"Whether you look down on me or not isn't important. I know what kind of person you are, so I won't hold it against you," Ou Xiaolong said, shaking his head. "But that doesn't mean others will be as forgiving as me!"

"Just like last time, when Yi Anguo brought his driver and bodyguard to the banquet, didn't you make those snide, condescending remarks about them?"

"But I was just stating a fact! Who brings their driver and bodyguard to sit at the same table as their employer and their employer's friends? If everyone did that, wouldn't all the rules go out the window?" Ren Xingsheng still didn't think he had done anything wrong.

"If Yi Anguo wants to eat with his driver and bodyguard, it means he sees them as brothers, not just regular employees," Ou Xiaolong explained. "He's not going to bring just any subordinate to eat with him. By stopping him and saying something like that, you were disrespecting him and making him lose face. Did you really think Yi Anguo wouldn't get angry?"

"You looked down on Yi Anguo from the first moment Brother Zhuo brought him to hang out with us. He already had a bad impression of you, and after you made that scene last time, you want to go ask him for help now? How could you possibly bring yourself to ask?"

Faced with his own problems, Ren Xingsheng finally stopped talking so recklessly.

"Sigh, it's not just that he probably won't help me. Even if he wanted to, he likely couldn't. He's probably invested all his money with you and has nothing left to spare," Ren Xingsheng sighed, partly trying to console himself.

"If he wanted to help you, he probably could. But given your past relationship and your attitude toward him, he definitely won't," Ou Xiaolong said helplessly. "Your only chance is if you can convince Brother Zhuo to speak on your behalf."

"What do you mean by that? Does Yi Anguo still have a few hundred million in capital lying around?" Ren Xingsheng asked, his eyes widening.

"I'm not entirely sure, but he bought all 5,000 of his properties with cash, without a single cent of loans from the bank," Ou Xiaolong said uncertainly. "Even if he can't produce the cash, with 5,000 properties at current market value, he could easily get a loan for several hundred million from the bank if he were willing to put them up as collateral."

"But he would never agree to act as a guarantor for you, so it's useless. Not unless you can make him an offer he can't refuse."

Ren Xingsheng nodded. "I understand."

With that, Ren Xingsheng said his goodbyes and left. He had to rush back and discuss a plan with his father.

The Ren Family's real estate development company was one of the top-ranked in all of Shenzhen City, more powerful than even Zhuo Weidong's Blue Coast or the company founded by Ou Xiaolong's father-in-law. But despite their strength, the prospect of demolishing and rebuilding thirty-five buildings that were on the verge of completion was a crippling blow that shook the company to its core.

Thirty-five high-rise towers, an entire large residential complex with five to six thousand units, would cost over a billion yuan to tear down and rebuild. If they had been delivered successfully, they could have sold for over three billion yuan. The Shenzhen real estate market was hot, and they had stood to make a huge profit.

But now, that expected three billion was gone, and they had to spend another billion-plus on demolition and reconstruction. The total turnaround amounted to a loss of nearly five billion yuan. No matter how powerful the company, that was a hit that was hard to swallow.

Real estate development companies might seem rich, but the moment banks tighten the flow of capital, they all begin to struggle. When housing prices were soaring, they all lived comfortably. But if prices were to plummet, many of them would go bankrupt. Having to demolish and rebuild properties that were already complete and ready for handover was an even more severe blow than a sharp drop in housing prices.

At this point, they weren't even thinking about making a profit. The main priority was to find the funds to demolish, rebuild, and deliver the properties as quickly as possible. If they could just break even, that would be considered a victory.

Although Ren Xingsheng's father, Ren Guangcai, was deeply disappointed in his son and furious at his failures, what was done was done. Blaming his son now was pointless. The most important thing was to find a solution.

Ren Xingsheng rushed back and told his father what he had learned from Ou Xiaolong.

"What's your relationship with this Yi Anguo like? Will he be willing to help us?" Ren Guangcai asked.

"I've had dinner with him a few times. But as long as we make him an offer he can't refuse, he'll definitely agree," Ren Xingsheng said. "Didn't Ou Xiaolong give him a deal at 80% of the current market price? We can offer one at 70%. I don't believe he won't be tempted."

"At 70% of the current market price?" Ren Guangcai hesitated, doing a quick mental calculation before finally nodding.

The land for this development hadn't been expensive to acquire. They had caught a market upswing with soaring housing prices, so selling at 70% of the market rate wouldn't result in a loss. In fact, they might even make a small profit. It was acceptable.

"We'll be earning a lot less, but we can't worry about that now. As long as we can solve this problem without losing money, that's good enough," Ren Guangcai said with a nod.

