After get off work that day, the two went looking for it again, but unfortunately they found nothing.
It wasn't until the fourth day that Xue Ling decided to rent the house he saw for the first time on Songming Road.
"It's not far from where I work. It takes ten minutes to walk and only five to six minutes to ride a bicycle. The main reason is that there are many restaurants nearby, there are many residents, and there is my own yard, so it is safe to get in and out."
Cheng Tianyuan thought that there was no better choice, but he still had some concerns.
"It would be better if it was cheaper. Forty yuan a month is almost a quarter of your salary."
Xue Ling also had some heartache, but she was not worried that she could not afford it.
Yesterday, she went to the post office to pick up a foreign book sent to her by her friend Xiao Jiaxue and asked her to translate it quickly and settle the bill every half month.
She went back to the hotel last night, took a shower, and read a thousand words before going to bed. Although she didn't go to bed until after twelve o'clock, she made twenty yuan, and she felt excited and happy just thinking about it.
It’s just the beginning now. Once you become more familiar with it, you will definitely be able to translate faster and earn more.
Cheng Tianyuan acted very cautiously and said: "Don't worry about it yet, maybe the house has been rented out. Let's go over and have a look first and ask the old lady if we can get it cheaper."
Xue Ling nodded and said with a smile: "Now that we have decided, we must negotiate the price."
He took her there on his bicycle and asked the old lady whether the apartment next door had not been rented out yet.
The old lady was also very shrewd. Seeing that the young couple kept leaving and coming back after a few days, she guessed that they must not be able to find anything better, so she insisted on not letting up on the price.
"I told you! It's five yuan cheaper. It only costs forty yuan a month. In addition to one month's deposit, you have to pay one yuan for three months."
Cheng Tianyuan tried to persuade her several times, but the old lady refused to let go.
Xue Ling thought for a while and stepped forward.
"The old lady wants to pay a lump sum for several months, which I can understand. Because you won't be living here anymore, we have to mail it to you. But if you think about it carefully, in addition to the deposit, it will be four months at a time.
, which is one hundred and sixty yuan. This is too much!"
The old lady ducked and blinked, muttering in a low voice: "Then I'm getting a bargain! It's a full five yuan!"
Xue Ling looked at the house behind her and said with a smile: "Your house is very new, the transportation is convenient nearby, there are many residents, but it is not cluttered. A house like yours would be rented by a lot of people, but there are several
I can’t rent it out every month, that must be the reason, right?”
In this era, anyone with a monthly salary of 150 yuan is considered a high-income person.
But everything costs money for food, drink, housing and transportation. There are seniors and juniors, and most of them live on a monthly basis at the end of the month. It’s good to have a little extra money.
A few dozen yuan or a hundred yuan is easy to say, but it suddenly costs 160 yuan, and you still need to buy some furniture to move in. It will cost you at least more than 200 yuan!
Rongcheng is still a small county, and there are definitely not many people who can spend so much extra money at once to rent a house.
The old lady was right and smiled awkwardly.
"But I can't help it! My daughter, I told you a few days ago that I am going to take care of my grandson, and I may not come back to live in the future. I am far away, so I can only mail it, but I always feel that it is not safe, or
I'll collect it together in a few months and then I'll call my relatives to help collect it."
Xue Ling shook his head and said: "If you are sincere about renting, then thirty-five yuan, a small round number. My entire wealth can only be enough to pay for four months and have sex at once."
"No!" The old lady immediately objected and shouted: "If it's five yuan less, if it's five yuan less, wouldn't it be ten yuan? It's too much!"
Xue Ling pretended not to care at all, grabbed Cheng Tianyuan's arm and pulled him out.
Then, he said in a loud voice: "Let's go rent it at the end of the street! It only costs thirty-five, and we can still pay it back month by month. The house is just a little small. There are only two of us, and it is enough to live in."
Cheng Tianyuan was stunned for a moment, but he quickly reacted and nodded cooperatively.
"Okay, let's rent that one."
After saying that, the two of them walked out of the yard.
"Wait!" The old lady stopped them with a red face, seeming to have made a very difficult decision: "Rent! Thirty-five months a month, but the deposit will cost four months!"
Xue Ling and Cheng Tianyuan looked at each other, with triumphant smiles in each other's eyes.
Renting such a house for 35 yuan is indeed very cheap!
However, Xue Ling did not dare to show too much joy, and curled his lips and said: "Let's be more formal. We will write the contract with a piece of paper. The details will be written clearly. The signature will be postponed, and the owner and tenant will leave a stub. What do you think?
"
"Sure!" The old lady showed a smile and muttered: "I think you all look like scholars, and you are all clean. As long as you clean my house, I have nothing to disagree with."
It is easy for old people to change their minds when they are old. Xue Ling struck while the iron was hot, took out a small notebook and wrote down a very simple contract.
The old lady recognized the words. After reading it once, she nodded with satisfaction.
"You're a good-looking girl, and your handwriting is pretty. What do you do?"
Xue Ling simply answered: "I work at the Rongcheng newspaper in front of me as a small editor."
The old man turned his head and smiled at Cheng Tianyuan: "Young man, you are so lucky! You have such a capable and beautiful wife!"
Cheng Tianyuan suddenly looked at his "beautiful wife". The two looked at each other and both blushed.
"...Thank you." He nodded slightly.
I thought he would pretend to be deaf and dumb, or even retort a few words, but I didn't expect him to respond like this - but Xue Ling was secretly happy!
The old lady explained: "Actually, the main reason is that my son will come to pick me up next week. I was in a hurry to leave, and I saw that both of you and your wife were honest, so I agreed. I asked a relative to help pick him up.
I also rented out the one next door.”
Xue Ling smiled cheerfully and said: "We will bring the money over tomorrow morning and move in at noon tomorrow. Do you think there is no problem?"
"Okay!" the old lady said, "As I said before, the things are yours to use, and you can make up for anything missing. I can help you clean it tomorrow morning."
After the negotiation was completed, the sky had darkened, and Cheng Tianyuan drove her back towards the small hotel.
The two of them were starving for a long time, so they finally recovered after eating a big bowl of Yangchun noodles on the roadside.
Xue Ling said: "I don't have many things. When I go to work tomorrow morning, I will just move them here."
Cheng Tianyuan nodded and said: "I will go back to the dormitory to take a shower and help you pack it later. Your suitcase is a bit heavy. I will send you there tomorrow morning, and then I will go to work."
The two said goodbye in a hurry.
More than half an hour later, Cheng Tianyuan came over, took out a dozen five-yuan bills and a few big unity ten-yuan bills from his pocket, and handed them to Xue Ling.
"This is one hundred yuan. Let's make do with it and pay it back tomorrow."
Xue Ling was stunned. Was he going to help her pay the rent?
"No, I...have enough money for the time being."
He stuffed the money into her hand and explained: "I paid half a month's salary in advance, and the rest was earned from doing casual work. You still have one month to get your salary, and you still need three meals. You can't spend all the remaining money around you."
Light."
Xue Ling was so moved that she raised her head and stared at him with a half-smile.