Indeed, if they swapped now, Chen Yuan and his wife would actually be the ones gaining. Forget that Zhuang Zhiyuan's house would be an older building, but their own courtyard house was even older. Living in a building meant no more outdoor toilets—unlike a courtyard house, where you'd still need to use the communal facilities.
She knew that in the late nineties, near the turn of the millennium, their old courtyard surged in value and was eventually demolished. But others didn't know that. In the eighties, these old-style courtyards were still worthless.
If they swapped now, they could later go through the formalities and secure ownership of the property in the eighties.
