Chapter 210: Huh… Doesn't Seem That Expensive?
Pei Qian walked while looking around, lost in thought.
There were actually several shops nearby undergoing renovations. That meant if a high-end restaurant were opened here, the risk of exposure would greatly increase.
As a result, all the locations he had shortlisted a few days ago were now scrapped.
Unconsciously, Pei Qian wandered his way toward the Mingyun Villa Estate.
Looking at the villas faintly visible halfway up the mountain in the distance, he fell into contemplation.
The Mingyun Villa Estate had originally been built at the foot of a nameless hill—one could even call it just a mound—on the outskirts of Jingzhou City. Most of the villas sat at the base of the hill, but a few were built on the slope halfway up, which were marketed as "mountaintop villas."
From what Pei Qian knew, sales at Mingyun Villa had not gone well, especially for those halfway up the mountain.
There were two main reasons for this.
First, the villas had almost no investment value because the total price was too high, and very few people had the ability to take them off the market.
Mingyun was a suburban villa project. Anyone who could afford to buy here would likely already own property of equal value in the city. On top of that, most people were unwilling to live in the suburbs long-term.
If someone bought one just as a vacation home to stay in occasionally, the cost-performance ratio was ridiculously low.
So, once purchased, it was easy for the property to become a burden—unless the buyer was an ultra-wealthy tycoon with so much money that this was purely a consumer luxury. Ordinary wealthy people weren't inclined to buy.
Second, the mountaintop villas at Mingyun were modeled after overseas estate designs. Each one was designed by a professional architect and came with fully furnished interiors, which pushed the average price much higher than the villas at the foot of the hill.
They even built an infinity pool halfway up the mountain—fancy to the point of being pretentious.
But once the villas went on sale, most people weren't interested.
On one hand, the average price was far too high. On the other, wealthy buyers generally had very specific requirements for customization. Some people simply rejected the designers' plans outright, insisting on standing out with unique features.
Many of the layouts rich buyers came up with were simply indescribable. Things like Baroque architecture filled with Eight Immortals tables, French villas decorated with rosewood furniture, Mediterranean villas guarded by stone lions, courtyards turned into rock gardens with koi ponds, or traditional Chinese villas remodeled into European neoclassical styles—
These were considered normal practice.
For many rich people, the first thing they did after buying a villa was tear down walls, knock down courtyards, and change the exterior. They would essentially turn a professionally designed villa into a self-built house, adding on all sorts of illegal extensions.
After all, not every wealthy person had refined taste, but every wealthy person had a strong desire for personalized villas.
That left Mingyun's mountaintop villas in an especially awkward position.
With their interior design and special features, their base price was already significantly higher. The key issue was that many tycoons didn't even like them.
They would think it over: If I buy this villa, I'll have to strip out all the existing decoration and then spend at least another one to two million to redo it myself. Wouldn't it be better to just buy a bare-bones property instead?
When viewed that way, there was absolutely no cost-performance at all.
Thus, the mountaintop villas of Mingyun Villa Estate had become the worst sellers of the entire project—failures among failures.
What made things even trickier was that within the villa estate, there was a parcel of land zoned for mixed commercial and residential use. That meant a small portion of the villas had this dual-use designation. Layout-wise, these few mixed-use villas were closer to the northwest gate and separated from the purely residential ones—making them even less appealing to buyers.
But Pei Qian, on the other hand, thought this place looked perfect.
If he could open the restaurant here, wouldn't it be even harder to notice?
Compared to the shops he had looked at earlier, this location was even more hidden!
In terms of feasibility, a mixed-use villa could legally be used for business purposes, as long as fire safety, sanitation, and other requirements from the relevant departments were met.
Since Pei Qian planned to open a high-end restaurant, those standards would definitely be followed anyway.
Next, there was the matter of impact on nearby residents.
Restaurants could produce noise, cause disturbances, or create issues with traffic and parking, potentially affecting the daily lives of those living nearby.
But that didn't seem like much of a problem.
The mixed-use villas were already set apart from the purely residential area, and the mountaintop villas stood isolated with no other buildings around them.
From a planning perspective, the mixed-use section of the estate even had a dedicated side entrance to make vehicle access more convenient.
Besides, the restaurant wasn't going to attract huge crowds—at most it would just be Pei Qian and his employees coming over for a meal. It was strictly for dining, with no karaoke or anything of the sort, and they'd be done before 8 p.m. No risk of disturbing anyone.
