Once Link's business in California is over, Jessica changes her mind and wants to stay in California for a while longer.

He had no choice but to take Hannah back to Huazhou first. Because Fox's land is about to be auctioned. Although he didn't need to go there to add it himself, Martha would come and talk to him about the auction before it began.

He had only reached Ozette on the front foot, and Martha's plane had landed in Ozette very quickly.

Because they felt that the auction was a sure deal, Martha came alone.

The auction won't start until tomorrow, and Martha will stay in Ozette for one night and go to the auction tomorrow morning. But she clearly didn't just come for that little auction.

She was lugging a suitcase. And that's not her luggage.

Link led her to the study, saw her dragging her suitcase in, and asked what it was.

Martha said, "It's a contract. She said as she put the suitcase down and opened it. "It is the last batch of noodle shops to join the contract this year. Since I'm coming, I'll bring it with me. ”

Link saw that the suitcase was full and asked, "How many are this?" These contracts require not only Link's signature, but also Song Xianhe's signature. Because Song Xianhe is the president of the noodle company.

"Four hundred and twenty-nine. She said as she closed the suitcase again.

"I'll take care of it by tomorrow!

"Yes, Mr. Pitt donated $230 million to the Hans Foundation. We've taken care of the formalities. ”

Link nodded and said, "I see." He had heard this about it the last time he asked Flen Pitt to help with the shooting. And he donated more than 500 million to Fren's fund before. It's about the same as the other party's donation for two consecutive years. He also donated another 300 million yuan to his Hans Fund this year. That would cut him hundreds of millions of dollars in personal income tax this year.

"This is a plan for Fox's new town based on the topographic map of the plot you gave. As she spoke, she took a file bag from her briefcase and handed it to Link. She sat down and said. "Of course, this is preliminary planning. If you are not satisfied with anything, we will ask the designer to revise it. ”

Although the land has not yet been won, Link thinks there will be no surprises, so he asks Martha to find someone to design the plan in advance. In that case, after the auction is completed, the Fox government can discuss how to expand the city.

But not everything goes as planned.

Before Link could finish reading the design drawings, he received a call from Kemp: "Link, things have changed. A third company has signed up for the auction. ”

As soon as Link heard this, his brows immediately furrowed, and he asked, "Is that company?"

"Pacific Midridge Homes from Seattle. Kemp paused on the phone and said. "I just got the news, too. ”

Link's brow furrowed even deeper, and he said, "I see, thank you for the reminder." ”

After he hung up, he closed the plan and said to Martha, "The competitor has appeared." Pacific Ridge Homes Company, this should not be a well-known company. ”

"I'll look it up. Martha took out her tablet and typed a search term into it. Soon, she searched for the information she was looking for. After she looked at it, she handed the tablet to Link and said. "The Pacific Ridge Homes Company is not very well capitalized, but it was acquired by the Horton Company for more than $70 million in 15 years. The latter is currently the largest real estate company in the United States. ”

Link looked at the tablet and said, "So, our plan might be frustrated?" and he returned the tablet to Martha.

Martha looked further into the information of the Holden Company and said, "I think so. The first information I found was that Holden acquired Pacific Ridge Homes in order to expand its business in Washington and increase its presence on the West Coast of the United States. Although the Holden Company is not very large, its assets reach 15 billion dollars. Fox's new town project isn't huge, though. But Pacific Ridge Homes certainly can't do it on its own. ”

What she meant was that Pacific Ridge Homes must have the support of the parent company.

That's why Link worries about variables. The largest real estate company in the United States. Although the company's assets are not as large as his personal assets. However, in the Fox New Town plan, with the financial resources of the other company, it is not a problem at all to win.

But now that it's been over, they can't help it. You can only beat each other at auction.

What he and Kemp agreed at the beginning was to keep the reserve price of the auctioned land low. His psychological floor price is also very low.

That's the ultimate goal of him and other companies.

He simply wanted to make Fox prosperous and increase his influence on Fox through the New Town project. It also strengthens the loyalty of employees at both plants. So he didn't even think about making money directly on this project.

The purpose of other companies is nothing more than to build a house, sell it for money, and then leave.

Camp had long been prepared for such a situation, so it was stated in the auction announcement that the land obtained by auction must start construction in the new town within two months and complete the construction within one year. Sell the property within a year and a half. At the same time, the total area of the family housing is required, and the area of the commercial area.

I thought that with that condition, no other company would be interested in this project. But whatever they are afraid of, they come. And it also showed up on the last day before the auction registration.

The auction was going on tomorrow, and they couldn't think of a way to deal with it. And they can't go to the other party to negotiate, otherwise it will be difficult for the other party to give face, as long as the other party says a few words to the media. The Fox project is over.

