Real Estate Speculation and Planning

Song Yanxi was determined to invest in real estate—once she had the idea, she acted on it immediately.

Housing prices in the capital were soaring daily. If she hesitated any longer, she'd be taking a huge loss.

When it came to property speculation, location was everything.

As long as the area was prime, even if the market fluctuated in the future, a good location would always hold its value.

On the other hand, properties in smaller, less developed areas were far riskier investments.

With that in mind, she set her sights on the city's most bustling district—the area within the Second Ring Road.

This area was home to major corporations, ensuring that property values would continue to rise.

It was worth noting that the average price per square meter in the Second Ring had already reached around 40,000 yuan.

She reached out to Liu Fen to go house hunting together. As a long-time resident of the capital, Liu Fen was well-versed in the city's real estate market.

She knew exactly where new developments were popping up and which areas were seeing price hikes.

When she learned that her daughter was planning to buy a home in the Second Ring, she dropped everything and waited for her at the entrance of the neighborhood.

Song Yanxi pulled up in her Bentley convertible, and the moment Liu Fen got in, she couldn't help but feel a surge of pride—there was something about riding in a Bentley that just did that.

Among all the properties in the Second Ring, the most valuable were the traditional courtyard houses, which were becoming increasingly rare.

Liu Fen made a few calls and, sure enough, quickly found one available.

The seller insisted on a full cash payment.

The house was in the eastern district of the Second Ring—a prime location known as the capital's economic, commercial, and financial hub.

The area boasted excellent infrastructure, convenient shopping, and a rich cultural heritage as part of the old imperial city.

A location like this was practically immune to market downturns.

The house itself was a newly renovated, four-bedroom, two-living-room unit spanning about 190 square meters, complete with two large balconies.

After viewing it, Song Yanxi was very satisfied. The residential complex had only been developed five or six years ago, meaning there was still plenty of room for appreciation.

In just a few years, she estimated prices would reach 70,000 or 80,000 yuan per square meter.

But even she underestimated the explosive growth of the capital's real estate market.

In less than three years, the average price in this area had surpassed 100,000 yuan per square meter.

Three years after that, it skyrocketed to 150,000.

As for now? The property was priced at 40,000 yuan per square meter—meaning a full payment of 7.6 million yuan.

Owning a home in the Second Ring felt necessary to her.

Whenever she visited the city, she wouldn't have to stay in a hotel.

And if her family ever expanded their fruit business into the area, this place could serve as their second home.

She didn't hesitate—bargaining was out of the question.

After all, property prices were rising too fast.

She planned to furnish the place just enough to make it comfortable—it would be their home in the Second Ring.

Selling it? That would depend on market conditions in the future.

But for at least the next three to five years, she had no plans to let go of it.

"Yanxi, if the place is just going to sit empty, why not rent it out?" Liu Fen suggested.

"No need."

Even if she only stayed there for three days a year, she wouldn't consider renting it out.

She wanted to keep the place in pristine condition.

Besides, there were plenty of schools nearby.

If An'an ever needed to study in the area, they would have a home ready.

After purchasing the house, her personal savings were nearly depleted.

The company's business account still held millions, but that money belonged to wholesalers and clients—it was strictly off-limits.

Setting up the place was quick—she only needed to replace the bed linens in a few rooms.

There was no need to make major changes since they wouldn't be living there long-term.

Once everything was in order, she followed tradition and posted about it on social media.

Nothing too flashy—just a simple caption: Our second home in the capital.

That afternoon, she completed the transfer of ownership.

As for how she bypassed the city's home-buying restrictions—well, those who knew, knew.

There were always ways.

With her savings emptied, Song Yanxi had no choice but to return to work.

For now, there was no room for extravagance.

Still, she set herself a goal: If she could flip another property in the capital before the year ended, that would be the perfect finish to her plans.

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Meanwhile, Chen Pingsheng was driving around in his Lincoln Navigator, scouting locations for community fruit stores.

Community stores were typically located at neighborhood entrances.

These stores didn't need to be large—residents of the community were the primary customers.

If they built a strong reputation, they could attract customers from nearby neighborhoods as well—but that was the limit.

Competition among community stores was fierce, with most being small but expensive fruit shops.

Their entry into the market was bound to shake things up.

Business, after all, was a game of big fish eating small fish.

Their goal for August was to open ten community stores.

By the 15th, since there hadn't been any promotional events in July, Tengsheng Fruits had only made a profit of 360,000 yuan for the month.

Of that, Song Yanxi received just 190,000 yuan.

On the bright side, they had secured all ten store locations.

With the investment made, the stores were expected to open in early September.

The five flagship stores on the main street were still locked in a price war with Nongguoyuan.

Breaking even was already a challenge.

Meanwhile, smaller fruit stores in the area had been wiped out entirely.

With the battle ongoing, Chen Pingsheng left it alone for now.

By late August, his focus shifted to restructuring the company's headquarters.

Tengsheng Fruits had two types of stores:

1. Fruit Supermarkets – Large-scale stores in commercial districts, with investments ranging from 1.5 to 2 million yuan.

2. Community Stores – Smaller shops near residential areas, requiring investments between 300,000 and 600,000 yuan.

Different store types meant different management approaches.

For example, fruit supermarkets often carried additional specialty products like snacks and local delicacies.

Community stores, on the other hand, only needed to focus on selling fruit.

Chen Pingsheng saw fruit supermarkets evolving into full-scale grocery stores.

For now, his priority was refining the management system—standardizing operations to make expansion smoother.

He also planned to ramp up their delivery services.

One of their biggest advantages was keeping fruit waste at industry-low levels.

This was thanks to two factors:

1. Competitive prices that drove high customer traffic, leading to rapid stock turnover.

2. A strong delivery system that minimized unsold inventory.

After standardizing these processes, he turned his attention to Tengsheng's financial structure.

The company's shareholding system was getting too chaotic.

It had worked when they were small, but now, it was becoming inefficient.

Currently, shares were tied to individual store ownership, which made centralized management difficult.

To fix this, Chen Pingsheng instructed the finance team to consolidate all store shares under the headquarters and redistribute them accordingly.

Following the restructuring, the new shareholding breakdown was as follows:

Chen Pingsheng: 51%

Zhang Tao, Liu Jing, Chen Hao: 8% each (totaling 40%)

Old Guo: 9%

Additionally, he established two key rules:

1. Profit distribution would occur on the 15th of every month—no exceptions.

2. Company funds would never be used to open new stores.

The latter rule was especially crucial.

The company's account always held millions in unsettled payments from wholesalers.

If he used that money to expand aggressively, he could cover all of Shijingshan within a month.

But the risk was enormous—if the company hit financial trouble, misusing public funds could cause a catastrophic collapse.

Countless business owners had gone bankrupt this way.

So, he refused to take the gamble.

New stores would only be opened with shareholder investments.

If they had the money, they would expand.

If they didn't, they would hold back.

No risky financial games.

In August, after finalizing the restructuring, Chen Pingsheng officially established Tengsheng Group Co., Ltd.