Reborn, back to a small county town to become a wealthy family

Chapter 785 Everyone Wants to Improve
To be honest, Qiao Shi'an had very mixed feelings about his nephew.

However complicated it may be, one thing must be admitted: Luo Yang is now a figure of considerable importance, especially considering that the majority of his businesses are located in Shanghai. The portion of his wealth in Yang City alone is enough to place him among the top ten richest people in the city.

Yes, top ten locally, and that's being modest.

Although Yangshi is a small, economically developed county in southern Jiangsu, it is still only a fourth- or fifth-tier city. Moreover, the current timeline is only 2012, and as of now, Yangshi only has four listed companies, and only three of them are listed on the A-share market.

Moreover, the market capitalization of most listed companies at this time is not high. There are many companies in the A-share market with a market capitalization of several billion or tens of billions. In addition, the owners of these companies do not have 100% control. If you really want to calculate personal wealth, it is normal for some owners of small listed companies to only have a few hundred million in wealth.

Although Luo Yang doesn't own any listed companies, his businesses are very profitable.

Needless to say, Zhengyang Group is a cash cow. This clothing company, which is now on the right track, has an annual profit of over 10 billion yuan. Among the other four listed companies in Yangshi, only one can achieve this.

In addition, there is Guangfan Wind Power, which he and Jiang Yuanshan jointly invested in. To date, the two have jointly invested more than 5 million yuan. As the factory construction is about to be completed and the production equipment begins to be installed, more than 10 billion yuan will be needed in the future.

In addition, Luo Yang's industries in Yangshi include Qingyang Building Materials, Guoyang Real Estate, Yangguang Cultural Tourism, and Guangfan Electronics, etc. The combined assets of these industries certainly exceed 10 billion yuan.

So, roughly speaking, Luo Yang's assets in Yang City alone amount to 35 to 40 billion yuan.

To say that his net worth ranks among the top ten in his hometown is actually quite modest.

Of course, this is still 2012; things will be even more incredible in the years to come.

The delayed effects of the massive infrastructure spending in 08 have begun to emerge and amplify, while our foreign exchange reserves have also started to grow, reaching 3.2 trillion US dollars by the end of last year.

It's important to understand that for every additional US dollar in foreign exchange reserves, we need to issue 6 to 7 yuan of local currency. Coupled with the amplifying effect of the secondary market, this results in an even larger amount of currency circulating in the market.

The increase in the amount of currency in circulation, aside from other effects, certainly leads to a real increase in the assets of the wealthy.

Take the real estate sector as an example. Before 08, the domestic housing market was relatively stable, and the growth rate was also relatively rational. However, after 08, it began to soar.

In 08, the average housing price in the capital was around 12000 yuan per square meter, but by 12, the average price had risen to over 27000 yuan, more than doubling.

This is still the average housing price, without taking into account those high-end properties. In fact, the price of high-quality properties more than tripled in those years.

Do you know what this means?

An ordinary citizen of the capital bought a 100-square-meter apartment in 08 for 120 million yuan. Four years later, the price of the apartment had risen to 270 million yuan. In those four years, without doing anything, the citizen's assets increased by 150 million yuan!
What does this mean for wealthy individuals who make asset allocation decisions?
When Liu Haishan bought properties in Jincheng Real Estate for speculation, he used leverage and made a short-term investment of less than six months, turning a principal of 5000 million yuan into a profit of more than 1800 million yuan.

The further along the line, the faster the wealth of the rich grows.

In Luo Yang's plans, he also intends to invest in a commercial complex project in his hometown over the next few years, engage in real estate development, and acquire a controlling stake in a commercial bank.
Even without other large-scale projects settling in his hometown, the existing industries and the few new investments alone are enough to boost Luo Yang's assets in his hometown to over 100 billion yuan.

If Jiang Yuanshan were to relocate his most valuable new energy battery project to the Jiangning Development Zone, it's hard to say who might become the richest man in Yangshi in the future.

So at tonight's dinner, Luo Yang and Qin Huayu politely declined each other's seat for a long time over who should sit in the host's seat.

