61: Chapter 61, sold for 1.5 million!

Since he had personally inspected the place and confirmed it was suitable,

Bai Jingqing didn't wait any longer,

and began the process of purchasing this factory area.

Because there was a very urgent matter he needed to solve right now,

which was the question of where exactly his mobile phones came from.

If he didn't resolve this issue first,

with so many people, like those at Ideal Technology, keeping an eye on him,

someone would eventually catch him off guard.

He didn't want the existence of his system to be exposed;

otherwise, he might end up being sliced up for research.

Bai Jingqing quickly arrived at the local municipal government department,

and after some back and forth,

he finally found the relevant person in charge.

The official was a balding, middle-aged man.

When he heard that Bai Jingqing wanted to buy the old Sanlu Group factory,

he was quite taken aback.

"Well now, it's been years since anyone even mentioned that place.

How did you suddenly think of buying it?"

Bai Jingqing scratched his head awkwardly. "What's wrong?

Is the factory no longer available for trade?"

The balding man nodded. "It's available,

it's just that it's been a long time since anyone asked to buy that plant.

It really has been sitting idle for quite a while.

Those abandoned factories,

the equipment inside,

plus the surrounding leased land—

the total quote is 3 million.

Is that acceptable?"

The balding man was very direct with the price.

Bai Jingqing: "Huh?"

He was a bit surprised;

he hadn't expected such a large plot of land to be so cheap!

He had done the field inspection;

the area of that land was truly not small.

The factory area alone was nearly 20 square kilometers,

and with the leased land included,

it was probably around 100 square kilometers.

Although the location was remote

and it had been idle for so long,

Bai Jingqing estimated the quote wouldn't be too expensive,

but he hadn't expected it to be this low.

The balding man raised an eyebrow

and glanced at Bai Jingqing.

Seeing how young he was,

the man probably figured he didn't have much money.

Seeing his surprised expression,

the official assumed he thought it was too expensive.

"2.5 million!

For just 2.5 million,

that whole factory area and the surrounding leased land will be yours!"

The balding man didn't hesitate,

immediately changing his tune

and cutting another 500,000.

Seeing how readily the balding man lowered the price,

Bai Jingqing felt there was still room for negotiation,

so he said, "Let's not do 2.5 million.

The number 250 isn't very auspicious.

If I buy this plant for 2.5 million,

people will hear it and think I'm an idiot.

How about 2 million?"

The balding man looked troubled. "2 million,

isn't that a bit low?"

Bai Jingqing: "2 million, and I'll settle the full amount in cash immediately!"

He said this with great confidence.

In reality, he truly had the capability now.

The bank hadn't come to collect his debts again yet,

so he had saved up all his profits from this period.

Currently, he had accumulated a total cash flow of 5.81 million,

so taking out 2 million was a piece of cake.

The official nodded. "Fine! You said it!

But there's one more thing I should tell you.

The surrounding leased land is rented from local farmers' fields,

and the leases will likely expire in a year or two.

If you want to use it then, you'll have to lease it again.

Also, most of the equipment in the factory is probably outdated;

it can likely only be sold as scrap metal.

You'd better do a field inspection of the factory

before making a final decision."

Bai Jingqing stroked his chin.

Seeing how quickly the balding man had agreed with that 'Fine,'

he knew that if this factory area wasn't sold soon,

it would eventually just rot away in their hands.

After a moment's thought, he said, "The problems you mentioned do exist.

How about 1 million then?

I'll still settle it in cash."

The balding man's mouth twitched several times.

I shouldn't have opened my damn mouth!

Just like that, another million was gone.

"1.5 million, no less!"

The balding man said firmly.

Bai Jingqing: "Deal!"

The balding man felt like his heart was bleeding.

However, it wasn't easy to find someone willing to take over this factory area,

and he didn't want to miss this opportunity.

So he said, "Alright, since you've made up your mind,

let's prepare to sign the contract."

After a busy day,

involving finding a professional legal team

and meeting with relevant officials,

the contract was finally drafted and signed.

It wasn't until after the signing

that Bai Jingqing asked the balding man, "For such a large piece of land,

why is it being sold so cheaply?"

The balding man sighed. "The impact of the Sanlu Milk Powder Melamine incident was just too great.

After that happened,

no other dairy companies dared to take over Sanlu's production lines.

They were even afraid of having any association with Sanlu at all.

This led to that old factory being impossible to sell for the longest time,

so naturally, the price dropped."

Bai Jingqing nodded;

that made sense.

But he asked curiously, "If the dairy companies didn't want it,

weren't there people from other industries who would?

After all, it is a massive plot of land,

and those machines should have been worth quite a bit if sold back then, right?"

The balding man looked at Bai Jingqing with some suspicion,

muttering to himself,

This kid isn't thinking of backing out, is he?

He said, "Young man, you've picked up a huge bargain, you know?

Before, there were other manufacturers who wanted this land,

but the quotes we gave back then started at tens of millions.

The reason the quote was so high then

was mainly considering the equipment inside

and the cost of the land.

But it didn't sell for all these years

because no other companies actually needed that equipment.

Moreover, that land is actually quite remote.

If you're not in the agricultural products business,

who would be bored enough to go out there and buy such a huge piece of land!

So, selling it to you for 1.5 million now

is a massive steal for you!"

The balding man said this

mostly because he was afraid Bai Jingqing would regret it.

But then he remembered they had already signed the contract,

so there was no reason to back out.

He then added, "Actually, the price of 1.5 million is indeed a bit expensive.

Think about it, that place is just a small suburban county,

transportation is inconvenient,

and if you were just buying the land alone,

how could it be worth 1.5 million?

And since the location is remote,

no large enterprises are willing to come.

Those in agricultural products,

or anything even remotely related to food,

are very superstitious about taking over a factory that had such problems.

Plus, our previous quotes were indeed not low,

which is why it hasn't sold for so many years."

Watching the balding man say he got a bargain one moment

and then say 1.5 million was overpaying the next,

Bai Jingqing knew exactly what was going on.

It was true that 1.5 million could rent an even larger area in the countryside,

not to mention the leases for the land around the Sanlu Group were about to expire in a few years.

However, his situation was indeed quite urgent,

and while the equipment in those factories seemed useless,

he actually needed that equipment to keep up appearances.

All things considered,

this was already a very good choice.

The balding man looked at Bai Jingqing through his thick glasses. "I am quite curious, though—

what do you plan to do with that land?"

Bai Jingqing said with high spirits, "Scientific research!"