Chapter 63: Zhuge Reborn

Chen Guangliang came to a grain store in Zhabei and met Zhu Guangsheng, the owner of the plot of land.

Upon hearing that Chen Guangliang was representing Gu Zhuxuan to acquire the land, Zhu Guangsheng felt a surge of fear, but he put on a look of disgust and said, "Go back and tell your boss Gu Zhuxuan, other people might be afraid of him, but I am not! If he dares to pull any dirty tricks, I believe Shanghai still has laws!"

A man of backbone!

Chen Guangliang glanced around the grain store. Business seemed quite good, and the customers were all regulars, which indicated that Zhu Guangsheng was sincere in his business dealings and presumably a decent person at heart.

However, being overly righteous and unyielding in an era like this was not necessarily a good thing.

Chen Guangliang spoke first, replying, "Boss Zhu, no matter what, Mr. Gu is essentially the uncrowned emperor of Zhabei, and your grain store is right here in Zhabei. Surely you understand the stakes involved?"

Zhu Guangsheng trembled inwardly, imagining whether his grain store would become the target of harassment by hoodlums if he refused to sell the land.

At that moment, he cast a fierce look at Chen Guangliang, this young man acting as the henchman of a tyrant.

"What stakes? I don't understand any of that. All I know is that doing business requires abiding by the law and being a person requires having a conscience. Gu Zhuxuan may have crowned himself the 'Tycoon of Zhabei,' but if you dare to pull any stunts, I believe the new municipal government will surely uphold justice for me. Be on your way. No matter what you say, I will never agree to sell you the land."

Bringing up the new municipal government was clearly somewhat of a desperate measure on his part.

Naturally, Chen Guangliang had no intention of leaving so easily. He quickly shifted his tone and asked, "Boss Zhu, what is your reason for insisting on holding onto this piece of land?"

Zhu Guangsheng let out a cold snort and said, "Hmph! You think you are the only ones who know that land in Zhabei—or rather, land in Shanghai—is going to appreciate in value? Trying to buy up land today at current prices that will soar in value tomorrow is a pipe dream as far as I'm concerned!"

Chen Guangliang nodded in flattery and said, "Boss Zhu is indeed a man of great vision, knowing that real estate in Shanghai is a worthwhile investment. After all, as the nation's population migrates toward Shanghai—most of them intellectuals and merchants—they will bring massive wealth to the city. Coupled with the National Revolutionary Army's intention to control Shanghai's economy in order to control the national economy, the development prospects for Shanghai are exceptionally bright!"

Zhu Guangsheng was taken aback. He had not expected Gu Zhuxuan's subordinate to be such a man, and his reasoning was remarkably sound.

"So, you all know how to invest in real estate, but am I supposed to just hand my wealth over to someone else on a silver platter?"

At this point, Chen Guangliang said, "Actually, Boss Zhu, investing in land in Zhabei is not the best choice. Among the entire Chinese-administered districts, Zhabei and Nanshi are indeed the most worthy of investment, and that is true. But think about it, Boss Zhu: although Zhabei is located near the railway station, it is also right in the 'battleground of strategists.' If a war breaks out, Zhabei will inevitably be reduced to ruins. If I were you, I would sell this land right now and purchase property in Nanshi instead. That way, you can also avoid a direct conflict with Mr. Gu!"

Zhu Guangsheng was stunned. He could not understand why Gu Zhuxuan's subordinate was speaking on his behalf.

"Who knows if you're just tricking me into selling the land? Aren't you one of Gu Zhuxuan's men yourself!"

Chen Guangliang said with certainty, "I am not his man. I run my own transport business; I simply couldn't afford the protection fees, so I'm doing a few errands for him temporarily. I've said what I needed to say. If Boss Zhu is willing to sell, I will go back and tell Mr. Gu. If you are unwilling, I believe Mr. Gu will not make things difficult for me, and at most, he will simply send someone else."

Send someone else? And those others were definitely not people to be trifled with!

Zhu Guangsheng quickly asked, "Little brother, that battleground of strategists you mentioned just now—do you really think a war will break out in Shanghai?"

Chen Guangliang replied, "I'm merely speaking of potential risks. For instance, the Western powers have massive interests in Shanghai, but why wouldn't the Asian power, Japan, also want to get a piece of the pie in Shanghai? Therefore, the possibility of war breaking out in Shanghai still exists, and Zhabei would most likely bear the brunt of it as the gateway. If I were Boss Zhu, I certainly wouldn't risk facing a 'double' threat; instead, I'd sell the land in Zhabei and reinvest in Nanshi."

Zhu Guangsheng nodded and said, "I can tell that a young man of your talent would never lower himself to work permanently under a gangster. Very well, what you've said today makes a lot of sense. I agree to sell the land to Gu Zhuxuan."

A double risk was indeed not worth taking.

Had anyone else been sent instead, they certainly wouldn't have been as easy to talk to as Chen Guangliang.

Chen Guangliang said, "Thank you, Boss Zhu!"

