New Times, New Hell-Chapter 121 - Buying a Building

Chapter 121 - Buying a Building

The plan for Luofeng’s annual party was decided upon very quickly. Shang Que scanned over it briefly. After giving a few recommendations for changes, he confirmed and accepted it. However, the problem of renting out a new office was still very stressful. The main reason was because of the makeup of Luofeng’s employees.

Although every thriving company had a dream of working in the CBD, Luofeng’s headquarters was full of ghosts. Working in the middle of downtown wasn’t actually the best choice. The most ideal locations were actually those located in new areas still being developed. Yet, a majority of the facilities in these new areas were rather shabby in comparison to older areas. Lu Lingxi visited all the office buildings in these suitable areas, but still couldn’t find a good match.

Just as Luofeng was getting all tied up because of this problem, their company’s headquarters suddenly received a notification from the district government saying that their company had been labelled as an excellent local business by the higher-ups. Additionally, they had been awarded a rather impressive sum of prize money.

After receiving this news, both Yu Zhengdu and Shang Que were very confused. Because Luofeng’s situation was a bit unique, they had never submitted any applications to get financial aid from any government entities. They had also never participated in any business evaluations. How come they had randomly received such a prize?

However, Yu Zhengdu was very cautious. He didn’t directly expose the suspicions in his heart to the district government. He only carefully confirmed the information about the award. Unexpectedly, when he asked, he found that the prize money had extremely impressive origins. It had actually been awarded by the province. The prize money would eventually be directly transferred over by the provincial Department of Finance too.

Luofeng and the relevant department had never had too close of a relationship. Yet, this award was very important. Yu Zhengdu thought about it in detail, then called Ming Peiran.

This was the only person who worked in a major government department that Luofeng had interacted with.

As expected, Ming Peiran picked up very quickly. “Boss Yu, I was just thinking about calling you. Have you received the reward notification yet?”

Yu Zhengdu answered while laughing, “It was really from you guys?”

Ming Peiran: “Of course. It was extremely fortunate that we had your company’s help at Si Mountain Ridge last time. These things are always compensated for. However, you know too that these matters are a bit sensitive. On the surface, we can’t use this as a reason to give you guys a monetary prize. Normally for the religious community, we directly give the money as donations. Your company’s situation is a bit special. We investigated for a long time too before specially awarding this prize.”

Yu Zhengdu: “Got it.”

More accurately speaking, this was technically their company’s labor fee. Yu Zhengdu naturally wouldn’t reject it. However, he still thanked Ming Peiran. The two of them then chatted about recent occurrences. In the end, Ming Peiran said, “Oh right. Boss Yu, do you and Boss Shang have time next month?”

Yu Zhengdu: “Is something wrong?”

Ming Peiran: “There’s going to be a large-scale blessing ceremony at Impasse Mountain near Ledu next month. All the religious masters from each important temple in the country will be there. If you and Boss Shang have the time, I can submit a request to get two spots for you.”

Yu Zhengdu sweatdropped. “There’s no need for that. Our company doesn’t really belong to the religious community.”

Ming Peiran fell silent for a moment on the other end of the line. He seemed to be hesitating about something. A long time later, he finally said, “This actually isn’t just a religious activity.”

Yu Zhengdu was a bit perplexed. “What do you mean?”

Ming Peiran: “Luo Wanxiang will be attending the ceremony too…… No, it should be said that this ceremony was set up by Luo Wanxiang.”

“Luo Wanxiang?” Yu Zhengdu felt like this name was slightly familiar. He thought about it for a bit before realizing: “That Buddhist genius who’s been vegetarian since in the womb?”

Ming Peiran: “Yes, him.”

The supposed “vegetarian since in the womb” referred to someone whose mother had avoided all meat products while pregnant. After their birth, they had only stuck to a vegetarian diet too. Normally, people believed that those who were vegetarian since in the womb were those who were destined Buddhists or even the reincarnations of enlightened Buddhists. For example, Tang Seng from “Journey to the West” had been vegetarian since in the womb.

