Starting a new chapter in life

Chapter 225 Buying a Camera for Zhizhi

Seeing that it was almost time, the two adults left and returned to the hotel. Chen Ping sighed, "Why are college students spending so much money these days? My family doesn't even have a camera, and college students are already buying them. Sigh..."

Nothing happened that night. After breakfast, the two of them went to the bank to check the balance in Chen Ping's card. As expected, Commander Lu was reliable; the money had already been deposited.

Once they confirmed they had enough money, the two headed straight to the real estate agency. The agent's eyes lit up when he saw them, and he immediately came over and asked enthusiastically, "Are you two here to buy an apartment in the Tuanheyuan residential complex? Have you decided which one you want?"

The two sat in the reception room, and after he poured water, they sat down opposite each other before he spoke: "I want the 130-square-meter one, and she wants the one that's a little over 100 square meters. Do you think we can get a discount on the price?"

The agent saw this as a big deal and quickly retrieved the property brochure. He compared the information with the details in the brochure, then called the homeowners on the landline to arrange a meeting at the agency.

Housing prices are rising now, so there aren't many people who can afford to buy, or rather, wealthy people won't buy houses in this kind of community, and those without money can't afford them. Moreover, the concept of buying a house with a loan hasn't been widely accepted yet, so homeowners respond relatively quickly when they receive notifications that someone wants to buy.

Upon entering, the visitor saw only three people in the meeting room, one of whom was a real estate agent. For a moment, the visitor hesitated, asking, "Is this the right place?"

The agent immediately stood up. "That's right, that's right. These two ladies each want to buy one apartment. They're just waiting for you to come and discuss it."

Compared to the two buyers who each bought one set, the seller's sudden arrival of five or six people seemed a bit too forceful. The seller was somewhat embarrassed, but still sat down to negotiate.

Jingyan didn't let everyone feel awkward for long. She smiled and said, "I want to buy apartment 301, and she will buy apartment 302. We know that all the furniture inside will be kept. However, the price seems a bit high right now. We were wondering if we could get some discounts. We're paying in full, which is quite a burden."

The homeowner of apartment 301 looked at the other apartment, the two families exchanged a glance, and then turned to look at the real estate agent. The agent was being stared at by seven or eight people from both the buyer and seller sides, and was covered in sweat. Well, it might be because of the hot weather and the crowded living room.

"Um, how about we round down the price by one or something? Give us a discount a little bit?" The agent said this with a little bit of trepidation. The house prices are actually not inflated these days. The houses in this community were built to a high standard, with large spacing between buildings, good lighting, balconies included, and decent renovations. All these factors combined make this price really reasonable.

Jingyan shook her head: "How about this, we won't argue much, how about we reduce the price by 100 yuan per unit? That way we can cover the agency fee and various taxes."

“Oh my, this is much more than the taxes and fees we’re saving! My family will save 10,000 yuan, and your family will save 13,000 yuan.” The wife of the landlord of apartment 302 was quick to do the math and immediately objected.

Jingyan sat steadily. "Actually, we initially liked apartment 301. We only planned to buy one unit, which would be enough for the two of us. But the agent said the apartment across the hall was also for sale, so we thought we might as well each buy one. That way, we could live more comfortably and move around like it's our own home. What can we do? We're such good friends."

However, if you're not satisfied with the price being too low, we can actually buy one ourselves. After all, two or three hundred thousand is no small sum; it would be like going bankrupt for the two of us to afford it.

The landlord of room 301 looked a little unwell. These days, it would take a year of not eating or drinking to save more than ten thousand yuan, but his family really needed the money. His only son wanted to study abroad to get a better education, which was a considerable expense.

The money was needed urgently anyway, and the current price reduction wasn't too harsh. The main thing was that this family could pay the full amount immediately. Looking at his wife and son, and seeing the expectant look in his son's eyes, he finally nodded and agreed: "Okay, 338,000 yuan, not a penny less."

Jing Yan readily agreed and looked at the agent: "You can handle the formalities. Just give me a payment plan, and I can transfer the money to the bank anytime."

The agent nodded, "You give the homeowner a deposit first, and we'll start processing the relevant documents. Once all the documents are ready, both parties will go to the housing authority to complete the transfer of ownership. It's a cash-on-deposit process, and the funds are very safe."

Jingyan then asked, "How much is the deposit?"

"Give me ten thousand first?" the agent asked.

