He signed his name and bound the top-secret reports. As he finished, the sun poked its head above the horizon. A courier arrived. The young man picked up the documents reverently before darting out of the office. He passed Wang Bing and Elder Bai on their way into their morning meeting.
“That courier seemed frightened,” Elder Bai noted as he walked in. “Was there something important in those bundles?”
“Let’s just say he loses his head if he loses them,” Wang Jun said. “He’s right to be nervous, despite the short distance to the elder council.”
“Why not just deliver the documents yourself?” Wang Bing asked.
“If I deliver them, they can’t be intercepted,” Wang Jun said. “Protector Ren is shadowing him as we speak. The documents will make it to their destination without a hitch, but it wouldn’t hurt to catch enemy spies or assassins in the process.”
They took their usual seats, with Elder Bai brewing tea. Wang Jun waited for his cup, and after taking a sip, he opened the meeting. “Elder Bai, how are our real-estate holdings?”
“They’re doing quite well,” Elder Bai said, stroking his beard. “Despite housing prices rising by eighty percent year after year, there are no signs of it slowing. We continue to acquire cheap properties within key cities, though the market has gotten much more… competitive lately.”
“Our competition is catching on,” Wang Jun said. “Not just within the family.”
“It’s a hard wave to miss,” Elder Bai said. “Large corporations typically exclude these cheaper properties from their portfolios, but the returns are staggering. They’re all bitter with regret at having missed the initial surge.”
“Then let’s fan the flames,” Wang Jun said. “I want our men increasing the prices for prime properties by bidding high in upcoming auctions. We should make large offers for personal properties as well. I want these people to sweat. It’s all right if we buy overpriced properties in the process—that will give us plausible deniability. We’ll make it up when the market shoots up even further.”
“Where would you like me to spend the rental revenue we’ve been generating?” Elder Bai asked.
“It’ll soon be time to exit the real-estate market,” Wang Jun said. “At least in big cities. Parents want what’s best for their children, so they’re snapping up properties there like there’s no tomorrow. The price is nearing its limit, however, so we need to approach small towns near these cities. No more than a few hours away by magic-grade transport.
“Before we buy up properties, I want you to speak with the city’s management. I want us to enter into development agreements wherever we buy. People are migrating from smaller towns to bigger cities, so the mayors in those towns will be looking for a way to make their towns more attractive. In exchange for large swaths of land—no matter if they’re inhabited or uninhabited—we’ll invest in schools, shops, inns, entertainment, you name it. We’ll make the towns beautiful. Then we’ll build housing to complement it. People will realize that perhaps it’s not so bad to live just outside a big city, especially when the real estate is so much cheaper, and the smaller towns are just as nice if not nicer.”
“I’ll get right on it,” Elder Bai said.
Wang Jun turned to Wang Bing, whose strengths lay outside of real estate. She was the one who’d rolled out the cultivation endowment program two years ago. Now, nearly twenty-five percent of the mortal population had some level of cultivation talent. “How are your businesses doing?”
“I’ve finally recruited Artificer Bai,” Wang Bing said. “With the production assets we’ve developed, we’ll be able to release his urban comfort product lines to every major household in the North within three months.”
“Not everyone is a battle maniac,” Wang Jun said knowingly. “It’s just our society that thinks so.”
“Most people just want a comfortable life,” Wang Bing said in agreement. “Just the possibility of advancement is enough for them. Moving on, our low-grade blacksmithing, alchemical, and apothecary acquisitions have all reached peak profitability. It can only go down from here, unfortunately.”
“The fast cash was what we needed,” Wang Jun said. “And what we’ll continue to need.”
“I recommend against further investment in these sectors,” Wang Bing said. “Meanwhile, our most surprising asset is still Nephew Jin’s coffee chains. I still can’t get over how popular coffee is. His runic alchemy has been very well received as well, so we’ve been focusing our funds in these two directions. Not only are they our most profitable businesses, we also have no competitors in these markets.”
“Do you need help with anything?” Wang Jun asked. “Or should I just sit back and let you do your thing while I brew tea? Or coffee, if you like?” He disapproved of the new beverage, as lucrative as it was.
“I want your permission to get into fashion,” Wang Bing said. Seeing his raised eyebrow, she continued. “You might not be aware, but in most households, men don’t call the shots. It’s gotten even more skewed now that the most powerful cultivators in many households are, in fact, women.”
“Point taken,” Wang Jun said. “I trust in your instincts. You have my full support going forward.”
“Thank you,” she said with a hint of a smile.
Not only had Wang Jun’s assets grown quickly, but hers had as well. He was fine with that. If you didn’t enrich your followers, they’d abandon you in a heartbeat.
“Then if that’s everything, let’s call it a day,” Wang Jun said.
Wang Bing left, leaving Wang Jun alone to his devices. The day passed by in a blur. Appointment after appointment, stack of paper after stack of paper. Wang
