Chapter 147 Another one pops up

Another good thing happened at the end of September: the villa numbers in Meijiang were finally sold. Because Lin Ruoyan had recruited Jiang Fang to Beijing with a high salary, she had done a good job of finishing up the Meijiang project and had given Lin Ruoyan special attention to the villa numbers.

Lin Ruoyan bought them for an average of 750,000 yuan each, and by the end of September, they had all sold for around 900,000 yuan each. With 20 villas, she could resell them for a net profit of 3 million yuan in about a month, which was enough to support the film festival.

By the end of September, the film and television base finally sent a letter saying that the major developer had sent a project manager to visit the town again, and the mayor asked Luo Sihai and his wife to meet and have a chat.

Lin Ruoyan wasn't very optimistic about the project. It was hot, and she felt lazy for a few days each month, so she didn't go in person. Instead, she asked Qin Shuang to bring a male student from the design department who was majoring in architectural planning to the event. The main point was that they just listened and didn't express any opinions if they could.

To facilitate socializing, Qin Shuang kept a stack of business cards for the deputy general manager of Lin's Real Estate Company. Like Feng Qiang, they were just for show at these kinds of events. The design department also had people like the design director, deputy design director, and project manager. Anyway, these titles were impressive, so he could just do what he needed to do back at the company.

On that day, Qin Shuang and his men arrived early in the morning as agreed, and they were planning to take some time after the meeting in town to visit the film and television base to see the layout of the film festival venue. However, they did not expect that the mayor had another meeting, so the meeting was postponed for two hours.

The project manager of a large developer looked friendly. Knowing that Qin Shuang was also the vice president of a real estate company, he chatted with her enthusiastically. He mentioned that their company had multiple locations in Beijing's urban and suburban areas, and his words revealed the strength of their company.

Qin Shuang responded with a smile and didn't mention anything else.

It was almost lunchtime when the mayor returned. He treated everyone to a small meal in the cafeteria as an apology. The big developer was very perceptive and asked if there were any new developments in the town.

The mayor explained that another large enterprise had taken a fancy to the town's industrial land and wanted to invest in a factory. A connection in the city had introduced them, and the town couldn't neglect them, so he personally accompanied them to take a look, forcing them to postpone the meeting.

As Lin Ruoyan had predicted, the leveled industrial land surrounding the film and television base was in high demand. If a large enterprise could move in, build a factory, pay taxes, and provide jobs, the town would definitely prioritize it and pay more attention to it.

Furthermore, the town has legitimate residential land. Demolition presents a minor problem, but large developers surely have many ways to address it. Both large developers and Lin's Real Estate could focus on legitimate residential land. Anyway, let's not discuss the film and television town.

The multi-party talks after the meal, of course, yielded no results. The project manager of the major developer wasn't the project manager for this project, but was just someone from the surrounding area who came to take a look at the situation but didn't express any opinion.

Luo Sihai was very anxious. After all, if another big company came out to build a factory, he would definitely be out of luck.

Because Qin Shuang was the vice president, she had every reason to say that the situation had changed and that she would report back to President Lin before giving the letter. This way, apart from matters related to the film festival preparations, she had room to decline other matters.

When Qin Shuang returned and reported the situation, Lin Ruoyan understood that the town had definitely put Luo Sihai's project on the back burner. After all, the film and television base hadn't created many jobs, and there wasn't much of an economic boost in the short term, so it certainly wasn't as direct as a large factory.

No matter how much Luo Sihai boasted, even if this film festival was a huge success, the town would still have to consider the long-term benefits. With such a small scale, a film and television base couldn't really make a big splash. This created a paradox.

If Lin Ruoyan really wanted to acquire land in this town outside Beijing, she couldn't avoid Luo Sihai, so why should she rush to join in the fun? She decided not to consider the film and television town anymore.

With the generous sponsorship from Lin Real Estate and the funds in place, the venue layout for the film festival was quickly completed.

The film festival was held over three days during the Golden Week in early October. Participants included not only teachers and students from major film and television-related colleges and universities, but also celebrities from the entertainment industry and various media reporters.

These media outlets were largely drawn to the celebrities, and while there were some currently popular stars, there were also older artists invited by Feng Qiang through his parental connections. This move elevated the entire event to a new level, making it more than just a childish spectacle; it became a genuine, professional critique of the films and TV series on display.

Lin Ruoyan was only invited to the event on the opening day to enjoy the courtesy, and never went there again.

Wei Xu, however, was unable to make it because his audition for his next film conflicted with the opening of the film festival. By the time he arrived, Lin Ruoyan had already left. He only saw the other people from Lin's Real Estate, and the only one he was familiar with was Feng Qiang, who often visited the crew.

Feng Qiang was still in talks with Fu Ying, the organizer's principal, to coordinate any major issues on the scene. Routine issues were handled by professionals from various departments, and Feng Qiang only had some changes to the arrangements for some of the veteran artists, which he had to coordinate with Fu Ying.

When Wei Xu got closer, he recognized Fu Ying. If he tried to pretend not to see her, it would be a bit too deliberate.

Feng Qiang thought the two didn't know each other, so he introduced them enthusiastically, saying that Wei Xu was the main actor in the film project invested by Lin's company, and Fu Ying was the main planner of the film festival.

Fu Ying said: "We know each other as alumni."

Feng Qiang was a sharp-witted man, and he immediately noticed that there seemed to be something going on between the two of them. Of course, it wasn't a relationship between a man and a woman, but there might be some problems between them. Wei Xu's face was too serious. Wei Xu rarely treated others like this, especially to acquaintances. He was always gentle and humble.

Today, Wei Xu performed "cold" on the spot, and it seemed that he did not turn around and leave only out of politeness.

Fu Ying said, "Boss Feng, Wei Xu and I want to talk for a few minutes. Can you please go and do your work first?"

Wei Xu said coldly, "Teacher Fu and I don't have anything to discuss privately. If you really have something to say, then you'd better say it in public to avoid being misunderstood again."

Fu Ying had no choice but to say in public: "I'm sorry. I didn't know the truth and was deceived by others. I wronged you and made you suffer for so long during your time at school. I blame myself so much, but I didn't have the courage to apologize to you, so I kept putting it off until now."

Wei Xu's expression warmed slightly, and he sighed, "Teacher Fu, it's been so many years since what happened. I don't care anymore. You don't have to apologize. The person directly responsible has already been punished."

"Have you been blaming me all the time?" Fu Ying was uneasy, and her voice was filled with self-blame.

Wei Xu smiled faintly. "I can only say that Teacher Fu taught me a lesson. After graduation, I've gained some experience in facing the more complex issues in society. How can I blame you? I definitely have to thank you."

He said this with a polite smile on his face, but the sadness in his eyes couldn't be concealed. He didn't want to hide it. Back then, he had believed that the school and the teachers were wise, that they would give him fairness and innocence, but in the end, he was wrongly accused. He didn't receive understanding and care when he needed it most, and he didn't need it now.

He was able to suppress his outward emotion because he knew that the film festival was organized by Fu Ying, sponsored by Mr. Lin, and was meant to promote their new film. This wasn't the kind of place where he could be disrespectful and lose his temper. Now that Fu Ying had apologized, he'd have to respond. That was it, though. Needless to say, he'd better avoid seeing her again if possible.

Unexpectedly, a nosy reporter noticed the scene and filmed Wei Xu and Fu Ying, leaving the unremarkable Feng Qiang in the background. Later, they dug up Wei Xu's unjust case from college, rehashing it and turning it into a news story.