Chapter 45: I am a light year away from my master
When we had lunch at Lao Lin's house, Secretary Shen was there with us. When we were half drunk, he looked expectant:
"Mr. He, do you think this house has development value?"
Mr. He smiled and said, "What do you think, Secretary?"
Secretary Shen was indignant: "People often come here to inspect, and leaders at all levels accompany the bosses. One moment we hear someone wants to invest, the next we hear someone wants to buy the land, and then the next we hear the road ahead is going to be widened to 12 meters. Eleven times out of ten, it's just empty talk... I feel like cursing."
Everyone laughed.
After laughing, Mr. He slowly advised, "The secretary loves his hometown and his house and wants to develop it. That's understandable, but the investor has a different perspective. He's thinking about whether the development can make him money."
Secretary Shen picked up the cup and said, "You are a boss who speaks the truth. I can see that you are really here to see if this house has investment value."
Mr. He put down his chopsticks, looking surprised: "How do you know that?"
Secretary Shen said, "You didn't have any leaders with you. Yesterday, you stood on the podium and couldn't even shake hands. Today, you came alone."
I tapped my forehead and thought: Secretary Shen actually already knew how big of a boss Mr. He was.
Mr. He smiled modestly and said, "I do want to invest. But I can't make the decision alone."
Secretary Shen put down the wine glass that was about to reach his lips and asked, "You can't decide?"
Mr. He said with great insight: "I will invite some tourism experts and cultural scholars to come and see it, and let them conduct preliminary research."
Secretary Shen said admiringly, "I agree with what you said. This is called prudence, the way you approach a major event."
Mr. He said generously, "I'd rather spend a million to let them do the research first. You have to be willing to spend that money."
Secretary Shen was overjoyed: "Cheers to your one million yuan in research fees."
Everyone drank to their heart's content.
Perhaps the statement that he was willing to spend one million on the research fee was heard by Lao Lin's wife. She told another person, who then told someone else.
When we were almost done eating, people were standing or squatting outside Lao Linjiaping, sitting on the stone tables and tree branches, chatting, laughing, and pointing.
Those villagers, one said they came to borrow a sieve from Lao Lin's house, another said they came to give him a cabbage and a hoe, and some said they could smell the fragrance from your house and wanted to see what delicious food they had...
As they walked back and forth, they kept glancing at Mr. He's face, wanting to get a clearer look at what this man, who was willing to pay a million for proof of proof, looked like.
Even after the car had driven a long way away, Secretary Shen and a group of villagers were still standing in the square, waving at us.
…
When he returned from the Shen family compound, Mr. He had already asked the driver to drive the car to Youran Residence and wait for him. After getting out of the car, he went into the house to exchange a few pleasantries with his master, and then said goodbye.
After seeing Mr. He off, the master asked, "How is it?"
I recounted the whole process.
The master wanted to test my observation skills, so he asked calmly:
“Do you think he’ll invest?”
Without thinking, I blurted out:
"If he's really willing to spend a million on preliminary research, it proves he wants to invest in developing this yard."
After hearing this, the master burst into laughter.
I laughed so hard that I felt embarrassed.
The master told me to close the door of the study and taught me carefully:
"Shanhong, your fortune-telling skills are passable, but you lack social experience. The Shen family compound is only considered remarkable by the people of Wuxiang City. But if you look beyond the country, you'll find it has no tourist value."
"Mr. He has traveled extensively and has a wealth of knowledge. He said he'd spend a million dollars hiring an expert to conduct a review. Isn't that just nonsense?"
"He's not just talking nonsense. He'll actually spend a million to hire an expert to conduct a review."
I was surprised: "No way, that one million is just wasted?"
The master sneered, "Would a businessman be willing to throw money away? He paid for the experts' round-trip airfare, food, and other necessities, plus their hefty appearance fees. Who do those experts listen to? Boss He just needs to hint, and they'll come up with the conclusion that 'the compound is worthless.'"
I was confused for a moment.
The master laughed and said, "Numerous previous owners have come to see it, but none of them invested, which shows that there is little point in investing. Mr. He should formally invite a group of experts to conduct an evaluation and prove that the Shen family courtyard is dark and worthless.
If the argument goes on, it's not a question of whether people can live there or not, but rather that houses will collapse and people will be crushed to death in their dreams. This will not only discourage ordinary people, but more importantly, discourage local governments as well.
After being criticized by experts and scholars as useless, the government's enthusiasm has also cooled. Mr. He's one million is to achieve this goal.
Then someone would show up, willing to buy the house at a reasonable price. His reasoning was that the bricks couldn't be fired with modern technology. He had plenty of money, so he wanted to tear them down and build his own courtyard, a semi-artifact-like courtyard made entirely of bricks.
I suddenly realized: "This person is not Mr. He, but Mr. He's agent."
The master suddenly raised an eyebrow. "You've got it. The agents will work with the government to set up some kind of housing program, select a site, build houses, and relocate the people. Then they'll tear down the houses—they want the carvings on the arcades, the stone statues on the cornices, the nanmu wood on the beams, the gold thread on the hanging signs. When they move these things away and repackage them, they fetch exorbitant prices."
"Sky-high price?" I don't know much about this business.
The master frowned and said, "Anything bought with big money is always priced sky-high. He had the golden nanmu wood carved into a 'micro-sculpture'. It was a thumb-sized object with mountains, pavilions, water, and boats inside. He advertised it by saying: If you put it next to your ear, you can even hear the sound of the water."
He made Buddhist beads out of the nanmu wood, paid a fortune to have them blessed by a master, and advertised: "Wear these beads, and even if your car flips over, your body will remain unscathed." Who could wear these beads, and what was the probability of their car flipping over?
He made a ring out of nanmu wood and advertised it as follows: "Even if the seas dry up and the rocks crumble, your love will remain. Love will last forever."
…
I was terrified and sweating profusely when I heard it.
The business world is like a battlefield, filled with so many calculations and conspiracies, and every step is a trap.
The master sighed deeply, "In our line of work, we see things clearly but don't speak them out. We don't participate in shares or invest. We just stick to our own business."
I fell to the ground and bowed: "Thank you, Master. You always give me guidance at the critical moments. If you hadn't cleared away the fog layer by layer, I would have really thought that Mr. He had to invest."
The master frowned. "All of this was accomplished with a splashy slogan. The farmers now have new homes, thanks to the government. The government, having transformed waste into treasure, thanks to the agent. The agent thanks Mr. He, who simply showed up and got a good share of the money."
After listening to Master's lecture, I couldn't sleep that night. I used to think that Master and I were only separated by the Pacific Ocean, but now I feel like we're a light-year apart.
Will Mr. He always act as Master analyzed?
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