The housing management office of the East District of the imperial capital was located in a civilian house not far from the Chaoyangmen Subdistrict Office.
As soon as Chen Lan, Xiang Xi, Xiao Shuan, and a few others arrived at the housing management office, they walked straight in. Seeing them enter, the staff assigned a young man with glasses to receive them.
Xiang Xi, Xiao Shuan, and Lin Mao did not beat around the bush, directly explaining their purpose to the young man in charge of reception.
The young man adjusted his glasses and warmly welcomed them. After inviting Chen Lan and the others to sit, he asked, "Comrades, are you all here to apply for rental housing? Did you bring the application certificates from your work units?"
Chen Lan and Xiang Xi were momentarily taken aback by the young man's question, and exchanged glances, stunned.
At this moment, Xiao Shuan explained, "That comrade, we don't have work units right now. We went to the Northeast to reclaim wasteland in the early years in response to the nation's call. Didn't the college entrance examination resume before the Spring Festival? The children are also promising and got into universities in the imperial capital, so we brought the whole family back. We want to rent a larger courtyard house for several families to live in together."
The young man adjusted his glasses and asked with some doubt, "Since you all lived in the imperial capital before, what about your previous houses in the imperial capital? Why didn't you go back home to live, but instead came here to rent houses? You know, renting a house doesn't cost much per month, but it adds up over time! You have to spend real money every month on rent, and you don't even have formal jobs in the imperial capital right now...?"
Chen Lan saw that the situation was not going well. If the young man continued like this, they wouldn't be able to rent a house! So Chen Lan quickly interrupted their conversation.
Chen Lan said with a smile, "Comrade, it's not that we don't want to go home, but we left the imperial capital nearly thirty years ago. Our old houses have been occupied by others. We can't just kick them out when we come back, can we? What do you think?"
The young man adjusted his glasses, looked at Chen Lan, and nodded, continuing, "What you said makes sense. However, there are regulations now. Whether we rent out houses or sell them, our housing management office requires introduction letters."
Hearing this, Chen Lan, Xiang Xi, Xiao Shuan, and Lin Mao took out their respective introduction letters and handed them to the young man together.
After examining the introduction letters of everyone, the young man found that there were several different surnames among them, clearly indicating that they were not all from the same family. This completely confused the young man.
The young man stammered, "Uh, uh, comrades, how many rooms do you want to rent?"
Xiang Xi, Xiao Shuan, and the others all looked at Chen Lan. Chen Lan replied with a smile, "Each of our families has a large population, so of course, we hope to rent a few more rooms per family! Comrade, may I ask, are there any vacant courtyard houses for rent in our housing management office now? If so, can you try to arrange for our families to live in the same courtyard house?"
To their surprise, the young man replied without thinking, "Comrades, if there were such vacant courtyard houses, they would have been rented out long ago. How could they be waiting for you? Unless you buy the property rights outright, it's very difficult to rent an empty house now."
Chen Lan heard that the housing management office now had houses for sale and asked, "Comrade, may I ask, are the houses for sale siheyuan (courtyard houses)? What is their size?"
The young man habitually adjusted his glasses and replied, "Auntie, the siheyuan that our housing management office has reclaimed are only allowed to be rented out by the state, not sold. If you want to buy a house, we do have a few two-story Western-style houses for sale. Why don't you pool your money together and buy one?"
Chen Lan was surprised. What? Western-style houses? Was there such a good thing? She immediately became interested and asked repeatedly, "Great! Comrade, where is the house located? Is it far from here? Could you please take us to see the house? If it's suitable, we'll take your suggestion and pool our money to buy one."
The young man's mood brightened considerably when he heard that his suggestion was adopted by Chen Lan! He replied, "Comrade, it's not far from here. It's in Dongjiaomin Lane, not far from here. You're a native of the imperial capital, you should know where that place is, right?"
Xiang Xi suddenly spoke up, "I know, I know, Xiao Lanzhi. That area of Western-style houses is not far from our old family home. It's east of Tiananmen Square. We played there when we were kids, don't you remember?"
Chen Lan replied somewhat awkwardly, "It's been over forty years, how can I remember things from childhood!"
Dongjiaomin Lane was indeed not far from Chen Lan's old family home, only about a half-hour walk. The group quickly arrived at Dongjiaomin Lane, following the young man.
As soon as she stood at the entrance of Dongjiaomin Lane, Chen Lan felt a sense of inexplicable familiarity welling up from the depths of her heart. Chen Lan now remembered, this was the famous Embassy Street, the most cosmopolitan lane in the imperial capital. It was different from the architecture of any other place in the imperial capital; it had a different charm and a different flavor.
Because Dongjiaomin Lane, located east of Chongwenmen Inner Street, was once a famous embassy district. After the Second Opium War, many European and Asian countries successively established embassies in Dongjiaomin Lane.
Therefore, many Western-style buildings stood along both sides of the road in Dongjiaomin Lane, and tall locust trees were planted on both sides of the road. The leaves were lush, and the branches intertwined, which could be described as blocking out the sun. Sunlight shone on the leaves, making them translucent.
Red-tiled Western-style houses, stained glass windows, and Western-style gates all spoke of a European-style streetscape.
The houses along the street were in the typical European eclectic architectural style, with Western churches, official residences, and clubs along both sides of the street.
They were built with exposed brick for the plinth lines and pilasters, and brick arches and external corridors were also constructed with bricks, forming a rare cluster of Western-style buildings in the imperial capital.
The young man led Chen Lan and the others to the east side of a Catholic church. Not far from the Western-style church were several two-story small buildings built with bluestone bricks. The flat layout of the houses was similar to the traditional residential layouts of the imperial capital, except that the main entrance and windows adopted an arched structure, which could be considered a fusion of Chinese and Western styles.
Chen Lan liked the place after just one look because it gave her a comfortable and pleasant feeling, as if she had entered another world in the imperial capital.