Chapter 88: Dunhuang
Su Can had recently been helping Zeng Ke consider where to take her chain of three stationery stores. Since opening, the three stores had earned over a million yuan in profit. What did over a million yuan mean in the year 2000?
At the time, housing in the main urban districts of the provincial capital, Rongcheng, still consisted mostly of low-rise apartment buildings, with average prices around 1,800 yuan per square meter. Apartments with elevators had begun appearing between the First and Second Ring Roads, priced at around 2,200 yuan per square meter. Near the southern stretch of the Second Ring Road, elevator apartments averaged around 2,500 yuan per square meter. Housing along the northern First Ring Road averaged about 1,800 yuan per square meter, also making it one of Rongcheng's most expensive areas. Even in the most expensive area, a hundred-square-meter commercial apartment cost only three hundred thousand yuan. Su Can's family, who had built their business in a small city, could afford three.
Of course, that excluded upper-end properties such as villas.
The Su family's apartment in City Tale was located along the Second Ring Road in the southern district. Its developer was Anxin Real Estate, a star subsidiary of his father's parent company, Darong Construction Group. Later, Anxin Real Estate would split off from the gradually declining Darong Construction Group and become an independent brand with province-wide influence, securing a place among Rongcheng's many real estate companies. Its City Tale, completed in 1999, Mediterranean Tale in 2003, and Garden City in 2006 were all recognizable residential developments and well-known properties in Rongcheng.
With its Bali theme, City Tale became Anxin Real Estate's first celebrated development, priced at 2,800 yuan per square meter. Zeng Ke had originally thought it too expensive. The 120-square-meter apartment they