I am a Big Player
Chapter 624 - 615, Teacher-student?!_1

Chapter 624: 615, Teacher-student?!_1

In the evening, Ren He went to pick up Joseph and brought him back to have dinner in his own Courtyard House. It was the first time that the Courtyard House had welcomed a foreign guest, which Fang and Mrs. Wang found quite novel.

In the past, they always lamented that those who came to eat at the Courtyard House were either rich or prestigious, which made them realize that their own employer was definitely not an ordinary person.

But now things had changed a bit, the order had changed; they were slowly realizing that not everyone had the privilege of eating in this courtyard.

So, before, it was by looking at the status of others that they thought the employer was extraordinary, but now it was by looking at who the employer invited that they thought the invited person might be extraordinary. In Fang’s world view, the employer was probably the most dazzling young man in the world.

Indeed, this was Joseph’s first time in China, and it seemed different from what the media abroad reported; it wasn’t as poor as he had imagined.

As an international metropolis, the Capital, albeit having some run-down areas, made people who had stayed there feel distinctly different when they returned to third-tier cities—this was a real gap that existed.

Foreigners probably found the mysterious Chinese culture more interesting. When Joseph saw Ren He’s antique-style Courtyard House, he was extremely shocked. Ren He actually lived in such a courtyard. However, in terms of area, the United States had so many houses with independent courtyards that Joseph did not think this Courtyard House would be very expensive, especially since he did not understand the situation in China.

In China, isn’t a house simply a symbol of one’s status? Even when dating, you have to ask how many houses the other person has. It’s bewildering what has become of society.

Let’s not even mention the housing prices in the Capital; just take Luo City, which Ren He was most familiar with. As of 2017, a graduate just starting out would have a salary of 2,700 yuan. After working for a year or two and getting promoted to supervisor, the salary would be just over 3,000 or 4,000 yuan. Toil for a few more years to become a manager, and in a normal industry, you would make at most 6,000 yuan. Then there are the directors and deputy directors who slowly make over 10,000, but how old would they be by then?

Back then, the average housing price in Luo City was 7,000 yuan per square meter. How many years would a young person have to work to afford a house? Without a house, you couldn’t get married—how long would they have to wait? Most people would have to rely on their parents.

This is the social reality in China, unavoidable for anyone.

Some so-called experts always say that housing prices will fall, will fall, but have you ever seen them truly drop? In Ren He’s opinion, prices might only fall when China’s population starts declining.

But he doesn’t understand much about economics, it’s just something he casually discusses with friends while enjoying a barbecue, and that’s pretty much the extent of most people’s expertise.

Ren He’s favorite movie, "Ride the Winds, Break the Waves," featured Li Ronghao saying to Eddie Peng and Deng Chao, "Once the business succeeds, I’ll give each of your gang’s little brothers two houses. In a decade or so, your little brothers will thank you for your decision today!"

Isn’t that so incredibly sensible?

Now, Qinghe’s employee housing has completed its third phase. The policy states that regular employees can be allocated a house to live in, and after working for 20 years, they have the opportunity to purchase a house at the price it was originally offered when the employee housing was established. Before they are qualified to purchase, the property rights belong to Qinghe, as clearly written in the labor contracts, and the employees aren’t worried about Qinghe reneging, because what kind of place is Qinghe? It has never shortchanged its employees a penny! Qinghe is probably the only company daring enough to sign such labor contracts!

What does that say about the cohesion of Qinghe now? With housing and land prices skyrocketing since 2007, by early 2008, prices had more than doubled. Who knows how much they will rise in the future?

The employees of Qinghe, seeing the upward trend in housing prices, knew that owning a house after 20 years meant making a great profit. It wouldn’t just be houses in Luo City; Qinghe now owned land in major cities across the country and had developed some residential communities in cooperation with the Luohe Group. Some houses were reserved and not sold, available for purchase after 20 years.

What does that signify?

Li Ronghao said, "In about a decade or so, you guys will thank yourselves for this decision."

At Qinghe, they didn’t even need a decade; in just 2 years, they were already thanking the boss for his visionary decision...

According to Ren He, he bought property when house and land prices were at their lowest, then used the enormous potential for growth to tie the members to Qinghe’s aircraft carrier. Apart from pyramid schemes, which company would dare to say it can compete with Qinghe’s cohesion?

Even pyramid schemes might not compare... shouting ’I can succeed’ is nothing compared to actual ownership of a house... this is called ’one force subduing ten sessions’...

Now, if an internet company outside wanted to poach an ordinary employee from Qinghe, the cost would be freaking one apartment, can you believe it? This is simply disrupting market balance!

There used to be a saying in the workplace: employees are trained for others.

When it came to companies with a lot of talent, everyone felt they should go poach some; talent was seen as communal property!

But when it came to Qinghe, there’s nothing to poach, the talent isn’t communal property, the talent belongs to Qinghe!

Joseph was very fond of this old-fashioned courtyard, but once inside the house, it was much more modern, in pure light-colored Nordic style, contrasting extremely with the old-fashioned exterior. It felt like entering another world once inside the house.

When the real estate developer Cui Qiang refurbished this courtyard, he considered whether to go for old-fashioned furniture as well, such as red sandalwood, huanghuali, and nanmu, but the cost of these items was just too high and not worth it.

If it had been that kind of furniture, Ren He couldn’t have stood it either; the chairs were too hard and uncomfortable, and you couldn’t even lounge on the sofa to watch TV. How could the younger generation stand it? They’d definitely need to change it.

"Are you really not going back to America?" Joseph asked with a hint of regret, sitting in the house. Coming here, he understood that Ren He’s place had taken on the feel of a home and no longer resembled the rental in New York. It seemed as though the other party was planning to stop wandering, so he asked directly.

"Yeah, I really don’t plan to go back," Ren He shook his head and said, "You saw Liu Jiamin’s performance today, even if I insist on teaching, it could totally work in China, right?"

"China is developing rapidly. Back in America, the media has started reporting positive news about China, but people don’t believe it, and even I had my doubts. Now, seeing all this in front of me, I finally believe it," Joseph said, "The Juilliard School of Music hasn’t focused much on recruiting students from China, but after today’s competition, I think we need to adjust our policies. There are truly many prodigies in China."

Ren He recalled the events leading up to his application back then. In fact, he could have applied for a tourist visa for the interview, then after getting an invitation, proceed with the student visa application. But the problem was that this process itself was incorrect; it was even a violation of American law to be more serious. Why should he have to break the law to go for an interview and attend school?

The American visa regulations clearly state that if it’s discovered that someone has pursued schooling or employment after entering the country on a tourist visa, they will be put on the visa blacklist.

Why the hell?

At that moment, Yang Xi, who had just finished a round of Dota, came into the room, and Joseph, seeing Yang Xi, was slack-jawed: "You guys are having a student-teacher romance! Did you run off privately back to China because of this student-teacher romance?!"