253: Chapter 252 A Sky-High Bounty on Qin Feng on the Dark Web!

"Big Brother, it's time for us to take a step back..."

"Stabilize things in the capital first."

Chu Zhengyang rubbed his thumb over his thumb ring twice.

"Step back?"

He turned around and stared at hydrangea.

"If we step back this time, will we ever have a chance to make a comeback in the future?"

hydrangea didn't respond.

Chu Zhengyang walked back to the desk, pulled out a chair, and sat down.

"1.1 billion is frozen in Qianhai."

"The Shanxi contracts were intercepted."

"Inner Mongolia changed its tune."

"The capital is still investigating my accounts."

hydrangea stood where he was, his left hand resting on the edge of the desk.

His fingers twitched slightly before he pulled them back.

"Big Brother, I'm going to say something unpleasant."

"Speak."

"I still haven't managed to find out who exactly is in the team behind Qin Feng."

hydrangea slowed his speaking pace.

"As for the Shen Family, based on what happened at the teahouse that day, they've also taken Qin Feng's side."

"Using force rashly will bring everything out into the open."

He paused for a moment.

"When that happens, the elders in the capital will have an excuse, and you won't even have a chance to explain yourself, Big Brother."

Chu Zhengyang's thumb stopped at the edge of his ring.

"The Audit Team has requested that you return to the capital tonight to give an explanation."

"Can this matter be delayed?"

hydrangea shook his head.

"At most until tomorrow afternoon."

Chu Zhengyang tapped his fingers on the desktop three times.

The interval between each tap was shorter than the last.

"The 1.1 billion in Qianhai—how long until it can be unfrozen?"

"The Inspection Bureau is following joint task force procedures. If it's fast, two weeks; if it's slow, more than a month."

"A month."

Chu Zhengyang repeated the words.

The corners of his mouth pulled down.

"After a month, will I really still have a chance?"

hydrangea did not refute him.

Chu Zhengyang stood up.

The chair slid back half a meter, its wheels making a dull thud as they rolled over the carpet.

"Qin Feng."

He squeezed those two words out from between his teeth.

hydrangea's back stiffened.

"Big Brother, a simple explanation won't satisfy the people in the capital anymore."

He looked up.

"The Second Branch has already obtained clues regarding the accounts. The Audit Team wants an accounting."

"When you go back this time, I'm afraid what you'll be handing over isn't an explanation."

"It's the power in your hands."

Chu Zhengyang looked at him.

"So you know it too."

"To retreat is death."

"To return to the capital is also death."

"If Qinsheng takes away Shanxi and Inner Mongolia as well, I won't even have the money to turn the tables."

hydrangea fell silent.

Chu Zhengyang sat back down in his chair.

His right hand opened a drawer under the desk and pulled out a phone.

When hydrangea saw that phone, his eyelid twitched.

"Big Brother."

His voice dropped to its lowest point.

"You aren't planning to..."

Chu Zhengyang didn't look at him.

"I said I was going to leave a surprise for Qin Feng."

He opened an app and entered an anonymous chat channel.

There were no profile pictures in the channel.

No nicknames.

Only rows of encrypted IDs.

Chu Zhengyang typed out a line of text.

Jinling needs a gunman.

Send.

Three seconds later, a message came back from the other side.

Target, time, photo, price.

hydrangea stood before the desk, his right arm in a sling and his left hand clenched against the seam of his trousers.

His fingernails dug into his palm.

He wanted to speak.

He wanted to say that once they took this path, there would be no turning back.

He wanted to say that they hadn't figured out the forces behind Qin Feng yet, so it was too risky to act now.

But he looked at Chu Zhengyang's face.

There was no longer any room for discussion in those eyes.

Chu Zhengyang continued typing.

In three days, I'll send the photo.

The other side quickly replied with two words.

Deal.

Chu Zhengyang flipped the phone face down on the desk and looked up at hydrangea.

"The photo—you will be the one to send it."

hydrangea opened his mouth slightly.

"Big Brother..."

"hydrangea, once Qin Feng is killed, we'll still have a chance."

"Understood."

...

Jinling, Qinsheng Building, 32nd floor conference room.

On the projection screen was a four-paneled video feed.

The top-left and top-right corners featured procurement representatives from two state-owned enterprises in Shanxi and Inner Mongolia, respectively.

In the bottom-left corner was a middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses, his ID badge reading 'Risk Control Department'.

The bottom-right corner was empty, reserved for Qinsheng's shared document window.

