Reborn in 1977

Chapter 621 The Prince's Mansion

August 23rd, Wednesday, End of Heat.

It's still very hot.

But with the air conditioner that was installed yesterday with expedited service, Zhou Yali slept soundly. If Jiang Lili hadn't come to call her, she wouldn't have wanted to get up.

After a quick wash and breakfast, she checked the time and realized it was almost time, so she took a car to the Housing Management Bureau again.

Deputy Director Li had already prepared the documents, and a Deputy Director surnamed Pan also appeared.

After some pleasantries, Deputy Director Li took out several blueprints and spread them out in front of Chen Fan and Zhou Yali, saying, "After you came yesterday, the leaders of our bureau attached great importance to it. We immediately held a meeting and learned about the practices of other cities in terms of foreign nationals buying real estate.

After careful discussion, this house can be sold."

As he spoke, he pointed to the blueprints on the coffee table, "This is a courtyard house that our colleagues found overnight after consulting the资料. Look at this…"

Seeing Chen Fan and the others looking at the blueprints, he continued, "This courtyard house has an area of more than 3,000 square meters, a building area of nearly 2,000 square meters, and the building is basically well preserved…"

Before he could finish speaking, Chen Fan couldn't help but raise his head, look at Deputy Director Pan, and then look at him, "Wait, Director Li, maybe I didn't make it clear yesterday. My sister doesn't need such a big one. An ordinary three-entry courtyard house is fine, or even a two-entry or one-entry one is fine. It's too big to use."

Deputy Director Li chuckled dryly, looked at the Deputy Director sitting next to him, turned back and smiled, "Look, the house you bought in Shanghai is so big, but you're buying a small courtyard here. What if they're not satisfied there and want to put the company and dormitory in Beijing? It would be inappropriate to have to find a house temporarily then."

Many things depend on whether you want to investigate them. As long as there is a telegram, nothing can be hidden.

This was also the reason why Chen Fan spoke frankly to him yesterday.

Yesterday, Deputy Director Li made a long-distance call over there and asked about everything clearly. He even knew how many houses they had sold to overseas Chinese in the past two years. When he heard them say that they were all settled in US dollars, he almost drooled on the spot.

It was precisely because of this that after the bureau reported to the city, the city immediately approved it without saying a word, which is why this matter went so smoothly.

Hearing Deputy Director Li's words, Chen Fan smiled and said, "Don't mention it, if they want to put the company in Beijing in the future, they really won't lack houses to use."

During the summer vacation, starting from July 6th, Xiyuan held a two-month-long brainstorming session. The meeting reiterated the need to boldly utilize foreign capital and introduce advanced foreign technology and equipment in large quantities, so as to accelerate the construction of the four modernizations.

Although the meeting announcement has not yet been released, after such a long period of time, and it was not a confidential meeting, naturally everyone who should know knew. That's why Chen Fan dared to say openly that the Zhou family was going to invest in the mainland.

At this time, talking about foreign capital coming to the mainland to open a company would probably lead to two situations: either being scolded directly or being given the green light. However, after a debate in May, many units consciously changed their attitude. Except for those who didn't want foreign exchange, they would generally try their best to cooperate.

The Urban Construction Committee is one of the most money-burning units, and the Housing Management Bureau is also facing the embarrassing situation of a large number of employees lacking housing. Now, even many large units have the problem of not having enough dormitories to allocate. Money is needed everywhere.

It's rare to have someone who doesn't lack money and wants to buy a house, so they naturally rush to sell it as big as possible.

But they didn't expect Chen Fan to say that they didn't lack houses?

Hearing Chen Fan's words, Deputy Director Li and Deputy Director Pan were both shocked.

Deputy Director Pan couldn't help but ask, "What do you mean by that?"

Chen Fan laughed and said, "The courtyard I bought last time was too big, so I divided half of it and built a four-story building. The front is for office space, and the back is for dormitories.

It was originally prepared for the Yunhu Automobile Factory, but they thought it was too far from the Ministry of Machinery Industry, so they didn't want it. Instead, they bought a courtyard house next to the Ministry of Machinery Industry in Xicheng and renovated it. My place was vacated.

If my uncle still wants to put the company in Beijing, then the benefits won't go to outsiders, and it's just right to use mine."

Hearing this, Deputy Director Li and Deputy Director Pan were both speechless.

Especially Deputy Director Li, he couldn't help but scratch his head. What's going on? Did I sell the wrong one last time?

Zhou Yali and the Jiang sisters had been sitting next to them, without saying a word, watching Chen Fan play tricks with them.

The two sisters were fine. They both knew that Chen Fan was very clever and that his every word and action had his reasons when talking to outsiders, so they never interrupted. Even if they had questions, they would wait until they returned to ask.

