Chapter 361: To Get Rich, Build Roads First

“That’s good to hear!”

Xu Zhengming relaxed a little after hearing that everything had been coordinated with the Clothing Factory.

A one-month delay in opening the Pet Park wasn’t a big deal, but if it affected the Clothing Factory’s production, that would be a real headache.

“Let’s go. Another truckload of stray cats and dogs is arriving today. I need to go handle it.”

Pang Tao glanced at the still-under-construction Cat Castle, then turned and walked away.

“Yeah, the Rescue Station has also started construction. I’ll go take a look over there too.”

Xu Zhengming followed beside him.

With the basic infrastructure of the Pet Park nearly complete, other Rescue Stations had begun transporting stray cats and dogs to the site.

The strays from the old Corner Rescue Station had already been relocated to the Pet Park.

The now-vacant Corner Rescue Station had been torn down and was being rebuilt.

There, they were planning to construct an office building and an employee dormitory.

Bzzz! Bzzz! Bzzz!

As the two of them walked side by side toward the edge of the Pet Park, Pang Tao’s phone buzzed in his pocket.

He pulled it out and glanced at the caller ID.

President Chen!

He quickly answered the call.

“President Chen, what can I do for you?”

“……”

“Understood, President Chen. Leave it to us.”

After a while, Pang Tao hung up, looking a bit dazed.

“What did President Chen say?”

Xu Zhengming asked curiously when he saw Pang Tao put away his phone.

Snapping back to his senses, Pang Tao turned to Xu Zhengming.

“President Chen wants to build a senior living center. He needs a plot of land around 4,000 square meters and wants us to handle it.”

“A senior living center? Why is President Chen building something like that?”

Xu Zhengming was puzzled.

“Public welfare,” Pang Tao replied simply, then went on to explain the details he had just learned from the phone call.

“Wow…”

Listening to Pang Tao’s explanation, Xu Zhengming couldn’t help but be amazed, then sighed with admiration.

“President Chen really is different from other business owners. Building a senior living center of that size must cost at least tens of millions.”

Tens of millions, just for public welfare—what incredible generosity.

He glanced back at the Pet Park behind them. Wasn’t this park also a massive act of public good?

President Chen truly was remarkable.

“Right, I remember the government has a plot of land for lease. It’s about 1,500 yuan per square meter, totaling 4,200 square meters. It’s zoned for any kind of development.”

He had overheard this during his last visit to the government office while handling the Pet Park’s land acquisition.

He just wasn’t sure if it was still available.

“If that’s the case, it fits President Chen’s requirements perfectly. Let’s reach out and check.”

Pang Tao nodded calmly, then continued.

“President Chen mentioned that some of the seniors who are still able to work will be coming to the Pet Park. He wants us to arrange some simple tasks for them.”

“That’s easy. Feeding the cats and dogs, cleaning the park—those are all jobs they can handle.”

Xu Zhengming chimed in. The park had special carts for transporting pet food, and pushing them didn’t require much effort.

At each feeding zone, they just needed to scoop food into the pets’ bowls.

The only thing to watch for was the portion size, but there would be designated staff to guide them, so it wasn’t a big concern.

“Yeah, that shouldn’t be a problem.”

“But the senior center won’t be built overnight. Where are we going to house the seniors in the meantime?”

Pang Tao frowned. According to President Chen, the seniors would be arriving soon.

But the senior center hadn’t even been built yet, and the Rescue Station’s office and dormitory buildings wouldn’t be ready anytime soon either. Figuring out temporary housing for the seniors was going to be a major issue.

Xu Zhengming furrowed his brow. That was indeed a problem.

No matter what, they had to find a place for the seniors to stay once they arrived.

Then, his eyes lit up.

“I remember there’s an apartment complex near the Fourth Ring Road. Why don’t we temporarily house them there? There are plenty of vacant units, and the rent is cheap.”

An apartment complex!

Hearing this, Pang Tao also remembered the place.

Back when Jiang City first began its development push into the West City District, the subway was planned to extend there too. Many people saw it as a golden opportunity and invested heavily in that area. That apartment complex was a product of that era.

But in the end, no one had expected that the subway, originally planned to come to the West City District, was rerouted to the North City District instead.

As a result, the North City District gradually developed into a bustling commercial hub thanks to the subway connection. It became increasingly prosperous.

The situation in the West City District, however, was completely different. Ever since the subway was redirected to the north, no one had been willing to invest in the West City District anymore.

Yet the apartment building there was already halfway constructed, and it wasn’t feasible to abandon it midway.

After it was completed, the returns were never particularly good. It was said that at its peak, having two-thirds of the units rented out was already considered decent.

Especially in the past two years, with the subway fully operational in the north, many people chose to relocate and develop their lives there.

As a result, that apartment building had even fewer tenants.

But for them, this actually turned out to be a good thing. They could rent out the vacant units in that apartment building and use them as temporary housing for the elderly who were coming in.

Pang Tao stroked his chin. By now, they had already walked out of Pet Park.

He looked at the road outside the park. It wasn’t very wide, nor was it smooth, and he seemed lost in thought.

After a moment,

he turned to Xu Zhengming.

“What do you think? Should we fix up the road leading to Pet Park? Otherwise, once the park opens, no matter how nice it is inside, this road alone might turn a lot of people away.”

The road, huh?

Xu Zhengming also looked up at the broken, uneven path in front of them. It was indeed hard to justify leaving it as it was.

If you want to get rich, build roads first.

How had they forgotten such a simple truth?

“You’re right. Why don’t we go ahead and build a proper road? It could connect to the future senior apartment complex and lead directly to Jiang City. And if we end up getting more visitors, we’ll definitely need a parking lot too. Building one near Pet Park is going to be essential.”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Pang Tao agreed. “President Chen added another five million at the beginning of the month, and we haven’t decided how to use it yet. Let’s invest it into this road. Only when the roads are smooth and accessible will more tourists be willing to come.”

Looking at the worn-down road ahead, Pang Tao couldn’t help but sigh.

“Then it’s settled. Besides, building the road will also be a big help to the nearby village. When I go over to rent more land, I’ll see if we can qualify for any government policies.”

Xu Zhengming spoke slowly.

And at that moment, he suddenly understood the true purpose behind President Chen’s regular investment boosts.

Previously, they had only focused on building Pet Park itself, thinking the initial funding was more than enough for construction.

But now, it was clear they had been too short-sighted.

How could President Chen’s investments be meant solely for building Pet Park?

Supporting infrastructure must have been part of President Chen’s overall plan from the beginning. That’s why he kept injecting more funds.

Just like the road they had just decided to build.

And from there, Xu Zhengming began to think of many other supporting facilities—like a pet hospital, a pet grooming center…

As long as Pet Park gained enough popularity and daily visitors continued to increase, all of these surrounding services could become new sources of revenue for the park.