Chapter 556: Settling the Holdout Households

Liu Shijie originally just wanted to meet Yan Feng through Chen Yang's connections, thereby opening Lianzhou's real estate market.

I never expected that more than just Yan Feng would come to meet them at the Lianzhou Grand Hotel; all the leading officials of the Lianzhou Municipal Government showed up!

Because there were too many people, they finally switched to a larger private room.

Having heard that Liu Shijie was Chen Yang's dedicated contractor and also intended to invest in Lianzhou's real estate, Yan Feng proactively raised a glass to toast Liu Shijie.

After he did so, the other municipal government leaders also rose one after another to toast Liu Shijie, leaving him feeling overwhelmed by the honor.

Since starting his business, he had earned a fair amount of money, but he had never received such high-standard treatment as today.

Excited, he lost himself in the leaders' toasts, and in the end his lover and subordinates helped him back to the guest room.

"Chen Yang, thank you so much today." Yan Feng expressed his gratitude to Chen Yang.

Liu Shijie's Sunshine Real Estate has an excellent reputation in Xingcheng, backed by the Liu Clan Group. With such a financially strong investor joining, it's practically a tiger gaining wings for Lianzhou.

"Mayor Yan, let's not stand on ceremony between us. As long as you quickly help me settle the land use rights issue, that'll be the biggest help for me." Chen Yang didn't plan to stay in Lianzhou long. The matter of Tianqi Pharmaceutical acquiring Dongfang Pharmaceutical Factory still required him to personally oversee it.

Yan Feng clearly understood that Chen Yang was investing in Lianzhou only for Liu Jianghua's sake. If the service wasn't done properly, it would likely be a one‑off deal.

He earnestly told Chen Yang, "That plot covers 100 mu; Dongsheng Group originally bought it for 30 million. This afternoon I talked with their boss, who asked for 50 million. I think if I step in and bring him over for talks, we can secure it for 40 million."

Chen Yang didn't want to use Yan Feng's influence to bully the local strongmen. If they sought revenge, he'd have to expend more effort to deal with it.

"Mayor Yan, just give them the 50 million they demand! As long as there are no future worries, spending a little extra money is no problem."

"Fine, I'll have him come tomorrow to sign." Yan Feng suddenly felt that cooperating with an investor like Chen Yang was really comfortable—nothing to worry about, no harsh conditions, and the key was that he was willing to invest.

So, after returning, Yan Feng immediately contacted the original developer and confirmed the land transfer.

After the land transfer was completed, Chen Yang again sought out Yan Feng, asking him to help gather those holdout households at the local subdistrict office to discuss demolition compensation.

Moreover, Chen Yang demanded that negotiations be held separately with each holdout household.

Under Yan Feng's arrangement, the first to come for negotiation was a middle‑aged man close to 1.9 meters tall. His fierce looks made it clear he wasn't easy to deal with.

"Where did this outsider come from, daring to tear down our houses? You don't want to live!" The burly middle‑aged man clenched his fists and glared at Chen Yang. If Chen Yang's answer didn't suit him, he was likely to get a beating.

"Speak up, how much compensation do you want?" Chen Yang calmly looked at him, without much small talk, and got straight to the point.

"One million!" the burly man said a figure he thought would make Chen Yang back off.

Chen Yang then asked, "You only want one million? No housing compensation?"

"There's housing compensation too?" the middle‑aged man blinked. It turned out the original developer only offered one apartment plus 100,000. Compared to that, the gap was huge!

Chen Yang didn't want to give false hope. He said directly, "If there's housing compensation, the cash amount must be lower."

The middle‑aged man was clearly moved by the offer of a house. After thinking, he said, "If you compensate me with one apartment, I can accept 800,000."

Chen Yang laughed and said, "Buying a house in Lianzhou certainly costs more than 200,000, right?"

The middle‑aged man hesitated, then said, "If there's housing compensation, I can settle for 700,000."

Chen Yang handed over a previously prepared confidentiality agreement and said, "If you agree to sign under these terms, then sign the confidentiality agreement!"

"A confidentiality agreement?" the burly man looked at Chen Yang with some confusion and asked, "Why do we need to sign this?"

Chen Yang explained, "Signing the confidentiality agreement is mainly to prevent you from colluding with others and ganging up to demand an exorbitant amount from me."

The middle‑aged man asked Chen Yang, "If I violate the confidentiality agreement, what will you do?"

Chen Yang solemnly said, "If you breach the agreement, we will reclaim the benefits given to you, and we may also seek compensation from you."

The middle‑aged man's face changed slightly, but the lure of 700,000 still made him reluctant to let go.

After hesitating for ten minutes, the middle‑aged man finally made up his mind and signed Chen Yang's confidentiality agreement.

After he left, a woman in her fifties entered. She dressed plainly, her clothes patched with many new repairs.

Chen Yang again asked the woman, "Madam, how much compensation do you hope to receive?"

The woman said, "I want 600,000, plus compensation of two apartments—one for my son and one for my daughter."

Chen Yang didn't ask further, produced another confidentiality agreement, and said, "Sign here. Your wish won't be fulfilled otherwise."

The woman, like the burly man, asked for the reason. After hesitating a long time, she still signed.

Thus, Chen Yang settled each holdout household one by one, promising each a unit and cash compensation ranging from 450,000 to 700,000.

At the same time, Chen Yang issued a notice in the community stating that every relocated household would receive one apartment and 300,000 in cash.

This notice immediately provoked cheers from the public.

With a house to take and cash compensation, such a good thing—you couldn't find it even with a lantern!

Thus, Chen Yang finished all the demolition work in just three days.

Seeing how smoothly he went about it, Yan Feng couldn't help doubting whether his predecessor had really put effort into the job.

Of course, he also clearly understood that the price Chen Yang paid for this was not small.

Calculating one apartment at 300,000, plus cash compensation, each household must receive at least 600,000.

The community has 1,200 households; at minimum, compensation totals 72 million. Adding the 50 million land use rights transfer fee gives 122 million.

Furthermore, adding the extra compensation for those dozen or so holdout households and the fees for street‑front shops, the total must increase further.

With such a generous developer, the community's residents would find it hard not to be satisfied.

Yan Feng felt that inviting Chen Yang to Lianzhou was the wisest choice he had ever made!

As for Chen Yang, after finishing the demolition compensation talks, he handed over the subsequent resettlement work of the displaced households to Yan Feng and Liu Shijie, then took Su Mingyue back to Xingcheng again.