Chapter 482: It’s great to have money
After Lu Yiming went back, Li Yiwen called him and asked, "What's going on? Why did you suddenly spend 100 million to buy so many buildings? When did you become interested in real estate?"
Now that house prices are rising visibly, Li Yiwen does not have much objection to Lu Yiming's hoarding of land and buying houses.
In fact, Lu Yiming owns 32% of the shares of Xinghe Real Estate and all the shares of Jingyi Real Estate. It was expected by Li Yiwen that Lu Yiming would enter the real estate industry. However, he did not expect Lu Yiming to open up the situation in Zhonghai in this way. Now the land in Baiyun City is still there.
Lu Yiming smiled and said, "That's not the case. I was cheated by the Hurun Rich List. I couldn't live in the school anymore, so I bought a few houses outside and planned to move out."
Li Yiwen complained: "How many units do you need to buy to live in? Besides, is it your business how many units you need to buy?"
Lu Yiming smiled and said, "Other people spend money when they buy a house, but it's different for me. I make money when I buy a house, so isn't the more the better?"
Li Yiwen was puzzled: "Buying a house can make money? How can that be true?"
Lu Yiming thought of the miserable lives of the house slaves in the future, and said with emotion: "This is kept secret for the time being. Just wait and see. In a few years, houses in China will not be used for living, but for speculation. By then, the lives of ordinary people will be in dire straits."
Li Yiwen laughed and scolded, "Are you still sentimental? But what about real estate speculation?"
For those who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s, it is hard to believe how crazy China's real estate economy will become in the next few decades.
It was simply a nationwide craze. Everyone was discussing it, everyone was paying attention to it, and it affected every aspect of society.
Lu Yiming was well aware of this trend and it was impossible for him to stop it by himself.
Many people think that housing speculation groups and real estate developers are extremely evil, but those who buy houses are paying off their mortgages, and those who sell houses are in debt of trillions.
Where did the money go?
Lu Yiming said calmly: "Because of me, the house in Yanlord Riverside Garden has risen to 15,000 per square meter."
Li Yiwen was stunned: "The house you just bought has increased in value by half?"
Lu Yiming said: "Yeah, isn't it crazy?"
“This is crazy.”
Lu Yiming said in a helpless tone: "I really didn't plan to . I just wanted to move out, so I walked around and took a look. But now it has become like this. Do you think I am worried?"
Li Yiwen laughed and scolded: "Good fellow, you are taking advantage of me and still acting like a good kid."
Lu Yiming himself despised the real estate speculation groups the most because of these guys, the housing prices, which were already rising steadily, suddenly soared like a rocket.
This is a nationwide trend, and Lu Yiming can't resist it at all.
Therefore, Lu Yiming bought the two buildings and planned to sell them directly to the real estate speculation group and make a lot of money from them.
As a result, he had just bought the house when people there raised the housing price in the community by 50%. Lu Yiming was helpless.
However, considering that the relationship between people and land is not tense now and certain forces have not yet created real estate anxiety, those who can buy this house at this price are most likely at least middle class. This can be regarded as an early redistribution of assets. Lu Yiming felt a lot more balanced.
The real estate speculation group is cutting the leeks of ordinary people, I will cut the leeks of the real estate speculation group to avenge you!
Is there anything wrong?
Wu Family
Tang Qianqian prepared a sumptuous meal to celebrate her husband Wu Zhijie's successful career.
Because of Lu Yiming, Wu Zhijie made millions of dollars in profit from this order. It was like a windfall that hit him right on the head.
Now, not only has the trustworthy agency become famous, but Wu Zhijie himself has also stood out from the crowd of real estate agents.
Of course, Wu Zhijie did not forget who the number one contributor was. When Wu Mengmeng came home on the weekend, he took out two exquisite packaging bags and said cheerfully, "My dear daughter, come here. This is your share of the business, haha."
Wu Mengmeng looked at the foreign brand-name perfumes and handbags that she had long coveted, and she couldn't stop smiling. She threw herself on Wu Zhijie and gave him a big kiss.
"Thank you, Dad. You are so nice. MUA..."
