It was almost 5:30 PM when Fang Bai's bp machine rang. He quickly turned it off and checked the message.
Seeing the surrounding students looking at him, Fang Bai stood up and bowed slightly: "Sorry for disturbing everyone."
After speaking, he quietly told Qin Shuyu that he had to leave to eat, and his bodyguard was waiting for him at the Northwest Gate.
"Mm-hmm." Qin Shuyu nodded happily.
After the two left their seats, the students nearby who had overheard their conversation were slightly surprised. This guy was a rich second-generation heir, no wonder he managed to get such a beautiful girlfriend.
Fang Bai held Qin Shuyu's hand and walked for about ten minutes, arriving at the Northwest Gate where he saw his car parked by the road.
Li Xiaolong and Wang Dakai were both inexperienced, having never seen such a beautiful girl. After one glance, they dared not look again; this was Fang Bai's girlfriend, after all.
Fang Bai opened the rear car door, letting Qin Shuyu get in first, and then he followed.
"The driver is Li Xiaolong, a few years older than me, you can call him Brother Long. The tall one is Wang Dakai, he's the same year as us and went to Xiangyu High School. You can just call him Da Kai. From now on, he's our dedicated driver." Fang Bai introduced to Qin Shuyu, then told the two, "This is my girlfriend, Qin Shuyu."
"Hello, Sister-in-law, you can call me Da Kai or Da Ge Zi."
"Hello, Miss Qin."
"Mm, hello everyone." Qin Shuyu responded with a polite smile.
At the same time, she curiously observed the car's interior decoration. She knew Fang Bai would drive over from home, but she had never been in a santana.
She knew Xinghai Company's business was very good.
Just now, Fang Bai told her about his family's business situation, and she understood it more clearly. She never expected Xinghai Company to develop so quickly; Fang Bai was truly amazing.
Fang Bai asked, "Let's find a place to eat first. You two have been driving around for a long time. Are there any nice restaurants nearby?"
Li Xiaolong said, "Mr. Fang, there's a decent Chinese restaurant over there, but it might be quite expensive."
"Then let's go there."
Upon hearing this, Li Xiaolong started the car and arrived shortly, parking in front of the restaurant.
Not many people had cars back then, so parking was easy.
After entering the restaurant, Fang Bai found a small private room and sat down. He took the menu, casually ordered a few dishes, and handed it to the waiter. He knew what Qin Shuyu liked to eat; asking her would only result in "whatever."
The restaurant's business was quite good, with over half of the tables occupied.
The prices of the dishes were not cheap either; the seven dishes Fang Bai just ordered already cost over thirty yuan.
Fang Bai felt the price was acceptable. Xinghai Shopping Mall made money quickly, so he didn't care about this small amount. He was casual about ordering food, as long as it wasn't extravagant or wasteful.
He waved to the waiter for a pot of hot water to rinse his and Qin Shuyu's teacups, bowls, chopsticks, and spoons. After pouring out the hot water, he then poured the tea.
Li Xiaolong and Wang Dakai had never eaten in such a restaurant before, so they imitated him.
Only people who frequently ate out were so particular about hygiene; most people were more casual.
Fang Bai asked, "How are the surrounding houses you two looked at?"
"Mr. Fang, there are two newly built communities on the east side of the University of Finance and Economics, in Lane 700 and Lane 601 of Dingding Road, built in 1987. They have 2-bedroom, 1-living room units of 51 square meters and 3-bedroom, 1-living room units of 67 square meters, with a unit price of around 1,600 yuan."
"The city center is more expensive, around two to three thousand per square meter." Li Xiaolong took out his notebook and reported.
"What kind of properties are they?" Fang Bai asked.
Houses now are small in area, but there's no common area. 67 square meters is not much different from 90 square meters in later generations, so it's not small.
"I asked, and it seems they are public housing, and they said they can be traded."
Fang Bai nodded. As long as they could be traded, it was fine. There were no property deeds yet; they could only be processed after housing reform.
"Okay, let's go see them tomorrow." Fang Bai instructed.
Qin Shuyu asked curiously, "Fang Bai, are you buying a house?"
Fang Bai replied, "Yes, I'm buying one near your university, and also some home appliances. You can stay there on weekends, cook for yourself, and it'll be more convenient to do laundry with a washing machine."
"Besides here, I'll also buy one near Jiao Tong University and another near the Bund. I can live in them myself, or they can be an investment."
