44: Tiger Head Run!

The night in Hong Kong Island remained dazzling and enchanting.

Downstairs at the Longteng Group building, several black sedans slowly came to a stop.

Lin Chuan carried two heavy leather suitcases in his hands, filled with the eight or nine million in cash—spoils of war he had forcibly squeezed out of Broken Finger Qiang.

The Chu Family's driver respectfully helped move the cash boxes into the building.

"Mr. Lin, the master has instructed that the car is for your use in Hong Kong Island. We will arrive on time tomorrow morning to take you to the airport."

Lin Chuan nodded and watched the motorcade depart.

On the other side of the building, the elder brother, Lin Jiang, was getting out of a taxi with large and small bags.

He hadn't been idle today; with the money his younger brother gave him, he had shopped all over the malls in Central.

In his left hand, he carried two boxes of bird's nest, and in his right, several sets of high-end clothes for his parents, brother, and wife.

He even had a few Walkmans tucked under his arm.

"Good heavens! Things on Hong Kong Island are really expensive!"

Lin Jiang started shouting as soon as he entered, but his face was filled with an uncontrollable smile.

"But the quality—feel this fabric, it's really top-notch!"

Looking at his elder brother's simple and happy appearance, a wave of warmth filled Lin Chuan's heart.

This was family.

No matter how much money they made, their first thought was always to bring the best things back... The next morning, a Boeing airliner roared through the clouds.

After a long flight, it landed steadily at Harbin Taiping International Airport.

The cabin door opened.

A blast of crisp air unique to the black soil of the North hit them—it was the scent of home, with a hint of earthy fragrance.

"Whew—the air at home still smells the most comfortable! On the streets of Hong Kong Island, you can smell the sewers everywhere."

Lin Jiang took a deep breath and gave a long stretch, his joints popping and cracking.

Chen Jiacheng, wearing a sharp British-style suit and carrying a leather briefcase, followed behind Lin Chuan, curiously observing this legendary old industrial base.

Was this the boss's base of operations?

Looking at the rows of towering chimneys in the distance and the endless plains, a sense of openness he had never felt before welled up within him.

The group had just walked out of the arrival gate.

"Boss! Brother Jiang! Over here!!"

A loud, raspy shout came from a distance.

A young man with a buzz cut was standing in front of a slightly dilapidated Old Jiefang truck, waving frantically.

It was the driver, Qiang Zi.

"Hahaha! This kid, why did he drive this truck here!"

Lin Jiang laughed and cursed playfully as he walked over quickly.

The Jiefang truck was chugging out black smoke, looking completely out of place among the cluster of sedans at the airport, standing out like a crane among chickens.

Qiang Zi scurried over in a few steps.

"Boss, didn't you say you'd be back in three days? I figured you might have things to load, so I came to pick you up."

"You've been gone for days. How was it? Are the women in Hong Kong Island really impressive?"

Lin Chuan laughed and punched him: "All you think about is women."

As they were talking...

A low, powerful engine sound approached.

Two brand-new, shiny black mercedes-benz W140s—commonly known as the tiger head benz—slid to a stop in front of everyone.

In those days, the tiger head benz was synonymous with status.

The square, domineering front and the Three-pointed Star emblem standing on top gleamed in the sunlight, dazzling the eyes.

The car door opened, and Chu Xiong stepped out, his face beaming.

"Oh! Mr. Lin! You've had a hard journey! A hard journey indeed!"

Chu Xiong's enthusiasm was as if he were meeting a long-lost brother; it was completely different from before they left. He immediately grabbed Lin Chuan's hand and wouldn't let go.

"I figured you just got off the plane and must be tired."

"Our Northeast region is vast; it's inconvenient to get around without a good car."

"I see Brother Qiang Zi's truck..." He pointed at the smoke-belching Old Jiefang and chuckled.

"It's good for hauling goods, but for hauling our great hero, it's a bit of a disservice."

With a wave of Chu Xiong's hand, the bodyguard behind him immediately handed over a shiny car key.

"Mr. Lin, this car is a gift for you. It's the top-of-the-line imported model!"