Tang Qianqian smiled and said, "You are so old, but you still have no shame. Go wash your hands and get ready for dinner."
Then, she said with emotion: "This Lu Yiming is really a benefactor to our family. This time our Wu family is going to be prosperous."
Wu Zhijie said proudly, "Who says it's not true? This time our family has been helped by a noble person, which is absolutely a blessing from our ancestors. Such a God-given opportunity doesn't come around often, so we must seize it. I'm not exaggerating, after this matter spread, the number of people calling me every day to buy houses from me almost broke the glass door of my company. Moreover, many people specifically asked for Binjiang Garden, and now many of the Phase 3 units there, which haven't even had their foundations laid, have already been sold, causing Yanlord Company to not release any houses."
He had already made up his mind to cling to Lu Yiming 's golden thigh. If he followed the richest man, he would have meat to eat. How awesome was it to directly restrict the purchase of houses that no one wanted to buy?
But then Wu Zhijie frowned again: "Boss Lu was very kind, but I still haven't completed the things he asked me to do, and I always feel uneasy."
Tang Qianqian asked doubtfully, "You did it very nicely, didn't you? He asked you to buy a house, and he bought it, didn't he?"
Wu Zhijie sighed and said, "Mr. Lu bought these two houses for investment. He doesn't like houses of this level. He asked me to find him a spacious and stylish house that is comfortable to live in. Where can I find one? I have shown Mr. Lu photos of several villas, but he is not very satisfied with any of them. I have been worried for the past two days."
Tang Qianqian thought for a moment and said, "Since the villa doesn't work, you can try to find an old house. That has style. And those are where the dignitaries of China live. Some of them are decades old and antiques. Living there is definitely in line with his status as the richest man."
After Tang Qianqian's reminder, Wu Zhijie suddenly had an epiphany. He slapped his forehead and said in surprise: "Oh, right, how could I have forgotten this?"
Since the mid-19th century, Western-style houses have been exclusive to China's upper class and are the product of the interweaving of Western civilization and lifestyle with Chinese culture.
To be more specific, it was a scarce, high-profit residential product developed by domestic real estate developers at the time in response to the market demand brought about by the construction of the Zhonghai Concession, targeting a specific minority class, using Western architectural styles, new engineering technologies, and new building materials.
They are not only luxurious and high-end, but also have a profound historical heritage, like exquisite antiques. Each old house is a unique work of art, which is fundamentally different from those so-called high-end villas.
In dormitory 303, Lu Yiming sat on a chair, crossed his legs, and flipped through a picture album.
This album was entrusted by Wu Zhijie to Wu Mengmeng to bring to Lu Yiming. It contains photos of the villa properties that Wu Zhijie represented.
Ni Cong and Wang Dazhuang had lunch at Zhenxiang Fast Food and put the food they packed for Lu Yiming and Chen Chusheng on the table.
Wang Dazhuang said, "Hey, you two, it's time to eat."
Lu Yiming said: "Wait a minute, I'll finish reading it soon."
Ni Cong asked curiously, "What are you looking at? You didn't even eat."
Without even looking up, Lu Yiming said, "Villa."
"Fuck!"
Ni Cong immediately became interested and came over and said, "Let me take a look too!"
Wang Dazhuang asked, "You want to buy a villa? Didn't you buy a building directly from Yanlord before? A hundred houses wouldn't be enough for you to live in, right?"
Lu Yiming curled his lips and said, "I don't live in that kind of small house."
Ni Cong glanced at the photos and exclaimed, "Wow, these villas are worth millions! Which one do you like?"
Lu Yiming turned to the last page and said with a dull look, "None of them are very good."
Ni Cong took the album and flipped through it, saying, "These villas are all pretty good. Are there any that you like?"
"No."
During his trip to the United States on the eve of his graduation from high school, Lu Yiming had at least visited the home of the world's richest man, so after his horizons were broadened, he no longer looked down on the villas in China.
It's okay to buy it for investment, but forget about it if you want to live in it yourself.
The main reason is that these villas in China are not designed with enough care, and they are just for show.
To put it simply, subjectively they wanted to build villas, but their vision and layout were far from perfect.
