Chapter 133: House Hunting
Chapter 133: House Hunting
It rained for three consecutive days, preventing Jiang Xia from going out to sea, so she spent her days at home translating.
Zhou Chenglei helped with translating magazines, while Jiang Xia focused on translating French documents.
After Zhou Chenglei finished his translations, Jiang Xia reviewed and edited them, ensuring they were error-free.
The couple worked together harmoniously, completing the translation of all the magazines, and Jiang Xia even managed to translate two French books.
On the fourth day, the weather improved slightly, with intermittent rain, but the sea remained too rough for sailing. Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei decided to take a car to the City Publishing House to submit the translated manuscripts.
For the five magazines, they received a total of 300 yuan, and for the thick French book and a thinner one, they were paid 150 yuan. The total earnings from the magazines and books amounted to 450 yuan.
This time, Jiang Xia went to the finance department with the approval slip given by Fan Lili, as Fan Lili herself did not have such a large sum of money on her.
After settling the accounts at the finance department, Jiang Xia encountered Wen Wan in the corridor.
Noticing that there were other offices with open doors and people inside, Wen Wan smiled and greeted her, "Sister Jiang Xia."
Jiang Xia ignored her and walked past without making eye contact.
With their relationship already strained, Jiang Xia had no intention of pretending that nothing had happened; she didn't possess the emotional intelligence to feign indifference.
Wen Wan pursed her lips and headed towards the finance department at the end of the corridor.
The staff in the finance department were discussing Jiang Xia, "Is that woman's translation good? How could Editor-in-Chief Fan give sixty yuan for a magazine? And a hundred yuan for a French book?"
"Is she also Editor-in-Chief Fan's niece?"
"Editor-in-Chief Fan's niece receives subsidies from him, but this woman is getting paid directly from the company's account."
Wen Wan knocked on the door and greeted them sweetly.
Having visited the finance department a few times, she was somewhat familiar with the staff and said, "Are you talking about Sister Jiang Xia? Her translations are probably good. Even Editor-in-Chief Fan couldn't stop praising her!"
One of the accountants asked, "Do you know Comrade Jiang, Wen?"
"Of course. Don't you know her? Her father is a high-ranking official in the city and often appears in the newspaper."
The entire finance office fell silent.
A high-ranking official? With the surname Jiang?
No wonder her translation fees are so high!
Everyone tacitly agreed to not say anything more on the matter.
Someone added, "It's not that expensive. Those books are thick, and the translations are at least seventy to eighty thousand words. It's just over one yuan per thousand words."
"Yes, even a thousand-word science article translation fetches two yuan."
Noticing their attempt to downplay the situation, Wen Wan remained silent and handed over her approval slip.
The finance department staff checked it and gave her forty yuan.
Wen Wan watched as they opened a drawer and placed her approval slip among a stack of others.
The topmost slip belonged to Jiang Xia, and she saw the total amount written on it—450 yuan.
Hmph!
They were all translators, yet Jiang Xia earned ten times more than her.
And they called this not expensive? It was a thousand yuan per word!
However, it didn't matter; Jiang Xia's actions would only add another charge to her father's list of crimes in the future! Wen Wan would also report her, ridding the people of this menace!
Initially, she didn't want to get involved, but she always sought revenge when wronged.
This was Jiang Xia's doing, setting a trap to harm her first.
Wen Wan recalled the previous time they returned together, when Jiang Xia suddenly suggested going to town, causing her and Zhou Chengxin to head back to the village. There, Tea Caihua beat her, and she became the village's laughingstock, almost disfigured.
Although her face was spared, her reputation was ruined, and she almost lost her chance with Zhou Guohua. Her stepmother took advantage of the situation, urging her father to marry her off to a divorced man.
If not for her precognitive dreams, which helped Zhou Bingqiang's family avoid the typhoon, she would have missed her chance with Zhou Guohua and been forced to marry the divorced man, repeating her fate from her previous life! So, if Jiang Xia starts it, she shouldn't blame Wen Wan for finishing it.
~
Unaware of the office drama, Jiang Xia collected her money and went to the lobby to call for Zhou Chenglei to leave.
