Vice Mayor Zhao nodded approvingly:
“State Cotton Mill No. 3 is a large enterprise, Director Yuan wouldn’t take advantage of this. Now that Director Yuan is willing to return the property rights, we’ve also severely punished those who were behind this mischief!”
Xu Zhong Yi wasn’t so easily fooled, “Mayor Zhao, that’s not the key issue, is it? Returning the house to my mother now won’t solve the problem either.”
State Cotton Mill No. 3 wasn’t fighting for Building No. 45.
Yuan Hong Gang considered it a hot potato and didn’t want to get involved at all. After all, the building had been transferred to State Cotton Mill No. 3’s name and then approved for Chaoyang Real Estate – Yuan Hong Gang felt he’d gained nothing but trouble!
He thought he could escape the situation by returning the building to Grandmother Yu… He wished it could be that easy, but Liu Yong disagreed. Liu Yong couldn’t control a factory director directly, so he went to Yuan Hong Gang’s parents. The Yuan elderly couple had deep memories of young Liu – Liu Yong had once carried the old master up and down stairs after he injured his leg. Though he no longer lived in Shang Du, he maintained the relationship, sending gifts to the elderly Yuans every year through others.
The elderly Yuans found fault with everything Yuan Hong Gang did but had a great impression of Liu Yong.
Yuan Hong Gang couldn’t refuse his parents’ requests, plus he was very angry himself – someone had registered Building No. 45’s property rights under State Cotton Mill No. 3 without his knowledge as factory director.
If they let this slide easily, next time someone might register property under his name or deposit illegal funds in his name at the bank. Yuan Hong Gang couldn’t explain such things away even if he had a hundred mouths!
“Mayor Zhao, I agree to return this building to Grandmother Yu, but it hasn’t been returned yet, has it? Right now it’s still State Cotton Mill No. 3’s asset. Mayor Zhao, I also want to ask the city government – how can our factory’s land be approved for a real estate company to build a mall without our consent? I, Yuan Hong Gang, don’t agree!”
In 1986, Shang Du’s six-state cotton mills weren’t as prosperous as four or five years ago.
In ’81, the six state cotton mills together paid nearly 100 million in taxes to the state!
These six cotton mills were built during the “First Five-Year Plan” in 1953. All six factories were major textile producers, supporting Shang Du’s textile industry and making it one of the “Six Major Textile Bases” nationwide… In these times, state enterprise cadres could still transfer to government positions. State enterprises like the six cotton mills weren’t isolated cases – they were independent kingdoms behind closed doors, with their schools for workers’ children, and their worker hospitals. One person entering the factory benefited the whole family, with the factory taking care of everything from birth to death – being so powerful, a factory director could ignore unreasonable demands from the city government and even reasonable ones could be met with deliberate deafness. When necessary, they could even pound the table and challenge city leaders.
Yuan Hong Gang was now pounding the table at Vice Mayor Zhao.
Mayor Zhao wanted to beat Yuan Hong Gang up. He’d invited Yuan Hong Gang to solve the problem, but instead, this person had directly rebelled and turned to give him trouble together with the others.
Mayor Zhao had a massive headache.
Grandmother Yu looked at Liu Yong – she knew Xiaolan’s uncle was craftier than Ah Fen.
He’d gone to the trouble of coming from Pengcheng to Shang Du, forcing Yuan Hong Gang to stand up together.
“Director Yuan, this problem—”
“Mayor Zhao, why don’t you tell us how to resolve this? Why not have Chaoyang Real Estate move their mall a bit to the side? Are they so desperate for that small piece of land?”
It wasn’t just about those two mu of land.
Chaoyang Real Estate’s planned mall covered 12,000 square meters, about 18 mu of land.
But Building No. 45 stood at the central location of the plan – moving the mall left or right wouldn’t work, it wouldn’t be the prime location anymore.
Vice Mayor Zhao finally realized why everyone had avoided getting involved and pushed him to handle this matter… because it was so damn frustrating! After all his official speak, he couldn’t fool either Xu Zhong Yi and Grandmother Yu or convince Yuan Hong Gang. Both sides were waiting for his solution. Though the weather wasn’t hot, small beads of sweat appeared on Mayor Zhao’s forehead!
“Leader—”
The secretary knocked and entered, saving Mayor Zhao.
The secretary whispered a few words in Mayor Zhao’s ear, and he looked relieved.
“Director Yuan, Comrade Xu, it’s like this – the ownership of Building No. 45 is getting increasingly complicated. Now Manager Zhu from Chaoyang Real Estate has also arrived. Why don’t the three parties sit down together and discuss a solution acceptable to all?”
Mayor Zhao answered his question without waiting for Yuan Hong Gang and Xu Zhong Yi’s response, immediately having someone invite Zhu Suizhou in, clearly tired of being caught in the middle.
A man in his thirties walked in with light steps, regular features, and a medium build.
His face carried a natural smile, and he offered handshakes and cigarettes to everyone.
“I’m Zhu Suizhou, my apologies for causing everyone trouble!”
“Director Yuan, I’ve long admired you! Even when I was working in Shang Du before, I’d heard of your reputation. Under your leadership, State Cotton Mill No. 3 has reached new heights!”
“You must be Mr. Xu who’s returned from America. I heard you plan to build a private museum – when I heard this idea I was amazed. Mr. Xu building a museum instead of a mall shows a level of thinking different from us common folk!”
Zhu Suizhou was very talkative, naturally friendly, and spoke enthusiastically.
But he’d done his homework before meeting people, so even his praise hit the right points.
His smoothness carried a touch of sincerity that made it hard to dislike him.
Even Liu Yong felt a chill down his neck.
This was Chaoyang Real Estate’s Zhu Suizhou?
His style of handling matters seemed somewhat similar to his niece’s.
Yuan Hong Gang wasn’t swayed by Zhu Suizhou’s enthusiasm, and Xu Zhong Yi remained unmoved. Zhu Suizhou didn’t pretend otherwise – after the pleasantries, he went straight to the main topic, proactively bringing up Building No. 45’s ownership:
“Chaoyang Real Estate was too hasty! I was negligent in this matter, completely leaving it to employees without verifying myself – that was the biggest mistake! And the employees, eager to complete their work, used underhanded means to play tricks… Ah, to be honest with everyone, not only are State Cotton Mill No. 3 and Mr. Xu victims, but Chaoyang Real Estate is also in a difficult position. The company has borrowed from banks and private sources to raise funds for building the mall. Now I have no choice but to proceed – if the mall isn’t built, I won’t even be able to pay the interest on the loans.”
Zhu Suizhou didn’t act almighty.
Nor did he mention any connections in the provincial or city government.
He didn’t even push all responsibility to the Shang Du government, pretending innocence and claiming Chaoyang Real Estate didn’t know about Building No. 45’s historical issues.
Instead, this man showed weakness while playing the victim, immediately revealing his cards, saying Chaoyang Real Estate’s mall money was all borrowed – if the mall couldn’t be built, returning the principal would be useless, and the loan interest would crush him. Such frankness was unexpected to Yuan Hong Gang. As a leader of a state-owned enterprise, Director Yuan found it hard to pressure Zhu Suizhou further.
Xu Zhong Yi had no such concerns.
Xu Zhong Yi dealt in antiques and operated in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong’s business environment really tempered people – playing the victim didn’t move Xu Zhong Yi at all.
Grandmother Yu, depending on her age, looked at Zhu Suizhou with a cold smile:
“So what, Manager Zhu means that because you can’t pay back the interest, it’s the fault of us victims?”