Tao Liangchen
Chapter 943 It's Only Been a Few Years
It was evening.
After his massage, Su Laodie called Second Auntie over to have dinner together.
He wanted to avoid her constant nagging at home about him not being her biological son and rarely seeing him.
It wasn't that she blamed Su Yehao so much.
It's just that Second Auntie was getting older and had no one to rely on but Su Laodie. Despite her many mahjong friends and her businesses in gold, jade, and chain restaurants, she couldn't help but feel empty and occasionally sigh when she was alone.
Tang Laoma and Second Auntie didn't get along, but Su Yehao didn't choose to side with his mother. He was used to Second Auntie's presence.
Besides, with his current situation, even Xiao Wu had emerged and was holding a painting exhibition in Austria. So Su Yehao didn't have the face to criticize his father.
The elders in the family were no longer young. It was better to continue on as is, rather than creating a scene like some families, which would only be laughed at.
Even with careful maintenance, Second Auntie's appearance was slightly aged compared to a few years ago, with more wrinkles around her eyes and a slightly plumper figure.
After arriving in the private room, she placed her handbag on the chair and said enthusiastically:
"Knowing you were back, Xiao Hao, I originally wanted to treat you to a meal, but I was afraid you were busy and I'd bother you. Today, a lot of people went to see the land reclamation near the Zhuhai area, and many contacted me in advance to ask if they could get a discount when buying a house later on. I think this business will definitely work out. The more casinos there are, the more people will be attracted to settle down here."
"Thanks for your auspicious words, Second Auntie. Casino, 1997 only has a population of 400,000, and most of the locals already own homes. So we can't count on them for now. I plan to save the houses for later and sell them at a high price to wealthy people who come to settle down. So even if someone wants to buy a house now, they'll probably have to wait a few years."
Hearing Su Yehao's words, Second Auntie smiled:
"I understand. With billions of dollars in costs, of course you have to inflate the price to sell. I can't explain it clearly when others ask me, so I won't make things difficult for you."
Su Laodie sat there calmly, ordered a few home-style dishes, and said casually:
"I had someone study it before. Once the six major casino hotels are developed and create more jobs, and if we eliminate the miscellaneous inheritance taxes, we might attract tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people to settle down. Anyway, there's no need to worry about the sales of real estate in Casino, 1997. Sihai International's properties aren't in a rush to launch either."
Second Auntie continued the topic, nodding and saying:
"That's right. Back in '98 and '99, a relative's son immigrated to Europe and was worried that his house couldn't be sold. It only sold for 550,000 including renovations. Last time I saw an advertisement near their house, and old houses around there without much renovation are now going for around 900,000. It feels like there are a lot of people on the streets, with hordes of tourists coming over. Shops that couldn't be rented out before are now booming."
Looking at his biological son, Su Laodie joked:
"You were up to no good back then, getting me to buy that building to hide your mistress. Now, that little building is worth at least twice as much. There are so many tourists near the Ruins of St. Paul's, it's hard to find a shop."
Second Auntie also laughed:
"Yes, last time I wanted to have a cup of coffee, I heard the shop assistants say that mainland tourists were swarming in, and they were busy from morning till night, almost petting the cats bald. The cats in the shop were listless and didn't have the energy to play with the customers anymore..."
With so many businesses and assets spread across various places, Su Yehao almost forgot that he had a small building near the St. Paul's commercial street, which he bought at a low price years ago.
Yin Liuli used to be the store manager there for a long time.
The restaurant on the first floor of the building was still open, and the cat cafe on the second floor and the bar on the third floor seemed to be open as well.
However, as early as around 2000, as Su Yehao became famous, the affordable restaurant on the first floor began to develop into a high-end Western restaurant.
Now, even he, the landlord, didn't know who was responsible for the business in the building. It had long been integrated into other departments and managed uniformly.
He pretended not to hear the words "hiding your mistress."
This was ultimately the truth, and there was no way to deny it. However, his main purpose in buying the building back then was actually for investment.
Even back then, he already knew that shop prices in Casino, 1997 would skyrocket. He didn't expect that it was already 2004 in the blink of an eye, and it had only increased by about two times after several years.
Comparing the two, it was fortunate that he didn't just sit around and wait for death back then, but chose to take the initiative to do business.
Through compounding interest, the speed of accumulating wealth was much faster than passively waiting for real estate to appreciate.
Su Yehao took a sip of tea and said with a smile:
"It feels like it's been a very, very long time, even though it's only been a few years. I always feel like time is passing faster and faster. It feels like I haven't done anything this year, and it's already April in the blink of an eye."
Second Auntie replied:
"Yes, when we get to this age, we'll find that time passes even faster. The other day, a friend's granddaughter called me grandma, and I was so angry that I almost didn't want to give her a red envelope. Hai Ge, do you remember the day Xiao Hao first went to school, carrying a small schoolbag and crying while hugging my leg? In the blink of an eye, we're old."
Su Laodie didn't like to think about these things, and waved his hand impatiently:
"Only old people like to reminisce about this and that. I feel like I'm still young. I pay attention to maintenance and strive to live to the age of Sixth Master in Hong Kong. I saw the old man the other day, and he was in particularly good spirits despite being in his nineties. I ran into him near the construction site, and he even asked about you, son."
"Oh? Sixth Master is still in good health..."
Su Yehao had visited Sixth Master's house and chatted for a long time.
The twenty billion Hong Kong dollars that the other party donated to Bauhinia Institute of Technology had already been received and temporarily stored in 5S Asset Management, which specially established a scholarship named after Sixth Master. It had already started making a profit last year.
If nothing unexpected happened, with his super earning power, this twenty billion Hong Kong dollars could probably be used for a very long time.
Although Su Yehao had money now, he had never thought of directly waiving all the students' tuition fees. Society was inherently unfair. Faced with a pie in the sky, these young people might not know how to cherish it.
Considering that the university fees in Hong Kong were too high for most families in the mainland to afford, Su Yehao was happy to train some talents in a targeted manner, let them sign contracts with his company in advance, and then have him pay for subsidies.
In addition, he could cooperate with banks to launch low-interest student loans, combined with scholarship systems, social donations, official financial subsidies, mainland's public-funded study abroad subsidies, cooperative education, etc., which could basically solve most of the problems. That would be enough.
During the meal, they talked about gossip and family matters.
Second Auntie suddenly mentioned Jiang Yu, indirectly asking:
"Nan Gong's child has already been born. Why isn't my goddaughter Jiang Yu showing any signs? There's definitely nothing wrong with your health. If it doesn't work out, I'll take her to get a checkup sometime?"
Faced with this kind of private question, Su Yehao was caught off guard.
He said with an awkward smile:
"I just didn't want children before. I've been working hard lately. If nothing unexpected happens, maybe there will be some news soon..."