When Wei Qian and Sanpang arrived at their destination, Lao Xiong had already greeted them in advance. The friend who introduced the project to them last time was waiting for them at the station, holding a cardboard sign cut from a shoe box.

Lao Xiong's friend was originally named Li Goudan, but he changed his name to Li Fengya when he grew up. He was an entrepreneur born into a peasant family. He made his fortune as a contractor and led a construction team in his early years. Lao Xiong met him while he was trading tea.

Li Fengya's side job is dealing in local specialties from all over the country. His main businesses are two: construction on the one hand and demolition on the other. He provides one-stop service, including demolition and reconstruction.

However, most of what he earned was still hard-earned money, and he had long been jealous of those who invested in development. Unfortunately, he did not have that much money, so he was thinking of recruiting others to join him.

Unfortunately, the last time Old Bear came to see him, he didn't seem to show much interest. Li Fengya originally thought that the matter was over, but unexpectedly there was a turn for the better, so he was delighted to receive the person.

Li Fengya is in his forties. He is not good-looking. He is dark and thin, with sunken eyes. He is less than 1.7 meters tall and his waist is less than 2.1 feet. At first glance, he looks like a piece of black beef jerky.

In the coldest month of winter, he did not feel cold. He held his coat in his hand and wore a branded shirt with sleeves rolled up. It had been unknown how long since it had been washed. The sleeves were rubbed like a piece of dried pickled vegetables. The front hem was tucked into his waistband, while the back hem was exposed outside the waistband. When he walked, the shirt bounced up and down with his cheerful steps, as if he was wearing a fart curtain.

Although it is said that clothes make the man, but there are some people in the world who, even if they are wearing a golden and jade robe, others will just think that they just took out a bamboo mat from home and tied it around their body.

Wei Qian had seen him once before, so he was not surprised. However, Sanpang had never seen such a rich and poor man. He was shocked and whispered to Wei Qian: "Hey, which coal mine did this big brother crawl out of?"

Wei Qian said, "Huang Shiren's No. 1 pit."

Kim Jong-un wished he could sew his mouth shut.

When guests come from afar, Li Fengya must entertain them according to the rules. After three rounds of drinks at the table, they shamelessly flatter each other with words like "young talent" and "expertise". Li Fengya then gets down to business: "I thought too simply last time. Now, besides us, there are several other companies eyeing this piece of land. I heard that one company even hired a foreign designer to plan it. It's like a dog with horns growing on its head, pretending to be foreign. It's really like that."

Sanpang asked hurriedly: "We are all outsiders and don't know how deep the water is. Do you think this is reliable?"

Li Fengya took a sip of his wine, shook his head and sighed: "It's hard to say."

"how?"

Li Fengya lowered his voice, used chopsticks dipped in wine to draw a streak on the table, stretched his neck, lowered his voice and said: "Because I have been thinking about this matter, I have also mobilized a lot of relationships. To be honest with you two, I have a say in the Land and Resources Bureau and the Municipal Government. Of course, don't think that I am so great. If I have a say, others will also have a say. Without some connections, no one would dare to make plans for this matter, right? Director Zhou of the Land and Resources Bureau used to be our fellow villager. I just had a drink with him two days ago and talked about it. Oh, this matter is really hard to say now... You know the commercial street between those plots of land, right?"

Seeing the two people nod, Li Fengya continued, "That was invested by a local company. Their boss's surname is Zhang, and this Mr. Zhang is the cousin of our secretary. Now it's like this. A commercial street is being built and it's booming, but our Mr. Zhang doesn't know what's wrong with him. He only rents it out and doesn't sell it. He said he wants to ensure the grade and can't let this commercial street become a small commodity wholesale market. Now the grade is there, but the capital chain is broken. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested in the project, and the loans are due. Otherwise, how can we get those residential plots around at a low price? It's impossible. Even now, everyone is drooling and waiting, hoping that Mr. Zhang can't get the money, so that everyone can eat what he makes. What if Mr. Zhang gets angry and sells the commercial street, or gets new funds, then all our efforts are in vain."

