the title deeds of the two courtyards to meet Zhao Bo. Zhou Shuren first took Zhao Bo to see the two courtyards and decided to transfer the ownership of whichever one he liked.

Zhao Bo chose the courtyard closest to West City. Zhulan bought it for 1,300 taels, and Zhao Bo bought it for 1,800 taels, which was the current market price.

It was a pity that Zhulan’s house had a courtyard, and the maximum increase had been to two thousand taels. The bigger the house, the more it would increase.

Time passed quickly, and ten days went by in the blink of an eye. Zhulan felt that the house price would not rise any further, so she told Zhou Shuren and Deng Xiucai that she wanted to sell another courtyard. When Deng Xiucai found out, he sold it the same day for two thousand taels.

She made a profit of 1,200 taels from the two houses in a few months.

After deducting expenses and the money from selling the house, Zhulan had more than 12,000 taels of silver in her hands. The silver would not make any more money if kept in her hands, so she still had to invest it.

Zhulan had been busy for more than half a month since she came to the capital. Because the neighbors on both sides were merchants, Zhulan did not visit their home, but the two neighbors came in person. Zhulan adhered to the principle of not hitting a smiling person and greeted the wives of the merchants. She got a lot of information out of them.

Merchants were the most well-informed, especially since the beginning of the year, when the court relaxed its policies toward merchants, and merchants had become even more well-informed.

Li Shi was sensitive about food. Zhulan was chatting with her neighbor, and the neighbor’s wife told her that the bacon made in her hometown in winter could be kept for a long time, and there was also smoked meat, etc. Li Shi had nothing to do, so she started to make these herself.

Based on the news, Zhulan wanted to invest the money she had. If the court’s policies were good, there would be more merchant ships traveling to Pinggang, and the housing prices would definitely go up. Investing money in buying a house would be a safe investment.

It just so happened that there was no land for sale near the capital, so Zhulan and Zhou Shuren wanted to leave the capital to buy land, and they would also go to Pinggang to buy a house.

Speaking of the fields in the capital, there were only farms near the capital, and there were very few scattered fields. Most of the farms were controlled by the powerful and wealthy. If you wanted to buy fields, you had to go far away from the capital.

Zhulan and Zhou Shuren took Ma Eryue and Lichun out, leaving the house under the care of Boss Zhou and his wife.

It took a day to get from the capital to Pinggang by carriage. On the way to the inn in Pinggang, Zhou Shuren sighed: “The court’s policy towards merchants has been relaxed, and people are coming and going here. I still remember the first time I went out and passed by here, there were not many merchant ships, and it seemed very cold!”

Zhulan looked at the bustling crowd outside, and she also saw many foreign businessmen.

When they arrived at the inn, they asked for a room upstairs. Zhulan packed her luggage, while Zhou Shuren took Lichun out to get information.

Zhou Shuren came back after the food was ready and served. Zhulan asked, “How was the investigation?”

Zhou Shuren said: “There are many people who have the same idea as you. I heard that many people have bought houses here.”

Zhulan was not worried. “The more you buy, the more valuable this place is. This is only the first year, and the price will be higher in the future. I buy a house here for investment. It doesn’t matter if I can’t buy a good house, as long as the location is good.”

Zhou Shuren smiled and said, “You have a plan in mind, I’ll listen to you.”

Zhulan smiled and said, “Yes.”

On the second day, Zhulan and Zhou Shuren found the broker. The broker dared to cheat ordinary people and merchants, but he did not dare to go too far with a Juren. He was also much more respectful to them than to the merchants, as status and identity were too important in ancient times.

The broker said, “Many people are buying houses this year, so there are not many good houses left. The remaining houses are either too expensive or too shabby.”

Zhulan asked, “Can you introduce me to a house with a high price?”

The broker introduced: “I have a three-story courtyard and a two-story courtyard, both of which are good. The three-story courtyard is 3,000 taels, and the two-story courtyard is 1,200 taels. This price is almost catching up with the price of houses in the northern district of Beijing, so no one has bought them. Everyone is waiting for the price to drop.”

Zhulan hissed and said, “It is indeed expensive. Although Pinggang is close to the capital, it is still a certain distance away. The price is indeed too high.”

The broker laughed dryly, “The prices of houses in Pinggang have skyrocketed this year. Some of them have gone too far.”

Zhulan nodded in her heart that it was indeed outrageous. This was the result of the crazy house buying at the beginning. “What about the shabby houses you mentioned?”

The broker was very professional, he memorized the information without even looking through the notebook, “There are two houses that are from a declining family that have been in disrepair for many years and cannot be sold. They are both two-story courtyards. The locations of these two houses are pretty good, and the asking price is 700 taels. Although they are two-story courtyards, they cover a large area, and because they are dilapidated and empty, no one has ever been interested in them.”

Afterwards, Zhulan listened to Yazi’s introduction to several other properties. Zhulan and Zhou Shuren asked the broker to take them to see the houses. Zhulan did not go to the houses with high prices. She came here to invest and only looked at the houses with the highest return on investment.

Finally, Zhulan took a fancy to three houses. Two of them were two-story houses with a price of 700 taels each because they covered a lot of land. If the land was utilized well, the price of the house could be increased several times. The last one was a courtyard house, which also covered a lot of land. Zhulan valued the houses with large land.

She bought three courtyards and spent 1,800 taels of silver, which included the fees given to the broker and the silver for exchanging the deeds.

Zhulan’s name was written on all three houses. This was Zhou Shuren’s idea. Zhou Shuren also considered it for the future. In ancient times, no one was allowed to touch a woman’s dowry except in special circumstances such as house confiscation, to prevent any trouble before it happened.

Moreover, if the house and shop were put under Zhulan’s name in the future, they could be operated better.

Zhulan and Zhou Shuren stayed in Pinggang for three days. They also bought eighty acres of land near Pinggang. Zhulan’s suggestion was very simple. If Pinggang was expanded, the eighty acres of land could be exchanged for a lot of silver. If it was not expanded, the land here was also good, so it would not be a loss either way.

The eighty acres of land were rented directly to local tenant farmers.

On the way back to the capital, the convoy that Zhulan and Zhou Shuren followed encountered the army returning to the capital. The convoy stopped to make way, and Zhulan was shocked.

Zhou Shuren has good eyesight, “Huh.”

Zhulan asked, “What’s wrong?”

(End of this chapter)

---