Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 825 Mature Guidance

Back in his room, Chen Hui found the door ajar. As he entered, he was taken aback. "Uncle Cheng? When did you arrive?" Inside, Gazi was sitting on the sofa talking to a middle-aged man.

Uncle Cheng turned and glanced at them, saying, "I came up right after Mayor Li, not intending to run into him, since you guys have nothing else to do anyway. Why did you suddenly flip the table?"

Chen Hui introduced Xiao Wei, Xia Maosheng, and Liu Hongliang: "This is Uncle Cheng, Cheng from Chenggong. He's my dad's best friend, Uncle. This is Xiao Wei, this is Xia Maosheng, and this is Liu Hongliang. They're all my buddies."

Xiao Wei and the other two stepped forward and called him "Uncle." Uncle Cheng said, "I know you all, but I've never seen you before. Please sit down."

After the group sat down, Uncle Cheng asked, "What happened today?"

Chen Hui said, "I've run into a lunatic. He has a few million and doesn't know his place. He goes around asking people to drink with him, and if you don't drink, you're disrespecting him. Xiao Wei really doesn't drink. Besides, why should he make us drink just because he says so?"

"We didn't even drink, but he got all worked up, saying we wouldn't be able to leave Harbin. Then he brought that guy surnamed Yao over and made us apologize and drink a whole bottle of baijiu. That guy surnamed Yao was clearly siding with that mentally ill guy, and in the end, he said we were being ungrateful. That's when Xiaowei got angry."

Uncle Cheng rubbed the back of his neck, looking completely bewildered, and asked, "Who is it? Is there such a powerful figure in Bingcheng?"

Chen Hui said, "The guy who runs the team, what's his name? Tengfei, right? His surname is Hu."

Xia Maosheng said, "Hu Jun'er."

Uncle Cheng smacked his lips and said, "This is just someone who's gotten a little rich and lost their way. They've gotten used to showing off in front of ordinary people. What did Li Weiting say? Mayor Li."

Chen Hui said, "This matter wasn't mentioned. Manager Kan said not to worry about it, he would handle it."

Xiao Wei said, "Mayor Li's attitude was impeccable, but something felt off to me. It seemed like everything was predetermined – what we were supposed to do and how we were supposed to do it – even the land price seemed to be set. He just wanted us to do as he said. Is this how people usually work?"

Uncle Cheng bit his cheek and said, "Think it over carefully. How should I put it? He's capable, but he also has big problems. He's too greedy, and his attitude towards colleagues is completely different from his attitude towards doing business with you. Let's put it this way, he's the kind of person who openly asks for things and doesn't hide anything."

Are you asking him to build a building? I bet that land was acquired by his son again. You can forget about the location; it'll definitely be some remote corner on the outskirts of the city. He'll sell it to you for tens of millions, and you'll have to build a tall, big building, and you'll also have to prepare a few rooms for him to use.

Everyone in Harbin knows about this.

He calls this "making friends." He always makes sure you eat and dress well, then he'll call you over to settle the bill, and maybe even get you some construction projects, which he'll split with his son. There's no big business in Harbin; everyone's gone to Fengtian Xidu or crossed the border.

State-owned enterprises are impossible to leave, otherwise they would have left long ago. Frankly, very few municipal enterprises are profitable now; they've all been ruined by him. Secretary Tian is cautious, doesn't easily offend people, and is considered a good person. His ambition lies in higher levels; he doesn't concern himself much with local affairs.

Anyway, you can figure it out yourselves, that's the situation. You'll definitely make money.

Chen Hui looked at Xiao Wei and said with a smile, "This guy is way more amazing than Lao Mi. Compared to him, Lao Mi is no problem."

Xiao Wei thought for a moment and asked, "Uncle, could you help me buy some houses? Older buildings in good locations."

Uncle Cheng said, "Ice City has nothing but old buildings. If you don't count the Forbidden City, even Fengtian can't compare. This city was built by foreigners, people from about thirty countries. Why doesn't it have city walls? When the city walls were built, this area was just a wasteland with nothing at all."

This was originally a truly harsh and cold place. If the Russians hadn't occupied Vladivostok for access to the sea, this area would probably still be a wasteland. There wouldn't be any cities here. Before the Qing Dynasty, they didn't care about this area at all; there was no one here.

Don't listen to any of that talk about Beijing or the capital; it's all nonsense. Back then, it was just a bunch of shacks. What could nomadic people do? They couldn't even build earthen fortresses. Once they were settled, they moved south. Who was going to suffer here? In the end, they prospered under the Russians, mainly because of climate adaptation; it's warmer here than in their homeland. Haha.

According to the plan, the city will definitely expand outwards in the future. These old buildings in the central urban area won't be demolished easily. They're there to attract people from outside. What would be left if they were demolished?

Chen Hui asked Xiao Wei, "So, Mayor Li isn't going to take care of things?"

Xiao Wei said, "Can you control him? You come to play with him every day? Do you think this kind of person can last? Human greed knows no bounds, it just gets bigger and bigger. Who's the same? We're considered rich now, right? What are we doing here? Isn't it just wanting to earn more? Doesn't Uncle Cheng want a promotion? In his case, it's just that his appetite keeps growing. As for whether you make money or not, do you think he cares about that?"

Xia Maosheng said, "That's no fun. Will he let you do a good job?"

Xiaowei said, "Buy a few buildings and open a food factory and cake shop here. Nobody will pay attention to those. As for restaurants and stuff, I think we should forget about it and see how it goes. Xiaohui, believe it or not, when we open our restaurant, it becomes their canteen the very next day, and it's free."

Uncle Cheng said, "It's not that bad. He wouldn't do something like that. There are plenty of people doing business; you can find any one of them to settle your account."

Xiao Wei shook his head: "No way, I'm not confident. This is their territory, we don't want to worry about a few percent. Just listen to me, this area has four main districts, right, Uncle? Daoli, Daowai, Nangang, and Xiangfang. We'll buy four slightly larger buildings, open a food factory, four cake shops, and then use the remaining space to rent out clothing and shoe stores, all separately registered."

Xia Maosheng asked, "Does the cake shop also need to be registered separately?"

Xiao Wei said, "No need for the cake shop, I mean the shopping mall. The cake shop is fine, just say it's a franchise store, that's a minor issue. I guess Uncle Cheng will handle it, as long as we don't publicize the sister company."

Liu Hongliang said, "Why don't we just let Uncle Cheng's kids come in and help with the work? He can manage things here in Bingcheng. Uncle Cheng, how old are your kids?"

Uncle Cheng said, "Xiao Hui knows that I have two daughters. The older one works in the bureau, and the younger one is in college."

Chen Hui chuckled, and Xiao Wei and the other two turned to look at Uncle Cheng. Uncle Cheng chuckled a few times and said, "I got married early, and my kids are older now."

Chen Hui said, "Uncle Cheng is a year younger than my dad, and my sister is three years older than me."

Uncle Cheng said, "Aren't there younger women than you? We offered to be your wife, but you wouldn't take it. Isn't my Cheng Jiao pretty?"

Chen Hui laughed and said, "Being a buddy is fine, being a buddy is fine, hehehehe."

Uncle Cheng asked, "Has your wife and child arrived yet?"

Chen Hui said, "They're here, in the room next door."

Uncle Cheng sighed, smoothed his hair, and said, "We've all grown up, settled down, and started our own families. We're getting old."

(End of this chapter)