Chapter 413: Reaching an Agreement

Chen Yang had long guessed that Zhou Zhixiang was stalling to give his brother Zhou Zhixin a chance to intervene in the fruit market project, so he acted indifferent.

Only then would Zhou Zhixin refrain from making excessive demands in his negotiations with him.

However, although Chen Yang felt some resentment toward the Zhou brothers, he also knew he could not appear too cold toward them.

As the old saying goes: "Better to offend a gentleman than a petty person."

The incident with Zhang Daguo had already chilled Chen Yang's relations with the Zhou brothers to freezing point. If he again made them unhappy on the fruit market project, he would surely be tripped up in the future.

Chen Yang has many important projects in Qingshui City; if Zhou Zhixiang deliberately targeted him, the losses would be incalculable.

Therefore, to avoid unnecessary trouble and potential risks, he still decided to show goodwill toward Zhou Zhixin on the surface.

"Chairman Zhou, if Mayor Kong insists that I take on the fruit market project, I have a suggestion—I don't know if you're interested."

"Mr. Chen, go ahead!" Seeing Chen Yang shift his tone, Zhou Zhixin's mood improved considerably.

Chen Yang said: "My suggestion is that you find a reliable contractor to take on this project. As for materials, you communicate directly with that contractor. I have only one requirement: the contractor must guarantee the project's quality."

Zhou Zhixin immediately understood Chen Yang's meaning. He didn't want to be swindled, but he didn't stop himself from swindling others. What a little fox spirit!

However, Zhou Zhixin's goal is to make money; whose money it is doesn't matter.

"Alright, Mr. Chen, just wait for my good news."

After saying that, Zhou Zhixin got up and left. Worry-free Residence is Yexin's turf; staying there even a moment longer made him feel ill at ease.

After Zhou Zhixin and Wu Junhui left, Yexin then asked Chen Yang about the outcome of the negotiations.

"How was it? That old guy didn't threaten you, did he?"

Chen Yang laughed and said: "Zhou Zhixin just wants to find a sucker to buy his company's building materials. In principle I agree to let him go find that sucker to swindle."

Yexin frowned slightly upon hearing this and warned Chen Yang: "That old guy Zhou Zhixin is shameless; the building materials he sells are double the market price. To make up for the loss, the contractor will surely try to recoup the money elsewhere. If things go badly, he'll give you a shoddy project."

Chen Yang smiled: "Don't worry, I'll send someone to monitor the project throughout. If they dare to cut corners, I'll shut them down immediately. Anyway, I'm not in a hurry about the schedule—we'll see who can outlast whom."

Yexin sighed and said: "You're thinking too simply. Since the contractor is Zhou Zhixin's pick, he'll surely back them behind the scenes. If you try to halt work, they can bring out Zhou Zhixiang, the City Party Secretary. So, are you afraid or not?"

Chen Yang countered: "If a shoddy project turns up, wouldn't City Party Secretary Zhou Zhixiang have to take responsibility?"

Yexin fell silent at once. It seemed Chen Yang had figured that Zhou Zhixiang had scruples and wouldn't dare to shield Zhou Zhixin and his partners in his final term.

But Chen Yang even dared to scheme against Zhou Zhixiang—that's like pulling a tooth from a tiger's mouth! If he goes too far, even the Lin family's dignity might suffer.

"You little brat, as the saying goes, 'If you can't bear a small thing, you'll ruin a big plan.' Zhou Zhixiang is about to step down to the second line; some things you should just bear and bear."

Chen Yang nodded. Even if the project ran into trouble, he wouldn't confront the Zhou brothers head‑on; he'd first go talk to Kong Jie. Although the City Party Secretary holds great power, he cannot ignore the mayor's opinion.

After the negotiations with Zhou Zhixin ended, Kong Jie immediately got word: Zhou Zhixiang had in principle agreed to rebuild the fruit market and develop a new traffic road behind the market. He urged Chen Yang to hurry back to Qingshui City to prepare to take over the project.

Thus, Chen Yang rushed back to Qingshui City nonstop. Before leaving, he specially asked Yexin to hire a professional designer to draft the fruit market's plans according to his requirements.

But after returning to Qingshui City, Chen Yang did not rush to see Kong Jie at the municipal government.

Because he knew Zhou Zhixin had people watching him. If they discovered he was too close to Kong Jie, it might add another variable.

So Chen Yang went straight back to the rented place he shared with Lin Wei.

Then he called Lin Jianguo and told him about being tailed by Zhou Zhixin's people.

Lin Jianguo immediately sent people to investigate near Chen Yang's rented home, and they soon found the tail's whereabouts.

What surprised Chen Yang was that the people tailing him turned out to be former subordinates of Zhang Daguo—troops that had been temporarily absorbed by Zhou Zhixin after the Zhang Group collapsed.

This likely means that the Zhang Group's underground forces have all been taken in by Zhou Zhixin.

Chen Yang and Zhang Daguo share a deadly feud, so Zhang's former subordinates will surely be influenced by him. If Chen Yang fell into their hands, the outcome would surely be disastrous.

Although Chen Yang was now cooperating with Zhou Zhixin, after careful thought he still had Zheng Yun find a few exceptionally skilled comrades to protect him around the clock.

Zhou Zhixiang and Zhou Zhixin's futures are sealed. Chen Yang doesn't want to get too involved with them, so the honeymoon period between them won't last long.

With bodyguards around, even if Zhou Zhixin one day decides to turn against him, he won't be completely unprepared.

After arranging security, Chen Yang then went to the municipal government to see Kong Jie.

Seeing Chen Yang arrive, Kong Jie didn't waste words, handing him the prepared documents and saying: "The land-use rights for the fruit market are priced at ten million by the Land Resources Bureau. As for the market operation rights, I can grant you up to thirty years, also costing ten million. Besides that, all renovation and demolition expenses involved in the project are yours to bear. The government has only one demand: no violent demolitions may occur."

Chen Yang nodded. The fruit market's property rights originally belonged to the government, so any demolition compensation mainly concerns the merchants operating inside.

For those merchants, he can give them priority leasing spots in the new market; if they don't want to continue operating in the new fruit market, he will compensate them according to their original lease contracts.

Of course, if anyone tries to make exorbitant demands, he isn't worried—he'll just go through legal channels.

After confirming the documents were correct, Chen Yang called Qin Qian and Qian Duo Duo, asking them to arrange personnel to come to Qingshui to handle the follow‑on handover.

And Kong Jie didn't make things difficult for Chen Yang either; the demolition work and compensation costs for the new road behind the fruit market would be entirely handled by the government.

After Chen Yang paid the land‑use and operation fees for the fruit market, the Qingshui City Government set up the Fruit Market Road Demolition and Relocation Office behind the market to take charge of the related demolition work.