Mixed in 1980

Chapter 356 Testing
As she boarded the plane and sat next to her husband, Zeng Ali frowned slightly: "Yan Xi is very obsessed with antiques. He might enter this industry in the future."

"That's great!" Chen Fan shrugged.

Whether it's Chen Yi, Xiao Xi, or their five children, Chen Fan's attitude has never changed: just do what you like from now on.

It doesn't matter if no one is willing to inherit the family business.

Zeng Ali shook her head slightly and couldn't help pinching her husband: "If it's just about studying antiques, I won't object. But what if he studies archaeology in the future?"

"Archaeology is great!"

“They’re digging up graves!” Zeng Ali shook her head, recounting what she had heard in Chen Fan’s hometown.

Since the late 1980s, the price of antiques has been rising steadily, and tomb raiding has become rampant. Every year, many tomb raiders are caught, but there are still many who have not been caught.

There are tomb raiders even in Chen Fan's hometown!
Large tombs are rare in southern Fujian, but there are quite a few ancient tombs. People there attach great importance to ancestor worship, and the tombs of ancestors from the Ming Dynasty are still preserved, and they worship them every year.

Chen Fan's hometown, Chenjia Village, produced three tomb raiders. Everyone in the village knew about it, but there was no evidence. They were raiding old graves that no one worshipped.

Strange things followed.

The first tomb raider went out for a trip, whether to deliver goods or to find work, he got into a car accident and became lame in one leg.

Not long after he returned, his seven-year-old son choked to death while eating bayberries.

The second tomb raider went to Guangzhou to sell his goods. He made money and indulged in debauchery. Unsurprisingly, he contracted syphilis. After returning to his village, he was shunned by his clan and died not long after.

His wife and children abandoned him and left Chenjia Village. His funeral was also conducted quietly. The villagers simply wrapped him in a bamboo mat and buried him without even a thin coffin.

The third tomb raider is still alive, but he is living a life worse than death. He has contracted rheumatoid arthritis, which is incurable. Whenever the weather changes, he can only be paralyzed in bed, wailing day and night.

The thought of her daughter developing an interest in archaeology and digging up graves made Zeng Ali feel disgusted, even though these things actually happened.

(What happened in my hometown: when I was very young, my great-grandmother's grave was robbed. The second grave robber was my cousin. When he died, we didn't even bother to look at him.)
Can archaeology and tomb raiding be compared?

Chen Fan rolled his eyes at his wife and narrowed them, saying, "Liking antiques and archaeology are two different things. Even if she likes archaeology, it's fine as long as our daughter likes it."

Yan Xi had already gone into the basement.

Xu Jinqiu accompanied her downstairs and carried some things out. Yan Xi's antique teacher, He Yue, would be coming over later, and these were all teaching tools.

Her thoughts were the same as Chen Fan's: as long as the children are happy, that's all that matters. Making money is for them to live the life they want, and we can't put the cart before the horse.

After moving the things, Yan Yin ran over and said, "Second Aunt, let's go to the basement and find Jade."

Xu Jinqiu raised an eyebrow: "Is Second Aunt a bad person?"

"Second Aunt is the best!"

The little girl smiled sweetly and hugged Xu Jinqiu's leg: "Second Aunt, take me to find some beautiful jade, I want to wear it."

Xu Jinqiu picked up the little girl: "When your parents come back, they'll say your second aunt is a bad girl again. You little brat, you only know how to coax me now."

The little girl hugged her neck: "No, that's not true. Second Aunt is the best mom."

"You little sycophant!"

Xu Jinqiu was amused and carried the little girl to the basement of the east courtyard. There were too many things, all packed in boxes, so she casually took some out and let the little girl look through them herself.

Every now and then, the little girl would put one on and ask, "Second Aunt, does it look good?"

It's obvious that the little girl likes jade.

Just as Yan Xi enjoys antiques and calligraphy, Xu Jinqiu is happy to cultivate his interest in them. He understands these things himself and doesn't need to hire a professional teacher.

For this reason, Xu Jinqiu even went to the neighboring courtyard, picked out a good piece of material from the basement, and sent it to a jewelry store to have several sets of clothes made suitable for the children to wear.

The plane landed in Hong Kong!
Without causing a commotion, the three returned to the Suzhou-style garden in Deep Water Bay. Miss Zhao strolled around the garden and pouted slightly, "It's a bit of a waste to only stay here a few days a year."

Zeng Ali smiled and said, "What, you want to sell it?"

Miss Zhao shook her head: "Such a nice house, it's nice to come here for a vacation now and then, but unfortunately the security in Hong Kong is too bad. Coming here doesn't feel like a vacation, it feels like being in jail."

"Things will get better after 1997!"

Zeng Ali was helpless. If it weren't for the British guiding public opinion, they wouldn't be in such a passive position. Now, who knows how many robbers are watching their home?