For example, yesterday he said he was going to find them bodyguards, which almost scared them to death. Were they worthy of bodyguards?!

Zhou Yali had listened to Chen Fan's advance instructions, unless it was an important decision, she should obediently sit aside and not say a word.

Then she heard a very important sentence.

Deputy Director Li looked at the blueprints, still unwilling to give up, and wanted to try again, "Writer Chen, didn't you say yesterday that your cousin is interested in traditional architecture? This courtyard used to be a prince's mansion, and the building is basically well preserved, which is very rare!"

Prince's mansion?

Chen Fan was stunned for a moment and turned to look at Zhou Yali.

Zhou Yali was about to nod, but suddenly remembered Chen Fan's instructions, not to express opinions casually, so she blinked her big eyes repeatedly.

This meant that she wanted it.

Chen Fan tried hard to maintain his expression, turned to look at the blueprints, and after a few seconds, he raised his head and asked, "A complete prince's mansion, with no one living inside?"

Hearing this, Deputy Director Pan and Deputy Director Li were overjoyed.

Since he asked, it meant he was interested!

Deputy Director Li immediately said, "Such a big courtyard must have people living in it, and there are several units inside, including a drama theater. The other side halls have also been used as dormitories and divided into several areas."

Chen Fan frowned slightly when he heard this, "Then why are you showing it to me?"

Frankly speaking, he was also very tempted by this mansion.

Whether it was the 80s and 90s when courtyard houses were sold cheaply, or the very popular post-millennial era, he had never heard of a prince's mansion being traded.

The property rights of this kind of large courtyard house are invariably in the hands of the government, and are uniformly managed by the Housing Management Bureau. The purpose is to provide office space or dormitories for units that have nowhere to settle.

Later, when it was vacated, it was also considered from the perspective of ancient building protection. After restoration, it was used as a tourist attraction, and there was basically no situation of selling it.

Before Deputy Director Li said that sentence, Chen Fan had indeed made up his mind to only buy a courtyard of no more than three entrances.

But when he heard him say that this was a prince's mansion, he was immediately moved.

Not only him, but Zhou Yali was also looking at the side with eager eyes, extremely tempted.

A prince's mansion!

Although it was only a prince's mansion, not the prince's mansion with the highest specifications, it was still attractive enough.

When she returned to the United States, and told Daddy and Mommy that she bought a prince's mansion, she would definitely make them envious!

Deputy Director Li looked at Chen Fan and quickly said, "Although there are people living inside, they can be relocated."

The Deputy Director Pan, who was standing beside them, finally started to assist, "Writer Chen, let me explain. The ownership of this Prince Manor belongs to the Municipal Government. Currently, it is the Dongcheng Housing Management Bureau that is responsible for its management. Back then, when some units applied for office space and dormitories, they allocated this courtyard to them.

But this is not a problem. As long as we can relocate the units and residents inside, they can move out.

So our plan is, if you like this Prince Manor and agree to prepay a portion of the purchase price, allowing us to find a new place to build houses and resettle them all, then we will hand over the house to you. What do you think?"

Hearing this, Chen Fan couldn't help but grin, "Director Pan, you're trying to get something for nothing."

Deputy Director Pan quickly waved his hand, "No, no, we have a lot of work to do in this. Including negotiating with various units, arranging for vacating the premises, and assisting with relocation."

Then, putting on a helpless look, he added, "In the end, there's no other way. Housing is too tight now, and there's an urgent shortage of funds for renovation and new construction. We can only use this method, hoping to squeeze out some funds to repair a few more houses and arrange for people to live in them."

Chen Fan's gaze fell on the blueprints again, and he remained silent for a long time.

After a while, he looked up at Deputy Director Li, "Director Li, please continue with the introduction."

"Okay, okay, okay."

Deputy Director Li reacted and quickly pointed to the blueprints, introducing, "This Prince Manor is located on Beijige Third Street in Dongcheng District, not too far from your current home, and still within the inner city.

It was originally built by Emperor Yongzheng for Hong Jiao, the fourth son of Kangxi Emperor's grandson, Prince Yi Xian, Yinxiang. Later, Ai Xin Jue Luo Zai Dun, the fourth-generation grandson of Ai Xin Jue Luo Hong Jiao, was rewarded for his meritorious service in suppressing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and was granted the title of Prince, inheriting the title of Prince Yi, which was 'hereditary and irreplaceable'. The Prince Manor was renamed Prince Yi Manor.

Although the scale and area of the Prince Manor are not as large as a real Prince Manor, the basic structure is still at the level of a Prince Manor. The most valuable thing is that it is well preserved. The overall layout faces south and is divided into three sections: central, east, and west. The central section mainly consists of halls, while the east and west sections are for residential living, office, and kitchen storage areas.