Sanpang: “Why doesn’t he sell it?”

Li Fengya slapped his thigh and said, "You are so depressed!"

Sanpang: "If he has no money, he can find someone to cooperate with. With such a strong background, won't anyone lend him money? Just lend him some money and find someone to invest with him. Isn't that enough?"

Li Fengya gestured and said, "No, Fatty, you don't understand. To put it nicely, he can't get the money back for the time being. To put it bluntly, his cash chain has broken. It broke with a 'crack'. He's dead! Do you understand?"

Li Fengya loves to use onomatopoeia, as if this could increase his vocabulary. The two words "crack" made Sanpang spit in his face.

Sanpang wiped his face, and from his heavy saliva he felt the difficulty and hardship of accomplishing this matter.

"No matter how powerful his background is, he is still a private enterprise. What is the private enterprise most afraid of? Having no money, my fat brother!"

After Li Fengya finished speaking, he reached out and grabbed a large pork elbow on the table, ate it in three bites, and wiped his mouth after finishing eating: "Let me tell you straight, our Mr. Zhang is a bit sour. I met him once. Oh my god, he frowned and looked superior. I think he just came back from a business trip to Nantianmen - he looks down on us local rich people, otherwise why would I have come all the way to find you?"

It was only then that Wei Qian asked, "Brother Li, according to you, he has no other choice but to sell this commercial street?"

Li Fengya pondered for a moment: "Not necessarily. If he really starts construction, he might have a hard time. But if he is willing to borrow a shell and find someone to package a new project company for him, and then raise funds in the name of the project company to acquire the land, and then directly sell it at a premium, it is not impossible, and a large amount of cash can be returned, but it will take a longer time. Besides... If this matter is left to me, I will do it. Didn't I tell you about Mr. Zhang? He may not be willing to do this kind of under-the-table work."

Wei Qian lowered his eyes and thought for a while, and finally discussed with Li Fengya for a while. The group decided to visit the commercial street the next day and check out the nearby spots.

When he returned to the hotel at night, Wei Qian took a bath in lukewarm water to sober up. Without even washing his hair, he took out his previous plan and tore it up.

The fat man watched coldly and said sarcastically: "It's different from your expectations, right? Are you dumbfounded? Are you at a loss? If you ask me, let's pack up and buy tickets to go back tomorrow... Listen to your coughing and wheezing. There are noises. The valve cores of both lungs have fallen off and are leaking air."

Wei Qian glanced at him and suspected that Lao Xiong had bad intentions in letting Sanpang follow him.

Sanpang played the role of Zhu Bajie perfectly. Whenever he got the chance, he suggested dividing the luggage and returning to Gao Laozhuang, which was really a perfect weapon to shake the morale of the army.

Lao Xiong, who looks honest but is actually cunning, might have known it the last time he came and just wanted to make him give up.

Sanpang continued, "Qian'er, I don't think this will work. Old Li, a local tyrant, has already gotten himself into trouble. What else do you want? Are you going to send me, your third brother, to seduce government officials? I tell you, a gentleman can be killed but not humiliated."

Wei Qian finally stopped coughing and gave Sanpang a painful look: "Third brother... cough cough, please have some shame!"

"Don't accuse me. My moral integrity is as immortal as my fat." Sanpang stood up and twisted his waist. "Okay, you can think about it slowly. I think the roast chicken will be good to eat in the evening. Before we return to the capital, I decided to buy a few more and bring them back for the children to taste."

Wei Qian opened a plan that Li Fengya got him through the back door, spread it on the bed, and said in a low voice, "If you want to go back, go back by yourself. I'm not leaving anyway."

Sanpang sat on the edge of the bed and said, "You won't cry until you see the coffin!"

Wei Qian said calmly: "I won't cry even if I see the coffin. What's the point of crying? It's okay. I have a second plan."

Sanpang's eyes lit up: "You are quite amazing, you expected this..."

Wei Qian: “I’m thinking about it now.”

