Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 506 Ignorance
Panyu Road is an old road in Shanghai.

This "old Lu" isn't referring to his age, but rather that he's never changed his name; he's used the same name for decades.

Unlike Huaihai Road, which used to be called Xiafei Road.

The villas on Avenue Joffre were the favorites of Shanghai capitalists, and that's what this place is all about.

Strictly speaking, the small villas on Panyu Road can also be considered villas on Xiafei Road, because there are not many villas or small houses on Huaihai Road itself. The old villas and small houses are basically concentrated on the side streets adjacent to Xiafei Road.

For example, Wukang Road and Hunan Road are areas with a high concentration of villas.

The same applies to Panyu Road.

This old street is 1768 meters long, starting from Yan'an West Road in the north, passing through Huaihai Road and Hongqiao Road, and ending at Kaixuan Road in the south. It is located in the core area of ​​the most prosperous old city of Shanghai.

Although the house I bought yesterday is also in the core area and closer to the Huangpu River, that area is mostly Shikumen houses, which is considered an ordinary residential area. In comparison, this street is better.

This area boasts excellent social resources, including hospitals, schools, shopping malls, and more—it has everything you could need.

For example, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, which Anquan is going to, and East China Textile Institute, which Jiang Lili was admitted to, are both located on either side of this road. They are very close and you can walk there.

The northern section of Panyu Road, in particular, is its most scenic spot, with many famous buildings and former residences of celebrities. It is best described as a quiet oasis amidst the hustle and bustle.

Panyu Road is not very wide, with only two lanes, and tall plane trees are planted on both sides of the road.

"It's winter now, and most of the sycamore leaves have fallen. It would be different in summer."

As Officer Wang led the way, he said, “In the summer, the trees are shady and you can hardly get any sun while walking on this road. There are no factories or businesses in this area, and the few that are there are all research institutions. It’s quiet and very suitable for living.”

Chen Fan nodded repeatedly, "Mhm, mhm, mhm."

I didn't expect Panyu Road to be so decent these days.

Later generations called this place Treasure Road, with a "must-visit" spot almost every few steps, from quiet cafes to inconspicuous shopping malls, from various themed bars to exquisite bookstores, as well as clubs, hotels, and guesthouses...

This makes it one of the tranquil spiritual sanctuaries sought after by many "new Shanghainese" who are tired of the hustle and bustle.

Even many old Shanghainese come to this area to search for their old memories, and then compare the renovated houses one by one with the differences in their memories.

As Officer Wang spoke, Chen Fan listened attentively.

As for safety, he followed behind Chen Fan and muttered under his breath, "It's nothing special."

Chen Fan glanced at him, looked at the small Western-style building surrounded by the courtyard wall, and then looked at him again; the meaning was obvious.

So what? Are the Western-style houses here prettier, or is the Shikumen house you bought more attractive?
They kept quiet, obediently, and didn't want to make a sound.

At this moment, Officer Wang suddenly stopped and pointed to a courtyard, saying, "Look, do you see that? That's the Shanghai Institute of Biological Products, which specializes in the research and production of albumin injections."

Chen Fan found it strange; why bring up the research institute out of the blue?

Then, Officer Wang pointed and said, "See that? That used to be 'Young Master Sun's' residence. The house was built by the Hungarian architect László Hudec in the 30s. It was originally intended for him, but he didn't live there himself. Because Young Master Sun did him a big favor, he sold it to Young Master Sun at a low price."

You might not be familiar with László Hudec, but he was a very famous architect in Shanghai at the time. He designed more than 60 buildings in Shanghai, including the American Citibank Building on Fuzhou Middle Road and the famous Wukang Building on Huaihai Middle Road, oh, it used to be called the Normandy Apartments.

The garden residence of the wealthy capitalist Liu Jisheng was also his work; it's now the office building of the Shanghai Writers Association. And there's also Wu Tongwen's 'Green House'—also a wealthy capitalist…

Upon hearing this, An Quan couldn't help but turn and glance at Chen Fan.

The Writers' Association?
Chen Fan smiled and pretended not to see it.

Wang, the clerk, continued talking, mentioning many well-known buildings in succession.

After he finished speaking, Chen Fan blinked and asked in a low voice, "Officer Wang, what about that little villa I want to buy...?"

