Chapter 109: Chapter 109: Difficulties in Industrial Enterprises (First Update to Celebrate Young Volunteers)

Feng Jun sat in the car, glanced sideways at Sister Hong, and noticed she was looking at him too.

Feeling bashful, he smiled, “Two months ago, I would’ve never imagined I could sit in Sister Hong’s car. It’s truly an honor.”

This was no exaggeration; in fact, had he not fought two rounds with the attractive sales guide yesterday and vented some steam, he might have been unable to control certain physiological reactions right now.

The complex of conquering a beautiful female boss wasn’t unique to Coach Wang; Boss Feng had it too. It wasn’t a perversion but rather only such challenges, such reversals of fortune, could satisfy a man’s desire for conquest to the fullest.

Just think about Feng Jun’s state two months ago to understand his feelings. At that time, his perception of Sister Hong was: a successful beauty like her was not someone he was qualified to pursue. If he had insisted, it was almost certain he would have been humiliating himself.

He believed his perception back then wasn’t self-deprecation but an accurate assessment of his life’s status. Now having some thoughts wasn’t daydreaming; it was because he had the ability to change his circumstances.

Sister Hong actually nodded slightly and said lightly, “You… really weren’t qualified two months ago.”

You’re so blunt… you could kill a conversation, Feng Jun mused with a twist of his mouth, not bothering to speak further.

The afternoon in Zhengyang wasn¹1 busy with traffic. After getting on the central ring road, the car sped up, and they quickly arrived at Peach Blossom Valley.

Peach Blossom Valley covered an area of approximately seven or eight square kilometers, with uneven hills and facing Zhengyang’s largest wetland park— White Beach Park, with a small creek called Peach Blossom Creek.

Peach Blossom was originally expansive peach groves, historically known as ‘thirty miles of peach blossoms’, but decades ago, after the Japanese invaders occupied Zhengyang, they stationed their troops here and cut down the peach groves to the ground.

Today’s Peach Blossom Valley, though lush with trees and not lacking in peach trees, was replanted by the Provincial Military Region over the past few decades.

The area is now designated as a tourist region, but there are still military presence and a sanatorium under the province’s administration, with armed police on duty.

In short, most of Peach Blossom Valley remains undeveloped, with scattered houses, and many places are guarded.

The real estate agent waited at the gate of the tourist area; upon their arrival, he took them through a side passage.

This passage led directly to the residential area, with the administrative committee’s dormitory on one side of the road and the villa area on the other.

After driving for more than a kilometer, they reached the villa area. These villas had a lot of style, not crammed together like those in the city but built according to the terrain, resembling an old-fashioned village.

The villa’s owner, selling because he was nearly forty years old and a big guy— Fatty Xu—stood at five foot seven with a weight of at least 230 pounds.

It was clear that Fatty Xu was not in high spirits, which was normal. Few are joyful when selling their own home, let alone a house here in Peach Blossom Valley.

However, his approach to people was much better than the old man in the Huasheng Residential Community.

He warmly received Feng Jun and the others, repeatedly stating he was tight on funds and hoped to mortgage the house for a loan, asking for Boss Feng’s understanding.

Feng Jun explained that it was really difficult. He couldn’t afford to pay the full 45 million for the house right now and could only proceed through a bank mortgage. But with a mortgage, the property title would be held by the bank, and the title wouldn’t be transferred until the payment was fully settled.

During this time, if Fatty Xu wanted to redeem the property title, he would have to deal with the bank, and obviously, the bank would be dealing with Feng Jun.

But if he came to Feng Jun, he wouldn’t have the property title to transfer.

It wasn’t an unsolvable issue, but it would certainly be troublesome. Fatty Xu proposed, “Once I have the money, I can return whatever amount you’ve paid and also pay high-interest rates. We can sign a contract transferring your debt to me.”

Feng Jun had no interest in getting involved. “If I pay, and the house is still yours in the end, why would I bother? An annual interest rate of 15 percent… is that high?”

“You’d be living in my house for free, for three years,” Fatty Xu said with a bitter smile. “Now with bank investments, even with tens of millions, the interest rate is only six to seven percent. Lots of people are rushing to buy those, and I’m offering double—isn’t that a lot?”

Wang Haifeng rolled his eyes. “High-interest loans offering monthly rates of two percent are easy to find, and that’s an annual rate of 24 percent.”

IIII

“It’s all a scam… a Ponzi scheme, do you understand?” Fatty Xu got serious. “I’ve got a house for collateral, no matter how I might trick you, the house won’t trick you.”

