"I seem to be changing this world. At the very least, I've already changed my hometown."
When the changes appeared before his eyes, even as he still walked the streets alone with grilled skewers in one hand and cola in the other, Lu PingAn had to admit that he seemed to have changed a great deal himself.
Ancient City was expanding at a breakneck pace. It was the trend of the times, the convergence of the desires of countless people who hoped to see the city rise—but Lu PingAn had played a part in turning it into action.
"I never thought it would happen this fast."
A GDP increase of merely 37% might not seem tangible, but when converted into the "benefits" everyone could actually feel, it became very obvious.
"The average salary rose from 1,900 last year to 2,700 this year."
That increase could no longer be called exaggerated. It was outright explosive.
As a quasi-third-tier city, even in 1999, when prices were relatively low, Ancient City's wages had been on the lower end in Changping Province. That was the result of lacking both industry and spillover from educational institutions.
It was common knowledge that outstanding graduates struggled to find work every year, and those who did could not be retained. If leaving meant earning twice as much, why wouldn't they go?
And now, this sort of surge in the "average" meant that most workers had actually seen their monthly salaries explosively double.
"Average assets are difficult to calculate, but according to sampling, the increase exceeded 30%."
That was still only a single year's increase, but a closer look revealed that these gains had mainly come from "real estate."
Although people in later generations would feel uncomfortable at the mere mention of soaring housing prices, in an era when