Chapter 117 Tu Yuandong's Machinations

Early the next morning, Chen Ang left Yu Fei's house and drove straight to the Financial Center.

Zhong Yuanxin was already in Shen Pianran's office, and the two were whispering while looking over a document.

Chen Ang pushed the door open and walked in. Zhong Yuanxin looked up, set the document in her hand aside, stood up, and walked over to him.

"The investment details for Jiangning have been finalized. The first phase involves an investment of 60 million, with 40 million in supporting government funds, and they've also secured the approval documents for tax incentives. Director Xu Qingwan says that as soon as our funds are in place, we can start the first phase of infrastructure repairs at any time..."

"We'll talk about that later." Chen Ang sat down opposite Shen Pianran. "There's a problem with Company."

He recounted what Yu Fei had told him the previous night.

Mortgage loans, appraisal reports, Tu Yuandong, Jiang Wei, Dingxin, and the real estate Company behind it—the whole chain of events clicked into place.

After listening, Shen Pianran leaned back in her chair, twirling her pen, and didn't speak immediately.

After a moment, she took a file out of her drawer and pushed it over.

"Behind Dingxin is Jinhui Real Estate. They have been trying to consolidate the local building materials channels in Bin City for a long time. The reason Zhou Yuda was in such a rush to sell Company earlier was partly because of Jinhui."

"They have government connections and suppressed Company for two years. When we were acquiring it, Jinhui also wanted to intervene from the sidelines, but they were one step behind us."

Chen Ang flipped through the file, and things became much clearer. He pointed to the document and looked up. "Jinhui acquired three plots of land in Bin City last year, and one of them is right next to Mingzhou Building."

Shen Pianran leaned forward to take a look, then shook her head and smiled. "What a coincidence. They probably want to buy Mingzhou Building too, to turn that area into the largest commercial complex in the new district."

"When you spent 128 million to buy those two standalone office buildings, Jinhui might not have noticed you yet. But later, when we were talking to the Road and Bridge Bureau about Mingzhou Building, Jinhui must have heard something."

Chen Ang nodded, agreeing with her speculation. The circle was small; Jinhui had strong connections, so it wouldn't be hard for them to find out certain secrets. Besides, the Road and Bridge Bureau wasn't just Manager Hu's personal fiefdom.

Zhong Yuanxin, who was standing to the side, spoke up. "You're saying Dingxin is an affiliate of Jinhui. Tu Yuandong goes to Dingxin, and Dingxin takes Company's loan fraud materials to Jinhui—that's killing two birds with one stone."

Chen Ang smiled and said, "Tu Yuandong solves his supply problem, Jinhui gets leverage over Company, and they can snipe us along the way, then seize Mingzhou Building."

"So, Tu Yuandong is handing a knife to Dingxin."

"Perhaps even more than that." Zhong Yuanxin spoke again. "Tu Yuandong is also stalling for time. He signed the contract with the Road and Bridge Bureau, and since Company cut off his supply, he's looking for Dingxin as a substitute."

"If Dingxin can help him get through this construction period, he won't be dismissed by the Road and Bridge Bureau. Once he catches his breath, Jinhui will have enough resources and financial power to wear you down."

"Then we won't let him catch his breath." Chen Ang's expression turned serious. He looked up. "So, there are two problems now."

He held up one finger and spoke slowly. "First, will Dingxin take the appraisal report to the bank to report us? Second, after Tu Yuandong gets a stable supply from Dingxin, how should we cause trouble for him?"

Zhong Yuanxin thought for a moment and asked, "So, for the first problem, does Company have enough funds to handle an early repayment?"

Lawyer Shen interjected, "The mortgage loan is 10 million. According to the appraisal, even if it's inflated by 30%, if the bank initiates an audit and demands we cover the difference in collateral or repay early, we'd need to prepare about 4 million. Including potential penalty interest and breach of contract fees, it should be covered within 5 million."

Zhong Yuanxin frowned. "Company's current liquid assets are just over 2 million. It's not enough."

"What about Hengxing Investment?" Chen Ang asked Zhong Yuanxin.

"We just paid the final installment for the office building. Antai Leasing transferred another 100 million to Tan Xiaolei for the apartment acquisition in the University Town, and the rest of the funds are being prepared for investment in Jiangning."

Zhong Yuanxin flipped through the report in her hand and raised an eyebrow. "It will take some time to adjust, but it shouldn't be a big problem."

Lawyer Shen suddenly chuckled, leaned back in her chair leisurely, picked up her coffee cup, and said in a calm tone, "No need to worry. Tomorrow, 29.88 million USD will arrive in the Company account, which is equivalent to just over 200 million RMB."

Zhong Yuanxin's hand, which was flipping through the report, froze.

She looked up, her gaze darting between Lawyer Shen and Chen Ang, her eyes full of complaints. "You're so loaded, what else is there to say?"

She smiled and shrugged. "Then that 10 million is nothing. We have even more confidence in the Jiangning cultural tourism investment now."

Then, she looked at Lawyer Shen and pouted, feigning dissatisfaction. "Last time the money arrived, Lawyer Shen pretended to be surprised along with me, but it turns out you both knew there was more money coming."

"I worked so hard to figure out the Company's assets, and you two still had cards up your sleeves."

Then, she let out a long sigh. "Good heavens, what kind of awesome Company did I join?"

Lawyer Shen smiled and put down her coffee cup. "Sister Xin, we didn't mean to keep it from you. This money only finished bank clearing last night; we weren't sure about the arrival time before."

"The first problem is solved. For the second problem, I need to have another talk with Manager Hu." After Chen Ang finished speaking, he kept a smile on his face, then stood up, walked to the sofa, and lit a cigarette.

Tu Yuandong had racked his brains to find a breakthrough, but all his schemes were built on the premise that he was short on funds.

Once this premise no longer existed, no matter how strong Dingxin and Jinhui were, they wouldn't be able to stir up any trouble in the face of abundant cash flow.

He knew that Wen Huilin probably knew how much money Hengxing Investment had, but it was obvious that Tu Yuandong didn't.

This suggested that both of them were hiding something from each other. Chen Ang's lips curled up, and he couldn't help but look forward to the scene where they would bite each other like dogs and fight to the death once they realized each other's hidden agendas.

Just as Chen Ang was imagining an exciting blockbuster, Lawyer Shen's phone vibrated on the table.

She looked down at it, and her brows furrowed slightly.

"What's wrong?" Chen Ang stubbed out his cigarette.

"It's my mom. Urging me to go on a blind date again." She put down her phone, rubbed her temples, and then looked up. "Last time in Hong Kong, you promised to help me fend one off."

Chen Ang smiled and stood up, picking up the car keys from the coffee table. "Then let's go. I'll go with you to see what kind of blind date setup this is."

Shen Pianran looked at Chen Ang, wanting to say something but hesitating.

Zhong Yuanxin, standing to the side, looked at Shen Pianran, then at Chen Ang, and then picked up her cup and stood up.

"I'm going to the next room to organize the Jiangning contracts. You two talk."

She walked to the door and looked back at Shen Pianran. She saw a faint smile in her eyes.

It was as if she understood something, yet as if she understood nothing at all.

Returning to her office, she took out her phone, found Director Xu Qingwan's WeChat, and quickly started typing.

"Qingwan, if Chen Ang had an affair with another woman, what would you do?"

After sending the message, she closed the chat box, then opened it again, prepared to type more, but then stopped.

Clutching her phone, she let out a soft sigh, shook her head, and laughed at herself.