Chapter 81

If possible, please put the book on the shelf. It will be convenient for you and supportive to me. Thank you very much!

In the evening, they split into two tables, one for men and one for women. Feng Yiping then learned that Cai Hong's mother had passed away from illness several years ago, which explained why he hadn't seen her since they arrived.

Feng Yiping first expressed his deep condolences, then somewhat uncharitably thought, if that's the case, wouldn't one of the obstacles to Cai Hong becoming his sister-in-law be removed?

Old Wang was also a director, but not the director of the neighborhood committee; he was the director of the office of the neighborhood committee. Anyone in the office of an agency is a smooth-talking person. After Old Cai introduced Feng Yiping, Old Wang immediately praised him, "What a young talent!" This high praise made Feng Yiping's face turn red for a moment.

The people in the office generally had one more common trait: they could drink. Except for Feng Yiping, the other four people at the table toasted him, and Cai Lei's wife also came over to toast him. He returned the toasts twice, and his face was only slightly red.

After a few rounds of drinks, Old Wang, while chewing on jellyfish heads, said to Old Cai, "The deputy district chief of our district has already been assigned to a new position as the director of the Party History Office. Therefore, not only our district but also the city is being very cautious about any matters involving land, so Director Hong can't give you a definite answer right now."

While eating and listening intently, Feng Yiping roughly understood the background. Old Cai wanted to buy the land he was currently renting and was working on Director Hong of the neighborhood committee.

Director Hong of the neighborhood committee, due to a deputy district chief leading an investment in HN's real estate, which resulted in significant losses, was now being transferred to the Party History Office. In other words, he could start enjoying his retirement life from now on.

Therefore, everyone is being very cautious about land matters and is hesitant to make any hasty decisions.

Moreover, even if the land is to be transferred, it might have to go through an auction.

Old Cai's face immediately darkened upon hearing this. Feng Yiping could understand his frustration. The most frustrating thing is not that you can't make money, but that you know the money is there, and you just can't get it.

In that case, it would be better not to know at all.

Despite his frustration, Old Wang still needed to be treated well. As long as there is a possibility of action, this connection needs to be maintained.

Old Cai was lucky in this regard. Feng Yiping thought back to this year, 1993, which should be a year that many people in the real estate industry would wake up from nightmares about for years to come.

Just in time for this year's Dragon Boat Festival, the State Council issued the "Thirteen Measures of the State." This was not the "Eight Measures of the State" that were issued later to regulate the overheated real estate market, where the more you regulated, the higher the housing prices went.

This time, the "Thirteen Measures of the State" had a stunning effect. When they were issued, the real estate developers who were playing the hot potato game with the bank's money—some of which was even actively lent to them by the banks—suddenly realized that the sky was falling!

Before the Dragon Boat Festival, many people were billionaires; after the festival, they were left with nothing, all within a single day. The day before, they were on top of the world; the next day, they were at rock bottom.

The impact of this event was far-reaching. To clean up the mess, HN later established a development bank. However, after operating for more than two years, it was still dragged down by the mess and eventually went bankrupt, making it the only bank in our great country to ever go bankrupt.

Those who were lucky enough to escape this disaster later became major players in the real estate industry. If you look around the CBD in the capital, the Wonton Center, SOHO, and Sunshine 100, their owners were all fortunate enough to get out before the "Thirteen Measures of the State" were issued.

Therefore, it was really not the right time for Old Cai to have this idea. Moreover, he couldn't come up with enough money, and he had hoped to get a loan from the bank. At this point, even state-owned enterprises couldn't get loans to buy land, let alone a small private business owner like him.

Old Wang might have sensed Old Cai's frustration and turned the conversation to the stock market. Unfortunately, the stock market this year was also looking grim. Although the Shanghai Composite Index broke the 1500-point mark for the first time in January, it only stayed there for four days before it started to fall and continued to fall, with no end in sight.

These words made both of them quite reflective.

Old Wang felt that a deputy district chief being transferred to the Party History Office to sit on a cold bench was a sign of the times, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding.

Old Cai, on the other hand, was facing rising material costs, more new furniture factories, and a tougher business environment. He had finally seen an opportunity, but it turned out to be a pipe dream.

He was beyond frustrated!

Therefore, the atmosphere at the table was inevitably somewhat somber.

Cai Lei, the eldest brother, was a bit better off. He had a simple mind, and it didn't matter to him if they couldn't buy the land right now. They could always try again later; it wasn't an urgent matter.

The second brother, being a sharp-minded person, pieced together the whole situation from Old Cai's words and was very unhappy. He kept looking at the old man and his brother, feeling annoyed that they had kept such a big matter from him. If it weren't for the presence of outsiders, he would have wanted to argue with them right then and there.

Mei Yiliang, at this point, didn't have the right to comment, so he could only eat more and talk less at the table. This was the first time he learned of his master's plans and understood why his master was so excited after hearing his nephew's words. At the same time, he felt that as his master's business grew, the difficulty of marrying Cai Hong would also increase, and he wondered if he should stay in the factory.

Feng Yiping, while listening to the adults talk, was enjoying the food. Old Cai had put a lot of effort into preparing this meal, and the highlights were the few seafood dishes, which were always a rarity in inland cities, especially now.

Besides the jellyfish heads in the cold dishes, there was also a dish of ribbon fish and a dish of small yellow croakers, which were a treat for Feng Yiping!

Old Cai was still concerned about Feng Yiping, afraid that he would be neglected while the adults were eating, drinking, and talking. He kept calling out to him from time to time. He specially introduced the small yellow croakers to Feng Yiping, who didn't hesitate to take a piece. Although these small yellow croakers were probably not wild, they felt just right when he tasted them!

The adults were reflective, and Feng Yiping had many reflections too. This was truly a grand era, but unfortunately, due to his age and the limitations of his environment, he had already missed many good opportunities.

Moreover, he needed to find a way to make money immediately. Otherwise, what good would it be if an opportunity presented itself? In the countryside, he didn't realize it, but in the city, he deeply understood that his small achievements were nothing.

Although he knew that this was a rapidly developing era, the impact and experience of knowing and seeing it firsthand were incomparable.

Therefore, for the first time, he seriously and earnestly considered whether he should find a way to transfer to the city to study.

Moving to the city had many advantages. The environment was better, information was more accessible, communication was easier, there were more universities, more public libraries, and more opportunities.

However, no matter how good the city was, if you lacked one thing, everything else was useless.

To study in the city, he would definitely need to pay a borrowing fee and a sponsorship fee. Moreover, since he was moving to the city, it would be best to have a place to live. The current housing prices were very low, so buying a house would be a good idea.

In the end, it all came down to one thing: money!

Therefore, sigh, he still needed to find a way to make money! But how could he make a large sum of money?

Thank you all for your support! A big thank you to the book friend who made a donation at the bridgehead!

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