The Luo Wanxiang that Ming Peiran had mentioned wasn’t actually very famous among the general public. Yu Zhengdu had only heard of this name before because he had recently contacted a lot of religious masters. However, in the religious community, Luo Wanxiang could be considered quite famous. This was because he had been a vegetarian since in the womb. Luo Wanxiang was considered a destined Buddhist. At a young age, he had been sent by his family to a famous temple to become a Buddhist disciple with hair. And, he himself truly expressed his almost genius-like insight. Apparently, at the age of five or six, he was already capable of hosting a scripture discussion. In his teens, his name became renowned. Everyone believed that he was Buddha’s reincarnation. About a decade ago, he had also started visiting varying Asian countries to further his studies. As of now, he had a prestigious reputation in the entire Asian Buddhist community.

If not for the fact that Luo Wanxiang still hadn’t officially become a monk, perhaps he would’ve already become a true leader of Buddhism by now. Yet, such a person had only just passed the age of twenty this year.

But Yu Zhengdu was still very confused. “So what if Luo Wanxiang is attending?”

In his eyes, since Luo Wanxiang was already a Buddhist disciple with hair, it was normal for him to be attending an activity of the religious community. What was strange was Ming Peiran’s serious attitude while sharing this fact.

Ming Peiran responded, “Last year, Luo Wanxiang achieved a great breakthrough. Though he hasn’t personally said anything, the Buddhists all believe that he might’ve opened the Buddha Eye.”

Yu Zhengdu was shocked.

Because Luofeng’s vice president, Zhao Ruola, had her Insight Eye, Yu Zhengdu had especially looked up the concepts behind the Five Eyes of Buddhism.

The Five Eyes of Buddhism referred to the Physical Eye, the Heavenly Eye, the Insight Eye, the Dharma Eye, and the Buddha Eye. Among these, the Buddha Eye was the highest level possible. Apparently, it was an eye that only the Buddha possessed. It could see everything, even nothingness. It was also referred to as the Eye of the Enlightened. Technically, mortals couldn’t possess this eye.

No matter how talented Luo Wanxiang was, in theory, he wouldn’t be capable of achieving the Buddha Eye.

“We aren’t sure about this. He himself hasn’t admitted it before either.” Ming Peiran’s tone was meaningful, “However, he can truly see more things than a normal person can see.”

The “more things” referred to the future. This was something that only someone with the Buddha Eye could see.

Yu Zhengdu instantly understood. “Did he see something?”

“Un,” Ming Peiran replied. Yet, he didn’t share what exactly the other had seen. He only vaguely said, “Luo Wanxiang left the country at a very young age to further his studies. It’s already been a decade since he’s come back. This is his first time returning home after so many years.”

Yu Zhengdu furrowed his brows. “The blessing ceremony is being held because of this too?”

Ming Peiran didn’t deny it. Though he hadn’t explicitly said anything, given this bit of information alone, Yu Zhengdu could already guess. It was probably something really serious. He temporarily didn’t know how to respond. In a somewhat teasing manner, he asked, “I hadn’t expected that you guys would also believe in stuff like prophecies?”

“We don’t really,” Ming Peiran answered. “But we need to be prepared just in case. Even if there’s only a one in a million chance that something might happen, we still can’t afford to deal with the consequences.”

“I understand.” Yu Zhengdu didn’t immediately express his opinion. He only said, “I’ll confirm our plans with my boss.”

Just as Yu Zhengdu was about to hang up after saying this, Ming Peiran suddenly added, “Actually, even if you’re not attending for the blessing ceremony, it’s still pretty nice for you guys to get to know Luo Wanxiang.”

Yu Zhengdu didn’t understand. “Why?”

Ming Peiran: “Don’t tell me you don’t know that Luo Wanxiang is the second-in-line for the Luo Corporation?”

Yu Zhengdu was shocked. “Really?”

The Luo Corporation was a renowned multi-faceted corporation in the south. Their products could be found all over the country. However, their boss, Luo Sen, and his family were usually quite lowkey. There wasn’t a lot of gossip about them online either. People like Yu Zhengdu weren’t in the habit of looking into this stuff; it was even more impossible that he would know that Luo Wanxiang was actually the second son of the Luo family.

Ming Peiran: “Of course. Otherwise, why did you think he could learn Buddhism at all the famous temples starting from such a young age? And he even directly learned from the abbots.”

