Epiphanies of Rebirth Chapter 73 (Part 1)
Translated by Pure (ko-fi)
Chapter 73.1 You two can't live like this without a proper title or distinction. This is the most basic requirement for my son's marriage.
Xiao Chi couldn't endure it any longer, so he left first.
He needed to head to a meeting in regards to the land by Wubao Mountain. Qi Kai agreed to talk at the Yan City Hotel that they often frequented. The table was booked and paid by Qi Kai. The cost wasn’t so easy for him to afford at the moment, but it was obvious that Qi Kai was still unclear of his current economic situation. When Xiao Chi arrived, he saw the table was filled with the usual abalone, sea cucumber, shark fin, and fish maw.
This can be regarded as a meeting of enemies. Xiao Chi had never cooperated with Qi Kai since the establishment of Flux Realty. In fact, the two grew up in the same compound, but they never got along with each other since they were young. Moreover, after Xiao Miao's incident, their conflicting views continued to snowball, and their grievances and grudges were history.
Qi Kai was completely out of his elements. After seeing Xiao Chi, he coughed and put on a confident front. He stood up and greeted him casually, "Mr. Xiao, please sit."
Xiao Chi looked at him calmly and couldn't help but think of his father's sigh– ‘You can't just watch them die.’
One type of grain can feed all types of people, such a phrase was truly accurate.
Xiao Chi didn't make things difficult for him and sat down silently. Though he still couldn’t forgive him for forcefully kissing his younger sister. She was so frightened and cried when she came back; in the end, she even went abroad for a few years to avoid him. Xiao Chi was furious, but he wasn’t one to beat a drowning dog[1]. He had already enacted all his revenge a few years ago, when Qi Kai was near his peak, and it had achieved remarkable results.
There was an unspoken rule among the children in the compound—conflicts between peers cannot be brought to the elders’ attention.
With Xiao Chi's own strength alone, he had been able to restrain Qi Kai from meeting Xiao Miao– Xiao Miao had been back for so long, and almost all his peers in the compound had her. The only exception was Qi Kai who dared not come to their door.
However, it was one thing to retaliate against another, if the other party were to dig his own grave, then it was none of his fault or matter. Xiao Chi did not derive any pleasure at Qi Kai's current state. When the Qi Family's parents were still alive, they were benevolent and kind.
Xiao Chi looked around the private room and asked in a deep voice, "Where’s Mr. Shi?"
Qi Kai was equally confused as to why his uncle did not attend this meeting. Normally speaking, Shi Nanxing would never give up on such an occasion, he had cooperated with Xiao Chi during the transfership of April Wind Square’s shares. It stands to reason that with such a large share of equity transfer, the two parties in the transaction are bound to accumulate good will for one another. However, in this time of need, Shi Nanxing borrowed money everywhere but never had the intention of making the request to Flux Realty; this avoidance stands even for today's negotiation. Shi Nanxing even tried to evade this duty by dropping multiple excuses, but when Qi Kai asked why, Shi Nanxing's face became terribly unsightly, he only said that seeing Xiao Chi's face would cause him indigestion.
Of course, these words cannot be repeated verbatim, so Qi Kai just replied, "My uncle is not feeling well today, but Mr. Xiao can rest assured that I have full rights on Wubao Mountain’s equity."
Not feeling well?
Xiao Chi smiled profoundly. "Is that so?"
In reality, the mastermind behind the multitude of paparazzi photos sent to his residence had already been uncovered. Though, it wasn't Xiao Chi who unearthed this revelation. Frankly, Xiao Chi was indifferent to the entire situation; he fervently desired the world to be aware of his relationship with Lin Jingzhe. This way, when he wasn't physically alongside Lin Jingzhe, unwanted interferences wouldn't hover too closely. The one who took the initiative to investigate was Xiao Shenxing.
