51: 51. Land Hoarding

Evening.

A luxurious, top-tier sedan slowly drove into a narrow alley, appearing at the intersection of this old residential area. The small golden figurine on its hood shimmered in the sunset, immediately attracting many onlookers.

"My goodness, the car paint is so shiny you can see your reflection! This car must be an import, right? At least two million?"

"You're underestimating it. Not only is it an import, it's also the top-spec model. At least three million."

"Tsk tsk tsk, which big shot made a wrong turn? How did he end up in this old district?"

When Lu Feng walked down from his building, he was blinded by the gleaming luxury car from afar. After all, a car of this caliber had never appeared in this neighborhood before.

A bad premonition immediately arose in his heart.

This car... couldn't be Yu Tianxiong's, could it?

Just as he was thinking, Yu Tianxiong's call came in, and he respectfully said, "Sir, I'm already downstairs. The license plate number is..."

Lu Feng squinted, staring at the luxury car's license plate, and happened to see Yu Tianxiong step out of the vehicle, standing respectfully by the door, waiting for him.

He said with a mix of exasperation and amusement, "Old Yu, why did you bring such a car? It's far too conspicuous!"

Yu Tianxiong was stunned: "Sir, you said you needed a car tonight, so I thought... I'd choose one that best suited your status. I just bought this car today."

While they were talking, Lu Feng could see several scantily clad girls walking up, standing by the car to take pictures, intentionally or unintentionally showing off their figures, and then striking up conversations with Yu Tianxiong.

"Handsome guy... are you alone?"

Hearing the voices coming from the phone, Lu Feng said helplessly, "Old Yu, I'll give you half an hour. Go change this car for me now. I need a car tonight to move things, not to attend some event. Just get me a minivan."

A minivan?

Yu Tianxiong thought for a moment, ignored the women, turned, got back into the car, started it, and immediately made a U-turn and drove off.

The few women watched the luxury car drive away in a daze, their expressions filled with resentment.

The others exclaimed in wonder, then turned to leave. Seeing Lu Feng, they laughed and said, "Little Lu, you're late! There was such a cool luxury car here just now, absolutely one that every man would want to own!"

"Yeah, damn, how can there be such a cool car? You need to work hard, and buy one someday!"

Lu Feng scratched his head, showing an awkward but polite smile, and said, "Then I'll try my best?"

"Top ten in the province, you'll definitely have a chance," the neighbors patted his shoulder, encouraging him.

Just then, another car drove into the intersection. Everyone instinctively turned their heads, only to find it was a dilapidated minivan, which made them lose interest.

Lu Feng, however, walked towards the minivan and got in after greeting Yu Tianxiong in the driver's seat.

At this moment, everyone suddenly frowned and exchanged glances.

"Wait a minute, the person driving looks a bit familiar, just like the driver of the luxury car earlier. Look, he hasn't even changed his clothes."

"I thought it was just my imagination, but damn, it really is him!"

"Hiss hiss hiss... What's going on here? I don't understand it at all!"

..."Have you eaten yet?" Lu Feng asked in the car.

Yu Tianxiong shook his head: "No, I haven't."

"Then let's go grab a quick bite. We'll be doing some heavy lifting tonight."

Hearing Lu Feng's words, Yu Tianxiong was puzzled. He really couldn't connect "heavy lifting" with "making money and hoarding land."

However, he knew that Lu Feng's way of thinking was beyond ordinary people's comprehension, so there was no need to ask; he just needed to follow along.

The two ate some casual food at a roadside stall.

While eating, Lu Feng took out his newly bought tablet, handed it to Yu Tianxiong, and said, "This is our target this time: buying this plot of land."

Yu Tianxiong solemnly took the tablet and looked at its content. It was a piece of social news about a stalled construction project in the old street of Xinghai City's West District.

This plot of land was developed and constructed five years ago by Starry Sky Real Estate, but during construction, the company's capital chain broke, and internal problems arose, leaving it on the verge of bankruptcy and unable to continue construction.

As a result, within the vast plot of land, weeds grew rampant, with only a few lonely unfinished buildings.

Yu Tianxiong finished reading carefully, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "Sir, are you planning to buy this plot of land?"

Lu Feng nodded and asked in return, "What do you think?"

Yu Tianxiong carefully chose his words and explained, "A real estate company on the verge of bankruptcy like this would certainly hope someone could take over this stalled project. I believe other investors must have seen this place too. As for why it has been vacant for three years with no takers, it's clearly because they assessed it and deemed it not worthwhile."

"I looked at the information, and it shows it's a combination of office and residential buildings. If we take it over, we'll definitely inherit their mess and have to invest a lot of money into renovations. But right now, the vacancy rate for office buildings in some high-tech zones is as high as thirty percent, and housing prices are falling again and again. Taking over this plot of land... the risk is very high, and we might lose money."

As a former business magnate, Yu Tianxiong's vision had always been sharp, so he wasn't very optimistic about this project.

Lu Feng, after hearing all this, instead laughed. While picking up some fragrant fried rice noodles, he said, "Very good. If everyone thinks like you, then the chances of us securing this plot of land will be much higher."

They finished dinner around 8 PM, and then the two set off again.

"Sir, should we go take a look at the plot of land?"

Lu Feng shook his head, pointed casually, and said with a smile, "We're going to the port."

???

Yu Tianxiong was caught off guard by Lu Feng's sudden change of plans. Hadn't they just been talking about a real estate plot? How did a port suddenly pop up?

Xinghai City has two ports. One is mainly a hub for large cargo ships and containers, with a huge daily throughput and many incoming and outgoing cargo ships, making it one of the local economic industries.

The other is a fishing port, where a large number of fishermen go out to sea daily on fishing boats. At the same time, many sand-dredging boats also work here, and the environment is relatively harsher.

And what Lu Feng was referring to was the fishing port.

The fishing port was a two-hour drive from the city center, located in the suburban area. By the time they arrived, it was already ten o'clock, and it had long been dark.

Lu Feng got out of the car and took a deep breath. The air had a salty taste of seawater and was also permeated with a fishy smell, which wasn't pleasant.

The two looked up, and not far away was the fishing port. The busy searchlights cast a pale light on the sea. Although it was past ten o'clock, it was still bustling, with many fishing boats heading out to sea at night, and shouts and calls constantly filling the air.

Yu Tianxiong took in the environment, becoming even more confused. In his opinion, this area was full of hardworking fishermen, but there didn't seem to be any opportunities to make money.

Lu Feng led him in the opposite direction, walking several hundred meters away from the port.

This area was clearly private water, all fenced off. Inside, besides two fishing boats, there was also a single-story house, though it seemed uninhabited.

"Old Yu, can you tell what I'm going to do tonight?" Lu Feng asked.

Yu Tianxiong was utterly bewildered; he had wanted to ask for a long time. Upon hearing this, he shook his head: "I can't guess."

Lu Feng kicked a stone under his foot, his eyes filled with confidence: "If we want to secure that plot of land, what's the biggest challenge right now?"

Yu Tianxiong replied without hesitation: "Money. We have too little capital."

"Then how much money do you think is enough?"

"At least five hundred million," Yu Tianxiong said.

Lu Feng waved his hand grandly and said with a smile, "Although we don't have five hundred million temporarily, this place right in front of us does."