Chapter 93: A Headache of a Contract
Chapter 93: A Headache of a Contract
Not until the class bell rang did Su Chunfeng return to the classroom.
After the class ended, just as Su Chunfeng was about to get up to go outside and chat with Zhang Lifei, Huang Yiyu, sitting in front of him, suddenly turned her head. Her eyes were red, and she spoke to him with a choked voice, “Su Chunfeng, you… don’t you think you should apologize to me? I’ve waited a whole class… you are too much.”
The few classmates nearby all looked surprised.
Who was Huang Yiyu? She was the famous ice-cold beauty of the whole school, very arrogant, usually looking down on everyone. Yet today, she was acting so wronged and pitiful, as if she had been… wronged somehow, pleading tearfully for Su Chunfeng to apologize to her.
What had that scoundrel Su Chunfeng done to Huang Yiyu?
This was intolerable!
Several of the top-performing, honest boys were already glaring fiercely, filled with righteous indignation.
Su Chunfeng frowned. Of course he knew the grievance in Huang Yiyu’s heart, but this matter was her own fault, who else could she blame? However, after a brief thought, Su Chunfeng decided he didn’t want to make a big deal with a mere girl. So he nodded gently and said, “Alright, I apologize to you on behalf of my friend. I’m sorry.”
“I… I was actually doing it for your own good. After all…” Huang Yiyu originally wanted to say that early romance would affect Su Chunfeng’s studies, but thinking that Su Chunfeng didn’t like hearing such things, she let it go. She lightly bit her lip and turned her head away.
“Forget it.” Su Chunfeng waved his hand and strode out.
Zhang Lifei didn’t have much time to linger at County No.1 High School. She had to return to Pingyang City No.1 High School before dark. So during the break after the second class, after chatting for a while with Wang Haifei and Su Chunfeng, she reminded Su Chunfeng to visit her home over the weekend, then reluctantly said goodbye and left the school.
Today was already Thursday.
That meant the day after tomorrow, Zhang Lifei and Wang Haifei would be visiting his home.
Just as the bell rang for dismissal after the last class in the afternoon, before the teacher had even left, Li Zhichao was already standing outside the window, urgently waving at Su Chunfeng as if something important had happened.
As soon as the teacher left, Li Zhichao rushed to the doorway and shouted, “Chunfeng, your dad is looking for you!”
“Huh?” Su Chunfeng quickly got up and walked out.
Li Zhichao carried a pager, so if the family needed to contact Su Chunfeng, they would send a pager message to Li Zhichao, telling Su Chunfeng to call back immediately.
Hurrying with Li Zhichao to a shop outside the school gates, Su Chunfeng used a public phone to call home.
It turned out that Xu Xiangdong, the mayor of Erdaokou Town Government in Pingyang City’s Nancheng District, had called Su Chunfeng’s home at noon today. He asked them to find time to come to the town government office to pick up a draft of the land development, operation, and leasing contract prepared by the town government. He hoped that after reviewing it, they could proceed with the next step of negotiations regarding the contract for the planned land at the intersection of South Ring Road and National Highway 107 at their earliest convenience.
Su Cheng had been out driving his truck at the time. Chen Xiulan took the call. After agreeing, she quickly called the pager service to send a message to her husband.
Upon receiving the message, Su Cheng picked up the contract draft when passing by the Erdaokou Town Government on his way back.
But…
Back home, Su Cheng looked over the contract draft for a long time. He was completely confused by the detailed, intricate provisions, project plan requirements, management methods, timelines, lease fees, and various other clauses. Helpless, he finally hurried to Li Sheng’s Feed Factory, asked for Li Zhichao’s pager number, and sent him a pager message, telling Su Chunfeng to come back and take a look.
After listening to his father’s brief explanation on the phone, Su Chunfeng let out a sigh of relief and smiled, “Dad, there’s no hurry with this. I’ll come back tomorrow night and take a look then.”
“Chunfeng, they’re waiting on our side,” Su Cheng obviously felt it was better to deal with the government quickly.
“Dad, if we reply too quickly, it will make us seem rash and too eager. That would put us at a disadvantage in the upcoming negotiations.”
Su Cheng pondered for a few seconds and couldn’t help but smile wryly, “Alright, then we’ll wait until you come back tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
Hanging up the phone, Su Chunfeng walked back, thinking to himself. What conditions would the Erdaokou Town Government propose? And how should he respond?
“Chunfeng, what’s the matter that’s so urgent?” Li Zhichao asked curiously.
“Oh.” Su Chunfeng snapped out of his thoughts and replied casually with a smile, “My family wants to rent a piece of land by South Ring Road in Pingyang City to open a store. The town government there has agreed, but there are many conditions to discuss further. My dad doesn’t quite understand the town government’s contract and wants me to go back and help take a look.”
Li Zhichao said carelessly, “Pff, I thought it was something serious. Tell Uncle to go find my dad. My dad has experience in this kind of thing.”
“We’ll see,” Su Chunfeng smiled and waved his hand.
Li Zhichao didn’t mind.
