Chapter 45: The Cloud East Special Economic Zone Is Established, and His Net Worth Doubles

The next morning.

In the Garden Residential District, Cao Kun stepped out with a light and breezy stride, humming a little tune.

It was hard not to feel elated!

Everything Wang Shanshan had said over the phone yesterday had been heard by Bai Jing, word for word.

Such phrases as "big fucking idiot," "stupid cunt," "go look at yourself in a puddle of piss," and wishing to scatter her ashes—she had heard every single one of them loud and clear.

Although Bai Jing hadn't uttered a single syllable in response, Cao Kun could sense from her gradually tightening grip that the mother-daughter relationship between her and Wang Shanshan was utterly and completely finished.

There was not the slightest possibility of repair whatsoever!

He never expected that things between the mother and daughter would end like this, turning into outright antagonism. It was truly difficult for Cao Kun not to feel cheerful inside.

Just at that moment, suddenly, a phone call came through.

Thinking it might be Wang Shanshan, Cao Kun pulled out his phone, only for the corners of his mouth to instantly curve upward the moment he glanced at the screen.

It was Liu Yuling!

She was the female real estate agent who had provided him with attentive, dedicated service throughout the entire process when he bought property in the Yundong District of Haicheng.

In the days since returning from Haicheng, the two of them had occasionally exchanged a few messages on WeChat.

However, a morning call like this at the crack of dawn was happening for the very first time.

Without even thinking, he knew something must have happened!

After all, it was only six o'clock in the morning, well before working hours, which entirely belonged to private time.

As someone in the service industry, Liu Yuling could not possibly be unaware of how annoying it would be to call someone at such an hour.

Therefore, the only explanation was that an event momentous enough for her to disregard that annoyance had occurred.

The only thing Cao Kun could think of was the news that the Yundong District was about to become the Yundong Special Zone.

Other than that, he simply could not imagine any other piece of news that would prompt Liu Yuling to call him at such an early hour.

Mulling this over, Cao Kun casually accepted the call.

"Hello, Manager Liu."

"Save it!" Liu Yuling's tone was even more hyperactive than Cao Kun had anticipated. Excitement practically radiated from her voice as she said, "I'm all by myself right now."

Cao Kun chuckled, changing his form of address, "Little weakling, what's going on?"

"What's going on? You've struck gold! Do you have any idea how rich you're about to get?!" Liu Yuling could no longer hold back, her voice trembling with extreme agitation.

"Just a moment ago, the state issued a notice designating the Yundong District as the Yundong Special Economic Zone! Do you even know what that means?!"

"Oh my god, you're about to make a fortune, you're going to soar!"

"In just this short span of time, every single property for sale in the entire Yundong District has been pulled from the market!"

"Within this brief window, three different people have already called me. As long as it's a property in Yundong District, regardless of location, regardless of how old it is, they are offering to buy it outright at more than three times the original price! One person even offered five times the original price!"

"Not only that, they said that as long as I can help them close a deal on a single property, they will give me a direct 10% agency fee!"

"They've gone crazy, completely mad, the entire Yundong District has lost its mind! You can't even imagine how insane housing prices in Yundong are right now."

"Right now, as I'm talking to you on the phone, two more calls are coming in, but I genuinely don't have any properties left! Wuwu, none of the landlords are willing to sell anymore, wuwu..."

Listening to the excitement and frenzy in Liu Yuling's tone, the corners of Cao Kun's lips naturally curled upward.

As expected!

It truly was the news of the establishment of the Yundong Special Economic Zone.

However, having known the outcome in advance, Cao Kun was nowhere near as thrilled as Liu Yuling.

Feigning slight surprise in his voice, he asked, "Really? Housing prices have multiplied by several fold? Should I hurry up and sell now to cash in my profits and walk away?"

"No, no, no!" Liu Yuling hastily blurted out. "Don't sell under any circumstances! You must keep a cool head. As much as I'd love for you to sell so I could make a huge commission right now, housing prices haven't even come close to peaking yet. You have to stay calm and not let immediate gains tempt you."

Well, well!

Who would have thought that Liu Yuling actually had a conscience and was looking out for his best interests?

It seemed she wasn't the kind of heartless gold-digger who reneges on commitments.

Fine, she could be considered a good woman.

Except when it came to her husband, of course.

"Is that so?" Cao Kun said. "Alright then, I suppose I'll wait until property values have fully surged before selling."

As soon as Cao Kun finished those words, the line went suddenly quiet on Liu Yuling's end.

Finding it strange, Cao Kun probed, "Manager Liu?"

Liu Yuling's voice finally sounded again: "Don't bother testing me, my husband isn't back."

"Then why did you suddenly stop talking?" Cao Kun chuckled. "I thought your husband might have returned unexpectedly and it was inconvenient for you to speak."

"No, I'm just a bit baffled," Liu Yuling puzzled aloud. "Why aren't you excited? I feel like I'm acting as excited as a dog right now, and you—the real estate speculator who poured 23.8 million into this—shouldn't you be even more thrilled than I am? How can you remain so calm? Doesn't news like this warrant any excitement from you?"

Oh!

So that was it!

Cao Kun smiled and licked his lips, replying, "Not at all, I'm already extremely excited. Perhaps I'm just used to keeping my emotions under wraps. In truth, I'm just as thrilled inside as a dog, same as you."

Liu Yuling barely accepted Cao Kun's explanation. Afterward, the two of them proceeded to make a round of predictions regarding the upward trajectory of Yundong District's housing prices.

Naturally, it was mostly Liu Yuling pestering Cao Kun for forecasts, while Cao Kun had zero desire to make any predictions with her.

What was there to predict? He already had a clear idea of just how high the housing prices would soar; there was simply no need.

After speculating on the rising prices, Liu Yuling began beating around the bush with a few insinuations, the general gist being her hope that Cao Kun would entrust her with the sale of all the properties in his hands.

To this, Cao Kun readily agreed.

The properties were bound to be sold anyway; what difference did it make who handled them?

Besides, Liu Yuling wasn't trying to dip into his property profits or his money; she only wanted to earn the 1.5% agency fee from the buyer's side.

If he were to reject even a modest request like that, Cao Kun felt he wouldn't be acting very decently.

After all, since Liu Yuling wasn't the kind of ungrateful schemer who went back on her word, he certainly couldn't act like a deadbeat scumbag either.

Therefore, he explicitly told Liu Yuling that all the properties in his possession were exclusively authorized to her and her alone, treating them as her own private listings.

Hearing this, Liu Yuling was so delighted that she kissed through the phone more than a dozen times.