Jiang Chiyu’s words didn’t receive an immediate response, but once the first person stepped forward, the crowd gradually began to surge toward her.
At first, it was one or two people, then ten or eight, and soon enough, Jiang Chiyu was completely surrounded.
Densely packed people stood before her, all shouting things like “Me, me, me!” and “I’ll sell!”
Even Chen Mo, who had been standing beside Jiang Chiyu, was squeezed out to the periphery.
“Yes, yes, yes. It’s truly a shame you aren’t here to see this. That woman, Jiang Chiyu, is like a pyramid scheme leader. She was originally at the same level as them, but as soon as she started talking, she found a high point to stand on. She’s got quite the silver tongue; I’m starting to suspect she actually worked in an MLM before.”
Chen Mo, finding himself pushed to the edge of the crowd, was happy for the peace. He pulled out his phone and began complaining to Pei Jinnian, wishing he could vent a hundred thousand words about Jiang Chiyu in one go.
Pei Jinnian, hearing that Chen Mo had a lot of grievances against Jiang Chiyu, didn’t have much of a reaction. He was currently sitting at his desk reading a book, and his reply was brief and to the point: “You can start from there. What if she really did work in a pyramid scheme?”
The answer sounded unreliable yet strangely logical.
Chen Mo felt like his punch had landed on a pile of cotton. He scratched the back of his head. “…Should I go look into that, then?”
Before he could get a response, Jiang Chiyu’s voice reached his ears first. “Chen Mo, what are you doing? Come over and help!”
It was only now that Jiang Chiyu realized how powerful those pyramid scheme leaders’ crowd-control skills must be. If she had that kind of ability, why would she be pushed into such a predicament?
Looking at the land deeds nearly slapping her in the face, Jiang Chiyu tasted fear for the first time. She felt that if Chen Mo didn’t come to help disperse the crowd soon, she was going to be crushed to death by these people.
“Everyone, step back! Step back! What are you all trying to do? Li Tao, keep your people under control!”
Just as Jiang Chiyu was ready to call it a day and forget about this “land” business, Chen Mo finally arrived.
The usually quiet and gentle-looking Chen Mo was surprisingly fierce when he shouted at people.
Seeing this, Jiang Chiyu quickly hid behind him, muttering in a low voice, “I feel like these people are going to eat me alive. Why are they in such a hurry? I thought the board of directors gave me a difficult task, but isn’t completing it actually quite simple?”
Her complaints weren’t loud, only audible to Chen Mo.
Chen Mo’s expression turned complicated upon hearing her. “It wasn’t like this before…”
He was telling the truth. Not long ago, he had come here with the Young Master, and at that time, these people hadn’t been this enthusiastic. What was with the passion today?
Last time, everyone had seemed quite cold. It couldn’t possibly be that Jiang Chiyu’s few sentences just now had mobilized their emotions to this extent, right?
Naturally, that wasn’t the reason.
Since their attitude had been ambiguous not long ago, this sudden surge of enthusiasm meant something had gone wrong. As for where the problem lay… it was, of course, with the land itself.
When Pei Jinnian had brought Chen Mo here, someone had already tipped the villagers off, saying that Pei Jinnian wasn’t the only one who wanted to buy the land, so they didn’t need to be in a rush to sell. With that safety net, they were naturally emboldened and far less welcoming.
However, after Pei Jinnian “left,” they waited a long time without a single buyer inquiring about prices. After a week of living in anxiety and trepidation, they finally welcomed a second buyer.
A middle-aged man who looked like someone you didn’t want to mess with.
Furthermore, the price this man offered was vastly different from the first boss who had visited—it was a full twenty percent lower. Their first reaction upon hearing the man’s offer was to refuse, but his subsequent words made their rejection die in their throats.
“The person who said he wanted to buy your land is already dead. The price I’m giving you now is the highest you’ll ever get. What else are you dissatisfied with? With this price, you can buy a premium apartment in a small county town, and all I want is a piece of land.”
Who was this man? Naturally, it was Pei Su.
And the “dead person” he spoke of was Pei Jinnian, who had faked his death and gone abroad.
The people holding onto their plots of land—ranging from a few dozen to hundreds of square meters—fell silent at his words. They looked at each other, but not one of them spoke.
“But that man said the highest price he could give was five thousand!”
After an unknown period of silence, someone among the gathered residents finally spoke up. But when Pei Su heard him, he couldn’t help but sneer. “That man is dead. Are you waiting for a dead man to come buy your land?”
His tone was rude, showing absolutely no respect for the deceased.
If Chen Mo had seen this scene, he would have done his best to spit in Pei Su’s face. This man was truly disgusting.
It was because of this that Jiang Chiyu’s shouts just now had received such a positive response. What the people cared about wasn’t anything else but the two most important pieces of information in her words: five thousand per square meter and same-day payment.
This was undoubtedly a massive temptation for everyone present.
In reality, the price offered by Hengchuang could only be described as “fair” in Jinghai City; it was nowhere near “generous.” However, it all came down to the competition. The previous offer was so terrible that it made Hengchuang’s price look incredibly noble.
The price Pei Su offered was not only low, but the payment schedule was uncertain—consisting only of a promissory note and a small amount of cash. This was because, according to Pei Su, if they didn’t sell their land now, it would rot in their hands.
Fortunately, they had still been hesitating yesterday. Otherwise, if they had actually signed that contract, they would have nowhere to go to cry today. The price difference for a hundred square meters was a full one hundred thousand dollars.
Before Chen Mo could finish pondering the specific reasons, Li Tao—the man who had negotiated with him and brought these people over—organized the noisy crowd and walked up to him. “Assistant Chen, today… President Pei didn’t come with you?”
This was the first thing Li Tao said upon approaching.
It stepped right on a landmine.
Jiang Chiyu arched an eyebrow, thinking to herself: Old man, if you don’t know how to talk, you’re better off staying quiet. Mentioning Pei Jinnian in front of Chen Mo at a time like this was like stabbing the man in the heart, wasn’t it?
Sure enough, just as she suspected, Chen Mo’s expression changed when he heard the question. There was anger at the topic being raised, but also self-reproach. His expression was as colorful as a shattered paint palette. “President Pei… President Pei passed away in a car accident yesterday.”
As he spoke, he turned his head to the side. The corners of his mouth, which he absolutely could not suppress, stretched to their fullest extent at this moment.
It was nearly killing him to hold it in.