The programmer and his woman

The car stopped steadily in front of the sales office of the residential community under construction. Brother Chang pointed to the front and said, "Hey, we're here."

I looked up and saw a busy construction site. Not far away stood the sales office. Although it was still under construction, its modern and simple outline had already been revealed.

"The time passed so quickly while we were chatting. It felt like it didn't take long at all." I sighed.

"Yeah, maybe there's no traffic jam on the road, so it seems fast." Brother Chang agreed.

We got off the car together and walked towards the sales office. As soon as we entered the door, we saw a warm man coming to greet us.

"Old Chang, you're here!" he greeted warmly, "I'm here to look at your house. I came all the way from City A specifically to see your house, and I've brought you a client. How about it, old classmate? I hope I can take care of your business?" Brother Chang introduced with a smile.

"Oh, thank you so much! But I don't have such a big business. I work for others here." The man said modestly, and then turned to us, "Come on, please come in. Xiao Li, pour some water for you."

We were invited to sit down on the sofa, and the man continued, "Mr. Chang, I'll have our sales representative introduce it to you in a moment, so you can take a look and see if there's anything you like. Our location is pretty good, as you can see when you came in, the bus stop is right outside our door, so transportation is very convenient."

I nodded, expressing my satisfaction with the property's geographical location.

"Okay, the main thing is that you give us a discount." Brother Chang made the request directly.

"Of course. We are old classmates. I will give you the best price within my authority. You can go and see the house first." The man agreed readily.

At this time, a professional sales lady came over and gave us a detailed introduction to the building types and surrounding buildings in the community on the sand table.

"Please look, this is our main apartment type. It is open from north to south and has excellent lighting. The greenery in the community is also very good. You can take walks and do morning exercises here in the future. It is very convenient." The sales lady introduced fluently.

Brother Chang suddenly interrupted the sales lady's introduction: "Hey, let me interrupt you first. Will our property really have a subway built next year?" he asked with anticipation.

She came closer to us and spoke in a low voice, as if afraid of being heard by others: "Sir, you are a friend of Manager Fa, I will tell you what I want to say. Regarding that subway, the city does have a plan, but it has not yet been decided whether to build it here. However, as you can see, this is a large residential area with a dense population. If a subway is built, the possibility of building it here will be very high.

At present, our advertisement claims that there is a subway at the door, but the worst case scenario is that you need to walk a few more steps. There must be a subway station nearby, but it has not been determined where it will be built. Therefore, buying a house here is indeed a bit of a gamble. You see, the first two stations have been confirmed, and the housing prices there are more than doubled than here. Although this place has not been confirmed, there are rumors that it will be built, and there are also third and fourth phases of construction plans. Do you think the subway will be built here by then?"

Brother Chang nodded, seeming to agree with her analysis: "Oh, so, then your speculation makes sense. When will the third and fourth phases be built?"

The sales lady smiled and replied: "Phase 3 will start construction next year. The specific time for Phase 4 has not been determined yet, but it will be soon."

"Is the news reliable?" Brother Chang asked.

"This news is absolutely reliable, and we have been notified internally." The sales lady said affirmatively.

Brother Chang's eyes sparkled with shrewdness. He turned to me and, like an experienced investment consultant, earnestly and enthusiastically recommended to me: "Teacher Wang, what do you think of this property? The price of 4,000 yuan per square meter is really very affordable. Compared with the previous property that cost more than 7,000 yuan per square meter, this one is undoubtedly more valuable for investment. Now that housing prices are rising so fast, a house at this price is a good buy."

I scratched my head, smiled awkwardly, and replied, "As for investment, I don't have as good a vision as you. In fact, I don't know much about these things. I prefer to listen to my girlfriend's opinion. If she likes it, then I will buy it. However, I am more concerned about how much money it will cost to buy a house in total."

Brother Chang seemed to have been prepared for what I said. He smiled and said, "This is easy. You can ask the salesperson to help you calculate the total price. They will recommend a suitable apartment and floor based on your needs and budget. How big a house do you plan to buy?"

I hesitated for a moment and replied, "I haven't thought about it yet. I don't have much savings now, so I guess I can only buy a smaller apartment."

After hearing this, Brother Chang immediately gave me some advice: "Teacher Wang, you don't have to worry about the money. The houses here are not expensive, and you can also choose to buy them with a loan. Now the bank loan policy is so relaxed and the interest rate is low, you can definitely consider it."

Just when Brother Chang mentioned the topic of loans, two old men who were consulting about houses suddenly joined the discussion.

An old man said with a firm face: "Young man, I don't agree with your point of view. If I have money, I won't lend a penny. Why do you need a loan? You have to pay so much interest every month. It's really useless. I'm buying a house for my child, so I'm going to pay it in one lump sum. I'm not used to owing others money in my life. I don't even want to owe money without paying interest, let alone so much interest."

