Big Data Cultivation-Chapter 495 - : The Caprices of the Rich

Chapter 495: Chapter 495: The Caprices of the Rich

Chao Ying looked at Feng Jun’s demeanor and felt somewhat moved. The young people of today are truly remarkable.

During the New Year’s, when she saw this young fellow, she was still reservedly contemplating whether or not to meet him.

But now, if she wanted to speak with him alone about something, she had to tolerate the presence of others.

After a moment of contemplation, she spoke directly, “Has Chi Zhijie approached you about starting a tourism business?”

“Yes,” Feng Jun nodded, since the other party was direct, he did not want to waste time, “But I didn’t agree. I have no interest in cooperating with state-owned enterprises. Actually, I just want to buy a plot of land for my parents to spend their old age in peace.”

“Five square kilometers to spend their old age in peace?” President Chao laughed. She had seen what was possible at Yuyuan; his answer shocked her, yet it didn’t feel absurd, “Truly no output at all?”

...

“I don’t need output,” Feng Jun spread his hands, answering with certainty, “Anyway, leasing this land won’t cost much… as long as my parents are happy, that’s good enough.”

This level of pretentiousness from the guy should be at the peak of perfection, right?

Chao Ying’s eyebrows furrowed slightly as she said with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile, “Are you sure that your parents will be happy?”

“They will certainly be happy,” Feng Jun answered without any hesitation. If Chaoyang put cultivation into practice, and he set up a Spirit Gathering Array, his parents would be in good health and might even engage in some cultivation practices. How could they not be happy?

“That’s where you’re assuming,” Chao Ying countered swiftly, “At least five square kilometers, living with just the two old folks, and if you don’t come back often, even including your uncle Feng Wencheng’s family, it’s only five people in total… Do you think they won’t feel lonely?”

Although President Chao is a woman, she independently controls a business empire and her thinking is extremely meticulous. The way she views problems is not something ordinary people can compare with.

Feng Jun was suddenly at a loss for words because he remembered someone, Li Xiaobin.

Luohua Manor is considered nice, with workers and gatekeepers, more than twenty people, plus his disciples and his woman, over thirty in total. But Li Xiaobin wasn’t happy staying there because it was too quiet, not bustling enough, with no entertainment.

In the end, it’s about numbers. With thirty people spread across four square kilometers, it can never become lively.

Feng Jun doesn’t have a deep feeling for this because he has aspirations, and Li Shishi doesn’t feel it that much either—she’s a homebody.

But other people, they all have connections with the outside world. Zhang Caixin could be called a cultivation fanatic, but even she occasionally goes out with Sister Hong to talk about jade business, or to engage in some other socializing.

Whether one can endure solitude, that’s indeed a problem.

Cultivation certainly requires the ability to endure solitude, such as sayings about meditating for hundreds of years, but the crux of the matter is, Feng Jun’s parents are past their prime for cultivation. Prolonging life and maintaining health are possible, but actual cultivation is not.

Moreover, Feng Wenhui and Zhang Junyi really enjoy interacting with others. People, after all, are social animals, and even they, because they couldn’t bear to leave behind a group of old neighbors, refused to settle in Zhengyang.

After thoughts, Feng Jun tried asking, “Then can I hire some people to come in, to engage in specialized agriculture or animal husbandry? I’m not looking to make money. Just having something to do, the old couple won’t feel lonely.”

Upon hearing this, President Chao also felt a bit helpless. She had prepared a lot of arguments, but his four words left her no room to maneuver—his stance was “not looking to make money.”

Can specialized animal husbandry or agriculture make money? Of course, they can!

However, there are many sayings in these industries, and sometimes they don’t necessarily make money.

For example, Dou Jiahui’s lighting store had a good brand to distribute and Feng Jun even provided guaranteed business, it seemed bound to make money, but the situation encountered on opening day was enough to illustrate some problems.

Feng Jun’s meaning was, “I’ll hire people to plant this and raise that, and whether the products sell is irrelevant, I’ll pay high wages.”

“You’re saying the old couple have no company?” Then I’ll bring in a bunch of people to accompany them, and they’ll have a business to contemplate.

As for making or losing money? As long as the old couple is happy—that’s enough, at least they won’t be lonely anymore.”

No wonder people hate those who wield money. Chao Ying, in that moment, deeply understood this point. These wealthy individuals really do think differently from the common man, making normal communication nearly impossible.

President Chao considered herself wealthy, but she admitted she couldn’t reach this state of mind.

After considering for a long time, she still found an argument, “Hiring people is certainly good, but it’s still limited. If you see the same few faces every day, wouldn’t that be annoying? Wouldn’t it be better to run some kind of rural tourism and attract some tourists?”

Feng Jun pondered. What President Chao said did make some sense, but in the end, he shook his head, “If my parents are willing, they can certainly run rural tourism, but as for cooperating with state-owned enterprises, I’d rather not.”