Officer Wang immediately clicked his tongue and said, "Yes, it's right there, in courtyard number 55. I'll take you there."

As he turned and walked away, Chen Fan couldn't help but purse his lips. So it had nothing to do with László Hudec after all?

Well, it's fine. It saves us from having to submit reports and applications every time we want to make any changes to the renovations in the future, which is too troublesome.

Sun Dashao's villa is on the west side of the road, not far across the street. Officer Wang stopped and stubbornly pointed to a courtyard not far from the alley entrance, "That's the former residence of László Hudec."

He seemed rather smug as he spoke, implying that this was a place of great fortune, and that even the architect himself lived here.
Before Chen Fan could speak, he changed direction again, "The house you want to see is right here, No. 55 Panyu Road (it's fake, there is no No. 55, only Lane 55)."

The group was walking along the roadside when Chen Fan heard his words and immediately stepped back a few paces to the middle of the road to get a better view.

The courtyard is not large. There is a wall about 20 meters long, and the gate is not in the middle, but in the corner on the south side.

The thick iron gate and the courtyard wall blocked the view; one could only see the attic of a small Western-style building by climbing over the wall.

Information about this courtyard flashed through Chen Fan's mind.

The entire courtyard covers an area of ​​388 square meters, while the small building occupies 118 square meters. It is 10 meters wide at the front and 11.8 meters long on the side, with a total height of two and a half stories and a building area of ​​288 square meters.

There is a gradually widening open space around the building. The path separating the building from the wall on the east side is only 2 meters wide, but it becomes 3 meters wide as it goes north. The width of the path along the road on the west side becomes 5 meters. The open space in front of the building is a full 8 meters wide, enough to park several cars.

Officer Wang took out his key and unlocked the door—well, not the main gate lock, but a small side door on the iron gate.

Pushing open the small door, he turned around and said, "This was a capitalist's residence before liberation. Although it wasn't designed by László Hudec, it was designed by a well-known architect at the time, and all the materials used were of the highest quality, some of which were even imported. I heard that it cost 30 silver dollars back then, which is no small sum."

Chen Fan clicked his tongue; 30 silver dollars was indeed no small sum.

Well, that's not just a small number, it's an astronomical price!

To put it simply, at the same time in Beiping, a fine three-courtyard siheyuan would cost less than 5000 silver dollars.

The house cost 30 yuan just to build, which shows how outrageous it is.

Off the charts!
Chen Fan glanced around and found that the courtyard was more pleasing to the eye than in the photos, and at the same time, the traces of time were more pronounced.

He noticed the camphor tree planted in the flower bed to the left of the entrance. Its tall branches provided shade for the small building, at least preventing it from getting too much afternoon sun. Moreover, camphor wood has insect-repelling properties, so the yard should be relatively "clean".

As for the most crucial small building, it was now fully visible.

The building's base used a large amount of granite, raising the foundation by about 80 centimeters. Even the wall bases were made of granite, with the white-painted walls rising above.

Both the first and second floors have a lot of glass windows, especially the first floor, where an entire west wall is "openwork".

Only a half-meter-high granite wall base was left, and above that were two huge openwork iron frames, which were divided into rectangular grids. The grids were inlaid with transparent glass, but unfortunately, bamboo-patterned curtains were drawn inside, so you couldn't see what the room looked like.

However, you can tell without even looking that the lighting inside must be excellent.

There is also a large semi-circular terrace protruding from the second floor, which covers the entrance on the first floor. The terrace is supported by several Roman columns.

The third floor has one half of the building on the west side, and the east side has a large terrace, which is probably used for drying clothes.

As for the open space between the building and the courtyard wall, it is a lawn, just enough to build a small garden.

Only the large open space directly in front of the building was paved with cement, but now the ground was empty except for a few cracks and some barely noticeable pits.

After Chen Fan and An Quan came in, Wang, the clerk, quickly closed the small door and bolted it from the inside. As he walked in, he continued, "Anyway, the past is the past. Later, like many capitalists at the time, some people left and the rest stayed."

Then, naturally, that silly thing happened, and the house was confiscated a few years ago.

Then, during the meeting in November, the higher-ups were promoting united front work, and they wanted people with overseas connections to find their relatives. Shanghai also introduced corresponding policies, so the house was returned, and it was given priority again. Actually, the case was overturned a couple of years ago, but the house issue wasn't addressed then, so this time it was settled all at once.

