Chapter 13: Renting a Warehouse to Store Fighter Jets

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Driving with Jiang Liangliang beside him, Wang Yang soon arrived at the first warehouse.

Located in the suburbs, it was rarely visited by ordinary people, leaving the surrounding area relatively open. The roads, however, were well maintained, and the landscaping was excellent.

“You’re Mr. Wang Yang, the gentleman who called just now about renting a warehouse, correct?” The warehouse owner was a middle-aged man with a sizable belly. The two buttons of his suit strained constantly against the fabric, suggesting that he lived quite comfortably.

Wang Yang smiled and shook his hand. “Would you mind showing me around and telling me a little about the warehouse?”

“Not at all.” The middle-aged man took out his keys, walked to the warehouse, and unlocked the door.

“Please, Mr. Wang.”

“This warehouse was rented out a year ago by a company dealing in near-expiry food, so the shelves and pallets you see were left behind by the previous tenant. If you have no use for them, I can arrange for someone to remove everything.”

“This is an exceptionally large warehouse. It’s 105 meters long and 68 meters wide, with a total area of more than 7,000 square meters. Do you watch the World Cup? This warehouse is about the same size as the football field used for the World Cup final, so you can rest assured about the space. No matter how much you want to store, it will all fit here.”

“I don’t think you’ll find a warehouse larger than this anywhere else in Qingcheng.”

The middle-aged man spared no effort in promoting the place.

The moment he received Jiang Liangliang’s call, he had rushed over. After all, the warehouse had already been vacant for a year. It was simply too large: customers with modest needs had no reason to rent such an enormous space, while those with substantial needs generally already had established warehouse partnerships or had built warehouses of their own.

Now that Wang Yang had finally appeared, the owner was determined to seize the opportunity and close the deal as soon as possible.

The monthly rent alone was 120,000, amounting to more than 1.4 million a year.

Although leaving the warehouse vacant cost him virtually nothing, in the eyes of businessmen like him, anything that failed to generate profit was tantamount to losing money.

Wang Yang took a brief look around. Without even walking all the way to the back, he nodded.

“How much is the monthly rent?”

“120,000 a month, or 1.44 million a year. The minimum lease term is one year, with one month’s rent as a deposit and three months’ rent paid in advance.” The middle-aged man beamed.

“All right. We’ll think it over. Thank you for taking the time to show us around despite your busy schedule.”

“It’s no trouble. Let’s exchange contact information so we can get in touch later.” The middle-aged man took out his phone and exchanged numbers with Wang Yang.

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Wang Yang then turned to Jiang Liangliang and said deliberately, “Make a note of this place for now.”

The warehouse was satisfactory and met most of Wang Yang’s requirements.

An F-22 fighter jet was 18.9 meters long, with a wingspan of 13.56 meters and a height of 5.08 meters.

To accommodate two F-22s, the minimum warehouse dimensions would have to be approximately 50 meters in length and 20 meters in width.

Moreover, the later restoration work would require a large amount of equipment to be brought in. A warehouse measuring only 50 by 20 meters would be nowhere near sufficient.

Even though he favored this warehouse, Wang Yang had no intention of making an immediate decision.

“We’ll be going now. We still have a few other warehouses to look at.” After saying goodbye, Wang Yang left with Jiang Liangliang.

“Where’s the next warehouse?”

“In the eastern suburbs. It’s quite far from here, Brother Yang. I’ll set the navigation for you.”

…

Night had fallen. Few stars could be seen in the sky, with only the occasional point of light flickering in the darkness.

Wang Yang drove along the road toward Jiang Liangliang’s home.

“Brother Yang, were any of the warehouses we looked at this afternoon satisfactory?” Jiang Liangliang asked timidly.

Throughout the afternoon, every time Brother Yang visited a warehouse, he told her to make a note of it and exchanged contact information with the owner.

Yet she could sense that he did not seem particularly satisfied with any of them.

These were all the warehouses she had been able to find that met his requirements. If none of them worked, they would have to look for one in a neighboring city.

“The first one,” Wang Yang said solemnly.

Jiang Liangliang was stunned. “The first one? Don’t you think it’s too large, Brother Yang? If you’re only storing those two F-22s, wouldn’t that be excessive?”

The two hollow fighter-jet shells would not occupy much space. A warehouse of just a few hundred square meters would be enough. There was no need to rent one nearly 10,000 square meters in size, especially at such a high price.

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Wang Yang watched the road ahead and smiled. “Do you think I’m only trying to store the remains of two empty fighter-jet shells?”

“What else would you be doing?” Jiang Liangliang tilted her head, her face full of confusion.

Wang Yang sighed helplessly. “Of course we’re going to assemble them. An F-22 is nearly 20 meters long by itself. With two fighters placed together, we’ll need at least close to 50 meters of length.”

“But there’s still no need to rent a warehouse more than 100 meters long… The rent alone would be half again as high.” Jiang Liangliang remained puzzled.

Wang Yang could not be bothered to explain further. He said directly, “We’ll go with the first warehouse. In a couple of days, ask whether it has been rented out. He’ll definitely tell you that a lot of people have come to look at it recently, and that several of them have expressed an interest in renting it.”

Jiang Liangliang nodded with a deeply furrowed brow, committing every word Brother Yang said to memory.

“But at that point, you must not show too much eagerness to rent it. Make it clear that our boss is still looking at other warehouses and hasn’t found one he’s particularly satisfied with. If he offers any concessions, tell him you’ll think it over. Just keep dragging it out.”

Jiang Liangliang looked up in surprise. “But what if someone else really does rent it?”

Wang Yang let out a silent sigh and laughed. “That warehouse has been on the market for a year. If someone had truly wanted to rent it, they would have done so long ago. Do you really think it would be such a coincidence that someone else happened to rent it at the exact moment we did? You’ve been following me for a year. Do you really have that little sense?”

Jiang Liangliang drew her neck in sheepishly and fell silent.

“Anyway, stall for as long as possible. Keep delaying until he calls you, then adapt to the situation. My target price is between 90,000 and 95,000 a month. I based that on prices for warehouses of comparable size in neighboring cities. As long as he agrees to that figure, we’ll sign the contract immediately.”

“Also, try your best to negotiate for one month’s rent as the deposit and one month paid in advance, or at most two months paid in advance. Keep the costs under control as much as possible.” Wang Yang explained everything in detail.

They were at a point where every expense mattered. Every sum had to be calculated carefully; they could not afford to spend recklessly.

After all, there was still the balance owed for the fighter jets, not to mention the materials needed for their restoration and all kinds of instruments and equipment. All of it would cost money. Since he had no way to obtain more funds at present, he could only proceed cautiously and save wherever possible.

Only then could he ensure that the fighter-jet restoration project would not collapse halfway through because they ran out of money.

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