205: Chapter 205 The Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce's Scheme

Jiangnan City. The top-floor office of Huihuang Group's East China Branch.

Chen Muyang stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, looking out at the murky grey sky.

Chen Haoyu pushed the door open and walked in, holding several urgent reports in his hand.

"Young Master, something is wrong." Chen Haoyu placed the reports on the office desk. "Construction on the East China Logistics Park we're building in the Jiangnan suburbs has come to a complete standstill."

Chen Muyang turned around.

"At three o'clock this morning, the three main roads leading to the logistics park were all dug up by several heavy excavators. The reason given was municipal pipeline maintenance," Chen Haoyu spoke rapidly. "Immediately after, the local power bureau cut the electricity, and the water company shut off the supply. Tens of thousands of construction workers are now trapped on the site, unable to enter or leave."

"How much are the losses?" Chen Muyang asked.

"Between equipment downtime and liquidated damages alone, it's at least ten million a day." Chen Haoyu's expression was grim. "The local subcontractors have also gone on a collective strike. The Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce has put out the word: anyone who dares to take work from Huihuang Group won't be able to survive in Jiangnan ever again."

Chen Muyang walked to the desk, picked up the reports, and flipped through a few pages.

The Wu Family was moving faster than expected. This pack of local snakes was relying on the saying that even a powerful dragon cannot suppress a local snake, using these low-handed tactics to force him to submit.

The phone on the desk suddenly began to vibrate.

An unknown local Jiangnan number was displayed on the screen.

Chen Muyang pressed the speakerphone button.

Wu Tian's arrogant laughter erupted from the phone.

"Young Master Chen, are you adjusting well to the environment of Jiangnan?" Wu Tian's voice was dripping with smugness. "The taste of having no water or electricity isn't pleasant, is it? Those roads... I expect they'll take a year or half a year to repair."

Chen Muyang didn't say a word.

"You were quite the big shot, snatching people away on my turf last night," Wu Tian snorted coldly. "So what if you have ten billion in cash? In Jiangnan, I won't let you spend a single cent!"

"Are you finished?" Chen Muyang's tone was calm.

"I'll give you a way out." Wu Tian raised his volume. "Take Lin Wanqiu with you right now and crawl to the gates of the Wu Family Manor. Give me three loud kowtows and return the woman to me untouched. If I'm in a good mood, I might leave you a dirt road to get out of Jiangnan. Otherwise, get ready for Huihuang Group to be bled dry here!"

Chen Muyang immediately pressed the hang-up button.

He tossed the phone onto the desk and turned to look at Chen Haoyu.

"Should I prepare the car for the construction site?" Chen Haoyu asked.

"No." Chen Muyang sat in his office chair. "Going to the site to bicker with them is exactly what they want."

Chen Muyang picked up the encrypted landline on his desk and dialed a number for a courtyard house in the Imperial Capital.

The phone rang twice before being picked up.

"Dad," Chen Muyang spoke.

"The Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce made their move?" Chen Fan's voice came through the speaker, exceptionally steady.

"They've cut the water, power, and roads," Chen Muyang reported truthfully. "Wu Zhen wants to bleed us dry in Jiangnan."

The sound of papers being flipped came from the other end of the line.

"Son," Chen Fan stopped what he was doing, his voice coming through clearly, "the reason local snakes are so arrogant is because they feel they are standing on their own turf."

Chen Muyang listened quietly.

"Their lifeblood is often hidden right beneath that turf," Chen Fan's tone was certain. "Find it, and then uproot their turf and make it ours."

"Understood." Chen Muyang nodded.

The call ended.

Late at night. The study of the branch office's top-floor suite.

Chen Muyang sat before the computer. The screen was filled with the public financial reports and shareholding structures of various companies under the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce.

The door was pushed open softly.

Lin Wanqiu walked in carrying a tray. On the tray was a steaming bowl of pork rib noodles.

She was wearing simple loungewear, her hair casually tied back.