"Just a small token of appreciation to welcome you back! Please don't refuse!"

Hiss—

Qiang Zi gasped nearby, his eyes nearly popping out of his head.

"Mer... mercedes-benz?!?!"

"Is this the legendary tiger head benz?!"

He circled the car several times, wanting to touch it but not daring to, for fear of smudging the paint.

"My god, the rear of this car looks steadier than the large millstone at the east end of our village!"

Lin Jiang was also shocked. He had seen good cars in Hong Kong Island, but those belonged to others.

Now, this big guy belonged to his own family?

"Uncle Chu, this is too valuable."

Lin Chuan looked at the key, smiled, and did not decline.

He knew Chu Xiong was returning a favor and further solidifying their relationship.

For an old hand like him, he would feel more at ease if you accepted his gift.

"It's only right. Mr. Lin saved me from losing tens of millions and even won back my reputation. This one car is nothing at all."

"Alright, then I shall accept it."

Lin Chuan took the key and tossed it to Qiang Zi, who was already eager to try.

"Qiang Zi, you drive. As for the Jiefang, have someone come and drive it back later."

"You got it!"

Qiang Zi caught it steadily and sat in the driver's seat.

Lin Chuan, Long Wu, and the rest also got into the car.

The back of the tiger head benz was very spacious, more than enough for five people.

The vehicle traveled along the highway toward Red Mangrove Village.

In 1992, Harbin was not as prosperous as in later generations, but its foundation as the "eldest son of the Republic" was still there.

The wide asphalt road stretched straight to the horizon, flanked by lush birch forests, with occasional stretches of black soil so fertile it seemed to ooze oil.

The interior of the car was extremely quiet, the soundproofing so good that even the sound of the wind blowing through the leaves outside was inaudible.

Chen Jiacheng sat in the back, looking out the window in shock.

"Mr. Lin, is this the Northeast?"

"These roads are too wide! In Hong Kong Island, I've never seen roads so straight and wide."

"And this land—it feels like it stretches beyond the horizon."

Chen Jiacheng looked out the window.

It was an endless expanse of black soil, with towering poplar forests lined up like guards, and the Songhua River in the distance, so wide it was startling.

That sense of scale was entirely different from the cramped, oppressive atmosphere of Hong Kong Island, where every inch of land was worth its weight in gold.

"Tony, how does it feel?"

Lin Chuan leaned back in the comfortable leather seat, watching the scenery recede outside the window.

"Breathtaking."

Chen Jiacheng adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses and sighed sincerely.

"Mr. Lin, I've read in books that Heilongjiang Province is vast and rich in resources, but I only realized the weight of that word 'vast' after seeing it with my own eyes."

"With this kind of land reserve and urban framework, if this were Hong Kong Island, it would surely create even more billionaires."

Lin Chuan smiled and tapped his finger on the window.

"This is just the beginning."

"Tony, now that we're back, our Longteng Group's first shot must be a loud one."

"Let me tell you my plan."

Lin Chuan's gaze instantly became sharp, the instincts of a businessman awakening.

"Right now, we have enough money. I want you to go and negotiate land acquisitions with the government as a Hong Kong-funded entity of Longteng in the shortest time possible."

"We will focus on three directions."

Lin Chuan held up three fingers.

"First, Daoli District."

"It's near the river, has Zhongyang Street, and has the architectural heritage of the Russians."

In the future, that will be the wealthy area of the entire Harbin.

We want to get the best land there and build the most high-end river-view apartments!"

"Second, Nangang District."

"That's the transportation hub here, with the railway station and universities.

It has the highest foot traffic.

We want to build residential complexes with large commercial centers there, focusing on fully furnished units to sell to middle-class businessmen, employees, teachers, doctors, and so on!"

At this point, Lin Chuan paused and pointed to the area outside the window that currently looked like nothing but wild grasslands and large puddles.

"Third, is right here."

"Songbei."

Hearing this, Lin Jiang couldn't help but interject:

"Brother."

"This godforsaken place is just a vast wild grassland!

