Chapter 336: Free Eating and Drinking
Lu Yiming didn't take the bidding for Site No. 3 seriously at all and forgot about it after returning from Lin Shuyi.
A few days later, it was the end of the month and it happened to be the weekend, so Lu Yiming planned to go to Jingyi Real Estate to take a look at the situation. He hadn't been there for a long time, so he had to take a look.
After not seeing it for a while, Lean Real Estate seems to have not changed much.
After all, after Lu Yiming took over, Jingyi Real Estate did not launch any new projects. It just moved its office area. Now it has the entire seventh floor of Haizhu Building as an office, which is much more impressive than when Ge Youcai was there.
Seeing Lu Yiming enter the office, some old employees of Jingyi Real Estate were very surprised. Because they had experienced the turmoil at the beginning, they all knew that the new boss of the company was a senior high school student who was now busy with the college entrance examination and might not come to the company once every ten days or half a month.
"Hello, Mr. Lu!"
"Good morning, Mr. Lu!"
"Mr. Lu."
Everyone stood up and greeted Lu Yiming.
Lu Yiming nodded to everyone, with a warm smile on his face: "Everyone, just focus on your work, don't worry about me."
Lu Yiming came to Zhang Jinlai's office and knocked on the glass door.
Zhang Jinlai looked up and saw that it was Lu Yiming. He quickly came over to open the door and said excitedly, "Mr. Lu, how come you have time to come and see me today?"
Lu Yiming looked around, then found a seat and sat down, looking very relaxed: "It's the weekend today, so I came to see you. What are you doing?"
Zhang Jinlai seemed a little nervous: "I'm watching the news. Mr. Lu, you came just in time. I was just planning to call you to report on my work."
Lu Yiming leaned on the sofa, and his whole body seemed to sink into it: "Make me a pot of green tea. What work are you reporting? Is there any recent action of Jingyi Real Estate?"
Zhang Jinlai prepared tea for Lu Yiming while reporting, "Jingyi Real Estate has recently used nearly 100 million of Jingyi Real Estate's funds to buy a lot of private land in Nanwan."
This amount is not small, but Jingyi Real Estate is not a wholly-owned company of Lu Yiming. He only holds shares, and he has also said that he will not interfere too much in the daily management of the company. Therefore, as long as Zhang Jinlai and his team get the company's approval, they can still independently carry out the project.
Now everyone knows that the land price in South Bay is going to rise, so anyone with money and connections has already started to make plans.
Lean real estate is no exception.
Moreover, Jingyi Real Estate has already been doing this for a long time. However, due to its small size, it cannot obtain large plots of land, so it can only do small things, using land of several thousand or tens of thousands of square meters to build a small boutique housing at most.
Lu Yiming asked, "What land did you buy? You have to pay attention to the property rights of private land, otherwise there will be trouble in the future."
Zhang Jinlai is also a senior person in the industry. He nodded immediately and said, "Of course I know this. We bought the shantytowns around Plot 1 and Plot 2, and the money was very sufficient. There was no resistance to buying them. Although the cost has increased a lot, the land price has tripled since the news of the development of Nanwan was released. We actually made a lot of money."
Site No. 2 is the target of Jingwan Group. This project is large in scale. With Lu Yiming's matchmaking, both Lean Real Estate and Xinghe Real Estate have got an opportunity to cooperate with the Lin family. Therefore, it is only natural to acquire the old sheds around Site No. 2 and renovate them.
Although Lu Yiming didn't know much about real estate, he was not completely ignorant. At least he had consulted Lin Shuyi to get a rough understanding of some key matters.
What puzzled Lu Yiming was that Jingyi Real Estate also took action on the shanty towns around Plot No. 1.
"Why did you also buy the house near Plot 1?"
Zhang Jinlai blinked, not understanding why Lu Yiming asked this: "Didn't they say that Li Chaoren would come to participate in the bidding? When Cheung Kong takes over the No. 1 site and develops it, the surrounding land prices will definitely increase rapidly. We are just sitting there waiting to collect the money. How can we miss such a good thing?"
Lu Yiming had previously suggested that Jingyi Real Estate buy the land around Plot 2, so Zhang Jinlai and his team bought it, which was in line with Lu Yiming's idea. However, buying the land around Plot 1 was a strategy formulated and implemented when Ge Youcai took control of Jingyi Real Estate.
After learning the details, Lu Yiming held his forehead and sighed, looking at Zhang Jinlai and asked, "Li Chaoren doesn't have many businesses in the mainland. Most of his businesses are concentrated in Hong Kong and overseas. How can you be sure that he will come to develop Plot No. 1?"
