Restarting life by going to the countryside to support medical work

Chapter 669 Negotiation
Li Yancheng, at the age of 42, was promoted to a member of the headquarters leadership team and concurrently served as the director of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau. This did not cause much of a stir, as if it were all to be expected. At most, people would remark on his youth during their leisure time.

Two years ago, he stepped down as the head of the Criminal Investigation Corps, and was succeeded by Political Commissar Wan Changyou.

The Criminal Investigation Corps was a division-level unit. Although criminal investigation work was important, there was no precedent at that time for a high-ranking division chief. Therefore, after Wan Changyou took over as division chief, his administrative rank remained at the division level.

In March, along with Director Dai, members of the municipal bureau's leadership team and the director of the political department also retired to the second line.

Wan Changyou was promoted to director of the political department and his administrative rank was raised to deputy director level because of his good performance in the Criminal Investigation Corps over the past two years, while Jin Zhihai took over as chief of the corps.

At the same age of 42, Jin Zhihai was promoted to the rank of division chief.

Looking at his friend and leader, who was smiling and talking to Chairman Cheng, he still felt dizzy and unreal, even though he had been the captain for more than a month.

Looking back seventeen years, one of them was a local police officer at a police station, and the other was an unknown junior doctor at a hospital. Who could have imagined that seventeen years later, one of them would rise to a high-ranking position, and the other would be in charge of a major department of the Public Security Bureau?

All of this made him feel like he was dreaming.

When he woke up, he was still the local police officer busy dealing with everyday family matters, and his friend was still the doctor who had to cycle for an hour to and from get off work.

"What are you thinking about?"

A familiar voice roused Kim Ji-hae from his emotional reverie.

"It still feels a bit unreal." He didn't hide his thoughts.

"It's been over a month, but I still feel like I'm walking on clouds. Everything has happened so fast. Seventeen years ago, if someone had told me I could become the director of the municipal bureau or the head of the criminal investigation team, I would have thought they were crazy. But now..."

"Hehe," Li Yancheng chuckled and patted his friend's shoulder.

"Stop getting carried away and adjust your emotions as soon as possible. It's best to stay grounded. You must have heard the rumors. It's okay in our department; everyone knows your true abilities. But outsiders don't know. They all say that I promoted you by force and that I'm being nepotistic."

These rumors don't bother me, but if they spread too much, they'll affect you to some extent. So what you need to do now is dispel these rumors and show outsiders that you got to where you are through your own hard work.

“But what they said is true!” Jin Zhihai replied with a smile.

“I was indeed promoted by you. If it were based on seniority, I wouldn’t have been the captain at all.”

"According to you, this bureau chief position isn't even within my reach yet." Li Yancheng rolled his eyes at his friend, then reached into his pocket, pulled out a cigarette, and tossed it to him.

"The rejuvenation of cadres is a policy formulated by the higher authorities. We want to break the bad habit of seniority-based promotion and let the capable rise and the mediocre fall. This is not a child's game of sitting in a row and eating fruit. This is a job and a responsibility."

Zhihai, on our shoulders we carry the trust of the organization and the expectations of over nine million people in Beijing. They expect us to improve the social environment of Beijing, ideally to the point where people don't pick up lost items and doors are left unlocked at night. This is also the goal of tens of thousands of police officers in Beijing. We…”

"Alright." Before Li Yancheng could finish speaking, Jin Zhihai interrupted, "My dear Director Li, I've noticed that you've become more and more fond of lecturing since you became the director."

Seeing that Li Yancheng was about to say something, he quickly raised his hand and gestured.

"Don't worry, I was just saying that. Doing my job well is my duty, and you should know what kind of person I am."

Regardless of how I became the chief commander, the fact that both the city and headquarters approved it means that the organization, the city, and the headquarters leaders, at least for now, recognize my abilities. I will certainly not let them down, nor will I disappoint the expectations of the more than nine million people in Beijing.

"You two, stop it already! You talk about work when you're at work, and now you have to talk about it even when you're on vacation. Is this never going to end?"

Seeing that the two of them were talking endlessly, Xing Lihua couldn't help but complain.

"No more, no more."

Li Yancheng quickly waved his hand: "Lihua, what do you think of how the yard is tidied up?"

