Chapter 2 1. The prosperity is also tangled

Housing prices in first- and second-tier cities are rising rapidly, creating many emerging middle classes.These people are a group of people who shot earlier.Xia Hong is one of these people. The income of Xia Hong and his wife has always been moderate. They have been working as white-collar workers for several years. They save money so much that they almost self-mutilate and self-defeating. . In the spring of 2004, when Xia Hong was 29 years old, housing prices in Guangzhou had been falling for five consecutive years.Xia Hong thought, compared to five years ago, the current house price has dropped by at least 40%, so she has to make a quick move. If she misses this village, she might lose that store!Xia Hong and his wife happened to have around 200,000 in cash, so they took it out to make a down payment, and won a three-bedroom apartment with a total price of 600,000 to 700,000. At the end of 2006, when the couple inquired about the market, they found that their net worth had exceeded one million.

Mr. Xia said: "Why do I feel that life is like a light boat that has passed ten thousand mountains, and the two of us came here after flying through the clouds!" Xia Hong slapped her husband on the shoulder and said, "There is nothing to say! Let's eat!" The two took the opportunity to invite Du Lala, Cheng Hui, and a few other friends, and agreed to have dinner and karaoke songs, intending to warmly celebrate that they took another crucial step at the crossroads of life, and thus promoted to the middle class a member ofMr. Xia said: "You invited Lao Bai? If you two don't deal with each other, don't turn around and fight again." Xia Hong said triumphantly: "I am the winner, how can I be so unmannered, I insist on asking Lao Bai to share me The joy of victory is inescapable."

The group of people who came to eat had a variety of occupations, but they were relatively uniform in age, most of them were in their early thirties.There is a big white fat man who is pretentious, everyone calls him Lao Bai, Xia Hong's middle school classmate, and now he is traveling with Cheng Hui.This old Bai liked to argue with Xia Hong when he was in middle school. Over ten years have passed, his waist has become thicker twice, but his temper has not changed at all. As soon as Lao Bai met Xia Hong, he said to Xia Hong: "The definition of the middle class is very confusing nowadays. , Didn’t there used to be a saying that those who claim to have an annual income of 50,000 are considered middle class? Isn’t that ridiculous! He was running all over the place, and accidentally he also earned 50,000 yuan a year! Xia Hong, are you sure you are truly middle class?"

Xia Hong has always been brave and simple. As a successful bargain hunter, showing off and being satisfied further highlights her characteristics. When she responds loudly to Lao Bai, others can almost hear her voice cooing. Luan Liu: "If you have a net worth of one million, you can't be considered a middle class! My house, according to the current market price, is worth at least 1.2 million!" Everyone is equal before the numbers, Lao Bai said angrily: "The house is worth 1.2 million, but don't forget, your real estate certificate is still mortgaged by the bank."

Xia Hong laughed loudly and said: "Yes, I still owe the bank 400,000 yuan, but so what! My debt to the bank will only become less and less, at least not more and more, but what about my house? , It has changed from 600,000 to 1.2 million! Maybe it will rise to 1.4 million by this time next year!" The louder Xia Hong laughed, the more Lao Bai wanted to carry the argument to the end. He said, "Xia Hong, did you buy this house because a blind cat ran into a dead mouse, or did you really have foresight?" Xia Hong cast a sideways glance at Lao Bai and said, "You don't care if I'm lucky or have good vision, the result is the same! I've become a middle class!"

Although Mr. Xia immediately tried to interrupt, Xia Hong's words had already pierced a hole in the heart of the brawler like an awl, and cowardice and jealousy rushed through the hole like quicksand, and everyone could learn from Lao Bai. There was a tinge of yin and yang in the voice: "Luck belongs to us, maybe there is only one time! If you are just lucky this time, whether you can guarantee that your property will not depreciate in the future and whether you can keep your class status is not certain. Already!" Xia Hong vaguely felt a little ominous, she knew he did it on purpose.

