Chapter 0657: A Chance to Confess

As it turned out, Zhao Fusheng's premonition was correct.

This time, Chen Hai had really put Zhao's father in a tough spot, simply because he had taken on a troublesome burden.

"You mean that piece of land belonging to Qiulin Company, Uncle Chen promised the city government to develop it?" Zhao Fusheng blinked and asked his father, who was sitting across from him.

Just moments ago, Zhao's father had let Chen Hai and the others leave first, keeping his son behind to reveal the truth.

The cause of the matter was actually not complicated. Chen Hai had been working on real estate development recently. Back then, Zhao's father had let them choose between staying with Wanda or going to the construction company.

Most people chose to stay with Wanda and reap the benefits, after all, the mall's profits were getting better and better. Only Chen Hai volunteered to go to the construction company, taking only a salary and no shares.

In his own words, he liked to work, not sit in an office.

Of course, in Zhao's father's view, it was probably because Chen Hai had a daughter, unlike others who had sons. In his opinion, the hard-earned family fortune would eventually benefit someone else, so he did this.

"Your Uncle Chen didn't expect Secretary Zhou to take it seriously. Later, when the documents arrived at the company, he was scared stiff." Zhao's father smiled bitterly and explained to Zhao Fusheng.

The whole thing wasn't a complicated power struggle. It was just that the square where the old Qiulin Company in Ninghai City was located had fallen into disrepair and was slated for redevelopment. But the investor who came turned out to be a fraud; after building halfway, he abandoned the site and fled.

A project nearly the size of a football field was left abandoned in the city center, becoming a hot potato that no one dared to touch.

"A prime location in the city center—how could no one be interested?"

Zhao Fusheng frowned and asked curiously.

That was true. If it were in a remote area, that would be one thing, but according to his father, this was the land near the old Qiulin Company, less than five hundred meters from their own Wanda Mall, right in the heart of Ninghai's central business district. Across the street were the Department Store and Xinhua Bookstore, and next to it was the Computer City.

A place like this—Zhao Fusheng would never believe that real estate developers weren't interested.

"Prime location, yes, but the problem is that the government requires eighty percent of the building area to be for public welfare." Zhao's father sighed helplessly.

That was the crux of the whole matter.

Public welfare?

Zhao Fusheng blinked, unable to speak for a long time. After thinking it over carefully, he finally understood: the government didn't want to spend money on urban construction and was forcing the developer to foot the bill. No wonder no one dared to touch this project.

"So, Uncle Chen, after drinking too much, gave a guarantee in front of the top municipal leader, saying that our Wanda Construction could handle this project, right?" Zhao Fusheng looked at his father and asked.

"Yes, your Uncle Chen was pushed into a corner at the time and had to say that. But unexpectedly, Secretary Zhou of the municipal party committee took it seriously and didn't go through the court's auction process. Now the land has been transferred to our company's name, and they even said we don't have to pay the ten million yuan for the land right away, but can wait until after development." Zhao's father smiled bitterly and said, "Now the government's intention is that construction must start before the end of the year; otherwise, it will be considered commercial fraud."

Holy shit!

Zhao Fusheng blurted out a curse.

According to his father, the government was basically sticking it to Wanda Construction, or more precisely, this was an administrative order.

"Your Uncle Chen and I discussed it. If we add up all the liquid funds from the construction company and what we can mobilize from the mall, it should be about enough for five million."

Father Zhao said thoughtfully to Zhao Fusheng.

He couldn't bear to see his old brother branded a fraudster, so even knowing it was a huge pitfall, he would resolutely jump in.

Zhao Fusheng frowned. His father's approach was admirable, but the problem was, not to mention whether the money was enough to develop the land of Qiu Lin Company, simply draining the mall's liquid funds was far too risky.

In business, one must plan ahead. If any company rashly empties all its funds, once a problem arises, it will cause enormous trouble.

At that point, not only might the construction company go under, but the mall could also be dragged down.

Thinking this, Zhao Fusheng shook his head at his father: "Dad, we can't do that."

"Hmm?" Father Zhao frowned, his expression darkening. He thought his son was worried about harming their own interests: "Your Uncle Chen's relationship with our family goes without saying. When the mall first started..."

Hearing his father, Zhao Fusheng knew he had misunderstood. He quickly waved his hand and explained: "Dad, that's not what I meant. Let me finish."

"I know you and Uncle Chen are close, and he's put his heart into Wanda Construction. But don't forget, even if you drain all the mall's funds, it still might not be enough, right?"

Father Zhao nodded. His son's words made a lot of sense.

Seeing his father's expression, Zhao Fusheng knew he understood. He thought for a moment and said: "Your problem now is that you think the land has no development value, and if you invest all our family's funds, the risk is too great, isn't it?"

Father Zhao nodded: "If we pull out all the shares and funds we can use from Wanda, we can barely scrape together the initial development costs. But like you said, the price is a bit high."

Zhao Fusheng smiled: "Dad, why do you think the land has no development value?"

Father Zhao was startled and looked at Zhao Fusheng in surprise. Clearly, he sensed something from his son's words.

"In the eyes of us planners, there are never unsellable products, only people who can't sell them." Zhao Fusheng said confidently with a smile.

"What do you mean?" Father Zhao asked curiously.

"Simple. We'll take the land. Isn't it just a lack of money? I'll find you investors." Zhao Fusheng said slowly.

"You? Find investors?" Father Zhao looked skeptical, completely unable to understand where his son's confidence came from. He was just an advertising planner, not even graduated from college, and he wanted to find investors? Was the kid out of his mind?

Looking at his father, Zhao Fusheng's expression was calm. It was indeed inappropriate to keep his identity from his father all along. Now that he had the chance, he needed to let his father know something about himself.