Bai FuRen was very satisfied with how attentive his eldest son was to his youngest son. FuRen raised his hand to invite Bai Yan to sit down. Then, he informed Yan about the discussion from before and what FuRen's own thoughts were.
Yan frowned. "Something like that happened? This is strange indeed. I'll arrange some hidden bodyguards for him. I want to see who it is who dares to touch my little brother!"
"This is all just guesswork for now. Perhaps your brother suddenly matured. Nothing's confirmed yet," said FuRen.
"Even if it's maturity, it'd be a slow and gradual process. He won't suddenly mature overnight. If my brother's maturity and obedience come from pain and suffering, then I'd rather he doesn't grow up," replied Yan.
"So, we shouldn't make a move now and see what really went on," said FuRen.
"You're right," agreed Yan with a nod.
"You've also worked for a whole day. Sleep early and rest up," said FuRen with a wave of his hand.
"You rest early too," said Yan.
FuRen nodded and let Yan exit the study.
The evening after, YiHan knocked on the door to FuRen's study. Carefully, he peeped his head out from behind the door and asked, "Dad, I'd like to talk to you about something."
FuRen's heart froze for a beat. Still, he didn't let it show on his face and replied, "What are you hanging about the door for? Come in if you've got something you want to talk to me about."
YiHan hesitantly stumbled into the room and closed the door behind him. He sat down on the chair before the desk. "Father, can you…lend me some money?" he asked. YiHan had his own little gold coffer and there's quite a lot in it, but if he wanted to purchase huge amounts of property in the southern suburbs, it wasn't enough at all. He didn't plan on touching the property where the new university would be built because even if he did, all he'd get was another pile of compensation money. The average finances of the citizens from that plot of land was currently very low. He wasn't greedy enough to want to earn money off of pulling the rug from the bottom of poor citizens. That's rather evil.
YiHan was thinking about purchasing the districts around it where he'd build malls and so on.
"Is your allowance not enough? How much do you want?" asked FuRen.
"F-Fifty million?" YiHan sheepishly said as he scratched his head.
"Why do you want so much money?" FuRen replied in shock. His heart went cold with fear. Was someone blackmailing YiHan? The moment that thought went through his mind, FuRen brow furrowed and his gaze turned cold. "You can talk to me about anything that's troubling or worrying you. You're still young. Be careful you're not lied to by others," he continued solemnly.
"No. No. It's just…I'd like to buy some immovable assets like property or shops. The kind that could have raised value later on," YiHan hurriedly answered.
"That is possible. However, why do you suddenly want such assets? Have you got a place in mind? I can help you research on which area has the best potential," said FuRen.
"It's fine," said YiHan, "I've got an area in mind already."
FuRen was still uneasy. "Is that so? Where is it? I'll help you purchase the property, in case you get cheated just because of how young you are," he said.
"Alright. I want the property in the southern districts, particularly near Mount NanXiang," said YiHan. After pondering about it, he realised what his father said was true.
It was just as FuRen thought. His silly child was being lied and cheated to by someone. Everyone knew the southern suburbs were famous for being useless. Only his own cute and silly little son would think of spending fifty million on property there.
"HanHan, have you researched the market? The south is a place publicly known to be a useless piece of land in the city. The property you buy would only decrease in value," said FuRen as he frowned.
YiHan's mind panicked. How was he going to tell his father that, within three years, the southern suburbs would turn into a gold mine that every single businessman would beg to get into but can't?
Even his father wouldn't know such sensitive and secretive information. How was he to know about it? It'd only make his father suspicious. But if YiHan doesn't tell his father, how was he going to convince his father to lend him such a hefty sum knowing it was just a trap?
Translator's Note:
50 million RMB ≈7.3 million USD
The amount YiHan asked for is upped in the translation (partially due to translation error as I'd mistakenly read it as thousand-10k instead of the hundred-10k it was). It was meant to be 5 million. This mistake was left in as property prices in China are relatively high.
(Below is the ridiculous explanation my brain concocted to explain why I decided to leave a mess-up for the world to see.)
A shop lot can be as small as 200 square metres (for one floor) or 2000 square metres (multi-storey). If one goes by the number given in numbeo.com where the minimum for an apartment is 10k RMB per square metre, YiHan would be spending at least 20 million for one shop lot. If one goes by a more reasonable amount provided by GlobalPropertyGuide, it'd be roughly 630 RMB per square metres – 126k to 1.26m (based on range provided above). As YiHan's plan would need him to own at least 1 shop lot + the numerous renovations it'd require, it doesn't really make sense for him to ask his father for just 5 million (which would not really work out as there's a difference between buying a property and getting it up and running as a shop, a mall, or any sort of rent-able state – especially so if it's rundown).