While Xu Jing and Ma Hai were busy, things weren’t quiet at Cheng Rong Plaza.

With 20 days left on the newspaper countdown, Cheng Rong Plaza released its second batch of retail spaces.

Just as Chen Xiliang and Old Duan had predicted, the prices for the second batch were a bit inflated. A 10㎡ space now costs 38,000, and the locations weren’t necessarily better than the first batch.

No, the best locations were actually in the first batch.

Even so, people were willing to lease them.

When Old Duan was hanging around outside Cheng Rong Plaza, people asked if he had any spaces to transfer. He inquired around and found that for his two spaces, which he had leased for 55,000 for 20㎡, someone was now offering 70,000.

“Have these people gone mad?”

Old Duan, sitting pretty with his two spaces, could laugh at others’ frenzy.

He forgot that if Chen Xiliang hadn’t helped him secure those two spaces, he would have been among the frenzied crowd himself.

Chen Xiliang didn’t expose this but teased him instead:

“So are you planning to transfer them? It’s only been ten days, but 20㎡ spaces have increased by 15,000, and 40㎡ spaces by 28,000. If you sell now, you’ll make a clean profit of 43,000!”

Heavens, this was January 1987!

In an era without stocks to trade, making over 40,000 in 10 days – this profit rate was almost like robbing a bank.

“I’d be crazy to sell now!”

The fact that spaces were still being leased despite price increases showed everyone’s confidence in the location. Business was like this – money gathered where people gathered, and where people gathered, money accumulated faster, creating a positive cycle.

It was like restaurants – when two open side by side, if one does well and the other doesn’t, most people will still choose the busier one, even if it means waiting in line!

That’s typical consumer psychology: if business is good, the food must be good. Even if it’s average, with so many customers, at least the ingredients must be fresh due to high turnover.

The same applies to any market.

Whether in textile, home decoration, or electronics markets, they feared both a lack of consumer recognition and the inability to attract merchants.

Consumer interest aside, if merchants didn’t see potential, the venture would surely fail.

A huge plaza with only a few open shops wouldn’t attract many consumers – they might peek in while passing by but wouldn’t make special trips.

Only when dozens or hundreds of shops opened simultaneously, with diverse and complete product offerings, could it attract crowds?

Old Duan figured that with merchants leasing spaces in both batches, the electronics plaza was halfway to success – the other half depended on whether consumers would come after opening.

At this point, he wasn’t foolish enough to transfer his spaces even for a 40,000 profit. If business became exceptionally good later, focusing on the immediate 40,000 might mean missing out on 400,000, or even 4 million!

Well, 4 million might be stretching it, but it could be a goal to strive for.

Chen Xiliang thought this must be Young Lady Xia’s strategy – he had only been joking with Old Duan.

If Old Duan had considered transferring his spaces for a quick profit, Chen Xiliang would have stopped him.

If Young Lady Xia was behind this, it was just the beginning.

Chen Xiliang, having experience with clothing brands and witnessing Xia Xiaolan’s promotional tactics, saw deeper than Old Duan, the middleman.

The first batch selling out was due to advertising.

The second batch’s success is likely related to recent news.

Pengcheng TV kept reporting city leaders inspecting and guiding work at “Cheng Rong Plaza,” while newspapers analyzed its prospects. Anyone with sense could see the Pengcheng government’s support for Cheng Rong Plaza.

Cheng Rong Plaza was following government planning, so officials naturally supported it.

If it failed to attract crowds, what would happen to the entire electronics manufacturing district plan?

Success was inevitable.

Chen Xiliang’s heart raced thinking about his rush order for Cheng Rong Plaza.

Though he hadn’t profited much, Du Zhaohui wouldn’t share profits with him regardless of the plaza’s success.

But why was he so excited?

He felt he could learn much just by observing this grand event.

…

Du Zhaohui felt the same way.

Already thin, having won half the battle, gravity could barely hold him down.

If Xia Xiaolan hadn’t maintained rationality, Du Zhaohui would have floated to the sky.

“The third batch – once the third batch of spaces is released-“

Du Zhaohui paced back and forth.

He wanted to high-five Xia Xiaolan in celebration.

Though Xia Xiaolan had always believed Young Master Du wouldn’t give up easily, after 10 days of advertising without any movement from him, she couldn’t keep frowning.

If Chen Xiliang was excited just observing, Xia Xiaolan, as a full participant, could hardly remain unmoved seeing victory approaching.

“We both know that when the first batch was released, people couldn’t rush from Pengcheng and Yangcheng to lease spaces within two or three hours. Half were our plants… leasing with one hand and transferring to genuine merchants with the other, not just for that small profit margin.”

Official scalping was pushing it to the limit.

Even Cheng Rong Plaza’s management didn’t know about this scheme between Du Zhaohui and Xia Xiaolan.

Of course, after several days of advertising heated Cheng Rong Plaza, they didn’t need plants anymore – spaces were genuinely being leased by merchants.

For the second batch, neither Xia Xiaolan nor Du Zhaohui used plants. This success continued from the first batch’s momentum, plus the Pengcheng government’s endorsement gave merchants confidence in Cheng Rong Plaza’s prospects.

Du Zhaohui clapped: “Right, I didn’t care about those small profits. The second batch was genuinely competitive, and I’m very confident about the third batch.”

The hype kept driving prices up.

Du Zhaohui believed rental income alone would exceed 8 million RMB in the first year.

This business had real potential.

Xia Xiaolan was extremely envious.

She had developed the Jinsha Pool Complex, hyping its feng shui for ages, and after the entire project, taxes, and costs, had only earned about this much.

Jinsha Pool was a one-time deal, she couldn’t sell it again.

“Cheng Rong Plaza” was a sustainable income, a good asset that would steadily increase each year.

Of course, Xia Xiaolan’s envy only lasted a minute or two. She couldn’t choose her birth family – both their fathers were jerks, but Du Chengrong was a wealthy jerk… For this electronics plaza project alone, Du Chengrong had officially given 20 million HKD but privately might have provided up to 200 million HKD.

No comparison is possible – those with more money had their own ways of playing, while Xia Xiaolan couldn’t risk such amounts and had to steadily accumulate capital like a snowball.

Composing herself, Xia Xiaolan smiled:

“Attracting merchants is only half the success. The rest depends on attracting consumers. Du Zhaohui, are you ready?”