Chapter 501: Successful 52 Billion Yen Bid
Lin Haoran sat in the chair, gazing at the lively young girl in front of him, whose youthful beauty was on full display, and could not help feeling a surge of emotion in his heart.
Even he himself had not expected that fate would be so uncanny: just casually wandering along the street, and he happened to run into Akina Nakamori before her debut.
Her looks were, indeed, beyond reproach.
No wonder Akina Nakamori's beauty had been widely recognized in his previous life; only by seeing her with his own eyes could one clearly feel her delicate, melancholy, and innocent qualities that were enough to make people feel protective toward her.
Her face looked as though it had been carved from pink jade, her features exquisitely formed. Her eyes were not large, but her double eyelids had a graceful shape, the space between her brows was fairly wide, her nose line was smooth, and her lips were rather full. Altogether she gave people the impression of a fragile porcelain doll.
In the entertainment industry, good looks were clearly already a ticket through the door.
Otherwise, why would there be so many beauties in showbiz?
"You can ask her whether her dream is to become a big star," Lin Haoran looked toward the receptionist and said with a smile, asking her to translate.
In his previous life, Lin Haoran had watched an interview with Akina Nakamori. In that interview, she said that her childhood dream was to become a singer and enter the entertainment industry, because her mother had once told her that this way she could earn a lot of money and change the family's poverty.
And the reason Akina Nakamori had been singing for money in the street last night was to take part in a variety-show selection program again, as well as to work part-time. Both things showed that right now she was indeed focused on entering the entertainment circle, and also that her family's financial situation was still very poor.
The young receptionist faithfully translated the boss's words into Japanese for Akina Nakamori.
After listening, Akina Nakamori nodded heavily and said in Japanese, "This is my dream. I hope I can become a top singer!"
"You probably still don't know who I am, right? If I say that I can train you to become a top singer in Japan, would you believe it?" Lin Haoran asked with a continued smile.
After the receptionist translated, Akina Nakamori was stunned.
This young boss in front of her, saying he could train her to become a top singer in Japan?
Her first reaction was not to believe it.
From her expression, Lin Haoran knew very well what she was thinking.
However, that was fine; this matter was not something that needed to be rushed.
In truth, it was simply because he was looking at this future top diva of the Asian entertainment industry, someone he had been very familiar with in his previous life, that he had the desire to bring her under his control.
Men, after all, tended to share a few common hobbies: money and beautiful women.
Akina Nakamori was absolutely a first-class beauty.
Right now, his wealth was such that, even if he never worked again in his life, he would not be able to spend it all.
So he could not possibly just keep making money and more money forever; that would be far too dull. He had to find something interesting to do.
And now, gaining control over this future Asian goddess could be considered a very interesting endeavor.
Moreover, Akina Nakamori would not be the last one.
"As for my specific identity, you will naturally come to understand it in the future. Let us set that topic aside for the moment.
Last night I already mentioned to you that I hope you can become our company's long-term print advertising model. Since you have come here today, it shows that you are definitely interested in this position, otherwise you would not have come.
Our company's headquarters is in Hong Kong. It is a very diversified enterprise involved in many different industries. I even control newspapers and television stations.
At present, the company has only just entered the Japanese market. For now it is involved in real estate and retail in Japan, and both of these areas require a large amount of advertising and promotion.
In my view, your image perfectly matches the standard in my mind for a print advertising model, and this is the reason I extended this invitation to you.
As for remuneration, I can offer you two options. First, you can become a contracted artist of our company with a monthly salary of 200,000 yen. You would only need to set aside a certain amount of time each week to come to the company.
Second, you can work as a part-time model. You would only participate when there are shooting assignments, and each time I will pay you according to the going market rate for print models.
You can think it over carefully, or you can discuss it with your parents. The building you are standing in right now already belongs entirely to our company, so you do not need to worry that I will deceive you," Lin Haoran added with a smile.
Two hundred thousand yen was not a huge amount. Converted into Hong Kong dollars, it was only about five thousand.
But for a girl like Akina Nakamori, who came from a poor family, it was absolutely a huge temptation.
Lin Haoran had already been in Japan for some time, and he was very familiar with the salary levels in Tokyo.
In terms of pay, Tokyo, as a developed city, was already doing fairly well, but compared with Hong Kong it was still slightly lower.
At present, the average monthly wage in Tokyo was only about 150,000 yen, and male workers generally earned a bit more than female workers.
For fresh graduates just entering the workforce, if they went into factories, their starting pay was only around 100,000 yen.
So a monthly income of 200,000 yen had tremendous pulling power, especially for a girl like Akina Nakamori, who had not yet graduated and whose family background was only average. Lin Haoran did not believe that she would be able to resist the bait.
As long as she signed this contract, in the future Akina Nakamori would basically never escape the palm of his hand.
The receptionist showed a look of astonishment.
She had not expected that her boss would value this young girl in front of her so highly.
Her own salary was only 200,000 yen, and that was because she had very rich professional experience.
By comparison, from what she had just heard, she already knew that this girl had not even graduated from school yet.