Xia Hong pretended to cough, and said slowly: "In these years, when the house price fell, the media applauded it, and when the house price rose, the media applauded it. People who have no money are fine, anyway, no matter how low the house price is, they can't afford it. No matter how high it is, it has nothing to do with him. But some people, who obviously had some money at the beginning, didn’t sell it. I don’t know if they used the money to buy a car, or they wanted to wait for the house price to continue to fall. As a result, the car became more and more expensive. But the house is getting more and more expensive, and if the losses at both ends are added, I’m afraid I won’t be able to make up for it in this life! Who is to blame? Lu Xun said long ago, “It’s right for you!” Otherwise, the media can only be blamed! From the beginning of the year to the end of the year, people who could still afford a house, because they believed their words and waited for the value to return, they finally couldn’t afford a house.”

She was very happy with Xia Hong's strafing shot, but when she knocked down a boat with one shot, not only Lao Bai's breathing rate accelerated, even Cheng Hui's face showed a little discomfort.Both of them represent the media, Lao Bai bought a good car with money, and Cheng Hui, unfortunately, is the one who is always waiting for the value to return. Afraid of hurting her peace, Lala hurriedly smoothed things over and said: "The media is also kind. In the final analysis, if a person buys a house and makes money because he listens to the media, he will not give the media a penny; so if he does not buy it and suffers, You still have to bear the consequences yourself." Lao Baixin said: I don't think this sounds awkward, doesn't it mean that I "deserve it"?

Lala continued: "Just now Lao Bai said that walking ghosts can earn 50,000 yuan a year. I believe this. I have seen two walking ghosts quarreling on the street. One said, 'You were unemployed and you were about to starve to death at home. You survived because of my good intentions to lead you to do ghost business, how dare you be ungrateful!" The other retorted, "Listen everyone, Guangzhou can still starve to death! Joke! You can make money by digging through the trash can!" From 1998 to 2003, housing prices in Guangzhou fell for five consecutive years. The price of such a good location next to the Sports Center subway station and a first-class real estate like Mingyayuan fell by 50%. 50%, comrades But many people who buy houses are still waiting for the price to fall again. In fact, they don’t know how far they have to fall to be considered a return to value. But in a city like Guangzhou, ghosts think that Guangzhou’s starvation is a joke—not everyone says Is Zougui a vulnerable group? The threshold of living in this city is too low rather than too high. At this time, you still expect housing prices to fall again, so it is useless for you to scold anyone! Therefore, the conclusion is that Xia Hong It is really wise for Dayi to buy a house in awe-inspiring way! Come on! Let’s raise our glasses, and I would like to congratulate Xia Hong and his wife!"

After some rhetoric, mixed with various things, it not only affirmed the goodwill of Lao Bai and other media friends, but also confirmed that Xia Hong's purchase behavior was based on wise judgment. Total confusion. After drinking for three rounds and eating five tastes, Lao Bai was still thinking about the topic at the beginning, and he muttered dissatisfiedly: "Some people don't need a house right now, but they just sell it because they are afraid that the house price will continue to rise. Help your son." I’m buying it for my daughter, so that I won’t be able to afford it in the future. There are always people like this, how can the house price not go up? But if you really follow the trend and buy it, look at Japan now, can you not be afraid?”

