Chapter 126: The Junction of a River
In September, Lin Ruoyan was not worried about spending money. Among the several projects that were under construction, the luxury house construction payment was the largest, accounting for 60 million yuan. There was also the decoration of four buildings in the bio-pharmaceutical industrial park, and the CY International School, which had already started digging, and the progress payment for these projects was about 20 million yuan.
Hundreds of thousands donated to her son's elementary school, two million to acquire the mask factory, the company's bonuses this month are a bit high, and labor costs account for over a million. All in all, Lin Ruoyan only has to think about how to spend the more than ten million this month.
If that doesn't work out, just buying two villas in Beijing will be enough.
So, for the entire month of September, aside from helping Meijiang with the room numbering process, which she expected to resell, she didn't have to worry about anything else; she just enjoyed herself, eating, drinking, and having fun. If she only had a month to live and died by the end of the year, she would definitely make the most of her last autumn.
Unexpectedly, one of the people in charge of the X District who had been actively promoting the construction of the university town contacted Lin Ruoyan, saying that the university town was still under negotiation and that no major progress would be made this year. Feeling bad for this, he introduced Lin Ruoyan to a friend named Wang Min.
Wang Min had a major project in Hebei Province, south of the Greater X District. It wasn't far from the chosen university town, just across the river. He wanted to find a developer in Beijing to work with on the project. Part of their land was industrial, and both the provincial and county governments were eager to attract industry. Construction was imminent and ready to begin at any time.
Lin Ruoyan wondered if they saw her setting up a biopharmaceutical industrial park and wanted to learn about some of the companies that the X District looked down upon, hoping to introduce them to their new industrial city. Just how large was the project there, and why did they need to recruit people from Beijing to participate?
Lin Ruoyan was puzzled, but she felt that the person in charge was reliable and would not give her a job to make up the numbers for no reason, so she decided to go and see for herself.
In this era, many projects cannot be learned through public channels. Since it was someone in the district who made the connection, Lin Ruoyan could not refuse directly. She had to go to the scene to see whether Wang Min wanted money, advice or resources, so that she could make an accurate judgment.
So on the appointed day, she drove her luxury car south and out of Beijing.
After passing the provincial toll booth along the highway, she saw a large sign that read "Longfeng Hot Spring Castle Hotel." After getting off the highway and driving along the narrow village road for a while, Lin Ruoyan finally saw the large European-style castle standing by the road.
In recent years, not only Beijing, but also other provinces, cities, districts and counties have seen the emergence of some suburban resort hotels. That is, far away from the provincial and county capitals, in a place with mountains, rivers and countryside, a hotel or resort is built.
The Yongding River is the dividing line between Hebei Province and Beijing in this area. The scenery on both sides of the river has not been improved much, and some places where the river has stopped flowing have even been used to grow crops by nearby farmers.
At that time, people who had never been abroad were very fond of European and American fashion. They were not interested in the traditional courtyard houses made of blue and red bricks, but instead liked to build large stone castles.
Unfortunately, not everyone has the money to build a castle out of real stone, so a new type of stone-like paint has emerged. A multi-story concrete building, either tiled or painted with stone-like paint, is also inexpensive. From a distance, it looks like the real deal, but up close, the painted walls and moldings certainly don't compare to the polish of real stone. In places, the paint is peeling, giving it a rough, almost comical, hybrid look.
Lin Ruoyan had just been to Europe a few months ago and had seen with her own eyes a genuine century-old stone castle. She would not be fooled by seeing such a crude imitation called a castle.
But the hotel's bold design was far superior to the surrounding, rustic, white-tiled farmhouses. It didn't look deserted at all. It was the start of school, not a weekend or holiday, but a regular weekday, and yet, even early in the morning, dozens of buses and private cars were parked outside the hotel, practically filling up the entire parking lot.
Is this some kind of conference hotel, or is it an auspicious day for someone to get married?
Although this was already in Hebei Province, the drive from Lin Ruoyan's home on the Second Ring Road in X City was smooth, taking a section of the highway. The straight-line distance wasn't far, about 30 kilometers, closer than the airport in the northern suburbs. However, the Second Ring Road in the city was always congested. She left after the morning rush hour, got off the highway and took the rural roads after leaving the city. She wasn't familiar with the road, so she didn't dare drive too fast. It was almost noon when she finally parked the car.
Looking north from the hotel's location, you can see a section of enclosed river, which forms a nice lake landscape, which is more wild than the endless farmland.
She called Wang Min's cell phone number, and the person on the other end politely invited her to go to conference room 208 on the second floor, where they were having a meeting.
When you walk into the hotel lobby, unlike the rough paint outside, the hotel is very carefully decorated. At least the materials are genuine, and it has the grand aesthetic of an official auditorium from decades ago. The rest seats are solid wood sofa chairs painted red, and the cushions are white coats with crocheted decorative cushions.
She found the hotel's services quite comprehensive, offering not only guest rooms and hot springs, but also conference and business services. The first floor housed the lobby and two Chinese and Western restaurants. From the double-height lobby, she could see a cluster of rooms on the second floor, seemingly double-door conference rooms. In the elevator, she saw floor guides, indicating that the third and fourth floors housed guest rooms, each with a connecting corridor leading directly to the hot spring center behind.
The hot spring center is quite large, housed in a separate, large greenhouse. It's like spring all year round, perfect for soaking in the hot springs. No wonder there are so many cars parked outside. It's perfect for meetings during the day and evenings, and weekends bring in tourists and leisure travelers.
A middle-aged man with white hair on his temples appeared at the door of the conference room. It should be Wang Min. He greeted him and opened the door to disperse the smoke in the room.
Lin Ruoyan actually doesn't like the smell of cigarettes. In the era of the book, smoking has not yet been completely banned in public places. Many meeting rooms are filled with smoke. It seems that most of these people have started their meetings early in the morning.
Lin Ruoyan had asked Lao Zhan to accompany her this time. Since they were unfamiliar with the place, Lao Zhan was more knowledgeable and adaptable. Although he had a prosthetic leg, Chen Jun said that when Lao Zhan drove Hua Mengmeng to the courtyard that day, he saw Chen Jun practicing martial arts. The two exchanged moves, and if Chen Jun hadn't had all his limbs intact and was young, he would have been defeated long ago.
Lao Zhan is a hidden master, he was in the past and he is still good now.
Unlike other drivers who left Lao Zhan in the car, she generously brought him into the meeting room.
Considering Lao Zhan's age, others thought he was also a person in charge of Lin's general company.
Wang Min was about the same age as Lao Zhan and had served in the army before. He immediately noticed the difference in Lao Zhan's spirit and asked, "Brother, were you a soldier before?"
Lao Zhan smiled and nodded: "Yes, from the xx unit."
Wang Min was immediately filled with awe: "That's an ace special forces unit, amazing!"
Old Zhan remained unfazed by praise or criticism. Seeing Lin Ruoyan sitting at the oval conference table, he found a seat in the next row against the wall. Several young men in suits were in the conference room and quickly offered Old Zhan a cigarette.
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