Gu Qianqian sat at the head of the conference table, her laptop open, with three sets of bound materials next to her.

Her makeup today was slightly bolder than yesterday.

Her eyebrows were sharp, and her lip color was a classic red.

On the screen, the risk control officer spoke first.

"President Gu, our Risk Control Department has conducted a secondary review of the performance guarantee your company provided last time."

"There are two points we need to confirm."

Gu Qianqian's fingers rested on the edge of the materials.

"Please, go ahead."

"First, Qinsheng currently only has operational experience in the energy sector from one Southwest project, which is relatively small in scale."

"Second, can your company's cash reserves cover an advance payment cycle of over 1.2 billion?"

Gu Qianqian was in no hurry to answer.

She pushed the first set of materials toward the camera.

"Regarding the first question."

She flipped to the third page and pointed at some data with her pen.

"This is proof of Qinsheng's cash reserves."

"As of the 15th of this month, the pool of available funds is sufficient to cover the advance payment cycle."

She switched to the second set of materials.

"This is the bank performance guarantee."

"Jointly issued by three banks, it covers the full amount of the contract."

She paused and looked up.

"As for the second question, I'll answer it in a different way."

She opened the third set of materials.

A risk report popped up on the screen.

"This is the status of Chu Zhengyang's frozen accounts in Qianhai."

"The accounts of three bridge companies have been frozen, involving an amount of 1.1 billion."

"Northern Energy Group advanced 1.2 billion this year, and the payment collection cycle still has four months remaining."

"Under these cash flow conditions, you can assess the Chu Family's ability to perform for yourselves."

"President Gu, we have also verified the data sources of this risk report after we returned."

Director Chen finally spoke.

"However, regarding the price."

Gu Qianqian looked at the screen.

"Yes?"

"Could you lower it by another two points?"

Gu Qianqian's fingers paused on the materials for a beat.

Two points.

This margin had already been pushed to the bottom line of their profits.

She didn't respond immediately.

She glanced to her right out of the corner of her eye.

Qin Feng pulled a sheet of paper from the file folder at the side of his chair and pushed it across the table.

Gu Qianqian looked down and scanned it.

It was a logistics cost calculation sheet.

The freight, loading and unloading fees, insurance, and loss rates for every single route were clearly marked.

The bottom line was circled in red pen.

The comprehensive logistics cost was 1.8% lower than the industry average.

After Gu Qianqian saw that number, she tapped her finger lightly on the paper.

She looked back up at the screen.

"Director Chen, the price can be discussed further."

"But not by two points."

She held the calculation sheet up to the camera.

"We have optimized our logistics, and our comprehensive costs are nearly two points lower than the industry average."

"I can take one point from these savings and pass it on to the procurement side."

"One point is the absolute limit."

Director Chen tapped the table twice.

On the other side of the screen, the Shanxi representative's gaze moved from the report to the camera.

"If it's one point..."

Director Chen glanced at the colleague beside him, who nodded.

"Alright, we'll take this intent back and go through the procedures."

"We'll give you a response by next Monday at the latest."

Gu Qianqian closed the materials.

"Good, I'll wait for your news."

The video conference ended.

The projection screen went dark.

[Ding! Target Gu Qianqian has developed strong professional admiration and feelings of attraction. points +1800!]

Qin Feng stood up, took his coat off the back of the chair, and draped it over his arm.

"There shouldn't be much of a problem with the state-owned enterprises."

"What Director Chen wants isn't the price."

Gu Qianqian looked up at him.

"He wants security."

Qin Feng pushed his chair back under the table.

"Chu Zhengyang's capital has run into trouble, so any supplier tied to him is at risk."

"What people in state-owned enterprises fear most is a partner collapsing, which would affect their own performance evaluations."

"So his attempt to lower the price today wasn't because he really wanted those two points."

"He was confirming whether Qinsheng is truly stable."

Gu Qianqian stared at his profile.

After saying this, Qin Feng slung his coat over his shoulder.

[Ding! Target Gu Qianqian has developed feelings of reliance and attraction. points +1600!]

"Alright, you just need to keep an eye on things until the contract is signed."

"I'm going out for a bit."

Gu Qianqian's brow twitched.

"Where to?"

"To take care of some small matters."

Qin Feng walked to the door and then stopped.

"Don't go back too late tonight."

"Have Shen Bingtong stay with you."

Gu Qianqian watched his back disappear through the conference room door.

The sky outside the window was starting to darken.

...

At the same time.

An anonymous message appeared in the encrypted channel.

Target has left Qinsheng.

Alone.