61: Chapter 61 Ordinary

Jiang Chen's gaze swept back and forth between the two profile pictures. Then, he turned off his phone and stood up to clear away the meal boxes.

Meanwhile, at the headquarters of Wantai Real Estate.

Manager Liu hung up the phone and sat at his workstation for a long while, his face turning pale and then ashen.

He had been in this industry for over a decade, and he had never suffered such a setback at the hands of a college student.

Six hundred thousand per shop, six million for the whole lot, yet the other party hadn't budged an inch.

Something wasn't right.

He grabbed his phone and walked quickly toward the elevator.

Eighteenth floor, General Manager's office.

Zhao Guofu, the General Manager of Wantai Real Estate, was sitting on a leather sofa with his legs crossed, drinking tea. Spread out before him was a freshly printed draft plan for the old city redevelopment in the south of the city.

Within the area marked by the red line, the row of old shops at the North Gate of Xuefu Road was clearly listed.

"General Manager Zhao," Manager Liu said as he knocked and entered, his expression somewhat apprehensive.

"Did you close the deal?" Zhao Guofu asked without even looking up.

"No... No."

Manager Liu wiped the sweat from his forehead. "That kid is adamant about not selling. Even when I offered six hundred thousand per shop, he wouldn't budge."

Zhao Guofu lifted his eyelids and set down his teacup.

"He won't sell even for six hundred thousand?"

"Yes. I tried everything—persuasion, sweet talk, and I even made some threats in the end, but he just won't sell."

Zhao Guofu pondered for a moment, his brows gradually furrowing.

"A college student refusing to sell for six hundred thousand a shop? Either his family is loaded and doesn't need the money, or..."

He paused, his gaze falling on the draft plan on the desk. "He also knows about the upcoming demolition."

Manager Liu was stunned. "That can't be right? We paid a huge price to get this information, and how many people did we have to bribe? Where would a student in his early twenties get this kind of insider info?"

"Have you checked his background?"

"I haven't had time to do a detailed check yet. All I know is that he's a sophomore in the Department of Finance at Jiangcheng University."

Zhao Guofu picked up his teacup and took a sip, his gaze dark.

"Go check! Dig up everything about him, right back to his ancestors."

An hour later, Manager Liu returned to the office with a stack of documents.

"General Manager Zhao, I found it. Jiang Chen, twenty years old, sophomore in the Department of Finance at Jiangcheng University. His grades are good, but his family has no significant background."

"His parents are ordinary working-class people from a county town. He has no businesses under his name. As for the money he used to buy the shops, the specific source of funds cannot be traced."

Zhao Guofu flipped through the documents, his brow furrowing tighter and tighter.

The words "plain and ordinary" appeared no less than ten times in this stack of documents.

No wealthy businessman for a father, no relatives in government, and no social connections that could provide access to insider urban planning information.

He was just an ordinary college student.

But how could an ordinary college student accurately snap up an entire row of shops on Xuefu Road before the redevelopment news was even announced?

How could he not even blink when faced with an offer of six hundred thousand per shop?

Zhao Guofu slammed the documents onto the desk and leaned back in his chair, his fingers rhythmically tapping the armrest.

"Either he has channels we don't know about, or..." He narrowed his eyes. "Someone is backing him."

"You mean... a competitor is fighting us for it?"

"It's a possibility."

Zhao Guofu stood up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, overlooking the bustling street below.

"We aren't the only ones eyeing that land on Xuefu Road. If someone got the news earlier than me, laid out a plan in advance, and found a 'white glove' to hold the assets, then this Jiang Chen is just a puppet on the stage."

Manager Liu suddenly realized. "So that's why he refuses to sell no matter what—because the person behind him knows the true value!"

"Go do two things."

Zhao Guofu turned around, his eyes sinister. "First, keep watching this Jiang Chen. See who he comes into contact with, especially people in the real estate circle."

"Second, invite Section Chief Sun from the Planning Bureau to dinner. I want to confirm exactly how many people know about this news."

"Understood."

"And..." Zhao Guofu pondered for a moment. "Don't make too big of a scene. If there really is someone behind him, it wouldn't be good to alert the enemy. Let's try the diplomatic approach before resorting to force. Talk to him again and raise the price to eight hundred thousand. If he still won't sell..."

He didn't finish, but Manager Liu already understood.

"I'll go arrange it right away."

After Manager Liu left the office, Zhao Guofu sat on the sofa for a while, feeling more and more that something was off.

Where did a college student with no background get the courage and confidence to stubbornly hold onto ten shops?

Unless the person standing behind him has an even greater influence than Wantai Real Estate.

He picked up his phone and dialed a number.

"Hello, Chairman, it's me, Zhao Guofu. I have something to report. Those ten shops on Xuefu Road in the south of the city have been snatched up by someone else."

"Yes, the ten within the redevelopment red line. I sent someone to negotiate, but the other party, a college student, won't sell even for six hundred thousand a shop. I suspect someone is backing him, possibly a competitor trying to take our share..."

There was a long silence on the other end of the line.

"Find out everything."

An old and steady voice came through the receiver.

"Regardless of whose man he is, we must secure that land on Xuefu Road. The redevelopment news will be announced in a month at most; it'll be too late to act then. Oversee this matter personally. Spend whatever needs to be spent, find whoever needs to be found, and if necessary..."

The old man paused.

"You can use some extraordinary means."

"Understood." Zhao Guofu hung up the phone, a layer of fine sweat breaking out on his forehead.

The Chairman had spoken personally; there was no turning back now.

He called Manager Liu back in. "The Chairman knows. Raise the price to eight hundred thousand and talk to him again. If he still won't sell..."

He paused, his gaze turning cold.

"Then don't blame us for being ruthless."

Morning classes at Jiangcheng University had ended.

Su Wanqing stood on the podium packing up her course materials, her gaze inadvertently sweeping over the first row.

Jiang Chen's seat was already empty. His textbooks and notebook were gone, leaving only a pen he had been twirling all through class lying lonely on the desk.

She walked over, picked up the pen, held it in her hand for a moment, and then put it in her bag.

The action was as natural as if it were the most logical thing to do.

No one saw.

When Jiang Chen walked out of the teaching building, the sunlight was intense.

He squinted and pulled out his phone to check the time.

Eleven-twenty.

There were still over three hours before his afternoon class.

Enough time for him to do one thing.

He drove out of the campus, heading along Xuefu Road toward the North Gate.

The car window was rolled down halfway, and the autumn wind poured in, carrying the sweet fragrance of osmanthus and the smoky aroma of roadside barbecue stalls.

Ten minutes later, he parked his car opposite that row of shops.

Xuefu Road North Gate, Numbers 127 to 136.

Ten shops joined together, with dusty exterior walls, faded signs, and uneven rolling shutter doors.

A breakfast shop, a print shop, a convenience store, a milk tea shop, a mobile phone repair shop...

The businesses were a hodgepodge, with students constantly going in and out.

Jiang Chen got out of the car and stood by the roadside, looking at the row of shops from one end to the other.

In a week, the red character for "Demolish" would be painted here.

In a month, it would turn into a pile of rubble.

And what he had to do now was to clear the premises.