United Front work is an urgent and important task, so not long after the decision was made, just last month, the local neighborhood committee arranged for the house to be reinforced and repainted before returning it to them.

Officer Wang walked over slowly and opened the building's main door.

Although it was recently renovated, there was no unpleasant smell inside.

Whether it's lime, paint, or coatings, most of the materials used these days are natural. The smell dissipates in a few days, and there are no harmful substances like formaldehyde. You can move in after a few days of airing it out.

Not to mention that the renovation here has been going on for more than a month.

As soon as he stepped through the gate, Chen Fan's eyes lit up.

The entire piece of patterned solid wood flooring, judging from its color, is made of high-quality teak. The wall panels and wooden stairs, which are over a meter high, are also made of the same material, giving it a classic and antique feel.

Wall panels are wooden boards that are attached to walls to protect them.

The house was empty, with little furniture, except for a fireplace carved out of the wall.

Chen Fan walked over, squatted down, and took a look. Hmm, this fireplace is real and usable.

Officer Wang walked around in place and said with emotion, "The floor has been cleaned, polished, and waxed. The walls are painted with 'Silver,' and even the windows have been repainted. We've also replaced three toilets. It's much better than when it was confiscated."

The property was returned to the owner, but they refused to accept it. The officer in charge pleaded with them until they finally agreed, but then entrusted the housing management office to sell it.

Safety was confused. "Why?"

He never imagined his family would own such a wonderful house. If they had a house like this, they wouldn't need to "divide the family property"!
He thought about the information about this house: the first floor had two rooms, two living rooms, a bathroom, and a large kitchen; the second floor had three rooms, a living room, and a bathroom; the third floor was supposed to be an attic, but it was much larger than the attic of the dilapidated house he had just bought. Not only was it built like a proper house with two rooms, a living room, and a bathroom, but it also had a small triangular partition added on top for heat insulation. This was a real attic.

So strictly speaking, this house should be two and a half floors with seven rooms and a small attic.

And with such a large courtyard empty, how many people wouldn't have enough room?!
don't want?

You've lost your mind!
Officer Wang glanced at him, pursed his lips, and said nothing.

Chen Fan paced around in the living room, then turned to look at him upon hearing this, "Afraid of it happening again?"

Anquan suddenly realized, raised his hand and slapped his forehead, "I didn't realize it just now."

Officer Wang turned to Chen Fan and smiled, "Take a look around first, and write down any questions you have, because I don't know much either, and you'll have to ask others."

He paused for a moment and then explained, “This house doesn’t belong to the area under my jurisdiction. It’s just that due to special reasons, almost every housing management office in the city has a file on it. Besides this one, there are three other similar ones.”

Anquan blinked. "Their situation is the same?"

Officer Wang shrugged, and was about to take out a cigarette when he suddenly remembered that it wasn't a good place to smoke, so he held back, put his hands in his pockets, shook his head with a pout, and said, "Those few are even more outrageous. After contacting their relatives outside, they directly applied to go abroad for a family reunion. Once they got there, they sent back a letter saying that they weren't coming back and asked us to help them sell their houses."

He shrugged and said, "I heard that the letter was written in a very polite tone, but it was full of threats. It said that if we didn't do this for them, it wouldn't matter. They would just spread rumors outside. At most, they would lose some money, but we would lose face."

At this point, even Anquan couldn't hold back any longer. His lips twitched for a while before he finally exclaimed, "What a talent!"

Chen Fan ran up and down the stairs, then came down and went straight to Officer Wang, his face full of curiosity, "Does this place have water, electricity, and gas?"

Having running water and electricity is easy to understand, and having a flush toilet is also normal.

After all, this area is an old city. Sewage pipes were installed during the Republic of China era, and it has been renovated and expanded many times since the founding of the People's Republic of China. There are not many residential buildings nearby, unlike Nanluoguxiang in the capital, which is densely packed with residential buildings. Construction would be difficult, and renovation would be impossible. It is reasonable for this area to have such supporting facilities.

The problem is piped gas!

In the new century, many places still didn't have piped gas, but this place has it now?

Officer Wang turned around, said "Oh," and then said, "This piped gas was installed when the house was built. I heard that it cost two large yellow croakers to install the gas back then."

