READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 95: Poor
Chapter 95: Poor
“Miss, Brother Xu, the lady is calling you for breakfast,” Xiao Yu called from outside the door.
She knew that the Miss was in the side room of the west wing because she had been in the Miss’s boudoir earlier, and the bed was cold, clearly indicating that the Miss had not slept there last night and must be with Xu Lian.
Xu Lian and Lin Wan got up, washed, combed their hair, and tidied up their appearance before going to the dining room.
They had already discussed it the night before, and today they would go to look at houses and buy a spiritual mansion.
When they arrived at the living room, they saw Lin Yue, Hua Rongjun, and Tong Miao and Lin Ying already there. More than a dozen breakfast dishes were laid out, but they had not yet started to eat, obviously waiting for Xu Lian and Lin Wan.
“Sister-in-law, brother-in-law, good morning,” Lin Ying said with a smile.
Hua Rongjun looked at Lin Wan’s radiant face and she smiled, knowing that Lin Wan and Xu Lian had only been together for a few days and were still in the honeymoon phase, so it was normal for them to be late. “Let’s sit down and have some breakfast,” he said.
Xu Lian bowed to Lin Yue and Hua Rongjun, greeted them, and then sat down.
Hua Rongjun said, “Son-in-law Xu Lian is more polite than our Lin family. He is very respectful to his elders.”
Lin Yue also smiled, stroking his beard. Regardless of Xu Lian’s background, he was very satisfied with him as a son-in-law. At least, Xu Lian was very respectful to him and his wife.
The six people, three couples, ate breakfast together, chatting and laughing. The meal was very sumptuous.
For a small but wealthy cultivator family like the Lin family, they had to be frugal with their cultivation resources, but when it came to worldly goods that could be bought with money, they naturally followed the standards of a large household.
After finishing breakfast, they drank tea for a while, and then the six of them got into three horse-drawn carriages and headed to First Street.
When they arrived at the entrance of First Street, Lin Yue showed the Lin family’s token and Tong Miao showed the Tong family’s token, and they were able to enter smoothly.
Since Xu Lian had been there before and had a record, they were not stopped by the guards at the door this time.
The three categories of houses, A, B, and C, were too expensive, so they didn’t need to look at them. The six people went straight to the area with the category D houses and started to choose.
Some houses had already been sold, some had been rented, and some were still empty. The six people wanted to look at the empty houses.
In fact, the Tong and Lin families had been to First Street many times and knew the location of every house. They came to take a look and make a final decision.
“This one is not bad, it seems to have been renovated recently.”
“This one is also not bad, the yard is quite wide, and we can transplant some spiritual grass to plant in the yard. When the spiritual grass is mature, we can use it for cultivation or sell it for spiritual stones”.
Lin Yue, Hua Rongjun, and the couple Tong Miao and Lin Ying looked around carefully and chose very carefully. They had almost used up the two families’ savings of over 10,000 spiritual stones, and this was a decision that would affect the fate of the two families, so they couldn’t be careless.
Lin Wan asked Xu Lian for his opinion, “Husband, which house do you like?”
Xu Lian didn’t care, he smiled and said, “They’re all about the same.
Lin Wan thought the same. The houses on First Street were classified according to the density of spiritual energy, and with over 10,000 spiritual stones, they couldn’t choose anything other than D-class houses. In fact, there wasn’t much to choose from, it was just a psychological effect.
After some discussion, the six people finally chose a house with a larger courtyard.
The main reason was to transplant some spiritual grass that could provide income for the two families.
So the six people went to the rental office that also handled the sale of houses.
“By the way, did you and father bring any spiritual stones?” Lin Ying asked with a smile. “We wouldn’t want to forget to bring them when we buy the house, or the Tong and Lin families will become the laughing stock of the entire Pingyang County.”
Hua Rongjun replied, “Your father has brought them with him.”
“I have them too,” Tong Miao added.
Actually, Xu Lian only had 1,000 spiritual stones with him, and the 900 spiritual stones from the White Cat’s had not been transferred yet. However, he didn’t plan to use any of his spiritual stones, so it didn’t matter whether he had brought them or not.
