Eiji asked.
"Why do you want your house not to be close to other houses?"
Feng Zheng tilted his head and said, "I said I wanted it to be spacious, didn't I?"
Eiji was surprised again, he thought.
"What do you plan to do with such a large space?"
He said, "These are houses with large open spaces around them, and there are indeed some with even more space. But they don't have basements. As for those with basements, there isn't much space around them."
Feng Zheng thought for a moment and said, "Can you take me to see them?"
Eiji nodded and said, "Okay, follow me."
They started walking towards the next house.
As Feng Zheng walked, he asked, "Mr. Eiji, how much do those houses cost?"
Eiji replied, "I can sell you one of them for 2.2 million ryo."
He thought to himself, "These houses can sell for over 3 million ryo. But because of Takao's words, I can sell it to him for slightly above my bottom line."
Feng Zheng was very surprised. He thought, "So an elemental crystal is worth more than a house? Renjiro wasn't joking about their rarity!"
Eiji took Feng Zheng to see many houses. Feng Zheng's favorite was a two-story house covering 140 square meters.
The land around the house was uninhabited. But it didn't have a basement. And the road around the house was busy. Because the house was in a good location, the price was also high.
After seeing all the houses, Feng Zheng asked, "Do you also build new houses?"
Eiji was very tired from showing Feng Zheng around. He replied, "Yes, we do."
Feng Zheng asked, "Then can you design a new house for me?"
Eiji's eye twitched, and he thought, "After touring for several hours, he still wants me to build a new house?"
He said, "Building a new house takes time, and you have to buy land first."
Feng Zheng looked at him with a puzzled expression and asked, "Don't you deal with land sellers? How were these houses built?"
Eiji didn't answer. He didn't want to argue with Feng Zheng anymore; it felt like his head was hitting a wall.
He sighed and said, "Yes, but buying land suddenly is very expensive, especially if you want a good location. Only land on the outskirts of the Village is cheap."
Feng Zheng thought for a moment and said, "It doesn't matter if it's outside the Village, as long as it's close to the Training Grounds."
Eiji said, "Okay. I'll contact one of my friends. Let's meet at the shop in a few hours."
Feng Zheng nodded and said, "Thank you for taking the time to show me the houses."
Eiji's annoyance with Feng Zheng lessened. He watched Feng Zheng leave and sighed, "He's an orphan. No wonder he speaks so formally, without much emotion. He's still an innocent child. But why are his demands for a house so strict?"
He sighed and went to contact his old friend who usually sold him land.
Feng Zheng had lunch and then went to Eiji's shop in the afternoon.
As soon as he entered the shop, he found an old man with Eiji.
When Feng Zheng arrived, they showed him a map of Konoha, displaying the land available for sale.
There were 5 suitable plots for Feng Zheng. However, 3 of them were very close to the residential areas of the Uchiha, Hyuga Clan, and Aburame clans.
Feng Zheng didn't consider these.
However, one plot caught his attention. It was a 2,500 square meter plot. It was about 100 meters from the residential area. No clan was close to this place. And Training Grounds No. 23 was also very close!
Feng Zheng visited the plot with the two old men and decided to buy it.
Eiji was shocked again! Today was quite a challenge for his heart. He asked, "You want to buy the whole plot, not just a small part to build a house?"
His friend frowned at him! He was stopping his business.
Feng Zheng said, "Uh, can we also just buy a small part, and what's the price?"
Eiji's friend replied, "That plot is far from the center of the Village, so the price is very cheap. I can sell a plot of over 90 square meters for 100,000 ryo. But if you buy the entire plot, I can sell it to you for 2 million ryo."
Feng Zheng thought to himself, "Good, much better than expected. Although it's still quite expensive, I don't have any other major expenses."
He looked at Eiji and asked, "How much does it cost to build a house?"
Eiji replied, "It depends on how big a house you want to build. A house like the one I first showed you would cost around 500,000 ryo to build."
Feng Zheng replied, "That's great."
He looked at Eiji's friend and said, "Then I'll buy the whole plot, old man, can you make it a bit cheaper?"
Eiji and his friend had only one thought.
"This kid is really rich!"
Feng Zheng bargained. In the end, he bought the entire plot for 1.6 million ryo. They quickly processed all the paperwork for the land transfer.
Feng Zheng then discussed the house design with Eiji. Eiji showed him some of his plans.
Finally, Feng Zheng chose an aesthetically pleasing design, to be built on a 400 square meter area in the center of the plot, with three floors above ground and two underground.
They then began to discuss the price and time required to build the house. Eiji had seen Feng Zheng's bargaining skills before. He said, "Don't discuss the construction price with me; I'll give you the lowest price. Building this house will cost 1.8 million ryo and will take about seven or eight months to complete."
Feng Zheng frowned and said, "Seven or eight months? That long?"
Eiji sighed and replied, "Child, do you think building a house is easy? My people first have to dig a deep pit and lay the foundation. This part of the project alone will take two or three months. And your house is very large, so we need time to build it."
Feng Zheng thought to himself, "That makes sense."
He asked, "Old man, I have a question. Do you dig up all the earth, or do you leave some pillars for support?"
Eiji was very surprised by this question. He didn't expect to hear it from Feng Zheng. He replied, "We will dig up all the earth; support pillars made from the ground are not very strong."
Feng Zheng said, "Okay, then I can finish the excavation work very quickly."
Eiji asked, "Do you have an affinity for Earth Release Chakra?"
Feng Zheng was very surprised. He thought, "A civilian actually knows about elemental affinity manipulation. But that makes sense. Other Ninja must have done this before."
He nodded and said, "Yes."
Eiji said, "That's great, okay. After you finish digging, I will reduce the construction cost based on the workload."
Feng Zheng nodded and asked, "One more question, can this house withstand any attacks?"
Eiji said, "It can only withstand very weak attacks. If you wish, I can invite a Sealing Master to engrave Sealing Jutsu on your house to make it more robust. But even so, it cannot stop very powerful attacks. However, we are in Konoha, such attacks are unlikely to happen to us."
Feng Zheng looked at him and thought, "Yes, there will be two fatal attacks against us within ten years. The house will definitely be destroyed by Pain. I just hope it can survive the combined invasion of Otogakure and Sunagakure."
Feng Zheng said, "Okay, then you can invite a Seal Master."
Eiji replied, "Hiring a Seal Master will increase the cost."
Feng Zheng asked, "How much?"
Eiji replied, "I have to talk to him. You can expect an additional cost of 500,000 to 1 million ryo."
Feng Zheng's eyes widened. He thought, "1 million ryo just to engrave a few Sealing Jutsu? If I could get stronger with money, I wouldn't go on missions; I'd just become a Seal Master!"
But he said, "Okay."
Eiji replied, "I need a week to test the land and draw up a construction plan. So come back to my shop in a week. Once I've marked everything, you can start digging."
Feng Zheng nodded and left. As he left, he thought, "I didn't expect to spend almost all my bounty rewards on a house. I could have saved money on the Sealing Master. But besides selling storage scrolls, I haven't done any professional Seal Master work."
"Moreover, sealing a house after it's built is not as effective as sealing it during construction."
"Never mind, I'm not short on money right now. However, I must check these Sealing Jutsu later. I doubt a professional would do anything shady, but it's always good to be vigilant. Sealing Technique still has many applications."