Adrien considered for a moment. He had less than 2 million dollars in his pocket now and would need money for relocating the locals and upgrading the system.
"Can I get back to you later, Sylvia? I'm not sure if I have time for that."
"Sure, Mr. Higgins. Please let me know before the 8th day of next month."
Meanwhile, Lilianne also received the invitation letters for the Auction.
"Ms. Olson, all the rich people in Reburg will attend this Auction. The host also reserved two seats for Corestar Group. So, what do you think?" Celia reminded.
"You can come with me. I'll take the chance and catch up with my friends. The last few days have been rough for me."
"What about Mr. Higgins…"
"He doesn't know anybody there. Just forget about him."
"O… okay."
Things went well for the next few days. Adrien thought his ordinary commercial car might not be decent enough if he took it to the Auction. He took Sylvia's advice and bought a Bentley commercial car with seven seats that was worth more than 800,000 dollars. That would make Adrien look good in the auction!
April was drawing near.
Adrien had been expecting to hear the relocation news on April 4. Unexpectedly, people on Education Block reached out to Sylvia on April 1.
"Hello, may I speak to Mr. Adrien Higgins?"
"Hello, this is Mr. Adrien's butler. May I ask who am I speaking to?"
"I'm calling on behalf of the Development Department of Reburg Education Block. We understand Mr. Higgins owns 6318 houses in the Orchard Apartment in the 3rd street, 4th street, and 5th street of the Cultural Avenue, Education Block. We just received a notification of those who live in the above-mentioned areas will be relocated. Mr. Higgins is the actual owner of those houses. Therefore, we would like to meet Mr. Higgins sometime to discuss this matter."
"Okay, I'll tell him. Please wait a moment."
Sylvia went to Adrien and reported the good news. Adrien was pleased. He didn't expect it to hear it so soon.
The meeting was set for 10:30 on April 2 at a coffee house at Reburg International Hotel.
On the big day, Darneil drove the new Bentley commercial car. Adrien was accompanied by his Butler Sylvia, assistant Darcy, and his two bodyguards, Ethan and Anthony.
When Adrien arrived at the coffee house, he saw two people sitting there. They were representing the Planning Department of Education Block to negotiate with Adrien. It was clear Adrien was a bigwig as he owned over 6,000 houses and was surrounded by a group of people when he came in. The two people sitting there immediately stood up and greeted Adrien warmly.
"You must be Mr. Higgins. I didn't expect you to be so young, handsome and rich! I'm Caspar Amos, and this is Derek Nash. I'm the leading negotiator today."
"Hello." Adrien nodded. After everyone sat down, Caspar started to speak.
"Mr. Higgins, we can't offer you a large sum of compensation as the government didn't give us enough funds. Plus, there are so many buildings in those areas, and they all are shaky and old."
"Mr. Amos, let's get to the price. I don't have time for negotiation. I know the buildings are old, but that will help save you a lot of money in demolishing them. My company is also in the real estate business. I know how things work. Therefore, I hope we can be sincere and offer a better price."
"Of course, Mr. Higgins. To be honest, my boss told me that the best offer will be 1,400 dollars per square foot. It's high enough for buildings like yours."
"I don't think you are being sincere here, Mr. Amos, 1,400 dollars per square foot may seem good enough for the shabby old house. However, the current policy state that the compensation offer must be based on an average house price of Reburg at least! It doesn't matter how much my houses worth. The average house price in Reburg is about 2,900 dollars per square foot. Therefore, I hope you can make me another offer, Mr. Amos."
"Mr. Higgins…" Caspar looked at Derek, who was also helpless.
The highest price their boss could bear was 2,940 dollars per square foot. The lower the price they offered, the better it would be.
"That's too much, Mr. Higgins, what about 1,600 dollars per square feet?"
"Good call, Mr. Amos."
Sylvia and Darcy were pleased by the new offer. They were impressed that their boss could get the news in advance and buy all those houses beforehand. They wouldn't dare to do business with the hard case like this man. Luckily, this man was Mr. Higgins, their boss!
"Mr. Higgins, how about 1,800 dollars per square foot? I can't offer anything higher than that!"
"Mr. Amos, Mr. Nash, I'll give you a price, 2,800 dollars per square foot, period. It's okay, if you don't want to pay me this much. I have my own real estate company, meaning I can develop the land and build houses myself. There are antiques buried under these areas, and you must know it as well. That's why you some to me. However, if we fail to make a deal today, I'll invest more money in the land and turn it in to a shopping mall. That's also what the area needs urgently. I'll invite you two over the opening ceremony of my shopping mall!"
As Adrien spoke, he stood up and began to leave.
"Please hold on, Mr. Higgins, let me make a call. I have to consult my boss about your proposal.
"Fine, I'll wait."
"Thank you, Mr. Higgins, one moment please." Caspar left to make a call. Derek was left alone to sweat over and butter up Adrien. However, Adrien ignored Derek completely. He just closed his eyes and did some math. Another 208 dollars would help him to upgrade system. He could buy a watch with that kind of money!
After a couple of minutes, Caspar come back with a sour face.
"Mr. Higgins, I know you are not ordinary person. But I didn't expect you to be boss of Corestar Group."
"So, what's the deal?" Adrien asked casually.
"My boss agreed with your price. I just did the calculations. You have 6,318 houses, which is 8 million dollars square feet in total. If we compensate you 2,800 dollars per square foot, you will earn 2.2 billion dollars. Mr. Higgins, you will be the richest man in Reburg!"
"Is that right? When will you give the money?"
"How about now, Mr. Higgins?"
"I would love that. Let's go."
Caspar and Derek also got in Adrien's Bentley commercial car. Soon, they all arrived at the trading hall. Everything went smoothly. 2.2 billion dollars were transferred to Adrien's bank card in Treasury bank. With the money left in that card, Adrien now was possessed more than 2.3 billion dollars!
"Mr. Higgins, we will have an Auction in Reburg next week. Perhaps you can come and check it out." Caspar smiled and took out three invitation letters. Adrien took them and passed them to Sylvia, who opened them and said, "Mr. Higgins, it's the VIP seats in the middle of the first row."