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

"Who said that's fat? Fatty, do you think Jianhui Real Estate is a freshly cooked dish? It's a ticking time bomb that could blow someone to pieces at any moment."

Zhou Yanhuai wasn't in the pool but was sitting on a rattan chair in the poolside rest area, looking at his computer. His old flame, Li Baibing, was naturally keeping him company, occasionally forking a piece of fruit from the fruit plate and feeding it to him.

To be honest, Li Baibing really has the air of a virtuous wife and loving mother now.

Zheng Hao craned his neck from the hot spring pool to peek over there, and clicked his tongue sourly, "Fatty certainly knows how to enjoy himself. While we're soaking here, he's being fed fruit over there."

"If you want one, then go ahead and find one. I believe Uncle Zheng really wants to have a grandson soon."

Hearing Li Xiao's teasing remark, Zheng Hao waved his hands repeatedly.

"Don't mention this, Xiao-ge! Please, don't bring it up in front of my dad! If he finds out I'm envious of Fatty, he'll charter a bus tomorrow morning and bring every single unmarried girl within a 50-mile radius of Jiangyang County to the building materials market for me to go on blind dates. I'm only eighteen this year; I'm still hoping to enjoy a few more days of carefree life!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yanhuai, who was sitting in a rattan chair by the pool, finally looked up from the computer screen.

He swallowed the half-eaten melon that Li Baibing had fed him, pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, and glanced at Zheng Hao with a half-smile. He was quite pleased to see Zheng Hao get the short end of the stick.

"Mouse, you don't understand, do you? This is called 'a beautiful woman adding fragrance to the night while you read.' Maybe once you have a partner, you'll become more mature. That's a good thing!"

"Don't make fun of me, kid."

Zheng Hao poked half his body out of the water and pointed at Zhou Yanhuai in protest.

"You're always talking about 'a beautiful woman adding fragrance to one's sleeves,' why don't you mention something like 'a harmonious and respectful marriage'? You weren't like this before. You used to be the most reserved of the three of us, but now you're all talk and no action when it comes to romance."

Zheng Hao hesitated for a moment, then couldn't hold back any longer and picked up where Zhou Yanhuai left off, "Brother Xiao, you just said those projects are all minefields, but Jianhui has gone bankrupt, so someone has to take over those lands and projects, right? The government can't just let them rot there. If we don't do anything now, what will happen when those big players in the city realize what's going on..."

"By the time they realize what's happening, that's perfect. Let them touch it first."

He closed his eyes again and found a more comfortable position to lie down.

"Do you think those old foxes in Tianshui City are stupid? The intricate web of interests behind Wang Jianhui's operation, which has expanded to such a large scale, is rotten to the core. Those old foxes know better than anyone how deep the waters run; they're running for their lives now, who would dare to provoke them?"

"So...so we're just going to stand by and do nothing?"

Zhou Yanhuai, who was sitting by the pool looking at his computer, finally couldn't listen anymore.

He swallowed the melon in his mouth and then spoke.

"You're just being idiotic and still won't admit it. What Brother Xiao means isn't avoiding it, it's avoiding it now. Do you even know what the biggest hidden danger at Jianhui Real Estate is right now?"

Zheng Hao poked half his body out of the water, tilting his head back and asking, "Didn't Wang Jianhui go in? What else could it be?"

"It's about land transfer fees. Over the years, Jianhui has mostly acquired land through negotiated transfers. What are negotiated transfers? It means the land payment doesn't have to be paid in full at once; it's paid in installments, deferred, and through a bunch of supplementary agreements signed with the government. When Wang Jianhui was in office, with that third-in-command backing him up, the deferred payments could be extended when they expired, and re-signing the agreements was just a matter of a word. Now that he's in jail, who will recognize those deferred payment agreements?"

He pulled up a file on his computer and turned it over so Zheng Hao could see it clearly.

"For that commercial complex in Linjiang, only the first installment of the land transfer fee has been paid. The remaining two installments, totaling over 40 million yuan, are still outstanding. Wang Jianhui's grace period expires at the end of this month. Who will fill this hole after it expires?"

"The ownership of Jianhui Plaza was divided into two entities by Wang Jianhui: the building itself and the land use rights. These were then mortgaged to two different banks. One bank is currently pursuing litigation to recover the loan, while the other has already sent a lawyer's letter to the court. If you had taken over that land, and now Jianhui Real Estate has gone bankrupt, wouldn't you still have to help them repay that loan?"

"As for that villa land in the southern suburbs, it's even more troublesome. The planning permit states a plot ratio of 0.8 and a height limit of 12 meters. What did Wang Jianhui build on it? Semi-detached villas and terraced villas, exceeding the plot ratio by more than double. It was only approved by pulling strings with the deputy director in charge. Now that deputy director has been summoned for questioning by the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection. Once the over-construction is officially classified, all the construction projects on that land will be illegal. Illegal buildings cannot be transferred or mortgaged, and whoever takes over will be responsible for a hefty demolition fee."

After Zhou Yanhuai explained the pros and cons, Zheng Hao was so amused that he didn't even notice his towel being carried far away by the water.

After talking for so long, Zhou Yanhuai was a little thirsty. At this moment, Li Baibing, who was next to him, handed him a cup of warm tea.

Zhou Yanhuai took the teacup and nodded to Li Baibing. He felt that he could no longer live without Li Baibing. She was intelligent, sensible, and knowledgeable. He felt that the two of them were a match made in heaven. Even without speaking, Baibing could understand his meaning with just a glance.

Zheng Hao, true to Zhou Yanhuai's description of him as all brawn and no brains, finally realized, "So Wang Jianhui has been playing a game of getting something for nothing all these years? Using bank money to acquire land, then using the land as a pretext to get more bank loans, while still owing the government a mountain of land payments? This isn't a developer, he's a circus performer robbing Peter to pay Paul! I'm speechless. Good riddance, a perfect end!"

"You're only finding out now? Wang Jianhui has been using this method for years. It's just that the third-in-command used to cover for him, so the banks turned a blind eye, and the government kept signing annual deferred payment agreements. Nobody dared to expose the truth. Now that his backer has fallen, Brother Xiao's email has ripped through the facade, and all the holes are now exposed to the light of day."

"Everyone now knows that Jianhui Real Estate is a ticking time bomb, and nobody dares to touch it!"

Wang Jianhui's scheme was working perfectly fine. As long as that person didn't step down, Wang Jianhui could continue to make money without any investment. But then he offended Li Xiao.

He thought he had reached the top of the food chain, and that as long as his backing didn't fall, he could keep performing this trick of getting something for nothing. But he deliberately set his sights on that wasteland in the south of the city, and thought Zheng Hao was a soft persimmon that could be crushed at any moment.

As a result, he was kicked to death by Li Xiao without even a splash.