Epiphanies of Rebirth Chapter 84 (Part 3)
Translated by Pure
Chapter 84.3 Jingzhe’s Hair Growth Serum!
The northern district was still under comprehensive construction; roads were in the process of opening and elevated roads were being erected. From the dense construction sites, a grand and modern urban area in the future could be vaguely seen, but at this moment, the surroundings were still gray from dust.
The car emerged from the dust cloud and drove towards 2nd Middle Road. At the sight of the glass overpass hanging high behind the intersection, the view spontaneously changed.
At the highest point of the wall, a signboard with clear and powerful handwriting hung– Absolute Edifice.
The business district was the first to be constructed, and the last touches were just about done. Of the first batch, the Mixed-Use Building and April Wind Square faced each other in the distance. There was an elevated bridge connecting the two shopping malls across the street, as if they were one. The modern and avant-garde Mixed-Use Building and the uniquely-shaped April Wind Square complemented each other, presenting an architecture that contemporary people had never seen before.
The ground was covered with fireworks debris, and flower baskets were placed on both sides of the road. The flower baskets were filled with sincere congratulations and greetings from major real estate companies.
From the transparent exterior wall, were all the international brands unique to Yan City; their minimalist and succinct decoration aesthetics were pleasing to the eye. Advertising posters related to the opening of the Mixed-Use Building were plastered all over the city, everyone was made well aware of the 10% discount on its grand opening day. Eager guests had been waiting here early in the morning to watch the opening ceremony.
Lin Jingzhe and Xiao Chi had almost no time to talk. Every time they received a guest, they were pulled aside to be congratulated. Though usually this was a rather simple exchange, unfortunately there are too many things that deserved congratulating. From the establishment of Peace Garden, to the successful approval of the first commercial cemetery by Peace Garden, to the opening of Absolute Edifice, there was almost no time for a breather. Not long ago, Yan City announced the first round of public transportation planning for the north of the city, and 2nd Middle Road was prominently included. After the opening of the business district, the office area above the Absolute Edifice would imminent gain momentum. This mall had just opened, but its future success was already foreseeable.
"Congratulations." Regardless of whether they were jealous of this success, the guests present had to admire Lin Jingzhe's vision. After the pleasantries, they couldn't help but be stunned by the handwriting on the shopping mall sign above the door, "Absolute Edifice? What a good name, is there a reason for it?”
Lin Jingzhe just smiled in return and looked back at Xiao Chi's busy back.
Around ten o'clock, the crowd of ever-growing people buzzed outside the mall entrance. Lin Jingzhe and Xiao Chi stood at the door, cutting the long red ribbon amidst fierce applause.
Soon after, they were squeezed away by the crowd. Customers poured into the mall and began to fight for the products they had spotted outside. In less than half an hour, all the cashiers on the first floor were busy, crowded with customers waiting to check out.
Mao Dongqing and his entire team were unable to stay in the company as they were running up and down the four-story shopping mall, busy guiding customers and handling emergencies.
The guests who were pestering Lin Jingzhe were led away by Deng Mai. The smooth and slick general manager of New Beginnings Real Estate was enough to deal with this group of people, giving the two bosses a well deserved break.
When Mao Dongqing spotted Lin Jingzhe, he came over and reported, "The turnover is now roughly estimated to be more than 400,000 yuan. Mr. Lin, our current manpower is a bit insufficient. I have already called the company and asked them to send a few more people over."
Four hundred thousand was the average monthly turnover of most shopping malls in Yan City.
"Thank you for your hard work." Lin Jingzhe patted him on the shoulder before Mao Dongqing hurried away without even having time to say goodbye. Looking at his short back, Lin Jingzhe knew that his previous decision to give up part of his shares was completely correct. After gaining possession of the company's shares, Mao Dongqing and his team, and even Deng Mai, worked harder than before.
