My Lord, you need to stand up!

Chapter 400: Ultimately, everything we do boils down to how we treat people.

How could Hong Kong businessmen possibly respect Jiangzhou, a remote town on the southwestern border?

Many of Hong Kong's wealthy families and upper-class society migrated from Shanghai during the War of Resistance against Japan and the period of liberation.

Hu Hai is their eternal goddess.

It's possible that apart from Qin Yuye, who genuinely chose to develop a jeans factory in Jiangzhou, everyone else was just using Jiangzhou as a stepping stone.

Given the uncertainty surrounding various investment policies, let's try developing in Jiangzhou and see how things go.

In the past six months, Qin Yuye, an eighteen-year-old girl, has made a fortune in mainland China. The business representatives of those Hong Kong businessmen have all noticed this and have been actively seeking her out.

Only when the business owners in each company expand and thrive in mainland China can these senior executives and managers also benefit.

Wei Dong remained lukewarm towards this; he welcomed the factory construction but made excuses when it came to real estate development.

The latest report is that he has actually started his own real estate business.

In Jiangzhou alone, three high-rise buildings with more than 20 floors have been built.

At that time, a building with more than 20 floors was definitely the tallest building in the entire city.

Building three at the same time is something that can only be done if the technology, funding, and connections are absolutely in place.

In the 1980s, it was extremely rare for a country to be able to balance these three things at the same time.

However, this has delayed several of their long-awaited real estate projects.

Beautiful women and luxury cars were offered to him, but he didn't eat them.

What are you trying to do?

They originally gathered in Jiangzhou to exert pressure and demand an explanation.

The city government also gave them a warm welcome, but delegated the task to Comrade Weidong.

His mastery of Tai Chi left the Hong Kong businessmen helpless.

It turned out that he had started real estate construction in Shanghai again. It was like Wu Dalang drinking medicine and getting a refill. He was excited and intoxicated!

They rushed over, and some even flew in from Hong Kong to meet up.

What's rather funny is that because of them, there aren't many taxis waiting for fares outside Shanghai Airport right now, so the pampered Hong Kong businessmen can only squeeze into minibuses with the planning and construction experts.

Fortunately, the distance is only about ten kilometers. The newly bought van has a strange noise, so I can make a few round trips with it creaking and rattling.

So, on a sweltering summer day in the Jiangnan water towns, beside a bustling construction site by a small river, Wei Dong and a group of young people were seen squatting under the shade of a tree, eating watermelons, under a makeshift shed.

When I turned around at the sound and saw Qin Yuye jumping out of the van, I was a little surprised. Female capitalists really do have the leisure to travel around.

Then I saw Dong Xueqing squeeze down, her eyes filled with a hint of teary-eyed reproach.

He immediately craned his neck to look behind him, and lo and behold, where was his wife?

What's so interesting about a bunch of Hong Kong businessmen?

Let's dig another juicy tidbit.

He cheerfully invited the billionaires to eat watermelon: "These are freshly transported watermelons from Northwest China, a special supply for our reform and construction teams. They're very sweet."

Old Heng was both amused and exasperated: "We've been waiting for you in Jiangzhou for days, and you're so leisurely?!"

But they still took the sliced ​​melon. Accustomed to air-conditioned buildings, luxury RVs, and coffee shops, they really felt their throats were on fire.

Wei Dong waved and introduced the surroundings: "It's an electronic technology industrial park of more than 2,000 acres. The park development company was only established two months ago. They allocated 60 acres to me. We're trying to start debugging the Apple computer assembly line in August and put the monitor and picture tube production line on in October. The investment is more than 50 million US dollars. Do you think I'm not busy?"

Qin Yuye managed to catch his sister-in-law, who was about to rush over for a hug. Ram tried to keep her head down and be meek, but her eyelashes were practically glued to the watermelon she was serving.

The Hong Kong businessmen were immediately intimidated by Citigroup's reputation as a tech upstart: "You really managed to get Apple to cooperate?"

"Not bad, not bad, this whole area is yours? We'll get involved, we're the professionals when it comes to building..."

"As for the city center, have you sorted out your relationship with Shanghai? Let's build a commercial center in the city center!"

“Jiangzhou said there’s no need to build a commercial center for now, but Shanghai will need one. I’ve been here twice, and a high-end hotel is still very necessary. It would be best if you could handle the coordination.”

At that time, the mainland did not refrain from vigorously attracting investment, inviting Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan businessmen, as well as overseas Chinese, to invest and develop through various channels.

But few responded.

The wealthy aren't blind to business opportunities; they're simply wary.
The biggest reason lies in this doubt, the fear that the investment will turn out to be a waste of money.

Moreover, based on their experience and observations, the situation they encountered most often was exactly like the "second son" Wu Xi mentioned, who boasted that he could handle everything.

But true business people understand that this kind of person is the most dangerous.

Because if I can handle everything for you today, I can turn around and get rid of you tomorrow.

Once business rules and the spirit of contracts are trampled on, the entire system of commodity economy and capital value will collapse.

Therefore, the more powerful and influential figures there are, the less likely genuine businessmen are to enter the market. Experienced businessmen know that relying on connections and connections is unsustainable.

But Wei Dong was precisely the type to strictly follow the rules, a trait rarely seen in inland areas: "No way, I'm not developing towards the city center, damn it, you have no idea how deep the water is, I almost capsized this time..."

"You make it sound so easy. You're completely wrong. Why don't you do it in Tsim Sha Tsui or Central? Oh, you do. Well, you're a native of Hong Kong, a local tycoon, so of course you can do it. But Shanghai is a different story. Even if you move a brick in the city center, there will be a bunch of people watching you, trying to poach your partner."

