America: Starting with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 257 Seaview Villa

Stepping inside, the interior is very clean and tidy, with a distinctive decor.

The apartment has everything you could need: sofa, TV, living room, tables, chairs, and benches. It also has two floors and an attached garage.

The owner of Parker showed the two around, introducing the house upstairs and downstairs. "This is the house I used to live in. Back then, I didn't have much money, so I could only live here with my family. As my business grew and I became more financially capable, I moved out with my family. I also had it renovated, but I rarely came back to live here. It's been vacant for a long time. Occasionally, I'll have someone come and clean it. It's a quiet and suitable place to live."

Speaking of this, I can't help but reminisce about the early days of my business, when things were getting better day by day. But unexpectedly, things turned out this way, and I was back to square one.

"Since this house is so meaningful, why don't you keep it and live in it yourself?" Zorro asked.

"Because I need money."

Parker replied helplessly, "Besides, I'm also preparing to leave Los Angeles with my family and move to another city."

"Leave Los Angeles? What about your company then?" Zhang Ailun asked.

Mr. Parker sighed, "I haven't slept a wink since yesterday. I was still hesitating about whether to consign my company to the auction house, thinking of selling assets to pay off debts, but I didn't expect the auction house to have processed my documents and notify me that I can go up for auction tomorrow. Now I can only pray that someone will take over my company and that it won't go unsold, otherwise I'll really have nothing left."

The company was auctioned off, all the debts and troubles were gone, leaving me debt-free and with tens of millions in savings, enough to live a carefree life for the rest of my days.

If the company fails to sell at auction, and the bank continues to press for repayment, liquidating all his assets to pay off debts and then using that money to pay off the wages owed to his employees, he might end up with nothing but a dilapidated shell company, with no chance of making a comeback.

I might as well just jump off a building and file for personal bankruptcy.

"What a coincidence, actually I'm quite interested in your company. Maybe I'll go to the auction tomorrow and try to bid for your company." Zhang Ailun still couldn't bear to see the owner of Parker Company homeless, after all, the Grand Master was kind-hearted.

"That's great!" Parker, the owner, was also somewhat surprised.

"I've listed this apartment building online for $455,000. If you're interested, I can sell it to you for $420,000," the owner of Parker said enthusiastically.

Zhang Ailun walked around the area again and felt that the price was acceptable; it was basically a high-end property in District 5. He immediately nodded in agreement, "Okay. I can pay the full amount right now."

Parker's boss promptly took out the transfer documents, contract, and property certificate from his briefcase, drafted and signed them. After checking them and finding no problems, Zhang Ailun also signed them and transferred $45 to the other party's private account.

The accounts are naturally processed through the Hamburg Foundation, since they can be used to offset taxes to some extent, and it's also more convenient to transfer them to employees on secondment for welfare and rewards.

For ordinary home purchases, at least 0.5%-1.25% property tax is required. However, investing in real estate in the name of a foundation only requires paying 0.2% California property tax, which is $8400.

"We can go see the sea-view villas in Newport now." After handing over the room keys and receiving a text message notification that the money had been deposited, Mr. Parker was in a good mood and wanted to close the deal as soon as possible.

Zhang Ailun had no objection to this. He left the community, got into his Wrangler, searched for the navigation location, and had Zorro drive to the Newport Seaview Villa District in southern Los Angeles.

Prime location, pleasant climate, golden location, villas overlooking the sea. Golden beaches and palm trees are just steps away, private yachts can be taken out to sea, roads connect to the city center and highways, and all amenities are readily available.

Zhang Ailun stopped his car next to the seaside villas and glanced at the development of the villa area. The last time he went to the seaside villas, he was dropping off Sadie's distant cousin and got a free Lamborghini from there. He never imagined that he would be moving to the same seaside villa community himself.

Mr. Parker got out of the car and led the two to the seaside villa at number 12. He unlocked the security door and went inside, where they saw the luxurious decor, swimming pool, and parking garage.

The backyard also has a private helipad, an airplane runway, and hangar facilities.

A private kayak is also moored in the harbor. It's not particularly expensive; it was a freebie with the purchase of the villa and can basically only be driven in the bay currents near the shore. If you want to go on a sea voyage, a private yacht is a more reliable option. If you're looking for speed and comfort, the price is generally over a million US dollars.

The sea-view villa is built with 8 bedrooms and 8 bathrooms; it has no other features except for the abundance of rooms and bathrooms.

The community covers an area of ​​several thousand square meters and has 48 detached villas, each spaced hundreds of meters apart, ensuring privacy. It can be said that it has all the high-end facilities you could want.