Qin Huayu genuinely wanted to give up his seat, while Luo Yang felt it was impolite for a junior like himself to sit in the main seat when his own uncle was present.

Now an even more awkward situation has arisen.

Tang Jingwan, deputy director of the town's investment promotion office, was practically pressed against her nephew's back. She finished two glasses of wine but didn't leave. Judging from her posture, it seemed like she wanted to stick to him.

Should I say something to break the ice?
Although most of the family members were unaware that Luo Yang had proposed to Jiang Fan, Gu Honglan had already disclosed the news that the two were about to get their marriage certificate within the family, so Qiao Shi'an must know.

Moreover, Jiang Fan is not an ordinary family's child; she is Jiang Yuanshan's beloved daughter.

"cough cough"

Qiao Shi'an coughed lightly a few times, then picked up his wine glass and took a small sip to moisten his throat.

"Director Tang, I'll take care of that matter for you."

He smiled and said to Tang Jingwan, "My nephew spends half the week in Yangshi and half the week in Shanghai. He's usually very busy with business, so you might not be able to schedule a time with him. But don't worry, I'm very familiar with Mr. Huang from Sunshine Culture and Tourism, and Mr. Dong is here today too. If you want to visit their company, it's very convenient to either contact me or Mr. Dong."

He finished speaking in one breath, and although he had a smile on his face, his heart was pounding.

What if it ruins my nephew's "good deed"?

Qiao Shi'an didn't even dare to look Luo Yang in the eye.
"President Dong, this task is assigned to you."

Luo Yang could easily tell that his uncle-in-law was trying to help him out of a tight spot, so he immediately went along with it, saying, "Director Tang, what I just said is the preface description in the Yangguan Cultural Tourism Investment Project Proposal. If you want more information, you can schedule a time with President Dong, and we can organize a research activity then."

Who is Tang Jingwan?

She immediately realized what was going on and, without changing her expression or tone, turned to Dong Dawei with enthusiasm.

Qin Huayu also figured out the nuance and immediately and seamlessly continued the conversation.

"President Luo, the dinner organized by Qiao Zhen is to better serve the project you invested in."

He asked in a serious tone, "Did you encounter any difficulties during today's project inspection that require our assistance?"

Qin Huayu wasn't boasting. Besides himself, the town's top official, there were also the director of the scenic area management committee and the head of the local security station at the dinner party tonight. He could really solve any minor problems on the spot.

"Thank you for your concern, leader. The project is progressing smoothly so far and we don't need any help at the moment."

After replying, Luo Yang pondered for a moment, then turned to Hou Hongxuan, the director of the scenic area management committee, who was sitting to his left.

"Director Hou, I was planning to visit you in person sometime later, but since we've run into each other tonight, I might as well talk to you beforehand." Hou Hongxuan smiled and said, "Mr. Luo, is it about what will happen after the project starts operating?"

In his view, once the tourist attraction was completed, some of its management rights would fall under the purview of the scenic area management committee. It was to be expected that Luo Yang, as the owner of Sunshine Cultural Tourism, would give him a heads-up in advance.

"Director Hou, it's a bit early to talk about operations now. I have something else to discuss."

The project only started this year, and it will be at least another six months before it is completed. It is indeed a bit early to talk about the operation period now.

"Oh?"

Hou Hongxuan asked curiously, "Then why is Luo always here?"

"I recently went to the United States and discussed a collaborative project with IDG, which is related to bicycles."

When he said this, Luo Yang didn't think he was deceiving anyone.

Shared bikes are just bicycles, no problem.

"In the first half of the year, I partnered with Yuanfan Group to set up a bicycle factory. It wasn't very large, and it wasn't separated from Yuanfan Electric Vehicles."

Luo Yang continued, "Because of that cooperative project in the United States, I plan to talk to President Jiang about spinning off this bicycle factory, increasing investment, expanding production scale, and diversifying our operations."

His words silenced everyone at the table.

