Chapter 55

Tao Zhi helped him tidy up his hair: "Stop pretending."

"You figured this out?"

"The corners of your mouth betray you."

The old man laughed heartily: "Otherwise how can we say that we have a tacit understanding."

"What do you mean?" Tao Zhi was confused.

"Housing prices have begun to plummet. In Hainan and Beihai, there are countless vacant homes and unfinished buildings. I think S City will be affected as well. We should take advantage of this opportunity to acquire more properties."

"What about the land for the kindergarten?"

"You'd better give up this idea. It's almost impossible to buy and sell collectively owned land like this privately." The old man explained to her.

"How about renting instead of selling?"

"I don't recommend it. It's skirting the law. If something goes wrong later, or the other party suddenly changes their mind, without the protection of legal provisions, our investment could be wasted at any time, and the loss would outweigh the gain."

With the policy being what it was, Tao Zhi had no choice but to give up the thought, the corners of his mouth drooping involuntarily.

The old man counseled her, "Instead of focusing on strengthening the hardware, you should use this money to build the software infrastructure. Once you gain experience, you can build on it and then consider buying land and building a park. What do you think?"

"You mean, improving the kindergarten environment and improving the teaching staff at the same time?"

"Raising children well is the most important thing, isn't it?"

In this case, we can put the verification matter aside for now and not rush to get the results.

There was no time to lose. Even if the children could wait, the teachers might not be able to stay. The next day, Tao Zhi went to see the landlord.

Of course, she was cautious, fearing that there would be some bad debts that would become difficult to deal with after she took over, so she hired a lawyer to accompany her, and the old man naturally went with her.

When Old Song heard Tao Zhi say she was going to take over the kindergarten, he was so excited that he was speechless. Although Principal Cha's disappearance had nothing to do with him, he had to take the blame because he was still there, and he was extremely distressed by the parents' blockade.

He then heard Tao Zhi say that as long as the receipts were produced, the fees already paid by the students would be recognized and parents would not be asked to pay again. Furthermore, the teachers' salaries would be fully reimbursed, and efforts would be made to retain them. Old Song was deeply moved after hearing this.

So he said, "Since Teacher Tao is so kind, I'll do my bit and waive two months' rent."

Cheng Xiangqian was one step faster than Tao Zhi and stepped forward to shake Old Song's hand: "Thank you, Brother Song. Good deeds will be rewarded."

Everyone was happy to see this succeed. Old Song first took them to the Education Bureau and obtained a guarantee that the "School Operating License" would be changed. Only then did Old Song sign a contract with Tao Zhi.

Tao Zhi took the contract to the kindergarten and convened a staff meeting. She announced: "We will pay all outstanding wages within three days. Teachers who wish to stay will have their salaries temporarily unchanged. Once the work is back on track, we will then reward them based on their performance."

At the same time, she appointed Teacher Gao as the temporary person in charge.

Tao Zhi retained the lawyer and hired an accountant to first inventory the kindergarten's fixed assets and verify all outstanding debts. During the audit, they discovered that Principal Cha had borrowed money for personal purposes under the kindergarten's name. Fortunately, the lawyer had cleared the issue early on, and Tao Zhi was grateful for her foresight.

She provided the Education Bureau with the "Application Form for Change of Private School Operating License", her own identity information, and a deposit certificate of several hundred thousand yuan.

She signed new contracts with the remaining teachers, kindergarten staff, and new suppliers.

During this period, the children went to school as usual and the teachers taught as usual. Perhaps the landlord came forward to explain, and no parents came to cause trouble for the time being.

Tao Zhi held a parent-teacher conference only after obtaining the new permit. As soon as she took the stage, she addressed the tuition issue with a firm hand. She also emphasized that requests for refunds or receipts would not be granted. She also encouraged parents to consult a lawyer after the meeting if they disagreed.

Then, she changed her tough attitude and became more gentle: "Dear parents, if you have more and better suggestions for the construction of the kindergarten, you are welcome to put them forward at any time. We will humbly accept them."

At this point, the kindergarten situation has basically been sorted out, but further rectification will definitely be needed to achieve progress.

Cheng Dachuan had already arrived. Tao Zhi did not bother to bother two people. She asked Old Song to introduce her to a small three-story building and she was able to accommodate more than 20 people, big and small.

Cheng Jun's place was still a construction site, and Cheng Dachuan and his team were more familiar with renovations. Although Cheng Jun had said he would introduce them to other properties, they had no work to do yet.

Tao Zhi still remembers lending money to Cheng Dachuan to buy a house. She told Cheng Xiangqian about it, and the old man agreed wholeheartedly. He even suggested, "If we buy a lot, we can see if we can talk to the developer and let our nephews put down the down payment."

Cheng Xiangqian didn't say this out loud. He just told his nephews to go explore the area first and get familiar with S City. Maybe they could find some work there.

