Chapter 520: The Richest Man’s Banquet
After watching Yu Mo leave, Liu Yutong fell into deep thought.
Originally, she had brought Yu Mo’s Yu Group into this precisely to create a replicable super urban complex similar to the Wanda model from her past life.
For example, a standard Wanlong Plaza wouldn’t just be an isolated shopping center, but a massive multi-functional complex.
The core would be the Wanlong Shopping Center to attract foot traffic, surrounded by office buildings, commercial streets, apartments, residential units, etc., forming a self-sustaining commercial ecosystem.
This way, people could work, live, shop, entertain, and stay within the complex, meeting all their needs while boosting commercial value.
Liu Yutong had a clear development strategy for this sector: focus exclusively on the shopping center segment.
They could build it themselves or partner with others who provided capital and land, with Wanlong Society Group handling design, construction, tenant recruitment, and operations, collecting corresponding management fees.
This model essentially copied the Wanda model from her past life. However, learning from its predecessor’s mistakes, she would definitely prevent Wanlong Society Group from collapsing and would transition to a light-asset operation model ahead of schedule.
For now, focusing on heavy assets was unavoidable—the Wanlong Plaza/Wanlong Shopping Center brand simply didn’t have enough recognition yet to convince others to invest capital and land.
They had to build their reputation first before they could switch to a light-asset model.
Liu Yutong had originally roped in Yu Mo because he was obedient and Yu Group had extensive experience in development and construction.
A super urban complex required comprehensive planning, not piecemeal development.
Yu Group could perfectly develop residential communities, apartments, office buildings, and star-rated hotels around the shopping center according to the master plan, filling out the Wanlong Plaza-centered ecosystem.
However, Yu Mo’s recent display of reckless gambling tendencies and underlying instability left Liu Yutong somewhat uneasy.
Human ambition inevitably swells, and Yu Mo was no exception.
She had no desire for his sudden rash decisions to impact Wanlong Society Group’s development.
“Looks like I need to put a leash on him to ensure he doesn’t run wild.”
Liu Yutong called for Su Mansu: “Mansu, I need you to handle something immediately.”
“Boss, what is it?”
Su Mansu had already changed into her new professional attire—a black suit identical to the Wanlong Society uniform, complete with a silver embroidered dragon emblem on the chest.
Honestly, the outfit made her look more like a white-collar professional.
Of course, Su Mansu herself didn’t see it that way.
She thought the outfit was sharp, but a bit too black…
“Contact Zhao Tianyi’s side and have them draft a proposal—for instance, establishing a special fund where the brand premium and guaranteed customer flow from Wanlong Plaza’s future success serve as intangible assets injected into the fund. Yu Group would be required to forcibly pledge a portion of its equity to this fund as risk collateral…”
“In short, if Yu Group cooperates with us to properly develop the super urban complex, everything will be returned to them in the future. But if they unilaterally alter the plans and so on, it will be confiscated…”
“Yes, Boss. I’ll arrange it immediately.” Su Mansu noted it down and began contacting people to handle it.
Actually, Liu Yutong didn’t want to do it this way. She could have easily increased her voice in Yu Group by buying shares to restrain Yu Mo.
But that would have violated her original principle of not getting involved in residential real estate.
To date, all the land she had acquired was for self-use. She knew perfectly well that residential development would be highly profitable in the coming years, but she simply didn’t want to get involved.
There were countless ways to make money; she didn’t need this one.
Therefore, she wanted to use alternative methods to constrain Yu Mo, lest he become inflated after growing too powerful.
It was almost mealtime.
Su Mansu entered Liu Yutong’s suite with a folder in hand, ready to report on her work.
She had more or less acclimated to the transition from university professor to assistant.
“Boss, regarding the special fund to restrain President Yu that you assigned this morning, I’ve already communicated with Mr. Zhao Tianyi’s side. They indicated they would have a detailed proposal within three days.”
Liu Yutong nodded: “Once it’s ready, remember to bring it to me.”
“Yes.”
Su Mansu noted it down and continued with her report.
“Additionally, here’s this week’s work brief that requires your review. For the shopping center acquired in South City, the design team has submitted three preliminary concept proposals… News from Pearl City indicates that Wanhui Youxuan’s valuation has increased again, and they plan to proceed with Series C financing at year-end. Third…”
Once she truly settled into work mode, Su Mansu’s high level of competence became evident, organizing various pieces of information methodically.
Overall, Liu Yutong was quite satisfied with her performance.
After finishing her report, Su Mansu closed the folder and said, “Boss, there’s one more thing. The secretariat just received a call from Mr. Huang Yu’s secretary.”
Liu Yutong’s slightly languid gaze immediately sharpened.
Huang Yu, the Mainland’s richest man (officially), a titan of the retail industry.
She had hosted him at the university last year. Currently, he didn’t have much interaction with her Wanlong Society.
“Are you sure it’s Huang Yu?”
“Yes. His secretary said that Mr. Huang Yu is hosting a dinner tomorrow evening at Xingyi Hotel and would like to invite you to dine together, mentioning that he wishes to exchange ideas.”
“That’s all they said; they didn’t reveal any specific intentions,” Su Mansu added.
Liu Yutong couldn’t figure out at all why Huang Yu would suddenly want to invite her to dinner.
Could he be trying to recruit her to join forces against Old Zhang?
Actually, there was indeed cooperation between her supermarkets and Suning, which might have been discovered by the other party.
After a moment of deliberation, Liu Yutong made her decision: “Reply to them that I will attend punctually tomorrow evening.”