Chapter 53: Villa No. 1
Wu Renqing and Wu Xiulan were so pragmatic it made Wu Xiuli and Wu Xiuhua look displeased, but there was nothing they could say.
Wu Xiuhua forced a smile. "Sis, don’t be upset. Even if they were willing to lend us money, with our family’s current situation, we couldn’t afford the mortgage anyway. We’ll think about moving once we’re back on our feet. At least Qianqian is a girl, so we don’t have the pressure of buying a marriage home."
"Alright then."
Wu Renqing turned to Song Jia. "Miss Song, can we go see the floor plans on-site?"
"Of course. This way, please."
Led by Song Jia, the group walked out of the sales office. Song Jia procured a tour cart and invited everyone to get on. The cart headed straight for Building 10.
Long Lake District was massive; the cart drove for a good ten minutes.
As they passed the villa area, the members of the Wu Family all showed looks of immense envy.
Wu Renqing’s wife, Yu Cuiping, sighed with feeling. "These villas are gorgeous. I doubt we’ll ever be able to live in a place like this in our lifetime, will we?"
Wu Renqing glanced at Wu Xiulan and smiled. "We probably can’t, but Xiulan here might have a chance. Her business would just need to have some sort of breakthrough."
Wu Xiulan gave a wry smile. "The brick-and-mortar economy is in a slump right now. It’s only thanks to Shishi setting up an online store to help sell our products that our clothing factory is able to stay afloat. A breakthrough will be difficult."
Lian Shishi, however, was quite confident. "Mom, Dad, I told you to invest in traffic for my online store, but you were so stingy, only putting in less than five hundred thousand last year. If you’re willing to invest five million this year, I’m confident we can break one hundred million in sales during the 6.18 and Double 11 sales! When that happens, living in a small villa won’t be just a dream!"
Wu Xiulan and Lian Shiqiang exchanged a look. To be honest, they were starting to have some regrets. Last year, they had invested two hundred thousand into Lian Shishi’s online store, and during the Double 11 sale, her sales for a single day had reached six million! If they had invested just a little more, they really might have surpassed a hundred million.
"Shishi, this year, Mom and Dad will listen to you. Once we buy the house, we’ll take out a mortgage on it and invest it all in your online store’s traffic!"
"Really? Then once we’ve made the money, let’s come back and buy a villa! That one over there looks nice!"
Everyone followed the direction Lian Shishi was pointing and saw a magnificent villa. It was enormous, with one main building and two auxiliary buildings. Nestled between the mountain and the water, it occupied the best location in the entire Long Lake District.
"Miss Song, how much is that villa?"
Song Jia smiled. "That’s Villa No. 1, the Building King of our Long Lake District. The total construction cost was 260 million, and the two auxiliary buildings are worth over twenty million! Just the price of the auxiliary buildings alone could buy a medium-sized villa."
So that was Villa No. 1.
Everyone was left speechless.
Wu Kun laughed. "Shishi, you’ve got good taste, aiming for the Building King, huh? If you keep working hard on your online store, maybe in a few years you’ll really have a chance to buy Villa No. 1!"
Lian Shishi gave a wry smile. "How was I supposed to know it was the Building King? Forget it. 260 million... that’s more than I could earn in a lifetime! I’d better stick to a normal villa."
Cheng Yuan’s expression turned a little strange. ’What kind of faces would his relatives make if they knew Villa No. 1 already belonged to him?’
Wu Feifei said admiringly, "Shishi, if you can make over a hundred million in sales in a single day during Double 11, your profit must be at least ten million, right? You could earn a small villa in just one day!"
Lian Shishi shook her head modestly. "Cousin, you can’t calculate it like that. A hundred million in sales doesn’t yield that much profit. You have to account for returns, and a lot of people just add items to meet coupon or shipping thresholds. All told, a hundred million in sales probably generates a few million in profit."
"That’s still a lot! That’s a large flat in a single day."
"But there are only a few good days like that a year."
...
Chatting and laughing, the group rode the tour cart past the villa area and arrived at the mid-rise apartment section, stopping at the entrance to Building 10.
"This is Building 10, one of only two buildings in Long Lake District with a lake view. This way, everyone."
Led by Song Jia, the group stepped into the elevator.
"Which floors are you all interested in seeing?"
Wu Renqing smiled. "I’ll look at the seventh floor. That way, if the elevator breaks down, walking up and down the stairs won’t be too tiring."
Wu Xiulan laughed. "Brother, the best floors are around the thirteenth. I suggest you pick the one next to me. It’s high enough to avoid most of the high-altitude pollutants."
"Let’s check out the seventh floor first. Everything’s fine and dandy when the building is new, but after a few years, the elevators will start to age and have all sorts of problems. A high floor won’t be very convenient then."
"Alright, then."
Seeing they had come to an agreement, Song Jia pressed the button for the 7th floor.
Soon, they arrived at the 7th floor.
Since the property was nearly complete, the main doors and windows hadn’t been installed yet. For safety, however, protective railings had been set up on the balcony.
"This is the 160-square-meter floor plan: four bedrooms, two living rooms, and three bathrooms. Over here is the largest balcony, which also has the best view of the lake. You can see the entire villa area clearly. Please be careful, and don’t lean over the railing."
The group walked to the railing and looked out. The view was incredibly open. They could clearly see the calm surface of the lake and the villa district that wrapped around a large part of it. The scenery was quite impressive.
"The view really is amazing. And you can look down on the whole villa area from up here! No wonder it’s a bit more expensive."
"I actually think the lake view from here is better than from the villas. Even though the villas are closer to Long Lake, they aren’t high enough, so the view isn’t as expansive!"
"My god, Villa No. 1 looks huge even from this far away. Can you imagine how big it is up close?"
"Whoever lives in Villa No. 1 must be one of the absolute top tycoons in Luocheng. We can’t even dream of it in this lifetime."
"If I could just live in Villa No. 1 for a single day, I could die happy."
...
Hearing his relatives’ chatter, the corners of Cheng Yuan’s mouth turned up slightly.
Wu Renqing’s family was ecstatic. They were absolutely in love with this lake-view apartment.
"Dad, let’s get this one, okay? I love it so much!"
"Alright. We’ll go back and sign the contract in a bit."
After touring the seventh floor, the group went up to the thirteenth.
The thirteenth floor, being higher than the seventh, offered a different view of the lake, with its own unique charm.
Moreover, the floor plan Wu Xiulan had chosen was even larger than Wu Renqing’s. The group’s fawning praise only served to satisfy her vanity even more.
Wu Renguang chose the unit next door to Wu Xiulan’s, a "small" 140-square-meter apartment.
Normally, 140 square meters would be considered a large apartment, but compared to Wu Xiulan’s 200-square-meter place, it was nothing special.
Wu Xiulan looked at Song Jia with a reserved expression. "Miss Song, we’ve seen the apartments and we’re very satisfied. Let’s go back and sign the contracts."
Song Jia’s eyes lit up. Three sales at once! This month was going to be a lucrative one!
Song Jia’s attitude became even more enthusiastic. "This way, everyone. Please watch your step."