Chapter 18: I Personally Prefer Collecting Rent
"Miss Yun."
Seeing her again, Lu Yunque saw a Yun Zijin who was completely different from the one at yesterday's auction.
"Mr. Lu, good afternoon."
"Good afternoon. Let's head inside first."
Lu Yunque made a "please" gesture toward Yun Zijin.
Yun Zijin smiled slightly and walked into the cafe, with Lu Yunque following closely behind.
Yun Zijin scanned the room and quickly selected a four-person table by the window.
"Let's sit here."
Lu Yunque nodded and took his seat with elegant movements; Yun Zijin followed suit.
The waiter, who had been noticing the two of them for a while, approached at that moment: "What would you both like to drink?"
"A black coffee."
"A cappuccino, please."
Yun Zijin made her decision after a quick glance at the menu.
"Alright, please wait a moment."
With that, the waiter turned and left to place their order.
Once the waiter had departed, Yun Zijin took the keys to the rental property from her bag and handed them to Lu Yunque.
"Here are the keys. The contents inside have been cleared out, and I've hired someone to clean it. These are the videos and photos I took after the cleaning. If there are no issues, let's sign the lease termination contract."
Lu Yunque was momentarily stunned by Yun Zijin's decisive, business-like manner the moment she sat down. He had assumed she would exchange at least some pleasantries with him before getting down to business.
However, he quite appreciated this working style; he himself was not a person who liked to procrastinate.
"No problem, Miss Yun has organized it very cleanly. I brought the contract; please take a look."
Lu Yunque took two copies of the lease termination contract from his briefcase and handed one to Yun Zijin.
Yun Zijin wasn't very good at reading contracts, but fortunately, she had her System. Only after the System gave a random prompt saying the contract was fine did she feel at ease signing her name.
Lu Yunque also signed his name in the Party A column, noting that he was signing on behalf of someone.
After all, the person renting the house to Yun Zijin was Fang Shuxin; he was merely the person authorized by Fang Shuxin to sign the lease termination contract with Yun Zijin.
Just as they finished signing, the waiter arrived with their coffees.
"Your coffees, please enjoy."
Once the waiter left, Yun Zijin spoke up: "Mr. Lu mentioned he had something to discuss with me. I wonder what it is?"
"Miss Yun should know that at yesterday's auction, Li Yuecheng, Fu Ze, and I were all planning to bid on that plot of land in the western suburbs. I didn't expect it to be snatched away by Miss Yun's sudden appearance."
Yun Zijin nodded; she admitted to that.
"Miss Yun likely bid on that land on a whim yesterday, so I assume you don't have any development plans yet? I have a development plan here; I wonder if Miss Yun would be interested?"
As he spoke, Lu Yunque took another document out of his briefcase.
It was evident that he was very well-prepared.
Yun Zijin flipped through the project development plan Lu Yunque handed her.
It was a plan for a hot spring resort. The plot of land Yun Zijin had won yesterday happened to be located at a gap in that area. With her land included, it would form a relatively complete circular plot.
"I've read the plan. The location of that land is indeed quite coincidental. However, I don't quite understand—how could a powerful conglomerate like the Lu Group miss a piece of land?"
For a development project like this, shouldn't the land have been prepared long ago?
"If it weren't for Miss Yun, I believe that land would have belonged to the Lu Group without question."
The land was put up for auction originally to gain more exposure for the project. Anyone with a bit of foresight wouldn't have competed with the Lu Group, but who knew a fierce girl like Yun Zijin would suddenly appear out of nowhere?
The key was, she actually won it!
It was quite frustrating.
From Lu Yunque's words, Yun Zijin could detect three parts sarcasm, three parts gritting of teeth, and four parts helplessness.
Yun Zijin rubbed her nose; she indeed hadn't thought this through thoroughly enough.
"Haha... well... matters of cooperation can always be discussed! At worst, if there's another auction next time, I just won't compete with you for things."
