405: Chapter 45 Tripping Up

Shen Yan couldn't help but let out a cold snort.

"Not qualified?"

"I clearly called to negotiate with you before I came. What did you tell me back then?"

The person in charge looked troubled.

"This... things are different now. Could you please not make things difficult for us?"

Shen Yan said expressionlessly, "If you process the paperwork for me, I won't make things difficult for you."

The person in charge sighed.

"This really can't be done. You don't meet our conditions for land transfer. How about this: we'll refund you in full and introduce you to other land where the requirements aren't as strict?"

Shen Yan refused without hesitation.

He was after the tax-free benefits that came with this abandoned land, not just the land itself.

"No, I want this specific piece of land."

"You didn't state before that companies from other industries couldn't buy the land, nor did you mention any potential issues with the paperwork."

"Now that I've transferred the money and everyone is ready, you're telling me the paperwork can't be processed?"

The person in charge was full of worry.

There truly were no such rules before; the new regulation was added only after the land transaction was successful because someone had applied pressure.

He was now caught between a rock and a hard place, stuck in the middle with no way to please anyone.

"I'm very sorry, but the paperwork really can't be processed."

Shen Yan took a deep breath and said coldly to the person in charge, "I already won this land at the auction and transferred the money. It's your problem if the paperwork can't be processed, and you need to solve it for me."

"If you can't solve it, then report it to your superiors. I don't believe none of them can resolve this!"

After dropping those words, he didn't spare another glance at the person in charge's face—which looked as if he had swallowed something foul—and turned to leave.

At the entrance, Chen Guangke was sitting in the car waiting for him.

Seeing Shen Yan walk out with a grim face, he rolled down the window and asked, "What happened?"

Shen Yan got into the car without saying a word.

*Bang!*

The car door was slammed shut.

Utterly confused, Chen Guangke asked again, "What on earth is wrong with you? Why are you so angry?"

Suppressing the anger in his heart, Shen Yan replied to Chen Guangke, "That person in charge said the land transfer paperwork can't be done, claiming I'm not qualified to buy the land."

As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Guangke's eyes widened, and his voice spiked ten times higher, sounding like a screaming chicken.

"What!"

"Didn't we already call and ask them before we went? Didn't they tell us that anyone was qualified to buy this land?!"

Shen Yan rubbed his brow with a look of frustration.

"That's what I told him too, but he said..."

At this point, Shen Yan suddenly sensed something was wrong.

"Wait, there's a problem."

Chen Guangke: "Huh?"

Shen Yan frowned in thought.

Buying land isn't like buying a house.

To ensure nothing went wrong, he had specifically asked the auction organizers beforehand if they were qualified to bid for the land.

The answer they received at the time was yes.

As long as they had a legally operating company and bank statements proving sufficient assets, they could participate in the auction.

Since they had said it was fine back then, it meant that originally, anyone could buy this land.

Now that he had bought it, they were saying it wasn't allowed.

What was the reason?

It was obvious: someone didn't want him to buy this land.

Recalling Chen Guangke's previous mention that someone was determined to get this land, he thought he understood why the person in charge was suddenly pulling this stunt.

Seeing him remain silent for a long time, Chen Guangke grew anxious.

"Don't stop halfway! Where exactly is the problem?"

"No! I can't just sit here and wait with you. I have to go up there and demand an explanation!"

Just as Chen Guangke was about to open the car door to go "reason" with the person in charge, Shen Yan reached out and stopped him.

"Don't go. It won't do any good even if you do. It's not the person in charge who doesn't want us to buy this land, but someone else."

He finished speaking.

Chen Guangke frowned and asked, "What do you mean? Is someone intentionally tripping us up?"

Shen Yan nodded.

"Barring any surprises, that seems to be the case."

Upon hearing this, anger immediately swept through Chen Guangke. He asked Shen Yan furiously, "Which low-life idiot did this? Always doing these kinds of underhanded things!"

Shen Yan shrugged and replied, "I don't know either, but I have a candidate in mind."

Chen Guangke urged impatiently, "Then say it! Who do you think did it?"

Shen Yan told Chen Guangke about his bidding war with someone else at the auction.

"I think it was the person who was bidding against me at the end. Although I didn't see his face, I feel like his voice sounded very familiar."

Chen Guangke didn't want to just sit there guessing. He started the engine, stepped on the gas, and said, "Since that person was sitting in the first row, it means they must be someone with status."

"When I get back, I have to find out the name of that brain-dead idiot!"

...

The next day, the CEO's office of Fuchen Enterprise.

"I found it!"

The office door was pushed open.

Chen Guangke walked into Shen Yan's office with the investigated information.

"The man's name is Chen Wu. He's the CEO of a listed company called Chenhong in the Red District. They have quite a few businesses, mainly focusing on domestic and international trade."

As he spoke, he handed the printed materials in his hand to Shen Yan.

Shen Yan took them and glanced over, finding the person in the documents looked very familiar.

"Hiss, I think I really have seen him before."

Chen Guangke raised an eyebrow.

"You've really seen him? How come I didn't know you knew this person?"

While looking at the materials, Shen Yan replied, "Didn't I tell you? Gu Hui once took me to meet a few people, and this person was one of them."

Chen Guangke frowned and asked, "Is he with Gu Hui? Then is he doing this for Gu Hui..."

Before he could finish, Shen Yan shook his head.

"Their relationship isn't that close."

Chen Guangke looked puzzled.

"Then I don't understand. Why would he go out of his way to make things difficult for you for no reason?"

Shen Yan closed the materials in his hand.

"What else could it be for? It's for that land! Abandoned land with a ten-year tax exemption—wouldn't you want it if it were you?"

He finished speaking.

Chen Guangke's hand loosened, and his cup hit the floor with a clatter.

"Abandoned land with a ten-year tax exemption?!"

Shen Yan nodded and said, "Didn't I tell you? If we buy this land, it's tax-free for ten years."

Chen Guangke shook his head frantically. "You didn't tell me about this at all! Holy crap! No wonder you suddenly wanted to buy land!"

"Damn it, no way. We can't let him snatch this land!"

Hearing this, Shen Yan curled his lips into a smile. "Don't worry, I never had any intention of giving up the land. He's the one who suffered a setback because of me, so why should I be the one to back down?"

With that, he took out his phone and dialed Mei Jinning's number.