When they met with Editor-in-Chief Fan, Jiang Xia noticed that she was even more amiable, treating her like a younger family member and offering her chocolate.
Jiang Xia held Zhou Chenglei's arm and handed him a piece of chocolate, "Do you want some?"
Jiang Xia didn't insist and opened the packaging, eating one herself.
After leaving the publishing house, the two went to the post office to send letters to Jiang Dong and Zhang Fuyan.
Since they rarely came to the city and had some free time, Jiang Xia suggested taking a stroll around after mailing the letters.
Zhou Chenglei asked, "To the mall?"
Jiang Xia shook her head. "Do you know where in the city new houses are being sold?"
Hearing this, Zhou Chenglei turned to Jiang Xia, "Are you thinking of buying a house in the city?"
If Jiang Xia planned to buy a house in the city, the construction of the village house would be put on hold for the time being.
"Yes, but after the village house is built and we make some money, we'll buy one. For now, let's just take a look and get an idea of the housing prices. I believe our city's housing prices will rise rapidly."
The village house had to be built to ease Jiang Xia's worries during typhoons about the roof tiles being blown away, ensuring a peaceful sleep.
Jiang Xia primarily wanted to check out the housing prices. According to the book's setting, their city would become a tier-one metropolis in the future, with housing prices ranking among the highest in the country.
Of course, it was essential to understand the current market and then work hard to earn money to buy multiple properties.
The money earned during this period might not retain its value in the future, but buying a house now would undoubtedly be a profitable investment later on.
Even if not considering the future, buying a house that appreciates in value would still be a profitable venture when in need of money.
"Okay," Zhou Chenglei agreed, leading her towards the east of Donghu Flower Garden, where there was a new housing development.
Zhou Chenglei also had plans to buy a house in the city. Firstly, Jiang Xia's parents lived there, and secondly, when he and Jiang Xia had children, the city's education would be superior to that of the village or town.
Moreover, Jiang Xia's thoughts aligned with his; their city was at the forefront of reform and opening up. Following the city's development pattern, housing prices were bound to rise continuously, likely increasing annually.
The earlier they bought, the better the deal.
The couple arrived at a new housing development in Donghu Flower Garden, the city's first such project. A couple of buildings were already on sale, and Jiang Xia went in to inquire.
Upon hearing Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei's accents, the salesperson knew they were unlikely to buy, but still said, "We're offering discounts at the beginning of sales, around 600-700 yuan per square meter. One house can be registered with three city household registrations. Would you like to take a look? We have three-bedroom, one-living room units of 80-90 square meters, and four-bedroom units of over 100 square meters. If you're interested, I can show you around."
Jiang Xia was secretly amazed, no wonder it was going to be a tier-one metropolis in the future; with an average wage of less than 100 yuan, the housing prices were already so high.
"Okay, let's take a look. Thank you for your help," Jiang Xia said, and together with Zhou Chenglei, they followed the salesperson inside.
The buildings were only six stories high, but the layout inside was excellent, with good lighting even on the second floor, as there were no tall buildings blocking the sunlight.
However, the houses currently on sale were located by the roadside, prone to dust and future noise from heavy traffic and crowds.
After showing the couple various units of different sizes, the salesperson asked, "Have you found anything you like, comrades?"
Jiang Xia smiled, "When will the houses you're building that aren't facing the street be available for sale?"
"By the end of the year or early next year, I can't guarantee the timing, but those houses might increase in price by a hundred or two. As you know, we're located in the best area of the city!"
Jiang Xia replied, "Then we'll come back and take a look at that time."
"Sure, you can find me then, my name is Li Zhihua," Li Zhihua wasn't surprised that Jiang Xia and her companion didn't buy, as most buyers weren't locals.
With so few ten thousand yuan households in the country, and their housing development priced at several tens of thousands per unit, few could afford it.
After viewing the houses, Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei went to the bus station to take a bus back to the town.
When they returned home, Jiang Xia noticed two additional bicycles in the courtyard, and lively voices could be heard from inside the house.
Zhou Chenglei explained, "Second Brother and Second Sister-in-Law are back."
Apologies for the delay, the previous chapter was published and then blocked, so I had to revise it.
(End of Chapter)
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