…………

At ten o'clock the next morning, the land auction took place in a large conference room in the Fox administration.

Link hadn't planned to go. But things changed a little, and he came with Martha. When they arrived at the auction hall, there were already quite a few people seated inside, but most of them were sitting in the back.

They are all citizens of Fox. I was invited by the city government to testify.

The people who participated in the auction were arranged to sit in the first few rows, but there were only three companies, and there were certainly not many people from the three companies. Link saw that a young man was already sitting in the first row. When the other party saw him, he just sat there and nodded to him, which was regarded as a greeting.

He also smiled and nodded to the other party, and then greeted the citizens behind him.

Fox is a very small town, and Link has lived in Washington for more than a year. Not only did all the people present know him, but he could basically call everyone by name.

"Link, I heard Mayor Camp say that this new city project is not only to attract more people to live, but also to bring more tourists. ”

"Sean, to be honest, I did plan it that way. But that's just the plan, isn't it? At least until I photographed the land. ”

Sean runs a small supermarket, which would be of great benefit to his business if there were more tourists or more residents. "We all want you to lead the project," he laughs. And I think you're going to take that land. I don't think there's anyone in the whole of Washington who is richer than you except Bill Gates. ”

That's too absolute. The number of wealthy people in Seattle is probably comparable to that of New York and Miami in the United States. Who knows how many assets those people have?

Link laughs, "But this project will only cost $300 million at most." A lot of companies can come up with that money. Even if you can't take it out, there are still banks. ”

If he were just a real estate company, it was indeed possible for him to bid regardless of the price. But he had money and couldn't spend it because of the residents of Fox.

Of course, the reserve price of the land to be auctioned is still very low. He also raised the psychological floor price when he learned that there were real competitors joining. But his psychological floor price is still not guaranteed to repel the competitors. So he didn't dare to give them any guarantees.

"I also hope that Link will win the auction. We trust you more than the other two!" said a fat man and Link, but his eyes were fixed on Martha. "Who is this young lady?"

Although the fat man shows that he wants to pick up girls, Link is not surprised by this. Although Martha is a black person, she is actually black and white, her skin is not very dark, and she is delicate in appearance, tall and well-proportioned, and it is not normal for men to see that they do not stare at it.

But these people certainly don't have a chance: "She's Martha, the head of my business management team, the head of a foundation and the president of an investment company. He smiled and paused and said. Of course, she also has a very important identity as a famous beauty in Las Vegas. ”

"Wow, it's a beautiful president!" the fat man was very frustrated when he heard it. Although Americans pursue romance, the love between a poor boy and a rich girl has always been a legend, which shows that identity is also a barrier between the sexes in the United States.

Martha greeted them with a smile: "Hi, hello guys!"

So Link was left to dry, and almost all the men gathered around her.

However, the representatives who were invited were not only men, but also several women. But these are women who are more middle-aged and older, and they are more interested in Link. In and out of their words, they all regarded the land as Link's possession. It's just that Link isn't as sure as they are.

Soon, the time for the auction to start was up. Mayor Camp walked in with a couple of government employees, followed by two middle-aged men.

So Link and Martha went and sat down. It was only when he noticed that the people from the Pacific Ridge Homes had arrived. There is only one person from this company. She sat in the front, and Link could only see the back of her head with a ponytail tied.

Camp first introduced the notary who had come in with him. Then the requirements for the auction and the auction announcement were read out. The last young man took the stage and said: "Now the bidding for the first plot of land begins." The parcel is six hundred acres in size and is located on the east side of Fox. The low price is $3.6 million. Please bid!"

The man sent by Flon first offered $3.8 million.

"Six million dollars. "Representatives of Pacific Ridge Homes raised the price by more than $2 million in the first bid.

This price has exceeded Link's previous expectations. However, that is far from the psychological floor price of Link's new psychological floor.

Martha raised her hand directly, "Seven million dollars!"

"Ten million dollars!"

Hearing that Pacific Ridge Homes had quoted such a price without hesitation, Link pursed his lips. This is not far from his psychological floor. And the other party seems to be bound to win.

Martha glanced at him, and then directly shouted out his psychological reserve price: "Twelve million dollars!" This is far more than the original price of Kempding.

But that's clearly not the psychological floor price of Pacific Ridge Homes.

"Fourteen million dollars!" the woman didn't even pause, and raised her hand to quote a new price.

Martha turned her head to look at Link's meaning.

Link thought for a moment and held out a finger. After Martha shouted a second time to the young people on stage, she immediately quoted Link's final price: "Fifteen million dollars!"

"Sixteen million dollars!"

Seeing Martha have looked at herself. Link didn't say anything. So the land in the new city can only be left in the hands of others.