“En… Yes. One hundred pieces.” Hearing the Bureau Chief’s shocked voice, Hong Dali curiously asked, “Is that a big figure?”
“Brat, what do you think?!” The Bureau Chief said, “We only managed to produce ten pieces after receiving the blueprint. The cost of each piece is more than 3 million! Now you say you want a hundred pieces!”
Okay, three million a piece, one hundred pieces would be three hundred million. That does sound like a lot…
Hong Dali gave it a second thought and said, “Alright, alright. Uncle Chief, I’ll take twenty pieces then. I’ll pay for them. It’s not like I’m short of money. I just sold the land at West Fourth Loop for over eighty billion two days ago…”
The Bureau Chief thought, This is little ancestor. Even as a Bureau Chief, he couldn’t afford to offend him. He helplessly said, “I know you’re not short of money. How about this. I’ll get you twenty pieces. Forget about the money. If you have any interesting things, remember to give them to me. Oh, and these twenty pieces of Mechanical Holy Garment, don’t leak it overseas. This is our Heavenly State’s army core equipment. It’s important.”
Hong Dali laughed as he agreed. “Uncle Chief is the best! When can I get them?”
The Bureau Chief thought about it. “In about a week’s time, maybe. This is a delicate thing. Tianying Car Company is rushing the production for the exterior. I’ll send them over together with the Mechanical Holy Garment, then. Remember, this is top secret.”
The exterior at Tianying Car Company? Granzon and Valsion? I wonder if there is any turbine engine?
Hong Dali grinned. “Uncle Chief, you’re the best. Don’t worry. If I have anything good, I’ll send them to you in an instant. Hehe. I won’t disappoint you.”
The Bureau Chief was happy. “Haha. This 60 million was not spent for nothing. Dali, remember, be careful. Oh yes, I heard you bought Water Spirit Village. Did you think of something new?”
Hong Dali was shocked. “The news sure spread fast. I like how the place looks, so I bought it. I haven’t got any plans for it yet.”
“Brat, don’t humor me!” The Bureau Chief was a little angry. “Don’t be dishonest with me. I waited for you to tell me personally. But it seems you bought it purely for the sake of squandering. I need to hurry, this cannot be delayed. Go home and wait. I’ll be there shortly!”
*What the heck. I really just bought the land for fun. There was no other intention. Does the Bureau Chief think we are going to rebel? *
That’s not right. He should know what kind of person I am. Why did he pick me out? Why is that?
Forget it, we’ll go home first and see what the Bureau Chief is thinking. He sure is in a rush…
Hong Dali quickly agreed. “Okay, okay, okay. I’ll go home now. Take your time, Uncle Chief. Let me take a shower and have a change of clothes… I’m dusty all over coming back from Water Spirit Village.”
“Brat, we’ll talk when we meet!” Bureau Chief hung up the phone promptly.
Damn, what’s the rush?
Hong Dali got anxious too. “Everyone, let’s hurry up and set off for home. Uncle Chief is coming to my house!”
It was not a small matter for the Bureau Chief to go to his house. Hong Dali promptly set off.
Soon, they arrived at the Hongwu Villa. The old housekeeper was already waiting at the door. Once he saw Hong Dali alighting from the car, he hurried over to welcome them. “Young Master, Master and Madam are waiting for you in the living room. They have gotten the news that the Bureau Chief is arriving soon.”
“Ah? Really? It’s so serious? It’s normal for us to buy land and squander, why did Uncle Chief make it so scarily serious?”
Let’s not care about that first. Let me have a change of clothes.
Back at the living room, his father Hong Weiguo and mother Lan Ruoxi were both present. Hong Weiguo looked the same, in plain home clothes. His mother Lan Ruoxi was in a dark purple nightgown, looking very elegant.
“Mum, Dad, I’m home.” Hong Dali greeted them before heading upstairs.
Although Hong Weiguo didn’t know why the Bureau Chief was in such a hurry, he was still all smiles as he called Hong Dali over. “Little rascal, don’t be in a hurry to rush up.”
Hong Weiguo didn’t know if Hong Dali got into any trouble, but Hong Weiguo’s voice was gentle as usual. Even the blind could see his love for Hong Dali.
Hong Dali stopped where he was and curiously asked, “Ah? Dad, what is it? All I did was buy a piece of land. I didn’t do anything else!”
“No matter what our little prodigal does, it’s beyond the reproach.” Lan Ruoxi’s eyes smiled as she looked at Hong Dali, as usual. She gently combed his hair which was messed up from running all over the world. “No matter what you did this time, whether it’s good or bad, we are not going to say anything about it. Your father just wanted to reassure you, that’s all.”
