Age of Legends

Chapter 290 Confidence
Zhang Chen felt that Liu Qi was the hidden mastermind. In his previous life, Zhang Chen knew of the rise and expansion of Yipin Real Estate, which had once been very prominent. Later, its collapse caused countless families to break apart, and Liu Qi was truly despicable.

In this life, his mother got involved in real estate, which inadvertently became entangled with Liu Qi, even leading Liu Qi to engage in a seemingly simple yet high-end business war.

But Liu Qi is definitely a person with a keen sense of the times and a business sense.

First, he paid great attention to advertising. When he found that Xuhui Real Estate was very advanced, he immediately copied it. However, after Chen Xuran and Huang Huifen exposed his true colors on the municipal TV station, he realized the importance of TV stations controlling mainstream media. So he quickly shifted the battlefield to the provincial TV station, using his mistress to build a positive image for himself on TV, doing charity work, promoting his company, and creating various kinds of hype.

This was also the initial step that enabled him to deceive countless people in the future, leading to his social impact.

In this life, Zhang Chen discovered that every move he made would be noticed by Liu Qi, who would quickly follow suit and strengthen his own power. If this continued, Zhang Chen didn't know what kind of monster he would create.

Perhaps in the future, Liu Qi's potential threat will be comparable to that of Hengda!

“Understood. My mom will handle Liu Qi. Right now, our ‘Emotional Mediation Room’ is under threat at the TV station,” Zhang Chen said. “Then don’t look back. They’re after your old program; you’ll always have another one.”

Jiang Rong's eyes visibly brightened, and then she looked at Zhang Chen and softly hummed in agreement.

She hadn't known how to tell Zhang Chen beforehand, since this was Zhang Chen's hard work, and she wanted to quietly try to maintain it until the very end. Even if Zhang Chen knew, it wouldn't help; he would only feel her helplessness. So, it was better for her to bear most of it herself.

However, to Jiang Rong's surprise, Zhang Chen's response after finding out was simply "Don't look back" and "You'll always have someone else," which completely swept away all of Jiang Rong's fatigue and worries during this period.

She knew exactly what Zhang Chen meant: he had new inspiration, and if it really worked out… "Emotional Mediation Room" became a smash hit in Rongcheng during that period, even spreading beyond the city, attracting many local TV stations to learn from it, and setting a ratings record in Rongcheng. If Zhang Chen could create another hit like that, two hits in a row, Jiang Rong couldn't even imagine what the result would be… what kind of peak would they reach?
Jiang Rong was still reeling from Zhang Chen's words. Meanwhile, Yang Xiaole had already pondered Zhang Chen's words, his face showing surprise: "Who's going to deal with Liu Qi... your mother, who's your mother?"

Jiang Rong then said, "You know Chen Xuran, right? Huang Huifen from Xuhui Real Estate is Zhang Chen's mother."

"Huh!" Yang Xiaole was completely shocked. "Huang Huifen, is your mother?!"

Zhang Chen coughed, which sounded rather irritating. One wanted to instinctively respond with a similar reply, but it didn't seem to make sense.

"Wow, Huang Huifen is a legendary woman! She's the pride of all women in Rongcheng. I admire her the most!" Yang Xiaole almost jumped up. "I never imagined you were her son. Like mother, like son!"

Zhang Chen was speechless. To him, these words sounded more like an insult. His mother, Huang Huifen, had done far too many unreliable and harmful things to him since he was a child. She had subjected him to every form of psychological manipulation he had ever experienced: "Everyone else can do it, why can't you?", "Can't you compare yourself to someone better?", "You can't even do something this simple, what else can you do?", "If you don't study hard, you'll be sweeping garbage in the future!"...

Just thinking about it makes me feel like I'm under a spell. And now she's the pride of Fuzhou's women? You've come to the wrong place!

"What do you mean by that?" Zhang Chen asked, puzzled.

"Isn't this the Fuzhou New Era Women's Selection in a magazine? Your mom and Chen Xuran were both selected in the top ten! Besides, everyone knows that Xuhui Real Estate was brought up by her unique vision, from nothing to the successful development of the Lanyuan project!" Yang Xiaole's eyes were full of stars.

Zhang Chen understood; this is what they mean by "when you succeed, good things come your way."