Zhang Jinlai was slightly stunned when he heard this: "Li Chaoren took the land but didn't develop it? Then what did he do with the land?"
Isn't this sick?
Lu Yiming smiled coldly: "Why not? Developing land requires costs, and the greater the investment, the higher the risk. Instead of spending all this effort, why not just lie down and make money?"
“…”
Zhang Jinlong is not stupid. As soon as Lu Yiming mentioned this possibility, he quickly thought of it. Buying land in a prime location and hoarding it for sale, waiting for the land to appreciate is actually the safest and easiest way, because this means that you basically don't have to do anything!
However, many real estate developers do not have the strong capital of Li Chaoren. They have to borrow money from banks and are always facing financial pressure to buy land. They need to build houses and sell them quickly and cannot let the land sit idle. Therefore, Zhang Jinlong never thought about this aspect.
However, Zhang Jinlai didn't quite believe Lu Yiming's judgment.
How do you know that Li Chaoren bought the land but didn’t develop it?
Will the government agree?
The economic take-off of the Xia Kingdom is a foregone conclusion, and the speed of development can almost be described as changing with each passing day.
So if you can take over the prime territory and hold it in your hands, you can make money without doing anything.
But Li Chaoren can just lie back and enjoy the fruits of his labor because he is the industry leader and is already very rich. That is why he does not have to do anything and can just sit back and enjoy the fruits of his labor.
Those domestic real estate developers who borrow money from banks to develop and play the game of borrowing chickens to lay eggs dare not do so.
Why?
Because the government doesn’t allow it!
This kind of behavior of letting things rot is equivalent to fleecing the government. The government puts the land up for auction in the hope that private capitalists will use commercial means to revitalize the local economy.
As a result, you took the land but left it there undeveloped. Where do you put the government?
Unless one has a strong backing, anyone who dares to cross this red line will be punished by the iron fist of the dictatorship.
Zhang Jinlai still found it hard to imagine: "Li Chaoren has a good reputation. He wouldn't do such a thing, would he? It is said that he lives a very frugal life. He is the richest man in Asia, but the watch he wears is a 200-yuan Citizen watch. He doesn't look like a shameless person at all."
Lu Yiming sneered: "Then do you know that he is Patek Philippe's largest customer in Asia, with over a hundred collections worth billions?"
"ah?"
Zhang Jinlong opened his eyes wide. In that era, the Internet was not yet popular and information was blocked. He really had no idea about Li Chaoren's true identity. He had only read a few books about Li Chaoren's life and a few news items related to Li Chaoren, which led to a serious misjudgment.
"My goodness, so I have been misled?"
Then, Zhang Jinlong remembered something and his tone of voice changed: "If Li Chaoren really takes over the No. 1 plot and doesn't develop it, then our Jingyi Real Estate will be in danger!"
Li Chaoren was rich and powerful, so it was easy for him to buy the land directly with full cash, so it was completely feasible for him to buy the land and wait for appreciation to make a profit. Moreover, he was also a super celebrity in Hong Kong, so even if the government wanted to urge him to develop the land, he could ignore it completely, and the government could do nothing about it.
But Jingyi Real Estate can't do that. Jingyi Real Estate is small in scale. Although it only acquired a small piece of marginal land, it also cost the company too much money and took out a loan from the bank. If it can't cash out in time, the bank's interest alone will be enough to make Jingyi Real Estate suffer.
Not to mention offending the government, how can you survive in the real estate industry in the future?
Lu Yiming said seriously: "Those around Plot No. 1 should be dealt with as soon as possible, while no one knows the news yet. Maybe we can make a lot of money. Then we can focus on the development around Plot No. 2."
Zhang Jinlong didn't dare to ask where Lu Yiming got the news, and nodded hurriedly: "No problem. The popularity of Plot No. 1 is still high, and it's not difficult for us to sell the ones we have. I'll do it right away."
"Yeah. Okay, go ahead. I'm leaving too."
Two days later.
As the land auction draws closer, the land prices in South Bay are rising more and more dramatically.
However, the market atmosphere is getting more and more crazy, but the trading volume is getting smaller and smaller. This is because those who wanted to sell have already sold, and those who should enter the market have almost all entered the market.
Those who arrive late at this time are mostly outsiders who can't even catch up with the soup. They have no connections and no strength, so they have no chance to sit at the table and share the meat.
Of course, Lu Yiming didn't care about these. He always felt that if all the real estate speculators in the country were executed, some might be innocent, but if only five out of ten were killed, there would definitely be some who slipped through the net.
