"I called my dad. A billion is a no-go, but he agreed to give you a hundred million, interest-free. Lin Chu, I did my best."
On his way to get drinks, Lin Chu received a ssage from Yang Huixian.
A few minutes later, Lin Chu also got a call from Yang Guangrong.
"What’s going on, Xiaolin? Are you buying land? Ah Xian told about it. I have so cash on hand, so you can use it for now."
This...
Lin Chu chuckled. "No need, really. The matter is already resolved. Heh, I was just in a temporary pinch and asked around. And what do you know, I found soone... I’m not short on cash anymore."
’The test is over. This kind of belated redy, after all that weighing of pros and cons, doesn’t really an much.’
Of course, the relationship could still be maintained.
’It’s just that the door that might have broken through my concrete walls has closed once again.’
Hearing this, Yang Guangrong made a few more concerned pleasantries before hanging up.
Lin Chu imdiately replied to Yang Huixian: "I’ve already borrowed the money, and I got a call from your dad. Heh, it wasn’t a big deal, but you really went and bothered him over it."
Yang Huixian: "I was just worried about you! It’s good that things are resolved. Want to co ho with for dinner tomorrow night?"
Lin Chu: "I don’t have ti. I have to entertain my investors lately. How about after I get through this busy period?"
She was silent for a mont before replying: "Okay, I understand. No matter what happens, I’ll always be your strongest supporter."
Lin Chu: "Don’t get all sentintal, you’re making tear up. Love you, mwah."
...
About an hour later, Lin Chu received a ssage from Liao ili: "I’m sorry, I did my best, but my dad won’t budge at all. He doesn’t even approve of us dating. But I won’t give up."
Lin Chu smiled. ’The phrase "did my best" looks very familiar.’
’This whole round was full of "best efforts," huh.’
He casually replied: "It’s fine. I actually found funding just a little while ago. If your dad cos to Yang City, I’ll treat him to a al. So things can still be discussed. Besides, it was my fault in the first place for trying to borrow money while we’re dating."
Liao ili: "Hugs."
Lin Chu: "Kisses."
Her: "So... are we still going to Disney?"
Lin Chu: "I just got the investors’ money. If I leave Peng City right away, I’m afraid rumors will spread that I’ve skipped town. Let’s talk about it after I’m done with this project."
Her: "(Laughing-crying emoji) Okay, then take care of yourself."
...
After that whole song and dance, it seed like their relationships hadn’t changed much.
In fact, Lin Chu’s attitude toward them had actually improved, and he seed much more polite than before.
...
Li Kai’s maid cafe was about to open, with the date set for August 18th.
A very auspicious day.
His and Lu Ming’s MBA program was also about to start, on August 21st.
Wang Zhefei was also quitting his job soon, in two months at most.
Liu Junfeng had shut down his sports car club and was now working for Lin Chu, live-streaming the private board etings. Today, he’d landed his first client, that luxury goods rchant from Yang City.
Zhang Peng was even busier, so busy he didn’t even have ti to co out for drinks.
While drinking that night, everyone started talking about all this and felt an inexplicable sense of wistfulness.
Ti was flying by.
Everyone’s lives had undergone so changes and were continuing to change.
It was as if they had truly given up clubbing.
Tonight’s drinking session was at the Intercontinental’s executive lounge. The atmosphere was much better than at Wanhao, and it was a pure bros’ night out—not a single woman in sight.
"FUCK!"
In a mont of leisure while drinking, Li Kai was scrolling through his social dia feed when he suddenly saw a post and couldn’t help but cry out in shock.
"What’s wrong?"
Lin Chu, his face slightly flushed, looked at him. He had drunk a bit too much today and was clearly feeling it. That whole test had, to so extent, affected his mood.
"Shi Yan skipped town! There’s a warrant out for his arrest. He took over ten million with him and abandoned his wife and kids."
Li Kai said, his tone explosive.
Huh?
’Who’s Shi Yan?’
For a mont, Lin Chu was also a bit lost. "Who?"
Li Kai clicked his tongue. "That guy, rember? Last ti at Sky City, he went up and was bothering you, so you left early, and Old Liu smashed a few bottles."
Hearing him say that, it dawned on Lin Chu.
"Oh, that motherfucker. He even bought a mbership to my gym. The gym didn’t skip town, but the mber did."
A few of them couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
Li Kai fell silent for a mont, suddenly recalling the ti he first t Shi Yan in his twenties. Back then, Shi Yan was in construction, had contracted a section of a highway, and had just made his first fortune. He was decked out in designer brands, full of high spirits, with so starlet on his arm... The scene was still vivid in his mind, as if it were only yesterday.
"Brothers, let’s have a drink. ’Let us get drunk today while we have wine.’"
"Damn it, I might be getting married at the end of this year."
Li Kai said, taking the initiative to raise his glass.
The group imdiately raised their glasses as well, laughing and offering their congratulations.
...
Before his MBA program started, Lin Chu planned to acquire the Famous Golf Club in Xili.
That way, once the program began, he would naturally have a powerful status symbol, and perhaps he could even recruit his first batch of core mbers.
So, in the ti that followed, Lin Chu was insanely busy.
Famous Real Estate was an established property developer, but it had never been particularly strong. This might have been related to the owner’s personality—he favored stability, didn’t develop many properties, but the ones he did were high-quality with a good reputation.
However, this type of real estate company was also one that didn’t grow as quickly.
