The Reborn Sidekick Rejected The Male Lead
Chapter 281 - 271: Increase the Area

Chapter 281: Chapter 271: Increase the Area

The next day, Father He and Aunt Wang went to work early in the morning, leaving He Yu and Lu Jingqiu alone.

He Yu’s three-story house was much better than those of people living in tight quarters, especially since his elder and second brothers weren’t at home.

Aunt Wang thoughtfully left them some food.

He Yu said, "Nowadays, my life is all about eating, sleeping, and then eating again, it’s so boring."

"Isn’t that what summer vacation is all about?"

"Yeah, I usually go out with friends, but it’s been so hot, we haven’t gone out much. However, I did send in the house design drawings that I worked on before to the Urban Construction Bureau. They’ve been collecting design proposals recently."

"That’s good, any results yet?"

"They are still collecting, it won’t be so quick. I’m not holding out much hope, mainly because I’m not feeling very confident."

"Just keep a calm mindset, if you win, it means your professional skills are decent. If not, we’ll just learn from the strengths of others and keep on trying."

"You’re right, I’ve got plenty of time anyway. Consider this a first attempt."

As they talked and ate, it was soon after eight o’clock when He Yu rode his bike, taking her to Grandma Zhang’s place.

When they arrived, Grandma Zhang’s son was also there, in his fifties, dressed in a Sun Yat-sen suit, looking like a university professor.

"Grandma Zhang, Uncle Zhang."

"Please have a seat."

"Alright."

After everyone was seated, Uncle Zhang said, "I heard from my mother about your situation yesterday. This house is our ancestral home, so we wanted to find someone who feels right for it.

My mother thinks Comrade Lu is a kindred spirit, and we respect her opinion. If you like this house, we can proceed to the Urban Construction Bureau right now to transfer the ownership."

Lu Jingqiu, still quite excited, quickly said with a smile, "Grandma Zhang, I really do like this house. But regarding the price, Uncle Zhang, could you possibly give us a discount?"

Uncle Zhang shook his head, "This is the lowest price we can accept. Your grandmother must have told you, we’ll leave all the furniture for you too. So at eight thousand five hundred yuan, for this location, it’s pretty hard to come by.

Several neighbors have been eyeing this property; it’s just that my mother doesn’t really fancy those buyers. If we agreed, we could sell it for nine thousand."

Lu Jingqiu glanced at He Yu, thought it over, and nodded in agreement.

With no objections from either side and without further delay, they rode their bikes towards the housing authority.

There, she was met with an even bigger surprise.

"Comrade Jingqiu, right? This property originally didn’t include a yard, but after a unified planning, every household was allocated a front and back yard. However, the yard area isn’t included in the property title. Recently, we notified the community in that area to measure the yards uniformly and to add the area of the yards to the property titles."

"Wow, that’s some really good news! Add it on, I’ll add on."

Uncle Zhang chuckled and reminded, "There’s no such thing as a free lunch. The charge applies here too. Our house’s front and back yards combined are about eighty square meters."

The excitement in Lu Jingqiu’s heart instantly cooled down upon hearing this, and she finally asked the officer from the housing bureau, "How much per square meter, comrade?"

"We considered people’s circumstances, so we didn’t set a high price – forty yuan per square meter. It’s not mandatory, but the fee will increase every year, by twenty yuan per square meter per year. If you don’t do it this year, next year it will be sixty yuan per square meter, and the year after, eighty yuan per square meter. Of course, if you can’t afford it, we can arrange installments. You’re suppose to pay it off within three years, but we will also charge a symbolic fifty yuan of interest annually."

"It can work like that?" Lu Jingqiu immediately perked up and said, "Then, about how much would the yard area for Grandma Zhang’s house cost?"

"Their row of houses all have the same size of yard, together it’s eighty-two square meters, so you would need to pay three thousand two hundred and eighty yuan.

If you can pay in full today, we can waive the eighty yuan for you. You just need to pay three thousand two hundred yuan."

Lu Jingqiu calculated the money she had on hand, and when she got married, she had accumulated over ten thousand yuan from the money given by her father, grandfather, and aunt.

Paying this amount was possible, but she thought the policy provided by the Shanghai Municipal Government was quite good, with the option of paying over three thousand yuan in three installments, it was manageable to pay one thousand yuan each year.

So, Lu Jingqiu decided to follow the government’s policy and initially paid one thousand yuan, with the remaining two thousand two hundred to be paid at one thousand one hundred and fifty yuan each year, to be completed by every November.

Otherwise, as per the contract, if they failed to pay within two years, their family’s yard would be directly auctioned off.

When she came out, Lu Jingqiu looked at the house that was originally eighty-five square meters and had now turned into one hundred and sixty-seven square meters.

She was so delighted she was nearly bursting with joy, and Grandma Zhang, seeing that she had also paid the yard fee, was able to let go of her attachment to the house.

She was happy that she had found a good family for the house, and she could leave with peace of mind.

"Xiao Lu, this house will be yours from now on. Your Uncle Zhang and I will tidy up this afternoon, and we’ll leave on the early train tomorrow morning."

"Come over to our house to get the keys at seven tomorrow morning."

"Okay, Grandma Zhang."

After saying this, Grandma Zhang got into Uncle Zhang’s car and left.

Once they were gone, the two let their excitement fly, holding hands and jumping for joy. "Jingqiu, we’ve made a profit, a huge profit."

"Yes, the yard is worth as much as the house now, only forty yuan per square meter. Absolutely worth it. Come on, I’ll treat you to a big meal at noon."

"Okay, I promise I won’t be polite."

The restaurant was still He Yu’s choice, where he took Lu Jingqiu to enjoy the authentic local specialties of the area.

After the meal, Lu Jingqiu sent a telegram to Jiang Nanzhou, informing him of the new house address.

In the afternoon, Lu Jingqiu purposely bought a lot of groceries, planning to show off her cooking skills to Uncle He and Aunt Wang.

When staying at someone else’s place, one shouldn’t just expect to be waited on hand and foot.

In the evening, when Uncle He and Aunt Wang got back, Lu Jingqiu said, "Uncle He, Aunt Wang, the house I bought will be vacated by the owners tomorrow. These past few days, I’m so grateful for your hospitality. I’m not sure what I should do, or if the meal I’ve prepared suits your taste."

The couple, seeing a table full of dishes, were extremely envious.

They kept saying how they wished they had a daughter who was this thoughtful.

This caused He Yu to roll his eyes at them from the side.

Finally, when Lu Jingqiu mentioned that she sold the house and gained an additional eighty some square meters, "We didn’t even know about this policy."

"Mainly because we don’t have a yard here, otherwise they would definitely have notified us," Aunt Wang said.

Father He was still quite shocked, "Land outside is a hundred yuan per square meter, but it goes down to forty yuan at the government department. If we sell it after a few years according to the area stated on the property title, that could easily make a profit of over ten thousand yuan."

He Yu eagerly nodded, "Dad, that’s how it is. Aren’t the houses from your unit also priced lower than those outside?"

"Yes, the apartment allocated to me by my unit is eighty-seven square meters, a two-bedroom. If we want that kind of western-style house, we would need to pay an extra twenty thousand yuan. But the supplementary payment is fifty yuan per square meter," Father He explained.

Aunt Wang suddenly realized something and paused, "The apartments from the unit can also be sold. Old He, let’s buy one as well. Even if we don’t live in it, selling it later could fetch quite a sum, and it’s not a small amount."

Father He nodded, "Tomorrow let the kids come home, and we can discuss it."

Upon hearing this, He Yu surreptitiously shot Lu Jingqiu a triumphant look.