“So it’s like that, what do I have to be afraid of?” Hong Dali asked, chuckling. “It’s okay, Uncle Chief will not scold me. However, I am very curious. I didn’t do anything much this time, why is it so serious?”
As they were talking, the sounds of a helicopter’s rotors were heard from outside and soon, the Bureau Chief appeared before the three of them. “You little brat, what rubbish. I was wondering why you bought that piece of land. In the end, I find out that all you wanted to do was squander money!”
“That’s right!” Hong Dali replied shamelessly. “That was my intention…”
Hong Weiguo asked tentatively, “Bureau Chief, is there any problem with Dali buying that land?”
“Of course there is a problem,” the Bureau Chief said, exasperated. “I can’t decide whether to love or hate this little brat. When he wanted to film the program ‘Where Are We Going, Dad’, I didn’t think much of it. When he went there, he bought all the surrounding land. This makes things very troublesome.”
“All he did was buy some land, why would it be troublesome?” Hong Weiguo asked curiously. “Is the country thinking of developing that land?”
“Something like that,” the Minister said, troubled. “You have a map at home? Bring it here, I will point it out to you and you will see.”
Hong Dali said vehemently, “You want to look at the map again? Are you all not tired of all the pointing you do on the map every day?”
“You forced us into it!” When the servants brought the map, the Bureau Chief circled Water Spirit Village on the map. Then, he drew a line from Tianjing City to Water Spirit Village and then to Xinjiang Province in the Northwest. “See this? This is the high-speed rail our country is planning to build. We have already planned out where to lay the tracks. It will start from Tianjing City, passing Water Spirit Village, before heading straight into Hohhot in Inner Mongolia. After which it will make a turn, go through Yin Chuan, Lan Zhou, Xi Ning and finally arrive at Urumqi. This was the route planned.”
The Bureau Chief then paused and took a deep breath before continuing. “In the end, you bought the entire Water Spirit Village. This decision of yours would mean that we have to reroute the entire high-speed railway!”
What the heck!
This sounds really scary!
All I wanted to do was squander some money, who knew it would have such far-reaching effects? An entire railway needed to be rerouted!
Hong Dali said innocently, “Uncle Chief, all I did was buy the land and leave it to see what I can make out of it in the future. Surely it’s not so serious? I don’t think that will affect the high-speed railway?”
Hong Weiguo said in agreement, “That’s right, Bureau Chief. There’s no conflict between buying the land and building the high-speed railway. Can’t you just build it whichever way you had planned to?”
Lan Ruoxi was supportive of whatever Hong Dali did. “That’s right, our Dali did not do anything dangerous. You should not have had such a big reaction. Don’t scare him. It was not easy for his health to finally take a turn for the better.”
The Bureau Chief raged, “If it were anyone else who bought that land, it would be as you said, we would build it whichever way we had planned to. It’s all because it was your Dali that bought it, and he has not decided what he will do with it. That’s why we are having a headache.”
Hong Dali curiously asked, “Ah? Uncle Chief, what is the difference between me buying the land and someone else buying it? Isn’t it the same? The land is still the same land, can’t the high-speed railway be built if I bought the land?”
The Bureau Chief was extremely troubled. “Of course it’s different. You are the lucky ‘Mascot of Tianjing City.’ If someone else bought the land, it would be just a normal hill. If you bought it, things are completely different. Who knows what strange things could be under the ground there.”
This time, it was Hong Dali’s turn to give up. “Uncle Chief, you must not believe all that stuff. That’s all superstition, superstition!”
After hearing what Hong Dali said, the Bureau Chief wanted very much to kill him with a tight slap. “Brat, if other people said that, it would be okay. But if you say it, who will believe you?!”
Hong Weiguo and Lan Ruoxi made pained expressions.
Hong Dali pouted. “Fine, I just have better luck then some… Anyway, Uncle Chief, you cannot give me any discount on the twenty holy garments! You must not take away our people’s salary!”
The Bureau Chief said exasperatedly, “Do your people earn sixty million? Brat, you’re asking too much. By the way, let me ask you, do you really have no plans for Water Spirit Village?”
Hong Dali shook his head vehemently. “None! Absolutely none! All I asked them to do is to fix the road. As the saying goes, if you wish to prosper, first repair the road!”
“Alright, I will give you some time then. The high-speed railway is only a plan on paper at the moment, and we have not even decided on when we want to commence construction.” The Bureau Chief considered and finally said, “Right, little brat. When you are done fiddling with the holy garment, send me a sample. You must remember, don’t forget.”
Twenty pieces. It would only yield two after the breakdown and reconstruction. He would still have to let him take one of the perfect pieces.
Hong Dali said decisively, “In that case, I want thirty. Twenty won’t be enough!”
The Bureau Chief was speechless. “You are actually bargaining with me! Forget it. Thirty it shall be. That’s another thirty million!”