Real estate is an industry used by local governments to increase fiscal revenue and make profits. The so-called real estate businessmen are just employees of the government, and there are banks sucking their blood in the middle. Less than 20% of the money actually falls into the hands of real estate developers, and 80% belongs to others.
Lu Yiming has plenty of profitable businesses, so he naturally won't get involved in this muddy water. Not only will he suffer injustice, but he won't make much money at all. Why bother?
However, he is not interested in these, but some people are interested.
For example, Long Wu.
That afternoon, Long Wu called Lu Yiming and said that there was a gathering within the circle and he wanted to invite Lu Yiming to attend.
Lu Yiming has never had any interest in dinner parties in this kind of circle.
Moreover, if someone is too attentive without any reason, he is either a traitor or a thief. While Lu Yiming was alert, he also asked, "Boss Long is so elegant that he wants to invite me to dinner. Is there something you want to discuss?"
Long Wu smiled warmly, "Mr. Lu, this is what I mean. I have a friend who is very interested in the Nanwan development project. However, he just came back from another place and found that all the land in Nanwan has been divided up. I heard that your Jingyi Real Estate has some land for sale, so I plan to make a match. If Mr. Lu would do me the honor , I'll see you at the Marriott Hotel later."
Just as he was worrying about how to give up this hot potato, Lu Yiming naturally agreed: "If you are not active in eating, there must be something wrong with your brain. I will go there after school."
After school in the afternoon, Li Quanwang held a football in his hand and said to Lu Yiming, "Let's go play football."
Lu Yiming shook his head: "What's the point of playing football in this hot weather? Come on, I'll take you to a feast."
Hearing that there was a big meal to eat, Li Quanwang immediately dropped the football in his hand, tears streaming from the corners of his mouth: "Where are we going to eat?"
"Don't worry about it, just follow me. The big guy is going to treat you."
Hearing that a big boss was treating him, Li Quanwang hurried home to take a shower and change into a small suit. His whole temperament changed. But when he went out, he saw Lu Yiming wearing a refreshing sportswear. He immediately said, "Didn't you say that a big boss was treating you? Why are you wearing this?"
Although it is essentially to make oneself cooler, Lu Yiming defended himself with a high-sounding statement: "People with no strength need to use external things to adorn themselves, just like in nature, the more colorful and showy the animals are, the weaker they are. On the contrary, those fierce predators wish to blend themselves into the environment and become completely invisible."
Li Quanwang's eyes widened: "So you actually want to run naked?"
"That's not the case. Let's go."
The reason why Lu Yiming was not dressed so formally was simply because he did not need to ask anything for help at this party. Instead, it was Long Wu and his men who needed help from him. He was strong because he had no desires. He just went there to eat and drink for free, so naturally no one dared to say anything no matter how he dressed.
It was understandable that Li Quanwang would dress up carefully every time Lu Yiming took him out for dinner. He had been poor for a long time and had just become rich. Now that he had truly entered the upper class, he was inevitably a little nervous. Naturally, he did not dare to be vague about his clothes and appearance.
Outside the Marriott Hotel, luxury cars are everywhere tonight, including Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi, which are all considered affordable cars here. If you drive a Santana, you would be embarrassed to approach.
The whole hotel is magnificent and brightly lit.
Celebrities gathered everywhere, many men and women in luxurious clothes, forming small and large circles, chatting and laughing.
Li Quanwang, who was attending such a high-end party for the first time, seemed very nervous. From the moment he got off the car, his calves couldn't help shaking.
Before entering the room, Li Quanwang asked worriedly, "Mingzai, is it really okay for me to wear this outfit tonight? If I had known it was such a large-scale party, I would have worn the most expensive one..."
Lu Yiming comforted him and said, "You are dressed like a decent person, which is already very good."
Li Quanwang said unhappily: "Fuck, I'm serious, I'm not kidding you!"
Lu Yiming patted his shoulder gently: "Don't be nervous, follow me, and there won't be many people here who are richer than you in ten years, so why are you panicking? Just relax..."
Lu Yiming originally intended to comfort Li Quanwang, but his "big words" were overheard by several socialites passing by.
One of the girls in a tutu pointed at Lu Yiming and said to her female companion: "Yuanyuan, look at these two people, they are so funny."
The girl standing next to her was quiet, gentle and frail. She was not tall but had a slender figure. With her curved eyebrows, almond eyes and rosy cheeks, she looked so pitiful.
Not only does she have Lin Daiyu's beauty, but she also has Lin Daiyu's yandere charm.
I have to say that the girl in front of him was so pretty that even Lu Yiming couldn't help but take a few more glances at her.
Then Lu Yiming recognized the girl.
"Xiao Yuanyuan?"