The feeling of guarding against thieves for a thousand days is truly unbearable: "We shouldn't have negotiated with the British in the first place; we should have just blown up the British financial system."

"Make the pound sterling worthless!"

Hearing this, Chen Fan shook his head slightly: "Let's take it slow. A country like Britain can't be defeated in one blow. The best way is to slowly bleed them dry." Zeng Ali smiled and said, "I wish you success!"

"Don't worry, this time we'll beat the British to a pulp. The name Chen Fan will become a nightmare for Britain."

After making a modest boast, Chen Fan threw himself into his work. Taking advantage of the early hour, he led a group of bodyguards straight to Xinghuo Investment in the Hehe Building.

Zhou Wenya knew he was coming today and had already prepared the documents: "The first batch of 2000 second-hand homes has been sold out, and we are looking for an opportunity to release the second batch."

"Did the British eat all of this?" Chen Fan asked.

Zhou Wenya handed over the documents: "The British have taken up about half of the market, Hong Kong's local real estate speculators are also making a push, and funds from Europe, America, Japan, South Korea, and mainland China are also starting to enter the market."

Chen Fan flipped through the documents and looked at them for a while: "It seems that the Hong Kong real estate market is quite lively, with all sorts of wealthy people coming here."

Zhou Wenya nodded and said, "They are all hungry wolves who have smelled blood, wanting to replicate Japan's real estate miracle in Hong Kong and get a share of the pie."

"And the price?" Chen Fan asked again.

Zhou Wenya pointed to the figures in the data: "All of Hang Seng Bank's shareholders have entered the market, and everyone is working together to control the price very well."

“Since the Lunar New Year, the average price per square foot has only increased by HK$200. If there were no price controls, the price per square foot would have increased by at least HK$1000.”

"The current average price is HK$6200 per square foot."

Chen Fan did some calculations and frowned slightly: "It still won't work. The increase is too fast. We need to bring it down. There are still two years left."

"If the current rate of increase continues, it will probably exceed 10,000 by the end of 1996, which is still too high and does not meet our expectations."

"At the current price level, we need to negotiate with speculators a bit more and not raise prices too easily. If prices rise too quickly in the early stages, it will be difficult to lower them later, and it will also make people resentful."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Wenya frowned slightly: "I discussed it with President Yu before. We decided to release 2000 second-hand homes in the second batch. Should we increase the quantity?"

“Our inventory of second-hand homes is limited, and it’s a preliminary step that we can’t finish so quickly, since the process is very long. Let’s release some new homes instead.”

Chen Fan took out a cigarette, lit it, and took a few puffs: "We also have a few residential areas in Yuen Long and Tuen Mun, right?"

Yuen Long and Tuen Mun are the suburbs of Hong Kong.

The price is only two-thirds of the average price.

In these areas, Xinghuo Investment owns three plots of land that have not yet been developed, while Xinghuo Real Estate owns four plots of land that have all been developed.

The four newly built residential areas are all large-scale communities.

Each of them covers more than 200 acres, and the houses are very small, mainly 20 or 30 square meters, with more than 300 units in one building.

Zhou Wenya explained in detail: "Are you planning to sell this house at a lower price?"

“If there are cheap houses, someone will definitely be willing to buy them, which can absorb a lot of purchasing power. Then we can use second-hand houses to drive down prices.” Chen Fan sneered.

How many sets do you want to sell?

"Take out 3000 units first and sell them at market price. Add 2000 second-hand units, and the market will have enough housing to last them for a while."

“Okay, Mr. Chen!” Zhou Wenya turned and left.

The sudden addition of 5000 housing units will have a significant impact on the market, given the limited land supply and the fact that developers are hoarding properties.

The common tactic is to first release one building, or dozens or hundreds of units, in a residential complex to generate buzz, then inflate the price, creating an atmosphere of frantic buying.

While it's not entirely unheard of for someone like Chen Fan to put 5000 units up for sale, it's certainly not an isolated incident during a period of rising housing prices.

Chen Fan's goal was simple: to force the speculators to take the bait.

If you don't eat it, don't even think about raising the price!
Capital is often blind. As long as Chen Fan doesn't go crazy and throw all the developed properties out at once, they will definitely buy them up.

Especially those international speculators, they all brought huge amounts of money over there, and with the current amount, it will take about a month to digest it all.

When Xinghuo Real Estate released the news, the British people received the news immediately. Shen Bi couldn't help but curse: "Shit... another batch is coming, and new houses are going on sale too."

Fortunately, housing prices are rising, so Chen Fan doesn't seem to be planning to dump properties.

Rising property prices are most beneficial to Chen Fan, who is the largest real estate developer in Hong Kong, bar none, and it's impossible for him to jump out and dump properties.

However, with his approach, it would be difficult for housing prices to rise as expected. Shen Bi pondered for a moment before picking up the phone and asking someone to arrange a cocktail party for real estate developers.

Chen Fan has arrived; we need to test his attitude!

PS: Second update!
(End of this chapter)