"Mr. Li, would you like to get something to eat first?" Jiang Baojian saw Li He staring at the ward and kindly reminded him, "Mr. Wu will be fine for the time being."
"Let's just find a random restaurant." From the moment they got off the plane until now, Li He had been hungry.
The sun was out. Although the fog did not disperse the light, New York could still be seen.
Li He, who came to New York for the first time, could not believe that it was so dirty and chaotic. Pedestrians, bicycles, cars, and tricycles were walking side by side. Fast food garbage, cans, bottles, and messy shopping bags were everywhere.
On the way, a small mouse jumped out of the ground.
After all, he had been to Washington before and had a good impression of it. It was clean and green.
But on second thought, he thought it might be because of the era. After all, he had been to the United States in the 21st century.
"Mr. Li, you haven't seen the subway. It's dirtier and messier. There are graffiti, garbage, and homeless people everywhere." Jiang Baojian had been traveling between the United States and Europe for work these years. He was a veritable trapeze artist.
Li He thought it was not strange. After all, New York had the world's largest landfill. The Fraser River was basically filled.
They were a group of white, black, and yellow people, so they didn't attract much attention on the street. What attracted people's attention was the long line of luxury cars.
There were many such luxury cars in New York, but they were not common.
One of the reasons why Ivanov was so successful in the United States was that he was white enough. Americans had a very detailed classification of racial discrimination. The highest was, of course, the Anglo-Saxon whites, followed by Eastern European whites, Irish whites, and Western European whites.
Then there were yellow and black people. As for Jews, they were more special, generally in the middle.
As long as they were white enough, there was no problem in the mainstream circle of the United States. Many Russians were doing well in the United States.
For example, Leonardo, Portman, Jovovich, Harrison Ford, Sergey Brin, Blavatnik, and the four Warner brothers.
After he came to the United States, he did not simply join the White Russians. Instead, he deliberately approached the former Soviet Union and united all the forces that could be united.
At the same time, the characteristics of the capital-based country in the United States determined that he lived a happy and comfortable life.
Jiang Baojian knew that Li He was not used to western food, so he specifically instructed the driver to go to Chinatown.
The car entered Chinatown on the Lower East Side of New York, which was even more stale and messy.
Traditional grocery stores, where the owner sat at an exquisitely carved, old-fashioned table and took care of the accounts, were one store after another.
Apart from the grocery stores, there were also many restaurants here. Basically, they had all kinds of domestic dishes.
Back then, because of the low literacy rate of the Chinese, the "post office shop" that was used to write letters and remit remittances was still doing well.
In addition to the shops on both sides of the street, including the basement, there was also a long line of stalls set up on the sidewalk, mainly because they could not afford the expensive rent.
Yellow was the most common color here. After the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States, more and more Chinese came here. They usually used this place as the first stop when they went to the United States. The total number of Chinese was faintly surpassing that of San Francisco.
For the sake of peace, Li He did not enter a luxuriously decorated Chinese restaurant. Instead, he chose a small Chinese restaurant with many foreigners.
"The main supporting industries of Chinatown are the garment industry and the food and beverage industry. More than half of the Chinese in the US are in this industry, but the US economy has been declining for the past two years. At the same time, you should know that our domestic textile industry has been severely impacted in the past two years. The garment factories in this area are not doing too well, but the number of food and beverage businesses has increased. Even in the neighboring Brooklyn, there are hundreds of China restaurants. The main reason is that the threshold is low, and it doesn't require many skills. More than half of the Chinese here don't speak English, and they can't work in other industries." After Jiang Baojian sat down, he asked for a pot of water from the waiter and refilled Li He's teapot. Then he continued, "Whether it's us Chinese or foreigners, they all like to eat here. It's not because the food is good, but because it's cheap. A meal in a Western restaurant costs 20 to 30 yuan, and a lunchbox in a Chinese restaurant costs only five to six yuan."
Li He smiled. Small profits but quick turnover were ingrained in the bones of the Chinese. Whatever the Chinese sold was cheap, and whatever they bought was expensive. This was a story for another time.
"Why did Wu Bo get into trouble?"
It was Ivanov who asked, but his eyes were looking at Jiang Baojian.
Ivanov was about to speak in English, but Li He immediately interrupted, "Speak in Russian."
Ivanov said, "Mr. Wu lives in an apartment in Brooklyn. The security there has always been good, so after Mr. Wu stayed here for a while, he refused to let our people follow him. He said that he only wanted to be with his company's employees. Mr. Wu lives with five employees of the company. The day before yesterday, he went downstairs to buy cigarettes. His colleagues saw that he didn't come back, so they came down to look for him. They found that he had been sent to the hospital. According to the preliminary judgment of the police, it might be a robbery. As for what happened, we will only know when he wakes up. But don't worry, Mr. Li, I've already sent people to investigate. "
Bafra translated in English, and Jiang Baojian added in Chinese.