This did not mean that they did not work hard in the past, but that their past efforts were, at best, their self-capability for results were driven by passion and careerism. But now, their efforts and motivation were direct fuel to the accumulation of their own wealth. They were no longer insecure employees, but shareholders of New Beginnings Real Estate. Therefore, from the day when he officially received the equity at last year's annual meeting, Mao Dongqing never took a vacation again. For his own beautiful dividends, the plans for the company’s projects were planned more meticulously than the boss Lin Jingzhe.
At the recent shareholders' meeting, Lin Jingzhe and Mao Dongqing made a joint decision to win two pieces of land with great potential at the next Yan City’s estate bidding. These plots would be used to expand the Mixed-Use Building after Absolute Edifice. The news was kept secret, and unless Mao Dongqing wanted to have trouble with his own money, the leakage that Xiao Chi was worried about before would never happen.
Standing in the corner and looking at his results with pleasure, and amidst the sound of high-heeled shoes scattered around, Lin Jingzhe cheerfully bumped into Xiao Chi's shoulder. "Hey, someone just asked why our mall is called Absolute Edifice."
"The arrival of Jingzhe[1], the absolute beginning of life." Xiao Chi looked at him with gentle eyes. "I’ve already asked for a deviation from Bodhisattva, this name matches very well with our eight-characters, and is very auspicious."
"Why does your Bodhisattva take care of everything?" Lin Jingzhe thought about the previous scene when he bumped into Grandma Xiao asking Bodhisattva when Xiao Shenxing's athlete's foot would be cured, and couldn't help but want to laugh. "Your dad refused to give Grandma chocolate and Grandma said your dad's athlete's foot would never go away. She even said it will get stinkier and stinkier in the future.”
Xiao Chi: "..."
No wonder he kept smelling a faint stench in the agarwood incense while the whole family was writing wedding invitations last night.
Lin Jingzhe looked at his watch and said, "Let’s make a call home. The mall is so busy, we probably won't be able to make it for dinner tonight."
"No need." Xiao Chi shook his head and said, "Everyone has gone out and sent the wedding invitations. None of them should be at home today."
*******
"What f*cking godly luck, for them to actually be able to get their hands on a commercial cemetery. Once the construction begins on their plot of land by Wubao Mountain, Xiao Chi only needs to have the half built houses demolished! He can sell it for profit without even doing anything."
"Yeah, and don’t forget Lin Jingzhe. Did you see how many people were in his shopping mall today? The north of the city isn’t even populated. Once it becomes a finished district, wouldn’t it be constantly full of customers?"
"I heard that Peace Garden's shares were split 50-50 between New Beginnings Real Estate and Flux Realty. Are they addicted to working together? All they did was look at one another in the morning, they didn't even say a word to each other."
"Don't make trouble." Jin Jianshe, the chairman of Jin Prosperity Real Estate, waved his hand, "In the business world, what’s the matter if they converse or not. If you ask me, Mr. Xiao is a person who does big things. He can keep his composure and keep his personal grievances from being involved in his work. Most people are aware of his and Qi Kai relationship, but he was still able to purchase his land in a friendly manner. And what about Shi Nanxing? The man willingly gave Xiao Chi his April Wind Square shares. So why make such a big deal out of New Beginnings Real Estate? He had never badmouthed Lin Jingzhe in public. Did you forget at the last party? We had discussed deeply Lin Jingzhe’s company, but he didn’t even add a single word to the conversation. Who are we to judge?!”
"How commendable!"
Everyone immediately agreed to admire Xiao Chi's broadmindedness.
Dai Gaofeng just silently listened. The group of people behind him were all young individuals who had some relationship with the people of the compound. Most likely due to the stunning grand opening of Absolute Edifice, the subsequent topic never strayed from Xiao Chi and Lin Jingzhe. Just the mention of these two people caused Dai Gaofeng to become anxious, he couldn't help wiping the sweat off his head, but instead gathered a handful of hair.
When he entered his house, he looked at the mirror in the entrance hall and rubbed his forehead, which had begun to reflect light, worriedly. His wife came out shaking the freshly washed clothes and casually said, "Shuyuan sent the wedding invitations this afternoon."
"Give it to me." Dai Gaofeng sighed. After a second, he stopped his wife as everyone behind him greeted her. "By the way, you had previously mentioned a very useful hair growth serum?"
