usenovelgroup Chapter 12: Inviting guests, beheading, and taking in servants as dogs
Chapter 12: Inviting guests, beheading, and taking in servants as dogs
After listening, Su Linghong nodded in agreement.
Gu Yuhan was speaking his mind without reservation.
Things I haven't thought through completely yet, I'll need to calm down and think about them carefully later.
After all, most of these methods are experiences summarized by later generations, and they may not be entirely suitable for this era.
Simply and directly give them money.
This approach became completely unworkable after the establishment of the ICAC, so a different approach was needed, requiring more covert operational methods.
besides……
It refers to the planning logic of the entire project.
Gu Yuhan's thinking was very clear: first, drive the construction of surrounding infrastructure, create school district housing and commercial buildings, and then raise the housing prices in the area. Once Tiu Keng Leng has become completely prosperous, there will be no fear of not being able to sell the houses.
Even if they don't sell now, they'll eventually be able to sell smoothly in a few years.
In short, we must be certain about Hong Kong's future economic development momentum.
Gu Yuhan was even thinking about the demolition project. He planned to demolish all the old houses near Tiaojingling, acquire the land, build higher-rise buildings, and sell more houses.
If all else fails, they can hold onto the land and wait until the economy develops before developing new housing projects.
"However, all of this requires the cooperation of the Hong Kong government!"
"Son, I think you should be in charge of the Tiu Keng Leng project!" Gu Zhenguo suddenly said. "I think you're perfect for it. It'll be a good opportunity for you to get some experience!"
Gu Yuhan lowered his head and pondered for a moment. The second oil crisis wouldn't break out until the end of the year, so he could use this time to test the waters.
Gu Yuhan replied, "Alright!"
With funding secured, many collaborations, once initiated, quickly spiraled out of control.
In this way, the profits that are due will naturally be in your hands.
In contrast, Gu Zhenguo's acquisition of Tiu Keng Leng, a vast expanse of land surrounding Tseung Kwan O, didn't attract much media attention. Compared to the prime real estate in Hong Kong, Tiu Keng Leng was hardly a focus for anyone.
Compared to the high-profile acquisition of Hutchison Whampoa in the past, this small plot of land is really not worth the Hong Kong citizens making a fuss about.
At the same time, it did not attract the attention of the ICAC. In the end, no matter how you look at it, this transaction was completely legal and compliant, and there was no shady dealing involved.
However, the scale of the land acquired by the Gu family is slightly exaggerated, perhaps a hundred million.
A full 650 hectares of land—and how big is the entire Tseung Kwan O New Town? It only covers about 1790 hectares in total. This 650-hectare plot practically encompasses all the most livable, prime land in the entire area.
In addition, Tseung Kwan O has a very small permanent population, less than 10,000.
Gu Yuhan was thinking to himself that he would have to invest heavily this time to fully develop the Tseung Kwan O area. In the end, it would be an independent kingdom under the control of the Gu family.
However, right now, the first important thing Gu Yuhan needs to do is to get things done.
Demolition! Land in the Tiu Keng Leng area.
Part of it is land designated for industrial development, part is land for commercial development, and the rest is land for residential construction.
They have basically acquired all the land parcels that could be acquired.
Of course, it was also a vanity project for the government to see.
In addition to commercial residential buildings, Sunshine Group is also responsible for constructing a number of low-rent housing units.
These types of low-rent housing are basically just a single bedroom of about 30 to 40 square meters.
There is no separate shower room, no separate toilet, no separate kitchen; only a space for people to rest is provided.
The rent for these low-rent apartments is extremely low, and they are basically intended for low-income citizens at the bottom of Hong Kong's social ladder. To cook, they can only set up a stove in the public corridor, and to take a shower, they have to go to the public bathroom. Even the toilets are shared.
However, in fact, manure is a good business. There are still many farming families in Hong Kong, and the demand for farmyard manure is quite large.
What Gu Yuhan was really thinking about was how to develop Tseung Kwan O as a whole.
It is absolutely not enough to simply build a few buildings and call it a day.
His ambition is immense; he wants to create a comprehensive plan for Tseung Kwan O, and at least make it one of the top landmark areas in Hong Kong.
In his previous life, Gu Yuhan had not personally participated in any part of the engineering construction.
But then again, even if you haven't eaten pork, you've at least seen a pig walk, right?
His life motto is: either don't do it at all, or do it to the extreme.
There wasn't a need to build too many of these low-rent housing units; a few would have been enough, a face-saving project to appease the Hong Kong government. But Gu Yuhan planned to build more.
