23: Chapter 23 I Have a House

After leaving the sales office, they went to the property management office to complete the necessary paperwork and picked up a few access cards.

After finishing, Wang Mei still felt a bit dazed, as if she couldn't believe that their family now owned a home in the county seat.

"Dad, Mom, I'll take you to buy some clothes first and look around the county seat. Tomorrow, I'll take you to buy a car," Chen Fan said to them after leaving Zijin Garden.

"So we have to come back again tomorrow, then."

"You two don't have anything else to do anyway, just think of it as an outing."

"Alright then."

Wang Mei and Chen Jianjun had accepted it by now; after all, they had already spent over two hundred thousand, so these other small expenses didn't really matter.

They arrived at the largest shopping mall in the county.

They had a meal in Xian, then bought some clothes and shoes for the two of them and himself, and bought Chen Jianjun a watch worth a few thousand yuan.

While they were at it, he bought them each a mobile phone: a 2,800 yuan Nokia N86 for Chen Jianjun, and a slightly more expensive 2,900 yuan Sharp SH9120C for Wang Mei.

At first, both of them didn't want them, but under Chen Fan's strong insistence, they eventually bought them.

However, Chen Fan could still see the happiness on their faces when they received the phones.

"Son, you bought us phones worth over 3,000 yuan, but you're only using one that costs around 1,000?" Wang Mei asked, as if suddenly remembering something.

"I'm still a high school student right now. I'll get myself a better one when I'm in college."

"That's true. My son is so sensible." She raised her hand and patted Chen Fan on the head, a gesture exactly the same as when he was little.

...

They returned home in the evening.

The family was sitting in the living room, and the TV was playing the drama "Lurk."

Although the TV was on, only Chen Fan was watching it attentively.

"Lurk" was a very popular drama released this year, but in his previous life, Chen Fan had never watched it, only frequently seeing clips on Douyin.

For example, the principle of the Jade Buddha, the Steampunk Boy, the basic principles of audio recording, and so on.

With it playing on TV now, Chen Fan watched it with great interest. He had to admit, the dramas of this era were much more interesting than those a dozen years later.

Chen Fan couldn't watch the dramas from a dozen years later at all; no matter what the show was, it was all about romance, as if the world would end if they didn't fall in love.

Chen Fan looked to the side, where Wang Mei was discussing with Chen Jianjun how to renovate the house, what style to choose, and whether to use solid wood flooring.

"Mom, I'll transfer 100,000 yuan to you tomorrow for the renovation."

"No need." Once Wang Mei realized what he said, her first reaction was to refuse. "Renovation will cost at most thirty or forty thousand. We can still afford that amount."

Chen Fan wanted to say something more, but Chen Jianjun immediately interrupted him. "Xiaofan, your mom and I couldn't help you with buying the house, but let us pay for the renovation."

Chen Fan opened his mouth, wanting to say that he really wasn't short of that money.

But looking into his father's eyes, he suddenly understood.

This wasn't a question of money.

It was that they really wanted to contribute something for their son. This was the purest form of parental love, something that couldn't be expressed in words.

"Alright, then I'll leave the renovation to you two."

...

The next day, early in the morning.

The family took a car to the county seat.

After arriving at the county seat, they first went to the place Chen Fan was renting.

After putting the computer away, Chen Fan looked at Chen Jianjun. "Dad, it will be several months before we can move into the apartment at 803. This current place is too shabby, so I plan to rent a new place near the school. You two should tell the landlord that we won't be renting this one anymore."

"Alright, you handle it as you see fit," Chen Jianjun nodded. "Once you've rented the new one, I'll talk to the landlord about terminating the lease."

Given Chen Fan's performance over the past few days, combined with his current ability to earn money, Chen Jianjun already treated him like an adult in his heart.

He no longer asked about every little thing or worried about everything like before.

"Let's go, let's head to the 4S dealership and look at cars."

