Liu Fu and his wife were dumbfounded. Listening to Liu Jian calculating the accounts, they felt dizzy. When he calculated to over two hundred million, they couldn't sit still anymore, feeling like they were about to collapse. They stared blankly, not knowing what to say. Liu Fu trembled as he lit a cigarette, and Liu's mother even uncharacteristically reached out and took two puffs before handing it to Liu Fu. Only then did they slowly recover and look at Liu Jian.
Liu Jian thought to himself, "Dad, you're really not up to par." Just think about the real estate developers of later generations, with a cost of 2,000 yuan per square meter, they sell it for 8,000, 10,000 yuan. They make a profit of 5,000 or 6,000 yuan per square meter, and they make tens of billions, or even hundreds of billions, a year. Wouldn't they go crazy?" But seeing his parents like this, Liu Jian didn't dare to continue stimulating them, fearing they wouldn't be able to handle it, and something like a heart attack or cerebral hemorrhage would be terrible.
Recovering, Liu Fu asked, "Son, I remember when we acquired the Sanbao Winery, you insisted on acquiring those idle plots of land as well. Was that what you were planning?"
Liu Jian smiled and said, "That's the plan. At the time, I thought that even if we don't develop it ourselves, if others want to develop it, we can't sell it without getting tens of millions. Let me put it this way, Dad, even if we do nothing now, in ten or eight years, we can become billionaires just by selling the idle land from the winery and the printing factory. Those lands are all money, it's just that the government priced them lower when selling the factories. But that's not what I want. A billionaire can't satisfy me. What I want to do is much bigger than that, so we can't wait. We have to be faster and faster."
Liu Fu was a bit dumbfounded this time. According to Liu Jian, wasn't their family now sitting on a treasure mountain?
Liu Fu reacted quickly and hurriedly asked, "Won't the municipal government regret it when they find out later? I was saying, why were you always complaining about the acquisition price being too low back then?"
Liu Jian smiled and said, "Regret what? We have everything written clearly in black and white. Besides, land prices weren't expensive at that time anyway. If no one develops it, it'll probably be two or three years before they realize it. What are they going to say then? It's a change in market conditions that no one could have predicted. So, we're definitely taking advantage of this. That's why I said we had to buy the distillery. The underlying idea was really just this piece of land. Although the price was low, we followed all the official procedures. It was the government's decision, there was no shady dealing, no exchange of benefits, so there won't be any problems."
Hearing that the government wouldn't come after them for past issues, Liu Fu wasn't so scared anymore, and excitement followed.
Mother Liu asked, "Does our family now have hundreds of millions of yuan?" Her expression was still a little dazed, unable to accept this reality.
Liu Jian said, "Mom, not yet. If my dad develops this land, we'll be billionaires next year. Or, if we wait ten or eight years, and the land price rises, we can sell it and become billionaires."
Mother Liu gritted her teeth and said, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's develop it now, develop it immediately! I want to know what it feels like to be a billionaire. If your father dares not develop it, I'll make him kneel on the washboard!"
Mother Liu's eyes were green, and even the washboard was brought up, Liu Fu was scared into a sweat by his wife.
Liu Fu still had some doubts and said, "Son, but building a building also costs money. Where are we going to get the money now? To build a building, it will cost at least three million yuan, and that's even with me supervising the work on the construction site. We don't have that kind of money right now. Even if we take out a loan, it probably won't be so easy to get. We can't mortgage the printing factory again, can we?"
Liu Jian smiled and said, "Dad, who said anything about a loan? This building can be built without us putting in a single penny."
The couple both looked at Liu Jian, thinking he was joking.
Liu Jian said, "Dad, it's very simple. First, you register a real estate company, and then transfer the land of the Sanbao Winery to the real estate company at a low price. After that, you find someone to design the blueprints for the building. The initial plan shouldn't be too much, just plan for four buildings. Make a large billboard and put it on the wall next to the Sanbao Winery, with the renderings of the building after it's built. Then it's about advertising and promotion. Anyone with money can buy these buildings, whether they are employees of the Sanbao Winery or not. But one thing is that our building will start construction next year. This year we'll just level the ground and lay the foundation. Give it a nice name, like Garden Residential Area. After the buildings are built, we will build a small garden in the middle of the buildings as a place for everyone to rest. Moreover, our land belongs to the central area of the city, so it will definitely be popular. The school district here is still the best experimental school district in Panshi. Many parents will come to buy in order to send their children to the best primary school."
Mother Liu nodded and said, "If they advertise it like that, even I'd want to buy it. You went to No. 2 Elementary, not Experimental. If you had gone to Experimental, you might have gotten into a key high school, then a key university. My son is so smart, he might even have a chance at Tsinghua or Peking University."
Liu Fu also looked like he agreed. It seems Liu Jian's poor academic performance really is a worry for them.
Liu Fu asked, "Xiao Jian, if they advertise like that, the building will definitely sell well, but where will the money to build it come from?"