The harbor also houses ships and other owners' private yachts. It is close to the southern port, where you can watch whales go out to sea during the day and fall asleep to the sound of the waves at night.

Zhang Ailun took a look and thought the villa was pretty good. Although the location was a bit out of the way, it was not only large in area but also very luxurious.

"I've owned this oceanfront villa for four or five years now, but I don't spend much time living here. The market price is around $350 million, but if you want to buy it, you only need $320 million," the owner of Parker enthusiastically explained.

Zhang Ailun fell into deep thought.

Seeing that the head of the organization was starting to consider the price, the owner of Parker also wisely said again, "Mr. Kim, if you feel the price is not right, we can talk about it again. This price and location are actually quite good. You basically can't buy it for less than three million US dollars."

"Okay, three million dollars, I can buy this villa. After all, it will take some time for you to sell it. Wealthy people generally only consider buying ocean view villas in West Hollywood, downtown, or Santa Monica. Very few people buy here. Unless they are in the shipping business or are financially independent, they will buy a house here. I am considering buying a house here because my friends are all in the South," Zhang Ailun said.

After considering it for a moment, the owner of Parker readily agreed.

After all, even if he sold two houses, the more than three million US dollars would only be enough to support his company for a week, and it wouldn't be enough to repay his bank debts. It's rare that someone wants to take over his company and assets at the same time, so selling them to the same person is not a bad choice.

He immediately drafted a contract, signed his name, checked the transfer instructions, found no problems, signed it, and invested in the property in the name of the foundation, while paying approximately $60000 in property taxes.

-

$3,518,400.

Although he spent money like water, the leader remained unfazed, because soon he would have hundreds of millions of yuan in his account.

Parker's boss received a text message notification that the money had arrived, and a weight was lifted from his shoulders. He then handed over the password to the mansion and instructions on how to operate the indoor facilities.

Seeing Zhang Ailun's straightforwardness, he said, "The whale auction will be held tomorrow, Mr. Jin. I hope to see you tomorrow."

"Don't worry, I'll definitely go." Zhang Ailun smiled.

After exchanging a few more words, Mr. Parker took a taxi and left. Zhang Ailun watched him go, then took out his phone, snapped a picture of his villa, and sent it to his friends.

Zhang Ailun: Moving to a new home.

Soon, I received unanimous blessings from my friends.

Zhang Ailun marked the seaside villa as his new base on Terminator 2.0. Returning to the villa, he saw Zorro lounging lazily on the sofa, and sighed, "Is this what the rich live like?"

"If you'd like to stay here, I can make room for you," Zhang Ailun said.

"Boss, are you serious?" Zorro immediately became interested.

"No way, I'm planning to assign you to build houses and dig trenches on mountain peaks or small town ranches," Zhang Ailun said irritably. "...I'm not going. I'm an assassin, not a laborer," Zorro's expression changed instantly, and he began to protest, sprawling on the sofa and rolling around.

Zhang Ailun ignored him, thinking that he could let Dominic and Jennifer move in later, since the house was big enough.

Reina can come over too, but I'm afraid she only likes to eat alone and won't be willing to come and share.

After all, the Grand Master had long known that she wasn't one to be subservient to others and always liked to provoke him and rebel against the Heavenly Gang. Moreover, she also had to work at the shelter, acting as an NPC in the newbie village to distribute benefits to newly joined Beggar Clan disciples, which wasn't very convenient.

Olivia and Erin would probably accept it readily, since the leader has already had in-depth conversations with most of them, and Jennifer is always involved, since Jennifer is the one who radiates outwards from Jennifer's center.

Zhang Ailun immediately sent them a message.

Reina was initially quite interested, but upon hearing that they would have to share one, she immediately and decisively refused.

The Grand Master was not surprised at all, and could only assure her that she would not be treated unfairly.

Jennifer, Olivia, and Erin readily agreed.

There's no rush to move, since there's not much luggage at the campsite anyway. Dominic can just drive the RV over and bring the stuff over.

Of course, Zhang Ailun had lived in the RV for so long that he no longer needed it, but he was reluctant to sell it. It would be better to keep it as a legacy item for the leader, since it wouldn't take up much space.

After resolving these issues, Dominic sent a message. Zhang Ailun clicked on it and saw that it was about the scavengers.

Dominic: I sent the photos of those guys you showed me this morning to the rest of the team. Someone spotted them on the streets in Leo's area, and they're actually planning to join us. Bailey and Melvin have already taken some people to make contact with them.