At this time, another old man came over and said with a smile: "Hey, brother, I don't agree with what you said. It's a waste not to borrow money from the bank. Who doesn't borrow money now? They all use other people's money to make money. Being able to borrow money and make more money with the borrowed money is called ability. Brother, your theory is outdated and can't keep up with the pace of the times."

The first old man retorted, "I think what you said is wrong. How can buying a house make money? I think it's wrong to use the business concept to explain this. I can understand that you need money to buy goods. You borrow some money to buy goods and then sell them. Then you use some of the money you earn to pay the interest. This is called making money. But how can buying a house make money?"

The second old man smiled and said, "Brother, buying a house can also make money. Don't you think of the house as the goods you import? If you buy a house and the price goes up in a few years, you can sell it. Isn't that a profit?"

"Oh, I don't understand your theory. I buy a house for my child to live in, but I don't plan to spend a lot of effort to sell it again." The first uncle shook his head.

"Oh, that's your idea." The second uncle didn't care.

"Yeah, that's right, that's what you think." The first old man insisted.

"It seems that we can't agree at all." The second uncle shrugged.

"That's right." The first old man nodded.

Watching the two uncles arguing, I turned to Xiaoxia and asked, "What do you think about whether to take out a loan or not?"

Xiaoxia frowned: "I don't know, I don't understand these things. How about we calculate first, if we take out a full loan, how much money will we have to pay every month."

So Xiaoxia started asking the salesperson and used a calculator to calculate. After a while, she looked up and said, "Wang Dong, I've calculated it. If we only pay the down payment and take out other loans, we'll have to pay more than 3,000 yuan a month, and it will take 20 years to pay it off."

"Ah? So much!" I said in surprise, "That would be eight hundred thousand. The total price of the house is not even that much."

"Yes, half of it is interest." Xiaoxia explained.

"Then let's not take out a loan. It's hard for us to afford the monthly repayments, not to mention we have to pay twice as much." I shook my head.

"Do we have so much money to buy a house all of a sudden?" Xiaoxia asked.

"No, but I don't think the difference will be that big. If not, I can just borrow some." I said after thinking.

"Okay, then let's follow the sales lady to look at the house." Xiaoxia suggested.

We followed the sales lady to the model room, and she introduced: "Why is the house on the top floor so high? Yes, the ceiling height of the top floor here is 5.2 meters, and you can build a floor on it yourself."

"So when it's completed, will it be two floors?" I asked curiously.

"Yes, ma'am." The sales lady nodded with a smile, "The top floor here is also the most expensive floor."

"Oh, I see." I nodded and looked at Xiaoxia, "Xiaoxia, do you like this two-layer one?"

"Yeah." Xiaoxia nodded.

"I like it too." I said, "Then let's buy these two floors."

"But the unit price of a two-story building is too expensive. Can we afford it?" Xiaoxia asked worriedly.

"We can buy something slightly smaller, and then build a second floor that will be big enough for the three of us to live in," I suggested.

"How annoying! Who promised to have a baby for you?" Xiaoxia said angrily.

I chuckled and said, "Do you like it? If you like it, let's buy it."

"Have you really thought about it, spending so much money?" Xiaoxia asked again.

"I've thought it through." I said firmly.

"Should you talk to your uncle and aunt?" Xiaoxia reminded.

"Okay, I'll call them and ask them to come over." I took out my cell phone and started dialing.

Not long after, my parents came over together. After looking at the house, they said to me, "Dongzi, your father and I have looked at this house. The layout and orientation of the house are good, and I like it very much. However, I just think it's a little far away." My mother sat down on the sofa and sighed softly.

My father was obviously disdainful of what my mother said, "Huh, you're looking too far ahead. How can it be sold at this price if it's not far away? Really." My father interrupted, "This price can only be sold at this far away. Look at the total price. You can only buy an old and small house in the city with this amount of money."

"Yeah, that's true." My mother nodded. "Dongzi, if you think it's okay, your father and I have no objection. It's just that the total price is nearly 400,000 yuan, and our family doesn't have that much money. Why don't you ask them if they can give you a lower price?"

"Okay, Mom. Let me ask again." I stood up and walked over to Brother Chang and relayed what my mom meant to him.

"Teacher Wang, have you really decided to buy this house?" Brother Chang asked.

"I've thought about it, and my partner also likes the house here," I replied.

"Okay, if you want to buy one, I'll buy one here with you." Brother Chang said with a smile, "I'm telling you, Mr. Wang, I've got my eyes on a house on the first floor with a small courtyard. Wait, I'll go ask him."

After a while, Brother Chang came over with a slightly serious look.

"I just asked about the price of the house. The price he can give us now is the lowest. But if you can pay it in one lump sum, he can reduce it by one percentage point," said Brother Chang.

