Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!
Chapter 320 Investment_1

Chapter 320: Chapter 320 Investment_1

Zhou Shuren explained, "His courtyard is poorly located, so he wants to swap it for one with a better location. Knowing from Scholar Deng that we bought three properties, he desires to purchase one."

Zhulan said, "Selling it to anyone is the same, and Zhao Bo has helped us a lot. We can sell the house to him for the price we paid and repay some of the favor."

Burping from his drink, Zhou Shuren said, "He isn’t foolish enough to let us repay the favor easily; he will definitely offer us the market price."

Zhulan thought about it and then, with the corner of her mouth hooked, said, "His coming to us to buy our property proves there are no houses for sale in the capital anymore, or if there are, they’re not well situated."

"Mmm."

Zhulan helped Zhou Shuren, who had indeed drunk quite a bit, "You should rest first."

Zhou Shuren’s head was indeed spinning, and he responded groggily with a hum before falling asleep on the bed.

Zhulan removed Zhou Shuren’s coat and covered him with a quilt. Looking at the bed, she sighed; she had grown quite accustomed to the warmth of a heated brick bed and found sleeping on a regular bed somewhat uncomfortable!

With winter approaching, they needed to buy coal. Relying on the small brick bed inside the house wasn’t enough to keep them warm, and it would be yet another hefty expense. Fortunately, selling the house would bring in a substantial profit!

Early the next day, Zhou Shuren took the property deeds for two courtyards to meet with Zhao Bo. Zhou Shuren first took Zhao Bo to look at the two courtyards, to transfer ownership of whichever he took a liking to.

Zhao Bo chose the courtyard closest to West City. Zhulan had bought it for one thousand three hundred taels, and Zhao Bo spent one thousand eight hundred taels, paying the current market price in silver.

It was a pity that Zhulan’s place was just a courtyard; it could have increased in value to two thousand taels at most. Bigger houses would see a much greater increase in value.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, ten days had passed. Zhulan felt that the property prices wouldn’t rise further, so she told Zhou Shuren and Scholar Deng that they wanted to sell another property. As soon as Scholar Deng learned of this, he sold it the same day for two thousand taels.

They made a profit of twelve hundred taels by flipping two properties over several months.

Excluding expenses and adding the money from the house sales, Zhulan had more than twelve thousand taels in hand. Silver wouldn’t grow by sitting there; it had to be invested.

Zhulan hadn’t been idle during her half-month stay in the capital. Because both neighbors were merchant families, though Zhulan didn’t visit them, the neighbors did come by themselves. Adhering to the principle that one doesn’t slap a smiling face, Zhulan didn’t snub the merchants’ wives, and she managed to extract plenty of information from them.

Merchants always had the most up-to-date news, especially since the Imperial court eased policies on merchants after the new year, making their information even more accurate.

Lady Li was sensitive about food; when Zhulan chatted with the neighbors, the neighbors’ wives mentioned that cured meat from their hometown could last a long time, including smoked meat, so Lady Li, with nothing better to do, started working on that herself.

Zhulan, on the other hand, intended to invest the silver based on the information gathered. With the Imperial court’s policies improving, more merchant ships would come and go through Pinggang, ensuring property prices would rise. Investing in real estate was a stable venture.

It just so happened there were no fields to buy near the capital, so Zhulan and Zhou Shuren decided to leave the capital to buy some land, and at the same time, purchase a house in Pinggang.

Speaking of fields around the capital, the area was mostly occupied by estates, with very few scattered plots of land available. Most of these estates were controlled by the powerful elite, which meant they would have to look further away from the capital to buy land.

Zhulan and Zhou Shuren set out with Ma Eryue and Li Chun, leaving the house in the care of Zhou’s eldest brother and his wife.

The carriage ride from the capital to Pinggang took a day. On the way to the inn at Pinggang, Zhou Shuren remarked nostalgically, "The Imperial court’s policies on merchants have relaxed; the place is bustling now. I remember the first time I traveled and passed through here, there weren’t many merchant ships, and it seemed quite desolate!"

