为了梦中的橄榄树

There are (relatively) cheap new apartments way out in the middle of nowwhere going on sale at the end of this month and ZX's parents want to buy one for him. Which is pretty normal; parents buy apartments for their kids if they can afford it.  But ZX's mad about the high prices of the housing market in general and says even if he had the money, he wouldn't buy a house, on principle. And he doesn't want them to buy one for him. You could start ten businesses with that money, he says.

And when we meet HF (who buys and sells houses for a living) for tea in the park, he's on our side. Don't buy a new house, he says. There's the added cost of the interior decoration, and the location's terrible. Buy a used apartment downtown - a good location, and already decorated, for a sixth of the cost. 

When they ask me what I think, I say, "I'm a wanderer, what do I want with a house?" At the price we're renting now, it would take us 100 years, literally, to make even a low-priced apartment pay off. And for now we're happy with our open-air, plaster-peeling, pull the lights on with a string little place. Homemade strawberry jam tastes just as sweet here, and it's still no chore to squeeze by him to get to the sink.