Sanpang looked at him in silence for a while: "Qian'er, I just can't understand it - you were like this before getting on the train, you were like this on the train, and you were still like this after you got to the place and understood the situation - where does your confidence come from? Why do you think you can definitely win?"

Wei Qian raised his head. Due to illness and lack of rest, his eyes were slightly bloodshot, and his gaze was heavy. Although a little bit of hidden gloom had been lingering in them over the years, his core was firm and focused.

"To resist foreign aggression, we must first stabilize the internal situation." Wei Qian said, "My energy is limited. If I keep doubting and hesitating after deciding to do something, then I really won't be able to do anything all day long. I don't know why I should do it, but I have decided to do it. Under this premise, I don't want to think about anything else."

The fat man then became serious and asked him: "What if you fail?"

Wei Qian shook his head calmly: "I don't think about it."

Sanpang was anxious: "How can you not consider this? Aren't you just messing around? Have you ever considered this Mr. Zhang before coming here? There are always things you can't think of. You don't think you are too rash if you don't think about anything?"

Wei Qian smiled at him and said, "A temporary failure is not a failure, it's just an accident. If an enemy comes, we will fight him with our troops; if a flood comes, we will block it with earth. Even if there is an accident, what I need to consider is how to make up for the loss and take advantage of the opportunity brought by the accident. Nothing else."

Kim Jong-un was convinced by his weird, almost cult-like spiritual state, and resigned himself to saying goodbye to his beloved roast chicken and lying on another bed.

Wei Qian and his friends had been gone for several days, and Wei Zhiyuan finally had a day off - that meant the Spring Festival was here.

This Spring Festival, my eldest brother is not here and the whole family has a boring time.

Only when the New Year's bell rang did Wei Qian call home, but the sound of firecrackers like exploding bunkers was everywhere, and Wei Zhiyuan couldn't even hear clearly when he said he would be home.

The boy hung up the phone and began to seriously think about his destined bumpy love life.

Wei Zhiyuan knew that his feelings were too shocking and no one could accept them calmly upon hearing about them for the first time... let alone someone like his elder brother.

Wei Zhiyuan actually considered that if he revealed some of his inclinations, would his elder brother bother him and try to understand and tolerate him a little, and then slowly get used to it?

That would be a long tug-of-war process, and Wei Zhiyuan had no confidence that he would succeed.

When faced with young people's thoughts, people will always become sentimental and hesitant involuntarily, let alone this secret love that is destined to be dark and gloomy.

Wei Zhiyuan was rarely unconfident in this regard. He didn't know, and didn't want to know, whether his elder brother would treat him like he treated Xiaobao, and would be willing to make concessions for him again and again, to the point of having no bottom line at all.

What if he simply thought he was crazy?

What if he finds this so disgusting that it's beyond his acceptable, compromised range?

With a loud bang, huge fireworks exploded in the air, and the private cars downstairs were frightened and shrieked. Wei Zhiyuan's ears were shaken and he had some tinnitus. He couldn't help but tilt his head and rejected this idea.

He couldn't accept that Wei Qian was a stranger to him. When he thought of this, the fear of being abandoned that had plagued him since childhood would overwhelm him once again.

He must be steady, peaceful, and effective.

Wei Zhiyuan didn't know how long he had left, but he thought that he first needed to create a subtle environment, just like a spider weaving a web, he had to have a big framework first and then proceed step by step.

Besides, he thought he needed a teammate.

Wei Zhiyuan shifted his gaze to Old Lady Song, who had been leaning on the sofa and sleeping for who knows how many hours, and skipped over her after a moment - she was more difficult to convince than his elder brother, and it might be painful to explain the whole thing to her.

Finally, Wei Zhiyuan's gaze fell on Xiaobao.

How could I… quietly make her find a way to stand on my side?

When Wei Qian left, he didn't even make it to the start of the last semester. Wei Zhiyuan took his student card to the school and registered for him.

During this period, Wei Zhiyuan seemed to be suffering from a mental illness, and filled his home with all kinds of difficult  books , materials and literary works, including design, philosophy, psychology, sociology and even some strange art.

