Chapter 142

As the middle-aged man sat down, filled with gratitude, another bespectacled young man stood up, stammering with excitement, “M-m-my lord! What about the gaming industry? Will Hell be bringing in the games that are available in the mortal realm? Will there be national gaming competitions? Will we see any of the well-known players or teams right now?”

Qin Ye no longer had the capacity to explode at him, so he simply responded truthfully, “Don’t worry… once the game giants of Cathay pass on, they will undoubtedly come to Hell. All you have to do is to wait for their arrival…”

And wait for the day when you won’t be able to continue gaming without loading your account with more gaming credits…

Ten minutes passed in the blink of an eye. Just as Qin Ye was about to heave a sigh of relief and take his leave, an old man who didn’t get a chance to ask his question abruptly stood up and yelled at the top of his voice, “My lord… will the future neighbourhoods be just like this? Would they be as gorgeous as Qin Gardens, Phase One?”

He wasn’t on his own. Several other old men had stood up at the same time as they looked at Qin Ye with a burning gleam in their eyes.

Qin Ye thought for a moment before responding, “No, Qin Gardens, Phase One is the benchmark. The rest that are to be constructed are going to be regular accommodations.”

“So that’s how it is…” The old man heaved a sigh of relief. Then, just as Qin Ye was about to march off the stage, the old man suddenly opened his palms and displayed an inviting gesture, “Two million.”

“Two million RMB. Mortal realm currency. I would like room 111 on the ground floor.”

What the hell?!

The entire venue was silent. Qin Ye stared at the man as though he had just seen a ghost.

Are you even allowed to do something like that?

Something like that hadn’t occurred to anyone else. The seven division heads were also flabbergasted. Arthis blinked her eyes vacantly. The entire assembly was shrouded with complete silence.

Doesn’t this feel somewhat like a mad rush at the grand opening of a store?

No… we shouldn’t promote or incentivize speculative purchasing of real estate in Hell… Otherwise, what are we going to do when property prices skyrocket… Wouldn’t the Yin spirits who are unable to afford proper housing commit suicide by jumping off the building?

“Sir, you might be…” Despite those thoughts of his, Qin Ye was practically rejoicing in his heart. Bloody hell… this almost feels like someone has sent me a fluffy new pillow just as I’m about to doze off…

That’s right. He might already have started on the first phase of construction works in Hell, but who knows how much more capital outlay he might incur in the future projects? The capital required to construct a single neighbourhood numbers well in the hundreds of millions. Next to that, the two million he had injected into the first project in Hell is completely insignificant. And this was not to mention the number of other ancillary things he would have to acquire for the purposes of Yin Construction’s future projects. He would probably need other equipment and machinery, right? And then, there’s still the tentage for covering the equipment and machinery. After all, he couldn’t possibly have people collecting the equipment and shifting them back every time it rained, could he?

And then there was the issue of procurement of raw materials for construction… Things may look good right now, but who knows how long the list of procurement might be in future? How could he be so certain that the machinery and equipment would still be chugging and whirring away in just a few months time?!

Therefore… Qin-Pauper-Ye even began to speak with salutations.

“I’m just proposing a business transaction here.” The old man glanced around and continued sensibly, “Everyone, it’s not that I’m trying to get above the law. It’s just that… there seems to be a good number of us here who can be considered the elderly, isn’t there?”

“Of the tens of thousands of ghostly citizens here right now, approximately two-thirds can be considered the elderly. How could we, the frail and feeble who had died of old age, ever compete at arms’ length against the young ghostly citizens around? I do want to register with Yin Construction if I could, but I don’t know a thing about construction for one. And besides, would they welcome me there even if I volunteered?”

He bowed repeatedly as he continued, “Many of you would probably have discovered by now that the conditions of our bodies largely reflect the state of our health while we were still in the mortal realm. We won’t die of old age again, but that doesn’t change the fact that we’re unable to exert as much strength as the young amongst us. That doesn’t change the fact that we have no stamina, and have to take more frequent breaks than the young. Doesn’t this mean that we can only be relegated to ranking last among all who are present?”

“Fortunately, I’ve been dead for decades now. I passed on even before the cultural revolution, and I’ve got some savings buried in the ground that haven’t been dug up to date. My lord, you’ve been scuttling about with transactions within the mortal realm. Wouldn’t you require money for such transactions as well? Therefore, I propose that those who have the strength and stamina should put in their best efforts, while those who have money can contribute in their own ways as well. This solution marries the best of both worlds.”

“Allow us a moment to discuss your suggestion among ourselves.” Arthis desperately gave Qin Ye a knowing look even before any of the other Yin spirits could speak up. As soon as Qin Ye finished speaking, a tiny voice immediately resounded in his ears, “Agree to it! Don’t underestimate his proposal of two million. Something like that… isn’t easy to come by.”

“It is indeed a little too little.” Qin Ye furrowed his brows, “Based on market price, each apartment in this building should sell for at least seven or eight million.”

“But like you just mentioned, this is merely the market price!” Arthis quickly retorted, “This is Hell. There aren’t many people who are able to bring with them the money of the mortal realm. You have to make these count! You can’t look at RMB in Hell as you would in the mortal realm. It’s value is way higher down here!”

But before they could even finish their discussions, another voice called out, “Number 111… That’s the room that directly faces the pond, isn’t it? It’s just as well, because this old man has also taken a fancy to those rooms over there.”

It was once again the much-hated nouveau riche to play a melody that was music to Qin Ye’s ears. The crowd parted slightly, and an old man who was playing with two walnuts in his hands walked out with a spritely gait. His face was radiant and rosy, hardly anything that one would expect of a person who was dead, “Ten million RMB. I would like two rooms. I’m preparing one for when my aged companion arrives in Hell.”

As soon as this man appeared, the eyes of the seven division heads immediately brightened up. Song Ming hurriedly scooted over to Qin Ye’s side and whispered with a soft voice, “Glass magnate! Huang Liangchuan, the man who single handedly dominated at least half of the entire glass industry across all of Cathay! He started out from a humble shop, and grew his business to a listed mega-company that even exports its products to foreign markets! He grew up in Mount Tai City of Insignia Province, and he was among the first and greatest entrepreneurs of his time - one with an incredibly keen sense for business. The construction companies that each of us were from had all habitually ordered glass from him in the past!”

“Ranked 148th of last year’s list of richest individuals in Cathay. This is… a billionaire we’re talking about! The real deal!”

Qin Ye’s heart was suddenly thrown into chaos.

There are many things in life that one would only properly discover or