Back on the 14th day of the first lunar month, during their first meeting with Xu Xiangdong in Pingyang City, when Su Chunfeng later explained the details of this land leasing matter to his father at home, he had specifically warned his father that even if they needed a loan, they absolutely must not borrow money from Li Zhichao’s father, Li Sheng. It wasn’t that Li Sheng was a bad person, but Su Chunfeng knew very clearly that Li Sheng, and even the future Li Zhichao, this father and son were pure businessmen. In their eyes, profit was above all else. Whenever there was an opportunity, they would never miss a chance to take a bite of a fat piece of meat. And once Li Sheng learned that the land could be leased at a low price, a shrewd man like him would certainly see the commercial value of that land. Then, he would inevitably try every possible way to flatter and pester Su Cheng, trying to invest and get a share.
And Su Chunfeng also knew that his father, Su Cheng, was a man without much cunning, who cared a lot about face and valued loyalty. If he really encountered a situation where Li Sheng offered kind words, pretended to be chivalrous and helpful, or requested a share, he would most likely agree.
This would not be a good thing.
Once the future wealth potential of that land became apparent, a man like Li Sheng would definitely try to push others out and try to take it all for himself. By then, originally close brothers and friends would either become sworn enemies, or Su Cheng would be magnanimous, swallow his pride, and suffer the consequences—you might care about personal feelings, but while Li Sheng usually talked about friendship, in business he could become extremely ruthless, recognizing neither family nor friends.
Friday.
By the time Su Chunfeng got home from school, it was already evening. After hastily eating dinner, he sat down with his father by the tea table to study the draft contract prepared by the town government.
But after looking it over…
Su Chunfeng’s head was spinning too.
His education level in his previous life wasn’t high. He had no social or business experience, let alone exposure to matters like this. Since his rebirth in this life, he had been focused on studying hard every day, hoping to become a social elite in the future. But that was the future. For now, he could propose a general framework and plan for the contract, but when it came to the actual legally binding, intricately detailed agreement document, he was at a loss.
With the experience of two lives, he knew very well that these complex and tedious clauses were the easiest places to hide word games that non-professionals couldn’t possibly spot.
When things were fine, it might be okay. But if trouble arose, a single wrong word could be fatal!
After frowning and racking his brains for a long time, Su Chunfeng shook his head with a bitter smile and said, “Dad, we still need to ask my Third Maternal Grandfather to help look at this thing. There are some aspects I don’t really understand either.”
“If it really doesn’t work, maybe we should just rent two or three acres to open a store,” Su Cheng sighed. Regarding leasing dozens of acres at once, not for farming but for developing a parking lot, logistics center, and such, with investments starting at hundreds of thousands or even millions, Su Cheng simply didn’t have that much confidence to do it.
“Dad, if we don’t advance, we’ll fall behind,” Su Chunfeng said seriously, looking at his father.
Su Cheng fell silent. He took out a cigarette, lit it, took a deep drag, and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke.
After pondering for several minutes, this veteran who had once fought on the front lines, killed enemies, earned meritorious service, and received military medals was finally stirred by his son’s words, reviving the ambitious spirit that life had worn down to almost no edge over the years. Su Cheng slapped his thigh and declared with great spirit, “Alright, I’ll listen to you. Let’s give it a shot… at worst, we start over again.”
“It will definitely succeed!”
Su Chunfeng moved aside confidently, picked up the phone, and dialed Chen Xian’s number.
After briefly explaining the situation to Chen Xian, the voice on the other end of the line chuckled warmly and said, “Chunfeng, come over tomorrow with the contract draft. I’ll help you take a look.”
“Okay, okay,” Su Chunfeng agreed repeatedly.
Putting down the phone, Su Chunfeng smiled and said to his father, “Dad, since the Erdaokou Town Government could prepare this contract draft for us to see, it means this matter is almost certain to go through. The next step is just finalizing the contract and negotiating the terms on both sides. At the very worst, we give them a bit more. So, you can contact Uncle Liu Pingdong at the township Credit Cooperative now to prepare for a preliminary loan of five hundred thousand. Once we officially sign the contract with the Erdaokou Town Government, we can prepay this five hundred thousand as a deposit. Then, with the contract and the land as collateral, getting another loan of one million won’t be a problem!”
“That might be possible, but your calculation is based on leasing for thirty years. What if we can lease it for fifty years, or even seventy?” Su Cheng frowned.
Su Chunfeng smiled, “It just means borrowing another million, that’s all.”
Su Cheng shook his head, “I asked Liu Pingdong. Their Credit Cooperative can’t lend that much. The management of loans is stricter now from the higher-ups.”
“Oh.” Su Chunfeng thought for a moment and said, “That’s alright too. Let’s get the five hundred thousand loan first. Our family’s two vehicles, plus our house and that piece of building land as collateral, should be enough… Once we have the contract and the land, we can ask my Third Maternal Grandfather to help inquire about getting a loan from a city bank.”
“Okay.”
Just as they were talking, they heard Li Sheng’s voice from the yard, “Chengzi, are you home?”
“I’m here, Brother Sheng, you’ve come?” Su Cheng immediately stood up to greet him.
Su Chunfeng reached out and tugged at his father’s sleeve, giving him a warning look.
Su Cheng smiled wryly and nodded — his eldest son’s little schemes in his mind were too shrewd. It seemed like he could foresee everything and make plans in advance.
But, it did make sense!