Zhu Guangsheng replied, "I should be the one thanking you. Your words just now gave me a great deal of insight and even saved me from a disaster. If my little brother doesn't mind, let's become friends. I'm sure you won't be working under Gu Zhuxuan forever."

"If Elder Brother Zhu doesn't disdain my company, that would be the best!"

From that moment on, the two men hit it off instantly, and Zhu Guangsheng invited Chen Guangliang inside for tea.

In truth, Zhu Guangsheng was afraid of Gu Zhuxuan as well, but he had always lived by the code that "true strength cannot be subdued by force," which was why he had stubbornly refused to swallow his pride.

Now, Chen Guangliang's words had made him see the light. There was clearly a win-win solution available; why had he been so stubbornly narrow-minded all this time?

........

It took Chen Guangliang only a single trip to successfully negotiate the purchase of Zhu Guangsheng's land, leaving Gu Zhuxuan filled with amazement.

In contrast, Zhang Jiepu came back empty-handed once again, even causing a commotion that alerted the patrol police, which deeply infuriated Gu Zhuxuan.

"What on earth are you doing? Guangliang managed to settle the matter in one go without causing any extra trouble. Look at you—not only did you fail to accomplish the task, but you also stirred up trouble for me!"

With the municipal police precinct getting involved, Gu Zhuxuan had to step in personally to some extent to smooth things over and suppress the matter.

Chen Guangliang had no fondness for such hollow flattery, nor did he wish to become entangled in these affairs.

Seeing Zhang Jiepu lower his head and dare not utter a word, Chen Guangliang spoke up: "Mr. Gu, real estate business isn't done this way. If you keep going like this, everyone in Zhabei will know you're aggressively buying up land, and people will only be more reluctant to sell. The correct approach is to hand the task over to those 'ground-rats' and brokers, letting them hunt down plots whose owners are willing to sell in batches."

Zhabei was vast—immensely vast—and there was certainly no shortage of land up for sale.

He simply couldn't comprehend why Gu Zhuxuan's subordinates were so utterly incompetent.

Focusing on the railway station wasn't wrong in principle, but the area around the station was also extremely large; there was simply no need to handle things so crudely.

At that moment, Gu Zhuxuan was fixated solely on the notion that he should be able to summon wind and rain in Zhabei as he pleased. He retorted, "We should acquire them that way, but this particular plot of land must be secured by any means necessary!"

He was taking it personally!

The harder it was to get, the more determined he was to get it!

At this juncture, Zhang Jiepu suggested, "How about we hire someone..."

With that, he flashed a vicious look, no longer caring about the consequences.

Gu Zhuxuan immediately snapped, "I don't care how you do it, just don't let me show my face again, and keep my name out of it!"

Seeing that things were spiraling out of control and fearing that he might get burned, Chen Guangliang immediately intervened: "Mr. Gu, how can you keep your name out of this? I suggest we avoid resorting to those heavy-handed tactics. My advice is to send a group of people to set up refugee shacks on that piece of land. Make the owner think he's been targeted by refugees and that the place is turning into a slum. When that happens, he'll gladly unload the land of his own accord."

It was much like the modern-day Fanluan Nong—roughly over a hundred mu of land housing four to five thousand people living close together, and that number was still climbing; by 1949, there would likely be over fifteen thousand people squeezed in there (historical fact).

Once a piece of land was targeted by refugees, the original owner would have no choice but to swallow their bitter pill in silence.

After all, how much rent could one possibly collect from impoverished people? It was far from being a profitable venture.

And if one wanted to sell such land afterward, evicting the refugees was nearly impossible due to the sheer volume of people, making it extremely difficult to offload.

Gu Zhuxuan finally took the advice to heart and said, "Alright, let's do as Guangliang says and slowly wear this owner down... As for the rest of the land acquisitions, pick up the pace and stop stirring up so much trouble."

Zhang Jiepu quickly replied, "Understood, Boss!"

Finally, Chen Guangliang tendered his resignation to Gu Zhuxuan on the spot: "Mr. Gu, I would like to resign from the position of Deputy General Manager. After all, buying up land isn't really that complicated of a task... I can continue to serve as a consultant for stocks and real estate, as I still have plenty of my own affairs to attend to."

Gu Zhuxuan looked at Chen Guangliang for a few moments before finally saying, "Very well, a consultant it is. As long as you genuinely help me solve my problems, it doesn't matter what your title is!"

Chen Guangliang's performance over the past few days had truly won him over, making him wish he could recruit such a talented individual permanently.

But the reality was that this young man had his own sphere of influence.

Things having reached this point, maintaining a friendly alliance was the wisest course. Pushing any harder might drive the young man even further away from him.

"Thank you for your understanding, Mr. Gu!"

Working alongside figures like these, Chen Guangliang's greatest fear was accidentally setting himself on fire one day.

It wasn't that Chen Guangliang wanted nothing to do with such matters at all, but rather that he worried about being framed by someone and thrown into prison.

As far as he knew, in the mid-1930s, Gu Zhuxuan had seemingly been set up by Huang Jinrong and thrown behind bars.

Therefore, if Chen Guangliang didn't exercise caution at every step, he might well end up becoming someone else's chess piece one day.