"Get this straight, this is an industrial zone. Why would we build a commercial center... or a hotel? Let me think about it, it seems like it might actually be necessary."

It's still different.

Shangzhou's industrial park development relies entirely on Wei Dong, a wealthy businessman, to support its industrial and commercial growth. External investors wouldn't even give this impoverished prefecture-level city a second glance, so there's little demand for hotels.

Jiangzhou is slightly better, but only to a limited extent. Before the tourism market takes off, it will be difficult for Jiangzhou to attract investment from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and foreign businesses.

The few foreign buyers who owned cars and motorcycles could be accommodated by renovating the guesthouses that were attached to the factory.

The city is already building a glass hotel with more than 20 floors, so Wei Dong shouldn't compete for the market.

Shanghai is different. There are already many tourists, businessmen, and government officials from all over the world. Now, people who have made some money in China will definitely come to Shanghai instead of Jiangzhou or Shangzhou.

Last year, Wei Dong discovered that there weren't many high-end hotels open to the public in Shanghai; the accommodation options were all at the guesthouse level.

With very few officials moving around, a few government-run hotels are enough.

Especially in the last few days, he has been based in this western suburban electronic development zone.

The Shanghai area itself has attracted a number of manufacturers, foreign businesses, and research institutes to gather here.

There is a great demand for mobile residence among foreign engineers and technical experts.

So I pulled out a topographical map and squatted down by the roadside to discuss with these guys: "We can build a hotel, but a commercial center is unreliable. Who would come all this way to do business? But a business center, which is an office building, is still okay. I haven't even considered starting to build a residential building yet. If you want to build one, that's fine. Anyway, we have to report to the city and apply for it. Let's do it together."

The site covers 40,000 square meters, the size of eight football fields.

Including the existing factory buildings, the land can be divided up pretty much like this.

In fact, if Wei Dong had a US dollar, he could definitely handle everything himself.

However, being able to bind some Hong Kong businessmen can be seen as sharing the firepower, preventing them from being regarded as capitalists.

Hong Kong businessmen are also just testing the waters by setting up industries on the outskirts of Shanghai, so that they won't be left behind by the development of the situation, nor will they be severely damaged by any changes.

Rashly investing hundreds of millions in the city center would involve too many complex situations and changes.

They all nodded in agreement.

However, Wei Dong's plan is bundled: "If you build one in Shanghai, you must simultaneously invest in one in Jiangzhou Economic Development Zone. I can finalize the deal there for you right now and also help you ensure that the operation in Jiangzhou will not be affected. I really can't guarantee 100% success in Shanghai."

Under the shade of the trees by the construction site, the Hong Kong businessmen sat on a few small stools brought by Zhuoma and Lamu, enjoying the cool breeze by the river.

Old Heng led the reckoning: "Since you can handle Jiangzhou, why don't we just give you a share of the downtown land we're interested in?"

Wei Dong patiently advised him, who had no intention of getting into real estate: "You have to take things slowly. Even when you're picking up girls, you hold their hands first, then go to a hotel, right? You can't just do *that* the moment you meet them..."

Because two of the participants could only understand Cantonese, Qin Yuye had to translate for them and immediately started covering her mouth and laughing.

The billionaires, however, think that it's not like they'd just do *that* as soon as they met. They believe that if they wanted to, they would automatically spread their legs when they saw each other, so why make things so complicated!
Dong Xueqing thought her brother-in-law's example was ridiculous and secretly pinched him.

Hiding behind him, she explained in English: "He emphasized that there is a gradual process. Jiangzhou is still in the stage of exploring and setting an example for the whole country. We built a residential building next to the zoo, which is already the first high-rise residential building in the mainland. We held the first commodity housing trade fair in the country at the end of April. The mainland is not Hong Kong. Once Jiangzhou does it, dozens or hundreds of cities across the country may follow suit. If we make a mistake, wouldn't it be a huge loss and mistake?"

Qin Yuye quickly followed up in Cantonese: "For example, our jeans factory and clothing factory have hundreds or even thousands of people visiting from all over the country every day. You can't see this in Hong Kong. Pete is very steady in his work, and his efficiency is actually very high. Right now, the construction of three industrial parks is proceeding simultaneously?"

The Hong Kong business tycoons calmed down a bit and called over their assistants who had arrived one after another to sign memorandums and finalize agreements.

The two girls rushed to help, and Li Erfeng sadly realized that she was really far behind.

Even after following Wei Dong around for so long, she couldn't help but think of herself as a cook. Now, she doesn't even dare to approach these two people.

All I could do was silently raise the knife and slice a few more watermelons.

While explaining his work to the planning and architecture experts, Rang Weidong felt a pang of regret about what to do with these wealthy people eating for free: "Hey, hey, save it for the construction site. We should head back to the city first. We still need to report to the city government. Every second counts."

The wealthy immediately perked up and said, "Your conditions are too poor! Don't you have a car? The van we were in didn't even have air conditioning!"

Someone has already sent assistants and entourage to the city center to book a hotel; they must have some connections.

It's just that he's not as reliable and capable of doing business as Wei Dong.

In this vast urban area of ​​Shanghai, the capacity of hotels catering to foreign guests is currently extremely limited.

Wei Dong suddenly remembered his old villa: "Come on, let me show you my house here. If you're interested, it can be a place for you to stay when you come to Shanghai. I'll also tell you how hard it was to get this place."

While muddying the waters to lower their own goals, they were also trying to scare these people into thinking that the good things in the mainland were so easy to pick.

It's more reliable to stick with me.

(End of this chapter)