Yu Zhengdu fell silent for a moment. “Isn’t that because he’s been a vegetarian since in the womb?”

Ming Peiran: “It is because he’s been a vegetarian since in the womb, but also because his dad donated an enormous amount of money to all those temples.”

Yu Zhengdu: “……”

After hanging up, Yu Zhengdu immediately sent messages to people in the religious community to gossip. Only then did he learn that Luo Wanxiang truly was the second-in-line for the Luo Corporation. Except, because of his special identity, he had stayed in a temple since young. He didn’t participate in his family’s business matters and wasn’t interested in inheriting his family’s wealth. Due to this, though, his family members actually doted on him more than usual and provided great support for him on his path of practicing Buddhism. Just as Ming Peiran had said, because of the Luo family’s financial support, Luo Wanxiang managed to gain a lot of resources that others couldn’t. This included his opportunity to travel to different countries to advance his studies, which had been secretly arranged for by the Luo family.

Otherwise, no matter how much of a genius Luo Wanxiang was, he couldn’t possibly have so many achievements under his belt as such a young age. Additionally, he wouldn’t be able to get to such a high position in the religious community.

After hearing this gossip, Yu Zhengdu felt extremely envious. He sent a message reflecting these feelings to his boyfriend:【Those extremely evil rich people!】

……

Aside from an impressive monetary bonus, the excellent business award also included a certificate of honor. Usually, the business would send someone to pick this certificate up at the government office. However, the new district’s government was dedicated to professionalism and was also very perceptive. By using the list of recipients, they noticed that Luofeng was the only business in the entire province that had received this award. Thus, they then checked Luofeng’s tax records and discovered that last year, Luofeng had started paying increasingly more taxes.

The new district was developing rapidly. They valued investments and promotion much more than older districts. Upon discovering Luofeng’s enormous potential and realizing that the higher-ups seemed to care about this company greatly, the district government’s relevant department instantly decided to send someone to personally bring the certificate to Luofeng’s door. They could also inspect Luofeng’s developmental progress while at it and display the district’s concern for their businesses.

Luofeng had always been nonchalant about these honors. However, there was nothing wrong with maintaining a good relationship with the local government when you were running a business. Because of this, they still expressed a certain level of friendliness and respect.

In comparison, the district seemed to care a lot more. They directly sent over a tiny inspection team while also holding a simple award ceremony for Luofeng.

Because he had registered a company in the mortal realm, the Great Ghost King, Shang Que, had no other choice but to submit to the management of socialism. He was forced to partake in this process: he and the representative each held one corner of the certificate and took a friendly picture together at their company’s front desk. Additionally, this picture got printed out and was now hanging on the company’s wall of honor so that visiting guests would be able to see it.

After the award ceremony, Yu Zhengdu led the inspection team on a tour of their company. Both representatives sat down in a meeting room to take a break following the tour.

The representative from the inspection team said, “Your company’s offices are a bit spread out.”

The offices they had toured just now had been located in two different buildings. Additionally, they had been spread out between different floors. Apparently, there were a few smaller offices that were in other buildings too. Because it was a bit troublesome, they hadn’t visited all of them.

Yu Zhengdu explained Luofeng’s office situation to them, then said, “However, we’re already looking for a new office.”

“You’re switching offices?” As soon as the representative heard this, he immediately became nervous. “Have you found a suitable one yet?”

It was very likely for many businesses to directly move to different districts when switching offices. It would be okay if these were small businesses. If big businesses moved away, though, this could possibly affect the entire district’s taxes.

Though Luofeng wasn’t big enough to affect the entire district’s overall taxes yet, they had turned in an impressive amount last year. Additionally, the number was rapidly increasing too. Combined with the higher-ups’ sudden attention, the district naturally couldn’t watch and do nothing as such a business moved away. Thus, the representative immediately became invested.

Yu Zhengdu knew what he was worried about too. An idea struck. He smiled and shared, “We looked over a few places, but aren’t too satisfied with them.”

The representative hurriedly said, “Our new district has just opened a few new buildings. They’re looking for renters right now. You guys can check them out.”

“We have.” Yu Zhengdu gave a brief summary of their worries. “It’s not very suitable.”

