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Chapter 886: Chapter 771: I Don’t Eat Hairy Pigs (Please Subscribe!)
Ten minutes later.
The meeting ended.
It was only half-past two in the afternoon.
Seeing there was still time.
Chai Ren suggested taking a look at the tentative location for the Group’s headquarters.
Since the last meeting, Pu Chaodong had been scouting for sites all over the Shanghai Stock Market area, and he was very enthusiastic about it. Once the news got out that Comet Film and Television planned to build its headquarters, many districts showed interest in having Comet Film and Television settle in their area.
This was also considered a part of political achievements, wasn’t it?
But when Pu Chaodong made clear the various requirements for the land,
some districts could only leave in disappointment.
Because they didn’t have such large tracts of land, and the location also needed to have a metro or be expected to have one, with convenient transportation and so on. If such prime plots were available, they would have been sold off long ago. There were no places offering such large plots for sale.
The suburbs had plenty of space, but the headquarters of Comet Film and Television surely couldn’t be built in a village.
They also wanted to persuade Pu Chaodong to give up this ’unrealistic’ idea, but Pu Chaodong did not have the decision-making power; the decision lay with Tang Qing, and Tang Qing simply did not like the idea of just erecting an office tower.
In the end, after much selection,
they finally found a somewhat acceptable piece of land, but the land price was a bit high. Pu Chaodong had only listed it as one of the targets; whether they would build there in the end depended on whether they could find an even more suitable location.
The place was not close.
Located between the middle ring and the outer ring of Pudong New District.
It was an area of civil residences.
Upon reaching the location.
Tang Qing got out of the car.
He looked around and couldn’t help frowning.
This place was indeed remote—of course, this ’remote’ is relative to bustling areas. The expansion speed of Shanghai’s city was jaw-dropping. In the surroundings, Tang Qing saw many residential neighborhoods and other buildings under construction, the purpose of which he didn’t know.
"Is the local government in charge of the resettlement here?" Tang Qing asked.
Pu Chaodong nodded, "Yes, but they’re asking for a bit much. I replied that I would consider it. The local government wants a compensation fee of RMB 2.5 billion, but I have researched it, and the previous compensation to others was RMB 2 billion.
That means they have raised the price by 25% on us. Not only that, but the developers who gave up on this area have indicated that there are significant resettlement problems. Many people, knowing that the metro may come through here, are prepared to make a big profit."
Tang Qing nodded expressionlessly.
When it came to resettlement,
it was always a big thorny issue.
It’s really not always a matter of who is right or wrong. Business, or rather capital, seeks maximization of interests, achieving the greatest return with the lowest cost—this is what flows in the blood of capital.
It’s unchangeable.
Developers have their interests.
Citizens also have their interest demands.
So the goal is to mediate. If mediation fails, one must try various methods.
Forceful capital-driven demolition, homeowners persevering with their views, in the end, both sides exert their tricks. Whether it’s a win-win or something else, it’s just a drop in the ocean of the times. There will always be a solution.
As long as the demands are reasonable, Tang Qing would not begrudge a bit of money.
The key is this place.
Tang Qing was not very satisfied with it.
"Are there any factories here?" Tang Qing asked again.
"No, it’s all civil residences, a total of one hundred and twenty-one households," Pu Chaodong answered.
"..."
Tang Qing was speechless.
Over a hundred households.
Resettlement will cost more than two billion.
That really is damn expensive.
Typical of the Shanghai Stock Market.
Scaring people to death without compensation—two billion. In Qingyan City, not only would you have the money to buy the land, but you could probably build the houses too. But here, it’s just the resettlement fee, not to mention the cost of purchasing land and construction.
More than twenty million RMB per family.
Is the compensation fee really this high now?
Tang Qing truly didn’t understand.
"This place doesn’t really feel right. Many of the surroundings are residential buildings, and there are few companies. Doesn’t Shanghai have several large technology parks? How about there?" Chai Ren looked around and didn’t think highly of this place either.
Developing commercial residential is alright.
For commercial office use,
the location is passable.
But there’s hardly any commercial atmosphere around here, which feels somewhat discordant.
But it’s not necessarily so; it mainly depends on Tang Qing’s opinion. Anyway, in Chai Ren’s view, it’s all the same no matter where it is.
Pu Chaodong hurriedly said, "There are, but none of the technology parks have such a large piece of land that meets the Chairman’s requirements. Only this New District has more land available. In other districts, we need to search properly. There are many plots of sufficient size, but they are hoarded by developers, which is troublesome. If we buy those lands, they will surely want to gouge us."
