Chapter 628 - 624: Public Notice of the Approval

The word "waste" was particularly grating to Elias Warner’s ears.

Cecilia Sterling’s implication was a veiled jab, suggesting that Yates Sanders and Lee Warner were wasting their time following Elias Warner. She truly had him pegged; for someone so prideful, concerned with appearances, and who saw himself as the center of the universe, there was no need for vicious rhetoric. That one simple word was enough to shatter his composure.

Elias Warner swallowed his rage, clenching his fists tightly. He waited until Cecilia Sterling and her group had left the lecture hall before slamming his fist down on the desk.

Then, the memory that he still owed Cecilia Sterling 7.90 surfaced, and he punched the desk again in a fit of pique, ignoring the sharp pain that shot through his knuckles.

As he was packing his things to leave, he stopped short while passing the lectern. He turned to look at Cecilia Sterling’s perfect-score test paper, which Mr. Stone had left on top. His eyes burned with jealousy. He snatched it up, haphazardly crumpled it into a ball, and tossed it straight into the trash can.

On the way back to her dorm, Cecilia Sterling suddenly got a call from Mr. Young.

Mr. Young usually sent her a WhatsApp message if he needed anything. In this day and age, unless something was urgent, acquaintances rarely called each other anymore.

Cecilia Sterling swiped right to answer, silencing the somewhat urgent ringtone. "Mr. Young."

"Cecilia!"

Even over the phone, the moment Mr. Young spoke, Cecilia Sterling could sense the excitement and joy in his tone. Before Cecilia could even ask, Mr. Young exclaimed, "Good news! Great news!"

Cecilia Sterling stopped walking and sat on a roadside bench. "What good news?"

"The official approval for the priority development and construction of Sunstone District has been publicly announced!"

Cecilia Sterling had just sat down, but she shot right back up in excitement. "Really?"

"Of course it’s real! I’ll send it to you in a moment!" Mr. Young exclaimed. "We really bet on the right horse! That stalled construction project we took on is right in the center of Sunstone District. Property values are going to multiply several times over, at least!"

"Several times?" Cecilia Sterling asked, slightly stunned.

’It was true that large-scale urban redevelopment most directly affected land and property prices, but wasn’t several times over a bit of an exaggeration?’

But then she heard Mr. Young chuckle. "What? Can’t believe it, can you? Let me tell you, Cecilia, this official approval has a few key points. First, the development plan announces the construction of Lorcain North Station in Sunstone District. It’ll be Lorcain’s fourth train station, and it’s slated to become the largest in the city, maybe even in all of Cathay."

"Second, the approval calls for two new subway lines to be added to Sunstone District’s existing network, totaling over thirty-five new stations. I won’t list all the other redevelopment projects; you can see for yourself when you read it. Do you have any idea what this means for Sunstone District?"

She understood perfectly. She couldn’t stop the grin spreading across her face.

’She barely gave a thought to the stalled construction project Mr. Young had mentioned. Her investment focus had been on the companies, factories, and a massive industrial park she’d acquired.’

’If Sunstone District was about to undergo such a massive transformation, then her land—maybe not all of it, but at least more than half—would be acquired by the government for a premium.’

’She’d be like someone whose property was being bought out for redevelopment, except she was the super-sized version!’

Mr. Young was still talking on the other end of the line. "This news is huge, and it came so suddenly. I had a feeling things would happen in Sunstone District, but I never expected it this soon. The new administration has been in office for less than six months, and they’re already making such big moves. I bet a lot of people are getting antsy. Right now, Sunstone District is a gold mine waiting to be tapped. Things are about to get lively in Lorcain!"

Cecilia Sterling just smiled. She didn’t care about the other matters and had no intention of getting involved. She had already eaten her fill.

「That evening, at a restaurant.」

"Cecilia, did the value really go up?"

Blair stared at the official public announcement Cecilia Sterling had sent her. She read it over twice, still finding it hard to believe.

On Cecilia Sterling’s recommendation, she had used her earnings to purchase two properties in Sunstone District, later secretly buying a third. Her reasoning was simple: she knew property was a tangible asset. Even if it didn’t appreciate, she wouldn’t lose too much.

But deep down, she trusted Cecilia. Otherwise, she never would have bought property in Sunstone District; it was so far away she’d never even been there to stay.

She was investing based purely on Cecilia’s judgment.

And now, not even six months later, Sunstone District was actually being redeveloped?

Cecilia Sterling took a sip of water and smiled. "Real estate companies and housing agencies are always the first to react to this stuff. If you don’t believe me, open an app and check the property values in the neighborhoods where you bought."

Blair quickly grabbed her phone at Cecilia’s words. Estelle, sitting beside them, asked anxiously, "Hey, why didn’t you guys include me?"

"Do you have the money?" Cecilia Sterling asked Estelle, her question blunt.

Estelle was speechless.

It wasn’t that she lacked money; she always had a steady allowance in her account.

But Estelle knew she was different from Cecilia and Blair. They had earned their money themselves.

Whereas she... had to ask her family for it!

Cecilia Sterling said bluntly, "Sunstone District is still part of Lorcain, at the end of the day. Even when prices were low, they weren’t *that* low. Do you think you could ask your parents for thousands of dollars to invest?"

No matter how rich the Goodman Family was, they wouldn’t give their daughter thousands just to fool around with—or at least, that’s how they would see it.

Estelle pouted. "But if I told them it was your idea, they might agree. My dad really approves of you."

Cecilia Sterling shook her head. "Mr. Goodman wouldn’t agree."

’Cecilia knew she basically had a cheat code, but in other people’s eyes, no matter how brilliant she was, she wasn’t someone to be trusted unconditionally.’

Estelle knew this, of course. ’Thousands of dollars... even if her parents spoiled her, there was no way she could ask for that much money all at once.’

"Cecilia, it really went up!"

Blair looked up, a rare excitement in her expression. "They went up! They’ve basically more than doubled. But the number of properties for sale has suddenly plummeted. I filtered for Sunstone District and hit the end of the listings after just a few swipes."

"That’s normal. With a development this big, the first instinct of both owners and developers is to wait and see. Delisting their properties is the first step. By the time they’re put back up, I bet the prices will have more than just doubled."

It felt like such easy money. Blair looked at Cecilia gratefully. "Thank you, Cecilia. If it weren’t for your sharp eye for Sunstone District’s potential, I would never in my life have thought to invest in property there."

Cecilia Sterling smiled faintly. ’She had only told Blair, not a single word to anyone else.’

’In fact, she’d even screwed some people over.’

Before long, the very person who’d been screwed over arrived, fuming.

"Cecilia Sterling! You’ve got some nerve, keeping me in the dark like this. Are you playing me for a fool?"