Chapter 697: Whether You Believe It or Not Is Up to You

Upon hearing Ye Huaiyuan’s grand words,

everyone couldn’t help but curse inwardly.

The central park in XC District, what a big project! The park in XC District had started its planning last year.

But the population of XC District is relatively low, and most of the buildings were old, housing mostly elderly people.

How much money could the investment in such a park really cost? For Ye Huaiyuan, it was nothing but a drop in the bucket.

“Chairman Ye’s words are wise indeed, very honest. I…”

“And me too…”

After realizing what was happening, the others hurriedly spoke up too, scrambling to take on smaller investment projects.

This way, even if they lost money, the losses would be minimal.

To be more accurate, they had no intention of making any profit from these projects.

After all, if there was real money to be made, these projects would have already been snatched up.

Liao Zhengli maintained a slight smile on his face the whole time. For him, it didn’t matter if the projects found a backer today or not, as long as the meeting concluded smoothly.

A portion of people accepted some small investment projects, while the rest remained silent.

All the small projects had already been taken, and all that remained were billion-yuan mega-projects. Who would dare touch those? For instance, the commercial mall in the eastern district was still in a half-finished state, if you could even call it that. All it had was a foundation.

The remaining construction work, decoration, operation, leasing, and maintenance would cost over a dozen billion yuan. And after the mall was completed, there was no guarantee that any tenants would want to move in.

Jiangzhou already had plenty of malls, but not nearly enough tenants to fill them.

Moreover, the rent for these malls was expensive. Small vendors certainly wouldn’t be able to afford it.

The key issue was that once you take over a project, you are required to start construction immediately. Otherwise, the government would start urging you every few days, becoming an unending hassle.

Taking over this plaza would essentially mean taking on a burden that would be impossible to shake off.

No one wanted to touch the billion-yuan projects, let alone the ones costing upwards of 10 billion.

Most of the attendees had their funds tied up in their companies’ existing projects—they didn’t have that kind of money to spare on what was likely to be a loss-making endeavor.

Xu Shaochen didn’t make a move either. After all, he didn’t have a hobby of losing money. Just showing up today was giving Liao Zhengli enough face already.

He planned to leave as soon as the meeting was over.

Given the current situation, Liao Zhengli was already satisfied.

But someone wasn’t.

“Chairman Xu, as far as I know, Chen Yu currently isn’t short on funds, is it? You’re the leading enterprise in Jiangzhou. You can’t leave here empty-handed, can you?”

“In my opinion, the commercial mall in the eastern district would be a perfect fit for Chen Yu. After all, Chen Yu is famous nationwide now. Building a mall named after Chen Yu seems very appropriate.”

A slightly overweight middle-aged man calmly spoke toward Xu Shaochen.

His name was Zhou Kui, the second-in-command of Jiangzhou, currently in charge of economic development.

Of course, he wanted to use this opportunity to offload those problematic projects and get someone to take them over.

Xu Shaochen was the perfect candidate—he had money.

Instantly, there was a terrifying silence in the room.

“Sorry, but Chen Yu has recently expanded its investments nationwide, so at the moment, we really don’t have any spare funds.”

Xu Shaochen’s tone was still gentle but firmly declined Zhou Kui.

“Oh, Chairman Xu, you’re being too modest. I don’t believe that Chen Yu can’t afford the cost of one mall. Nobody is going to buy that.”

Zhou Kui chuckled, clearly not planning to let Xu Shaochen off the hook just yet.

That mall had been troubling him for a long time. In Jiangzhou, only a few people had the power to take over such a big project.

If he didn’t take this opportunity to resolve it quickly, it could turn into a major failure in his political career.

“I’m simply stating the facts. Whether or not you choose to believe me is your own business. I’m not feeling well, so I’ll be leaving first. You all carry on.”

Xu Shaochen’s face darkened. After leaving that cold remark, he stood up, pulled his chair back, and walked out of the meeting room.

He hadn’t expected the other party to be so shameless, so he saw no reason to give him any more face.

Zhou Kui’s face changed. Watching Xu Shaochen’s retreating back, he opened his mouth several times as if about to speak, but in the end, he said nothing.

The others looked at Zhou Kui mockingly, as if watching a joke unfold.

They thought the guy had probably lost his mind. If you wanted to negotiate properly with Xu Shaochen, fine, but trying to force him? Are you an idiot?

“Today’s meeting is now adjourned. I won’t see you all out.”

Liao Zhengli quickly wrapped up the meeting with two short sentences.

The attendees began to disperse.

Soon, the large meeting room was left with only the government officials.

“Outrageous! That Xu Shaochen—just because he has some money, he thinks he’s better than everyone else!”

Zhou Kui finally snapped, fuming loudly.

No one responded. They weren’t children; they knew what to say and when to say it.

And more importantly, they knew when **not** to say anything.

Clearly, Zhou Kui had just said something inappropriate at a completely inappropriate time.

But no one pointed it out to him, because they all felt he’d been acting too desperate today.

Besides, did Xu Shaochen just have ‘a little’ money? Let’s not even talk about his company, Chen Yu.

Xu Corporation had industries all around the world. One week’s profit from one of those could equal what a Longguo Fortune 500 company makes in a year.

And you call that ‘a little’ money?

Are you the one out of touch, or are we just that ignorant?

“Mr. Xu, there’s no need to be upset. Zhou Kui is just in a tight spot. His term is almost up, and he’s aware that he’s running out of time. If he doesn’t get this issue sorted out, he might be finished.”

Sun Hai and Ye Huaiyuan quickly caught up with Xu Shaochen, offering him an explanation.

Xu Shaochen snorted coldly, his expression unchanged. “Even if he were a few years younger, with the way he’s handling things, he’ll be lucky to remain the number two man in the city for the rest of his life.”

Sun Hai and Ye Huaiyuan glanced at each other, shaking their heads with wry smiles.

What Zhou Kui had done was indeed ridiculous. It was like watching a child speak without thinking.

Couldn’t he have approached Xu Shaochen in private?

That way, whether or not the deal went through, no one would lose face.

Trying to force Xu Shaochen like that in front of everyone—how could he possibly agree?

“Mr. Xu, it’s still early. How about we find a place for some morning tea?”

Ye Huaiyuan raised his wrist to check the time and cleverly changed the subject.

“Sounds good to me. What do you think, Mr. Xu?”

Sun Hai, clearly tempted by the idea, looked toward Xu Shaochen.

“Well, since both of you are suggesting it, it would be rude if I didn’t go.”

Xu Shaochen replied lightly.

“Alright then, I’ll make a reservation. I know a nice spot. Just have your driver follow my Car.”

Ye Huaiyuan nodded and took out his Phone to make the arrangements.