Chapter 67

"Brother Ming, look, look, you're in the newspaper again!"

At the entrance of the immigration office building, Tang Ran skipped out of the door and ran towards Zhou Ming, who was waiting for her to finish work. She took out the newspapers from her bag and unfolded them one by one for Zhou Ming to see: "Brother Ming, look, this is the Nanjiang Daily, and here are the Lingnan Times and the Economic News, and these few are from the capital and Haibin's economic newspapers."

Taking the newspapers from Tang Ran, Zhou Ming saw all the marks she had made on the news about him and couldn't help but tease her, "You little girl, didn't you spend your whole day at work just finding newspapers for me?"

"Of course not!" Tang Ran said, "I was very serious at work. I found these while I had nothing to do."

Tang Ran pouted and said to Zhou Ming, "Why didn't you take me to the signing ceremony? I had to look through the newspapers!"

"Ran Ran, it's not that I didn't want to take you, but I was afraid that you, a little girl, might get into trouble in the chaotic scene. Didn't you see how scared the hotel staff were?" Zhou Ming comforted her.

While Zhou Ming and Tang Ran were chatting, a few of Tang Ran's colleagues also finished work and walked out of the door. Seeing Tang Ran with Zhou Ming, they came over to greet her: "Ran Ran, is this the Brother Ming you often mention at work? He looks quite handsome, and I heard he's a big boss in Gangcheng?"

Zhou Ming nodded to Tang Ran's colleagues, and one of the older women teased, "Mr. Zhou, it's quite an honor for a big boss like you to greet us!"

Another younger woman said, "That's right. I heard that yesterday at the signing ceremony, when dozens of media reporters were interviewing you, you just walked away, leaving them all hanging. You must be quite cool!"

"How could that be? I did answer some questions. Otherwise, how would there be anything written about me in these newspapers?" Zhou Ming explained.

"But you still walked away!" The young woman's eyes sparkled as she said admiringly, "That was dozens of media reporters. If it were me, I would have been so excited I couldn't speak. Other company bosses or leaders would have been eager to talk to the reporters for days. Only you, Mr. Zhou, are so unique and can just leave them hanging."

Tang Ran had something to say about that: "That's because those people want more media exposure. My Brother Ming already has media coming to interview him in Gangcheng, and he's always on the front page. Here in Nanjiang, he's not even on the front page. Why would he bother with more interviews?"

"Right, right, right, in the end, your Brother Ming is the best!" The older woman who spoke first joked.

Tang Ran blushed and said, "Sister Wang, what are you saying!"

Sister Wang chuckled, "Alright, I know you're shy. I know you and your Brother Ming have a dinner date, so we won't disturb you anymore!"

After Sister Wang and the others left, Tang Ran said to Zhou Ming, quite embarrassed, "Brother Ming, I'm sorry. When I was looking through the newspapers for news about you today, they saw and asked me about it. I couldn't resist and told them, but I didn't want to. Brother Ming, are you angry with me?"

Looking at Tang Ran's timid expression, Zhou Ming smiled and said, "Of course not. I'm your boyfriend. I'm proud that you can be proud of your boyfriend at work. How could I be angry?"

Tang Ran was relieved, "Thank you, Brother Ming!"

Suddenly, Zhou Ming's pager beeped. He took it out and saw it was Du Peng's number. Tang Ran then took Zhou Ming to the reception room to borrow a phone and called Du Peng.

The call was quickly answered, and Du Peng's cheerful laugh came through, "Congratulations, Mr. Zhou, you're in the newspapers again! And so many at once, that's great news!"

"Cut it out! Don't give me that crap!" Zhou Ming laughed and scolded, "What do you want?"

"Alright, no more jokes. It's about what you asked me to do. I've already contacted Governor Xiong. Here's his office number and his pager number. Write them down."

Du Peng then recited a string of numbers, and Zhou Ming had Tang Ran find a piece of paper to write them down. To be safe, Zhou Ming double-checked with Du Peng. Then Zhou Ming thought for a moment and asked, "I've never been involved in politics and don't understand the situation. Since Governor Xiong is helping me because of your family's influence, do I need to visit him and make some social calls, or can I just contact him directly and talk about the matter?"

Hearing Zhou Ming's words, Du Peng suddenly sounded defeated, "Zhou Ming, can we still be friends?"

