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

Li Xiao drove for another two kilometers while keeping to the speed limit, then turned at a U-turn and drove back the way he came.

There was a bus stop not far ahead, and several young people waiting for the bus saw the low-slung silver beast approaching from afar and all of them pulled out their phones.

This is Jiangyang County. A Niu Niu car, costing less than four million yuan, wouldn't be considered anything special in big cities like Shanghai, but in this small county where even a BMW 5 Series is considered a luxury car, it's an alien visitor and the undisputed king.

Just as Li Xiao was about to go home, the car's Bluetooth on the center console suddenly lit up, and Zheng Hao's name appeared on the screen.

Li Xiao pressed the answer button on the steering wheel, and Zheng Hao's boisterous voice immediately came through the speakers, "Brother Xiao! I was just browsing local short videos and saw several people posting videos saying that someone just got their license and drove off in a silver Lamborghini. I took a closer look, and isn't that the car Uncle Li just gave you a few days ago? You got your license today?"

"I just got it, so I took it out for a spin, and I didn't expect someone to post it online."

"Holy crap, Xiao-ge, the speed at which you got your license is unbelievable! How long have you been learning to drive, and you already have your license?"

Zheng Hao let out an envious shout on the other end of the phone, then excitedly said, "By the way, Brother Xiao, I'm calling you this time because I have something important to discuss. My dad just gave me a heads-up, there's some progress on that piece of land in the south of the city. If you've had your fill of driving, come over to Xiangmanlou, and Fatty Zhou should come too, so we can meet up in person."

"Okay, I'll be there in ten minutes."

Before his father built Guilan, Xiangmanlou was where they always gathered for meals.

Although that place doesn't have the luxurious style of a top-tier private club like Guilan, it has the advantage of being a well-established place that has been open for more than ten years. The privacy of the private rooms is unparalleled, making it the perfect place to talk behind closed doors about things that are inconvenient to discuss in the open.

Li Xiao hung up the phone, turned the steering wheel at the next intersection, and the silver-gray Lamborghini let out a low roar before turning into the commercial street leading to Xiangmanlou.

Xiangmanlou is a three-story antique-style restaurant with upturned eaves and corners. The two large red lanterns in front of the door have been hanging there since the day it opened and have never been replaced.

Li Xiao parked his car in a designated parking space on the side of the restaurant. As soon as he turned off the engine, the lobby manager jogged out to greet him.

The manager, surnamed Wu, had worked at Xiangmanlou for over ten years. He knew all the powerful and influential people in Jiangyang County. He was usually unfazed by luxury cars, but when he suddenly saw this futuristic silver beast, he instinctively paused for a moment.

When he saw that the person stepping out of the car was Li Xiao, the top young master of Jiangyang County, Manager Wu's surprise instantly and seamlessly switched into an extremely warm but not obsequious smile.

"Oh my, Young Master Xiao! You're quite a rare guest today. I heard your voice from afar and was wondering which great figure had descended upon Jiangyang. It turns out it's you! Young Master Zheng and Young Master Zhou have been waiting for you in the Chunhua Hall on the second floor for quite some time."

As Manager Wu spoke, he stepped aside to lead the way, his eyes involuntarily glancing again at the silver Lamborghini parked at the entrance. He had seen many Mercedes-Benz and BMWs in all his years of welcoming and seeing off guests at Xiangmanlou, but this was the first time he had ever seen such a spectacle.

Li Xiao didn't react much and followed Manager Wu into the restaurant lobby.

The decoration of Xiangmanlou has remained unchanged for more than ten years. There are mahogany screens, antique palace lanterns, and several calligraphy works by local calligraphy and painting association elders hanging on the walls. The signatures are all pen names that Li Xiao can't recognize, but the fact that they can be hung here shows that they have some influence in the county.

Manager Wu led Li Xiao to the entrance of Chunhua Hall, pushed open the carved wooden door for him, stepped aside, and whispered, "Young Master Xiao, call me anytime if you need anything," before tactfully closing the door behind him.

