Chapter 79: Daily Life of Dodging the Paparazzi

Gu Cheng and Quan Shunyu chatted for over ten minutes, and only when the car was almost at the sales office did they hang up. Their conversation in their native language was so rapid that Pan Jieying, who had to concentrate on driving, understood nothing. When her cousin finally ended the call, she asked, "Business again? Nothing to do with Xiaoya?"

"Nothing at all," Gu Cheng replied. "Brother Quan just wants me to lend him a shell company to invest in a project, to help a certain official boost his achievements. I don’t mind; I probably won’t need it in the future anyway."

"Tell me more," Pan Jieying said, flicking on the right turn signal and steering the car into the slow lane.

Gu Cheng summarized, "Last year I went to the Kaesong Economic Cooperation Development Zone under the guise of an inspection, remember? This year, the project has moved into the implementation phase—the first batch of East Yian enterprises are entering the development zone. The North Yi people are doing this to export labor and earn foreign exchange, so only labor-intensive enterprises are allowed, mainly textiles and electronics."

Up to this point, Pan Jieying understood perfectly. The North Yi approach to their “economic special zone” mirrored what the southeastern coastal region of Huaxia did in the early 1980s: start with low-tech, labor-intensive industries like textiles, garments, bags, shoes—think leather factories in Jiangnan—and after a few years, once there’s some capital foundation, upgrade to electronics, eventually becoming sweatshops like Foxconn.

But the subsequent developments Gu Cheng described clearly diverged from that script:

"At first, the North Yi people didn’t set any extra investment thresholds, but at the beginning of this year, their leaders suddenly added a rule: enterprises invested by large East Yian conglomerates aren’t allowed in the development zone, only small and medium-sized enterprises. This was probably to suppress domestic suspicion about the political direction of 'revisionism,' but it backfired. In East Yi, there are plenty of textile companies—even without big conglomerates, you can find enough private small and medium investors. But the electronics consumer products are monopolized by only two giants, Samsung and LG; there’s no room for smaller companies. There are plenty of high-tech, non-consumer electronics firms, but East Yi isn’t willing to risk technology leaks, so those are out. The whole matter stalled."

Historically, the Kaesong Economic Cooperation Development Zone did indeed get delayed. East Yian textile enterprises moved in in 2001 and started production in 2003. Electronics firms initially negotiated entry around the same time, but ended up delayed by two years—only entering in 2003 and starting production in 2005.

This setback was a resounding slap in the face for the southern diplomats who had championed normalization of North-South relations and the development zone.

Pan Jieying, enlightened by Gu Cheng’s explanation, said, "So Quan Shunyu has his eye on the Taidian you just invested in? He wants you to set up a factory in Kaesong? But Taidian is a domestic company."

Gu Cheng explained carefully, "There’s reason he thought of me. First, North Yi is currently friendly with Huaxia, and among permitted joint ventures, Huaxia capital faces the least resistance. Second—and most important—I left an investment entry record last year under the pretense of a business visa, so if I partner with Brother Quan, he can use my company as a shell to get in."

There was one more crucial point Gu Cheng withheld: when he invested in Taidian last month, his goal was to create an R&D-based enterprise, laying the groundwork for Apple’s future iPod. As for Taidian’s current run-of-the-mill MP3 products, Gu Cheng had little interest.

Hence, the possibility for cooperation—so long as he was willing to appease the original owner. He could split Taidian, shift the low-end product lines to Kaesong, and later take advantage of North Yi’s even cheaper labor, with no harm done.

The final question was whether it was worth the effort to curry favor for the Quan family and ingratiate himself with Deputy Minister Pan. After all, stripping "bad assets" wouldn’t earn much, and if he ever managed to develop a product on the level of the iPod, he’d definitely have to return home and let Foxconn handle production—he’d never dare use North Yi’s subpar workers.

Gu Cheng guessed that the Quan family had hit a glass ceiling in their career path and needed powerful allies to help them pad their achievements.

In the end, it was his cousin who persuaded him, settling the matter with one decisive remark: "Since we won’t lose anything, let’s just do them a favor. They helped you before you made it big."

Gu Cheng, hearing his cousin’s advice, replied apologetically, "Alright, but if I do this, our summer trip is definitely off. I’ll have to fly to Seoul several times; a lot of procedures require me in person."

Pan Jieying pretended not to care, tactfully saying, "Of course, business comes first. Besides, visiting Seoul isn’t exactly a hardship—I only spent a few days there last time, unlike you, who lived there long enough to be sick of it."

Chatting as they went, the siblings’ car arrived at Baima Apartments. Pan Jieying parked, and they both put on sunglasses; Gu Cheng even donned a baseball cap before daring to get out.

This complex consisted of one office building and six residential towers. The sales office was on the first floor of the office building’s podium, and as soon as they entered, the air conditioning was noticeably chilly.

