Chapter 24: – World 1 [24] Part 2

But time was truly running out. A detailed investigation might take half a month. If he delayed here for another half month, he might end up crying behind bars.

“If you’re certain they can pay the full amount within a month, then transfer the land use rights to them. If they can wire the money within one week, we can concede another five percent,” Xue Fan said, steeling himself.

The most important thing now was to stabilize the situation. As long as he could sort out the issues with the pre-sale construction sites, everything was still salvageable.

Wanshen Group was, after all, a large company with over a thousand employees. If it went bankrupt, it would more or less impact River City’s economy.

Xue Fan felt that even if the new Party Secretary wanted to make a strong start with ‘three fires,’ he wouldn’t be foolish enough to burn a piece of political capital delivered right to his doorstep into a stain on his record.

–

Steeling his resolve, Xue Fan sold the land he’d bought for three hundred million for just one hundred million.

After the money arrived, the first thing Xue Fan did wasn’t paying back taxes or wages, but pulling out ten million as PR funds, trying to suppress all the negative news online.

Having used public opinion himself, Xue Fan knew very well the impact it could have. If he could control public opinion, many problems would be easily solved.

Having raised some funds, Xue Fan didn’t really correct much in other areas. He seemingly gave property owners some guarantees about inspections and rework. But behind the scenes, he still used the same old tricks, spending money to bribe inspection agencies to go easy on him, keeping the repair costs under ten million.

As for the project payments, Xue Fan delayed them justifiably on the pretext that the project wasn’t complete, only paying out the earlier wages that had been in arrears.

This approach could fool some people unaware of the inside story. Combined with the massive PR spending, it actually did temporarily stabilize the situation for Xue Fan.

–

“Secretary Lou, I’m like rootless duckweed, you could say. My parents are buried here in River City, and my girlfriend is developing her career here. So, River City has become a place where I can put down roots,” Jing Ke stated, her tone very earnest.

“That plot of land in the High-tech Park, we plan to transform it into a facility specifically for the production and maintenance of private custom prosthetics. The Industrial Park will handle more mass production, to benefit more people in need of prosthetics.”

Jing Ke continued slowly, “Little Yu and I discussed this. After we become profitable, we plan to provide free prosthetics for disabled veterans who sacrificed for our country, only charging subsequent maintenance fees.”

“For positions with lower technical requirements, we also plan to prioritize hiring veterans and people with certain physical disabilities, giving them a stable job and income,” Shang Siyu added. “We want to do what we can to contribute to society.”

After quietly listening to the two of them, Secretary Lou, who had a neat shoulder-length bob, revealed a trace of a smile.

“What River City needs are responsible entrepreneurs like you two. If everyone had your level of awareness, River City would certainly develop better and better,” Secretary Lou remarked with a sigh.

“But there’s one more thing I’m worried about. Wanshen Real Estate has acquired quite a few plots of land over the years. The earliest batch has already been handed over and occupied. If Wanshen Real Estate collapses, how to deal with those properties is a major issue.”

Secretary Lou’s voice could almost be described as gentle, but that didn’t lessen the sense of authority and pressure in her words.

“Over half of the buyers used the savings of two generations to grit their teeth and buy those homes. The government doesn’t want to see these people, who’ve staked everything, end up homeless because of Wanshen Real Estate.”

Secretary Lou concluded, “If there isn’t a sufficiently reasonable solution to this problem, Wanshen Real Estate cannot be allowed to fall.”

Hearing this, Jing Ke and Shang Siyu understood.

It wasn’t that the government didn’t know about Xue Fan’s illegal activities. It was simply that, in order to maintain stability in certain areas, they had been delaying action, giving Xue Fan chance after chance to fix things.

After a brief silence, Shang Siyu spoke up. “Secretary Lou, strictly speaking, Wanshen Real Estate only has three problematic developments right now. One has already been delivered, one is nearing completion, and the last has just had its foundation dug.”

“The delivered buildings probably have a high chance of passing inspection. The issues are just things like poor landscaping and garages, which could be fixed for a few hundred thousand.”

“The development nearing completion might require a higher repair cost, but it wouldn’t be unbelievably high.” Shang Siyu analyzed methodically.

She and Jing Ke had actually discussed this point long ago. Before meeting Secretary Lou, they had reviewed and analyzed the situation, preparing countermeasures in advance.

“As for the last plot, where they just started digging the foundation, that’s even easier to handle. We just need the public to believe the houses won’t be shoddily built.”

Shang Siyu paused, giving Secretary Lou a smile. “The public doesn’t trust Xue Fan and Wanshen Real Estate, but that doesn’t mean they don’t trust others.”

“Hmm, what do you mean by that?” Secretary Lou had actually already guessed what they were going to say but asked anyway.

“We just need to change the developer for those developments,” Jing Ke timely picked up the thread. “I still have a considerable sum deposited in overseas banks. If converted to domestic currency, it should be enough to absorb one of the developments.”