Old Mrs. Song was illiterate and was in awe of large  books . Every time she saw Wei Zhiyuan flipping through a book with his mild myopia glasses on, she would tiptoe as she passed by.

Xiaobao, however, felt that her little brother was a little abnormal. Among teenagers, any teenager who did not do homework or play football or fight in his spare time seemed abnormal. Even if he passed around  books , they were all martial arts, fantasy, comics, and romance novels. No one would read such things.

Xiaobao thought he was too gloomy. It happened that the Chinese class in the new semester selected the works of poets who lay on the railway tracks for reading. Xiaobao was terrified after reading them, and felt more and more that Wei Zhiyuan was about to become depressed at any time.

She told her grandmother first, but her grandmother didn't believe her. She thought that she was uneducated and didn't  read , so she couldn't stand others  reading .

For the first time, Song Xiaobao looked forward to his elder brother's quick return.

It was not until March that Wei Qian returned.

At the end of the month, when Wei Qian laid out several agreements in front of Lao Xiong, Lao Xiong's expression fully explained what "shocked" meant.

At that time, Wei Qian walked around the commercial street and immediately had an idea in his mind.

He began to conduct intensive research and market positioning, and at the same time gave Li Fengya a difficult problem - he asked him to contact Mr. Zhang.

This made Li Fengya worried. He really didn't want to deal with someone as high-end and fashionable as Mr. Zhang.

It was the New Year's Day and all his hair had fallen out. Unexpectedly, at this time, "God" gave him an opportunity.

Mr. Zhang's son is in junior high school. The local people are quite tough and the boys in junior high school often start scratching and fighting on the roadside over a disagreement. When Li Fengya saw the boy, he was surrounded by seven or eight gangsters.

Li Fengya was rich but never forgot his roots. He was willing to hang out with his fellow migrant workers during festivals, drinking and eating meat. There were several tipsy men around him. But Li Fengya and his friends were used to seeing fights between gangsters. At his age, he no longer raised his voice when he saw injustice. He would just walk by without seeing anything.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, the brain-dead victim loudly announced his identity: "My father is a big boss, and my cousin is an official! I will kill you, believe it or not?"

Wei Qian put pressure on Li Fengya all day long, asking him to contact Mr. Zhang. The huge pressure almost caused Li Fengya to suffer from neurasthenia. He had always been obsessed with Mr. Zhang, and when he heard this, he instinctively stopped.

The migrant workers stopped and craned their necks to look.

Old Li thought for a moment and pointed his finger: "It's New Year's Day, why are you doing this? Tell them to stop fighting!"

At his command, although no one moved, a few hooligans were frightened by the lineup. They looked at each other, whistled, and ran away.

Old Li pretended to be friendly and pulled the "victim" up to ask him, and it turned out that someone handed him a pillow just by closing his eyes. This stupid boy is Mr. Zhang's beloved son!

The son of a bitch jumped up, brushed the dirt off his butt, put his hand on Lao Li's shoulder with a straight face, and said in a disrespectful manner: "Thank you, buddy! From now on, you are my big brother, and I will protect you if anything happens!"

Li Fengya thought to himself: "This little bastard must be stupid."

With a big smile on his face, he said with great pride: "It's nothing, it's all fate!"

After learning about this, Sanpang said to Wei Qian with emotion: "Old Li's grandson is quite capable! He is capable of handling things and has good luck. He is a lucky general."

Wei Qian's voice was hoarse from his coughing, but it did not prevent him from sneering at San Pang in an unfathomable way. He said, "I hired those bastards who beat people up."

Sanpang: “…”

In order to prevent them from appearing deliberate, it was Lao Li who was in contact with Mr. Zhang.

The evil little tricks were just auxiliary materials. What really impressed Mr. Zhang was the framework agreement submitted in the name of Lao Li.

On the surface, this agreement was between Lao Li and Mr. Zhang. Lao Li invested 25% of the shares and agreed to monopolize the upstream and downstream projects. Mr. Zhang, as the apparent major shareholder, held the remaining shares and was responsible for the entire project operation.

