Back to the prime of life

Chapter 104
Lu Changge naturally agreed to Wang Hongcheng's invitation.

The place he agreed to meet was the newly opened Jiangxing Commercial Plaza.

In fact, shopping malls of this era still lack the sense of design that would appear ten years later, especially small and medium-sized shopping malls. They are a bit like moving a small commodity market to a beautiful concrete building in the city center, and then arranging the shops layer by layer and in circles, that's all.

The decoration in some details is also not good enough. It is okay because it is newly built and citizens feel fresh about it. But after a few years or when other similar shopping malls appear, its popularity will immediately decline.

In addition, it is difficult for any big brands to settle in. Occasionally, one or two are attracted to the store, but they are basically given away for free.

Because the mall is not high-end enough, big brands are not willing to open stores here. Money is a small matter; the main issue is to lower the brand's tone.

Therefore, in the early days, shopping malls had to beg brands. These big brands themselves have popularity, and when there are more people, they can attract small and medium-sized companies to open stores here, and then collect their money.

This rental logic is a bit like the plot in "Let the Bullets Fly" where the three major families returned all their money.

This time, Lu Changge's A4 finally came in handy. He just had to tell the location and step on the accelerator to get there.

After arriving, he took the elevator directly to the seventh floor. Wang Hongcheng was waiting for him there and took him to look down at his proud "work" below.

In fact, it was pretty much what Lu Changge had imagined. It was the most common kind of shopping mall, with an empty space in the middle and shops all around. The space felt a bit crowded, for example, the escalators were narrow and most of the shop fronts were rather mediocre.

But Wang Hongcheng seemed very satisfied with it. Pointing at this piece of "land", he asked him: "What do you think? Is it fashionable enough?"

Lu Changge was most annoyed by the combination of foreign guns and homemade cannons. After that, he took out a big iron box and asked him if it was fashionable. It was so annoying.

He asked in return: "What is fashion?"

Wang Hongcheng was stunned.

Lu Changge caught this expression and asked, "Why? No one has ever asked this before, right?"

"Indeed. You're first."

"But that's how it should be logically. I have to understand what fashion is in your mind, and then compare it with your definition before I can answer whether it's fashionable enough. I can't just say whether the lights are flashy enough or the decoration is high-end enough, right?"

Wang Hongcheng laughed. This Lu Changge was indeed interesting.

“I think fashion is a popular, novel and representative style or attitude towards life.”

What kind of answer is this? Using an ambiguous concept to explain another ambiguous concept. Then what is popular and novel?
Lu Changge could only raise an eyebrow, "Alright."

"You don't seem to agree." Wang Hongcheng tilted his head and smiled.

"You're Mr. Wang, and I'm your younger brother. Everything I say sounds like whining. There's a saying that goes, if you want to criticize the scenery around you, you have to climb onto the roof first."

"Hahaha, Director Lu doesn't think before he speaks." Wang Hongcheng laughed. "Don't call me Mr. Wang all the time. Just call me by my name, or my English name, Robin."

"If what?"

"robin."

"I'd better call you by your Chinese name."

"Row."

After these two conversations, he found that Wang Hongcheng was actually more humble than he had imagined.

"The last time, the occasion wasn't right, so I haven't been able to properly introduce myself to you. My family started out in construction, and in the 90s, my father started getting involved in real estate development. Real estate is still the main business of our Shanwen Group, but you may not have heard much about it because we only arrived in Jiangzhou not long ago."

“Isn’t there a supermarket?”

"That's my mom doing it."

"Oh... so this won't be the last project."

Wang Hongcheng nodded. "Of course, we've set up a branch in Jiangzhou, and my dad asked me to be the front-runner. If this is the only project, then our old man would be disappointed. To be honest, I have another residential project I'm planning to move forward with soon. I'll take you to see it next time, maybe there's still a chance for us to work together."

"I don't have that much money." Lu Changge didn't want to reveal the details.

Wang Hongcheng said: "There are many kinds of resources, and they don't just refer to money."

