I'm back in 1990

Chapter 27: Renting a Room

Friday, July 3, 1990.

Television news and newspapers reported in detail that Saddam Hussein had led his army to invade Kuwait yesterday, and the Gulf War had broken out. Upon seeing this news again, Huang Xiaochuan breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that history had not changed because of his rebirth.

On the same day, after the first payment was settled, it was transferred to Zeng Jiahua's flange factory account. After receiving notification from the bank, the finance department immediately informed Zeng Jiahua of this good news.

Zeng Jiahua clenched his fist excitedly and waved it a few times in the air to vent his joy. Now he could organize production with peace of mind.

Of course, Zeng Jiahua would not forget Huang Xiaochuan, the key contributor to this success. The promised commission should be honored. As the saying goes, even an emperor will not starve his soldiers. In the future, he would rely on Huang Xiaochuan to bring more business like this to the factory.

According to the factory's sales commission policy, for a deal this large, the salesperson can receive a commission equivalent to 2% of the total sales amount. Therefore, Huang Xiaochuan's commission should be 220,000 yuan.

This sum of money was a considerable amount at that time, and Zeng Jiahua was somewhat troubled. It wasn't that he didn't want to give the money to Huang Xiaochuan, but rather that he had to keep it a secret from his eldest sister. However, the amount of money was simply too large, and the implications were significant. How could he explain it to his eldest sister if something went wrong?

If it were only 30,000 to 50,000, it wouldn't matter if we kept it a secret, but this is over 200,000!

Even as the cigarette in Zeng Jiahua's hand burned his fingers, he still couldn't figure it out, and the burn made him shake his hand repeatedly.

Zeng Jiahua simply got up, grabbed the motorcycle keys from his desk, and headed out. He wanted to go back and discuss it with Huang Xiaochuan.

When Zeng Jiahua arrived home by bicycle, Huang Xiaochuan was tending the fire behind the stove in the kitchen. It was supposed to be Zeng Xia, the second sister, tending the fire today, but she had conscripted Huang Xiaochuan instead.

Upon seeing Huang Xiaochuan, Zeng Jiahua said, "Xiaochuan, come to the factory with me for a moment, I have something to tell you."

Upon hearing this, Huang Xiaochuan, who was enduring the smoke and fire, threw down the fire tongs and immediately got up to follow Zeng Jiahua out the door. Zeng Xia, the second sister, originally wanted to take a break, but her own father had interfered, so she had no choice but to sit back down behind the stove and continue tending the fire.

As soon as they arrived outside, Zeng Jiahua told Huang Xiaochuan that the first payment had been received.

"The payment has been received. After deducting the foreign trade company's handling fee, the total amount received is 3,975,000."

Upon hearing that the money had arrived, Huang Xiaochuan grinned, now he could finally put his plan into action.

Upon arriving at the factory, Huang Xiaochuan gulped down a large cup of herbal tea that Zeng Jiahua had brewed, his mouth parched from tending the fire for so long.

Zeng Jiahua discussed with Huang Xiaochuan, "The factory can't give you your commission directly. We can only transfer it to my account under the pretense that I handled this business, and then I'll withdraw it for you."

Huang Xiaochuan didn't mind. He smiled and said, "Uncle, do whatever you think is convenient for you. I have no objection."

Zeng Jiahua replied, "I have an objection."

Zeng Jiahua's words startled Huang Xiaochuan. Before he could ask why, Zeng Jiahua continued, "I've thought about it and it's not right not to tell your mother about all this money."

Upon hearing this reason, Huang Xiaochuan calmed down.

He picked up the thermos and refilled Zeng Jiahua's teacup. After putting the thermos down, he said, "Uncle, didn't we agree that you could keep it a secret for a while? Anyway, the final payment for this contract won't be made until July next year. It's not too late to tell me then."

"So, you mean I have to keep this a secret for you for a year?" Zeng Jiahua asked again to confirm.

Huang Xiaochuan placed the teacup in front of Zeng Jiahua: "Uncle, could you deposit this money for me in the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in Shanghai? The interest will be quite substantial after a year. I can give the principal to my mother and keep the interest. Is that alright? Besides, if I ever get a girlfriend, it wouldn't be good to keep asking my mother for money, would it?"

This was a strategy Huang Xiaochuan came up with on the spur of the moment. The amount of money was indeed too much, and it was impossible for his uncle to keep it from Zeng Lijuan—the implications were too great. He could only buy time. A year would be enough for Huang Xiaochuan to use this money to make even more money, and then he would tell his mother, Zeng Lijuan, about it and hand over the 220,000 yuan. However, he could secretly keep the money he made from the 220,000 yuan.

Huang Xiaochuan's reasons were very compelling. When Zeng Jiahua heard Huang Xiaochuan mention having a girlfriend, he, as the uncle, felt he had to support him. Besides, the condition of keeping the interest after a year's deposit wasn't unreasonable, so he agreed.

The next day, Zeng Jiahua borrowed the commission from the finance department under the guise of a personal loan. This was mainly because processing the formalities would take time; the money could be borrowed first and then offset against the loan once the commission formalities were completed. The most important thing was to get the money into his nephew's account as soon as possible; he would be returning to Qingjiang in a few days, and the university admission notice should arrive around that time.

Early in the morning of August 6, Zeng Jiahua took Huang Xiaochuan with a bag of money to Shanghai again. Huang Xiaochuan lied and said he was looking for a bank near the school, and took Zeng Jiahua to the vicinity of Jumen Road.

Zeng Jiahua had no idea where Huang Xiaochuan's school was, so he could only follow Huang Xiaochuan's directions.

