“Why hasn’t Xiaolan returned yet?”
Liu Yong was meeting with the person in charge from Dongfeng Holdings at noon, so he tidied himself up and asked Gong Yang to do the same. As a designer, Gong Yang needed to meet clients too, and no matter how frugal they were, two good suits were necessary. In early May, Pengcheng was too hot for suits, so both Liu Yong and Gong Yang wore dress shirts.
Dress shirts paired with slacks, polished leather shoes on their feet, and carrying briefcases – both Liu Yong and Gong Yang looked properly dressed for business. The briefcase contained Yuanhui’s portfolio, from which Liu Yong had removed the simple designs, keeping only the premium ones. After doing renovations for over a year, he brought all his proudest cases. He didn’t want to bring those that only involved painting walls and laying tiles, fearing they would embarrass him in front of the Dongfeng Holdings people.
However, his niece had said she was going to buy a car early in the morning, and it was almost noon with no sign of her return. Liu Yong was getting anxious.
Just as Gong Yang was about to suggest they go ahead first, they saw a car turning toward them.
The cream-white Citroën CX20 looked elegant. Xia Xiaolan lowered the window, “Uncle, Gong Yang, get in!”
“This car…”
“I bought it! It’s almost noon, I’ll explain on the way.”
Xia Xiaolan spoke as if buying a car was as simple as buying a cabbage. Liu Yong had thought it might not work out this time, but unexpectedly, Xiaolan drove the car right back.
Gong Yang sat stiffly, feeling awkward.
He now earned seven to eight hundred yuan per month. After getting paid last month, he had finally allowed himself to buy a second-hand bicycle. He was saving all his money to buy a house, aiming for the kind of courtyard house that Bai Zhenzhu had bought. Buying a car was something he didn’t dare even dream about.
Liu Yong wanted to buy a car though.
But this car was too delicate – Liu Yong felt it didn’t suit him.
Being short didn’t mean he wasn’t manly inside; a real man should drive a car with bold lines. Like Kang Wei’s Jeep 212, which he quite liked – 40,000 yuan, Liu Yong could afford that. He had paid back 100,000 yuan of the bank loan after New Year, but he needed to keep some working capital. Having to spend tens of thousands made Liu Yong hesitate.
He wasn’t the only one doing business in Pengcheng.
Not everyone who made money immediately indulged in luxuries.
Only those who made money extremely quickly, like smugglers who didn’t know if they’d have a chance to spend their money later, treated money like paper. Small business owners like Liu Yong mostly reinvested their earnings back into their businesses, hoping to expand – those who showed off with just a little money, even if they became “ten-thousand-yuan households” now, probably wouldn’t stay wealthy for long.
Though reluctant, he was still envious:
“Xiaolan, how much did this car cost?”
“Brother Wang went with me. It wasn’t much, only 80,000.”
Gong Yang was so startled he almost hit his head on the car roof.
“That’s so expensive!”
Xia Xiaolan shook her head, “It’s not expensive at all. If bought from someone else, this car would probably cost over 200,000.”
When the average monthly salary was less than 100 yuan, an imported car easily costing two to three hundred thousand yuan could only happen in the 1980s. Cars weren’t meant for private use, but the reform and opening up over several years had created many wealthy private business owners.
Even ten years later, in the mid-90s, cars would still be an expensive luxury for ordinary families. Xia Xiaolan remembered that in ’95, after her college entrance exam, she worked part-time at a shop where the owner bragged about buying an Alto for 70,000… In ’95, spending 70,000 on an Alto – that money could have been better spent elsewhere.
After the millennium, as people’s incomes increased, some car prices decreased.
When Gong Yang heard this car could sell for over 200,000, he suddenly felt that 80,000 was indeed a bargain.
Liu Yong wouldn’t even spend 40,000, let alone 80,000.
He could only feel the car seat beneath him and dream a little.
Xia Xiaolan drove steadily; reckless driving would never happen to her – life was more important than time. Even if a business deal fell through, as long as people were alive, they could always start over. They arrived at the Municipal Government Guesthouse right on time.
Standing outside the private room, it was five minutes before twelve-thirty.
The door was slightly ajar, and the person in charge from Dongfeng Holdings had arrived before them. Xia Xiaolan pushed open the door, and Liu Yong walked in front, with her and Gong Yang following.
There were two men in the room, one middle-aged and one young.
Liu Yong thought the middle-aged man was in charge, but the young man stood up:
“You must be Boss Liu from Yuanhui, hello, I’m Huo Chenzhou.”
He stood up to shake hands with Liu Yong, who was quite startled. Simply put, Huo Chenzhou was incredibly young!
Of course, he wasn’t the only young person in the business world – Du Zhaohui was also young and controlled billions in capital.
However, Hong Kong’s situation was different; Du Zhaohui had his family’s accumulated wealth.
“Manager Huo, hello hello, I didn’t expect Manager Huo to be such a capable young man!”
As someone who only started making progress at almost 40, Liu Yong felt somewhat insecure seeing Huo Chenzhou who had become a manager at such a young age. But then he thought, even if he wasn’t impressive, his niece Xiaolan was extremely capable, so what was there to fear?
With this thought, Liu Yong became more at ease.
After brief introductions, Huo Chenzhou, being someone used to controlling situations, said:
“Boss Liu, I’ve asked the servers to bring the food in an hour, if that’s alright? I think it would be better to finish our business discussion before eating, what do you think?”
What could Liu Yong say except agree?
Though Xia Xiaolan was quite hungry, she could endure this short wait.
She sat beside Liu Yong, originally not planning to speak, mainly wanting to hear Dongfeng Holdings’ thoughts. According to Huo Chenzhou, they had already found someone for the Nanhai Hotel renovation, but since ‘Yuanhui’ was trusted by Mayor Tang, Huo Chenzhou welcomed ‘Yuanhui’ to join in and help create a new renovation plan together.
“We can give Yuanhui one-fourth of the project, what do you think, Boss Liu?”
Huo Chenzhou was truly generous.
One-fourth of the project meant over 4 million yuan in work. To take on this project Huo Chenzhou was willing to give, Liu Yong would need at least one to two million yuan.
Where would he get that money?
Liu Yong couldn’t help but look at Xia Xiaolan.
Huo Chenzhou took a sip of tea, “Miss Xia, after listening all this time, are you satisfied with this distribution plan?”
“Manager Huo, you misunderstand. My uncle makes the decisions for Yuanhui. I might help with revising the plans, but for specific cooperation matters, you should discuss them with my uncle.”
Huo Chenzhou didn’t believe Xia Xiaolan’s explanation, but he didn’t say anything.
For Liu Yong, being given a 4 million yuan project, calculating at 15% profit, that would be 600,000 yuan. Even at just 10% profit, it would still be over 400,000.
Liu Yong didn’t know if Dongfeng Holdings would gain the upper hand.
But if Huo Chenzhou wasn’t worried, Liu Yong, with strong backing, had even less to worry about. If this didn’t work out, Yuanhui would only lose the investment in revising the plans – to take on a 4 million yuan project, Liu Yong didn’t have the money now, but at least he knew he could get a loan.
Under Huo Chenzhou’s gaze, Liu Yong slowly nodded.