"Yes, it's a Hong Kong brand. A relative brought a bottle to my dad some time ago. It's quite effective." His wife asked, "What's up?"
"Do you still have the contact information of that relative?" Dai Gaofeng touched his increasingly sparse forehead and succumbed to technology. "Ask him to bring me a bottle."
His wife started to dig out the phone book to search while everyone behind him sat down in the living room and continued talking, speculating whether New Beginnings Real Estate would participate in the next land bidding. Dai Gaofeng added a few words and looked at Yu Shuyuan's handwriting on the red envelope in his hand, feeling worried in his heart. The Xiao Family sent their invitation first. If all else goes as planned, he will be attending Xiao Chi's wedding. However, Shen Juanying was not easy to deal with. How should he make up for it then? Let his wife go instead of him? Or give an extra 100,000 yuan as a wedding gift?
Surrounded by various entanglements, Dai Gaofeng was in no mood to open the invitation but he tore it open anyway. Everyone's attention was attracted, and they laughed and teased—
"I didn't expect Xiao Chi to be the fastest one in our generation. He’s so taciturn about it too, but I wonder which girl actually managed to seduce him."
"Isn't Lin Jingzhe getting married in November? Is he competing against him? I can’t help but hand it to these two people."
"Xiao Chi is probably going to be pissed. Did you see how dark hsi face was during the party." Feeling that the dignity of the compound’s younger generation was being challenged, Jin Jianshe joined in opposition to the same adversary. "I gave him several ideas on how to harm Jingzhe that day, but he didn’t even show an ounce of happiness about it.”
"Xiao Chi has a lot of connections. If you want to know the intentions of New Beginnings Real Estate during the land bidding, you might be able to obtain some hints by working with him."
Everyone laughed and continued to discuss the feasibility before looking up at Dai Gaofeng, who had remained silent for quite a while.
"Uncle Dai?"
It took a couple seconds before Dai Gaofeng reacted. He slowly looked up from the invitation to the group of people sitting around him.
Everyone was a little scared to see him so distracted. "Are you ok? Do you feel unwell?"
Dai Gaofeng felt as if he was in a dream. He exhaled, blinked multiple times, and was about to stand up to call his wife. The next second, his foot slipped, and he fell to the ground with a bang. Covering his face, he laid on the ground.
"Ouch!"
The onlookers were shocked and quickly gathered around him. They helped him up and asked him what was wrong.
Dai Gaofeng put down the hand covering his face. Blood dripped from his nostrils, but he felt a little more awake. He looked back at the invitation he had just placed on the sofa.
Jin Jianshe grabbed the invitation and subconsciously took a look. A single glance caused him to become stiff for a long time.
"Xiao Chi..." He spoke slowly after a while, asking his friends who all fell into a long silence after reading the invitation, "Xiao Chi couldn’t have told all the bad things I said to him... right?"
Amidst their astonishment, the rest of the people also couldn't help but cast a look of pity on him.
"What's going on? What's going on?" Dai Gaofeng's wife hurried over. Seeing this scene, she was so frightened that she took out a handful of tissues and covered her husband's face. "Are you okay? I just finished speaking with my relative, but let’s go to the hospital first? Do you still want that hair growth serum?”
Dai Gaofeng shook his head. He felt that the rate of his hair detaching from his body had just increased at tremendous speed. "I'm fine. Yes, I still want it."
"Auntie." As soon as his wife got up, Jin Jianshe, who was sitting on the sofa in a daze, called out to her. He anxiously covered his chilling forehead and requested, "Bring me two bottles as well."
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Footnotes:
[1] The arrival of Jingzhe - Jingzhe is actually one of the 24 Solar Terms, or otherwise known as Awakening of Insects. It falls on March 6th of the lunar calendar, similar to the Spring equinox, noting that this was when 'Thunder begins and hibernating insects wake up.' You can read more here - https://www.chinahighlights.com/festivals/the-24-solar-terms.htm
Pure: 🤣🤣🤣