When I heard about this discount, I said, "Okay, I'll pay it all at once. The less the better."

"Wow, you can really pay it all at once? Hey, I knew you were rich." Brother Chang joked.

I shook my head. "No, Brother Chang, this is all the money my family has, maybe even less. I just don't want to pay back the loan. The interest is too high."

"Oh, let Manager Fa do the math for you later and see how much the set you like will cost in the end," said Brother Chang.

After a while, I heard Manager Fa say, "Well, the calculation is done. You see, this includes all the discounts that can be given, and the total is a little over 360,000. If there is no problem, you can pay a deposit of 20,000 first, and pay the rest at the end of the month."

I turned to my mother and asked, "Mom, how much money do we have?"

"Son, you have saved more than 200,000 yuan, and your parents have saved 50,000 or 60,000 yuan. Together, it should be more than 300,000 yuan, but it's still a little short. It shouldn't be too much. It's okay. I can ask relatives and friends to lend you the few tens of thousands, and it will be out in time." My mother said.

"Okay, Manager Fa, we have booked this house and will pay the deposit today," I said.

"Okay, let's come over and handle the formalities." Manager Fa said.

"Teacher Wang, how is it going? Have you decided?" Brother Chang asked.

"Yes, I have." I replied, "What about you, brother Chang, what do you think about it?"

"Haha, I also ordered a set. We will be neighbors from now on." Brother Chang said with a smile.

"That's great. I'll definitely trouble you in the future." I said gratefully.

"No need to say, we're done, let's go back. Take my car." Brother Chang said.

"Hey, there are too many of us and we can't sit down. Brother Chang, you go on your way and we can just take a taxi back." I declined politely.

"Oh, okay, I'll go first then." said Brother Chang.

After saying goodbye to Brother Chang, we returned home. We gathered all our money together, but we were still tens of thousands short.

My mother sat on the sofa, frowning, still holding the phone, her face full of helplessness and anxiety. She looked up at me, a hint of determination flashed in her eyes, as if she had made up her mind.

"Don't worry, Dongzi, Mom has a wide network of contacts, so this little money is nothing." She patted my shoulder, trying to comfort me. Then, she picked up the phone again and started a new round of loan attempts.

On the other end of the phone were relatives and friends that my mother was familiar with. She dialed the numbers one by one, patiently explaining the situation, hoping to get some help. However, the result was not what she expected.

"Sister Zhang, my son is short of money to buy a house. What, no money? Oh, it's all saved up until death, and I can't withdraw it. Oh, okay, it's okay, I'll think of another way." She hung up the phone gently, a trace of disappointment flashing across her face.

Then, she called Sister Wang again: "Hello, Sister Wang, my son is still short of money to buy a house. Oh, right. Ah? You don’t have money either, oh, okay." She sighed, obviously she didn’t borrow money this time.

My mother did not give up, she continued to make calls. Every time she mentioned that "my son is almost there", I could feel the anticipation and nervousness in her tone. However, reality is always cruel.

"Hello, Sister Li, yes, yes, yes, my son is still a little short of the money to buy a house. How much? About 20,000 or 30,000. Beep, beep, beep. Hey, who is this person? Why did he hang up?" She shook her head, obviously puzzled and disappointed with Sister Li's behavior.

Finally, my mother borrowed some money from Sister Zhao: "Hey, Sister Zhao, my son is still short of money to buy a house. Ah, just a few thousand on hand? Okay, a few thousand is also fine. I'll come to you to get it later." A relieved smile appeared on her face.

However, the next phone call made her depressed again: "Hello Sister Liu, yes, that's right, my son is short of money to buy a house. How much can you lend me? What do you mean you have no money? That's impossible. I heard that you have a lot of spare money. Didn't you lent it to others last time? How come you have no money when it comes to me? You should know your family's conditions. I'm worried that I may not be able to pay you back, so I'm sorry. Beep, beep, beep~" She hung up the phone, her face becoming even heavier.

"Son, I only borrowed this little bit by making a phone call, and now I'm still 20,000 short. I really have no other choice." She looked at me somewhat frustrated, with a hint of helplessness in her eyes.

At this moment, Xiaoxia stepped forward. She walked to my mother's side and comforted her in a soft voice: "Auntie, don't worry too much. I want to try to borrow some money from my family to see if I can help with this."

My mother looked at Xiaoxia with surprise in her eyes: "You?"

I interrupted quietly, "Your relationship with your family is not very good, right? Will they be willing to lend you so much money?"

Xiaoxia shook her head. "I've been working outside for the past few years and have saved some money. I've also sent a lot of money back home. Besides, my relationship with my family has eased a lot now. I can't guarantee that I can borrow the money, but I will try my best."