This basically meant that they couldn’t promise to stay in the district. However, their concerns were reasonable too; there weren’t any hints of other implications. Their attitude was very sincere.

The representative temporarily fell silent. “I understand your company’s situation now. Our district government has always cared deeply about the development of our businesses. We also hope to be able to help these businesses remove the obstacles in their path of development. How about this? I’ll go back and report this to my supervisor. Basically, we’ll do our best to come up with a way to help resolve your company’s problem.”

Yu Zhengdu instantly expressed the perfect amount of gratitude. “Then we’ll have to trouble you with that!”

Since they were being cared for by the relevant department, the information Luofeng could receive increased greatly. Very quickly, they made progress on the matter of moving offices.

There was an office building in the southeast corner of the developmental district that had just been completed. They were looking for investors. However, because it was hard to reach by public transportation and because the facilities weren’t finished yet, their search for investors hadn’t been going too smoothly. As such, the rent was relatively cheap.

Originally, Luofeng hadn’t considered this area at all. However, based on the somewhat vague information the representative had shared with Yu Zhengdu, apparently, the district was going to have a brand new plan for that region.

Because this information was still supposed to be kept a secret, the representative didn’t share too many details about the situation.

But Luofeng had a system. Yu Zhengdu instantly used the system to find information about Fu City’s city plan. After analyzing it, he had a basic guess in his heart.

These past few years, Fu City had grown extremely rapidly. The city’s borders were incessantly expanding. The most important point about this was the plan for public transportation. From the news that had already been announced, there would be at least four new subway lines and varying other public transportation lines added to the new district within the next three years. As of now, the map for the subway lines hadn’t come out yet, but Luofeng’s system could make a general judgement of the predicted direction the subway lines would go in after analyzing a combination of Fu City’s past subway plans and future governmental policies.

The building that the representative had recommended was located right along the path that the subway line would pass by.

If the results of this analysis were correct, then the rent for that building would definitely increase exponentially in the future. If Luofeng was able to quickly rent that building before the news became announced, they would absolutely be able to save a lot of money.

However, the analysis was only just an analysis. It relied on probability, which meant that there was a chance that it was wrong.

However, though Yu Zhengdu was careful, he had a daring side too. He instantly shared the results of his analysis with Shang Que. He wanted to get insight into Shang Que’s considerations. After reading the results, Shang Que thought about it and said, “I’ll have an answer for you in two days.”

This was the first time Yu Zhengdu was seeing Shang Que be so serious. He actually needed to consider something for two days. Yu Zhengdu couldn’t help feeling really comforted in his heart: my boyfriend has finally become a mature CEO!

Two days later, Shang Que called Yu Zhengdu and Lu Lingxi into his office at the same time. Very simply, he announced, “Let’s rent it.”

After seeing how resolute he was, Yu Zhengdu couldn’t help saying, “Tell me about your considerations first.”

Shang Que was bewildered. “I didn’t have any considerations.”

“You didn’t have any considerations?” Yu Zhengdu’s eye twitched. “So how did you come to this decision?”

Shang Que answered, “I had Kang Jin directly go to the relevant department in the city and listen in on a few meetings. They really are planning to open up the subway lines over there. Additionally, the subway entrance is going to be right next to that building.”

Yu Zhengdu: “……” Though Shang Que wasn’t making a big deal of it, very obviously, Kang Jin hadn’t “listened in” in a normal manner. Instead, he had listened in as a ghost.

Yu Zhengdu couldn’t help criticizing, “That’s illegal, right?”

“Yep.” Shang Que didn’t feel burdened at all as he responded. “If the discipline department is feeling capable, tell them to come arrest me.”

He was clearly threatening the discipline department!

Shang Que had spoken so confidently that Yu Zhengdu actually had no response.

After a short pause, Shang Que added, “Oh, we listened in on the district’s meeting too. They did a good job getting outside investors for that building. In the future, it’ll contain a large-scale supermarket and mall.”

Yu Zhengdu seriously pondered a bit, then said, “Let’s not rent anymore. Let’s directly buy.”

They wouldn’t be able to afford a whole building, but they could still attempt to buy a few floors before the prices went up.

The author has something to say:

Xiao Kui: I did break the rules. If you’re so capable, come arrest me. (Cocky)