Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 540 Saving on Storefront Fees

Director Lu led Xiao Wei to the next office and introduced him, saying, "This is Director Huang. You'll be sitting in the same room with him from now on, so Old Huang won't be lonely every day. I've already set up your desk and everything."

Deputy Director Huang stood up, smiled, and shook hands with Xiao Wei, while Chong Lu said "go away" a few times.

Xiao Wei said, "Then I'll have to trouble Chief Huang this year. Don't bother me."

Huang laughed and said, "No, why would I bother you? We can just go to Anji and have a meal together and everything will be fine." The three of them laughed.

Lu said, "Hey Lao Huang, Xiao Wei said he'll help us build the building without us having to pay. He'll keep some of the extra housing units to offset the debt. What do you think?"

Huang scratched his head and thought for a moment before saying, "Why are you asking me about this? You and the political commissar can decide on it."

Lu said, "When it comes to matters in the institute, everyone should give their opinion, and we should abide by the majority."

Xiao Wei said, "The design institute's plan is to build a building on the main street, with a large single-floor area, sixteen floors. The bottom four floors will be offices, accessible from the front entrance, and the top twelve floors will be residential, accessible from the back. It will have elevators, with four or five households per floor, and a concrete structure. This building will belong entirely to the police station."

Then the surrounding area will be landscaped, like a small park. Along the street side, a row of three-story buildings will be constructed, with a small plaza between the two buildings. The parking garage will be built on the annex side. Anyway, I still maintain my opinion: we'll each own half of the three-story storefronts, and the residential units will be mine.

Huang asked, "How much would it cost to build this building?"

Xiao Wei said, "The specific budget hasn't been released yet. Dean Cheng said that the entire 16-story building with elevators here will cost more than 3 million yuan, and we'll need to install three elevators."

Huang said to Lu, "What are we doing? What are we doing? How much can we sell this land for? We'll be living in an apartment building with an elevator. How much do elevator apartments sell for in Fengtian right now? More than three thousand yuan per square meter." At this time, the only residential building with an elevator was Riverside Garden, which helped Xiaowei negotiate the price.

Lu said, "Twelve floors, that means there can be sixty apartments?"

Xiao Wei nodded and said, "Yes, there are 60 units per floor, with each floor having a configuration of three large and two small units. The large units are 120 square meters, and the small units are over 90 square meters."

Huang said, "We have about twenty people in total. If we sell those thirty units to related units, we can still get some money back. How much can we gain from this? Besides, there's the storefront too. The annual rent isn't a small amount. If we really get this going, we won't have to beg for small change every day."

Lu said, "Then let's do it. I'll submit the report. It's settled then. It's like Xiaowei spent over three million to buy this piece of land behind us. No, wait, we still need to spend money on the storefront. Hey, Lao Huang, what I mean is, if we build an elevator building here and Xiaowei throws over three million at us, we can just forget about the storefront. This deal won't be a loss."

Huang thought for a moment and said, "That's true, it is indeed a bit too much. Let's not do it then. It would be great if we could change our office environment and live in an apartment building with an elevator. We wouldn't dare to even think about it if this didn't happen."

Xiao Wei said, "This is a matter of mutual consent, so there's no need to be so calculating."

Lu said, "This is official business. We won't bring personal relationships into this. Forget about the storefront; this building is fine. The police station has already gotten a great deal. If we want more storefronts, how will people face us?"

Xiao Wei smiled and said, "It's okay. How about you and Political Commissar Lu each set up a shop here after it's built, so your families can do some small business?"

Lu said, "We'll talk about this later. By the way, Lao Huang, make a banner for the police-civilian joint construction project and send it to the power company. Also, set up an alarm point there. Xiao Wei helped us find connections, so the electricity bill will be reduced in the future."

Huang patted Xiao Wei on the shoulder and said, "You're awesome, buddy. If you ever need anything, just let me know. I'll consider you my friend."

Lu asked, "Did you pay the money to the person or to their restaurant?"

Director Huang burst into laughter.

Lu said, "There's another issue. It'll take at least a year to rebuild this area after the demolition. How will we manage our office space? And our accommodation?"

Xiao Wei said, "I can't help you with the office work, but as for accommodation, I can contact the power company's guesthouse for you. There are some around here, right? You can stay there for a year, and I'll cover the expenses. Consider it a donation from me to the company."

Huang said, "Yes, the power supply company has a guesthouse. Really? Then there's no problem. Let's borrow it from the office or school. It's only for a year anyway. At worst, we can just sell the house to them after it's over."

Lu said, "Okay, then you take charge of the liaison, I'll handle things at the bureau." He patted Xiao Wei on the shoulder and said, "I won't stand on ceremony with you, I'll keep that in mind."

Xiao Wei said, "It's only right. You guys helped me a lot when I first came here, and I didn't hold back at all."

……

The next day, Xiaowei went to the police station and found nothing wrong, so he and Chen Hui went to look at houses.

There are many old buildings in Fengtian, many of which have been designated as cultural relics. The old buildings are mainly European-style mansions, and most of them are currently occupied by various organizations for office use.

Xiao Wei and Chen Hui drove around Fengtian, visiting Taiyuan, Zhongjie, Xita, Beixing, Huigong, Jianshe Avenue, Shenfei, Xiaonan, and Daxi. They really covered the entire city. Although Chen Hui was unconventional, he was reliable. Xiao Wei was satisfied with the location and conditions of the place he found. The next step was to find connections and negotiate the price, something Xiao Wei couldn't do much about.

In the afternoon, Chen Hui went to find someone to process the development company's license, while Xiao Wei went to Wanliu to find Engineer Wang.

The small courtyard that was originally built by the river is basically completed and has entered the decoration stage. The all-concrete house is built quickly. The construction of the surrounding wall has already begun on the larger courtyard.

Xiao Wei parked his car on the side of the road and went inside.

It turned out that Zhang Huzi's old house had been completely demolished, and no hidden gold or silver treasures were found. Only a few old beams remained, which were considered some good stuff, but unfortunately, Xiaowei couldn't use them yet. In those days, demolishing old houses often yielded some surprises, such as a few jars of Yuan Shikai silver dollars, a few small gold bars, or ancient paintings, but unfortunately, Xiaowei never had a chance to find anything like that.

The Zhang family's old house did indeed have some old things; their family genealogy was wrapped in oilcloth and hidden in the rafters. Engineer Wang showed the genealogy to Xiao Wei, who said, "What would I do with this?"

Engineer Wang said, "Keep it. We'll return it to them when we get the chance. It's not easy to keep it; it's a good deed." You know, back then, if a family was reported for having a family tree, their house would be confiscated, and they'd be subjected to public humiliation and parading through the streets. I don't know why back then, but even your own family's heritage was illegal.

(End of this chapter)