Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 499 Exchange

Director Sun picked up a cigarette from the table, put it in his mouth, and pulled open a drawer to find a lighter. He said, "You're busy and you're leaving? You're such a high-ranking leader, how could I dare say I'm busy? Just say what you need to say." From their conversation, it was clear that the two were acquaintances. In terms of rank, this director of the management office was at most a section chief, while Brother Liu was practically a deputy director-general.

Brother Liu said, "What else can I ask you for? Get me two stalls, make sure there's enough space."

Director Sun paused for a moment, glanced at Brother Liu, his gaze sweeping over Xiao Wei and Chen Hui's faces, nodded, and said, "Why didn't you say anything earlier? It's all full now." After thinking for a moment, he stood up and said, "Wait a minute, I'm going to the restroom. I have a bit of an upset stomach today."

Brother Liu stood up and said, "Perfect, let's go together." The two of them left the office.

Once outside, Director Sun asked, "Who is it?" and led Brother Liu to a corner at the back.

Brother Liu scratched his head and said, "This is the stall of our boss's kid, the biggest one in Northeast China. He has to have this stall. It's rare for him to come to me."

Director Sun took a drag of his cigarette, exhaled a long puff of smoke, pondered for a moment, and said, "There is a place, but the key is that if I give it up, I'll offend a lot of people. Nobody expected this area to be so popular back then. The planning was a bit flawed. Everyone has connections. Now I'm being contacted all day long. I'm almost losing all my hair."

Back then, people were far more enthusiastic about making money than they are now, and there were very few ways to make money in those days, so any opportunity was fiercely contested.

Brother Liu said, "I wouldn't bother you with anyone else, but this has to be done. Besides, who am I going to offend? Let whoever has the ability go to Fengtian and find them. Let's see if they dare. Someone said they should come to me."

Director Sun slowly nodded and said, "Alright, but the rent can't be reduced. It has to be the normal amount, otherwise it won't be fair."

Brother Liu glanced at Director Sun and said, "Do you think they'd care about your rent? Just keep an eye on things and make sure you don't cause any trouble. There aren't many honest people around here."

Director Sun said, "That won't do. Individuals can only do their own business. The police station will be setting up a checkpoint here soon. There are too many people here every day, and they're really targeting petty thieves. They come here to work on time every day."

Brother Liu said, "Well then, I'll talk to him and ask him to help you find a place on Taiyuan Street so that I won't owe you a favor for nothing."

Director Sun smiled and said, "That's great, is it feasible?"

Brother Liu said, "As long as he agreed, that's fine. What can't that old man do in the Northeast? He's got the ability to reincarnate. There's no way I can be jealous of him."

Director Sun said, "Then think of some way to go back and be reborn."

Brother Liu punched Director Sun and laughed. The two of them went to the restroom together, washed their hands, and returned to the office.

Once inside, Brother Liu said to Chen Hui, "Xiao Hui, come here." Chen Hui stood up, and the two went outside. Brother Liu said, "It's settled. Old Sun's family is also in business. He asked me to inquire if we could help him get a place on Taiyuan Street."

Chen Hui asked, "What do you do?"

Brother Liu pointed into the mall and said, "Clothes, shoes, hats, that's all."

Chen Hui said, "I need to go back and ask. Is it possible? Anyway, whether it's Taiyuan or Zhongjie, I'll help him find a place. But I can't guarantee the timeframe. Don't tell me he's dying. Let me think... before the end of September, okay? How big of a place does he want?"

Brother Liu said, "It's good enough if we can find a place over there, let him choose whatever he wants? He definitely understands that he'll figure it out himself later."

Chen Hui said, "Okay, that saves us a lot of trouble. We were just looking for a shop anyway, so we'll just carve out a space for him, and he can pay the rent himself. The price will follow ours; the space we're getting will definitely be big, so it shouldn't be too high. Brother Liu, are you interested? If you are, I can take you there directly."

Back then, when it came to renting shops, the bigger the shop, the easier it was to find; the smaller the shop, the harder it was to find one. The buildings were all owned by government agencies, and they didn't have the patience to negotiate with you for every little space. This is why business models like Fengtian Spring Department Store became popular later on. Private individuals couldn't afford to rent, so those with shrewdness would rent the entire building and then divide it up for their own businesses.

Take Fengtian Spring Department Store on Beizhong Street, for example. It has now been acquired by Shanghai Fosun and is now the second phase of Yulong Shopping Mall on Zhongjie Street. That's how it started out. The owner was shrewd and daring, and of course, he had connections.

He started by renting squares and then setting up simple shopping malls, dividing them into stalls for rent. He rented squares at Fengtian Industrial Exhibition Hall, vacant land in Tianjin North Street, vacant land in Shengli South Street, and Kunming North Street. He kept doing this from the late 80s onwards, renting out any available land for two years.

Money was easy to make in the 1990s. No matter where he set up his shop, it would be snapped up instantly and packed full. In 2015, he sold his 18,400 square meters of fixed property on Beizhong Street to Shanghai Fosun.

Over twenty years, what was his net income? In 1998, the land price in Zhongjie was already 12,000 yuan per square meter. Looking back now, what did he give up besides time? He just rented a piece of empty land and built a shed. He was bold enough to sell his house on Beizhongjie, but he still had a building on Zhongjie.

Brother Liu said, "You're not working anymore? Focusing on your business? What are you doing? Can you tell me?"

Chen Hui said, "I was on unpaid leave, but I couldn't handle it. Besides, my dad is here, so it's hard to say what I'd do at work. I might as well just come out and do something else. That guy inside, Zhang Wei, from your Beixi, I work for him. I just run errands for him. He decides everything. Whatever he says to my dad carries more weight than I do."

Brother Liu peeked at Xiao Wei and asked, "What does his family do?"

Chen Hui said, "His father-in-law is a big shot in the provincial capital's construction industry. If you ever need to build a house or get land, just ask him. He'll be a good match."

Brother Liu nodded, and the two went into the house. Brother Liu glanced at Director Sun.

Director Sun took out a floor plan and said, "Here, take a look. These are the only places we can use now. Too many people are trying to pull strings, so we haven't dared to put them here. It's only because Director Liu is here that I have no choice. You can choose one."

Several people gathered around to look. Director Sun circled a few times on the map with a pen. These were the hard corners next to the main gates. The north and south doors of the two halls of the mall were not centered. The stalls were arranged from the east wall inside out. The main passage was on the west side. This left the four west corners of the four main gates empty. The net depth was not large, only about two meters wide, but the advantage was that they would not be crowded with the existing stalls and could be arranged longer.

Director Sun said, "The original design was to put a row of them here as well, but we didn't because of traffic issues. Instead, we squeezed a row out in the middle. All four corners are fine. If you choose two, I can't guarantee the other two either, haha. Just so you know, they can't be too long, no more than five meters, otherwise it will be too crowded when there are many people."

The main pedestrian passageway in the underground shopping mall is along the south wall, and these four stalls are located at the corner of the passageway.

(End of this chapter)