Forcing Me to Be a Godly Tycoon, Right?

Back in 2004, the county seat of Hong County wasn’t very big, with only two main roads: Qian Street and Hou Street.

On Hou Street, there were mostly factories, whereas on Qian Street, you had restaurants, KTVs, and supermarkets—basically, the service industry.

Ten minutes later, the red BMW slowly pulled up near the crossroads of Qian Street at the entrance of the Family Supermarket.

Zhang Lihua turned to give Zhang Jingdong a look.

Seeing him still staring at her intently, she immediately shot him a glare: "...We’ve arrived."

Zhang Jingdong snapped back to reality, smiled, and said: "Oh... okay."

With that said, he swiftly got out of the car.

Zhang Lihua noticed that he was somewhat serious and got out of the car as well.

Zhang Jingdong had already decided on the location for the mall; it was the same spot Zhang Lihua chose in the previous life.

But to spend more time alone with Zhang Lihua, he deliberately let her take him here first.

He pretended to observe the foot traffic near the Family Supermarket for a while, then turned to Zhang Lihua and asked: "How has the Family Supermarket been doing these past few years?"

Zhang Lihua paused for a moment and replied: "Very well, and business is getting better every year. After all, people have had more money in recent years. Although their goods are more expensive than those in regular supermarkets, the quality is noticeably better, so everyone prefers shopping here."

"What do you think about building the mall here?"

"...I don’t think it’s suitable."

"Why not?"

"Firstly, to build here, we’d have to buy out the Family Supermarket and surrounding businesses and then demolish and rebuild, which would be costly."

"Secondly, although the traffic here is convenient, once our mall opens, the foot traffic will be many times that of the Family Supermarket, leading to parking and safety issues."

Zhang Jingdong nodded thoughtfully: "So where do you think is more suitable for construction?"

Zhang Lihua hesitated for a moment and then said: "I think the area next to the government square is more suitable."

"Firstly, the old building of the county hospital is there, and it’s supposed to be demolished. No business has been willing to take on this project so far."

"Moreover, as far as I know, the government hopes a new landmark can be built there, and our mall fits this condition, so we can negotiate with the government for some favorable terms."

"Additionally, the area around there is home to the families of government officials, including some of the wealthiest people in our county, who are our mall’s main target customers. It would be more convenient for them to shop with the mall at their doorstep."

Zhang Jingdong looked excited: "Your reasoning sounds solid. Okay, let’s go check it out."

Then they both got into the car.

Zhang Lihua expertly handled the car, and they were back on the road.

And soon, Zhang Jingdong resumed his mode of admiring beauties.

This time, perhaps because Zhang Jingdong accepted her suggestion, or maybe because she wanted to quickly revisit the site she had chosen, Zhang Lihua ignored Zhang Jingdong’s rude behavior.

Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the old site of the county hospital next to the government square.

After getting out of the car, Zhang Jingdong looked around for a while and felt this was indeed a prime location.

He then said: "Alright, let’s go with this place."

Zhang Lihua had anticipated that Zhang Jingdong would find this location more suitable, but she didn’t expect him to be so decisive. A hint of surprise flashed in her eyes.

Zhang Jingdong then looked at her again: "How much do you think the entire project will cost?"

Zhang Lihua pursed her lips: "...If your company has good cash flow, it’s best to invest twenty million. If that’s too much, fifteen million will do."

Although Zhang Lihua estimated that Zhang Jingdong’s net worth should be over a hundred million, twenty million is still not a small amount, and many billionaires might not be able to come up with that much cash quickly.

She even secretly decided that if Zhang Jingdong could only provide fifteen million or less, she would use the money she had set aside for opening a branch.

Zhang Jingdong paused deliberately before saying: "I’ll give you thirty million, twenty million for the mall and ten million for opening Lihua Restaurant branches. One branch in every county surrounding our city; let’s cover every county in our city."

"If the response is good, then we will enter Jiangdu in the future."

Zhang Lihua was obviously not expecting Zhang Jingdong to give her such a response and was instantly delighted again!

"...No need, that’s too much. You only need to provide twenty million, after all, I’ll also be investing a few million."

"Additionally, opening new branches won’t require that much money in the short term, you don’t need to give me so much all at once. Your big company must need a lot of working capital."

Zhang Jingdong shook his head with a smile: "Don’t worry, although my company is still in its early stages, it’s very cash-abundant."

"Not lying, in the week before I came back to my hometown, I first invested two hundred million in Zhuhai to start a cellphone company, then spent another twenty million acquiring a tech company."

"So this thirty million for me... is just a drop in the bucket!"

Zhang Lihua, shocked once again, couldn’t help but ask: "Where did you get so much money? You even came up with two hundred million."

Zhang Jingdong shrugged: "First, after earning fifty million from the entertainment company, I invested the entire amount in the stock market, and within just two months, I made three hundred million."