Yi Anguo never imagined that Ren Xingsheng would one day come to him, begging for help to save his family's real estate development company.

His immediate instinct was to refuse. He had absolutely no goodwill toward Ren Xingsheng, so why would he ever be willing to help him?

"Brother Yi, don't be so quick to refuse! First, listen to my offer. We are willing to convert the funds you lend us into property, valued at 70% of the current market housing price. Once the buildings are handed over, the sales will be yours to manage," Ren Xingsheng said urgently. "The potential profit in this is enormous. I don't think I need to spell it out for you, do I?"

"No matter how big the profit, my hands are tied," Yi Anguo said with a smile. "Besides, you're only seeing the profit, not the risk. To be blunt, who can guarantee that the houses you demolish and rebuild will actually pass inspection? What if another quality issue pops up and you have to do it all over again? Who can bear that kind of risk?"

Ren Xingsheng quickly replied, "I was just careless and got cheated by someone this one time. Do you really think I'd get fooled a second time? Our Ren Family's development company has a great reputation in the industry. We've never had any quality issues before this."

Yi Anguo smiled. "If your reputation is so great, wouldn't it be better to just get a loan from the bank? Why go around begging people for help?"

Ren Xingsheng was left speechless for a moment.

If we could still borrow from the bank, who would be here begging you? he thought gloomily.

"Brother Yi, I was wrong in the past. Please be the bigger person and forgive me. Don't hold it against me," Ren Xingsheng pleaded. "Our Ren Family is being very sincere about this collaboration. We've given up all the profit we possibly can. We're not trying to make money anymore; we just want to get this resolved as quickly as possible."

"I'm begging you, for the sake of our acquaintance, and for the sake of Brother Ou and Brother Zhuo, please help the Ren Family get through this crisis."

Yi Anguo remained unmoved. "It's not that I'm unwilling to help you; I'm just powerless. What do you expect me to help you with? Where would I get that kind of money?"

Yi Anguo remembered Chen Jianjun telling him that someone had been investigating his purchase of a thousand apartments. He was fairly certain Ren Xingsheng was connected to it.

Ren Xingsheng was stunned that Yi Anguo remained completely unfazed even after such a generous offer. He had already humbled himself and apologized, but nothing could persuade Yi Anguo. He was now out of ideas.

"What do you want from me? What will it take for you to help?" Ren Xingsheng asked desperately. "If you're not satisfied with the terms, name your price. If I can do it, I'll agree. If I can't, I can go discuss it with my father. Even if I offended you with my words before, that's just my personality. It's always been this way. It's not like we have some deep-seated hatred for each other, right?"

"I've made myself very clear. It's not that I don't want to help, it's that I truly can't. I can't come up with that much money for you. I don't run a bank, where am I supposed to get that kind of cash?" Yi Anguo replied, getting annoyed.

Not wanting to help you means not wanting to help you. It's useless no matter what you say, Yi Anguo thought. We're not related, nor are we close friends. I don't like you, and you look down on me. Why on earth should I help you? You must be sick in the head. This is ridiculous. How can you be so shameless? You look down on me, so why should I help you? On what grounds do you think I would? And you talk about giving me all the profit you can? Do I need you to do me that favor? No matter how much money this investment could make, I just don't want to make it with you! What are you going to do, bite me? You're even trying to feign sincerity, humbling yourself and trying to guilt-trip me. Do you think I have to help you just because you say a few nice things? A profit of a few times the investment? I could make that back with any casual investment. If I just invested in some stocks or oil futures, wouldn't I earn more than this?

"Even if you can't provide the funds yourself, you own over 5,000 properties. You could easily use them to get a loan from the bank. Or you could act as a guarantor for our Ren Family's company. We would still make it worth your while," Ren Xingsheng pressed on.

"Why should I act as a guarantor for your family's company? What happens if you run into problems? Am I supposed to be responsible for you?"

Yi Anguo couldn't believe how shameless Ren Xingsheng was. He was so angry he wanted to start cursing.

"What am I supposed to do if your company goes bankrupt and the bank comes after me for the debt?"

"Our Ren Family company is just having some temporary cash flow problems. How could it possibly go bankrupt?" Ren Xingsheng said hastily.

"I don't know if your family's company will go bankrupt, and frankly, it has nothing to do with me. As for me acting as your guarantor so you can get a loan, that's absolutely impossible," Yi Anguo said, his patience wearing thin.

"I can't help you with this, so you should stop wasting your time here. I'm a very busy man, and I don't have time to entertain you."

"Yang Hai! See Mr. Ren out."

Yang Hai seemed to appear out of nowhere, gesturing toward Ren Xingsheng. "Mr. Ren, this way, please."

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