"That’s true," Chai Ren nodded.
He knew that Shen Yi must have tried to find a solution.
But it still didn’t work out.
It wasn’t a matter of authority.
It was really because there was nothing suitable. You know, Tang Qing’s initial requirement was for an office park that covered a large area and included modern office buildings. Considering this, the land needed would be at least dozens of acres.
Such a large tract of contiguous land.
And there are certain transportation requirements.
It’s really hard to find in Shanghai Stock Market.
Just at that moment,
two twenty-something young men passed by here.
Seeing Tang Qing surrounded in the middle, as well as Pu Chaodong who they had seen looking over the land a few days ago, they walked over with grinning faces, thinking Tang Qing was the young owner of the company.
"Brother, are you here to buy this piece of land?" one of the young men boldly greeted Tang Qing, offering a few cigarettes as well, believing that many gifts would not offend, which was his survival experience.
Tang Qing was taken aback.
It’s been a long time since anyone’s offered him a cigarette.
Those who knew him knew that he didn’t smoke.
Tang Qing didn’t accept.
Chai Ren and Zheng Lin weren’t interested in taking them either.
Many people could offer them cigarettes, but the young men before them were definitely not included; none of the three accepted, and naturally, neither did Pu Chaodong and the others. Pu Chaodong seldom smoked, only on special occasions when he needed to socialize.
Tang Qing waved his hand.
"We all don’t smoke, thank you. Are you a resident here?" Politeness was still necessary.
The young man, hearing this,
had his awkward feelings dissipate as he took the cigarettes back.
"Yes, I’ve grown up here since I was a child. I know this area the best. If you want to buy the land, you should hurry up, otherwise, once the metro route map comes out, the price is definitely going to rise a lot," the young man advised.
"Then why don’t you wait until the route map comes out before selling?" Tang Qing seemed to notice that the people here were quite eager to sell their land; why not hold onto it and increase its value? Why weren’t these people doing that?
Could there be something I don’t know about?
Right away,
Tang Qing ordered the Command Room to check for related information and simultaneously asked his fighters to look for a suitable place. The city was so large that even looking at the ’results’ in front of him, it was quite a challenge for Pu Chaodong and others.
"It does no harm to tell you, I know you have wide sources of information and know a lot, while we common people know little. Many developers in the past have taken advantage of being well-informed, securing a lot of land at low prices and the common people suffered losses for nothing," the young man said.
The young man didn’t finish speaking,
but Tang Qing could piece together the rest...
That is,
you have wide sources of information.
Anyone who comes to buy land,
if you don’t fleece them, you lose out a great deal. Ambiguous information here could become an ’extremely high possibility’ preemptively, but it’s still uncertain, so they set a high price. That way, even if the metro really does come, they won’t lose too much.
But it’s also possible it won’t come.
So,
everyone is gambling.
Tang Qing laughed when he heard this.
In five years’ time, the land would definitely be worth this price, not because the land value had risen, but because inflation had driven it up. One million RMB now is not the same as one million RMB in five years.
Now, well,
he didn’t intend to bite off this hard nut to crack.
His powerful nerve telekinesis, coupled with his hearing, allowed him to hear conversations hundreds of meters away crystal clear. A group of people were whispering in the distance, looking like they were leisurely waiting for the relocation.
Through ’eavesdropping’,
he realized that these people were quite greedy.
The two-hundred-and-fifty-million RMB in relocation fees promised by the district government seemed insufficient even if doubled, and these people were counting on making a fortune off him, this group of people... Tang Qing shook his head, not wanting to provoke them.
It’s not that he didn’t have ways to handle them, but he just didn’t want to use them on these people.
Most importantly,
he didn’t like this place.
What these people were doing was not unjustifiable.
All over the world, bustling and hustling,
it’s all for interests.
It’s just that Tang Qing didn’t want to eat pork with hair on it.
"Thank you for your reminder," Tang Qing smiled at the young man.
This smile,
left the young man puzzled.
Having said that,
Tang Qing turned and walked towards the convoy at the side of the road.
The others hurried to follow.
"Chairman, what about this land?" Pu Chaodong asked.
Tang Qing shook his head lightly.
"Just as Director Chai said, this place is not good, the cost is too high, let’s move to the next location."
"The next location?"
Pu Chaodong was stunned.
He didn’t know there was another location.