Last night, they had already decided on the car they wanted to buy: the Volkswagen joint-venture skoda octavia 2.0L automatic.

Chen Fan had even opened his computer and searched for pictures of this car, and Chen Jianjun was very satisfied after seeing them.

They hailed a taxi and directed the driver to take them straight to the Volkswagen 4S dealership.

In 2009, there were very few car 4S dealerships in the county, and the Volkswagen dealership was one of them.

There weren't many people in the showroom. A salesperson wearing a dark work uniform walked up to them, and Chen Fan asked directly, "Can we see the skoda octavia automatic?"

The salesperson was stunned for a moment, clearly not expecting this young man to be so direct.

"Yes, right this way."

The salesperson led them to a silver display car and began to introduce it, "This skoda octavia..."

"Dad, get in and get a feel for it." Chen Fan interrupted the salesperson and pulled open the car door.

Chen Jianjun was taken aback, then sat in the driver's seat.

He gripped the steering wheel, looked around, pressed on the seats, and finally leaned back against the seatback to get a feel for it.

The salesperson saw this scene and didn't say anything.

A few minutes later, Chen Jianjun got out of the car.

"How is it, Dad? Are you satisfied?"

Chen Jianjun nodded, "It's quite good."

"That's good." Chen Fan turned to the salesperson, "What's the current price of this car?"

"The bare car is 149,000. Including purchase tax, insurance, and registration, it comes to around 165,000 in total. However, if you order today, I can go and apply for a discount for you."

"Is there a car in stock?"

The salesperson's eyes lit up, but professional habit made her ask one more question, "Yes, are you sure you want to buy it?"

"Yes. If we pay today, when can we pick up the car?"

"We have to wait until Monday to get the temporary license plate," the salesperson explained. "The Vehicle Management Office is closed on weekends, so temporary plates can't be issued. If you come on Monday morning, we'll take care of it for you, and you'll be able to drive it away in the afternoon."

"Alright, prepare the contract."

"Alright, please wait a moment."

...

Half an hour later, watching Chen Jianjun finish signing the contract, Chen Fan took out his bank card and made the payment.

The final price was 163,000.

"Mr. Chen, these are the receipt and the contract. Please keep them safe. Just bring your ID card when you come on Monday, and we'll handle the temporary license plate for you." The salesperson handed a document folder to Chen Jianjun.

After putting away the receipt, they left the 4S dealership.

Seeing that it was still early, he took Chen Jianjun and Wang Mei to have a meal, and then let them wander around the county seat by themselves in the afternoon.

As for Chen Fan, he went to a real estate agency to find an agent to rent a place.

He spent the afternoon and finally got the rental matter sorted out.

Seeing it was still early, Chen Fan took Chen Jianjun and Wang Mei to have a meal. It was an ordinary restaurant where they ordered a few home-style dishes, but Wang Mei ate very happily, insisting that "this fish is cooked better than at our house."

After the meal, Chen Fan checked the time.

"Dad, Mom, you two go wander around the county seat and buy some things. I need to go get the rental matter sorted out."

Wang Mei was taken aback, "Can you go by yourself?"

"It's fine, it's not a big deal," Chen Fan smiled. "You two go ahead and browse. I'll call you when I'm done."

Chen Jianjun nodded and didn't say much. He wasn't surprised by anything his son said anymore.

Chen Fan hailed a taxi and headed straight for the real estate agency.

He spent the afternoon running around to three or four places with the agent and finally found a suitable one.

It was on the fourth floor of a six-story building, with good lighting, a large enough living room, and spacious bedrooms. Most importantly, it was less than a ten-minute walk from the school.

Chen Fan stood on the balcony and looked down. The alley was very quiet, without the noise of the street.

600 a month.

"I'll take this one," he said, turning to the agent.

Signing the contract, paying the money, and getting the keys—by the time the whole process was over, it was already past five in the afternoon.

Chen Fan took out his phone and called Wang Mei, "Mom, I've rented the place. Where are you? I'll come find you."