Without taking on massive debt and leveraging capital to the extre, they were destined to get a much smaller piece of the pie and make far less money during the real estate frenzy of the past decade or so.
Even so, as the saying goes, "heroes are not free to command their fate." In the current economic climate, they couldn’t hold on any longer. Their capital chain was about to break.
A large financing round was due for repaynt in less than half a month, and the industry widely believed they would most likely default.
An avalanche was coming.
So they were very efficient.
After a few preliminary and rapid rounds of contact, both sides were very satisfied with the proposed deal.
It was like dry tinder eting a blazing fire.
The level of etings and talks gradually escalated.
Until... Lin Chu was sitting in the office of Zhou Ming, the founder and president of Famous Real Estate.
Zhou Ming looked like an old man, over sixty, with salt-and-pepper hair that he hadn’t dyed. He wore a pair of tortoiseshell glasses and had a calm, scholarly, and composed deanor, like a university professor.
He was, of course, aware of most of the information about Lin Chu: young, sharp, ambitious, 24 years old.
’This feeling, honestly, is not a pleasant one.’
’The core asset I built with my own hands, a paradise that could be called my Utopia, has to be sold because of funding issues.’
’But the golf course is ultimately just an accessory, a plaything even. The real estate developnts are the core business. If I don’t sell, the capital chain can’t be saved, and decades of hard work might all go down the drain.’
"President Lin, I’ve actually thought about this day coming, but I didn’t expect it to be exactly ten years."
"In ’14, I took over this course from another Hong Kong businessman, renovated it on a large scale, and transford it into what I wanted it to be. I spent the best ten years of my life here."
"Wealth... it is the most impartial thing in the world, rely lent to n for a ti. Like rain on withered flowers, like wind scattering clouds, it cycles through. The poor beco rich, the rich beco poor. There is no such thing as a family that stays wealthy for a hundred generations."
Zhou Ming steeped the tea, his hands and voice perfectly steady. There was no trace of sentintality in his tone; he was just speaking calmly.
Lin Chu was slightly taken aback. He really hadn’t expected the man to say sothing like this to him.
’Interesting.’
’I’ll listen.’
"Then what do you believe is constant, President Zhou?"
Lin Chu tapped his knuckles on the table, thanking him for the tea, and asked with a smile.
’Let’s talk.’
Zhou Ming took a light sip of tea, jutted his chin toward the calligraphy on the wall above his head, and smiled silently.
Lin Chu glanced at it.
It was, surprisingly, the "Four Sentences" of Zhang Zai.
To establish a mind for Heaven and Earth, to secure a destiny for the people, to carry on the lost teachings of past sages, and to bring peace to all future generations.
For a mont, Lin Chu felt it was all slightly absurd.
’Damn, a real estate developer hanging sothing like this in his office. It’s too grand.’
’If you truly had such ideals and sentints, why not go into politics?’
’Raking in money hand over fist in real estate while spouting Zhang Zai’s Four Sentences... it doesn’t make much sense.’
’Human nature is just to have double standards, I guess.’
"You are stronger than . You’re still working on intangible cultural heritage, which can be considered ’carrying on the lost teachings of past sages.’ That, I find quite moving."
"My CFO tells the source of your funds is very mysterious, that you might be a ’white glove’ for so big shot. But I thought about it, and it’s fine. It’s sothing I can’t even hold onto myself, so why should I care about where it goes?"
He seed very philosophical about it, already prepared to exit the stage. Not that he had a choice.
Lin Chu nodded with a smile, neither confirming nor denying, and pulled the conversation back to reality. "The price negotiated yesterday was 2.1 billion. For the first paynt, I’ll pay 1.5 billion to acquire 72% of the equity. The remaining shares will be frozen. Three, six, and twelve months after I take over, I will pay out 200 million, 200 million, and another 200 million, respectively, and the corresponding shares will be unfrozen. What do you think, President Zhou?"
Zhou Ming seed to want to say sothing more.
But those words yanked him back to reality, and he couldn’t help but let out a long sigh.
’This younger generation truly has no ideals, no sentint. Everything is just money, money, money.’
But...
At this mont, in front of the "buyer," he didn’t feel he had the right to pull rank with his age, so he didn’t say it out loud, rely thinking it over.
He poured another cup of tea, stared at Lin Chu for a while, and pondered for a mont.
"I have no objections."
"I wish us a pleasant partnership."
He nodded, sowhat wistfully, and proactively extended his hand, gripping Lin Chu’s firmly.
...
「Two days later.」
All the legal docunts were signed. Under Lin Chu’s na, there was now a golf club.
According to Zhu Yixian, out of the 13 golf clubs in all of Peng City, this one could currently be ranked 5th.
At two in the afternoon, the sun was shining brightly.
In front of the clubhouse.
The sign for the Famous Group, as well as the gilded sign for the Famous Golf Club, were taken down by workers.
A brand new, gilt-lettered sign for the "Peng City LC Golf Club" was carefully hoisted up.
Lin Chu invited the senior executives from the Famous Group, executives from other golf clubs, the club’s previous core mbers, his own friends, and so local governnt officials to a small ribbon-cutting ceremony.
As the scissors cut through the big red flower, a genuine smile couldn’t help but spread across Lin Chu’s lips.
’Riding the high of success!’
’Young and promising!’
’As for the future, I’ll figure it out as I go!’
’After all, I’m only twenty-four fucking years old!’
...
...
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