His precious grandson spent every day drinking and wandering around with his worthless friends.
Old Luo thought this was fine – he had been the same in his youth, attributing Luo Yaozong’s behavior to youthful ignorance.
At least Luo Yaozong never provoked those he couldn’t handle, except last month at Xiangmi Lake when he harassed a woman, and her dozens of burly helpers beat him up.
That beating had Old Luo scolding his son Luo Degui for several days.
As village chief, Luo Degui wasn’t nearly as powerful or impressive as when he himself had been chief – actually watching Yaozong get beaten while the attackers didn’t even get a scratch.
Still, that beating had kept Luo Yaozong well-behaved at home for a month. Yesterday was his first time going out drinking, so why did he come back asking about Stinking Bamboo Gully?
A glint flashed in Old Luo’s cloudy eyes:
“Dear grandson, tell grandfather, who told you to ask about this land? Was it those good-for-nothings you drink with?”
Luo Yaozong’s expression twisted.
Last night he had been terrified by that female demon and came running home, wetting himself, to ask about Stinking Bamboo Gully.
But now he felt somewhat grateful to that demon – if not for her, he wouldn’t have known Stinking Bamboo Gully belonged to the Luo family and was worth so much money… Luo Yaozong slapped his thigh – hadn’t he just met the foreign investor today? He should have asked those foreigners if they wanted to buy Stinking Bamboo Gully. If the foreigners wanted to buy it, his grandfather and father couldn’t refuse.
His father was the village chief, and Stinking Bamboo Gully had been deliberately “hidden” by his father. If the foreigners found out, it couldn’t stay hidden anymore!
Luo Yaozong slapped himself several times.
He was too stupid to have missed the opportunity.
Initially, he hadn’t known that the foreigner talking to the female demon was the land-buying investor.
Luo Yaozong’s facial expressions kept changing.
“Grandfather, it’s nothing. I’m clever, who could deceive me?”
Old Luo didn’t believe him at all, but Luo Yaozong stopped talking and ran out of the courtyard: “Grandmother loves me most, I’m going to find grandmother! She’ll give me the land!”
Old Luo threw dried fish at him: “You rascal, no matter how much she loves you, I still make the decisions in this house!”
Who was eyeing the Luo family’s land?
Luo Yaozong ran too fast for Old Luo to catch.
But the old man wasn’t worried – without his approval, even his son Luo Degui wouldn’t dare sell that land secretly.
…
Xia Xiaolan didn’t know that after she left, Harold’s bodyguards had caught the coward she was looking for.
Harold wouldn’t even notice insignificant people like Luo Yaozong.
Luo Yaozong was dreaming too big – wanting to sell land to foreign investors, but through normal channels, he had no qualification to even speak with Harold. A village chief’s son couldn’t even meet Harold’s assistants.
Even his father Luo Degui couldn’t.
Officials from the Futian Street Office might be able to meet the assistants.
Leaders from Shangbu District might meet Harold’s butler Allen.
Only those at the municipal government level, like Secretary Peng who had Tang Hongen’s trust, could speak directly with Harold.
While Luo Yaozong was daydreaming about going solo without Xia Xiaolan, she went straight to see Secretary Peng after leaving Xiangmi Lake.
“Secretary Peng, I’ve found the perfect plot of land.”
The land Xia Xiaolan had found wasn’t even marked on the map.
A stinking pond – none of Harold’s people had imagined someone would deceive their superiors and hide these 20-plus acres.
After all, Harold had bought over 2,500 acres total and was currently confirming boundaries. Finding this oversight might take who knows how long.
Secretary Peng looked at Xia Xiaolan’s proportionally enlarged sketch with confusion:
“They left you this piece of land between Harold’s property and Xiangmi Lake Resort?”
Nobody wanted it?
Hadn’t Harold bought that entire area?
The size was suitable too – over 20 acres, possibly just what Xia Xiaolan could afford.
Secretary Peng couldn’t figure it out. Could there be such a thing as financial luck, with Xia Xiaolan destined for wealth?
“Tell me more about this land. If it’s some village’s burial ground, we can’t touch it – that would lead to bloody conflicts.”
Xia Xiaolan shuddered. For her first project, how could she possibly choose a burial ground?
Despite the recent years’ campaign against the Four Olds making it seem like the whole nation had abandoned feudal superstitions, Xia Xiaolan knew well how much Chinese people cared about feng shui.
Building and selling properties on burial ground – if even a whisper of that got out, her first development project would be completely unsellable!
“It’s not a burial ground. Ge Jian and I checked carefully – there was not a single grave mound. There’s a sewage pool where local villagers dump garbage, surrounded by bamboo.”
This explanation made Secretary Peng even more confused:
“A stinking pond that everyone avoids – what do you want it for?”
“Look at what you’re saying – who wouldn’t want flat, open land? But such land is usually expensive. I’m mainly interested in the location – Harold’s future golf course on the left, Xiangmi Lake Resort on the right. Whether it’s a stinking pond doesn’t matter – the foundation needs work anyway. I’ll increase the treatment costs, but this is where I can ask the government for help. A stinking garbage dump between Xiangmi Lake and the golf course affects foreign investors’ confidence. The government would have to spend money to deal with it, but selling it to me provides income and saves treatment costs… It’s a win-win situation, don’t you think?”
Xia Xiaolan’s reasoning made sense.
What good was a stinking pond next to an upscale golf course?
Secretary Peng couldn’t help nodding.
Xia Xiaolan had spoken quickly and urgently, giving Secretary Peng no time to think.
After nodding, he realized – how could someone as shrewd as Xia Xiaolan take a loss for no reason?
“I almost fell for it. This land must have something special. If you’re willing to pay treatment costs, couldn’t Harold afford it? There must be some reason Harold didn’t buy this land. You’re saying all this to negotiate a lower price, aren’t you?”
Xia Xiaolan showed a shy smile:
“Of course, I can’t hide anything from you, Secretary Peng, and I wasn’t planning to. But the municipal government and Harold have already signed contracts. There’s little point in reminding Harold now about a forgotten stinking pond. This pond means nothing to him but could be decisive for me. Besides, aren’t you and I closer?”
That was true.
People have different levels of relationships.
Even if Secretary Peng complained about Xia Xiaolan hundreds of times a day, he knew clearly that because of Mayor Tang, he and Xia Xiaolan were in the same boat.
He wasn’t crazy enough to help Harold instead of Xia Xiaolan!
“Alright, stop flattering me. Let me see what can be done. Even for a stinking pond, you’ll need official municipal government approval to get the land. How’s your company registration coming along? Are you planning to acquire the land under Yuanhui’s name?”