Zhou Ming was taken aback, "What's wrong?"

"I didn't tell you because I was waiting for you to ask me, so I could teach you some political rules as a red offspring. But you, you just saw the problem right away, leaving me no room to show off." Du Peng said in a pained voice, "So, Zhou Ming, can you sometimes lower your insight a bit and not be so freakishly smart? It's really hurting my ego!"

Zhou Ming felt a black line appear on his forehead and said helplessly, "Alright, can you tell me the rules in your political world? I've never met a big official above the county level. Can you share some experience? For example, should I bring some local specialties when I visit Governor Xiong?"

"Although your words sound strong, why do they sound so fake?" Du Peng said.

"Damn! You old man, I haven't read 'The Actor's Self-Cultivation'!" Zhou Ming said irritably.

"Alright, alright, let's get to the point. Anyway, I've already communicated with Governor Xiong, and he's already making arrangements. You just need to talk to him about the matter, and he'll tell you what to do." Du Peng said.

Zhou Ming nodded, "I understand. Is there anything else you need to tell me?"

"One more thing," Du Peng said, "The money you spent on buying Nanjiang Development Bank stocks is your own. Now, we have four million in cash in the company account. Uncle Chen said the city government plans to hold a land auction next month. Do you think we should get involved?"

"Of course, even if you didn't say, I would have instructed you before I left." Zhou Ming said, feeling a bit surprised. In his memory, the first government land auction in Nanjiang should have been at the end of the year, but it was happening so soon. It seemed that the auction he organized had a significant impact on the city government, so they moved the auction date forward.

Thinking about this, Zhou Ming wasn't sure whether to be relieved or frustrated. He was relieved to know that he had the power to influence government decisions, but he was also worried that he might affect other things and delay his own profit-making.

"How much do you think this land auction will cost?" Zhou Ming asked.

Du Peng thought for a moment and said, "This time, the government's auction won't be as extravagant as ours, but at least six to seven million will be needed."

This number was close to Zhou Ming's calculations. In his memory, the average price of a plot of land in this auction was around four to five million. Considering the impact of the previous land auction, the government would make some adjustments, but not too high. If everything went as planned, six to seven million would be just right.

"In that case, I'll leave you three million more. Try to secure a plot of land for around six million," Zhou Ming said.

Du Peng thought for a moment and replied, "Six million should be manageable, but there's a problem. Even if you leave me three million, we won't have enough money to invest in development after securing a plot. Should we get a loan from the Nanjiang Development Bank?"

"Getting a loan for real estate is a good idea, but have you considered that if we plan to do this, other real estate developers won't? Or do you think they have plenty of funds?" Zhou Ming analyzed, "The Nanjiang Development Bank just opened, and we only bought six million worth of stocks. They don't have that much money to lend."

"Then what should we do?" Du Peng asked.

Zhou Ming replied, "If we can't develop it, then we won't. Just keep the land and see if anyone wants to buy it. If someone is willing to pay over ten million, we'll sell it."

"What?" Du Peng was stunned, "Zhou... Zhou Ming, are you serious? We're not going to develop the land after buying it, but hold it and find a buyer?"

"Of course, that's called land speculation! The buyer might not develop it either. If they're smart, they'll also hold the land and wait for a higher price, and this will continue until someone really wants to develop it," Zhou Ming said.

"Can you really do that with land?" Du Peng murmured, clearly at a loss for words.

Zhou Ming smiled, understanding Du Peng's mindset. After all, real estate speculation hadn't taken off yet, and the real estate bubble in Qionghai wouldn't happen for a few more years. Without the concept of land speculation, even Du Peng couldn't imagine that holding land without development could be profitable. In reality, this kind of land speculation, where land is held and passed on, can be more profitable than developing it. If the government didn't intervene, it would continue like a game of hot potato, eventually reaching a point where the market couldn't bear it and would explode.

"Zhou Ming, I really admire you more and more. How can you come up with so many ways to make money?" Du Peng said admiringly.

"People are different!" Zhou Ming joked, "Tang Ran and I are going to have dinner. Are you coming?"

"Never mind, I've been hit hard today. I need to find a girl to heal my wounds, so I won't be a third wheel. I'll see you off when you leave," Du Peng said.

"Suit yourself, but be careful not to die in a woman's arms," Zhou Ming laughed.

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