Pickled long beans

Chapter 188 - 188 184 Deliberation


188: Chapter 184 Deliberation 188: Chapter 184 Deliberation Chen Hai and Wang Huachun had just left the courtyard when Aunt Liu, Butcher Zhang, and Old Man Li, who was puffing on his dry tobacco pipe, gathered around.


“The two of you, our new landlord, judging by the way he talks, he’s definitely not going to let the house matters slide!”


“We all need to stick together and prepare for a long-term battle!”


Frowning deeply, Old Man Li puffed away at his pipe and said,


The houses in this courtyard might be old, but after living here for over ten years, he’d developed quite an attachment to the place.


Just one sentence from that kid and he expected him to move out?


That was absolutely impossible!


“That Chen kid, just a young punk with barely any hair on his face, what can he do if he doesn’t play it straight?”


“These few rooms in the courtyard, if it weren’t for us living here, taking care of them, they’d probably be abandoned by now!”


“In other people’s houses, hiring someone to watch over an empty property still costs a salary, but here we are, not even taking a wage from him, and we still have to pay rent every month.”


“Wants us to move?


Fine, refund us every last penny of the rent we’ve paid over the years, then maybe I’ll consider it!”


Butcher Zhang lit a cigarette and took a luxurious drag, exhaling thick smoke before saying, “Even Wang Meili, who’s a local, couldn’t do anything to us!”


“This Chen guy, an outsider, as long as we stand firm and refuse to move, what can he do to us?”


“As for the rent, fifty yuan a month, I can barely accept that, but if he wants to raise it any more, we won’t give him a dime.”


He laughed heartily, confident in his experience with such matters.


Last year, the original landlord Wang Meili wanted to increase the rent, but unfortunately for her, Butcher Zhang and the others simply wouldn’t hear of it.


At the end of the day, they were paying fifty yuan a month, and if she felt that was too little, then they might as well not pay anything at all!


Because of this issue with the house, the tenants in the courtyard had been to the local neighbourhood office quite a few times to dispute with Wang Meili.


Sadly, these kinds of disputes would go round and round without any clear resolution, and the neighbourhood office, caught in the middle, would at most attempt to mediate.


When mediation proved futile, Wang Meili had no way to force these tenants to do anything.


“Butcher Zhang, Li, I don’t think there’s anything to worry about!”


“He’s just a young kid who’s never been whipped by society.


As long as we stick together and insist on not moving, what’s he going to do, force us out?”


“If he dares to do something like that, it’ll be just perfect.


The moment his people dare to touch me, I’ll just fall to the ground and won’t get up.


Then I can put on a show with crying, making a scene, and threatening to hang myself.


Who knows, I might even make a little money out of it, swindle a good sum!”


With a strange laugh, Aunt Liu chimed in right after.


In the art of making a scene, she was quite the expert.


Just a few days ago, a young fellow accidentally brushed against her while riding his bicycle.


The contact didn’t even break the skin on her arm.


She chased him down the street, berating him all the way, and ended up forcibly taking his bike until he paid her fifty yuan.


“Youthful vigor, anyway, since that Chen kid dropped such words before he left, it isn’t a bad idea for everyone to stay alert.”


“We’ll need to tell Wu, the shoe repairman, about this when he gets back.”


“As long as we’re united, there’s no obstacle we can’t overcome.”


“We’re living just fine here, and this kid thinks a single word from him will make us move.


He wishes.”


“Just prolong anything we can, drag out whatever we can, and wait it out for a while.


Once the kid runs out of patience, he’ll have to accept his fate.”


Old Man Li spoke with a heavy heart to Aunt Liu and Butcher Zhang.


Butcher Zhang was always quick to brandish his pig-slaying knife to scare people, while Aunt Liu was good at throwing tantrums.


As for himself, being quite aged, he preferred a more subtle approach, not keen on confronting people directly.


“Li, the matter of the house concerns the wellbeing of all of us.”


“No need to say it, we all understand that we must work together.”


“No matter what Chen tries, as long as we all stand our ground and refuse to move, his little arms and legs won’t be able to twist us all!”


Aunt Liu and Butcher Zhang looked at each other and nodded, echoing the sentiment.


In this day and age, the management of housing was somewhat chaotic.


Some people, after living in a rented place for a long time, began to treat it as their own.


These kinds of disputes were of no use even if you called the police.


In the end, they had to be resolved through negotiation between the parties involved.


While these few tenants in the courtyard were deep in discussion, Chen Hai and Wang Huachun, who had just left, were also talking about the issue.


“No wonder Aunt Wang’s West Mountain Villa was so cheap and she seemed so eager to get rid of it!”