Chen Fan's eyes widened instantly. "Two big yellow croakers?"

Everyone knows about large and small yellow croakers, but the large yellow croakers of the 30s are different from those of the 40s and later. Only the large yellow croakers of the 30s are the standard large yellow croakers; those later ones are all "shrunken".

According to the "Standards for Weights and Measures of the Republic of China" promulgated by the Nanjing National Government, 1 jin = 500 grams = 16 liang, and this standard was gradually implemented in 1930.

Therefore, in the 30s, each large yellow croaker weighed 500 grams, which was equivalent to 16 old taels.

Then in September 1943, Chongqing launched the "Gold Release Plan," which reduced the weight of gold bars from 16 taels to 10 taels, and then kept decreasing them, but that's another story.

So how many silver dollars would two large yellow croakers from the 30s be worth?
In 1932, Fu Jen Catholic University purchased Langrun Garden from Prince Gong's Mansion, which was formerly the residence of Lord He. The garden covered 40 acres and was purchased for a total price of 108 gold bars, which was used to offset 9 silver dollars.

Therefore, two large yellow croakers were worth 1688 silver dollars.

Anquan clicked his tongue in amazement, muttering, "That was almost enough to buy my house!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan turned his head and said, "That's still a long way off. In 1928, Lu Xun and his wife lived in a Shikumen house in Jingyun Lane. The rent for that house was 80 silver dollars a month, which was equivalent to two or three months' wages for an ordinary worker. If you wanted to buy that house, it would cost at least 5 silver dollars. With Lu Xun's monthly salary of just over 200 yuan at the time, he would have to save for more than ten or twenty years without eating or drinking. That amount of money is indeed far from enough."

After he finished speaking, he was stunned for a moment.

If a Shikumen house costs 5 silver dollars, then it seems normal that this house costs 30 silver dollars to build.
So, housing prices had already skyrocketed back then?!
At this point, Officer Wang also said with a smile, "Times are different, so the situation is definitely different. Back then, when Beiping had running water, guess how much it cost to connect running water to a home?"

The two of them turned to look at him.

Safety blinked, thought for a moment, and then gave a number, "2000?"

Officer Wang chuckled and shook his head, saying, "It's not that bad. A few thousand more yuan could buy a multi-courtyard house. Even rich people wouldn't be willing to waste money like that. Those wealthy tycoons aren't fools. Anyway, they don't have to carry water themselves. They can just keep making the water deliverymen work hard."

He paused for a moment, then stopped guessing and simply held up a hand. "Faucet installation at home, starting from at least 500 yuan!"

Chen Fan gently rubbed his face and closed his dislocated jaw.

Installing tap water costs 500 yuan? Thinking about it this way, installing piped gas doesn't seem so expensive, does it?

It's expensive my foot!
Forgive my ignorance, but I truly don't understand the world of the wealthy!
He shook his head, dismissing the absurd thought, then coughed and asked softly, "Officer Wang, is there any room for negotiation on the price of this house?"

Officer Wang shook his head with a wry smile, paused for two seconds, and explained to him, "I just told you about the special nature of this house. The homeowner didn't actually want it in the first place, but he was forced to accept it. After that, he just put it on the property management office's signboard and then left it to others."

Therefore, for houses with this special nature, we generally don't offer flexible solutions; we do whatever they say. This price is non-negotiable.

Chen Fan nodded slightly, clicked his tongue, and asked again, "What about the furniture? There isn't a single piece of furniture in this house. I can't get the necessary receipts to buy furniture."

Wang, the clerk, brightened up and looked at him, asking, "So, you really want to buy this house?"

Chen Fan laughed and said, "Look at what you're saying. If I didn't want to buy, why would I drag you here to look at houses? Wouldn't that be just messing with you?"

Officer Wang chuckled and said, "Alright, as long as you buy it, the furniture issue will be simple."

He lowered his voice as he spoke, "We have a partnership with a secondhand goods company. I know they have a lot of cheap secondhand furniture in their warehouses from a few years ago. It's all top-quality furniture. If you buy this house, I'll take you to pick some out."

Chen Fan immediately clapped his hands and nodded, saying, "Okay, I can complete the formalities today."

Still not convinced, Officer Wang held up three fingers, "3, pay today?"

Chen Fan nodded slightly, "3, I'll pay today!"

(End of this chapter)