268: Chapter 267 Chu Tianming's Counterattack

The Chu Residence, Beijing.

The conference hall doors were closed from the inside.

The two mahogany doors shut, pressing out a heavy, stifling air.

Eleven people sat on either side of the long table.

Every member of the Chu Family Council was present.

For the first time in nearly three years.

Chu Weigang sat in the third seat on the right side of the long table, a kraft paper envelope placed before him.

He was in no hurry to speak.

He picked up his teacup, held the rim to his lips for two seconds, and then set it back down.

A secretary stood behind him, holding a stack of bound materials.

Chu Weigang raised a hand.

The secretary stepped forward, divided the materials into ten copies, and handed them out from both ends of the long table.

The top page was a capital flow chart.

Red markings started from Tiansheng Group, passing through three bridge companies in Qianhai: Tianqing, Runda, and Jiahe,

then through a three-layer SPV structure in the BVI, transiting through Singapore, and finally landing in an offshore trust in the Cayman Islands.

The amount, date, and counterparty ID for every jump were clearly marked.

At the very bottom, a number was circled in red.

4.7 billion.

An elderly council member closest to Chu Weigang flipped to the second page, his finger stopping on the paper.

He didn't continue reading.

First, he took off his reading glasses and wiped them.

Then he wiped them again.

After putting them back on, he stared at that number for nearly five seconds.

"This..."

He didn't finish, only looking up at Chu Weigang.

Chu Huaili sat next to the head of the table.

His dark suit was buttoned to the collar, his back straight, his right hand resting on the armrest, thumb slowly rubbing the cufflink.

His gaze swept over the materials; he didn't flip to the second page.

"Weigang."

Chu Weigang looked up.

Chu Huaili pressed the materials under his palm.

"Things handed over by outsiders have no place in the Chu Family Council."

"Family matters are discussed behind closed doors. Don't use outside blades to scare your own people."

Chu Weigang straightened his teacup.

The bottom of the cup hit the table with a dull thud.

"Big Brother, what the outsiders handed over is indeed a blade."

He paused for two seconds.

"But the wound was inflicted by our own child."

Chu Huaili's thumb stopped on his cufflink.

Across the long table, The Council member in the fifth seat flipped to the last page, and his expression changed.

He closed the materials, then opened them again.

The person next to him leaned over to look and fell silent as well.

Chu Huaili scanned the table.

"The figure of 4.7 billion—who verified it?"

Chu Weigang didn't answer.

He looked at his secretary.

The secretary took a USB drive from an inner pocket and plugged it into the projection interface in the center of the table.

The screen lit up.

Chu Weigang looked at everyone.

"Inside this, there is evidence that will convince you."

The first page was a freeze notice issued by a bank.

The seal of the Qianhai Branch, the freeze dates for the accounts of the three bridge companies, the frozen amounts, and the associated tax audit numbers were all clear.

"You can verify these notices at the bank yourselves."

Chu Weigang didn't speak quickly.

"I haven't added a single word."

Chu Huaili turned his head and glanced at a council member beside him.

After reading the freeze notice, the man's Adam's apple bobbed, but he didn't respond.

Chu Huaili pressed his palms onto the table.

"Weigang, while Zhengyang has been managing external affairs these past few years, it's normal to have turnover on the accounts."

"These bridge companies are just temporary channels used for project turnover."

"They have nothing to do with money laundering."

Chu Weigang looked at him.

"Big Brother, a three-layer BVI SPV plus a Cayman offshore trust."

"Does project turnover require this kind of architecture?"

Chu Huaili's lips tightened.

"There are many ways to conduct business operations."

"Then let me put it another way."

Chu Weigang raised his hand, gesturing for the secretary to play the next segment.

The screen switched.

An audio waveform began to dance.

In the recording, hydrangea's voice was clipped into several segments.

"The channel deletion entry has been submitted."

"The coin mixer side can't be recovered; we can only cut the association."

"Login nodes, cleared."

No one spoke in the conference hall.

Several elderly council members glanced at each other, their materials placed on the table; no one flipped through them anymore.

Chu Huaili's thumb moved from his cufflink and rested on the table.

His fingernail scraped against the table surface.

"Who recorded this?"

"The source cannot be disclosed."

"Cannot be disclosed?"

Chu Huaili's voice lowered.

"Weigang, you bring a recording from an unknown source and play it at a Council meeting—is that according to the rules?"

Chu Weigang picked up his teacup and actually took a sip this time.

"Does Big Brother want to investigate the source of the recording now, or investigate why Chu Zhengyang is touching the Dark Web?"

He set down the teacup.

"Coin mixer, Dark Web channel, deleting login nodes."

"Which of these terms has anything to do with project turnover?"

Chu Huaili's hand stopped.

The conference hall door was pushed open from the outside.

Everyone's gaze turned at once.

Chu Tianming stood at the door.

His right arm was in a sling, and his left hand was shoved into the pocket of his OFF-WHITE hoodie.

He was chewing gum, his face devoid of any playboy smirk.

"Second Young Master?"

A young council member in the corner whispered.

Chu Tianming chewed his gum twice and scanned the long table.

