A Chinese billionaire built 258 luxury villas as a gift to his fellow villagers, but no one lives there because of greed
As they say, no good deed goes unpunished. A Chinese billionaire who spent tens of millions of dollars on the construction of villas for the residents of his native village felt this on his own skin. But the houses are still empty, because greedy people cannot agree who will get several villas, and who will get one.
Five years ago, billionaire Chen Sheng allocated $31.9 million to build 258 luxury villas in his native village. Each three—storey house has five bedrooms, two living rooms, a garage and a small garden. Sports grounds are equipped for every few houses and there is even a stage for various events. The construction was completed in 2016, but the houses are empty.
It was not the prices of luxury housing that prevented people, because the billionaire provided them with villas for free, but ordinary human greed. According to the 2013 census, the small village had 190 families. But during the construction process, new residents came to the village. Then Chen Sheng built 68 more houses so that everyone would have enough. It was a big mistake.
As soon as Chen Sheng appeared in the village, the locals attacked him with requests to solve the question of how many houses someone would get. The billionaire was so disappointed with the behavior of his fellow villagers that he had not come to the village at all for two years. Therefore, the villas are empty, and the locals quarrel.
In addition to houses, Sheng planned to build a pig farm next to the village and lay out gardens, thereby providing jobs. The annual income of local residents would amount to 32 thousand dollars — unthinkable money for Chinese farmers. But all these plans turned into a failure because of greed.
Meanwhile, empty houses have become objects of vandalism. Hooligans broke windows, ruined the decoration. And the villas are dilapidated and in need of repair.