Chapter 31.2 (1/2)

Lin Jingzhe saw his gleeful expression, completely devoid of any feelings of gratitude, and ultimately decided not to tell him that he had puked all over Hu Shaofeng last night.

But though Hu Shaofeng forgot everything else, he hadn’t forgotten that Lin Jingzhe opened up a company! After talking about the car, the young man shifted the topic and began to dissuade Lin Jingzhe against rushing into participating in the bidding.

Lin Jingzhe promised that no, he wouldn’t be impulsive, and began to worry. Seeing Fang Wenhao like this, it was obviously impossible to work with him. Moreover, the shareholders in Fang Wenhao’s company each had their own ideas and were constantly in dispute, making it a poor target for potential cooperation. Now that his company was open, Lin Jingzhe only lacked a business partner.

The name of his company, New Beginnings, came from the metaphorical meaning of Lin Jingzhe’s name—the beginning of spring, when everything wakes up and comes to life. He intended to make this company his starting point; it wasn’t the same as the “throwaway” one he made in Shen City.

He was different from others since the city’s future urban development was no secret to him, but Fang Wenhao’s warning was not unreasonable. It wasn’t easy to gain a foothold in the real estate industry, especially the real estate industry in Yan City. Without even mentioning the powerful backgrounds of competitors who dared to jump in the muddy waters of the early days of the commodity housing development—even trying to bid for commercial land could potentially be enough for Lin Jingzhe to choke on.

No matter the era, it was always hardest to earn the first barrel of gold. No contacts, no connections, meager funds—Lin Jingzhe had almost nothing except his knowledge of China’s future socio-economic development. Although he still had about three million yuan tied up in Shen City stock market, this amount was far from enough to buy land.

Though land today was not going for the billions of yuan it would twenty years in the future, the average price was still higher than Lin Jingzhe’s current assets. During the last quarterly land auction, Fang Wenhao had aimed for but failed to win a piece of land that many people thought was promising; its final bid price was as high as 32 million yuan.

Now that the commercial housing industry officially entered the market, the price of land had skyrocketed. The cheapest piece of land offered at the auction Lin Jingzhe was planning to attend, was at a poor location with few people expressing interest in it, but industry insiders still estimated that it was worth at least 7 million.

Three million yuan seemed like a lot of money, but in fact, it was just crumbs.

Aside from this matter, he was also bothered by Xiao Chi’s string of prayer beads. He had originally wanted to get rid of it, but because of his inexplicable rebirth, he didn’t dare to make light of things related to faith and the supernatural, so he could only carry it with him. This rosary, austere and dignified, seemed to have seen quite a few years—the scripture engravings on each of the 108 beads were almost polished smooth from being repeatedly turned over in fingers. It looked very valuable. Lin Jingzhe still couldn’t understand how it ended up with him. Of course, he planned to return the rosary to its rightful owner, but at the same time he really didn’t want to meet Xiao Chi.

As he worried about this matter, his hand touched his pocket. After a few days, he unconsciously began to form a habit of putting his hand in his pocket and running his fingers over the beads.

Xiao Chi changed to a string of prayer beads made from Bodhi seeds, but they felt different when he touched them and he couldn’t get used to it. On the other hand, Hu Shaofeng was quite efficient and soon brought back news—

“Hey, you have quite a sharp sense of smell to sniff out that company,” Hu Shaofeng said, amazed, as he thumbed through the information in his hand. “The formalities were handled by a DaHu Group agent on Fang Wenhao’s behalf, and it looks like Lin Jingzhe is the founder? And they also applied for bidding documents for the next land auction? Could this be Fang Wenhao’s attempt to blindside us?”

“New Beginnings Real Estate…” Xiao Chi turned the name over in his mouth for a while, passing the prayer beads he was unfamiliar with through his fingers. Hu Shaofeng’s speculation was not unreasonable, but somehow, he found it unlikely.

He shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

“Eh? You say it was really Lin Jingzhe who opened it? How could it be that kid?” Hu Shaofeng was used to judging people by their appearance, so he had already formed an impression of Lin Jingzhe that was deeply rooted because the youth just looked too harmless.

“Did you forget where we first saw him?” Xiao Chi asked.

Hu Shaofeng’s expression changed upon this reminder. “The trading room?!”

He clearly remembered the day of Shen City Stock Exchange’s opening—while the other investors had displayed a wait-and-see attitude, Lin Jingzhe had acted as decisively as Xiao Chi, both of them throwing out huge amounts of money with no hesitation whatsoever. At that time, seeing that the situation was optimistic, Xiao Chi had stayed in Shen City for several days and gradually increased his investment every day, finally investing nearly five million yuan. As for his return… needless to say, he’d earned back all the money he had spent at the last land auction.