“Turns out, her tenants in the villa are such a handful.”


“Chen Hai, I’m sorry about this tenant business, I should’ve investigated more thoroughly before.


Otherwise, I never would have dragged you into this mess!”


While cursing under his breath, Wang Huachun apologized profusely, looking at Chen Hai with a guilty expression.


He was just a student who hadn’t yet emerged from the ivory tower, and when Butcher Zhang had been aggressively threatening to grab his pig-slaughtering knife, he had truly been frightened!


In his eyes, as a real estate agent, straightening out the relationship between the homeowner and the buyer was essentially tantamount to a successful transaction!


As for the tenants who were unreasonably belligerent and utterly unwilling to move out of a house someone else had purchased, he had really not considered such a situation.


“Huachun, since I’ve already bought the house, the fact that several tenants don’t want to leave is a conflict between them and me.”


“You don’t need to blame yourself, as an intermediary, you’ve done well enough, and after I signed the contract and bought the house, these issues are actually not much of your concern anymore.”


“I’ve given them enough time to move out; I am even willing to pay them one month’s rent.”


“By doing this, I consider myself to have done all that is honorable and just.”


“If, after this month has passed, they still occupy my house and show no intention of leaving, that will mean they have refused my kindness.”


“By then, whatever I decide to do, they cannot blame me for it!”


With a stern face, Chen Hai let out a cold chuckle.


His mood had been very good upon just purchasing this courtyard.


Unfortunately, after one visit, the attitudes of those tenants had completely soured his mood.


The several rooms in his courtyard had all become so dilapidated.


The tenants living there were, unsurprisingly, likely the social underclass struggling in Capital City.


Knowing their hardships, Chen Hai actually harbored some goodwill towards them.


As long as they were willing to move out, in addition to paying them one month’s rent, he wasn’t against even providing some additional financial compensation.


Even if these tenants were living in dire straits, that was no justification for them to forcibly occupy his property.


“Chen Hai, those tenants in your courtyard are not the kind to deal with easily!”


“It probably won’t be easy to get them to leave.”


“This was my oversight and has caused trouble for you.”


“We agreed on a one thousand five hundred yuan fee for my services, but I am too ashamed to take your money, so you don’t need to pay me!”


Hanging his head, Wang Huachun suggested dejectedly to Chen Hai.


This being his first business deal and having it turn out this way, he truly felt unsatisfied.


He felt extremely guilty towards Chen Hai.


After all, Chen Hai had paid a full one hundred and fifty thousand yuan in cash, and within the next six months, he needed to gather another one hundred and fifty thousand to pay off the house in full.


Otherwise, the one hundred and fifty thousand he had already handed over would have been for nothing.


But now, the money was paid, and he couldn’t take possession of the house.


A single room, with only fifty yuan rent a month, how long would it take to recoup the investment?


In Wang Huachun’s view, if he couldn’t get those tenants to leave the courtyard, Chen Hai would have really made a terrible deal by spending so much!


“Don’t worry about it, Huachun; you’ve busied yourself for many days over this house, even neglecting your studies.”


“The agent fee I promised you, I will definitely pay you in full without deducting a cent.”


“As for the tenant issue, you don’t have to worry, Chen Hai’s advantages are not so easily taken!”


“This month is the time I’ve given them to move.


If they still occupy my house after that and are unwilling to move, I will surely find a way to ensure they leave quickly!”


With a smile, Chen Hai replied confidently.


Hearing him say so, Wang Huachun did not insist any further.


After all, he had indeed done his utmost to help Chen Hai with the courtyard over this period.


Not to mention the classes he missed at school, just the fruits and gifts he had occasionally purchased for Wang Meili’s family alone meant he had invested quite an amount.


They came over on bicycles and after riding a distance, the two parted ways.


Wang Huachun returned to the school dormitory; after all, his family had sold their house and was currently renting.


He had said that the place they rented was small, and living at home wasn’t as comfortable as staying at the dormitory.


As for Chen Hai, he was headed back to West Mountain Villa.


Recently, under the guidance of Ye Qingqing, he was learning to drive.


West Mountain area was relatively open and sparsely populated, a great spot for driving practice.


Yesterday, Chen Hai had taken the wheel himself and did a round in that area, only stopping when he reluctantly knocked down a sapling.


The bumper of the car had fallen off after the collision, and last night, Ye Qingqing took it for repairs.


By now, the car should have been fixed.


Thinking of driving a few more rounds today, Chen Hai was all geared up and couldn’t wait.


Pedaling the bicycle, he sped toward the direction of West Mountain Villa, flying down the road.