We'll demolish it later when the area becomes prosperous.
Without a strong local presence, Tseung Kwan O simply cannot be considered a prosperous and thriving place.
……
……
Demolition!
Demolition and relocation also occur in Hong Kong.
They either give direct demolition compensation or provide replacement housing after demolition.
However, in capitalist countries, it's impossible to get full compensation like on the mainland. Here, you have to be more ruthless.
When ruthless measures are necessary, one must be ruthless.
"Notify all residents of Tiu Keng Leng!" Gu Yuhan said, crossing his legs and holding a brief meeting. "Two options. First, an area exchange. The exchange will be based on the living area of their current houses, calculated at a ratio of 1.5. In other words, if their current house is 100 square meters, they can exchange it for a new house of 150 square meters from me."
"The second set!"
Gu Yuhan raised a second finger and said with a smile, "It's just direct monetary compensation. I'll pay them 1.5 times the market price!"
"Ah Yu!" Su Weidong, sitting next to him, couldn't help but say, "You're being way too generous with this!"
"1.5 times? That's too good for them!" Su Weidong said. "If you ask me, we should just pay the original price to prevent them from taking advantage of us. Take it or leave it; if they don't agree, they can get lost. They dare to challenge us; see if I don't teach them a lesson!"
This Su Weidong is from the same family as Gu Yuhan's mother, Su Linghong.
Although the Su family has cleaned up their act and gone straight over the years, they still retain the habits of a gangster organization at their core, and still keep a lot of underlings under their command, always able to command a large following.
"Brother Weidong!"
Gu Yuhan smiled and said, "I'm a legitimate businessman, not someone involved in a gang. I'll absolutely avoid using violence if possible. Besides negotiating compensation and distribution with them, we also need to tell them that we'll be building an electronics factory here, and they're welcome to work there. We'll take responsibility for solving their employment problems!"
Su Weidong said, "I'm afraid they'll take advantage of this!"
"It's nothing!" Gu Yuhan smiled and said, "The nail that sticks out gets hammered down, Adong. Right now, they're precious porcelain; if we can avoid using violence, we absolutely won't!"
Su Weidong frowned. Although Gu Yuhan was four years younger than him, he really couldn't say anything right now.
Before we came, it was already agreed that we would listen to Gu Yuhan in everything.
and……
He had already heard that Gu Yuhan had helped the Gu family earn seven or eight hundred million yuan in a short period of time. He himself did not have such ability and had to learn it from Gu Yuhan.
"Ayu!" Su Weidong said, "Just ask for anything you need. Any dirty or strenuous work, I'll take care of it for you!"
"No problem!" Gu Yuhan smiled, then looked at Su Rongrong and said, "Spread the word, and make sure to clearly explain our sincerity. Ideally, I hope they will cooperate willingly!"
The news had barely been released when it took all the residents of Tiu Keng Leng, Hong Kong, by surprise.
What were they feeling?
To put it bluntly, Gu Yuhan is an incredibly kind and conscientious person.
That's right, it's conscience.
Other people's demolitions are all paved by community groups. If you want more compensation, that's just wishful thinking. You'll be lucky to get the original price. Besides, if the community members come and beat you up, you'll have no recourse.
Ultimately, the organization also needs to make money. The less compensation they give you, the more they can earn, right?
Now, look at the 1.5 times standard Gu Yuhan offered; this compensation is incredibly reasonable.
The vast majority of residents of Tiu Keng Leng were happy to sign the relocation agreement. Before the demolition work started, the public housing provided by Gu Yuhan would be built first to give them a temporary place to stay.
They can either receive the compensation directly or wait for the completion of the project and be allocated resettlement housing.
But things didn't always go smoothly.
"Mancun?" Gu Yuhan took the documents from Su Rongrong and asked, "They refuse to cooperate with the demolition?"
"The entire village has a total of eight hundred people!" Su Rongrong said quickly. "They feel that the demolition compensation we offered was too low and are demanding that we increase the compensation standard!"
Gu Yuhan looked down and carefully examined the documents in his hand.
The entire village has 800 households, two-thirds of which are young and middle-aged laborers.
Led by village chief Liu Jinghui, this group clearly stated their refusal to relocate. They said that it was possible to get them to cooperate with the relocation, but they would have to come up with enough compensation; otherwise, there was no room for negotiation.
"Damn it, these bastards!" Su Weidong couldn't help but curse on the spot, "They're really asking for it, pushing their luck!"