"Of course it's beautiful! If this were in the past, it would definitely be a prince's mansion, right?"

“That’s right, the Guan family cleaned it up according to the regulations for a prince’s mansion.”

This courtyard was originally the site of a prince's mansion, but it was occupied by a government agency during the Republic of China era, and the interior was demolished into pieces.

Later, seeing that the government at the time was failing, that agency was also abolished.

Because the head of this organization had no connections at higher levels, he naturally couldn't get a good position. In a fit of anger, he sold the place and ran away with the money. The buyer was a relative of the Xiao family.

After liberation, due to various reasons, the family that bought the house fell into poverty and almost no one was left in just a few years. The homeowner was eventually assigned to work in another place, and the house was requisitioned by the government. The government would give the homeowner a fee every month, which was equivalent to rent.

Later, the courtyard was given to the Social Affairs Bureau, which had left the military, as an office location until seven or eight years later, when it was returned to the original owner due to policy changes.

In the 1980s, it was eventually bought by Li Yancheng, who spent a huge sum of money to restore some of the former glory of the Prince's Mansion.

Move in?

That is of course impossible.

After everyone else went to sit in the pavilion in the middle of the artificial lake in the backyard, Li Yancheng, Cheng Jianwen, and the other three squatted by the lake and started talking about the rent.

"Brother, Mr. Zhu and I have already discussed and agreed on that private restaurant you mentioned. We're going to set it up."

Now let's talk about the rent for your yard.

"Decided to do it?" Li Yancheng looked at Cheng Jianwen, then turned to look at Zhu Yongyang. After receiving an affirmative answer, he pondered for a moment and said.

"I don't know how much rent to charge. The yard is like this, and you've already visited it. Apart from adding some furniture, you don't need to spend any more money."

Okay, let's say it's one cent per square meter. My yard is over 20,000 square meters, so let's round it up. The monthly rent is 2,000 yuan, payable in one lump sum for one year. You'll be responsible for your own water and electricity bills. I can sign a ten-year lease with you, with the rent remaining the same for the first five years.

Starting from the sixth year, the rent will increase by 10% each year. Whether or not to renew the lease upon its expiration will be discussed further, and the rent will be renegotiated as well.

"Brother, I remember you said this courtyard is over 26,000 square meters?"

"right"

"Round it up to 30,000 square meters, the monthly rent is 3,000, and everything else is as you say."

Kim Ji-hae, who was standing to the side, couldn't stop twitching at the corners of his mouth as he listened.

Li Yancheng's offer of 2,000 yuan per month was already surprising enough. Well, that would be enough to earn two and a half million yuan a year just from rent. But here he was, and they were even raising the price by 1,000 yuan every month. This was the first time he'd ever seen such reverse bargaining. An extra 1,000 yuan a month would amount to 12,000 yuan a year! Wow! He suddenly realized that the total cost of buying and renovating the yard, less than 500,000 yuan, didn't seem like much at all.

Based on this rent, the money will be almost fully recovered in ten years, and after that it's pure profit, wow...

Jin Zhihai suddenly felt that he should also buy a courtyard house. However, he did not do it to earn rent. He knew very well that his friend's large courtyard house was able to be rented out because the Cheng family was involved, and they just happened to want to use the courtyard house for business.

If this courtyard didn't belong to Li Yancheng, but to someone else, Cheng Jianwen definitely wouldn't have rented it, let alone raised the rent.

He wants to buy a courtyard house because he's really had enough of living in an apartment building, and it's really inconvenient for him to live in the department store's staff quarters now.

The security guards at the department store's residential compound were practically useless; anyone could come in whenever they wanted. When he was the deputy captain, people would always come to him to plead for him, which annoyed him to no end.

And it got even worse after he became the captain.

If he had his own yard, not to mention whether those people could find out about him, even if they came looking for him, a large yard would make it easier for him to hide if he didn't want to see them.

Unlike last time, when a couple came to his house looking for him, he didn't want to see them. He thought they would leave after Xing Lihua said he wasn't home, but the shameless couple insisted on waiting at home.

He was so uncomfortable hiding in the house. No matter how Xing Lihua hinted that the couple should leave, they just ignored him and wouldn't give up until they saw him. They stayed there for two hours.

