"Commercial complex?"

Zhou Yan's eye muscles visibly twitched at those words.

He stared at Lu Ming for a few seconds, confirming that this young boss driving a Maybach wasn't joking.

Zhou Yan rubbed his nose, "President Lu, that's quite a leap. This land is designated for industrial use."

"Can't it be changed?" Lu Ming asked.

"It can be changed."

Zhou Yan sighed, "But the process is very complicated. Converting industrial land to commercial use, known in the industry as 'industrial-to-commercial conversion,' starts with submitting a report to the county government to apply for adjustments to the overall land use and urban-rural planning.

These planning adjustments can't be decided by the county; they need city-level approval and even have to be filed with the Provincial Department of Natural Resources."

Lu Ming listened quietly.

"Step two, after the planning is approved, the government must reclaim the land and go through the bidding process again. You can't just buy it in its current state; you have to bid for it at the trading center.

Step three, and the most crucial, is paying the land transfer fee. The price of commercial land is vastly different from industrial land, with a huge price gap. Just getting through the paperwork for this process could wear you out."

Lu Yuan quickly took notes beside him, pausing to ask, "What's the fastest it can be done?"

Zhou Yan chuckled bitterly, "Fastest? Even if every department in the county gives you the green light and city leaders fully support it, it would take at least eight months. Any slight delay in the process, and a year or more is normal. Besides, in Yunmeng County, there hasn't been a precedent for industrial-to-commercial conversion in ten years."

Eight months.

Lu Ming calculated in his mind.

Sixty million a day, eight months is two hundred forty days, fourteen billion four hundred million.

Over a hundred billion sitting idle, just turning into meaningless numbers in a bank account.

The system upgrade was nowhere in sight, and the county's population growth was even less promising.

He couldn't afford to wait.

Lu Ming turned and walked towards the Maybach, opening the driver's door, "Get in, let's head back to town."

Zhou Yan stood there, still holding the stack of documents, "President Lu, you're not considering this land anymore? Building a factory is also an option, like food processing or garment manufacturing; there are county subsidies."

"Not building a factory, it's too slow." Lu Ming got into the car and rolled down the window, "Section Chief Zhou, thank you for today. I'll treat you to a meal another day."

The car started, turned around, kicking up a cloud of dust as it drove onto the provincial road.

Zhou Yan stood there, watching the car's taillights fade into the distance, shaking his head as he stuffed the documents back into his bag.

The car interior was quiet.

Cold air blew from the air conditioning vent, dispelling the heat from the wasteland.

"Brother, what exactly are you planning?" Lu Yuan closed her notebook in the passenger seat, "You bought an office building for twenty million, and now you want to build a commercial complex."

Lu Ming asked, "What's the biggest mall in the county right now?"

"Wanjiafu Shopping Plaza," Lu Yuan sneered, "the one in the New District. But that place is basically half-dead now."

"What do you mean?"

"Wanjiafu opened five years ago, claiming to be Yunmeng's largest mall at the time.

The owner, Wang Dafa, started in local construction. It was popular in the first couple of years, but not anymore. Online shopping has hit hard, and with young people leaving the county, the regular visitors are mostly elderly folks. The first-floor supermarket survives on selling discounted eggs, the clothing stores on the second floor are deserted, and half of the restaurants on the third floor have closed down. That place is now just a large indoor space for escaping the heat."

Lu Ming turned the steering wheel, the Maybach making a right turn at the intersection, heading straight for the New District.

"Let's go take a look."

Ten minutes later, the car parked in the open-air lot outside Wanjiafu Shopping Plaza.

The three-story building's exterior was clad in red and white aluminum panels, faded to a dull orange from years of sun and rain.

Above the main entrance, several bulbs in the LED sign were out, turning "Wanjiafu" into "Wanjiaf."

Lu Ming and Lu Yuan pushed open the heavy plastic curtain and walked inside.

A mix of cheap perfume, fried food, and air conditioning hit them.

The first floor was a large supermarket, with several rows of discount goods piled at the entrance.

A group of elderly women was rummaging through a cart filled with discounted toilet paper.

The two took the escalator. The elevator made a creaking metal sound as it moved.

The second floor was the clothing section.

The layout was cramped, with small glass-partitioned shops squeezed together.

The clothes were outdated, with mostly bright red and green colors.

A few shop owners sat on plastic stools at their doorways, cracking sunflower seeds while watching short videos, the sounds from their phones blending together.

Seeing Lu Ming and Lu Yuan walk by, no one even greeted them.

"See that?" Lu Yuan whispered, "These clothes, even my mom would find them old-fashioned. They're priced at two hundred eighty, but you could haggle them down to fifty."

Lu Ming didn't respond, his gaze sweeping over the empty shops.

At least a third of the shops on the second floor had their shutters down, with A4 papers reading "Prime Shop for Rent" pasted on them.

They continued to the third floor.

The situation was worse here.

Originally planned for dining and children's entertainment, the large children's play area was now closed, with a layer of dust on the ball pit.

Half of the dining area shops were shut, the remaining few barely open, their signs greasy and dark.

Lu Ming stopped in front of a "Authentic Braised Chicken Rice" shop.

Inside, only two tables were occupied.

The owner, a chubby man in his thirties, sat behind the cash register, engrossed in a mobile game.

"Are you blind, jungler? The dragon got stolen and you're just watching?" the chubby man cursed at his phone screen.

Lu Ming walked in and found an empty table to sit at.

The tabletop was a bit sticky.

"Boss, two servings of braised chicken, small, mildly spicy," Lu Ming called out.

The chubby man didn't even look up, "Scan the code to order yourself, WeChat and Alipay are at the table corner."

Lu Yuan took out her phone and scanned to pay.

She pulled out two napkins, vigorously wiping the table, "Why are we eating braised chicken here?"

"Market research." Lu Ming surveyed the surroundings.

After about ten minutes, the chubby man brought over two clay pots, placing them on the table, splashing a few drops of sauce.

As he turned to leave, Lu Ming stopped him.

"Boss, business seems slow." Lu Ming offered him a cigarette.

Seeing the brand on the pack, the chubby man's attitude improved slightly, taking it and tucking it behind his ear.

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"Slow? It's about to close down." The chubby man pulled out a chair and sat down, sighing, "Can't even sell thirty servings a day, can't cover the rent."

"Is the rent high?"

"Eighty thousand a year. It was okay a couple of years ago, but this past half year, Wanjiafu is deserted. Look at those shops next door." The chubby man pointed at the shuttered stores opposite, "They all left last month. Didn't even take their deposits, just packed up and left overnight."

"The mall management doesn't do anything?" Lu Ming asked.

"Do what? With what?" The chubby man sneered, looking around, lowering his voice, "Wang Dafa is drowning in high-interest loans. I heard he started a real estate project in the city, which went bust, completely breaking his cash flow. Now Wanjiafu can't even pay the cleaning staff's wages for three months, and the supermarket suppliers are blocking the doors demanding payment."

"Do you have Wang Dafa's phone number?"

"His number? How would I have that? Who can get a big boss's number like that?"

The chubby man shook his head, then pointed downstairs, "But, the manager of the first-floor supermarket, Manager Liu, is Wang Dafa's brother-in-law. He definitely has it. Those suppliers always block his office when they come to collect."

Lu Ming nodded, took out his phone, and transferred five hundred yuan to Lu Yuan right in front of the chubby man.

"Boss, thanks for the info. This meal's on me, and the rest is for you to buy some cigarettes."

The chubby man's eyes widened at the payment notification, quickly waving his hands, "No, no... Are you here to collect money too?"

Lu Ming smiled, "I'm here to give him money."