Indeed, it's another collaboration project with a major American company, another expansion of investment and diversification. But what does this have to do with Xishu Town?

What is the connection between this and the tourism industry of Xishu Town?

Amidst the curious gazes of the crowd, Luo Yang spoke eloquently.

"The sports industry of the future will be a sunrise industry."

After making a statement, Luo Yang smiled and said, "I am very optimistic about this industry and plan to make early arrangements, increase investment, and strive to gain an advantage in this field."

Everyone was still a little confused.

"Since the cooperation project in the United States is related to bicycles, my approach to the sports industry will naturally start with cycling. To build a well-known brand from scratch, there are many things that need to be done. A lot of money needs to be invested in both hardware and software. I won't go into the promotion of hardware, but I do have some ideas about the integration of soft culture. Everyone knows about the Tour de France, right?"

Luo Yang slowly revealed the answer: "I plan to imitate and learn from this, and organize a similar competition in China."

In fact, there are already quite a few such events in China, such as the Tour of Qinghai Lake International Road Cycling Race which started in 02 and the Tour of Hainan International Road Cycling Race which started in 06.

Another more recent example is the Tour of Taihu Lake International Road Cycling Race, which started in 10. The organizers aim to make this event a well-known international competition.

"I remember there's already a Tour of Taihu Lake international road cycling race nearby, right?"

Before becoming the director of the Xishu Town Scenic Area Management Committee, Hou Hongxuan served as the deputy director of the Taihu Scenic Area Management Committee, so it's not surprising that he knew about this competition.

"The difficulty of the Tour of Taihu Lake lies in its proximity to the lake, the complex weather conditions, and the presence of bridges along the route. However, in terms of difficulty level..."

Luo Yang smiled and said, "Besides, the Tour of Taihu Lake race was only held for the first time in 10. It's not that famous yet, and it's not that difficult to catch up."

"Does President Luo mean to hold such a competition in our Xishu Town?"

Hou Hongxuan suddenly realized what was happening and immediately became excited.

"The scale may be smaller in the early stages."

When it comes to practical matters, we can't play games. After all, the investment is there, and the organizer of the Tour of Taihu Lake is the Jiangsu Provincial Government. Xishu Town is not far away. The province will not agree to repeatedly hold a similar international event.

"The later plan is to connect the Xishu Town mountain section into the Tour of Taihu Lake International Road Cycling Race."

Luo Yang smiled and said, "Our Xishu Town is in a mountainous area, so it's easy to design challenging sections of the road. Some sections can even be modeled after parts of the Tour de France. I believe that if the operation, design, and construction are done well, there's a good chance that the road will be connected to the Tour of Taihu Lake later on!"

That's what pragmatism is all about.

If Luo Yang had casually announced that he wanted to create a project in Xishu Town that would surpass the Tour of Taihu Lake, none of the people present would have been fools; they would have simply let it go in one ear and out the other, treating it as just a story.

However, the model that Luo Yang just mentioned is very realistic in terms of both investment capital and subsequent operability.

"Mr. Luo, the total distance of the Tour of Taihu Lake is about five or six hundred kilometers."

Since he felt the project was feasible, Hou Hongxuan became more enthusiastic: "So how many kilometers do you plan to cover in our Xishu Town? And considering connecting from the Taihu Lake race section to Xishu Town, that's about 30 kilometers in between, so the total investment will be considerable."

"The specific investment will have to wait until the project feasibility report is released."

Luo Yang smiled and said, "It's just an idea for now. Of course, this idea won't remain just a pipe dream. I'll get a team to implement it soon. In the initial stage, we'll probably spend one or two months circling around Xishu Town to plan a suitable race route, taking into account both economic efficiency and the difficulty of the course and the scenery along the way."

"Mr. Luo, how long does it take from the initial idea to the actual implementation of this project?"

Qin Huayu, the top official of Xishu Town, suddenly interjected: "What is the estimated total investment amount?"

I'm concerned about this because he still has more than three years left in his term.

Who wouldn't want to go further?

(End of this chapter)