Just as Jin Zhihai was pondering whether he should buy a courtyard house himself, Li Yancheng hesitated after hearing the price quoted by Cheng Jianwen.

It wasn't that he didn't want to make more money, but he was worried that people would say he was taking advantage of the situation to make money. Even though he was a member of the Cheng family, it would be normal for him to take money from the Cheng family.

But that's precisely the problem.

Some people don't care what your relationship with the Cheng family is; they only assume there's some kind of exchange of benefits between you.

Why be afraid? Li Yancheng narrowed his eyes slightly.

A person with a clear conscience has nothing to fear. His family connections are known to the leaders and the supervisory committee. The Cheng family wants to invest and do business in China because they want to contribute to the country's development. In fact, the Cheng family's companies have generated a lot of foreign exchange for the country in recent years, not to mention that the factories together have provided tens of thousands of jobs.

These are all indelible contributions made by the Cheng family.

To avoid suspicion, the Cheng family's factories are all located in the south. It was only this year that they bought a plot of land in Beijing, intending to build the headquarters building of the Cheng Group's Huaxia Company.

"Okay, we'll do it your way, but there's one thing I need to say upfront."

"Brother, you go ahead, I'm listening."

"Jianwen, after you rent this place, whether you open a private club or the private restaurant I mentioned, it's up to you, but..."

At this point, Li Yancheng emphasized his words.

"However, I absolutely will not allow you to bring me those messy business practices from overseas and Hong Kong, such as paid companionship."

And you, Lao Zhu, I know that in the past you either spent money or offered women to make friends and build connections. Let's not talk about the past, after all, you never forced anyone, it was all consensual. But from now on...

If I discover any illegal or disorderly conduct in your future business dealings, don't blame me for being ruthless; I will personally lead a team to shut this place down.

"If you run a business honestly and diligently, that private kitchen restaurant I mentioned can definitely make a fortune, no less than your current imported goods business."

His words were filled with murderous intent, especially since he was specifically saying them to Cheng Jianwen and Zhu Yongyang. Consciously or unconsciously, his previously restrained aura resurfaced.

The imposing aura emanating from him made his younger brother and Old Zhu break out in a cold sweat.

But when they heard the rest, their eyes lit up instantly.

For Cheng Jianwen, money is just a string of numbers. He is now the general manager of Cheng's Group's China branch, and his salary alone is not a small amount. Moreover, he also holds shares in the group, and his annual dividends are over seven figures, in US dollars.

He has so much money that he can't even count it all, but he just enjoys the feeling of making money and relishes the process.

He planned to invest his own money in this private restaurant in partnership with Zhu Yongyang. As a fellow businessman, he knew very well that if there was a place with a beautiful environment and excellent privacy, where one could not only eat but also discuss business, the business would definitely not be bad, especially in Beijing.

But business was good, he never thought he could make a lot of money here. In his opinion, as long as he could break even, that would be fine. After all, he didn't expect to make money from this. He just wanted to use this place to build more relationships.

But it seems that's not the case.

My brother actually said that the profits here wouldn't be less than those from the imported goods business, this...

If someone else had said this, he would never have believed it, but his brother's words seemed to have never failed him in the past few years.

Zhu Yongyang shared the same idea. He didn't expect to make much money here, but if he could make money, even more than he would make selling imported goods, it would be a pleasant surprise for him.

After exchanging a glance with Cheng Jianwen, the two nodded in unison, as if in response to Li Yancheng's earlier warning.

There was no patting of the chest or any solemn promises; it's enough that everyone knows what's going on.

"Okay, Jianwen, you can draft a lease agreement later."

"it is good"

"Take some time to get a sole proprietorship license to open a restaurant."

“I have it, you don’t need to do it again,” Zhu Yongyang replied.

Then he looked at Cheng Jianwen and said, "Mr. Cheng, let's sign another shareholding agreement later. You have a printer over there, and you must be familiar with the contents. Could you please print out this agreement as well?"

"no problem"

"Alright, it's settled then. Let's go to the pavilion and talk to them."

After finishing their business, Li Yancheng was about to walk towards the pavilion when Zhu Yongyang called out to him.

"Yan Cheng, I won't go over there. I'll go back first and contact the chef."

(End of this chapter)