Liu Jian said with a smile, "Once the publicity goes out, can't we sell the apartments? Those who want to buy need to pay now. Different floors have different prices. The top floor will be a bit cheaper, and the others will be priced higher to create a price difference. The better the floor, the more expensive it is, and the larger the square footage, the more expensive it is. Each floor will have three units, with the units on either side having larger square footage and a slightly lower price. The middle units will have smaller square footage, a good layout, and be all south-facing, so the price can be a bit higher. After the publicity goes out, we'll notify people that those who pay early get to choose, and later ones won't have a choice. If they're late, the price will go up. And we can promise that after the building is built, those who don't want the apartment can get a refund at the original price. Dad, do you think we can sell these apartments?"
Liu Fu said blankly, "Of course we can sell them. Son, doesn't this mean we're making money without doing anything? Then we'll use the money we receive to build the building, which means these people are begging us to build houses for them with their money, right?"
Liu Jian said, "That's right, Dad, they call this advance consumption. We'll just build the building on time and give it to them. Besides, we're the only development company in Panshi. Next year, we can raise the prices a bit more, so those who bought apartments earlier will feel balanced, and those who come later will be more anxious. Our apartments will be even easier to sell. That way we'll have funds to build a few more buildings, and we'll make money with no risk and no interest. Why not do it?"
Mother Liu interjected from the side, saying, "Son, isn't this just getting something for nothing?"
Liu Jian was embarrassed and said, "Mom, we're not getting something for nothing. Our land is there, the planning is there, and once it's completed, we can hand it over. Besides, it's a willing buyer and a willing seller, we're not forcing them to buy."
Mother Liu snorted and said, "Son, you're getting more and more cunning. When you were in school, I never realized you were so clever!"
Liu Fu laughed and said, "This shows that my son is born to be a boss! Haha, son, if this thing works out, Dad really can buy a Mercedes like you said. By the way, son, what do you think we should call this real estate company?"
Liu Jian thought for a moment and said, "We are in Panshi, so why not use the character 'Pan'? I hope its development will be like a dragon, shining in the vast world. How about calling it Panlong Real Estate Development Co., Ltd.?"
"Panlong, Panlong, what a great name, let's call it that!" Liu Fu affirmed.
Liu Jian reminded him, "Dad, if you want to develop Panlong, you really need to hire a few people. Everyone in our family is busy at the factory and can't come and help you. I've been thinking, Fifth Brother used to work in construction with you, you can ask him to come and help if that's alright. You can also call Li Si, he can handle some messy things. He handled the last matter very well."
Liu Fu frowned and said, "Do we need them? They're all just hooligans. We're a real estate company, not a gang. What can they do?"
Liu Jian smiled and said, "Dad, let's not talk about anything else. If you want to build a building, you need someone who can control the factory and manage the construction site, right? And this person also needs to understand construction and prevent anyone from fooling around. Who's more suitable than Fifth Brother? You can't be on the construction site every day, can you? Also, the steel bars, cement, and other materials for building, the mixers, tower cranes, these equipment aren't cheap, right? You need someone you can trust to watch over them. I think it's fine to leave this matter to Li Si."
Liu Fu thought that it really was the case. He hesitated and asked, "There's no problem on Xiao Wu's side, he'll do whatever we tell him. Li Si is a minor official at the distillery. If we transfer him over here, will he agree?"
Liu Jian smiled and said, "Dad, that's simple. You tell him that if he does a good job, we'll reserve an apartment for him in the new building, and he doesn't have to pay for it; consider it his bonus. Same for Fifth Brother, give Li Si the top floor, and give Fifth Brother a good floor. As long as they keep an eye on the materials, machinery, and quality for us, what are two buildings? If the quality isn't monitored, and the brand is ruined, who will dare to buy our buildings? As for the materials, if we don't have a trustworthy person to keep an eye on them, the amount that's lost or stolen would probably be enough to pay for two buildings."
Liu Fu considered it carefully. The construction of the building was not a small project that he used to contract. The steel and cement alone would probably pile up like mountains, not to mention the red bricks, white lime, and various other materials. Considering it all, it really wasn't a small amount of money. Liu Fu was a very generous person and agreed after thinking that what his son said made sense.
Liu Jian continued, "Also, for the building design, you'll probably have to find someone in the provincial capital; we don't have any good designers in Panshi. Another crucial thing is to find an accountant who knows how to do accounting tricks, otherwise, with such a large profit, just the taxes alone will probably make us feel the pinch."
Liu Fu hesitated for a moment and said, "Falsifying accounts? Isn't that illegal?"
Liu Jian laughed and said, "Dad, we call it reasonable tax avoidance. Besides, if we really report the profits, not to mention anything else, I'm afraid the city government will come to you for the price difference at a lower cost. We just need to know what's going on ourselves; we can't let others know, otherwise who would sell land to us in the future? If it really comes down to it, we can find someone to be a nominal legal representative, so if something really happens, it has nothing to do with us. But I think in Panshi, no one will come to investigate us. After a few years of development, this matter will be over; who will pay attention? At worst, we'll pay the taxes later and give the accountant some money to take the blame."
In the end, Liu Fu didn't say whether he agreed or not. However, those who got rich first, more or less, had some grey income. Liu Jian didn't feel that what he was doing was wrong. Weren't there many companies that did the same in his previous life? As long as no one caught him with any evidence, that's the way things are in China. However, regarding the specific matter of starting a real estate company, the family no longer had any objections. It's just that Liu's mother has been acting a little strange these past few days, constantly muttering about what it's like to be a billionaire, which made Liu Fu want to shut his wife's mouth.