Chapter 1732 — The Gains Don't Cover the Losses
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
Li Cihua and Zhu Lingtou had struck a simple agreement with the old director of the orphanage: a plot of land five times the size in exchange for the orphanage's current plot. On the face of it, the orphanage seemed to have gotten the better of the bargain, but it was not so. The new plot was in an utterly remote spot, at the very edge of the city, already within the surrounding suburbs; the land value there and the orphanage's present site were not merely a little different, but a world apart.
So a five-fold difference was no exaggeration. The crux was that Li Cihua had reckoned only the land value, and had not counted the orphanage's original buildings at all.
Li Cihua's reasoning was simple: the buildings had burned down, so how could there possibly be any demolition compensation? Exchanging for land of equal value was only right and proper — perfectly fair!
Though the old director was reluctant, there was nothing to be done by then. The buildings were gone, he had no bargaining chips left in hand, and whatever they said went. Besides, Li Cihua did not want to blow the matter up, so when it came to swapping the plots he did not let the orphanage come off too badly.
The crux was this: the orphanage had nothing but a prime, enormous plot of land and no money to build on it — and that was the truly fatal problem.
Li Cihua and Zhu Lingtou returned to the Awesome Cloud Bar, all ready to claim credit, only to be met with a scene of ruin burned black by fire — and Zhao Qibing sitting in a business van not far away.
Li Cihua started in fright and hurried over to the van. "Young Master Bing, what happened here? Did the bar catch fire?"
"Yeah," Zhao Qibing answered flatly. Humiliation made him unwilling to explain any further. He was waiting here for Elder Bi to come and heal him; had Elder Bi not been unable to find another place, Li Cihua would never have laid eyes on Zhao Qibing at all.
"Ah? What happened?" Li Cihua asked.
Because Elder Bi was about to arrive, Zhao Qibing did not want to explain much. He only said, "Nothing... How did things go on your end?"
"Congratulations, Young Master Bing, congratulations! Under mine and Zhu Lingtou's threats and inducements, that old director of the orphanage finally gave in and agreed to swap plots with us. So that plot of the orphanage's is ours now!" Li Cihua said hurriedly. Though the two plots were close in value, in fact Li Cihua had still come out well ahead.
That suburban plot was of no use whatsoever in Li Cihua's hands; build houses on it and no one would buy, unless it were for a factory or the like, and such cases were exceedingly rare. The plot had sat in his hands useless, so trading it to the orphanage was in effect a gain.
"Congratulations my ass!" Hearing Li Cihua's words, Zhao Qibing finally could not hold back his pent-up fury.
"Ah? Young Master Bing, we really did get the better of it... That plot has a price but no market — nobody wants it..." Li Cihua said cautiously.
"The better of it? I paid Wei Zhao two hundred million, all on account of this fire! Look — my leg's been broken by Wei Zhao again, and the bar's been burned down by Wei Zhao too!" Zhao Qibing said. "Tell me, is this loss of mine not big enough to fill the Pacific? And you talk about getting the better of it?"