Jing Yan nodded: "I don't have that much cash on hand. How about a bank transfer? Can you do that here?"

The agent shook his head: "There's a bank just turn right after you go out. Why don't you withdraw your money?"

Jing Yan nodded, stood up, and looked at the owners of apartment 302: "What do you mean? If you're selling, we'll go together to collect the deposit. It'll be convenient for us to handle the paperwork together with the real estate agent. If you're not selling, then we'll leave." After saying that, she pulled Chen Ping's arm to help her stand up.

Seeing that she was about to leave, the landlord of apartment 302 quickly said, "Wait a minute, let's discuss it some more." After saying that, he pulled his wife aside to discuss it, and soon came back: "My family also agrees, 275,600 yuan."

"Six hundred yuan is too small. How about twenty-seventy-five thousand yuan? What do you say?" Jing Yan tried to lower the price again.

The landlord of room 302 wanted to cry, but it was only 600 yuan, and he had already given away more than 10,000 yuan, so he didn't care about the difference. He nodded helplessly, "Okay."

He had just agreed when his wife pinched his waist. He frowned, but maintained the demeanor of the head of the household, without showing any anger or resentment.

Jingyan and Chenping went to withdraw the money. Fortunately, the bank was not far away, only a three- to five-minute walk away. They returned in no time. The deposit was paid, the agency helped draft the receipt, the seller signed it, and a preliminary agreement was reached.

"Where are you staying? How can I contact you once I've completed all the paperwork?" the agent asked the two women after seeing the seller off.

Jingyan gave them the room number of Jiayuan Hotel, saying that they could find it there if they needed to contact them, but it was best to contact them in advance. The two of them also planned to wander around in the next few days, since it was under the emperor's nose and there were many scenic spots to visit.

The agent readily agreed and estimated the time: "If all goes well, you should be able to go to the housing management bureau around Monday the 6th. Just bring your ID card and household registration book. Of course, it's not convenient to bring money, but you should bring your bank card."

The two smiled and agreed, then left the real estate agency together.

Back at the hotel, Chen Ping finally smiled happily: "Wow, I didn't expect we could save another ten thousand yuan. Jingyan, you're amazing! You managed to get the price down. If it were me, I would have bought it at their asking price."

Jing Yan smiled and said, "We should definitely try to negotiate the price. After all, this is a private property, and it depends on whether they are in a hurry to sell. If both parties are adamant about not lowering the price, we will have to accept it. Fortunately, they did not negotiate in advance, which gave us room to negotiate. This time, we saved a lot on taxes and agent fees."

When I take my child to buy equipment on the weekend, I can also see if I can buy some better ones. They say a skilled craftsman must first sharpen his tools, so our child's equipment can't be too bad, right? If we can afford it, we should always give them the best.

Chen Ping wholeheartedly agreed. She had booked a room for five days, but it seemed she wouldn't be able to finish it all, so she extended it for three more days. The front desk was happy to hear about the extension and processed the paperwork very quickly.

Jingyan and Chenping each called home to tell their families about their progress and to reassure them not to worry. After that, they completely let loose and went to climb the Great Wall. Although it broadened their horizons, their legs were almost not their own when they came back.

I went to the restaurant with my legs trembling, and then slept like a log when I got back. The planned trip to the Forbidden City had to be put on hold so I could rest and recuperate. Before I could even get rid of the fatigue, it was already the first weekend after my two kids started school.

The two were woken up by the knocking of seven children. Looking at the energetic children, Jingyan felt like crying. She looked at Zhizhi and said, "How about I give you money and you can go by yourselves?"

Unexpectedly, the children all shook their heads and refused, insisting on being accompanied by an adult. After all, it was their first time buying such an expensive item, and they felt uneasy without an adult by their side.

What could Jingyan and Chen Ping say? They could only accompany them, risking their lives. They took two taxis to the electronics store with the children. Fortunately, traffic control was not strict at the moment, and there was no requirement that a car could only carry five people. So, one of the cars had one more person than allowed, and no traffic police caught them. When they arrived, Jingyan paid the fare, and the group started shopping.

First, we looked around at the camera, recorder, lighting equipment, tripod, and other items the teacher had requested. Currently, film cameras are relatively affordable, but the cost of using film can be quite substantial.