In the 1950s, the front part was used by the National Theater of China, the rear part was used by enterprises and factories, and the east section was used for residential living."

(The existing layout of Ning Prince Manor has lost the west section, but it was still there at the time)

After speaking, he looked at Chen Fan. Seeing that he didn't say anything, he removed the blueprint and continued to introduce the others.

The remaining sets were not Prince Mansions, but the areas were not small. Some were built by wealthy merchants during the Republic of China who purchased multiple houses and combined them. The areas were all over 1,000 square meters, not much smaller than Ning Prince Manor, and one was even larger.

However, like the Prince Manor, people lived in all of these courtyards, and they were also a mix of units and dormitories. Buying them would be just as troublesome.

After he finished introducing them, Chen Fan pondered for two seconds and asked, "Director Li, you haven't mentioned the price yet."

Deputy Director Li took out a handkerchief to wipe his sweat, took a sip of water, and secretly glanced at Chen Fan a few times before he chuckled dryly and said, "These courtyards are all about the same. Although the land area varies, considering the location and the condition of the buildings, our unit believes that the prices are comparable after careful evaluation. So no matter which one you choose, it's the same price."

Chen Fan raised his eyebrows slightly, looked at him with a smile, and said, "What price is that?"

Deputy Director Li made a gesture, "250,000 US dollars."

Chen Fan gasped and said with wide eyes, "Are you kidding me?"

The Shanghai garden villa cost 500,000 yuan, but the land area was nearly 20 acres, and the building area was nearly 3,000 square meters. 500,000 was worth the price.

And what about this Prince Manor?

The land area is less than 4,000 square meters, and the building area is less than 2,000 square meters, including all the houses in the three sections. And you dare to ask for 250,000 US dollars?!

The current exchange rate is a little over 1:1.6, and 250,000 US dollars is equivalent to over 400,000 yuan. Moreover, the housing prices in Shanghai are originally higher than those in the capital.

If you consider the price difference between the two places, this is almost the same as the garden villa.

Deputy Director Li probably knew that the price was too high, so he rubbed his hands and chuckled, "If you think it's too expensive, we can discuss it."

After a pause, he quickly added, "But the adjustment space won't be too large, because if the price is too low, after deducting the relocation and resettlement costs, there won't be much money left to repair the dilapidated houses.

In that case, there's no need for us to bother so much, right?"

How direct.

Chen Fan smacked his lips and complained in his heart, then silently thought.

Is it expensive to buy a Prince Manor for 250,000 US dollars?

According to the current housing prices in the capital, it is definitely expensive, and the premium is at least 30% to 40%.

But then again, are the current housing prices in the capital necessarily reasonable?

If it were reasonable, after the price controls were lifted, housing prices wouldn't have risen from around 100 yuan in the late 1970s to around 2,000 yuan in the late 1980s in just ten years.

From this perspective, the current housing prices in the capital can be considered at a historical low, and far from reaching the market value level.

What's more, there is no precedent for buying such a large house. The price of a mansion is much higher than that of an ordinary residence. A premium of only 30% to 40% can even be called a conscience price.

Not to mention the historical value contained in this Prince Manor, which is incomparable to ordinary houses.

And... Chen Fan glanced at Zhou Yali next to him, seeing her hesitant look, obviously a little impatient.

This emotional value is also very considerable!

He took a deep breath, looked at Deputy Director Pan and Deputy Director Li, and smiled, "Okay, you give me a lowest price. If it's acceptable, we'll take it."

The two leaders had just seen Zhou Yali's impatient look. Now, hearing Chen Fan say this, they couldn't help but smile at each other. It's a done deal!

Deputy Director Li immediately coughed dryly, pondered for a few seconds, and finally didn't dare to go too far, quoting a price only slightly higher than the bottom price, "240,000 US dollars."

The bottom price was 230,000. They had calculated that finding a piece of land nearby to build a building would allow them to accommodate twice as many people and units, which would be a huge profit.

Chen Fan nodded lightly, turned to look at Zhou Yali, "Send a telegram to your dad later and ask him to remit the money."

Then he said to Deputy Director Li, "Don't pay in installments. The government's credibility is definitely trustworthy. Give me a receiving account number, and if everything goes smoothly, we can receive the payment within a week at the latest."

Send a telegram today, and the US will receive it tomorrow, then arrange a wire transfer, and the money will arrive in Hong Kong the day after tomorrow.

Once it arrives in Hong Kong, it's almost like it's in the account. It only takes one more day to confirm the payment with a mainland bank, and the money can be directly credited to the Housing Management Bureau's account.

It's impossible to actually receive the money, because the foreign exchange is all kept in the Bank of China in Hong Kong. The mainland only has ledgers, and when it's needed, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange will arrange it uniformly.

Overseas remittances are that fast.