But Mr. Zhang had no money, so a third-party invisible shareholder was introduced here. It was not until then that Li Fengya introduced Wei Qian and others to Mr. Zhang. Wei Qian and Mr. Zhang signed a second agreement, which bound Mr. Zhang's side to the framework agreement of the entire project. Lao Xiong, as the actual shareholder without a name, was responsible for paying the money, and Mr. Zhang, as a registered nominal shareholder, was fully responsible for the entire project, including land acquisition, procedures and sales, and finally enjoyed a 15% dividend right.

Mr. Zhang and his team managed to get something for nothing, using the "light asset" concept which was extremely cutting-edge at the time. While reducing the risk, what attracted Mr. Zhang the most was that he could integrate the surrounding residential and commercial streets into a whole.

The reason why he was so reluctant to sell the commercial street was that he hoped to create a landmark and a brand. Mr. Zhang was an untimely idealist. He dreamed of digging out a piece of land in the city center and building a building with his own personal style like his own kingdom. Unfortunately, he was too meticulous, which led to the previous project cycle being too long and even the capital chain collapsed.

In Mr. Zhang's opinion, letting him take charge of the business would make him much more excited than relying on his connections to manipulate the land and collect a premium.

He and Wei Qian hit it off immediately and signed the land use agreement at the end of the month. During this period, Wei Qian and Sanpang were not idle either. With the help of Mr. Zhang as a bridge, they paved all their connections with wine bottles. They drank two to three times a day on average, and the first thing they did when they returned to the hotel every night was to vomit bitterly.

At the same time, I followed Mr. Zhang to run the early stages, monitored the planning, got up in the middle of the night to study piles of legal clauses, drafted various agreements, and sent them to professionals for review. I revised various estimates and cash plans again and again, and the printed drafts piled up to two feet thick.

Following Wei Qian, the workaholic, Sanpang lost ten pounds of fat, which he claimed was as immortal as his moral integrity, in a month, and his belt became loose by a buttonhole.

Old Xiong never expected that 30 million would be eaten up by these two kids.

Wei Qian had originally wanted to follow the project until pre-sales started and funds were flowing back in large amounts. Anyway, he had no classes in the second half of his senior year, so it would be enough for him to show up when he submitted his thesis for defense. However, he did not expect that he would die before he could accomplish his mission - the fat man's words came true, his lungs really leaked, and he coughed for a whole winter, and as expected, it turned into pneumonia.

Finally, Old Bear came personally and took him back, leaving him at home to recuperate.

Wei Qian returned home like an African refugee. Old Lady Song took the opportunity to make a scene and fed him stewed chicken for three days in a row, which made him feel sick at the sight of casserole.

When he returned home this time, he had a feeling that something was wrong with Wei Zhiyuan. However, at first glance, he seemed as sensible and hardworking as before, and Wei Qian couldn't tell what was wrong.

At the weekend, Wei Zhiyuan estimated that his invisible accomplice Song Xiaobao would report the situation to his eldest brother, so he went out early as usual to attend extra classes, leaving the opportunity to perform to Xiaobao.

Song Xiaobao really lived up to expectations. She had been holding back her words for a long time. As soon as Wei Zhiyuan left, she secretly ran over and said to Wei Qian, "My second brother might be suffering from autism."

"..." Wei Qian, "You should go watch cartoons."

"Really!" Song Xiaobao swore to the sky, "I'm not lying to you! If you don't believe me, go to his room and take a look!"

Wei Qian: "He's so old and he's still autistic. Does he have autism if he doesn't want to pay attention to you? I'm too lazy to pay attention to you either."

Song Xiaobao and Sister Xiong agreed that he would go to her place to learn dancing on the weekend, and it wouldn't take long. Seeing that her elder brother didn't take her words seriously at all, she jumped up and dragged Wei Qian, pushing him all the way to the door of Wei Zhiyuan's room and opened the door: "Look for yourself! I won't talk to you anymore, you're annoying! I'm leaving now."