Chapter 12: 12. Negotiation! (New book, seeking support)

Su Yitian knocked on Zhang Ran's door cautiously and walked in. Seeing that Zhang Ran was still in a daze, she couldn't help but breathe a slight sigh of relief.

But very quickly, her heart tightened again; her task this time was very heavy.

Zhang Ran had just returned from class at this moment; they had already begun to receive training on modern equipment.

In this regard, Zhang Ran adapted very quickly; after all, he had long been accustomed to these things in his past life.

Seeing Su Yitian, Zhang Ran first greeted her, then asked, "Miss Su, is there something you need by coming here this time?"

Su Yitian had originally wanted to chat about daily life with Zhang Ran first, but she hadn't expected Zhang Ran to be so direct. However, she was also prepared.

"Ahem, it's like this, Mr. Zhang. Because of what happened before, you and everyone else on the cruise ship were all classified as deceased. You know this, right?" Su Yitian first briefly explained the situation, then observed Zhang Ran's expression.

Zhang Ran was not surprised by this; after all, this was a normal situation.

Seeing that Zhang Ran's emotions were still relatively stable, Su Yitian breathed a slight sigh of relief and said, "According to national law, because you had no will at the time and no legal heirs, all the assets under your name were confiscated by the state."

Zhang Ran nodded to indicate he understood, while waiting for Su Yitian's follow-up.

Seeing Zhang Ran so calm, Su Yitian was slightly surprised, but she continued, "However, because of your return, this money will naturally be returned to you, and the state will also provide you with some compensation in this regard."

Zhang Ran suddenly said, "Tell me exactly how much money there is."

Su Yitian took a deep breath and said, "According to our investigation, the cash under your name at the time, converted into RMB at the exchange rate of that period, was 250 million."

After saying this, Su Yitian noticed that Zhang Ran still had no reaction, so she sighed in her heart and continued, "At the same time, some real estate you purchased in places like Shanghai, Beijing, and Yangcheng has also been demolished one after another."

"According to the demolition compensation at the time, the total value is 2.8 billion. That is to say, your total assets now are 3.05 billion."

After saying it all in one breath, Su Yitian found that Zhang Ran was still not surprised at all. She couldn't help but feel a bit discouraged. One had to know that when Zhang Ran bought the houses, the prices were very low. Now that they had suddenly become so much, how could he not be surprised at all?

"What about the rest?" Zhang Ran asked again.

"What rest?" Su Yitian said subconsciously.

"I should still have a Siheyuan in Beijing under my name. Don't tell me that house was demolished too."

"And there are the antiques. These antiques should have been confiscated by the state as well, right? What? Are you not planning to return them to me now?" Zhang Ran's tone remained flat, but Su Yitian felt an oppressive aura coming from him at this moment.

Su Yitian quickly adjusted her emotions and then said, "Of course there are, but you might not know that your Siheyuan property in Beijing has already been listed as restricted from sale, so..."

Su Yitian prepared to use this as a bargaining chip, at the very least to make Zhang Ran make some concessions.

However, Zhang Ran suddenly laughed, "What does the sale restriction have to do with me? If I remember correctly, I was already the owner of this house before. There is no problem with that, right?"

"That is indeed true, but..." Su Yitian wanted to explain.

But Zhang Ran did not want to hear her explanation and said directly, "Then there is no problem. I possess the legal sovereignty of this Siheyuan. Don't tell me you want to forcibly reclaim it?"

Zhang Ran did not give her a chance to speak again and said once more, "My requirements are not high; everything just needs to follow national law."

"I don't want any compensation either, I just need my things returned to me. As for the money previously confiscated by the state, I don't need any compensation, but interest must be calculated."

Su Yitian didn't know what to say. It was only at this moment that she realized Zhang Ran was not as amiable as he appeared; only now did he reveal a hint of sharpness.

However, she also knew these were Zhang Ran's normal demands, and she had no reason to refuse.

"Alright, these are Mr. Zhang's legal assets. However, many of your previous antiques have already been collected by the state, so you see..." Su Yitian said this, and seeing Zhang Ran wanting to speak again, she couldn't help but grow anxious.

She did not want to give Zhang Ran another chance to speak, otherwise she would be even more passive.

"Mr. Zhang, don't be anxious. We are negotiating, and the Chief said that the matter of the antiques can be discussed. If you donate the antiques to the state, then we will help you with some matters."

"You must know that society is developing very fast now, and many things are not so easy to investigate, especially personal investigations, which are even more difficult."

"Many things only have records with the state, and those things are not something anyone can pull up just because they want to."

Su Yitian stated her conditions. Although she didn't know the meaning behind them, it was very clear that the Chief actually hadn't expected to persuade Zhang Ran with just a Siheyuan.

This was their true trump card.

Sure enough, hearing Su Yitian's words, Zhang Ran stopped talking and just quietly pondered something.

In fact, he had thought about many things these past few days; twenty-eight years had passed, and many things had changed.

Especially when he was classified as deceased, many things that originally belonged to him might have long since become someone else's.

And those people around him back then might have long since forgotten him by now. Zhang Ran was very clear about how human nature manifested in this regard.

So he quickly understood the meaning in Su Yitian's words; this was using these matters as bargaining chips for an exchange.

At the same time, Zhang Ran thought more deeply and heard a lot of information from these words.

The most important piece of information was that many of the things that belonged to him back then probably did not go through normal legal channels.

Thinking about it, it made sense. If one could acquire so much wealth with just a little bit of effort, why spend that wasted money for nothing?

Especially since not everyone could come up with so much money at the time, and even if they could, it might have caused their company to fall into danger due to liquidity issues.

Furthermore, not all of Zhang Ran's assets were directly registered under his own name; a portion went through overseas companies.

These were all pieces of information Zhang Ran obtained from Su Yitian's words, and at the same time, his mood suddenly became somewhat gloomy.

Even though he had been prepared in his heart, when he truly learned that such things had happened, he still couldn't help but feel somewhat distressed.

Zhang Ran took a deep breath and said slowly, "I agree to this condition, but it needs to be changed."

Su Yitian felt a sudden joy in her heart; as long as the matter of the antiques was resolved, it was fine. However, she did not show it on the surface and said, "Please speak."

"I won't take the antiques back for now, but I won't donate them right now either. You tell them: one favor, one antique," Zhang Ran said.

He didn't have a hobby of collecting antiques. Back then, part of the reason he collected them was that he didn't want these national treasures to flow abroad, and another part of the reason was investment.

After finishing, Zhang Ran didn't wait for Su Yitian to speak and waved his hand, signaling that he was a bit tired and didn't want to say anything more.