At this point, Su Weidong looked at Gu Yuhan and said, "Yuhan, I told you before, you're good in every way, except you're too soft-hearted and kind-hearted. Look at you, you're starting to take advantage of me!"
Gu Yuhan carefully flipped through the documents. Although the place was called Mancun, it was not actually marked as such in Hong Kong's official administrative divisions.
This Liu Jinghui came from Chaoshan in his early years. He is 56 years old this year. He used to be involved in a triad in his early years, and his gang was called Zhongyixin. Later, he left the triad and arranged for many of his fellow townsmen to settle in Tiu Keng Leng.
Most of those who came to seek refuge with Liu Jinghui were his fellow Chaoshan natives. This group of people had always stuck together and shared a common destiny.
Liu Jinghui didn't manage to make the gang bigger or stronger, but he did manage to gather this whole village. He had a lot of influence here, and people who came to Liu Jinghui had to pay him tribute and give him benefits. If you were bullied, Liu Jinghui would also stand up for you.
Young people going out to make a living naturally had to offer Liu Jinghui some benefits.
Generally speaking, as long as it's not a particularly serious matter, Liu Jinghui can usually help you resolve it.
Gu Yuhan glanced at the documents and said with a smile, "It seems that Liu Jinghui is determined to resist the demolition!"
Once the demolition is completed and a modern community is built, Liu Jinghui's status here will be completely gone. Who will pay him tribute in the future? Naturally, he will be the one who resists the demolition the most.
After glancing at the documents, Gu Yuhan basically figured out Liu Jinghui's thoughts and plans.
Either squeeze a huge sum of money out of yourself to ensure a comfortable life for the rest of your days, or keep this money-making machine that keeps generating income.
"Ayu, should I just take action?" Su Weidong clenched his fist and said, "I guarantee he won't see the sun tomorrow!"
Gu Yuhan tilted his head to look at Su Weidong, then smiled and said, "I have a question for you. How many people do you think we need to bring into this entire village to completely eliminate Liu Jinghui?"
Su Weidong was taken aback: "This..."
Gu Yuhan smiled and said unhurriedly, "If we bring too few people, this village has a full eight hundred households. Our men would be beaten to death if they went in. If we bring too many people, and a conflict breaks out between the two sides, do you think the Hong Kong reporters will come running? Once the media starts putting pressure on us, saying that our Gu family is involved in a triad, then our hard-earned reputation will be completely ruined!"
"What's the most critical issue? If a large-scale conflict breaks out, do you think the Hong Kong police will side with us or with Man-chung? Don't be reckless; once things escalate, there'll be no way to control them!"
Su Weidong gritted his teeth and said, "So we're just going to swallow our anger like this?"
"Don't rush!"
Gu Yuhan smiled, casually picked up three cards, and said with a laugh, "Treat us to a meal, behead us, or accept us as your dogs. Which do you think we should choose?"
"Beheading!" Su Weidong said immediately.
"Brother Weidong, your fighting and killing tactics are so outdated!" Gu Yuhan chuckled, then picked up a card and said with a smile, "Next step, it's the treat!"
"Treat him to a meal?" Su Weidong couldn't help but ask, "He's already so arrogant, and we still want to treat him to a meal?"
"The martial arts world is never just about fighting and killing; it's about human relationships and social graces!"
Gu Yuhan laughed and said, "Inviting him to dinner is giving him a chance to act recklessly, and also a chance to kneel down and obey. If he doesn't take advantage of it, I have a million ways to ruin him!"
Su Weidong immediately fell silent.
Gu Yuhan then looked at Su Rongrong beside him and said, "Rongrong!"
Su Rongrong immediately responded, "Boss!"
"Go and tally up the living area of these 800 households, and prepare a detailed statistical report!" Gu Yuhan smiled and said unhurriedly, "The key is to calculate the total area, and also the total area we need to compensate them for!"
Su Rongrong nodded: "Okay!"
"Also, help me contact this Liu Jinghui!" Gu Yuhan smiled and said slowly, "Just tell him I want to meet with him and discuss the demolition compensation in person!"
Su Rongrong nodded again: "Understood. How do we decide on the time and place?"
Before entering university, Su Rongrong was Gu Yuhan's intern secretary. The most crucial thing she has learned is to never question any of Gu Yuhan's decisions.
All she had to consider was how to execute the plan and how to complete it more efficiently. Secondly, she needed to remind Gu Yuhan of some details in a timely manner.
"Let's set the time for tomorrow night. You can arrange the hotel; just take me there directly. Try to choose a high-end one!"
Su Rongrong immediately nodded: "Okay!"