Zhulan looked at the bustling crowd outside. She even saw quite a few foreign merchants.

After arriving at the inn and securing the best room, Zhulan organized the luggage while Zhou Shuren took Li Chun out to gather information.

It wasn’t until the food was prepared and served that Zhou Shuren returned. Zhulan asked, "How did your inquiries go?"

Zhou Shuren said, "There are quite a few people with the same idea as you. I found out that there are many people buying houses around here."

Zhulan was not worried, "The more buyers, the more valuable this place proves to be. This is only the first year, and the prices will become even more expensive in the future. Buying a house here is an investment for me. It doesn’t matter if I can’t get a good house; as long as the location is right, that’s fine."

Zhou Shuren smiled, "You have a plan in mind, so I’ll follow your lead."

Zhulan smiled contentedly, "Mhm."

The next day, Zhulan and Zhou Shuren found a broker. A broker might dare to deceive ordinary people and merchants, but they wouldn’t dare to overstep their bounds with a Graduate, showing much more respect than they did to merchants. In ancient times, social status was too important.

The broker said, "This year, many people are buying houses, and not many good ones are left. The rest are either too expensive or too dilapidated."

Zhulan inquired, "Tell me about the houses with the high asking prices."

The broker explained, "I have a three-section compound and a two-section one, both of which are quite nice. The three-section compound is going for three thousand taels, and the two-section one for one thousand two hundred taels. These prices are almost catching up with those in the northern district of the capital, so no one has bought them, waiting for a price drop."

Zhulan gasped at the steep price; even though Pinggang was close to the capital, there was still a certain distance, and indeed, the price was steep.

The broker chuckled awkwardly, "House prices in Pinggang have soared this year, some absurdly so."

Zhulan silently agreed that it was indeed outrageous, the result of the initial rush to buy houses. "What about the more dilapidated houses?"

The broker turned out to be quite professional, recalling from memory without needing to check his ledger, "There are two places where the estate has fallen into disrepair due to the family’s decline and has not been sold for years. Both are two-section compounds in fairly good locations, going for seven hundred taels each. Despite being two-section compounds, they occupy a fair amount of land, appearing even more spacious due to their dilapidation, and have always been overlooked."

After that, Zhulan listened to the broker introduce a few more places. Zhulan and Zhou Shuren had the broker take them to see the houses. Zhulan didn’t bother with the expensive houses; she was here to invest and was only looking at houses that promised the highest investment return.

In the end, Zhulan favored three places: two two-section compounds for seven hundred taels apiece because they indeed sat on quite a bit of land. If utilized well, the price of the houses could multiply. The last was a quadrangle courtyard, also with a sizable piece of land. Zhulan valued properties with larger plots.

After purchasing the three compounds, they spent one thousand eight hundred taels, including the broker’s commission and the cost of the deed transfer into account.

All three properties were registered in Zhulan’s name, which was Zhou Shuren’s intention, thinking of the future. In ancient times, apart from special circumstances such as family confiscation, no one was allowed to touch a woman’s dowry, a cautionary measure to prevent problems before they arose.

Furthermore, having future houses and shops registered in Zhulan’s name would simplify their management.

Zhulan and Zhou Shuren stayed in Pinggang for three days. They also bought eighty acres of land nearby, following Zhulan’s suggestion. Her reasoning was simple: if Pinggang were to expand, the eighty acres could be exchanged for a substantial amount of silver, and if not, the land there was still good, so there was no loss either way.

They immediately rented out the eighty acres to local tenant farmers.

On the way back to the capital, Zhulan and Zhou Shuren’s convoy encountered a returning imperial army, and the convoy stopped to give way. Zhulan watched, quite impressed.

Zhou Shuren’s eyes were sharp, "Oh?"

Zhulan asked, "What’s the matter?"