They have no idea what a real mansion should look like - just like ordinary people can't imagine whether the emperor uses a golden hoe or a silver hoe to farm.
"Forget it, let's eat."
Lu Yiming felt very melancholy and felt that only delicious food could fill the emptiness in his heart.
While he was eating, his cell phone rang. When Lu Yiming picked it up, he found it was Wu Zhijie calling.
"Mr. Lu, are you interested in the old house?"
When Lu Yiming heard this, he immediately became interested. At the same time, he thought to himself that the most expensive "local specialties" in Zhonghai are these old houses with profound historical and cultural heritage.
The key is that each of these old houses is unique, not only with exquisite design and different styles, which is very consistent with the identity of the richest man.
Living in such a mansion immediately makes you feel more upscale.
"Oh yeah, how could I have forgotten this? Tell me in detail."
Seeing that Lu Yiming was very interested in this proposal, Wu Zhijie introduced it enthusiastically.
"Mr. Lu, I've done some research. There are between 4,000 and 5,000 old houses in Zhonghai City. 90% of them were nationalized during the special period. Many houses have been identified as 'cultural heritage buildings'. I think in a few years, they won't be allowed to be freely traded. If you want to make a move, now is the best time."
Listening to Wu Zhijie's story, some of Lu Yiming's long-buried memories gradually revived.
Around 2004, the Xia Kingdom introduced new regulations that state-owned garden houses would only be rented and not sold. There were only 500 to 600 old houses with private ownership in total, and it was estimated that there were only about 300 old houses with clear ownership and available for sale in the city, and some of them were in urgent need of repair.
What followed was that the prices of old villas that were previously ignored suddenly skyrocketed.
In particular, some old villas with good geographical locations and rich cultural history have a total price of billions. Among them, the one with the most classic price increase is Yan's Garden on Yuyuan Road.
Around 2009, Chen Tianqiao, the CEO of Shanda Network, bought the company for 280 million yuan. By 2016, the external offer had reached 1 billion yuan, which was a crazy increase of 100 million yuan a year!
Before 2008, the total selling price of an old villa with an area of about 200 square meters was less than 20 million yuan.
By 2017, the average market price of an old villa had risen to 300,000 yuan per square meter. The Liang Family Garden at 886 Julu Road was sold at a "sky-high" price of 400,000 yuan per square meter in 2016.
Places like Tomson One, Dongjiao One, and Tan Palace are not as good as the old villas.
It has to be said that Lu Yiming's heart was instantly struck.
"What are you waiting for? Do you have any houses available? Take me to see them."
Wu Zhijie also became excited, and immediately dropped the work at hand and said, "Okay, I'll drive to pick you up right away."
Soon, Wu Zhijie brought Lu Yiming to the door of an old villa on Tai'an Road.
"Mr. Lu, compared to the large flats in ordinary apartment buildings, these old houses built in the old times can actually open up the use functions of the space. They have high ceilings, wide bays, and come with a large garden. They are definitely worth the money."
Lu Yiming nodded slightly to show his approval.
At that time, the unit price per square meter of an old villa was only about 2,000 yuan. You could buy a house with a garden of nearly 1,000 square meters for hundreds of millions of yuan In terms of cost-effectiveness, it was much more cost-effective than those newly built apartments.
Wu Zhijie said: "At present, there is no purchase restriction on the old houses in China Overseas. The main reason is that there are not many buyers. Most of them are Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan compatriots who come to China Overseas to do business. Some are descendants of people who moved out of the old buildings in Shanghai in the 1940s and 1950s."
Fearing that Lu Yiming didn't understand the market situation, Wu Zhijie added a few more words: "The mentality of these people is similar to that of previous foreign buyers. Compared with their own cities, the land area combined with the land price is a profitable deal no matter how you calculate it. Moreover, the land of the old houses in the 1990s still has a certificate. With the land certificate, they will feel that the land belongs to them. It is very rare. The unit price of some houses is even cheaper than that of new apartments. The investment value is self-evident."
In order to please Lu Yiming, Wu Zhijie did his homework and collected as much information about the old villa as possible.