“Most importantly, the funds from many buyers haven’t been transferred from the banks to Wanshen Real Estate’s account yet. If that money can be frozen in time, many losses can be recovered,” Jing Ke added.

The smile on Secretary Lou’s face deepened, and her tone became noticeably more amiable.

“If Wanshen Real Estate is forced into bankruptcy liquidation, the government won’t just let these developments become unfinished eyesores. Before, Xue Fan paid a high price at auction for the High-tech Park land, which brought a considerable sum into the city’s coffers.”

“I will submit a report to the higher-ups to allocate funds from that sum for the inspection and maintenance of the first two developments.” A hint of appreciation showed in Secretary Lou’s eyes.

“For the last development, the government will take the lead in facilitating a handover, trying to transfer the funds already in Wanshen Real Estate’s accounts to the enterprise taking over the project.”

“Enterprises willing to shoulder responsibility are the ones that can make River City develop better.”

As the City Party Secretary, Secretary Lou wouldn’t give overly explicit guarantees, always leaving some room when speaking. But that didn’t stop Jing Ke and Shang Siyu from understanding her meaning.

As long as someone could take over the mess left by Wanshen Real Estate, the investigation into Xue Fan would be accelerated.

The government wouldn’t make Jing Ke bear the entire burden alone. There would be follow-up actions; allocating funds was only one aspect. Perhaps related policies would be introduced later.

–

Jing Ke and Shang Siyu met with Secretary Lou after New Year’s Day. Two hours after their face-to-face discussion, on the third day, they saw an announcement from the local police.

Xue Fan, the legal representative and Chairman of the Board of Wanshen Real Estate, was taken in for investigation on suspicion of bribery. All assets under his name were frozen and could not be used until the investigation concluded.

Following the police announcement was a statement from the government. The content was detailed, but the gist was to reassure property owners and workers, promising that the houses wouldn’t have problems, and wages would be paid out by Chinese New Year’s Eve at the latest.

It was currently mid-January, and Chinese New Year’s Eve was in mid-February.

Seeing that there was less than a month until the promised date in the statement, most property owners and workers temporarily halted their complaints and protests, deciding to trust the government’s black-and-white statement and wait patiently until New Year’s Eve.

And while Xue Fan was in jail, interrogated relentlessly day and night, Jing Ke and Shang Siyu worked during the day and enjoyed each other’s company at night. On weekends, they could go out for fun or visit Mother Shang back home.

The longer Shang Siyu spent with Jing Ke, the more she found she couldn’t bear to be apart from her.

Occasionally, Shang Siyu even regretted their initial decision. Why had she said they’d wait three years before getting married, instead of two years, or an even shorter one year?

Fortunately, these thoughts were fleeting. For something as important as marriage, impulsive decisions were ultimately unreliable.

Although Jing Ke was beautiful, a fast learner, devoted, and dependable, she wasn’t perfect in every way.

For instance, take Jing Ke in the kitchen. She could use a cleaver to carve a carrot into a beautiful flower and could slice tofu as fine as strands of hair.

But Jing Ke was completely clueless about recipe descriptors like “a pinch of salt,” “a little oil,” or “an appropriate amount of soy sauce.” The first time she cooked following such a recipe, Shang Siyu ended up drinking six full glasses of water with her meal.

Forced to run to the bathroom multiple times that night, Shang Siyu learned her lesson. She immediately ordered a cookbook online with precise measurements, strictly detailing milliliters of oil and grams of seasoning.

Of course, Jing Ke rarely cooked anyway. If it weren’t for Jing Ke mentioning that partners should reciprocate efforts, Shang Siyu herself wouldn’t have minded at all being the one to always cook for Jing Ke.

Beyond that, Jing Ke’s occasional tendency to be overly serious had bothered Shang Siyu for a while.

Especially when they tried new things in the evenings, Jing Ke was so concerned about Shang Siyu’s experience that she would stop to ask frequently, just like their first time together.

This problem wasn’t solved until much later by Shang Siyu.

The reason for the solution wasn’t that Jing Ke suddenly became enlightened, but that Shang Siyu became proactive. Whenever it was something new, she would suppress her inner embarrassment and try it out on Jing Ke first.

This method was surprisingly effective, only the next day, after Jing Ke’s eyes brightened in that particular way, Shang Siyu would likely have to take the morning off.

Shang Siyu certainly could refuse, but she couldn’t withstand that puppy-dog look that made Jing Ke so endearing. Every time Jing Ke focused her amber eyes intently on her, Shang Siyu couldn’t hold out for long before surrendering.

–

Life was comfortable until the end of January, when things got busy for Jing Ke and Shang Siyu.

Jing Ke began taking over the mess left by Wanshen Real Estate. The funds from the government would require a lengthy process, estimated to be formally approved only the following year.

Jing Ke’s method for handling the trust crisis was simple. After acquiring ownership, she directly set up a multi-angle, 24/7 live broadcast. Not only could the buyers watch the progress in real-time, but other visitors could also tune in anytime.