Near Jumen Road, Huang Xiaochuan found an ICBC bank and deposited 220,000 yuan in five deposit certificates in his name for a year. To Huang Xiaochuan's astonishment, the one-year fixed deposit interest rate was as high as 10.08%. No wonder the government had to lower interest rates; otherwise, banks would go out of business sooner or later.

"Keep the deposit slip safe, don't lose it, understand?" Zeng Jiahua kept reminding Huang Xiaochuan on the way back.

Huang Xiaochuan patted the bag on his chest: "Don't worry, even if you lose me, you can't lose the deposit slip."

Upon hearing this, Zeng Jiahua laughed and scolded, "You little monkey."

With the money in hand, the plan had to be implemented immediately. Taking advantage of Ge Changli's invitation to discuss matters, Huang Xiaochuan appeared in Shanghai alone again two days later. Before coming, Huang Xiaochuan had told his uncle and grandmother that he might stay in Shanghai for two days this time, so they didn't need to worry.

On the morning of August 8, Huang Xiaochuan went to the bank with his ID card to cancel his fixed deposit and convert it into a current account. After making an appointment with the bank to withdraw a large amount of cash the next day, he withdrew 8 yuan on the spot.

This series of bizarre actions caught the attention of the bank teller, who secretly thought that this handsome young man was actually a spendthrift. He had just cancelled his fixed deposit a few days ago, losing at least 20,000 yuan in interest. He was just a pretty face with a belly full of useless things.

After withdrawing the money, Huang Xiaochuan went straight to the Wujiaochang area of ​​YP district, searching everywhere for information agencies.

During this period, there were no real estate agencies like those in later generations, but people still had this need. So, some people opened information agencies where everyone could register their information, such as: I have a house to rent out, I need to find a live-in nanny, my house is in the JA area and I want to exchange it with someone to move to the HP area, and so on. All sorts of information were available.

One of Huang Xiaochuan's main purposes in coming to Shanghai this time was to rent an apartment to store the stamps he was about to buy. It would serve as both a warehouse and a place to stay when he went to school. He couldn't possibly carry a big bag of stamps around everywhere, could he?

Soon, Huang Xiaochuan found an information agency near Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. Several people were looking at the information on the wall. After Huang Xiaochuan went in, he also started looking for the rental information he needed.

"Changhai Apartment, one-bedroom, monthly rent 50 yuan. Teachers' New Village, two-bedroom, monthly rent 110 yuan..." Huang Xiaochuan read the information aloud as he looked at it.

Based on current residents' income, this rent is not cheap, but for Huang Xiaochuan, who has been reborn, such rent is simply too cheap.

Huang Xiaochuan wrote down the information he needed using the paper and pen provided free of charge by the agency, and then contacted the agency staff to reach out to the landlords and view the properties one by one.

"Teacher Wei, this is Xiao Huang, he's the one who wants to rent your house." The agency staff brought the landlords over one after another. This was the third one; Huang Xiaochuan hadn't liked the houses from the previous two places.

The location of this teacher Wei's house is quite good, in Wenyuan, between Shanghai University and Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. After some conversation, Huang Xiaochuan learned that this teacher Wei, who is over fifty years old, is actually a teacher at Shanghai University, but he is in charge of logistics.

The apartment has two bedrooms and a living room, and it's relatively new. It's a six-story building, and this apartment is on the fifth floor. Huang Xiaochuan was very satisfied after seeing it.

"Teacher Wei, why don't you live in such a nice house by yourself?" Huang Xiaochuan asked, somewhat puzzled.

It is generally accepted that housing is very tight for most Shanghai residents. A house this size could potentially house three generations of a family. Given Mr. Wei's age, he must have elderly parents and young children. Does he have a house elsewhere?

"This was just allocated to me by the school this year. Actually, I don't lack housing, but this is my treatment and benefit, it's what I deserve. I'm almost retired and I only just got this house. I've already been very generous." Teacher Wei took the opportunity to grumble a little and show off a bit.

"Teacher Wei's house seems quite spacious?"

Teacher Wei responded to Huang Xiaochuan's question with a touch of pride: "My wife's family has a house, an old Western-style house from before the liberation. My wife is an only child, with no siblings, so it's better for her to live with the elderly and take care of them."

"Oh! I see!" Huang Xiaochuan nodded knowingly.

"Xiao Huang, what do you do?" Teacher Wei began to probe Huang Xiaochuan's background, after all, Huang Xiaochuan looked too young, and he wanted to find out more about him.

"To be honest with you, Teacher Wei, I'll be attending a school on the north side of the road soon. My family wants me to rent a place so that things will be more convenient for me."

Upon hearing this, Teacher Wei was relieved, but he still kindly reminded him: "So you're a freshman at the University of Finance and Economics? That's great, your family is well-off! They even rented a place for you to live off-campus. But I must tell you, freshmen are not allowed to live off-campus."

"Teacher Wei, I know that. I'm just worried that good apartments like this won't be available when school starts, so I'm renting it early to save time looking for a place later."

"Okay, in that case, let's go and get the formalities done. Considering you're a student, the rent will be 100, the deposit will be 200, and the rent will be paid quarterly, totaling 500."

"Okay!" Huang Xiaochuan readily agreed.

After signing the rental agreement and paying the rent and deposit, Huang Xiaochuan received the keys to the house.

The house only had two beds and a dining table and chairs. The kitchen was completely empty except for the stove. Anyway, Huang Xiaochuan didn't plan to cook here for the time being, so it was fine. However, he still needed to buy some bedding, as well as some household and daily necessities, and the locks also needed to be changed.

Huang Xiaochuan had been thinking of taking some time to visit Xiang Jie, but firstly, he didn't know which hospital she was interning at, and secondly, time was tight. Since they would meet in less than a month anyway, Huang Xiaochuan temporarily put aside the idea of ​​going to see Yu Xiang.

......

(The formal Individual Income Tax Law was revised in 1993.)