They arrived at the rental office, where people were coming and going, some renting spiritual mansions and others returning them after their lease had ended. This place was always bustling with activity, and it was clear that it was the most popular and valuable business in Pingyang County.
Tong Miao, as the main investor, approached the person in charge of the rental office and asked the price of the mansion he was interested in.
“It is 12,000 spiritual stones,” the person in charge replied.
The person in charge was a woman with a red mole between her eyebrows, and it was difficult to tell her age. She could be in her thirties or twenties, as cultivators often looked younger than their actual age. Female cultivators in particular tended to take good care of their appearance, making it even harder to guess their age.
The entire rental office was staffed by women, and Xu Lian wondered if this was because the town’s guardian was a woman, making it more convenient to have female staff.
“I heard that someone recently bought a D-class mansion for 11,000 Spirit Stones, and now you’re asking for 12,000?” Tong Miao asked, his face falling. The price was higher than they had expected, and the 1,000 Spirit Stones they were short of would be a problem.
“Take it or leave it,” the woman replied, her expression indifferent. “If you can’t afford it, you can always rent it.”
The woman with the red mole between her eyebrows was tall and had a straight posture, with one hand resting on the hilt of a sword at her back. She exuded an air of confidence and authority, and it was clear that she was not someone to be trifled with.
Lin Yue bowed and asked, “First Street official, may I ask why the price has increased? Is there a possibility that it will decrease in the future?”
The woman with the red mole between her eyebrows seemed a bit impatient, but she replied, “You people from small families are really out of touch. Haven’t you noticed that the spiritual energy density on First Street has increased recently? That’s because the Spirit Tree is about to mature and bear fruit. As the spiritual energy density increases, the price of the mansions will naturally rise, and it will continue to do so for a long time. Only when the fruit is harvested and the Spirit Tree enters its next period of cultivation will the spiritual energy density decrease and the price of the mansions fall,”
With that, she turned and walked into the inner hall, leaving the group to discuss the price among themselves.
The group finally understood the situation, and Lin Ying became excited. “This means that buying a mansion now is a good investment. The increased spiritual energy density will speed up our cultivation, and if we hold onto it for a few years, we can sell it for a huge profit.”
The group discussed and decided to scrape together the remaining 1,000 spiritual stones they needed. The Tong family would contribute 600, the Lin family would contribute 300, and Xu Lian would contribute 100.
Of course, this meant that they would have to endure a period of hardship, especially a shortage of cultivation resources. However, their daily lives would not be affected.
“I don’t think that’s necessary,” Xu Lian said. “I will talk to the female official and see if we can negotiate the price. 11,000 Spirit Stones should be enough to buy the mansion.”
Tong Miao was taken aback. “Negotiate the price? You can’t do that here, this is not a market. Even the heads of wealthy families can’t haggle over the price. If you insult the female official, we may never be able to buy or even rent a mansion on First Street again.”
However, Lin Yue and Hua Rongjun looked at each other with a glimmer of hope. They knew Xu Lian’s background and thought that maybe he could indeed negotiate the price.
However, Lin Ying was skeptical. She had heard some rumors from her mother about Xu Lian’s background, but they were vague and she didn’t know what to make of them. Why was Xu Lian so confident that he could negotiate the price?
Lin Wan, on the other hand, had a different reaction. As Xu Lian’s partner, she was aware of his background and was considering his interests as well. “Husband, all the spiritual stones earned from buying and renting the mansions on First Street have to be handed over. If you try to negotiate the price, it might have negative consequences.”
Hua Rongjun hesitated and said, “It’s not like the price has gone up too much. We can barely scrape together the 1,000 Spirit Stones we need. Xu Lian, maybe it’s better just to pay the full price. It’s better to save our strength for more important things.”
Xu Lian thought to himself, “Is it possible that I’m already at a disadvantage just because I’m poor?” But he just smiled and said, “It’s okay,” before heading towards the inner hall.