The elders had more apprehensions; regardless if the other party's methods were skilled or not, were effective or not, they always wanted to know exactly who the perpetrator was and why they were trying to trip their son. Investigating this matter seemed difficult but was quite simple to explain. The delivery process was impeccable and without a single flaw; the other party was very cautious and chose different cities to ship out for every package. The farthest one even took four or five hours to drive to. And the content written on the envelope was also handled extremely well, without leaving any clues. Even if it was handed over to professional criminal investigation police, they may not be even able to draw a definite conclusion.
The problem was... the person taking the picture.
A rather popular private detective had recently made his name in the Yan City's circle of underground gangsters.
This private detective could be described as extremely high-profile, showing off to everyone that he earned 100,000 yuan in a single day by taking some photos. Every time he flaunted this, he would begin with the words: "I'm telling only you about this secret, keep it between us two, okay?" In the end, by his own big mouth, this matter was soon made known to everyone.
He refused to disclose the content of the photos he took, only saying that he was a professional detective, and that he had to maintain his professionalism and his employer and their tasks anonymous and confidential.
However, based on the employer information he leaked at the moment - including the hospital he was staying at, distinctive features, and particular mannerism, people who are familiar with him could instantly guess that the rich yet stupid employer was in fact Shi Nanxing.
Xiao Chi was not surprised at all, while in contrast, Xiao Shenxing was rendered speechless after receiving the rather fast results.
"Is he a fool?" At that time, Xiao Shenxing looked his son dead in the eyes and questioned, "He spent over a hundred thousand yuan to find such a bum to cooperate with?"
Xiao Chi was equally baffled. Mainly because he was confused why Shi Nanxing wanted intimate photos of him and Lin Jingzhe and why he went out of his way to find some private detective to do so. Although 100,000 yuan was not much, it was not a small amount of money either. He and Lin Jingzhe had never concealed their relationship to the public, if Shi Nanxing wanted evidence, why not bring a camera to take pictures himself?
Shi Nanxing's past bad deeds and record had already left a deep imprint on the families in the compound. The father and son discussed for a long time but did not discuss anything. The only valid reason they could come up with was that his brain was just wired differently.
People in their right mind would not turn to smuggling and selling drugs.
After pondering for a while, Xiao Chi and Qi Kai cut straight to business and began to discuss the piece of land at the foot of Wubao Mountain.
This piece of land was situated south of the city. Although the location was relatively remote, it had a large area of more than 400,000 square meters; it was only slightly smaller than the previously sold ‘land king’ in the northern district. With the rapid development in the north of the city, if Wubao Mountain was in the north, its clause should have already increased by 30% since its auction. Unfortunately, it was in the south; although the land in the southern districts had also seen an increase, it was far less lively than in the north of the city.
Therefore, the normal market valuation of this land ranged from 60 million to 70 million.
This was much lower than what Qi Kai had paid, but the announcement of a funeral parlor and crematorium built made matters even worse!
Developers of other various real estate projects near Wubao Mountain had already started to lower their prices, Dominion Properties was no exception. Due to Shi Nanxing's urgent need for money, the major shares of this land were put on sale. The latest projection of Dominion Properties' marketing department was that they would only be able to recover 50 million at most.
This meant they would only optimistically see offers of 40 million yuan, which was less than half their initial cost.
Even so, few companies were willing to take it over.
Xiao Chi used these disadvantages as a bargaining chip. "The equity shares and debt issues of Wubao Mountain are very complicated. There is still a 90 million loan attached to this land that has yet to be paid back to the bank."
"That loan is under Qiqing Real Estate and it has nothing to do with us. The loan was obtained in the name of their company, such a procedure is illegal. We just transferred the development rights to them. How could the bank approve the loan without investigating clearly?" Qi Kai spread his hands and said, "Don't worry, the bank wouldn’t take this land blindly. Anyway, Qiqing Real Estate won’t be able to pay off this debt, once they declare bankruptcy, the bank would have to spend their own manpower if they want to seize the collateral. By that time...cough cough."