"Shanghai is developing very fast, and citizens are short of houses now. I feel that housing prices will also rise."
"I suggest you two save your salaries and don't bother with houses in your hometown. In the next few years, you can put a down payment on a house here. See if there are any new developments with zero down payment. If so, you can buy them early."
"Boss, the housing prices in the community we saw today, even a 51-square-meter unit would cost eighty thousand yuan, that's too expensive!" Wang Dakai exclaimed, clicking his tongue. Some time ago, Fang Bai rewarded him with five thousand yuan, which he stubbornly refused to accept, but was eventually persuaded to take it.
He was working now, with a provisional salary of five hundred yuan and an annual bonus. After expenses, saving five thousand yuan a year would be good.
If he really had to save eighty thousand yuan, it would take more than ten years.
He had never thought about buying a house in the city; it would be good enough to fix up his house in his hometown. But his boss advised him not to bother with his hometown house, saying a place to live was enough, and still suggested he buy in a big city.
Li Xiaolong said, "I have many siblings at home, so saving money is slower."
"The speed of saving money may not keep up with the speed of rising housing prices. Even as an investment, it's a profit."
"See if there are any low or zero down payment options. A 30% down payment is eighteen thousand, and the monthly payment is around three hundred yuan. Having a house in Shanghai makes it much easier to get married, and if a couple pays for the house together, it's much easier." Fang Bai suggested. He didn't guarantee them about future housing prices, just offered his analysis as a guess.
In short, if they listened and acted, their future would be much easier.
If they didn't invest, then one could only say it was their fate.
Buying before 2000 was not too late, but the earlier one bought, the less pressure there would be.
"Boss, you have good business acumen, I'll listen to you."
Wang Dakai felt that what Fang Bai said made sense. He planned to help Fang Bai finish his tasks, then look for houses with low down payments, treating it as an investment.
Besides, having a house in Shanghai, how impressive would that be to tell people, regardless of whether it had a loan or not.
Li Xiaolong also listened, but he didn't have as much savings as Wang Dakai. He had three siblings at home and had to send a hundred yuan home every month.
Fortunately, Mr. Fang's salary and benefits were good. If he saved money carefully, he could still save some. He planned to save for another year or two and then see, unless there was a zero down payment house.
After dinner, Fang Bai sent Qin Shuyu back to school.
The next day, Fang Bai took Qin Shuyu to view houses. There weren't many untraded houses left. He chose a corner unit on the third floor of Lane 700. It was a 67-square-meter unit in a building without an elevator, priced at 1650 yuan per square meter, for a total of 110,550 yuan. Paying in full also came with a 2% discount, making the actual payment 108,300 yuan.
However, various taxes and miscellaneous fees added up to nearly thirty thousand yuan. This was the pitfall of buying a house in Shanghai back then; regardless of whether it was an old or new house, any transaction required paying taxes and miscellaneous fees.
The name on the title was Qin Shuyu. He had a car, and it was paid in full.
Upon receiving the house keys, the transaction contract, and the lawyer's and notarized certificates, the house truly belonged to Qin Shuyu. The time-consuming procedures would be handled slowly later and no longer affected the ownership issue.
Fang Bai handled the office procedures and taxes, sent Qin Shuyu back to school, and the next day went to find a renovation company to renovate the house.
He didn't have time to manage the renovation here, so he negotiated a full package with the renovation company, including appliances and beds, all to be handled by the company, with the requirement of being move-in ready.
The only downside was the extra cost and lack of supervision, meaning the quality might not be guaranteed.
Fang Bai spoke with three renovation managers and used his Golden Finger to probe their thoughts. Two of them were unreliable; they just wanted to do a shoddy job to make money, cutting corners on materials. If he hadn't known their thoughts, Fang Bai would have been scammed.
Another one had a good reputation. Fang Bai also told the boss that he had several other houses, and if the first one was done well with no quality issues, he would give him the rest of the projects.
The boss saw that the person came by car and knew he was a big boss who wasn't short of money. However, after discussing the details, the price he quoted was directly cut down to his bottom line. Both sides haggled, and they settled on a price slightly above his bottom line.
The specified home appliances, such as washing machine, refrigerator, air conditioner, and gas stove, as well as beds, sofas, and chairs, were included in a full package price of 30,000 yuan.
This house cost a total of 168,000 yuan from start to finish.