Zhang Ailun: They took me to a rocky outskirts under the guise of arranging work. I'm driving there now.

Dominic: OK!

Zhang Ailun put away his phone, glanced at Zorro who was still sprawled on the sofa, and said irritably, "Get up, I have errands to run."

"Is there anything else?" Zorro asked, puzzled.

"If I tell you to kill someone, would you do it?" Zhang Ailun said.

"Kill whom?" Zorro immediately became serious.

"Because of the oil issue at Green Field Manor, someone wants to cause me trouble, but they haven't made any moves yet. If anything happens, I'll let you know," Zhang Ailun said. "They might try to assassinate me, intimidate me, or kidnap me to force me to submit, using hired killers."

"Damn it, I knew those rich people were all heartless."

Zorro was also furious, but he was used to this kind of thing. "I've taken on many similar missions before, but they were mostly just ordinary people with no connections. You're different. Who on earth is so desperate? Don't they know you have weapons?"

Before they had this idea, did they not carefully investigate and consider the background of the leader?

"They probably really don't know what I do. If they did, they wouldn't dare mess with me." Zhang Ailun smiled coldly, showing little interest in the matter.

The people at Lightning Oil are not a united front, but those led by the major shareholder are basically trying to force a sale at a low price.

They'd done similar things many times before; the company's operations were shady. It could be said that since the 60s, the founders of Lightning Oil Company had built their fortune through malicious competition and dirty tricks. Frankly, they were no different from robbers.

The intelligence also revealed that the founder was originally a tire shop owner, but after seeing that his neighbor had struck oil, he used some shady methods to force the neighbor to buy and sell, thus earning his first pot of gold. He then spent money to bribe some politicians, and his business grew bigger and bigger.

Anyone they've targeted will have to pay someone to solve their problems if they can't handle a particular task, and they'll bribe the person who comes to them with trouble.

After all, this is part of the traditional culture of this land. When in doubt, they resort to public opinion; if public opinion fails, they resort to assassination.

President Lincoln of the last century was the subject of much speculation, and later President Kennedy followed suit. Even presidents couldn't avoid cutthroat competition, let alone those in the business world linked to oil resources!

You really can't handle this if you don't have the ability.

He then changed the subject, saying, "But what I'm dealing with now isn't that matter; it's the follow-up to the acquisition of Parker Corporation. Although Parker's competitors have brought down the owner, I've taken over the company and its assets, so I'll definitely have to continue competing with them! Those people can serve as important witnesses and evidence."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Zorro immediately stood up.

Zhang Ailun tossed him the car keys and told him to drive, while he reset the password for the seaside villa, locked the doors and windows, and then planned to have Blitz program the security door to be reinforced when he had some free time.

We got into the Wrangler and drove to the suburbs.

On the other side, Bailey and Melvin were also driving a van with several Beggar Clan members in it, leading five or six scavengers to the suburbs.

On the way, the leader of the scavengers, Magee, was still frantically praising the leader, saying, "I've heard of Mr. Jin's great name for a long time, and I admire and aspire to his style of doing things. Mr. Jin has achieved so much from scratch, he is simply a role model for street scavengers! I've wanted to bring people here to join him for a long time."

"Really? Why didn't you come before?" Bailey asked.

"We used to do scavenging work in District 7. We're not very familiar with District 5, it's quite unfamiliar to us. This time, we're determined to do something big with Mr. Kim!" Magee explained.

Bailey and Melvin exchanged a glance but remained silent.

"Where are we going to work now? Aren't we supposed to be collecting cans in the city?" Magee asked, somewhat puzzled as he watched the vehicle leave the city and head towards the suburbs.

"Mr. Kim values ​​newcomers, so whenever someone joins the team, we usually take them to the secret base for a tour to familiarize them with the work process," Bailey casually started making things up.

"So that's how it is. What a rigorous work environment! I really want to meet Mr. Kim soon." Although Magee said this, he was clearly a little absent-minded and did not expect that he would be selected as soon as he brought his team over.

I couldn't help but curse under my breath, "Are you Louis-Louis 19 so short-staffed? Shouldn't selections for the inner circle involve multiple rounds of assessments?"

They were just trying to sneak in and lay low for a couple of days, so why did they go straight to the secret base?

That's why I say homeless groups are unregulated!

"You'll see our boss soon," Bailey said meaningfully, then ignored the other person and continued to concentrate on driving.

Magee's team didn't sense anything was wrong either.

(End of this chapter)