He spoke voluminously, and almost finished with: "By that time the crematorium and funeral home would have already been built and the price of this land would drop to almost nothing." Qi Kai quickly swallowed back the words and glanced at Xiao Chi's face.
Xiao Chi had his head lowered, slowly stringing the beads in his hand. There seemed to be a special barrier around him, separating him from the secular world.
Unsure if Xiao Chi had caught on, Qi Kai could only continue to pretend and deceive, "Anyways, since you are willing to take over now, it’ll solve a part of their debt. No matter how stupid the bank is, they should be aware of the ideology of knowing when to stop before matters get more serious."
After he finished speaking, Qi Kai anxiously studied Xiao Chi for a reaction. Since the latter had his head down during Qi Kai’s whole speake, it was hard to know if he was actually listening. Xiao Chi’s eyes remained lowered and extruded a calmness, like a sea without waves. After a short moment of silence, he asked, "So during the transaction process, Flux Realty has to follow every beck and call of the bank?"
"Of course not!" Qi Kai hurriedly explained, "You don't have to worry, the loan will definitely be borne by us and Qiqing Real Estate. Since the repayment date is at the end of this year, we still have a bit of time to go."
Xiao Chi looked up at Qi Kai's eyes, the latter’s expression was tense, and below his eyes were heavy black eye bags. It was obvious that this man was under extreme pressure, agitating him, causing him unable to rest well for a long time.
"According to the current situation, the bank wouldn't mind taking back the loan early." Xiao Chi asked, "Mr. Qi must have another use for this money?"
Qi Kai visibly stilled for a moment, his expression blanked, but he reacted immediately, and forced a blank smile. "What is Mr. Xiao talking about? As fellow businessmen, we all know it’s best to keep money in our own pockets for as long as possible."
Xiao Chi's gaze was exceptionally sharp, as if he was able to read the deepest desires of the people around him. He stared at Qi Kai's awkward smiling face as he continued to turn the beads in his hands. Clack clack – the sounds of the beads turning were the only noise in the whole room. The pressure exuded by Xiao Chi weighed heavily on Qi Kai's body.
The silence lasted for several minutes. Xiao Chi didn't like to talk. Strangely, the usual verbose Qi Kai, who always enjoyed being in the limelight, was also silent.
After a while, Xiao Chi sighed softly, stood up, and walked around the table.
Qi Kai seemed to have awakened from his senses. He stood up and involuntarily called out, "Mr. Xiao..."
"Have someone send the transfer contract to Flux Realty tomorrow afternoon." Xiao Chi's footsteps did not stop because of his voice, and he went straight to the door. When he was about to leave, he suddenly turned his head and stared straight into Qi Kai's eyes.
Qi Kai stopped in fright, he almost thought that Xiao Chi was going to beat him up or something.
"Mr. Qi." Fortunately for him, Xiao Chi just spoke in place. His voice was very low, like the evening bells of a temple striking every evening. "For the sake of your mother, who used to make dresses for Xiao Miao before, I’ll leave you with a single piece of advice…"
"The abyss of worldly suffering is boundless, the shore is behind you[2]."
At Qi Kai's stunned reaction, Xiao Chi suddenly recalled another matter. He raised his eyebrows and said, "Oh and one last thing."
He took out a large thick envelope from his coat pocket, and handed it to Qi Kai. "Please relay these words to Mr. Shi for me: stop putting so much effort in these trivial matters."
Xiao Chi left as calmly as when he came, without taking a single bite of the delicacies on the table.
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Footnotes:
[1] to beat a drowning dog - Sorry I usually like to change these weird sayings out, but I couldn’t find a good English alternative. This idiom means to pulverize an already defeated enemy; to hit someone when he's already down.
[2] ‘The abyss of worldly suffering is boundless, the shore is behind you’ is another idiom. Basically, Xiao Chi is telling him it’s not too late to turn back and change his ways.