In addition, improper storage can easily lead to exposure. Jingyan asked about several options, but she was not satisfied with any of them. Later, the store manager saw that there were too many people and came over to help introduce some options. The children in Zhizhi's dormitory all came from relatively well-off families, so they all chose high-end products.

Finally, Jingyan ordered a Casio QV-7000SX digital camera for Zhizhi. It is the highest-end product in the OV series and the latest model this year. It has many functions and is very suitable for detailed shooting. It is indeed a bit high-end for home use, but it is barely usable for professionals. The price is 1,700 yuan.

The other children were also interested, but considering they had other things to buy, they opted for cameras with slightly lower specifications. After all, their parents weren't with them, and it would be a hassle to report the expense later. However, they all agreed to choose digital cameras rather than film cameras.

The lighting equipment, recorder, tripod... were all the same items, which made the store manager, who had only come to save the day out of fear of trouble, extremely happy. Today's KPIs were sure to be excellent.

After buying her necessities, Jingyan stopped at the mobile phone counter as she passed by. Looking at the phones in the display case, she pointed and asked, "How much is this phone?"

The sales clerk quickly stepped forward, took a demo unit from the display case, and handed it to her: "This is a Nokia 3210 phone. In addition to basic calling functions, it also has an alarm clock, calculator, currency converter, and other functions. It costs three thousand yuan."

Jing Yan frowned: "Why is it so expensive just for a phone call? Is there anything cheaper?"

The salesperson pointed to another model and said, "This one already has the best price-performance ratio. This Motorola phone costs over ten thousand yuan, it's even more expensive."

Jingyan...

Even girls from well-off families wouldn't buy their kids a cell phone; it's too expensive. Jingyan had originally thought about buying one, and if it cost a little over a thousand yuan, she could buy one, but three thousand? Forget it, it's not worth it.

The group left happily and went to the computer section. Jingyan asked about the prices of desktop computers. The low-end configuration cost 5,000 yuan a set, the good configuration cost 12,000 to 13,000 yuan, and the high-end configuration cost more than 20,000 yuan. The price difference was quite huge.

Jingyan gritted her teeth and bought it in the end. The computer was planned to be installed at Zhizhi's house later; she wouldn't be able to export the photos without one.

Borrowing photos from the school all the time is not only troublesome, but also risky if there are any really good ones that could be stolen. People might not realize this now, but Jingyan understands the importance of intellectual property rights. Therefore, a computer is still essential.

Of course, she wouldn't choose a low-end configuration, but there was no need for a high-end one either. She chose a mid-range Lenovo laptop for 12,000 yuan and arranged for installation to be done a week later. The mall needed to stock up on goods during this time, so today's shopping was considered complete.

After leaving the mall, He Anzhi, the only student accompanied by a parent, naturally treated everyone to a meal. Jing Yan was not stingy either, and chose a restaurant near the mall that looked popular. The nine people made up a large table. Since the students who were guests were too embarrassed to order, the decision-making power fell to Zhizhi and Xiaoxiao.

The two kids were really uncouth; they ordered only two vegetarian dishes and a huge amount of meat dishes. Anyone who didn't know better would think they had suffered a lot at school these past few days, wondering why they were so lacking in oil and fat. However, the kids did have one good point: they didn't waste anything. In the end, they finished almost all ten dishes and one soup.

After eating and drinking our fill, we took two taxis back to school. Apart from the camera, all the other equipment was the same, so we asked the mall to deliver it to our dormitories the next day. We were quite relaxed, and there was still room for people in the car. If we had to carry everything with us, we probably would have needed another car.

Watching the children laughing and joking as they entered the school gate arm in arm, Jingyan and Chenping turned around and went back to the hotel. Their bodies, already exhausted from the day before yesterday, hadn't had a good rest, and today they had spent most of the day shopping, which was really... adding insult to injury.

The two entered the room, not even wanting to say a word. After washing up, they continued to sprawl out on the bed, looking completely relaxed.

On Sunday, Zhizhi and Xiaoxiao came to the hotel to see the two of them. They were quite surprised by their condition: "It's been three days, haven't you recovered yet? You two are not in good health." Zhizhi and Xiaoxiao helped the two of them relax their leg muscles while making fun of them.

Jing Yan said lazily, "My dear daughter, your mother is already forty-four years old, and Aunt Chen is also over forty. Isn't it normal that we're not as healthy as you young people at our age? If you're so capable, go climb the Great Wall for a day and see if you still come back full of energy."