Chapter 52: Be Careful

Although Lin Ruoyan politely said she'd long admired Ms. Xiang after learning her name and identity, her expression showed she had no idea of ​​her background, which made Fang Yue even more embarrassed and annoyed. Who could have imagined that the daughter of the Lin family in Beijing would be so clueless? She'd been back in Beijing for over a month, and yet she didn't even know the slightest bit about the powerful? Was she truly clueless or was she playing dumb?

For some reason, Ms. Xiang was in a good mood today and was very affable. She didn't get annoyed when she realized that Lin Ruoyan didn't really know her identity. Instead, she asked in a friendly manner, "Is Mr. Xiao Lin the one who runs the Lin Real Estate Company?"

"Yeah, I just started my company and bought a piece of land. It was Mr. Fang who gave me a lot of real estate experience." Lin Ruoyan flattered Fang Yue from time to time. After all, polite words didn't cost money. They were all hello. When they met on the street, Fang Yue didn't make sarcastic remarks to her, so she restrained herself a little.

The prodigal system chirped, "It's clear Fang Yue has bad intentions. Host, be careful. You prevented her from getting the project during the last land auction, so she's definitely holding a grudge. She's calling you today, like a weasel trying to curry favor with a chicken. She might have been planning some form of revenge for a long time."

Lin Ruoyan had read the original book and knew Fang Yue wasn't the petty type. If she were a mean-spirited person, her brother would have warned her long ago. Fang Yue only used her eloquence in front of others, but when she realized she was inferior to them, she wouldn't mess around. She was a serious businesswoman.

Now, Fang Yue might be leveraging her status as a woman to engage in "diplomacy" as a wife. With her articulate, outgoing, and cheerful personality, acquiring land in Beijing wouldn't be difficult. However, getting too close to the powerful would easily lead to manipulation. She's creating opportunities to befriend these people's relatives, such as their wives, mothers, and sisters, making it easier to get along. This is a benefit of her status as a woman, and she's not going to waste it.

Fang Yue studied design, and helping the ladies pick out household items made it easier to cultivate relationships and narrow the distance of mutual trust between the two parties. Her character and ability were both affirmed, and then it would be much smoother for her to go to the families of these ladies to do things.

In short, Fang Yue is definitely not like Lin Ruoyan who skips work and buys furniture for her own enjoyment, as she goes to this kind of store in broad daylight on a weekday.

Since it was just a chance encounter, Lin Ruoyan didn't want to disturb Fang Yue's "business", and she was not interested in European furniture, so after praising her in a friendly manner, she planned to leave.

Unexpectedly, Ms. Xiang took the initiative to ask, "That piece of land in the CY District, I heard my wife mention it. The reserve price was 40 million. Mr. Xiaolin actually bought it for 80 million and paid the full land price on the same day. He's very capable."

Fang Yue sincerely disapproved of Lin Ruoyan's decision to spend 80 million yuan on the land. Putting aside the frustration of her plan falling through, from a rational perspective, with so much money on land, for a project outside the Fourth Ring Road or near the Fifth Ring Road with such a high plot ratio, what kind of product could possibly make money? Although Lin Ruoyan had suggested to the leaders of the CY District Committee that she would build luxury homes and sell them, whether others believed her or not was unknown, Fang Yue didn't believe it.

Luxury homes? Southern China does indeed glorify some affordable housing units—those with two or three bedrooms of 100 to 200 square meters—as "urban luxury homes." This term is truly just a glorification; the key lies in the word "small" and "urban." The thousand-square-foot luxury homes in Xiangjiang City are essentially three-bedroom, 70 to 80-square-meter units with a maid's quarters. Urban luxury homes in mainland China generally borrow this concept.

However, Xiangjiang City's economy is more developed than in mainland China, and the homes are meticulously designed. Units are measured in actual carpet area, not including common areas. They also feature a variety of advanced concepts and amenities, are fully furnished and ready for move-in, and the quality of property management services is unmatched in mainland China. That's what truly qualifies as a luxury urban residence, without having to compete on size.

Is Lin Ruoyan planning to imitate the one in Xiangjiang City? Given the level of cognition of Chinese people, they would not look down on such a small area of ​​improved housing.

After much deliberation, Fang Yue concluded that Lin Ruoyan was likely to lose money. Of course, perhaps the Lin family didn't care about the small sum, as they were focused on developing other businesses in the Cy District. Ever since Lin Ruoyan's high-priced land purchase had earned her a good reputation, the Lin Group's projects in the Cy District had accelerated. This demonstrated the importance attached to the district leadership, and the intangible help it provided was priceless.

Lin Ruoyan had no idea how much Fang Yue had been thinking about in just that brief encounter. The 80 million yuan for the land purchase was a fact, she admitted generously, and even more modestly said, "This is my first time running a real estate company, and I don't understand many aspects. Fortunately, I hired some professionals to run the business, so I can now go out and have some free time."

Fang Yue wondered what this idiot daughter of a wealthy family had done before. Could it be that she'd even set up a stall selling odds and ends before going to work at the factory? She had no idea why Ms. Xiang was so interested in her. Was she attracted to her wealth and stupidity, and wanted the Lin family to invest in the district?

"Ms. Lin is very good at managing her subordinates," Ms. Xiang praised her, then asked, "So, is Xiao Lin focused on real estate, or is she interested in other things as well?"

Fang Yue shared this suspicion. Why would Lin Ruoyan wander around the city's high-end malls instead of looking at furniture? Was she even going to personally select home furnishings for her real estate project? I heard she didn't even have a plan for her plot of land.

Lin Ruoyan wouldn't say she went to the furniture store to buy furniture for her courtyard house; that was a private matter. Since the other person must have been asking about serious matters, she said, "Real estate is just something I'm interested in. I just invested in a film and television project a few days ago."

Fang Yue pricked up her ears. The Lin Group hadn't previously been involved in real estate or the film and entertainment industry; after all, neither of those sectors had been doing well in the past few years. Now, upon returning home, the idiot daughter was reaching out to these two businesses. Could it be that Lin Ruxu was foresightedly planning to establish a presence in future emerging industries, pushing her idiot sister out in front to explore the way?

This is possible. In short, Fang Yue believes that with Lin Ruoyan's knowledge, she would never have such a keen sense of smell and courage to expand new business in these two directions. This was a judgment Fang Yue made after consulting several experts.

Especially in the real estate industry, Fang Yue made the right bet. The country indeed announced that this would be the pillar industry of the future. She made early arrangements in the south, and now she can take the lead in entering the northern market.

Ms. Xiang suddenly said, "I heard from my wife that our district is planning to build an industrial park, perhaps as a film and television base. They'll follow the business model of H Store, build some location shooting locations, and bring in upstream and downstream companies. In the future, they'll also be able to boost cultural tourism, hospitality, and other industries. I wonder if this new model will work in the Greater X District?"

The term "industrial chain" wasn't explicitly mentioned in the book's time period; at most, it referred to upstream and downstream related companies. A few days ago, after Lin Ruoyan heard the screenwriter mention a film and television base, she did some research herself and found that the rumor was indeed circulating in the Greater X area.

Lin Ruoyan was flattered by Ms. Xiang's respectful questioning, and she calmed down even more. She was well aware of her role in the book, and her knowledge, both in the book and in real life, was insufficient to support her commentary on the current economic situation. Moreover, how could she know about the major policies and actions in District X, and how could she dare to make random comments?

And with Fang Yue around, it would be right for her to be more cautious in her words and actions, so she politely said that she didn't understand.