"Then we'll wait for him to wake up." Only Wu Bo himself knew best. Li He then asked Ivanov, "How's your real estate business in New York?"
Currently, Li He's main focus was on the real estate sector. He was making arrangements both domestically and internationally.
Shen Daoru, Yu Dehua, and Chen Lihua's real estate projects in the UK and Hong Kong had begun to take shape, while Pinsong, Wu Shuping, Fu Biao, and the others' real estate projects in China were still in the accumulation period, and it might take a few years for them to really explode.
He still didn't know much about Ivanov's situation, but he knew that he had just bought the Rockefeller Building.
"Very good, very good!"
When Bafra translated, she deliberately imitated Ivanov's exaggeration and excitement, causing everyone to laugh.
"Sunset Park, Williamsburg, and Berejia's housing prices have increased by 2% this year, including the plot of land in Queens that we just got, which has also increased by 6%. It's expected to build 513 apartment units."
"What stage have we entered?" Li He was also blind to the real estate industry in the United States, and he knew nothing about it.
"We've entered the demolition stage." Bafra had been with Ivanov for a long time, and she could answer some questions herself.
"There won't be any problems with this, right? Are there any homeowners who took the opportunity to ask for a higher price? " Xiang unconsciously interjected, purely out of curiosity.
Li He smiled and explained, "The only sacred thing in the United States is taxation!"
"What do you mean?" Xiang was puzzled, "This is different from China. You can't just demolish people's private property, right?"
Seeing Li He and the others suddenly talking in Chinese, Ivanov and the others were also puzzled, because they couldn't understand at all.
Li He smiled and said, "The United States is a little different from China. There is no such thing as a holdout, because they can't afford to be a holdout."
Jiang Baojian also added, "There is a property tax in the United States. Not only do you have to pay taxes to buy a house, but you also have to pay taxes every year in the future. Each state and the counties and cities within the state have different standards for levying property tax. The tax rate ranges from 1% to 3%, and will change every year according to the local government's budget needs. Generally, it is paid once a year. "
"This house is already in your hands, why do you still have to pay taxes every year in the future?" Xiang could not understand the Americans' way of thinking, even though he was also highly educated.
Jiang Baojian said, "Not only do you have to pay taxes, but if you buy a house with a loan, you also have to pay housing insurance, which is also a sum of money. If the homeowner stops paying taxes, the ownership of the house will belong to the United States government. When the outstanding taxes and penalties reach a certain level, the local government can take lien on the property in arrears and auction it off. "
Xiang chuckled and said, "What about the farmers' land?"
Jiang Baojian said, "I just came here a few times. In order to understand more about the United States, I asked around a lot, but not much. I don't know about taxes, but it's the same as in the city, it's not comfortable and controlled. For example, in New York, the trees and flowers planted in front and behind the house are not decided by the people themselves. It's the same for ranches. The style of the house, the size, the height, whether to plant corn or wheat, are all decided by the relevant departments.
"So, many Americans can afford to buy a house, but they may not be able to afford to keep one." When the dishes were served, Li He picked up a piece of chicken and frowned. It was probably not to his taste, but he continued, "So, the United States is the country with the most frequent moves in the world. Generally, people like to move to remote places or places with low property taxes, especially retired people. In order to reduce expenses, they will usually move from a big house to a small one."
When Europeans immigrated to North America, there was a famous slogan: "Where there is bread, there is motherland."
Modern Americans had also inherited this spirit. They would move wherever the property tax was low.
So sometimes, Li He also sighed. It was really not easy for young Americans to live off their parents.
"But some houses can't just be demolished, right?" Xiang felt that Jiang Baojian and Li He had diverted the topic, so he changed the topic.
Jiang Baojian said, "Then, it's simple. Increase property taxes. According to the law, property prices have to be reassessed every few years, and taxes are calculated again. There is a department in the United States that specializes in assessing property prices. If the property is assessed too high and you really can't afford it, there are plenty of ways to drive you away. Moreover, the United States' land expropriation system is relatively strong. The government has the right to expropriate land. As long as the government expropriates land for public purposes and compensates the original landowner at a suitable market price, the expropriation of land is irresistible. There are two iron laws in the United States. One is don't mess with the tax collectors, and the other is don't mess with the police. "
"That's right." Li He could not help but smile when he heard that.
The phrase 'private property is sacred and inviolable' was made up by the domestic Muyang dogs. The United States Constitution did not have such a clause, nor did the European Constitution. It was only when the French rebelled that it showed off.
No matter what country or regime, the embodiment of the will to power was a symbol of a country's sovereignty and a tool of the ruling class.
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