Chapter Seventy Maturity

  "What are you doing?" Just as he walked into the yard, an old lady's voice rang out.

  "Old lady, I...I was wondering if there are any houses for rent around here?" Qin Feng didn't even hesitate for a moment, and came up with an excuse on the spot.

  "No, this house is actually for sale, young man, you'd better ask another family."

  The old lady had a kind heart and walked over to say, "The house prices here are cheap, one room for sixty yuan a month is enough, young man don't get cheated."

  "Thank you, Mrs..." Qin Feng was taken aback and quickly asked: "You're living well here, why do you want to sell?"

  "I've lived here for decades and I don't want to sell it either, but the house that was allocated to me before now requires money to buy, isn't this just throwing money around..."

  The old lady was quite talkative, and in a few words, she made things clear. She had three sons and one daughter, all of whom were already working. Except for the youngest son who lived in this courtyard, the other two sons and daughter's work units had allocated apartments to them.

  However, recently the country has introduced a policy, and the houses allocated by the unit can be converted into years of service to buy them out, for around 20,000 to 30,000 yuan per suite.

  If there was only one house, it would be easy to handle. However, the old lady had three sons and daughters who all needed money. After some thought, she decided to sell the courtyard. The money from the sale, except for buying a house for her youngest son, would be used to supplement her other three children.

  "Hey, old lady, this yard isn't small, it should be worth a lot of money, right?"

  After hearing the old lady's words, Qin Feng's heart suddenly moved. Originally, he was indeed thinking of renting a house in Jin Tian City to live in, but after seeing his master's former residence, Qin Feng changed his mind.

  "This house hasn't been renovated for many years and is worthless."

  The old lady shook her head, sighed and said: "Now young people all like to live in high-rise buildings, but what's good about these high-rise buildings? Neighbors don't even know each other, how can it compare to the intimacy of these decades-long neighbors?"

  The old lady obviously didn't take Qin Feng as a person who came to buy a house, and she spoke without any reserve, even revealing her bottom line.

  This set of quadrangle courtyards covering an area of 300 square meters, the old lady's bottom line price is only 1.2 million yuan, less than 4,000 yuan per square meter.

  Of course, as it was only the third year since the housing reform started, many people were still waiting for their work units to allocate houses in 1997, so this price wasn't considered cheap at that time.

  Because some newly developed buildings in Jin Tian City are also sold for only 600-700 yuan per square meter, the old lady's house has been asked by many people, but so far, no one has decided to buy it.

  After listening to the old lady's muttering for half a day, Qin Feng made an excuse to leave and this time he didn't wander around on the street, but instead took Li Tianyuan back to the hotel.

  "Feng Ge, I'll be back tonight. By the way, my dad wants to see you, is that okay?"

  After returning to the hotel, Qin Feng immediately dialed the phone number left by Xie Xuan and called him. The person who answered the phone was a middle-aged man's voice, but after hearing that he wanted to find Xie Xuan, the receiver was handed over to Xiao Pangzi.

  Xie Xuan spoke with some trepidation, although he didn't mention Qin Feng's actions in Shishi, but instead praised "Old Master Feng" to the point where it seemed like a flower, which piqued Xie Dazhi's interest in Qin Feng.

  "Let's go, I just happen to have something else to ask Uncle Xie."

  Qin Feng's response on the phone put Xie Xuan at ease. To say that he used to have a sense of awe towards Qin Feng when they were in prison, but after what happened in Shishi, Xie Xuan now simply idolized Qin Feng.

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  "Thank you, Uncle! I am Qin Feng!"

  More than half an hour later, in the coffee shop of Hai Zhu Hotel, Qin Feng met Xie Dazhi, a legendary figure in Shishi, and Li Tianyuan followed behind him and also called out "Boss".

  Xie Dazhi, in his forties, resembles Xie Xuan somewhat in appearance. His chubby face gives people a very down-to-earth feeling. The Western-style suit on him looks a bit old, but it's very clean.

  "Xiao Qin, for these two years, I've been hearing nothing but your name in my ears."

  When he saw Qin Feng, Xie Dazhi smiled brightly and called the waiter to order a few cups of coffee and some snacks. Then he said, "My son used to only know how to fight and cause trouble, but your words are more useful than this old man's."

  Xie Dazhi is the kind of person who easily gives people a good impression. Although he is more than twenty years older than Qin Feng, he doesn't put on any airs of seniority and treats Qin Feng as an equal.

  "Thank you, Uncle, this has nothing to do with me, Xie Xuan can take care of himself."

  Qin Feng couldn't help but laugh upon hearing this. As the saying goes, "a small spark can ignite a prairie fire" and "a single point can reveal the entire situation". Someone like Xie Dazhi, his success is not without reason. Even if he's currently at a low point in life, Qin Feng believes he'll be able to rise again.

  "Qin Feng, are you really only eighteen years old?" Xie Dazhi asked with some disbelief after exchanging a few words with Qin Feng.

  Xie Dazhi was also observing him just like Qin Feng was observing himself.