The air conditioning in the private room was on full blast, instantly dispelling the early summer heat.

Zheng Hao, who had been sprawled out in the mahogany armchair, jumped up at the sound and rushed over to Li Xiao with shining eyes. "Brother Xiao, that vehicle downstairs is amazing! I've been peering out the window for ages, and the sleek, streamlined design and the roar of the engine are making my bones melt. When can I borrow it for a spin?"

"Don't you dare! You don't even have a driver's license. Sports cars are different from other types; they're already powerful. Besides, you don't have a license. If something happens, I can't take responsibility."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Hao's playful expression instantly vanished. He withdrew his hand and muttered, "Who said you can't drive without a license? I'm driving just fine, aren't I? Besides, can't I at least drive around the empty space in the backyard of the Golden Diamond Hotel a couple of times?"

"Stop talking nonsense. I advise you to get your driver's license as soon as possible, otherwise you can forget about touching my car." Li Xiao interrupted his thoughts without any politeness.

Although Zheng Hao has been driving for several years, he has always been driving without a license. It's only because Zheng Guodong has a lot of influence in Jiangyang County that he hasn't had any accidents.

Now that Zheng Hao is an adult, Li Xiao still hopes that he can get a certificate.

"Alright, alright, I'll go to the driving school tomorrow and sign up for a VIP class, okay?" Zheng Hao looked at the golden bull on the table, his heart itching with desire, but knowing Li Xiao's temper, he could only reluctantly turn his gaze away.

Zhou Yanhuai, who had been sitting quietly to the side without saying a word, naturally wouldn't let this opportunity pass and added insult to injury, "Mouse, Brother Xiao is right. We're not like we used to be, and you're an adult now. It's not difficult for you to get a driver's license in a few months."

After being lectured by the two of them, Zheng Hao immediately raised his hands in surrender, "Fine, fine, I can't argue with you guys, I admit defeat, okay?"

Zhou Yanhuai then dropped his lecturing expression, picked up the kraft paper envelope Zheng Hao had brought, and pulled out a blueprint, placing it on the table.

This is a standard copy of a national land boundary map. Within the black border, the irregular boundary of the plot of land in the south of the city is outlined with a thick red line, and the coordinates, area, and land use information are marked next to it.

Li Xiao's gaze fell on the blueprint. The area of ​​the circled wasteland was much larger than he had expected, covering nearly a hundred acres.

"My dad said that the land in the south of the city is now a barren wasteland, nobody wants it."

"As long as we negotiate under the name of building a new building materials processing base, and my dad puts in a good word with his old acquaintances, we can definitely get the bottom price down to 130,000 yuan per mu. Moreover, we only need to pay a 30% deposit first, and the remaining balance can be paid in installments through a corporate account."

"130,000 yuan per mu? Rat, Uncle Zheng really went all out this time."

Zhou Yanhuai didn't expect it to be so cheap. If it were land in the east of the city, 20 yuan per mu would be a great deal.

Zheng Hao smiled smugly, "That's right! And he told me that the only disadvantage of this land right now is its remoteness, so remote that even the county planning bureau's internal document at the beginning of the year didn't include it in the three-year development plan."

"But on the other hand, being biased also has its advantages. If no one is watching us, it means no one is competing with us. If we make our project application materials look good and include all the tangible and intangible benefits, such as job creation and tax contributions, the county investment promotion bureau might be able to give us some targeted preferential treatment. It's not impossible for us to cut the price by another 10,000 or 20,000 yuan per mu."

"Cut it down another ten or twenty thousand? Rat, let me make this clear first. The lower the bottom price is, the greater the compliance pressure will be for the subsequent conversion of agricultural land to construction land. If the land appreciates in value in the future, someone will definitely bring up old grievances and say that we acquired the land at a cost lower than the market price back then. Then it will be impossible to clear up the mess."