At this point, Lu Changge understood. It was probably because Xu Weiguo said he was his nephew that it worked. "Also, who knows, maybe you'd want to open a shop here? Right? I'd definitely open the door then."

Wang Hongcheng was just saying it casually, but the words were spoken without meaning, but the listener took it seriously. Lu Changge said, "I have actually thought about opening a swimming pool."

"Really?"

"You've probably thought about it. You probably haven't been to one of those low-end swimming pools. I've been there, and the water quality is terrible. In the summer, they're packed like dumplings. The water in the pool is only changed every few days."

This thing is indeed beyond Wang Hongcheng's knowledge. "Then how can they ensure basic water quality?"

"Every day when we close the shop, we spray the water, let it sit overnight, and then we clean the sediment from the bottom of the pool before we open it in the daytime. Finally, we disinfect it. You can't tell that the water has been used for many days."

"Okay." He looked unconvinced.

Lu Changge smiled. This guy looked like a man who had experienced the world and was mature and steady, but it was hard to say whether he was not pretending.

He said to Lu Changge, "If you're going to open one, you should open a mid-range to high-end heated swimming pool, right? I heard that a swimming pool like this, with a size of 1,000 square meters, can be purchased for 500,000 or 600,000 yuan. By then, our mall can also build a reputation with such a high-end swimming pool."

Lu Changge did not respond immediately. He could afford to spend five or six hundred thousand or so, but he could not do things so casually. He would go out and talk about it today and the matter would be settled.

He was just annoyed that there was no swimming pool that satisfied him. There were a few swimming pools in Jiangzhou with decent environments, but they were far away and it was inconvenient to get there without a car.

It’s even more annoying to go back to my hometown during the summer vacation. I can’t find a single one in the entire county.

"Lets see."

Unexpectedly, Wang Hongcheng was quite enthusiastic. He said, "Really consider it. At worst, I can give you a discount on the rent."

Lu Changge dealt with it briefly and then changed the subject. "No, you're a company boss, and you just asked me to come here today to discuss such a small business? There must be something else going on."

"You're asking this, do you have to have something to do? Besides, if I really ask you to accompany me to a social event, will you go?"

"I won't go to the social event." Lu Changge said immediately.

"look."

"Let me give you a heads up. I'm not Xu Weiguo's biological nephew, I'm just an acquaintance."

Wang Hongcheng didn't completely believe it. Even if there was no blood relationship, there must be a family connection. Otherwise, why would a powerful leader at the deputy director level value him, a junior who was still in college?
"If I say I just want to make friends, would you believe me?" Wang Hongcheng took this sincere path.

Lu Changge asked, "Why do you two brothers both like to talk about feelings?"

"Brothers, huh? By the way, does your sister have any feelings for my brother?"

"should not."

"Then he has to bear it."

"It's not a bad thing for a boy to suffer a little blow, especially for someone like you who has a lot of money tied around his waist."

In fact, Lu Changge guessed correctly. A busy man like Wang Hongcheng would certainly not look for him for no reason. In fact, he wanted to meet someone today, someone from the bank.

It is already the third quarter of 2007, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to get a loan.

However, Wang Hongcheng didn't know that Lu Changge knew Wu Yiming directly. He knew that Xu Weiguo had this kind of relationship, so he wanted to find out through Lu Changge first, and finally find him through Xu Weiguo.

In addition, he himself also wanted to contact Lu Changge, so he found him.

As for their business, which is pretty big, why did they need more money? Real estate developers are always short of cash. Not to mention they just launched a new project.

Seeing his sincerity, Lu Changge also regarded him as an opportunity to try cooperation.

Xu Weiguo is also a factor in this. The three of them are forming a new community. Cooperation with each other is good for everyone. They have only one goal: to find a way to get some benefits and put them in their own pockets.

So Lu Changge decided to give him some advice and asked, "Is your company planning to buy a car soon?"

"Buy a car?" Wang Hongcheng reacted quickly. "Since you said so, I have to buy one. Who is this related to?"

(End of this chapter)