After listening to Yu Mo's account of the recent maneuvers within the Yu Group, Liu Yutong was utterly speechless.
"Are you out of your mind?"
"Yu Mo, do you have a death wish?!"
Yu Mo was taken aback, not expecting Liu Yutong to react so strongly, and hurried to explain:
"Sister Yutong, you know how it is. Land and housing prices are falling right now. Those guys are all shouting about holding the line together to prop up prices, but in reality, they're secretly selling at discounts. I was just following suit, releasing a few more properties to recoup some funds. Isn't that perfectly normal..."
Liu Yutong shot back directly, "Then let me ask you, how many units did you release?"
Not daring to hide the truth, Yu Mo answered honestly, "Over five thousand units in HS Province, more than nine hundred in JH Province..."
Hearing these numbers, Liu Yutong laughed in exasperation. "Is this just about recouping funds? Dumping such a huge volume of properties all at once—what exactly are you trying to do? Or do you think you can hide this from me?"
"You just want to flood the market, drive prices down further, preferably trigger a complete crash, and then swoop in to buy at the bottom, don't you?"
"Yu Mo, you're too greedy!"
Yu Mo lowered his head and fell silent, tacitly admitting it.
The 2008 financial crisis had a severe impact on all industries, especially real estate.
Whether in HS Province, where the Wanlong Association headquarters was located, or in JH Province, where Liu Yutong was based, the assets of many major real estate companies had shrunk drastically, with smaller developers going bankrupt outright.
Real estate companies elsewhere were no exception.
For instance, last year's domestic real estate tycoon saw his net worth peak at over a hundred billion, but this year it had been slashed to less than thirty billion—a nearly 80% plunge.
Having learned from Liu Yutong earlier that the market outlook for the year was grim, Yu Mo had taken preemptive measures. He halted land acquisitions, quietly offloaded some high-priced plots, and stockpiled a large cash reserve through loans and equity pledges, all in preparation to buy at the bottom when the market crashed.
This massive property sell-off was simply driven by greed—he felt the price drop wasn't steep enough and wanted to push it down further before making his move.
He was clever enough to carry out the sales through a company not under the Yu Group's umbrella, but a new one he had secretly set up himself.
Besides positioning for the market bottom, this company served another purpose: he wanted to use this opportunity to strip assets from the Yu Group.
All this was thanks to his father, who remained overseas and refused to return.
"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? This year, because of the financial crisis, real estate has fallen too fast. The authorities definitely want a soft landing, they want stability. Prices can adjust moderately, but they absolutely must not crash!"
"Do you know why? Because it involves hundreds of thousands of jobs, local GDP, fiscal revenue, bank loan security, and even the stability of the entire industrial chain.
Those real estate bosses colluding to halt sales—do you think the authorities don't know about it?
Although their tactics are despicable, on the surface at least they align with the goal of stabilizing the market, so the authorities will turn a blind eye. Even if someone sells a little secretly, it's because they're truly desperate for cash, forced into it, and it won't have a major impact."
"But what are you doing? You're directly smashing the market!"
"Those in your real estate circle—Boss Li, Boss Zhang, who are even more powerful than you—aren't they all shrewd? Why aren't they doing this? Because they know whoever crashes the market becomes everyone's enemy. Not only will they not let you off, the authorities will also come to settle accounts with you!"
"Don't you see you're asking for trouble?"
By the time Liu Yutong finished speaking, cold sweat was beading on Yu Mo's forehead. He had indeed been blinded by the enormous potential profits, leading him to do something so reckless.
Now, with Liu Yutong laying it bare, he panicked.
"Sister Yutong, I was wrong. What should I do now? I've already released the properties."
Seeing his frightened state, Liu Yutong's tone softened slightly. "What can you do? Stop the ones that haven't been sold yet, but don't halt everything. Keep some available for those with genuine housing needs. Try not to maliciously speculate to drive up prices, and don't maliciously crash them either. Just engage in normal market behavior."
"Also, if you want to buy at the bottom, it's about time you can start. And when you do, make a show of it. Announce publicly with every acquisition that you are highly optimistic about the housing market's development. Understand?"
Yu Mo nodded hurriedly. "Understood, understood."
Even he wasn't so foolish as to not realize who these public statements were meant for.
Liu Yutong nodded. "Go and arrange it as soon as possible."
Yu Mo didn't delay any longer, quickly getting up to leave. Just as he reached the door, he suddenly turned back.
"Sister Yutong, my father, from abroad, instructed Yu Meng to sue me. He wants to use Yu Meng to regain control of the company and told me that if I want to negotiate, I should go see him overseas. Do you think I should go?"
Liu Yutong looked at him as if he were an idiot. "Go? Walk right into a trap? Yu Mo, your father's move isn't very sophisticated."
"He's abroad now, far beyond anyone's reach, yet he wants you, the Yu Group chairman who's here domestically, to go talk to him? Talk about what? What is there to discuss?"
Yu Mo: "Then what should I do? The lawsuit has already been filed. If I don't respond..."
"Who said not to respond?"
Liu Yutong cut him off. "Respond, of course we respond. But we do it on our own terms. If he wants a legal fight, we'll give him one, but it has to be here domestically. This is our home turf. The law, connections—which advantage don't we hold?"
Your father wants you to go abroad for nothing more than two reasons. First, to get you out of the way, making it easier for Yu Meng to return and stir up trouble at home. Second, abroad he has many ways to force you into submission, even to prevent you from coming back.
A chill ran down Yu Mo's spine. He really hadn't thought that deeply.
After all, the situation seemed settled long ago; he didn't think his father could turn things around. So what if he went?
Of course, most importantly, he wanted to retrieve something—something his mother left for him.
Seeing him lost in thought, Liu Yutong knew this guy still wanted to go.
"If you really want to go, make preparations in advance. I know you want to strip the Yu Group's assets, so go ahead and proceed with your plan first."
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 property speculation. Houses, in the end, are for people to live in. Do you understand?"
Yu Mo nodded again. "Understood."
Liu Yutong: "First, clean up your mess. Come see me again after you've handled it."
Yu Mo: "Alright, Sister Yutong. I'll take my leave now."
Liu Yutong: "Go on."
