CHAPTER 59: CHAPTER 59: FOUR FULL QUARTERS WITH MY FEMALE BASKETBALL BUDDY

"The exhibition hall is now in my hands," Huang Yuqiu said. "When I came here to invest, the local officials talked to me about this hall, hoping I would buy it."

Huang Yuqiu came to Jin City to build connections.

If making money isn’t the main goal, then you have to play the fool.

So Jin City took the opportunity to sell the exhibition hall to Huang Yuqiu at a high price.

The problem is, Huang Yuqiu has no use for the place.

Now Chen Yiyang has taken out this counterfeit Spanish platinum coin for trade.

This immediately reminded Huang Yuqiu of the exhibition hall.

The construction cost of the Silk Exhibition Hall back then was over ten million. Of course, its current value definitely doesn’t match its original cost.

But selling it for a few million shouldn’t be a problem.

Chen Yiyang’s counterfeit Spanish platinum coin doesn’t have a specific price, just like the exhibition hall.

So they exchanged them.

After Huang Yuqiu proposed this idea, it was Chen Yiyang’s turn to hesitate because he originally planned to use the coin to supplement his cash flow.

However, after calculating in his mind, he quickly made up his mind.

This coin would only fetch one to two million if sold to others.

But even one to two million isn’t enough to buy a decent apartment, let alone an exhibition hall of several thousand square meters.

Even if he couldn’t use it, he could sell it cheaply for a few million later. He wasn’t worried about costs or being accused of losing state assets.

"No problem. This Spanish coin for your Silk Exhibition Hall."

Two major deals were successfully negotiated.

After the two happily finished their meal, they began to contact their respective lawyers and accountants to draft contracts and complete the transaction.

Of course, since neither the Spanish coin nor stock transactions could be made public,

officially, Huang Yuqiu had to gift these two items to Chen Yiyang for free.

Once these transactions are made public, Chen Yiyang would likely be seen as another Yang He by others, a puppet for some elites.

It’s a pity since he was clearly a doer.

Financially, Shen Yifan, the junior accountant Chen Yiyang employed, was quite handy.

Mainly because Shen Yifan had trained under an engineering boss before. Regular accounting might be average, but he was very skilled at making false accounts.

Of course, Chen Yiyang’s accounts didn’t involve criminal falsehoods; they mostly couldn’t be clearly stated publicly.

This contract also involved some legal issues, so Chen Yiyang had to find a lawyer.

Unexpectedly, Yang Yu was a law student from a legitimate law school.

But Chen Yiyang still didn’t trust her, especially since she hadn’t pursued a legal career after graduation.

Chen Yiyang quickly remembered that he had a law firm’s contact saved on his phone.

So, he found the number and dialed it.

"Hello, this is Yida Law Firm."

After stating his needs, the other party promptly accepted the commission.

"Our lawyer will arrive in Jin City tomorrow to serve you."

The lawyer matters were settled too.

Finally, Chen Yiyang could clear the tasks at hand.

But tonight, he had something even more important.

Chang Yuning was back.

With Chen Yiyang playing more basketball lately and deepening connections with various teammates,

his skills had improved by leaps and bounds.

Simply put,

the previously rested Chang Yuning couldn’t defend against Chen Yiyang’s breakthroughs anymore.

Chang Yuning returned full of confidence, thinking it was easy to single-handedly defend Chen Yiyang.

But the intensity of their match had leveled up unexpectedly.

By the third quarter, seeing Chang Yuning’s stamina dwindling, Chen Yiyang decided not to break through the three-second zone and just hover near the free-throw line.

But unexpectedly, despite his ineptness, Chang Yuning suggested a back-to-the-basket move.

The back-to-the-basket move was indeed less energy-consuming than facing opposition, allowing for slightly deeper ball positions and controlled dribbling.

They soon found a rhythm and area for the post play and smoothly finished the third quarter.

But by the fourth quarter, Chang Yuning was utterly defeated.

He was completely taken down by Chen Yiyang, and the game was entering garbage time.

Chen Yiyang had to stay in the paint, offering verbal and physical reassurances to comfort Chang Yuning while running plays, avoiding direct confrontation.

Though the game was somewhat dull, they managed to finish the fourth quarter and ended the match smoothly.

After the game, Chen Yiyang had enough energy to hand Chang Yuning a bottle of water.

"Something’s off with you," Chang Yuning said after a long rest.

"What’s off with me?"

"Did you practice with other teammates while I was away?"

It seemed Chang Yuning’s intuition was somewhat accurate.

So Chen Yiyang chose to change the topic.

"Have you ever been to the Silk Art Gallery?"

The abrupt topic shift made Chang Yuning want to probe further, but upon hearing "Silk Art Gallery," his attention was drawn away.

"I did go once after it was vacant," Chang Yuning replied.

"Why did you go if it was vacant?"

"Didn’t the gallery announce it was for rent back then? The place was big and suitable for converting into a gym. So, I went with friends who were thinking of co-founding a gym."

"With such a vast area, it would indeed be suitable for a gym," Chen Yiyang thought, considering that the place could indeed be a good gym.

Moreover, gyms don’t require much electricity, meaning the hall wouldn’t need a major electric overhaul.

Just a partial conversion of the restroom into shower rooms would suffice.

"But the rent there is very high. Opening a gym would put a lot of financial pressure. Initially, the staff we connected with mentioned possible subsidies or rent reductions, but it didn’t work out in the end, so my friends gave up."

"Did they find another place for the gym?"

"No, they’re still looking. They are all over thirty and aim to run their gym as a long-term plan, so they have to be cautious."

After speaking, Chang Yuning lay on Chen Yiyang’s chest, nudged his chin, and curiously asked, "Why are you asking about this?"

"Nothing," Chen Yiyang deflected.

He hadn’t signed the contract with Huang Yuqiu yet, so he wasn’t ready to disclose anything.

Early the next morning, after seeing off Chang Yuning, Chen Yiyang picked up his phone.

Today’s information: unsold watermelons once again—Zhang Fu and other villagers’ watermelons are unsold again. Buy them at a low price and sell to Linghui Juice Factory for a quick profit.

Hmm?

Chen Yiyang was a bit stunned after reading the information.

It wasn’t that he disliked the smaller profit from this chance,

but, wasn’t Zhang Fu the guy he previously helped sell watermelons, the watermelon farmer he assisted?

He had introduced Zhang Fu to sell them to Linghui Juice Factory before.

But why was the system suggesting buying from Zhang Fu at a lower price and selling to Linghui Juice for a profit now?

Could Zhang Fu have forgotten about Linghui Juice and the help he’d received?