Chapter 519: Yu Mo’s Ambition
Liu Yutong was speechless after hearing Yu Mo explain the recent activities of Yu Group.
“Are you crazy?”
“Yu Mo, are you trying to get yourself killed?!”
Yu Mo was taken aback. He hadn’t expected such a strong reaction from Liu Yutong and quickly explained: “Sister Yutong, as you know, land and housing prices are falling. Those guys are all shouting about everyone withholding properties together to drive up prices, but they’re secretly selling at reduced prices themselves. I was just following their example, releasing a few more units to recoup some capital. Isn’t that perfectly normal…”
Liu Yutong cut straight to the point: “Then let me ask you—how many units did you release?”
Yu Mo didn’t dare hide the truth and answered honestly: “Over five thousand in HS Province, more than nine hundred in JH Province…”
When Liu Yutong heard those numbers, she laughed in exasperation: “This is about recouping capital? Flooding the market with that many properties at once—what are you really trying to do? Or do you think you can hide this from me?”
“Aren’t you trying to dump a massive amount of inventory at once, drive prices even lower, crash the housing market completely, and then buy the bottom?”
“Yu Mo, you’re too greedy!”
Yu Mo lowered his head and said nothing, which was as good as admitting it.
The 2008 financial crisis had hit every industry hard, especially real estate.
Whether it was HS Province, where Wanlong Society headquarters was located, or JH Province where Liu Yutong was based, many major real estate firms saw their assets shrink dramatically. Smaller developers simply went bankrupt.
Real estate companies elsewhere faced the same fate.
For example, last year’s domestic real estate tycoon had a net worth of over a hundred billion at its peak. This year, it had been slashed to less than thirty billion—a nearly 80% drop.
Because Yu Mo had gotten advance warning from Liu Yutong that this year’s market would be grim, he’d prepared early. He’d stopped acquiring land altogether, secretly offloaded some high-priced parcels, and stockpiled large amounts of cash through leveraged equity loans, just waiting for the market to plummet so he could buy the bottom.
His massive property dump this time was pure greed—he felt the price drop hadn’t been deep enough and wanted to smash it down further before buying up bargains.
He’d been somewhat clever about it. The company used to dump these properties didn’t belong to Yu Group. It was a new company he’d secretly set up himself.
The company’s purpose wasn’t just buying the bottom. He also wanted to use this opportunity to strip assets from Yu Group.
He had his father to thank for that—the one who stayed overseas and never came back.
“Yu Mo, sometimes I really don’t know what goes on in your head. Do you have any idea how many eyes are on the real estate market right now? The financial crisis hammered real estate so hard this year that prices fell too fast. The authorities definitely want a soft landing—they want stability. Housing prices can adjust moderately, but they absolutely cannot collapse!”
“Do you know why? Because behind it all are thousands upon thousands of jobs, local GDP, fiscal revenue, bank loan security, even the stability of entire industrial chains.
Those real estate bosses are colluding to withhold inventory—you think the authorities don’t know?
Their methods are disgusting, but at least on the surface, they fit the narrative of market stability. The authorities will just turn a blind eye. Even if someone secretly sells a few units because they’re genuinely out of money and have no choice, it won’t make much difference.“
“But what are you doing? You actually went and crashed the market!”
“Those Li and Zhang bosses in your real estate circle are even more powerful than you. Which of them isn’t a shrewd operator? Why don’t they do this? Because they know that whoever crashes the market becomes everyone’s enemy. Not only will they not let you off, but the authorities will also come after you!”
“Tell me, aren’t you just asking for death?”
By the time Liu Yutong finished speaking, Yu Mo’s forehead was covered in cold sweat. He had indeed been blinded by the prospect of enormous future profits and done something this insane.
Now that Liu Yutong had laid it bare, he panicked.
“Sister Yutong, I was wrong. What should I do now? I’ve already released the properties.”
Seeing his terrified expression, Liu Yutong’s tone softened slightly: “What can you do? Stop sales on whatever hasn’t sold—but don’t stop everything. Keep some units for people who genuinely need housing. Try not to maliciously inflate prices, but don’t crash the market either. Just conduct normal market transactions.”
“Also, if you want to buy the bottom, now is about the right time. And when you do, do it with fanfare—publicly declare how optimistic you are about the property market’s future with every purchase you make. Understand?”
Yu Mo nodded hurriedly: “I understand, I understand.”
Even he wasn’t so stupid as to miss who that public statement was meant for.
Liu Yutong nodded: “Arrange it as soon as possible.”
Yu Mo didn’t delay any further and quickly got up to leave. But as he reached the door, he suddenly turned back.
“Sister Yutong, my father overseas has instructed Yu Meng to sue me. He wants to regain control of the company through Yu Meng and told me that if I want to negotiate, I have to go abroad to find him. Do you think I should go?”
Liu Yutong looked at him like he was an idiot: “Go? Walk right into a trap? Yu Mo, your father’s move isn’t very sophisticated.”
“He’s overseas now—the emperor is far away—yet he wants you, the chairman of Yu Group here in the country, to go find him for talks? Talk about what? What’s there to talk about?”
Yu Mo: “Then what should I do? The lawsuit has already been filed. If I don’t respond…”
“Who says you don’t respond?”
Liu Yutong interrupted him: “Respond, of course you respond. But on our terms. He wants a lawsuit? We’ll give him one—but only in domestic courts. This is our home turf. Legal resources, personal connections—which advantage don’t we have?”
“Your father wants you to go abroad for two reasons. First, to get you out of the way so Yu Meng can pull strings back here in the country. Second, overseas, he has many ways to make you submit, even prevent you from coming back.”
A chill ran down Yu Mo’s spine. He hadn’t thought it through that deeply.
After all, the dust had long since settled. He didn’t think his father could turn the tables—so what if he went?
Most importantly, though, he wanted to retrieve something—something his mother had left him.
Seeing him lost in thought, Liu Yutong knew the guy still wanted to go.
“If you really want to go, make preparations first. I know you want to strip assets from Yu Group, so go ahead and do it your way.”
Yu Mo nodded: “Sister Yutong, I understand.”
Liu Yutong thought for a moment and added: “Housing prices will definitely rise in the future, but let me remind you: you’d better not get involved in speculation. Houses are ultimately meant for people to live in—do you understand?”
Yu Mo nodded again: “I understand.”
Liu Yutong: “Clean up your mess first. Come find me after it’s handled.”
Yu Mo: “Yes, Sister Yutong. I’ll be going then.”
Liu Yutong: “Go.”