Angry at Lim Chuen"s schemes, Xie Yuansheng left the venue of auction. He was getting too irritated by his constant schemes to sabotage his plans. When he left, Lim Chuen went to meet the third party that was bidding fiercely. However, when he was there, he was informed that they had left already. He wanted to meet the third party because he thought that he would invite them to build the towns.h.i.+p with him. When he did find them, he became disappointed and he went to the officials to submit his check. Upon asking about the details about them, they said they had been asked not to disclose the information about them.
Lim Chuen came out of the venue of auction feeling satisfied overall because he successfully sabotaged Xie Yuansheng"s plans. He was looking forward to Xie Yuansheng to come to him and ask for the partners.h.i.+p. He had been envisioning how he would refuse Xie Yuansheng and was thrilled to even imagine the look on his face. For the next few days, Lim Chuen kept waiting for Xie Yuansheng but he didn"t come. There was no phone call from the office. He wondered what was it that was keeping Xie Yuansheng from asking him. Was Xie Yuansheng thinking that he would go and offer the partners.h.i.+p? He chuckled at the thought. Well, he would wait...
Lim Chuen thought of now focusing on the land that he had bought. It was an expensive piece after all. He made a group including his secretary and few other managers and then went to see the land after two weeks of purchasing it. He knew that if Xie Yuansheng had shown interest in that land, it surely must be one of the best properties. They all started in the morning at 9AM and it took them more than two hours to reach that area. The land was eighty kilometers away from the main town. The road to it wasn"t even developed and it was a b.u.mpy two hours ride.
By the time Lim Chuen arrived there, his entire body aching at various places. He stepped out of the car and looked at the vast expanse around him. He noticed in far distance some village huts. He looked at his managers and asked, "Why are there huts here?"
"Sir, this land is surrounded by villages on all sides."
Lim Chuen mouth fell. "Villages on all sides? What do you mean? At first this land is so far away from the main town, the roads are not even developed and now you are saying that the land is surrounded by villages on all sides!"
"Yes Sir," replied a manager. "In addition to that there is no proper water connection or electricity supplied to this place. The water is so bad that sometimes it is red in color."
Lim Chuen appeared as if a venomous snake had bitten him. Why were Xie Yuansheng and that third party so interested in this G.o.dforsaken place? In order to make a towns.h.i.+p there, the first basic thing that was needed was proper road construction from the main town. "How much money would it take to construct the towns.h.i.+p here?" he asked his men.
The managers started talking amongst themselves and after about ten minutes, one of them said, "Sir, an estimated twenty billion would be needed to construct it. We are talking about the towns.h.i.+p that is laced with everything according to the blueprint that you have shown us."
"What?" he shouted. "Are you mad? Twenty billion? Where do you think I will get that amount from?" He lambasted them.
All the managers cringed. His secretary said, "Sir, we were also wondering as to why were you bidding so aggressively for this land."
Lim Chuen was mad. "The reports that you had sent to me spoke positively of all the lands that were being auctioned."
"No Sir, we had given true reports about all of them," replied the manager. He looked at the secretary to whom all the reports were submitted. The secretary looked calm.
Lim Chuen also looked at his secretary and said, "Did you switch the reports?"
"What? No sir, I pa.s.sed on the reports as is. Why would I switch the reports? You can always see them when you are back in the office," he replied.
The manager wasn"t convinced of the secretary. He said, "Sir, I am sending you the reports on your phone now. You can take a look and match them in the office with the ones that were forwarded by the secretary."
"Yes Sir. You can match them," replied the secretary confidently, thinking that the manager was on his side.
When Lim Chuen read the report, he felt that he was getting crushed under heavy stones. The report showed the true statistics. What was it that he missed? That piece of land was trash and he had paid 3.15 billion Yuan for it! Unless he had a support from other major investors in the field, there was no chance he would have success in it. He looked around the expanse of land around him worth nothing and balanced himself on the car near him. He had invested so much money for trash.
He had sh.e.l.led a lot of money on land, which he could never develop on his own. The most pathetic part was that the government had locked its further selling to any other party for a period of three years to prevent fraud and manipulation. Lim Chuen was in a terrible condition now. He became extremely nervous that he had wasted 3.15 billion Yuan. He felt dizzy.
His managers rushed to him and gave him a gla.s.s of water. Once he quenched his thirst, he said in a very shaky voice, "Let us go back to the office."
In the car, he looked at his secretary with suspicion. Did he present him with false reports because he did read that the land was very valuable? When he reached the office, the first thing he did was to cross the reports his secretary had sent with the ones his manager sent on his phone. Each and every word matched. His was confused.
Now he had to meet Xie Yuansheng! He was the only man who could help him. But what he experienced next was horrifying!