The more Lu Yiming thought about it, the more he felt that investing in old houses would be more profitable than investing in real estate speculation. He immediately listed several of the most prosperous areas in Zhonghai in the future and said, "Okay, help me buy all the old houses in the areas I just mentioned. Of course, I want the ones with land certificates, not the ones with property rights disputes."
When Wu Zhijie heard this, he felt like he was about to faint from happiness.
Buying residential housing by the building and buying old villas in batches, is this the happiness of the richest man?
Not to mention other handling fees and so on, just the housing prices, the cheapest villa costs more than one million, and the expensive ones even cost tens of millions. The commission alone will make him not have to worry about performance for several years.
At this moment, Lu Yiming thought of the most expensive and famous old house in Zhonghai in the next 20 years, and immediately asked Wu Zhijie: "I want to buy Yan's Garden, do you have any connections?"
Wu Zhijie was slightly stunned, and couldn't help asking: "Do you want to buy Yan's Garden?"
Yan Family Garden is located at No. 699 Yuyuan Road. It was built in 1920 and purchased by Yan Qingxiang in 1940, hence the name.
Yan Qingxiang entered a private school at the age of seven, finished reading the Four Books and Five Classics at the age of eleven, and was admitted to Chengzhong Middle School at the age of twelve. His father, Yan Yutang, was the founder of Zhonghai Dalong Machinery Factory. In 1916, because Yan Yutang was away on a business trip for two months, the seventeen-year-old Yan Qingxiang temporarily took charge of the factory affairs. He established a management system according to the production procedures to address the various malpractices in the factory. After Yan Yutang returned to the factory, he saw that the factory system was completely new, so he asked him to drop out of school and officially take charge of the factory affairs. He insisted on further studies in his spare time, learning mechanical manufacturing technology, and four years later became the director of Dalong Factory.
In 1949, Yan Qingxiang's younger brother Yan Qingling followed Yan Yutang to the other side of the strait to open the Yulon Machinery Factory. Later, Yulon Motor, a partner of the three oil companies, developed from here.
When he was a child, Yan Qingxiang retired at home due to illness. He interacted with many famous artists, and his home became a gathering place for old friends.
When Yan Qingxiang was young, he studied under Mr. Sun, who once wrote the word "universal love" on him. Yan Qingxiang was public-spirited and righteous, and he kept his word. He generously donated millions of yuan to cultural and sports undertakings and to help the poor. After the age of 65, he devoted himself to learning, and in his later years he wrote books such as "Confucius and Modern Thoughts" and "A Dictionary of Regular Script".
After retirement, Yan Qingxiang was keen on charity work and donated more than 500,000 yuan to welfare projects such as education, children's, youth and elderly foundations in Beijing, Xijing and Zhonghai.
In 1980, Yan Qingxiang donated precious cultural relics such as Zhu Da's "Ode to Wine" in running script from the Qing Dynasty, an ancient Korean green-glazed white flower jar, and collections from the Ming and Qing dynasties to the Zhonghai Museum.
In 1981, he donated the famous classical garden "He Garden" purchased in his early years to the country.
Although Yan Qingxiang has been dead for more than ten years, the descendants of the Yan family have also immigrated overseas, so that the Yan Family Garden has no one to guard and maintain it. The walls are peeling and rotting, overgrown with weeds, and in disrepair.
But the Yan Family Garden was, after all, the "ancestral heritage" and the Yan family was not in dire straits. Which filial son would dare to "sell off the ancestral heritage"? Wasn't he afraid that Yan Qingxiang would jump out and smash his head after he opened the coffin?
Wu Zhijie felt a little embarrassed for a moment: "Boss Lu, let me be frank with you about this Yan Family Garden. I have no problem helping you negotiate the deal, but..."
Lu Yiming smiled and said, "It just means you have to pay more, right? Alas, if a problem can be solved with money, can it be called a problem?"
When Wu Zhijie heard this, the muscles on his face twitched a little, and he once again sighed in his heart that it was really damn cool to be rich.
"Don't worry, Mr. Lu. I will definitely help you get this done properly."