  After entering the cafe, Xie Dazhi found that Qin Feng was not awkward at all in this kind of place, but his own son and Li Tianyuan had some tense expressions.

  If it weren't for the faint innocence on Qin Feng's face, he would have taken his opponent as an old fox in the business world. The strong contrast between his age and demeanor was something that Xie Dazhi felt for the first time.

  "He is eighteen by Chinese age reckoning, but actually he is still under."

  After experiencing the changes in his family and being influenced by his father for several years, Qin Feng's understanding of Jianghu and life has made his mentality much more mature than his age. Even compared to Xie Dazhi, he is not inferior.

  "Alas, if my son were like you, I wouldn't have to worry so much."

  Xie Dazhi sighed and looked at Qin Feng, saying: "With Xie Xuan by your side, I'm very reassured. Qin Feng, are you planning to settle down in Jin Tian or what? Although Uncle Xie has been having a tough time these past two years, there are still some things he can help with..."

  Xie Dazhi had invested in a plot of land in Jin Tian early on, but it had never been developed. After his business went bankrupt in Shi City, he pinned all his hopes on this plot of land.

  "Thanks, Uncle. It just so happens that I have something to ask of you." Upon hearing Zhai Da Zhi's words, Qin Feng smiled, thinking that this was like having someone deliver a pillow when he wanted to sleep.

  "You said I still have some connections in Jin Tian."

  Xie Dazhi nodded, he is a straightforward person, when doing business in the past, he didn't care about small profits, so he has good relationships with friends all over the place. This time developing real estate is also done together with local businessmen from Jin Tian.

  Qin Feng didn't hide it either, and said straightforwardly: "I want to buy out a shop, and also buy another set of courtyard houses."

  "Renting a shop, buying... buying a house?"

  Even Rao Zhi, who had also experienced great winds and waves, couldn't help but be stunned by Qin Feng's words. "Qin Feng, these...these two items together will cost a lot of money, right? Uncle Xie has been a bit tight on funds recently, I estimate he can only help you with 50,000 yuan at most."

  "I have the money, no need to thank Uncle, just as long as you show up."

  Qin Feng smiled and pulled over the backpack beside him, placing it in front of Xie Dazhi. "There's a total of 2.2 million inside," he said. "The house should cost around 1.2 million to fix up, and as for that store, 700,000 to 800,000 should be enough. As for the remaining money, I was thinking of asking Uncle Xie to find someone to tidy up the courtyard a bit."

  Qin Feng went to that quadrangle courtyard and took a look. Although the overall structure was not a problem, many places had been neglected for years, looking a bit dilapidated, and just needed some minor repairs.

  "2.2 million? Qin Feng, where did you get this money from?"

  Xie Xuan had never told his father about what they did, so when he suddenly heard Qin Feng say that there were over 2 million in the bag in front of him, Xie Dazhi simply didn't dare to believe his ears.

  Xie Dazhi wasn't someone who had never seen money before, but a 17 or 18 year old kid who had just come out of prison and could take out such a large sum of money really shocked him.

  "Made some money from messing around with antiques..."

  Qin Feng didn't elaborate and instead pushed the backpack over, saying: "Uncle Xie, if you trust me, help me with this. If not, I'll handle it myself..."

  Qin Feng wasn't unable to show himself, but he had his own concerns.

  Firstly, Qin Feng is too young, which would make people discount his credibility. In this day and age, it's not just a matter of one or two hundred thousand; some families struggle to come up with even ten or twenty thousand. If he were to go through the formalities of transferring ownership, Qin Feng wouldn't be able to explain where the money came from.

  Er Lai didn't know what kind of life he would choose in the future, but one thing was for sure - he wouldn't be a goody-goody. He'd probably drift along the edge of the law and wasn't suited to leaving too deep an impression here.

  So thinking about it, it's best for Xie Dazhi to take the lead in this matter. At that time, he won't use his own name for the property certificate and the store's procedures.

  Staring at Qin Feng's calm face for a while, Xie Dazhi let out a bitter laugh and nodded, saying: "Qin Feng, I'll help you with this trouble. However, I have one request - from now on, don't call me Uncle anymore, just call me Old Xie. At your age, I was still climbing trees to catch birds and diving into rivers to catch fish..."

  By saying this, Xie Dazhi regarded Qin Feng as an equal to himself, not because of his age, but because of the maturity of his mind. He really couldn't consider Qin Feng and his own stupid son as people of the same age.

  "Old Xie? Forget it, I'm brothers with Xie Xuan, this generation can't be crossed."

  Qin Feng shook his head, one should know when to advance and retreat in life. When others praise oneself, one cannot be complacent. Simply from the perspective of age, he should be called "uncle".

  "Alright, Qin Feng, from now on my son will follow you." Xie Dazhi didn't pretend to be polite. Although he had been unlucky for the past two years, his discerning eye hadn't lost its sharpness. He could see that Qin Feng would definitely become a great talent in the future.

  "By the way, tell me about your house and shop, is there anything I should pay attention to?" Xie Dazhi changed the subject, he was also curious what Qin Feng's next move would be.

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