Chapter 138: Hard to Find Help, Thin Human Affection, Dangerous Jianghu

Seeing Li Xian's expression freeze, Na Gu began to persuade him. He trudged through the snow-covered courtyard with Li Xian, showing him around the different parts of the house. While talking about how the house had once been splendid, he acted like a modern real estate agent, urging Li Xian to make a decision.

It was clear that this guy was really in need of money.

After walking around, Li Xian had a general understanding of the house's condition. The basic structure was relatively well-preserved, but since it had previously been used as government office space, the rooms were now empty, and the doors, windows, and the large gate and arch were all significantly damaged and needed repair.

It was hard to say how much it would cost to restore it to the condition seen later.

So, Li Xian was not swayed by Na Gu's persuasion.

Seeing Li Xian turn to leave, Na Gu became anxious: "Little brother, forty thousand! I'll sell it for forty thousand!"

Li Xian thought, it's not really about the money for the house. Is fifty thousand a lot? It seems like a substantial amount now, but for such a historic old house, fifty thousand is a bargain. At least at this level, it could still be lived in after some cleaning.

But was it the fifty thousand for the house that he lacked?

What he lacked was the several hundred thousand needed for renovations!

Seeing that Li Xian was still about to leave, Na Gu gritted his teeth and stomped his foot, "Little brother, don't go! Today I'm taking a hit, just take a look at these two warehouses!"

Li Xian stopped and looked back at Na Gu.

Seeing his expression, which seemed like a painful decision, Li Xian wondered; could there still be something left?

Na Gu pulled out a bunch of keys, rummaged through them for a while, and produced two old brass keys. He led Li Xian to the doors of two warehouses on the side of the house.

Unlike the other rooms covered in snow, these warehouses had clearly been visited and cleaned by someone before.

The locks on the doors were old brass ones that Li Xian had never seen before. They were intricately engraved with mandarin ducks. Although tarnished, the lines on the lock depicted the mandarin ducks vividly and charmingly.

Using both keys together, they opened the warehouse doors, and dust fell from the door frame. Once the dust settled, Li Xian could see the contents inside.

The warehouses were filled with old furniture like armchairs, phoenix beds, and antique racks. Although covered in dust, the carved designs were still dazzling.

In the center of one warehouse was a phoenix bed. It could barely be called a bed anymore; it was over three meters high and covered a space of more than ten square meters. Inside, there were a dressing table, a small compartment for maid rest, a place for a chamber pot, and a connected wooden screen, all incredibly complex.

The whole bed looked like a small apartment.

Seeing Li Xian's gaze fixed on the bed, Na Gu pointed at it and said, "This bed was my grandmother's dowry. It took ten carpenters a year to make, and after being submerged in water for three years, it was then lacquered and waxed. You can't see that now. Little brother, I was originally planning to sell these things separately. Now, I'll give them all to you for…" Seeing Li Xian's gaze move away and start to leave, he quickly changed his offer, "Eight thousand! I'll give you everything in these two warehouses for eighty thousand!"

Li Xian thought for a moment and looked at Na Gu, who was full of hope, "What do you plan to do after selling the house?"

Na Gu was taken aback by the question.

"Ah, since we've been plagued by misfortune, there's no one left at home. My wife and I are both teachers in the county, earning barely enough to support ourselves. If this deal goes through, I'm thinking of going to Pudong to check it out. I don't know if my grandfather or elders are still around, but if they are, maybe there's still a way out. We can't survive here anymore."

Li Xian nodded.

"Alright, eighty thousand. Prepare the paperwork, and come to the Beilin New North Paper Company to find me. I'll give you the money then."

Seeing Na Gu's face full of surprise, Li Xian sighed to himself; take the money and go, hopefully, you can make it.

Just as you said, if you stay here, you can't survive.

...

Zhou Yong didn't quite understand how they ended up buying a dilapidated courtyard house instead of a property with a bathroom. On the way, he kept complaining to Li Xian that fixing up such a house wouldn't be cheap, and it would be better to buy several apartments and connect them.

Li Xian's calculations were different from his.

Leaving aside the repairs needed for the house, even the old furniture would be a considerable asset in fifteen years.

Moreover, it could save a life, which could be seen as accumulating virtue. Although he didn't believe in fate or luck before, his family's old fortune-teller had at least rubbed off a bit of influence.

Not to mention, according to the original historical trajectory, his grandfather and uncle's family should be moving to a nearby area soon, right?

This summer?

Or spring?

Li Xian had heard his wife say how beautiful she was when she was young. Later, she was said to have lost her sight and had a bad judgment, marrying someone completely unworthy, which even affected the next generation. She was even shorter than Li Pi, who had myopia.

However, after seeing old family photos, he seriously doubted such statements. From the photos, although Li Pi wasn't great, it seemed that the "beautiful as a flower" description wasn't entirely true.

Hmm, let's see when the time comes.

Now, she's still a fifteen-year-old... mother!

...

By the time they returned to Beilin, it was already past four in the afternoon. Li Xian didn't return to the company but went directly to the newly viewed, semi-furnished apartment and paid for it.

This further puzzled Zhou Yong—why buy another house when he had already settled on the courtyard house? Didn't he like it?

Faced with this question, Li Xian could only calmly explain, "The apartment is for immediate use, while the courtyard house is for inheritance."

Zhou Yong was stunned by such extravagance.

Poverty completely limited his imagination.

In the following days, Li Xian left the work of setting up the new home entirely to Zhou Yong, letting him drive around to find renovations, buy furniture, and appliances.

He turned Zhou Yong into his personal life secretary, and Zhou Yong was quite happy about it. In these times, being a chauffeur for a leader was not an ordinary job.

Moreover, driving the only Cherokee in Beilin and spending money, managing tasks. Who wouldn't enjoy such a job?

Li Xian pushed the responsibilities onto Zhou Yong and focused on the company. The sanitary paper business was thriving due to provincial advertising, gaining some recognition in the Longjiang area, and even attracting discussions about agency opportunities from Jilin and Liaoning.

However, the napkin business, which Li Xian had high hopes for, had not yet launched. Chen Shulin, who had recently been promoted to business manager at Xinbei Company, was responsible for this. After the second of February, a team was sent to handle the matter, contacting existing agents and personally doing trial promotions in major hotels in Ice City.

But the situation wasn't good.

This product, which was more expensive than sanitary paper, clearly hadn't been accepted by restaurants. They thought it looked good but didn't have much practical use since you can't eat it.

Li Xian was quite frustrated about this.

The current dilemma was that he couldn't enter markets that were already accepted by most people due to his own limitations. Yet, everything that had yet to take off and could potentially shine in the future required him to drive the wave.

It sounded simple, but doing it was incredibly difficult.

For example, despite Sina's premium products being recognized by agents due to their market performance, Li Xian's personal calls, begging for the agents to take on Sina napkins, were repeatedly rejected.

It's hard to climb to the sky, and even harder to ask for help. Bitter as Huanglian, poverty is even more bitter. Thin as spring ice, human affection is even thinner. The tides of Jianghu are dangerous, and human hearts are even more dangerous. Knowing the difficulty, enduring the bitterness, and tolerating the thinness can help navigate through perilous situations.

After hanging up the phone and sipping tea to soothe his tight throat, Li Xian couldn't help but recall a profound saying he had seen in "Story Meeting" before.

As he lamented about the difficulty of asking for help and the thinness of human affection, Chen Shulin burst into his office.

"Director, Huiguang is now advertising fine sanitary paper on television too!"

Li Xian was stunned for a moment, then smiled wryly.

Well, Jianghu is indeed perilous.