The establishment of the central business district was definitely a qualitative leap in the commercial development of Yan City.

The advantages of this model had been demonstrated in many countries—it usually represented the centralization of financial, business, and service institutions, better utilization of land, and more efficient transportation.

While enterprises would benefit from this, it would also promote the economic development of the northern area, as well as the whole city.

Across the country, people working in the business sector erupted in excitement after hearing the news.

Before that, the domestic market had always been in a dangerous and ambiguous position; free-market activities, and even the use of currency, had only become prolific in recent decades. This special social model made it difficult for the people living within it to understand exactly what “capital” was and the legalities of it. It was precisely because of this reason that many workers reacted with disapproval when self-employment was mentioned, like Father Zhou had in the beginning.

The country did strive to change this, as proven by the establishment of special economic zones and the opening of Shen City Stock Exchange, among other activities. Unfortunately, this kind of subtle encouragement seemed too obscure for many of the less daring entrepreneurs. However, when Yan City announced it was creating a “business district”, and that companies who moved their offices there would obtain several special privileges, the message was straightforward enough!

No one had any doubts about what this policy meant for future business prospects.

Businessmen were all driven by profit; under the premise of controlled risk, the substantial benefits promised by the words “special privileges” were enough for them to “bravely and fearlessly advance wave upon wave”.

And so, the deserted land in the north quarter, which had previously been of no interest to anyone, overnight became the focus of attention for real estate developers in Yan City and even the entire country!

Land prices changed day by day, and even hour by hour, when people rushed to snatch up the plots previously listed for sale. But no one was a fool—with the prospects of what the northern district would shape up to be in the future, who would sell a hen laying golden eggs at such a time? Companies which had originally been trying to dispose of the land which was only bringing in losses were now all making an about-face and clinging on to it for dear life, planning to take advantage of the opportunity to make a huge profit later. There were a handful of smaller companies with little assets which couldn’t afford to hold on to the land for that long and were all too happy to sell it, but the prices they asked for were, predictably, sky-high. What’s more, in the current market situation where demand far exceeded supply, the price negotiated one morning might change by the time a contract was signed in the evening.

All the real estate companies with land in the north of the city became extremely popular, with hordes of lobbyists descending upon them—especially Flux Realty, which had, out of blue, acquired four plots there the previous year. This move had been spiritedly discussed in the real estate circles, with the majority of people not feeling overly optimistic about it. Some even ridiculed Flux Realty in private, saying that because the company had only experienced smooth sailing so far, its decision-makers became overconfident in their abilities and dropped the ball. Now, their faces were all slapped swollen—when the city disclosed more of the development plan, it turned out that each of the four pieces of land owned by Flux Realty in the north could be considered top-grade real estate.

Hu Shaofeng, Flux Realty’s official manager, had never felt so popular—usually, he didn’t get more than ten phone calls a day, but now his cell phone was ringing from morning ‘til night. Each caller tried to sound him out on whether the company was intending to sell the land, with indirectly proposed prices that got higher and higher as the market situation changed. The longer this continued, the more he had to force himself to restrain any abnormal reactions when he heard the increasing numbers.

To put things in perspective, take the piece of land near the small pond that Xiao Chi won for 19 million yuan at the last autumn bidding meeting. It had been left alone for several months as Xiao Chi neither said to sell nor develop it; the whole company treated it as if it didn’t exist. At this moment, however, this land had transformed into a delicious cake that the bosses of all the major real estate companies wanted to eat, provoking an unofficial bidding war. From the news of the highway construction a month ago, to the confirmation of the highway’s entry and exit access points, and now culminating with the announcement regarding the establishment of a central business district—in barely a month, the value of that piece of land had soared from 19 million to 37 million, nearly doubling.

This meant a profit of nearly 20 million! A simple sale would garner them a gain comparable to what they’d usually earn only after laboriously developing an empty plot into a real estate property!

Hu Shaofeng found this situation hard to endure, as if he was slowly being roasted over a low fire. To make matters worse, Brother Xiao was still shunning him. Once in a while, he would take pity on him and answer a phone call, but his attitude was ambiguous—he would only say to wait and see, tell Hu Shaofeng not to worry and to carry on as usual, and that he shouldn’t contact him unless it was something of major importance.

Aggrieved, Hu Shaofeng threw himself into his social life to soothe his sorrows, and spent the rest of the winter break “fondling the flowers and trampling the grass”. By the time the new term was about to start, Yan City’s north district had become as hot as the center of a blazing inferno.

He finally managed to catch Brother Xiao when he was paying a New Year’s courtesy call to Elder Fang.