Compared with the earlier shopfront locations, this spot was hidden much deeper and far less likely to be discovered!
Who would ever imagine that inside a villa estate, there would be a secret restaurant tucked away?
Pei Qian was delighted. See? Just when things seemed bleak, a new path revealed itself.
The shopfront locations he had previously picked were all scrapped, but in the blink of an eye, he had found an even better site!
The only question left was whether the villa could be rented out, and if so, what the rent would be. If it couldn't be rented, then whether it could be bought.
The system rules forbade him from purchasing large amounts of real estate or speculating in property.
But if he used system funds to buy a single mixed-use villa for the express purpose of running a restaurant, and registered it under the company's name, that wouldn't count as large-scale acquisition or speculation. There shouldn't be any issue with that, right?
With that in mind, Pei Qian led Ma Yang and Zhang Yuan straight toward the Mingyun Villa Estate.
Zhang Yuan was even more baffled.
What on earth did President Pei mean by this?
So, was it just that they happened to be strolling past Mingyun Villa Estate, and President Pei suddenly got the urge to buy a villa for himself to live in?
Well, with President Pei's income, buying a villa here certainly wouldn't be difficult.
Zhang Yuan didn't think too much about it and simply followed behind Pei Qian.
…
When they arrived at the sales office and explained their purpose, the receptionist made a phone call. The three of them had some tea, and after waiting for about half an hour, a manager surnamed Cui rushed over.
On the way there, Manager Cui was still puzzled. How come a customer had taken the initiative to come to the sales office today? That was truly rare.
It was like someone walking into an insurance company lobby of their own accord to buy a policy—something you hardly ever see.
The Mingyun Villas had been on sale since the development first opened. By now, it was almost a year since they had been handed over. Any interested tycoons would have long since bought one. Who would wait until now?
But either way, having a customer walk through the door was always a good thing. Even if they weren't really here to buy and just wanted to look around, it was still worth receiving them properly.
After a brief greeting, Pei Qian cut straight to the point.
"Manager Cui, about your mountaintop villas—can they be rented?"
Manager Cui had just sat down and was about to sip some tea when he nearly spat it out.
The young man in front of him was wearing a tailored suit, clearly not someone strapped for cash. But instead of wanting to buy, he wanted to rent??
Technically speaking, as long as the developer still held ownership, the properties could be rented out.
But who could afford to rent one of these villas?
At market price, a single villa would easily go for twenty to thirty thousand yuan a month. Who in their right mind would pay that much to live way out here, a place totally unsuited for long-term residence?
And even if someone wanted to rent, the developer wouldn't want to lease them out.
These villas had all been finished with high-end decoration. The outdoor swimming pools and all the various furnishings required regular upkeep. Cleaning and maintenance had to be done periodically. And what if some rich client suddenly took a liking to one of them and decided to buy?
If the villa were rented out, maintenance would be a hassle. And as for the twenty to thirty thousand yuan in rent each month, the developer really couldn't care less.
Manager Cui gave an apologetic smile. "I'm very sorry, sir, but our villas here are strictly for sale, not for rent."
Pei Qian nodded, already expecting that answer. "Is that so? What a pity."
"Then I suppose I'll just have to buy it."
These words were directed at the system. See? It's not that I don't want to save the company money. I've simply set my heart on this property for a restaurant, but they only sell, not rent!
Across the table, Manager Cui was a little stunned.
What did he mean by "what a pity, I'll just have to buy it"?
Why did it sound so reluctant??
Pei Qian took a sip of tea and casually asked about the price.
Manager Cui hurriedly explained, "If we're talking about our mountaintop villas, the usable area is about 600 square meters, with a private elevator, swimming pool, garden, and full interior decoration. As for the price, it's around 12,000 per square meter, bringing the total to about 6.3 million."
Pei Qian was silent for a moment.
"Huh… doesn't seem that expensive?"
<+>
If you want to see more chapter of this story and don't mind spending $5 monthly to see till the latest chapter, please go to my Patreon[1]
Latest Chapter in Patreon: Chapter 253: This Game Might Be Beyond Saving[2]
Link to the latest chapter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/141768316?collection=1399284[3]
https://www.patreon.com/collection/1399284?view=expanded[4]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/collection/1399284?view=expanded
[2] https://www.patreon.com/posts/141768316?collection=1399284
[3] https://www.patreon.com/posts/141768316?collection=1399284
[4] https://www.patreon.com/collection/1399284?view=expanded