Hu Shaofeng would never think of questioning Xiao Chi’s vision and means; he knew very well what kind of crazy soul was hidden under his friend’s “standing aloof from worldly affairs” appearance. Could Lin Jingzhe be the same?

He shuddered at the thought. Lin Jingzhe looked pure and harmless, with a bit of baby fat that hadn’t completely faded from his face—this contrast between the outside and the inside was much more shocking than in Xiao Chi’s case.

Xiao Chi looked through the pile of documents and pondered for a moment. As Hu Shaofeng forced his mind to emerge from all kinds of chaotic thoughts, he recalled something else. “By the way, have you heard? Qi Kai’s grandfather managed to fish him out—he returned to Yan City yesterday.”

Xiao Chi nodded calmly, his gaze falling on Lin Jingzhe’s ID photo in the upper corner of the document.

He had expected this would happen. After all, as long as Elder Qi was still alive, he would never allow his only remaining family member to go to jail.

For the sake of this single seedling, Elder Qi had to make a lot of concessions, greatly weakening the family’s roots. Xiao Chi remembered that when his father spoke about this, he had gotten worked up and there had been a tone of regret in his voice.

When thinking of the tough, shrewd man who had been powerful throughout his whole life but finally fell because of his worthless grandson, even his competitors couldn’t help but have mixed feelings. Xiao Chi closed the file and looked at Hu Shaofeng. “I don’t care what Qi Kai does, that’s his business, but if you dare to hang out with him again, don’t blame me for not giving you face,” he said in a deep voice.

“That…” Remembering his previous envy of Qi Kai’s “profitable business”, Hu Shaofeng was filled with shame. “Don’t worry, I’m not that much of an idiot. I’ll avoid him when I can.”

Xiao Chi nodded slightly and leaned back, throwing his arm on the back of the sofa. “Also, invite Fang Wenhao and… Lin Jingzhe to come out for a meal one of these days.”

Hu Shaofeng’s face changed. He asked with some unwillingness, “Why do you want to meet with them? I only fought with Fang Wenhao a few days ago, and the damn bastard ran to cry to my dad that I hit his car.” Aggrieved, he pulled up his sleeve. “Look, my dad hit me so hard—”

Xiao Chi paid no attention to his whining. Pointing to the documents, he said, “Have you read this? Guess which piece of land New Beginnings Real Estate applied to bid for?”

Hu Shaofeng froze, then slapped his thigh and stood up. “Wasn’t it Lot no. 9 by the 2nd Middle Road? It’s in the middle of nowhere—are Fang Wenhao and Lin Jingzhe stupid?”

“I don’t think they are stupid.” Eyelids drooping, Xiao Chi put forward a conjecture that Hu Shaofeng was doubtful of. “They might’ve gotten wind of something. In short—perhaps both sides will benefit from this meeting.”

As Fang Wenhao received an invitation message on his pager, Lin Jingzhe arrived at Wutong University. An hour ago, Zhou Haitang had called him with very unexpected news.

Father Zhou had been included in the latest batch of laid-off workers in Liyun Thermos Factory.

The computer department at Wutong University was a freshly added department, with few students and new dormitory buildings. The school had even splurged and installed telephones in every dorm room.

Zhou Haitang, tanned a healthy bronze from military training, was arguing with Deng Mai. When he caught sight of Lin Jingzhe walking into the room, he rushed to him, a rare lost look on his face. “Jingzhe, what should I do?”

His roommates accompanied him, trying to comfort him. The severity of this year’s lay-offs went far beyond the ordinary students’ imaginations, and everyone was sympathetic.

Lin Jingzhe calmly patted him on the shoulder. “When did this happen?”

He was actually bewildered—according to his memory of their past life, Father Zhou had indeed been laid off, but not this early.

“Nearly a month ago. My parents were hiding it from me, but Deng Mai’s father accidentally let it slip.” As Zhou Haitang recalled the 150 yuan of living allowance his parents remitted to him every month without fail ever since he came to Yan City, the guilt surged up and almost overwhelmed him. Unable to calm down, he kept running his hands through his hair in anguish, repeating, “Why didn’t they tell me, why didn’t they tell me…”

Seeing him like this, Gao Sheng sighed and took over explaining.

Father Zhou was laid off a month ago without any warning. When they got the news, the couple completely collapsed; after Mother Zhou was laid off last year, most of the Zhou family’s income came solely from Father Zhou’s earnings. This incident was nothing short of a calamity for them, but every time they talked with their son on the phone, they still deliberately hid the news.

As for the reason why Father Zhou had been laid off in advance—the problem lay in the money Zhou Haitang’s parents had borrowed to send their son to the university.