Aside from Sun Island, which you know about, it's all mud pits. It's full of mosquitoes in the summer. Who would buy a house there? It's a place where even rabbits don't poop!"

"When I was at the Construction Bureau, there was never any planning for this place. The land is cheap—probably as good as free—but who are we going to sell the houses to if we build them?"

"If we build them and can't sell them, we won't be able to recover our funds."

Lin Chuan gave a mysterious smile without explaining why.

As a transmigrator, he knew all too well.

In ten years, the urban center of Harbin would shift entirely to the north.

The municipal government would move to Songbei, which would become a brand-new national-level new area. Land prices would increase by more than a hundredfold!

Buying land now was like picking up money—and picking it up with burlap sacks!

It was 1992, and the population of the three Northeast provinces had not yet begun its massive outflow.

At least until 2012, the development momentum of the Northeast remained very strong.

It was only later, due to various reasons, that development fell behind.

Cities like Harbin, Spring City, Shen City, Daqing, and Dalian all squeezed into the top fifteen of the national GDP rankings.

Now that Lin Chuan had returned, as a Northeasterner, he couldn't just superficially shout slogans about revitalizing the Northeast.

He had to take real action.

He looked at Chen Jiacheng.

"Tony, what do you think?"

Chen Jiacheng didn't feel that Lin Chuan's choice sounded counter-intuitive, unlike the elder brother Lin Jiang.

Instead, he fell into deep thought.

He looked at the desolate land outside the window, his eyes flashing with the light of calculation.

"Mr. Lin, I think your vision is very sharp."

Chen Jiacheng turned his head, his tone serious and admiring.

"I've studied urban development history in Hong Kong Island."

"Whenever the population of the main urban area of an international metropolis becomes saturated and traffic becomes congested, it will inevitably expand to the periphery."

"This is not just a commercial law, but a political one."

"The Songbei you mentioned faces the old city across the river."

"As long as there is a bridge or a policy tilt from the government, this will become a new urban area."

"Moreover."

Chen Jiacheng became more excited as he spoke, the enthusiasm of a professional surfacing.

"The urbanization rate in the mainland is still very low; most people are still in the countryside."

"But I can feel that this wave has already arrived."

"In the future, people from the countryside will move to county towns, people from county towns will move to prefecture-level cities, and people from other prefecture-level cities will eventually flock to the provincial capital!"

"This is the population siphon effect!"

"As the center of the entire Heilongjiang Province, Harbin's population is bound to explode in the future!"

"Housing will become the most scarce hard currency!"

"And the concept of fully furnished housing we're doing now—as long as we maintain the quality, it will be a dimensional reduction strike against the competition!"

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Not a slap to Chen Jiacheng's face, but Lin Chuan clapping his hands.

"Incisive."

"As expected of the president I hired with a high salary."

"Tony, you've hit the nail on the head."

Lin Chuan glanced at his elder brother and Qiang Zi, who were still a bit bewildered.

"Brother, did you hear that?"

"That's what you call professional."

"The houses we build in the future won't be those old-style tenement blocks."

"We're going to build garden communities, lay floor tiles, install toilets—they'll be ready to move in!"

"Our Longteng is going to be the bellwether. Even if houses are hard to sell later, I'll just hold onto them for a few years, and they'll become mountains of gold and silver!"

"Don't worry, as the economy moves upward, people will become wealthier, especially after joining the WTO. The annual growth will be unstoppable."

Lin Jiang scratched his head. Although he didn't quite understand theories like population siphoning...

He understood one thing.

His third brother was going to do something big, and this educated man with glasses from Hong Kong Island highly approved of his brother's ideas.

"Alright! Since you put it that way, I'm relieved!"

"Third brother, you just point the way, and I'll lead the men to take it for you!"

"The brothers in our construction team have been itching for a fight for a long time."

Lin Chuan smiled: "Good, there will definitely be a time for you to show your strength."

The tiger head benz sped along the highway, kicking up a trail of dust.

In this era, whoever stands at the crest of the tide is the one for whom "the good wind lends its strength to help me reach the blue clouds."