At the start, I had to choose one of four options, and I immediately picked the Brahmin from the cou

"Since you, Brother Xiao, know what's going on, then we'll do whatever you say. But you definitely can't be the one to pay for that 5% of the shares yourself, Brother Li."

He held up a finger, cutting off Zheng Hao's words before he could finish. "Rat, since you call me 'brother,' I'll cover the five percent. Don't argue with me; it'll hurt our relationship."

Seeing Li Xiao's unwavering resolve, Zheng Hao remained silent. He had known Li Xiao for over a decade and knew his temperament all too well. Li Xiao was usually easygoing and easy to talk to, but once he got serious, not even eight oxen could pull him back.

Seeing that Zheng Hao wasn't going to continue, Li Xiao's tone became more relaxed. "Alright, we've covered half the important business. The other half is what you really need to hear clearly. Investment percentages—even brothers should keep clear accounts."

He pulled a blank A4 sheet of paper from the manila envelope, then grabbed a pen from under the coffee table and quickly drew a simple table on the paper.

As Li Xiao wrote on the paper, he said, "I've initially set the total investment at ten million..."

"What? Ten million?"

Zheng Hao almost spat out the Longjing tea he had just drunk. He hurriedly put down the cup, wiped his mouth, and said, "Brother Xiao, we initially agreed on a few million, so how did you increase it to ten million?"

"I'm thinking of expanding it a bit more. If we're going to do it, let's do something big."

"Rat, think about it. That area in the south of the city is a dead-end right now, but if the policy changes one day, it'll be incredibly valuable. Instead of regretting it later, let's take over those scattered plots now and connect them into one. With a bigger plot, whether we develop it ourselves or resell it in the future, we'll be more confident when negotiating prices."

Deng Hao wasn't stupid; he understood the underlying meaning in Li Xiao's words.

He leaned forward, lowered his voice, but his eyes shone with an alarming light. "Brother Xiao, tell me the truth, have you heard something? My dad has looked at that piece of land in the south of the city at least five times, and every time he said it wouldn't be worth it for at least ten years. But today you're doing one thing after another, increasing the stakes and grabbing more land. This doesn't look like you're building a warehouse; this is clearly..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but his wide eyes clearly conveyed the meaning on his face: Do you know something I don't?

Li Xiao couldn't help but laugh when he saw Zheng Hao's nervous yet excited expression.

"Rat, if your brother Li really had inside information, do you think I would only take out ten million to play around? Even if I had to mortgage a bank loan, I would still swallow that piece of land in the south of the city whole."

Li Xiao leaned back on the sofa, twirling the pen nimbly in his fingers, his tone half-serious and half-joking, "I call this venture capital acumen, you know? The bold get rich, the timid starve. Since we have the capital, it's definitely worth it to grab a spot at a low price in advance. Just consider it a long-term investment."

Zheng Hao swallowed hard. Although he had a gut feeling that Li Xiao was definitely hiding something, since Brother Li was unwilling to say it outright, he wisely refrained from asking any further questions. His grandfather had repeatedly instructed him to follow the Li family, ask fewer questions, and do more work.

Zheng Hao swallowed his last bit of doubt and took another big gulp of tea.

When he put down the cup, his round face had already put on his signature grin.

"Fine, you're the eldest, so you call the shots. Anyway, I'll just remember what my dad said: if Brother Li tells me to go east, I won't go west; if he tells me to buy out the property, I won't rent it out. I don't want to do anything else, and I won't ask about anything else."

"That's right." Li Xiao nodded in satisfaction, drawing a circle on the A4 paper with his pen, centering the number ten million.

"I'll provide all the money, as you already know. Ten million in cash will be deposited into the joint account at 10 a.m. tomorrow. But we brothers need to be clear about how the shares will be divided, and we need to make that clear in writing tonight."

Zheng Hao immediately sat up straight, his playful smile vanished, and he placed his hands on his knees, adopting a serious posture of listening attentively.

"I'm fully funding this project and bearing all the financial risks, so I must have absolute control and take 80%. Of the remaining 20%, I'll leave 5% for Fatty Zhou. As for you, Haozi, you'll take 15%."

Zheng Hao stared at the allocation plan on the paper, his eyes darting around quickly, and then he gasped.

Fifteen percent.

It might not sound like a big deal, but this is pure equity with zero investment!

A ten million yuan investment, fifteen percent of which is equivalent to giving him a principal of one million and a half million yuan for free.

You should know that his father worked hard all year round, and the net profit was only a little over ten million.

Moreover, judging from the implication in Li Xiao's words, if this piece of land in the south of the city really does receive favorable policy support, then the value of that 15%... will be an astronomical figure that will make your scalp crawl!

"Brother, you..." Zheng Hao felt his throat go dry and couldn't help but swallow. "You're giving too much. I don't spend a penny and I get 15% just for running errands? If my old man finds out, he'll beat me with Seven Wolves cigarettes and scold me for not knowing the rules and taking advantage of your Li family."

"What advantage are you getting? This is called resource investment. Whether we can buy out this land at the lowest cost and cleanly acquire the surrounding scraps depends entirely on Uncle Deng and you pulling strings beforehand. In this small area of ​​Jiangyang County, your family's grassroots connections are a core asset, worth this price."

"Don't get too excited yet. This 15% isn't free. Starting tomorrow, you'll have to make countless trips to the Land Bureau, the Planning Bureau, the Tax Bureau—all those government offices you'll have to run around to and plead with. You think it's easy with zero investment? The real work that will wear you out is yet to come."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Hao's eyes welled up with tears, but he grinned broadly. He grabbed a pen and signed his name in a flamboyant manner under his 15% share, the force almost tearing the paper.

"Brother Xiao, I'm not saying anything more. From now on, that piece of land in the south of the city is my father—no, even closer than my own father! Anyone who dares to touch our land, I'll be the first to fight them to the death!"

"Alright, stop professing your loyalty here. If it really comes to fighting, it's not your place, young master, to get involved."

Li Xiao picked up the newly refilled Longjing tea from the table and tapped it lightly in mid-air. "Tomorrow morning at ten o'clock, bring all the paperwork, let's meet at the VIP room of the Construction Bank on Jianshe Road. After opening the account, we'll go straight to intercept Fatty Zhou at noon."

Zheng Hao quickly picked up the teacup and presented it with both hands, the tea rippled slightly with the crisp clinking of the porcelain.

The two drank their tea in one gulp, and only when Zheng Hao put down his cup did the rush of excitement subside slightly.