Chapter 175 - Dinner ("You mean the mean-looking uncle who's a hero?") (1)
Shu Yan wanted to invite Feng Zeyu to walk with her but he disappeared from here again shortly thereafter.
At first Shu Yan thought he did that for the sake of catching the bad guys. Just like someone going fishing, and she was the bait being used to lure out the kidnappers. Now she realized that wasn’t the case at all, when they weren’t nearby City Nan University, he’d respond to her when she greeted him; when they were nearby City Nan University, she almost didn’t see him at all or, if she did, he would act like they were strangers to each other.
She figured that Feng Zeyu didn’t want his bad reputation to also taint her.
Shu Yan walked over to the kindergarten with her head lowered. Her child was still in the after-class section. It would be another 20 minutes or so; so she decided to take a detour and to check out her new place.
All of the remodeling has been completed, including furniture and appliances. As she had decided on using the developer’s team for the remodeling, they gave Shu Yan a discount, totaling to 10,000 yuan. Shu Yan had looked up the prices for this time period. Bricks were 0.12 yuan and cement were 7 yuan. Pipes and cables were reasonable as well. Most importantly, the labor between now and the future were drastic. She recalled her family having a remodeling in 2018. Labor for carpenters and electricians were up to 300 yuan a day. Helpers cost 150 yuan. And that was not including beverages and cigarettes. Nowadays, technical workers only cost 15 yuan a day and helpers, 8 yuan.
The remodeling cost her 10,000 yuan because she had three in-wall closets made plus an additional storage room in the living room. In addition, she also had the patio and the two bathrooms altered, which added significantly to the cost.
Shu Yan had picked out the appliances herself with the designer at the remodeling company. She had, therefore, received a steep discount using their name. But, even so, appliances were expensive back then and a refrigerator, a coloured television, a washer, plus four air-conditioning units came out to be 20,000 yuan. Costing more than the remodeling.
Nothing she could do. Appliances were luxurious items back in these days. Many families still had black-and-white televisions. Take Wu Xiuyue’s family as an example, they only had a 10” black-and-white television. Lin Hui’s family was more well off and have a coloured television but they still didn’t have a washer. They only have one air-conditioning unit inside of the master bedroom and that was already very luxurious by today’s standard. Someone as rich and imposing as Shu Yan was uncommon.
She bought her furniture through connections of Chen Fei. They were said to be made out of redwood. Shu Yan had only heard of them but never seen them in person before. She trusted that Chen Fei would not try to scam her. Redwood furniture could keep their value. She needed furniture one way or another so she bought them. Shu Yan bought a set of redwood dinner table set, a couch, a television stand, a coffee table, three desks, a bookshelf, two dressing tables all at once and that cost her 18,000 yuan.
Chen Fei said the master who made these still adopted the traditional method and their workmanship was of superior quality. He’d only sell them to those with referrals. Shu Yan didn’t understand any of these. The only thing that she could tell was whether they were pretty. The flowers and birds that he carved all looked lifelike and retro, so she bought them.
Chen Fei also referred her to buy her beds. A bed cost upward of 2,000 yuan but it was very comfortable. Shu Yan felt that a person could easily spend half of their life in bed so a good one was very important. She thought about getting kid’s beds for her two children but finally gave up on that idea and got them the standard 1.5-meter ones.
This house plus remodeling cost 500,000 yuan; 550,000 yuan counting appliances, bed, and other miscellaneous items.
That was a lot of money spent but Shu Yan felt that it was worth it. Never mind about the appreciation that would come with this house, but mainly she’d be comfortable living in it. She was certain that she would not be moving again anytime soon and would stay here for at least another ten to twenty years, or possibly even the rest of her life.