This is not something Chen Xuran would do. No matter how shameless she is, she couldn't possibly collude with the media to make herself one of the top ten women of the new era in Fuzhou.

It's very simple. The housing fair is coming, and Huang Huifen went against the trend, taking the lead in igniting the real estate fever in Fuzhou with the Lanyuan project. She has become famous herself. Those real estate DM magazines and all parties involved in the housing fair put together a selection to put Huang Huifen in the spotlight for publicity. In essence, they just wanted to ride on the traffic generated by the great success of her Lanyuan project!

Who are these direct mail real estate magazines targeting? Most of them are actually housewives who hold power and money in their families and are single-mindedly focused on buying property and chasing the real estate boom.

Real estate developers can generate huge buzz by capitalizing on women's demand for home purchases to replace their existing homes.

During this period, office workers and women in their workplaces would often pick up real estate magazines in their spare time. Neighborhood conversations revolved around who bought a house in which area, who bought within the first ring road, who lived in the south gate, who lived in the west gate, and the saying "south is rich, west is noble." Everyone's eyes were filled with dreams of a better life. The residential communities and new housing concepts built by real estate developers aligned with these aspirations for a better future.

Yang Xiaole became very obedient: "What will your mother's next project be? I haven't been working for long and I can't afford a house yet, but she said she wants to build quality houses that everyone can afford. The Lanyuan project is very well done, and I really like it. Next time, could you ask your mother to build some smaller apartments that I can afford? What's the next project? I'm really looking forward to it!"

"They're still waiting to acquire the land, so we don't know yet," Zhang Chen said.

"Wow, that'll definitely be a hot topic once it's released. If my friends knew I knew you, I'd be treated like royalty! They'd say I know you, maybe they could give me a discount when I buy your house... Of course, I definitely won't tell anyone, so you don't have to put yourself in a difficult position!"

Zhang Chen was both amused and exasperated, and could only say, "I'll try my best to get you the lowest price!"

"Yay!" Yang Xiaole exclaimed excitedly, attracting curious glances from those around her. She quickly stuck out her tongue and whispered, "Then I'll work hard to earn money... and strive to settle down in Rongcheng as soon as possible, so I won't have to rent a place anymore!"

Zhang Chen wondered what was going on... Could he use Huang Huifen's house discount as a favor in the future? "If you buy my house, I'll give you a 5% discount. Our relationship isn't that close, 3% should be enough..."

To be honest, Zhang Chen felt there was a hint of commanding authority and wielding power in it...

Is this the joy of being the young master of a real estate developer?
But this path is not so easy. Once the business expands, managing the cash flow becomes a skill. Given Huang Huifen and Chen Xuran's limited intelligence, Zhang Chen was not very optimistic about the future of Xuhui Real Estate.

When it was time to say goodbye to Zhang Chen, Yang Xiaole was still very excited next to Jiang Rong, waving her hand incessantly, "President Jiang, you actually know someone like this! I'm definitely going to cling to your coattails!"

Yang Xiaole's happiness was contagious and spread to Jiang Rong. Today, Yang Xiaole had learned the most and even received a promise of a discount on future properties from the young master of Xuhui Real Estate. He seemed to be the one who would make the biggest profit.

But Jiang Rong knew that Zhang Chen's words were the most solid and reassuring.

Since her mother's death, she has experienced the harsh realities of life and always thought that she didn't need anyone's encouragement.

From childhood to adulthood, I've faced all kinds of hardships alone.

Despite experiencing severe menstrual cramps that left her dizzy, lightheaded, and chilled, she simply put on an extra coat and quietly went to class as usual.

During her university years, she had a high fever for two days. She drank some water, took a pill, and stayed in bed to get through it. Even her roommates didn't know.

She was used to being silent, and she was also used to putting on a brave face.

She had only one thought in her mind: no one could stand up for her, so she couldn't fall down.

And when Zhang Chen said, "Don't look back, there will always be another one."

At that moment, it felt as if she was being steadily supported by something.

This feeling... is not reliance, but rather confidence.

It turns out that there really are people in this world who will gently tell you when you are about to leave the stage—keep moving forward, don't be afraid.

It's like in this cold world, someone finally silently catches you from that little bit of falling.

(End of this chapter)