"Miss Yun expects there to be a next time?"
Yun Zijin fell silent; she certainly couldn't guarantee that.
"We've drifted off topic. What we are discussing now is the Western Suburbs Hot Spring Resort.
As for cooperation! I have no problem with it, but we need to be clear on how we will cooperate."
Yun Zijin indeed hadn't thought much about it when she bought the land. If Lu Yunque hadn't come to seek cooperation, she might have sold the land at some unknown time.
But cooperating with the Lu Group was also a good choice, as long as it allowed her to make money while lying down.
"Of course, I've had someone draft a contract. Miss Yun can take a look."
Yun Zijin set down the project proposal and picked up the new contract Lu Yunque had produced.
It had to be said that for Lu Yunque to hold the position of President of the Lu Group at the age of twenty-five, his ability was beyond doubt.
However, Yun Zijin quickly discovered that in this contract, her say in the project was very low.
Her plot of land accounted for at least 10% of the total area of the development project, yet the project dividends she would receive were only 5%.
Furthermore, during the project development period, the land development rights for her plot would belong entirely to the Lu Group, and she could not raise any objections to the development plans during this time.
To be honest, Yun Zijin felt as if Lu Yunque was treating her like a sucker.
"How about this? I don't know much about these kinds of development projects, so if you guys screw me over, I might not even notice.
However, I am very interested in collecting rent.
I won't participate in your project. I can find a construction team to build the resort according to your plan, and you just pay me rent every quarter.
I trust the Lu Group won't be unable to afford even that much rent, right?"
Using land as equity sounded good, but until the resort turned a profit, she would essentially be giving the land to the Lu Group for free without any income.
But renting was different. From the moment the lease agreement took effect, the Lu Group would have to pay her rent.
It didn't matter if it was a lot or a little; what she wanted was a stable income.
Lu Yunque hadn't expected Yun Zijin to make such a proposal; it left him at a loss for words.
No one had ever proposed such a thing. After all, those who chose to cooperate usually lacked the capital to support a development project.
"Miss Yun's proposal is quite novel. However, I am not the only one who decides on this project. I will go back and discuss it with the other directors of the company, and then give Miss Yun an answer."
"Do as you wish. I'm in no hurry."
She wasn't lacking that bit of money, and when the project development proceeded would have no impact on Yun Zijin.
But for the Lu Group, time was money.
Finally, Lu Yunque took a sip of his black coffee and took his leave.
As the President of a conglomerate, Lu Yunque's time was calculated in seconds. Being able to spare such a long time to have coffee with Yun Zijin was already quite rare; before leaving, he did not forget to pay the bill.
Yun Zijin finished her cappuccino before leisurely walking out of the cafe.
After walking around just now, Yun Zijin discovered a hidden gem of a shop: a traditional custom clothing tailor.
The owner of the shop was a well-maintained middle-aged woman named Wang Zhuqin. She wore a form-fitting qipao and exquisite makeup. If she hadn't revealed to Yun Zijin that she was over fifty, Yun Zijin would have thought she was only thirty.
Yun Zijin had always had no resistance to traditional clothing. Seeing a place for custom orders, she rushed over after finishing her coffee.
Because she hadn't had enough time earlier, she hadn't ordered any clothes; she had just chatted with Wang Zhuqin for a few words before leaving.
Seeing Yun Zijin return, Wang Zhuqin's eyes lit up.
"Xiao Yun! Finished talking with your friend?"
"More or less. There are still some issues that need to be confirmed, so I'll have to talk about them next time.
I'm here to custom-make some clothes!"
Just looking at the clothes hanging on display in the shop, Yun Zijin could not hide her delight.
"Great! These are the styles we frequently make, take a look.
Pick a style, and we will provide a design drawing for you later. Feel free to raise any requirements you have."
Wang Zhuqin handed Yun Zijin a thick booklet, which contained various styles of traditional clothing.