The night passed without incident!
Early the next morning, after finishing his breakfast, Li Yi hopped in his car and drove straight to the county seat!
The villagers’ food supplies were running dangerously low, and with time of the essence, Li Yi had no choice but to step in and help resolve the matter as quickly as possible.
To resolve this, the first step was to contact the authorities in Beijing.
Soon, the car pulled into the compound housing the county bureau.
Li Yi then made his way, as if he knew the place by heart, to the door of Li Gang’s office and knocked directly.
“Come in!”
When Li Yi pushed the door open, he saw Li Gang sitting at his desk reading the newspaper, with a steaming cup of tea beside him.
Drinking tea and reading the paper during work hours—this guy perfectly embodied the laid-back attitude of grassroots officials!
In contrast, his father-in-law, Jiang Shiying, and his second older brother, Jiang Longyin, looked like they were going through hell, each of them busy as a bee.
Seeing that it was Li Yi who had entered, Li Gang immediately stood up from his seat and said cheerfully, “Brother Li Yi, when did you get back?”
“Yesterday afternoon!”
Li Yi sat down in the chair opposite him and replied with a smile.
“Hahaha, I knew it when the magpies were chirping nonstop outside early this morning—it turns out we really do have a distinguished guest!” Li Gang said.
“Alright, take me to the communications room at your bureau first. I need to make a call, and we’ll chat after that!” Li Yi said.
“Sure!”
Soon, Li Yi followed Li Gang to the county bureau’s communications room, where the staff dialed the number Li Yi had provided.
After a few rings, the call was answered, and Jiang Longcheng’s slightly rough voice came through: “Hello, who’s this?”
Li Yi took the receiver and said, “Third Brother, it’s me, Li Yi!”
“Brother-in-law, didn’t you go back to your hometown? What made you think to call me?” Jiang Longcheng asked with a laugh.
“I did go back home. By the way, what’s the status of that thing I asked you to look into last time?”
“You mean the cold storage thing?”
“Yeah, the cold storage. I might need it soon,” Li Yi said.
“I checked with them—the cold storage is available for rent, but only as a single, large warehouse. They don’t rent out sections of it!” said Jiang Longcheng.
“What about the rent?”
“A 500-cubic-meter warehouse costs 300 yuan a month—and that’s already a special rate!”
500 cubic meters for 300 yuan a month!
Based on market rates, it’s certainly not expensive, but it’s not exactly cheap either—just average.
“Third Brother, could you get in touch with them for me? Then have Dalong and Old Li go over to sign the contract. As for the term, let’s sign it for a year to start with!” Li Yi said.
“Sure!”
“Third Brother, this is pretty urgent. Can you handle it for me right now?”
“Got it!”
After hanging up, Li Yi dialed another number.
After a few rings, a young woman’s voice came over the line: “Hello, may I ask who’s calling?”
“Hello, this is Li Yi. Could you please put me through to Secretary Jiang?”
“Please hold on!”
“Okay!”
Less than a minute later, Li Yi heard Jiang Longyin’s voice on the line: “Brother-in-law?”
“Second Brother, it’s me!”
“What brings you to call me? Is something up?”
Jiang Longyin wasn’t as free as Jiang Longcheng; he was extremely busy, so he skipped the small talk and got straight to the point.
“Second Brother, here’s the thing—I’m thinking of acquiring a plot of land in Beiguan Village. Would that be difficult?”
“Land? What are you planning to do with it?”
“I’m planning to build a large cold storage facility there to store beef and mutton!” Li Yi said.
“A cold storage facility shouldn’t take up too much space. If it’s less than ten mu, I can approve it on my own. If it’s any larger, we’ll need to bring it up for a board meeting!” Jiang Longyin said.
“Second Brother, I need no less than 300 mu!” Li Yi said, making a startling statement.
“That much? You don’t need that much space just for a cold storage facility, do you?”
“Second Brother, I need more than just a cold storage facility. I also need a temporary holding pen for cattle and sheep, as well as a slaughterhouse. A smaller space simply wouldn’t be enough!” Li Yi explained.
That said, Li Yi certainly wouldn’t use all 300 mu just for the cold storage facility.
After all, he currently only had a small shop in Beijing; his business wasn’t large enough to require such a massive cold storage facility.
The reason he needed such a large area was to secure the land.
He was well aware that although Beiguan Village was currently located in the suburbs and didn’t have a particularly obvious locational advantage,
However, within a few years, the area would be designated by the government as a key high-tech development zone. In just over a decade, it would transform into a prime commercial district where every inch of land was worth its weight in gold.
Taking advantage of the fact that he had the funds and land prices were still low, Li Yi decided to secure a plot of land.
It wasn’t that he intended to develop and sell real estate himself, but rather to establish a proper headquarters for his future company!
They say that saving is earning; buying at a low price now was all about saving big money for major projects down the road.
Of course, these plans were currently known only to Li Yi himself; he wouldn’t tell a soul.
On the other end of the line, Jiang Longcheng paused briefly before saying, “Getting the land approved shouldn’t be a problem—it’s permitted under current policies. But even if the district government agrees to grant you the land, you’ll still have to cover the compensation for the residents. That’s a huge expense!”
Li Yi didn’t hesitate. “Don’t worry about the compensation. We’ll just pay the residents the highest possible rate!”
“The highest rate? You’d better think that through! Not long ago, the district approved a plot for educational use, and the compensation paid to the residents was 2,000 yuan per mu—and that wasn’t even the highest standard!” Jiang Longcheng said.
“Let me put it this way, Second Brother. If I want to use these 300 mu of land for commercial purposes, how much will it cost?” Li Yi asked.
“A conservative estimate of 2.5 million!”
Hearing that figure, Li Yi was stunned!
It wasn’t too expensive—it was too cheap. This was practically a bargain!
In the Beiguan Village area, 300 mu for 2.5 million yuan—that averages out to less than 10,000 yuan per mu. Li Yi didn’t even know what to say.
He recalled that around the turn of the millennium, the plot at “East Factory No. 5” outside Guangqumen—a location that couldn’t hold a candle to Beiguan Village—had sold for 3.15 billion yuan at auction on March 15th, causing a sensation throughout Beijing, with an average price of 1.8 million yuan per mu.
Or take the Qinghe Woolen Mill site in 2004—just over 1,000 mu—which eventually sold for 2.56 billion yuan, averaging 2.43 million yuan per mu.
In other words, if he buys this plot now and does absolutely nothing with it, it could multiply in value hundreds of times over in a decade or so.
Sure enough, real estate is a goldmine these days!
On the other end of the line, Jiang Longyin, seeing that Li Yi hadn’t said a word, assumed he’d been shocked by the price and immediately said, “Brother-in-law, if you really need the land to build cold storage facilities, you can always just get a smaller plot…”
Before he could finish, Li Yi hurriedly interrupted, “No, don’t reduce it. Second Brother, just approve it at this price—as long as it doesn’t exceed 400 mu!”
“Brother-in-law, are you sure?”
“I’m sure!”
“Alright then. I’ll have my people look into it first and get back to you later!” Jiang Longyin said.
“Alright!”
“I have a meeting in a bit, so I’ll have to hang up now!”
With that, Jiang Longyin hung up the phone!
Li Yi returned the phone to the staff in the communications room and went back to Li Gang’s office!