“Look, Boss Feng,” Wang Haifeng didn’t argue anymore; he stated weakly, “If you want to buy, I can lend you the money, don’t worry about a bank mortgage… Just consider it an investment in your potential stocks.”

Feng Jun was still a bit hesitant, “It’s not all about the money, I want to live in the house I buy, it’s for settling down, not for earning interest… The house I buy might not even be mine, what kind of situation is this?”

He was genuinely satisfied with this place, because of the checkpoint, it might be somewhat inconvenient to get supplies in and out, but once you entered the courtyard, it was truly like “hiding in a little building, all to oneself,” without worrying about disturbance from outsiders.

Seeing that his desire to purchase wasn’t strong, Wang Haifeng couldn’t be bothered to talk further; he was willing to befriend Boss Feng, this potential stock, but there was no point in desperately lending out money. As the old saying goes, one shouldn’t have to beg for business.

It was Zhang Weihong who asked with interest, “Is this house quota from the Provincial Military Region?”

The villas in Peach Blossom Valley were basically not for sale to the public; on a certain level, they were internally digested. The Provincial Military Region had released this piece of land and also obtained some internal price purchase quotas.

Fatty Xu spoke with pride, “My old man is Zhu Renxia, what do you think?”

Feng Jun, not a Funiu native, was not familiar with the local heroes; he thought to himself, your father’s surname is Zhu, and yours is Xu, what are you showing off for?

But Sister Hong’s expression changed, she asked with surprise, “So you’re the son of Commander Zhu? Strange, why didn’t you go to the capital?”

“If I went to the capital, who would take care of my mother?” Fatty Xu snorted sulkily, “Someone has to see her through old age.”

Zhu Renxia was once the deputy commander of the Funiu Provincial Military Region and also the commanding officer of the Zhengyang Military Sub­district.

However, Commander Zhu had quite a reputation in Zhengyang, with many subordinates; if his soncouldn’t secure a house, that would be the real joke.

Sister Hong originally thought it was a rare opportunity to encounter a villa from Peach Blossom Valley being sold; even if Feng Jun didn’t buy, she was tempted to purchase it herself. Unexpectedly, a casual inquiry revealed such an important figure.

Very surprised, she continued to question, “You’re the son of Commander Zhu, and you’re stumped by such a small amount of money?”

“My dad has been dead for thirty years,” Fatty Xu replied in a muffled voice, pausing before he sighed again, “Actually, it’s not me who needs the money, it’s my second elder brother.”

Although the two parties were originally strangers, Sister Hong greatly admired Commander Zhu, and Fatty Xu was also somewhat depressed, so he took the initiative to explain the situation in detail.

Zhu Renxia had a total of three sons and two daughters; except for the youngest who stayed in Funiu, the others had gone to the capital.

The capital was a good and a bad place to mix in; although Commander Zhu’s rank wasn’t low, he died too early, and his children in the capital could only be said to be slightly better off than ordinary people.

Fatty Xu’s second brother was a technologist; he had developed a high- temperature insulation coating that was much cheaper than imported goods, so he set up his own company, which was doing very well, until someone set their sights on it.

Although Zhu Renxia had passed away, Fatty Xu’s second brother’s father-in- law also had some background. The other party first tried to steal the technology and, when that failed, sought to buy into his company.

If they had really wanted to invest in the company at its valuation, Fatty Xu’s second brother, though discontent, might still be willing to talk.

However, the other party just wanted to plunder the company, they attempted to take control with only five million; Fatty Xu’s brother’s company made nearly six million in gross profit each month, with a net profit of over three million.

This was outright bullying.

Even Sister Hong was a bit shocked, “It can’t be, even though Commander Zhu has passed, there are still some old comrades-in-arms; who would dare to bully your second brother like this?”

“Who cares when people are no longer around,” Fatty Xu replied sullenly, “Just because my second brother’s father-in-law has some clout, they haven’t completely fallen out yet…”

The opposition was not far from openly hostile, trying to make things difficult for Fatty Xu’s second brother’s company from all angles, including industrial and commercial, taxation, and others.

Although the Xu family had declined, an old ship still has three thousand nails; they were running around, desperately resisting the attacks, and while it was exhausting, they were barely managing to cope.

Later, the adversary started to interfere through the banking system, cutting off Fatty Xu’s second brother’s loans.

This was potentially catastrophic; Fatty Xu’s second brother was in manufacturing, and although his high-tech products had high profit margins, high margins didn’t equal high earnings without volume, and without volume, everything was fake.

To achieve volume, the crucial support of the banks, or the so-called ‘borrowing to expand’, was undoubtedly essential.

(First update, congratulations to League Master Youth Volunteer, seeking monthly and recommendation tickets.)