"Eat something first." Lin Wanqiu placed the bowl beside the desk.

Chen Muyang rubbed his aching neck, reached out to grab Lin Wanqiu's wrist, and pulled her onto his lap.

Lin Wanqiu's cheeks flushed red, but she didn't struggle.

"Still checking the Wu Family's background?" Lin Wanqiu looked at the data on the screen.

"Wu Zhen spread his net too wide." Chen Muyang picked up the chopsticks and took a bite of the noodles. "Several core ports in Jiangnan and seven large-scale warehouse centers are all under the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce's name. Where did they get so much liquid capital to maintain operations?"

Lin Wanqiu looked at the familiar company names and thought for a few seconds.

"My father mentioned it once before." Lin Wanqiu pointed to the Jiangnan Ocean Port on the screen. "A few years ago, in order to monopolize Jiangnan's logistics channels, Wu Zhen spent a sky-high price to acquire these ports. At the time, the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce couldn't raise enough internal funds, so he borrowed money from foreign investors."

Chen Muyang stopped his chopsticks.

"Foreign investors?" Chen Muyang pressed.

"I'm not sure which specific firm it was," Lin Wanqiu recalled. "I only know the interest was extremely high and they signed a very harsh gambling agreement."

Chen Muyang put down the bowl. He quickly tapped the keyboard, entering Huihuang Group's internal intelligence network.

The Wu Family's surface accounts were kept very clean, showing no trace of foreign intervention.

Chen Muyang picked up his encrypted phone and sent a command to Chen Haoyu: "Contact the headquarters' system database. Check the underlying mortgage records for the core assets of the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce. Trace overseas capital flows."

Five minutes later.

An encrypted email with a top-secret tag popped up on the computer screen. It was a data packet intercepted and forwarded by Chen Fan through the system.

Chen Muyang opened the email.

Lin Wanqiu leaned closer to the screen.

Dozens of pages of English electronic contract attachments appeared before their eyes.

Chen Muyang scrolled down page by page.

The top three deep-water ports under the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce, eleven heavy-duty warehouse centers, and sixty percent of Jiangnan Real Estate's equity.

All core assets had been secretly packaged and mortgaged by Wu Zhen three years ago.

Mortgagee: UBS Jiangnan Branch.

Creditor Ownership: Providence Trust Fund, controlled by the Ross Family.

Total Loan Amount: Forty billion RMB.

Repayment Deadline: Early next month.

Even more fatal was an additional clause: once the stock prices of the listed companies under the Wu Family experienced abnormal fluctuations leading to asset shrinkage, UBS had the right to terminate the contract early and demand full repayment from the Wu Family at any time. Otherwise, it would directly enter mandatory bankruptcy liquidation and seize all mortgaged assets.

Lin Wanqiu covered her mouth.

"This... more than half of the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce's assets don't actually belong to them?" Lin Wanqiu voiced.

Chen Muyang leaned back in his chair.

Recalling how Chen Haoyu had used one billion to crash the market last night, two of the Wu Family's stocks had already hit their limit down.

The condition of significant asset shrinkage had already been triggered.

And the owner of this debt was none other than the Ross Family, who just a few days ago in a castle in Davos, Switzerland, had been forced to sign an equity transfer agreement while Chen Fan pointed armed drones at their heads.

Chen Muyang looked at the clauses on the screen and smiled.

Wu Zhen thought he could strangle Huihuang Group's neck by cutting off a few roads.

He didn't realize that the noose around his own neck was about to be handed over to the Chen Family.

"Wanqiu." Chen Muyang stood up, leaning his hands on the desk.

"What is it?" Lin Wanqiu looked at him.

Chen Muyang picked up the encrypted phone on the desk.

"Go pick out your most formal gown and get ready to attend the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce general election tomorrow." Chen Muyang looked at the night sky outside the window and dialed an international long-distance number. "I'm going to settle the bill for the Wu Family."