He walked over to the projection equipment, pulled a phone from his hoodie pocket, and plugged the data cable directly into the interface.

The screen switched.

The first photo.

Chu Zhengyang was in a tea house in Jinling, the collar of his Mao suit undone, with three phones spread out on the table.

The second photo.

A screenshot of Chu Zhengyang's laptop screen, showing a string of offshore account transfer instructions.

The third one.

A screenshot of accounts.

Amounts, timestamps, and recipient IDs.

Chu Huaili leaned forward half an inch.

"Tianming, have you gone mad?"

Chu Tianming spat his gum into a tissue and placed it on the edge of the table with two fingers.

"I've been hearing that sentence for twenty years."

He looked up at Chu Huaili.

"Today, it's your turn to hear me speak."

Chu Huaili stood up from his chair.

"Shut your mouth!"

Chu Tianming's lips twitched.

"Shut my mouth?"

He pointed to his arm with his bandaged right hand.

"That's exactly what Big Brother said the day he had someone break my arm."

On both sides of the long table, the sound of chair legs scraping against the floor rang out in succession.

Several council members leaned back.

Chu Tianming turned and swiped his left hand across the phone screen twice.

The projected image jumped to the next page.

A document.

The title read: Target Travel Routes and Medical Dependency Assessment.

The document was divided into three columns.

The first column: Chu Weigang.

Goes to the China-Japan Friendship Hospital every Tuesday and Thursday for cervical spine therapy; habitually takes the North Second Ring Road; only has one driver in the car.

The second column: Third Uncle, Chu Guoping.

Takes long-term blood pressure medication; goes to Tong Ren Tang on the 15th of every month to collect medicine; walks there and back.

The third column: Chu Huaili.

Six years post-heart stent surgery; has a check-up every quarter via the VIP channel at Fuwai Hospital.

Chu Tianming tapped the screen with his finger.

"Look at this, Uncles."

"This was compiled by Big Brother."

"Travel routes, medical habits, how many people are with you, and when you are alone."

Someone in the conference hall gasped.

An elderly council member at the end of the long table stood up, pushing his chair back half a meter.

"Who did he have do this?"

Chu Tianming ignored him.

He looked at Chu Huaili.

"Dad, only a few people in the whole family know about your heart stent."

Chu Huaili's palms were pressed against the table, the veins on the back of his hands bulging.

"What was Big Brother's purpose for compiling this?"

Chu Tianming paused for half a second.

"I used to think he just looked down on me."

"I only found out later that he even calculated when it would be most convenient for me to die."

No one laughed.

The color drained from Chu Huaili's face.

Chu Weigang sat in his chair, not interjecting from beginning to end.

His finger rested on the edge of his teacup, his fingertip tracing a circle around the rim.

The conference hall was silent for nearly ten seconds.

Chu Tianming unplugged the phone from the interface and stuffed it back into his pocket.

He stepped back toward the door, stopping halfway.

He looked back at Chu Huaili.

"Dad, you've been covering for him for three years."

Chu Huaili's mouth opened slightly.

"Enough."

After saying those two words, Chu Tianming turned and walked toward the door.

As he passed Chu Weigang, Chu Weigang didn't look at him.

Chu Tianming didn't look at Chu Weigang either.

The door was closed.

In the conference hall, the sound of flipping through materials started again.

Someone in the corner spoke in a hushed voice.

"4.7 billion."

"He even mapped out travel routes?"

"If he were really allowed to take full control..."

Only then did Chu Weigang stand up.

The chair legs dragged across the carpet with a dull sound.

He didn't raise his voice.

"Effective immediately, all of Chu Zhengyang's capital allocation privileges are frozen."

The voices on both sides of the long table ceased.

"External affairs privileges are revoked."

"Approval rights for the energy chain are suspended."

"Once he returns to the capital, he is to be handed over to the Family Audit Committee for supervision."

Chu Weigang looked around.

"Show of hands."

The first to raise his hand was the elderly council member in the fifth seat.

He had always stood by Chu Zhengyang's side before.

As soon as that hand went up, the atmosphere in the hall changed.

Then the third.

The seventh.

The ninth.

The sound of scraping chairs became a chaotic mess.

The secretary counted the votes nearby.

More than half.

Chu Huaili sat next to the head of the table, both hands on the surface.

The teacup was right by his right hand.

He reached out to pick it up, his fingers trembling when they touched the cup.

Tea sloshed out, trickling down the rim and spilling onto his trouser leg.

A dark stain spread across the fabric.

Chu Huaili didn't wipe it.

He stared at Chu Weigang, the strength in his voice mostly gone.

"You are trying to drive my son to his death."

Chu Weigang looked down at the tea leaves in his cup.

"Big Brother, I'm not the one driving him."

He turned the teacup half a circle.

"It's the path he chose himself."

The fluorescent lights in the hall emitted a faint electrical hum.

The tea stain on Chu Huaili's trouser leg was still soaking in.

The secretary leaned down to Chu Weigang's ear.

"Second Master, news has come from Jinling."

Chu Weigang didn't turn his head.

"What news?"

The secretary lowered his voice.

"Chu Zhengyang is back."