Normally, plenty of citizens would seek relief from the heat in such a cool space—even banks were crowded with elderly folks escaping the summer swelter. But perhaps because the apartments were so expensive, the lobby was nearly empty, with only a handful of people in sight.

Gu Cheng breathed a slight sigh of relief: at least he didn’t need to worry about being recognized.

…

Another afternoon with few clients. Liang Jingjing, clad in a round-neck blazer and a taut, short skirt, shook her legs, sore from unfamiliar high heels, and tried to find a corner to slack off.

She was a fresh graduate, only three days into her new job. She had unfortunately majored in a little-known humanities subject, making employment difficult; luckily, her looks and poise got her noticed at a real estate developer’s interview and landed her this sales position.

Management had told her: anyone eligible to view these apartments would be wealthy. There was no need for eloquence—just good looks, a keen eye, and a flexible presence.

Unfortunately, just as she was about to shamelessly slip off her heels and rub her feet, a man and a woman entered.

The man dressed lightly, his head and face well covered. The woman wore only sunglasses, but her beauty and demeanor shone through, making Liang Jingjing feel instantly inferior.

"Big clients?" she wondered, quickly steadying her heels and greeting them out of professional habit, "Sir, Miss…"

Unfortunately, she was interrupted before finishing her greeting. The striking woman raised a hand, "Speak to me. My brother’s just accompanying me."

"So they’re siblings—not a couple after all. No wonder they’re both so handsome and pretty; must be the children of a wealthy family," Liang Jingjing mused, mentally filling in the blanks as she briskly led them to a seat, poured two cups of tea, and handed over a brochure of floor plans.

Whatever Liang Jingjing brought, Pan Jieying accepted it three meters from the table, then personally set it in front of Gu Cheng. When Liang Jingjing tried to approach to explain, the other party wouldn’t let her.

"What a strange pair, acting as if they’re afraid of being recognized. Just because they have money—could they be celebrities?" Liang Jingjing could only observe from afar, her imagination running wild.

"It looks like there aren’t many floor plans—each tower occupies 480 square meters, and each floor is divided into one to three units: 160, 240, or 480 square meters," Pan Jieying studied the brochure and whispered to her brother.

With so few options, their selection process was simplified; all that remained was to choose the floor and location.

The siblings deliberated for only five minutes before deciding: they wanted a whole-floor, 480-square-meter unit, and it had to be in one of the three towers along the Grand Canal.

Pan Jieying, satisfied, beckoned, "Miss, among the three towers by the river, which floors have whole-floor units? Is it just the top floor?"

Liang Jingjing, now less eager and slightly aloof, replied, "Yes, of course. All top floors are whole-floor units. Tower 3, at the canal bend, even has a duplex penthouse—the upper level has extra height, and it comes with a rooftop garden as a bonus."

Her words were more teasing than informative. The apartments here were much more expensive than elsewhere, and back in 2001, the internet wasn’t yet widespread and the market wasn’t transparent. Many prospective buyers, after seeing the details, would back out.

She was full of professional enthusiasm, but facing clients who seemed to be putting on airs, she couldn’t help but want to see them stumble.

Pan Jieying raised her eyebrows, proud and direct, "A duplex with a rooftop garden? Why isn’t it on the floor plan?"

Liang Jingjing hadn’t expected her to ask about the most expensive unit straightaway and was momentarily flustered, "That… there’s only one, so it’s not included in the standard floor plans. Let me remind you, the extra height and bonus garden are excellent, but the price is higher—7,500 per square meter."

"Total price is seven million. No problem," Gu Cheng calculated mentally for two seconds and whispered the answer to his cousin.

Liang Jingjing, just a few meters away, heard it clearly.

Seven million, no problem! So nonchalant!

Still stunned, Liang Jingjing watched as Pan Jieying pressed forward, "We’ll take that one. If you don’t have a floor plan, show us the actual unit upstairs."

"…Alright, but you’ll need to sign an intent agreement and pay a deposit—don’t misunderstand, you don’t have to buy that unit in the end, but you must promise to purchase another in the complex to get a viewing," Liang Jingjing swallowed nervously, reciting her manager’s instructions.

Pan Jieying reached out, "Hand it over then."

"What?"

"The intent agreement."

"Oh—just a moment." Liang Jingjing’s heart pounded. In her three days at work, she’d met dozens of clients, but this was the first time anyone had signed an intent agreement.

It wasn’t that others couldn’t afford it; she simply hadn’t seen anyone treat buying an apartment like picking up groceries.

The siblings had only been inside for ten minutes or so.

Pan Jieying took five minutes to read through the clauses, then boldly signed her name and paid a fifty-thousand deposit.

Liang Jingjing watched the POS slip print, her heartbeat yet to settle.

Especially after seeing Pan Jieying’s signature, as she took the keys and led them upstairs, Liang Jingjing recalled the name on the card, "Pan Jieying? That sounds familiar—wasn’t it in some recent tech or financial news? Or maybe people at school were talking about an alumna or someone…?"