Everyone was very obedient, so after sending all the nephews' babies to kindergarten, Tao Zhi and Cheng Xiangqian took a group of people to sweep through major real estate projects across the city.

Their efforts paid off, and after they finished looking at houses in the city, they began to move to the suburbs. In the suburbs, just two streets away from the city, housing prices were surprisingly low, as low as two to three thousand yuan per square meter, and there were many such houses.

Cheng Xiangqian did the math. He had ten nephews here. Assuming a price of 2,500 yuan per square meter, a 70-square-meter house would cost 40-50% down payment, which would total 800,000 to 900,000 yuan. If they also took out mortgages, then he and Tao Zhi could get eight or ten apartments. With that calculation, he had a rough idea.

They spent several days thoroughly researching the land in the area and shortlisted three properties that suited their needs.

The old man drove a Santana specially, and Tao Zhi also dressed up nicely. The two of them went directly to the sales department and said straight away that they wanted to buy 20 houses.

The girl at the front desk was dazed. She came to her senses and said, "20... 20 sets? This way, please. Please wait a moment. The manager will be here soon." She stepped out of the reception room and said, "Manager, Manager Wang!" Her voice was so high-pitched it felt like it could crack the glass.

As soon as Manager Wang entered the room, he smiled broadly: "Uncle, Auntie, you two have excellent taste. Our property..."

The old man interrupted him, "Hello, Manager. We're both well aware of the market situation. We've inspected your company's property and are willing to take it on now because we have confidence in you, the contractor. However, no one's money comes from the wind, and I'm also responsible for my family's finances. Therefore, we have three conditions: price, down payment, and mortgage. Can you make the final decision?"

Manager Wang wiped his sweat and said, "Uncle, please go ahead."

Cheng Xiangqian dropped a bomb: "First price, 20 units sold in a package. I want a clearance price, 20% off the current listing price."

Manager Wang jumped up: "Uncle, this is impossible."

Tao Zhi stood up: "That's a pity, we can only change one."

Manager Wang immediately blocked the doorway and said, "Uncle and aunt, please wait. I can't make this decision. I need to ask the general manager. Please wait a moment."

Ten minutes later, Tao Zhi and his team moved to another office. Besides General Manager Zhang, the financial director was also present.

Mr. Zhang said, "Mr. Cheng, Ms. Tao, thank you for your approval. I've gritted my teeth and approved this 20% discount. However, this payment is crucial, so how do you want to pay?"

Tao Zhi replied, "Mr. Zhang is straightforward, and we're not going to mince words. We hope the down payment is 20%, and the remaining 80% will be a 20-year mortgage."

The CFO immediately responded: "There's no precedent for this. The regulations all require a 30% down payment. A 20% down payment is too risky, and the bank won't approve it."

Cheng Xiangqian immediately responded: "If it's a 30% down payment, then I have a condition."

Mr. Zhang was very interested: "Please go ahead."

Cheng Xiangqian said, "I plan to put the names of my nephews on ten of the properties, but they've just arrived in the city and don't have proof of income or employment. So I need your company to help guarantee them and ensure they can successfully obtain mortgages."

Mr. Zhang and the CFO looked at each other, neither of them took up the topic easily.

Silence stretched on for several minutes before the CFO said, "I need to talk to the bank first."

Tao Zhi then revealed her trump card: "If we can negotiate, I can mortgage five more houses based on a 30% down payment."

Twenty-five apartments? Almost three units.

Mr. Zhang stood up and said, "Ms. Tao, please rest assured. If your qualifications are in good condition and the bank verifies that you have the ability to repay, I will personally sign a 'Guarantee Contract' with the bank to guarantee this mortgage loan."

"What about the interest rate issue?" Tao Zhi asked.

"I'll try to give you a discount."

Cheng Xiangqian now showed a sincere smile: "Thank you, Mr. Zhang, it's a pleasure to work with you."

Mr. Zhang shook his hand and said, "Thank you both for your support. I will give you two parking spaces."

Tao Zhi was also satisfied.

They began signing a "Subscription Agreement," which specified the selected apartment number, total area, total price, agreed down payment ratio, and other terms. It also stipulated that if the developer reneged on the purchase, the deposit would be doubled in compensation; if Tao Zhi reneged on the purchase, the deposit would not be refunded at all.

Tao Zhi quickly went to the bank and withdrew a large sum of money to pay the down payment for the 25 apartments.

After returning home, she asked Cheng Man to take leave immediately and come back. There was no need to squeeze into the train, and she could go directly to the airport to buy a ticket and fly back.

Cheng Jun asked, "Can it be registered under Hongxia's name?"

Tao Zhi had no say in who would own the house in the future, but she couldn't possibly do anything about it now. So she said calmly, "You can choose not to own it."

Cheng Jun smiled and said, "How can I push away what my parents gave me? This is called obedience."

Cheng Xiangqian then told his ten nephews the news of buying a house, which really shocked everyone.