So at this moment, she could not help revealing a very envious expression.
Although she was extremely envious, she still faithfully translated every word from the boss for Akina Nakamori.
And when she heard the figure of 200,000 yen, Lin Haoran clearly saw the shock and excitement in Akina Nakamori's eyes that could not be concealed.
Just as Lin Haoran observed, at this moment Akina Nakamori felt as if she were dreaming.
She had never imagined that a chance encounter could bring her such a tremendous opportunity.
Two hundred thousand yen, for a girl from a poor family who had not yet made her debut, was practically an astronomical sum.
This amount of money could greatly improve her family's financial situation.
Her family's circumstances were only average to begin with, and on top of that she had many siblings. Just their annual school tuition was a huge burden.
Having been eliminated twice in a row in the variety-show selection competition and failing to advance had hit her very hard.
But she had not given up on her dream, because in her mind that show was her only chance to debut. So she had planned to wait a few more months and then take part in that talent selection program again.
Now, however, when faced with the figure of 200,000 yen, her heart was stirred. This was money she could get right away.
By comparison, trying to stand out in a variety-show selection program was far too difficult.
At the moment, what she did not know was whether, if she agreed to this young man in front of her and became a contracted artist with his company, she would still have the potential to develop a future career.
Because she did not know who Lin Haoran really was.
Lin Haoran's name recognition among ordinary people in Japan was not high to begin with, and for a schoolgirl like Akina Nakamori, who did not pay much attention to the news or media, it was even less likely that she would have heard of him.
"By the way, if you want to know more about me, you can look for the newspapers from February 8, such as Asahi Shimbun, Yomiuri Shimbun, Mainichi Shimbun, and so on. There should be reports about me in them. Once you have read those, you should be able to believe in me. I can see that you are still hesitant, so why not go home and talk it over with your parents first? There is no need to rush your decision. After you have thought it through, you can come to me anytime," Lin Haoran continued with a smile.
On the day he arrived in Tokyo, these well-known Japanese media outlets had followed the foreign minister to the airport to welcome him and had given him a brief interview.
The next day, February 8, these news organizations all reported on his arrival, and some newspapers even took the trouble to introduce his background.
"All right, I will go back and think carefully about it," Akina Nakamori said, relieved when she heard that there was no need to decide immediately.
For her, this was indeed a major matter, and she needed to go home and discuss it with her parents.
After Akina Nakamori left, Lin Haoran did not think much more about it.
Two hundred thousand yen, while not an enormous sum for an ordinary family, could still provide a fair amount of help.
Lin Haoran believed that Akina Nakamori's parents would not be able to turn down this temptation.
Right now, Akina Nakamori was not yet eighteen years old. Even if he coaxed and tricked her into agreeing, without the consent of her parents, any contract they signed would not mean much.
This was also why he wanted her to go home and talk things over with her parents.
At two o'clock in the afternoon, Huo Jianning, Zhao Xin, and Sato Shimono all went out. They were going to attend a very important auction.
This auction included several very good plots of land that Lin Haoran was very interested in. Once acquired, in ten years' time the value of the land alone might multiply several dozen times.
So they had to secure them.
However, Lin Haoran did not go along with them.
Even if he went, he would just be watching the show and would not be able to offer any substantive help to the company.
So there was no need for him to attend; he only needed to wait quietly for the results.
The auction lasted for more than an hour.
By the time Huo Jianning and the others returned, it was already five in the afternoon.
As soon as they came back to the company, they went straight to Lin Haoran's office to report.
Before they even spoke, Lin Haoran could tell from the smiles on their faces that the auction must have gone very well.
"Boss, we successfully secured four plots of land in total, and all of them were obtained at slightly below market price. Not many real estate firms took part, so their bidding intention was not very strong. After several rounds of bidding from us, the deals went through. The four plots cost a total of 52 billion yen, which is a bit less than we had expected," Huo Jianning reported quickly.
Fifty-two billion yen, converted into Hong Kong dollars, was only about 1.3 billion, and with that they had obtained four prime plots of land located in the core districts of Chuo, Minato, and Shinjuku—truly a bargain.
Locations and lot sizes like these were equivalent to Central and Wan Chai in Hong Kong.
If they were put up for auction in Hong Kong, they could definitely fetch over 2 billion Hong Kong dollars at present.
Before attending the auction, they already knew that the market value of these plots was between 55 and 60 billion yen.
These values had all been properly assessed.
Now, having acquired them at below-market prices was indeed a pleasant surprise.
"Mm, well done. This can be considered laying a solid foundation for our real estate group in Japan," Lin Haoran nodded in great satisfaction.
At present, Japan's economy was being seriously affected by the oil crisis, unemployment was soaring, and people were clutching their wallets, afraid to spend.
So the real estate sector was not heating up the way it had in Hong Kong; in fact, it was almost at a standstill.
This was also why enthusiasm for land auctions was low.
But Lin Haoran knew very clearly how crazy the rise in Tokyo real estate prices would be once the economic bubble arrived.
(END CHAPTER)
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