Chao Ying laughed, “If you don’t cooperate with state-owned enterprises, can you develop rural tourism on your own? Without the support of local government, a tourism project won’t take off. Official propaganda, public facilities construction, etc., can you get involved?”

Of course, her words were correct, but Feng Jun blinked curiously, asking, “Why does the tourism project need to be developed?”

Why does it need to be developed? Chao Ying was almost choked by this question—how can you make money without it?

However, this answer was useless to Feng Jun, as he wasn’t thinking about making money at all.

She blinked and finally decided to stop fussing over the details and directly address his underlying argument, “Your projects keep losing money, would your parents be happy about that?”

“That’s not the issue,” the wealthy have different thoughts indeed. In fact, Feng Jun had numerous ways to make his parents happy, “Money can’t buy happiness, but if you can buy happiness with money, isn’t that a great deal?”

He didn’t wait for the other person to press on, instead, he took the initiative to ask, “President Chao, what do you really want from me? Just say it.”

Chao Ying hesitated before answering, “I want to develop the tourism industry. I initially thought about buying some shares from you. My business is in timber processing, and venturing into tourism raises too many concerns for others.”

That was indeed the case. Her involvement in the tourism sector was too easily slandered, even her brother Chao Gang couldn’t comfortably support her.

Mayor Chao might not be afraid of accusations of nepotism, but he was worried that his sister wouldn’t be able to resist the temptations within—starting with a plan to develop tourism but eventually finding chopping down trees to be a quicker way to make money would throw off their balance.

“This… sorry,” Feng Jun thought for a moment and decided to refuse, “I originally planned to spend money for happiness, but cooperating with state-owned assets doesn’t bring me any joy. Why should I make myself suffer?”

“Sigh,” Chao Ying sighed, seeing no way to continue the conversation, “Well then, President Feng, please reconsider. If you have any capable friends, we also welcome them to join the development.”

Feng Jun smiled and nodded, “I’ll keep an eye out, though I can’t make any guarantees.”

There wasn’t much more Chao Ying could say, so she brought up another matter, “What are you planning to do about Liu Er’s issue?”

“Liu Er?” Feng Jun frowned, “Who is that?”

“He’s the one who runs the lighting store,” Chao Ying said matter-of-factly, “He’s the nephew of Hu Changqing’s wife from her maternal side. He’s not very bright, so he was just given a small store to manage.”

Hu Changqing? Feng Jun was startled—this was a bigwig from Yuyuan who had made it to vice party secretary before retiring as the head of the CPPCC, and although he had retired seven or eight years ago, his influence remained.

Everyone said he was the leader of the Yuyuan cadre.

Feng Jun looked at Chao Ying with a half-smile, “Who did he ask to look for you?”

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Chao Ying answered helplessly, “My brother was promoted by Hu Changqing. You know, most of the local officials owe Elder Hu a favor.”

Just then, Gu Jiahui suddenly interjected, “Is this Hu Changqing a big shot?”

Feng Jun thought for a moment before answering, “Before he retired, he went to the provincial CPPCC as the head.”

“Already retired, huh,” Zhang Caixin nodded thoughtfully, “Probably not much different from Elder Yuan, right?”

“Elder Yuan is at least two streets ahead of him,” Gu Jiahui declared with confidence.

Despite her young age, she understood these matters instinctively from growing up in such a family. “He once served as a minister, and Hu Changqing was only promoted to full province-level…heh, he might not even be a Central Committee member, right?”

Chao Ying looked at her in surprise, thinking that for a girl of not yet twenty, to have such insight, she must be from no ordinary family.

Feng Jun’s brows furrowed slightly, “Does Mayor Chao know how this Liu Er conducts his business?”

“I truly didn’t know before,” Chao Ying shook her head, “To tell you the truth, even I was unaware of such a person. But one thing is for sure, Elder Hu doesn’t think highly of him…he dropped out of junior high.”

Feng Jun fell silent with a snicker, then finally said, “Being uneducated doesn’t mean one can bully others without restraint.”

“He indeed acted wrongly in this matter,” Chao Ying admitted frankly, “What sort of compensation do you expect him to offer?”

“Compensation?” Feng Jun glanced at her, pondered for a moment, and then reached for his mobile phone, dialing a number, “Er Pang, come up here, yes, to the presidential suite on the top floor.”

After hanging up the phone, he looked at Chao Ying and said seriously, “As for compensation, let’s hear the opinion of the person involved. But to be honest, he should be thankful that the person concerned isn’t me.”

Chao Ying’s face stiffened for a moment before she managed to force a smile, “Our city’s top leader respects Elder Hu a lot.”

The top leader wasn’t from Yuyuan and hadn’t been in the locality for long. To achieve anything locally, he couldn’t bypass Hu Changqing.

Feng Jun smiled indifferently, “First, we need to understand one thing: does letting Elder Hu’s relatives run amok and bully others count as respect for Elder Hu? Nowadays, social media is very developed.”

“If the old man is criticized by the local folks, destroying his years of good reputation in an instant… is it worth it or not?”

(Updated, calling for monthly tickets.)