Cheng Hui sighed: "Everyone is an ordinary person, not a hero who creates the current situation. Buying like this is not a matter of buying or not. I think about TO BE OR NOT TO BE all day long, which makes me feel like a prince's revenge. It's better to just have no money, so you don't have to worry about it." Lala clapped her hands and said, "Cheng Hui's words illustrate a very important question—what is the source of anxiety?" Everyone at the table stretched their necks like a goose being strangled and asked her, "What is it?" Lala said: "It's not a lack of opportunities! We are living in a prosperous age! The advantage of a prosperous age is that there is no lack of opportunities--the root of anxiety is that when opportunities come, we don't see them, let alone grasp them!" She pointed to Cheng Hui and Lao Bai and said, "The housing prices in Guangzhou have been falling for five years in a row. Why didn't you buy them? The key is that you don't know if they will continue to fall. As a result, they started to rise! Lost bargain hunting It's your chance!" Lao Bai refused to accept it: "Cut! We are ordinary people, who can see so accurately!" Lala laughed and said, "It's not your fault that you can't see the bottom clearly, but in the process of rising, you still have a lot of opportunities. You didn't make a move in 2004, and the price in 2005 was still good. After 2005, there will be 2006. Why? Why don’t you buy it all the time? It’s still a matter of judgment! It’s a matter of grasping!” Cheng Hui put his arms around Lao Bai's shoulders and joked: "Oh! Fate has given us opportunities for so many years, but we haven't seized them, so can we not be anxious! Seeing others seize opportunities, we are even more anxious! It's okay, Lao Bai! Anxiety is not shameful, who is not anxious! Now that I know, next time when the opportunity comes again, we both have to keep our eyes open to see clearly, and we have to grasp it to solve anxiety." Lao Bai said: "Well said! Anxiety is not ashamed. Cheers to anxiety!" Xia Hong said: "What are you talking about, I want to drink to the house price!" At around 10 o'clock, the karaoke was at its climax, Lao Bai took the lead, and everyone jumped onto the stage one by one to state their ideals. "There has never been any savior, and we don't rely on gods and emperors! To create the happiness of mankind, we all depend on ourselves!" When it was Lala's turn, she had already drunk her powder and her face was full of spring. She stood up like a flower welcoming the sun According to the sunflowers in all directions, say loudly, "This is me - the confession of a former member of the League! Hold high the banner of wealth and freedom, and welcome the wave of middle class in the prosperous age!" There was a clamor from the crowd, and someone shouted loudly.Xia Hong sneered at Cheng Hui: "Listen to her bragging! Immortals and emperors are not reliable! Isn't Maitreya Buddha hanging around her neck! Fortunately, the Bodhisattva is not as knowledgeable as her!" Lala didn't hear Xia Hong's weird words, she felt that she was not tall enough, she was jumping onto a chair, and waved her right hand forward, just like Guo Jianguang's song "I want to learn from that green pine on the top of Mount Tai" Wanzhang: "A person's life should be spent in this way. When he looks back on the past, he will not be ashamed of being inactive, nor regretful for wasting his years! It is my ideal to say this at the farewell party!" Xia Hong shrugged her shoulders and said, "I told you earlier, alcohol can mess with your sex! It looks like you've drank too much." Cheng Hui stepped forward and held Lala's hand. Lala intentionally showed off her sobriety, and took advantage of the momentum to jump off the chair, landing lightly and securely.She triumphantly said to Cheng Hui: "Cheng Hui, tell Xia Hong, have I drunk too much?" Cheng Hui smiled and said, "I didn't drink too much, you just drank right." Lala turned back to Xia Hong and said, "Did you hear that?" Xia Hong smiled and said: "He also drank too much, you two judge each other, so it still counts!" When Lala heard Xia Hong's words, she suddenly laughed, and said to Xia Hong and Cheng Hui, "I'll tell you a joke." Xia Hong said, "I don't want to listen." Lala said firmly: "You must listen. I have to test you with this joke to see if you have drunk too much. Once upon a time, two people went to a banquet together and both drank too much. They planned to go back in the middle of the night. Home, before breaking up, one of them said to the other, I don’t worry about you going home alone, you drank too much! I have to send you off! The other one was not convinced, saying that you drank too much! The person in front said so , No, I have to test you to see if you drank too much. As he spoke, he took out a flashlight and turned it on, only to see the beam of the flashlight shooting straight into the sky. The man said, did you see it? If you If you can climb up this beam of light, even if you didn’t drink too much! The other person laughed and said that I’m not going to do it! When I’m halfway up, if you turn off the flashlight, I’ll fall from mid-air !" After Lala finished speaking, she was rocking back and forth with laughter.Xia Hong smiled and said: "An old joke! The people I heard haven't laughed yet, but the people you said are embarrassed to laugh first, and said they didn't drink too much!" Lala said disappointedly: "You two are so boring." A few people came out of the karaoke, and the cold air immediately swept away some of the erratic things brought about by the red wine.Lala said sternly to Cheng Hui, "I don't think you should drive." Xia Hong said, "Yo, it's reassuring for you to say that. It seems that I didn't drink too much." Cheng Hui said, "Actually, I I really didn't drink too much, but I'm a model citizen, and since I've been drinking, I don't drive." While joking, Lao Bai and several others got into the car and left one after another.Xia Hong waved to Lala and Cheng Hui and said, "You two can take care of yourself, I'll go first." After finishing speaking, she and Mr. Xia got into the taxi and left without dust, Lala praised the vast night Said: "Good guy! It's getting more and more heartless!" Cheng Hui asked Lala: "Is it cold?" Lala shook her head.Cheng Hui tentatively said, "How about we take a walk?" The light yellow halo from the street lamps intertwined with the hazy night to form strands of mist. The bustling street in the daytime was as silent as a remote alley at the moment. One or two dog barks were faintly heard in the distance. It was like a quiet night. .Lala suddenly remembered an ancient essay she read in middle school: Hearing a dog barking in a deep alley, a woman would startle and her husband would ramble.Lala clearly remembered that when the Chinese teacher read the word "Yuan Wen", she shook her head slightly, looking intoxicated. Lala answered Cheng Hui in a daze, "Why not?" The two walked side by side, and both felt unreal. The next night, Xia Hong called Cheng Hui and immediately asked, "Did you send Lala back last night?" Cheng Hui said, "Of course." Xia Hong asked very interestedly, "How is it?" Cheng Hui said, "How about it?" Xia Hong said in surprise, "Don't you guys have an appointment how to spend Christmas?" Only then did Cheng Hui understand what Xia Hong meant, and said, "Oh, Lala said she was going shopping in Hong Kong." Xia Hong said, "You didn't say to go with her?" Cheng Hui smiled and said, "I'm not interested in shopping. I still spend money except for spending money. There is no other fun and meaning." Xia Hong knew that Cheng Hui was very concerned about money, so she advised him: "If you want to chase a girl, you have to see what she likes. You can't just choose what you think is fun. You should participate in what she likes. Well." Cheng Hui argued: "I'd like to chat with her, but I'm really not suitable for shopping. Besides, Lala is not a child, I don't have to pretend to be myself, and let her know the real me, wouldn't it be better! I'm not lavish Man, it’s not my style to go to Hong Kong to buy famous brands.” Seeing that Xia Hong hung up the phone and was stunned, Mr. Xia persuaded her, "Forget it, Xia Hong. The person concerned doesn't care about it, so don't worry about it." Xia Hong said puzzledly: "I think they are quite suitable, why not?" Mr. Xia said: "I didn't say that, Cheng Hui seems to be considerate, but in fact, a copper coin is bigger than the sky! I think he is as good as Grandet, who wants to marry him?" He has to be mentally prepared to eat rusks. Besides, Lala has no worries about food and clothing, has a house and money, last night I saw that she was carrying a GUCCI bag and wearing a Jessica coat—how could she swallow it? Want some rusks?" Xia Hong refused to accept it and said: "Lala spent the money she earned, and Cheng Hui didn't spend it!" Mr. Xia said: "If she dares to marry Cheng Hui, every penny she earns will be included in Cheng Hui's management track, don't you believe it?!" Xia Hong doubtfully said: "Stop alarmist talk! It's not as serious as you said!" Mr. Xia snorted and said, "The values ​​of these two people are not the same at all! Flirting, there is something interesting; just living life! If you don't believe me, you suggest that they live together and try it out, and you will see it in six months-- Oh, I almost forgot, Du Lala is HR, so she can understand it in three months, isn't the probationary period all three months!" Xia Hong was furious and said, "You fart!" Mr. Xia smiled and said: "Don't be so fierce! For the sake of the relationship between husband and wife, let me remind you again that it's okay if they can succeed. If something goes wrong, you will be responsible for compensating for the mental damage?" Xia Hong said disapprovingly, "What could go wrong!" Mr. Xia said: "That's hard to say! For example, Lala finally married Cheng Hui, but the missing Wang Wei suddenly appeared at the wedding! Lala naturally wanted to ask him, where have you been for so long? Speaking of which, it turned out that he was in a car accident and temporarily lost his memory. What do you think should be done now?" Xia Hong said: "What's the matter with you? Last time you said that Wang Wei might even give birth to a son. This time you made up a car accident and amnesia and fell on someone's head." Mr. Xia said: "The former statement comes from my life experience of more than 30 years, and the latter hypothesis is inspired by Hong Kong TV dramas."