Truly a divine being! (Requesting recommendation votes)

Wang Chengzhi gazed at the young man before him and made a subtle promise.

Twenty percent of Zhicheng Company’s shares—calculated at its peak—were worth at least several hundred million. But that depended entirely on the company surviving and returning to normal operation and profitability. Otherwise, whether it was twenty percent, fifty, or even the whole company, such shares would be meaningless. If Chen Ling wanted the shares, he would truly have to help.

Whether this young man actually had a solution was irrelevant. Wang Zhicheng was desperate, grasping at any straw. He knew the odds were slim, but he had to give it his all.

Chen Ling looked at the middle-aged, handsome man: heavy bags under his eyes, bloodshot gaze, hair greasy and clumped together. Anxiety consumed him, leaving no space for concern about his appearance.

“Uncle Wang, I’ll take the shares. But if things work out, I have other conditions,” Chen Ling said.

“Please, go ahead.”

Chen Ling nodded. “I accept the twenty percent shares. Additionally, I want a one percent consulting fee.”

“Of course! That’s only fair.”

“And… I want compensation for my bicycle.”

Wang Zhicheng: “???”

He turned to his son, utterly confused.

Wang Xiaobo: “……”

“Why are you still hung up on that old bike…” Chen Ling chuckled. “I paid a deposit, two hundred yuan! Don’t you think you should be responsible?”

His laughter was infectious; Wang Xiaobo smiled as well, though Wang Zhicheng remained bewildered and could only join in the laughter.

“Alright, spill it,” Wang Xiaobo said, exasperated by Chen Ling’s antics. “We’ve agreed to your terms, so stop keeping us in suspense.”

Chen Ling nodded, requested a blank sheet of paper from Wang Zhicheng, and hand-wrote a Consulting Service Agreement. It looked crude, almost like an IOU, but in truth it held the same legal weight. Even a single sentence, if signed and sealed, could be enforced by law to seize a debtor’s assets.

Once the agreement was safely stored away, Chen Ling began outlining his plan.

First, he suggested searching through the completed projects of Zhicheng Company to find a few “leftover apartments”—units whose buyers had defaulted on payments, returned the property, or whose loans had expired and been seized, or for other reasons. The key was that the original buyers could no longer pay the remaining balance. This was easy enough; with the downturn in the economy, such repossessed properties were common.

Chen Ling had deep experience with this matter from his previous life. Furthermore, in the chaotic real estate market of recent years, developers often kept “gift apartments” on hand.

Sure enough, Wang Zhicheng nodded immediately. “That’s easy. Not just a few—there are a dozen or more.”

“Not too many,” Chen Ling shook his head. “Three to five units is ideal. Rarity increases value.”

Then came the core of the plan.

Zhicheng Company would announce, under its own name, that these apartments were being resold—at the prices from several years ago.

At first, Wang Zhicheng frowned, then blinked as understanding dawned. After years of experience, his mind was quick and sharp.

He murmured, “The price of these units as second-hand apartments has risen by tens of thousands since then…”

“If they’re resold at the original price, buying them would be an instant profit. There’d be a frenzy.”

“In that case, we could collect deposits through a lottery system and raise a large sum.”

“But after the lottery, those who don’t win get their money back. We can follow the process, stretch out the timeline—three months, or even half a year. Just pay standard deposit interest.”

“As long as we can stall until the current project’s loan is approved, this crisis will pass.”

“!!!”

Wang Zhicheng’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he looked at Chen Ling in disbelief. He asked, with difficulty, “Is this the process?”

Chen Ling grinned. “Uncle Wang, you’re impressive! You’ve mastered the answer!”

“As for property transfers, with your connections to Director Liu, that’s no trouble.”

“But I must warn you…”

“Such methods, when absolutely necessary, can be used once—but don’t make them routine!”

This was Chen Ling’s most serious remark.

With the announcement of the Four Trillion Plan, vast sums flooded the market, eventually pouring into real estate and finance—the two great money pits. For a time, the nationwide market became wildly chaotic.

To curb this chaos, regulate the industry, and protect the public interest, Linjiang City would, in 2009, spin off housing security management from the Construction Bureau to establish a dedicated Real Estate Administration Bureau.

If, by then, such reckless schemes were still in play, there would be severe consequences.

Wang Zhicheng didn’t know about these future developments, but he understood that since the young man had devised such a brilliant idea, his advice was worth heeding.

“I understand,” he nodded solemnly and stood, about to bow to Chen Ling.

“Please, don’t,” Chen Ling hurriedly stopped him. “Uncle Wang, I’m the junior here—it’s not appropriate! Don’t make this feel like a memorial service.”

But Wang Zhicheng insisted. “It’s only right. Without you…”

“If you truly want to thank me,” Chen Ling’s eyes twinkled, “why not introduce me to the project managers of Qingfeng Community and Lakeside Garden?”

Wang Zhicheng nodded. “That’s easy. My company may be small, but I have connections in the circle, and I know both projects well.”

“May I ask, what do you want with them?”

Faced with this question, Chen Ling simply smiled and said nothing.

Wang Zhicheng sensed it might be a secret and dared not press further. He thanked Chen Ling profusely as he saw him out the door, and had Wang Xiaobo escort him back to school.

When his son returned, Wang Zhicheng was still in his study, flipping through records of past projects, searching for appropriate apartments.

“Dad,” Wang Xiaobo entered the study, “Is Chen Ling’s plan really workable?”

His father’s attitude had already answered that, but he wanted confirmation.

Wang Zhicheng was always candid with his son.

“Of course! It’s an ingenious move—low cost, excellent effect. Its only drawback is the short timeframe. But as long as we can buy ourselves this little bit of time, it’ll be enough for us.”

Wang Xiaobo breathed a long sigh of relief.

Facing bankruptcy, he had tried to appear optimistic in front of Chen Ling, but how could he not be anxious?

“That’s good, that’s good,” he murmured.

Suddenly, Wang Zhicheng frowned. “How did you meet him? Was it Xinyue’s introduction?”

“No.” Wang Xiaobo shook his head. “I went to school today to find another classmate—his family does business, pretty wealthy. I was hoping… well, never mind.”

“When I came out of the teaching building, Chen Ling was sitting by the roadside. I greeted him…”

Wang Zhicheng grew suspicious. “From what you describe, it sounds like he was waiting for you?”

Wang Xiaobo paused, head lowered in thought. “Actually, maybe he was.”

“What does his family do?” Wang Zhicheng asked.

“I heard from Liu Xinyue—his father’s a worker, his mother’s laid off. Ordinary family.”

“Oh, and last month he managed a project and made several million. It’s because I knew about that, that I was willing to try my luck with him. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have greeted him.”

Wang Xiaobo then recounted Chen Ling’s story in broad strokes.

Wang Zhicheng pondered for a long time, finally saying nothing, just nodding. “Get some sleep. Tomorrow, come with me to the company to help.”

“Alright.” Wang Xiaobo replied and headed to his room.

Both father and son now had the same thought—Chen Ling was truly extraordinary!

Wang Zhicheng checked the time—it was just past ten, not too late. He picked up his phone and dialed…