63: Chapter 63 The Truth Behind the Qin Family's Bankruptcy

At this time, in the office of the Public Security Brigade of the Waitan Police Station, Shenjiang Branch.

Shen Jianan sat in front of the computer, opened the Skynet System, and logged into her account. She quickly pulled up Dao-ge's information. Then, combining the clues provided by Xing Zhenkun and after some searching and analysis, she finally managed to find the information for the man named Wang Hao.

"Xiao Si, come over here for a second," Shen Jianan called out to a young police officer wearing glasses.

Hearing her, the young officer immediately stood up from his seat and walked quickly to Captain Shen's desk.

Shen Jianan handed him Wang Hao's information and instructed, "Go and pull the surveillance footage from the International Finance Center from last night. Carefully check this person's movements and see where he went."

The young officer took the information, looked at it carefully, then nodded and replied, "Understood, Captain Shen. I'll get on it right away."

...

By now, the night was deep, and the village was silent, save for the occasional chirping of cicadas and barking of dogs disturbing the peaceful dreams of others.

Qin Jianye and Wu Xiuhua had already retired to their room to sleep, but Qin Yi lay in the bed of the main house, tossing and turning, his mind in turmoil, unable to fall asleep for a long time.

The family business had been bankrupt for over half a year, and it wasn't until tonight that he finally learned from his father's mouth exactly what had happened.

Jingnan Huajian Steel Co., Ltd. was an enterprise founded single-handedly by his father, Qin Jianye. For a long time, relying on the giant tree that was Jingnan Steel Group, they took on subcontracted work for external parts. In over ten years, nothing had ever gone wrong. It had grown step by step from a small workshop of a few people. Although it couldn't compare to those massive steel enterprises, at its peak, the factory had two to three hundred employees, and its total assets were valued at over a hundred million.

Qin Yi lay on the bed, his eyes looking through the window at the starlit night sky. His mind kept replaying the words his father had said to him tonight, and his thoughts drifted back to six months ago.

...

The story begins in September of last year.

One day, Jingnan Steel Group suddenly released a major project. Because the required quantity of Rebar was so large that Jingnan Steel Group could not deliver it on time internally, several subcontracting plants were brought in to complete the order together.

Among them, Huajian Steel secured an order contract worth nearly a hundred million. For Qin Jianye, this was simply a monumental joy.

Although the order came somewhat suddenly, doing business with Jingnan Steel Group wasn't a matter of just a day or two; these were relationships built over ten years. Qin Jianye didn't think much of it and accepted it.

However, what Qin Jianye didn't expect was that this hundred-million-yuan order wasn't a windfall from heaven, but the beginning of the Qin Family's nightmare.

Because Jingnan Steel Group was pressing for delivery, the steel plant's employees worked day and night to meet the deadline. Qin Jianye also purchased a large amount of raw Materials. As luck would have it, during that time, raw Materials were affected by the international situation and prices rose one after another, causing Qin Jianye's capital chain to tighten suddenly.

Two months later, in November, the first batch of Rebar was finally finished.

Qin Jianye waited expectantly for Jingnan Steel Group to inspect, receive, and release payment. But to his shock, when they were ready for inspection, Jingnan Steel Group's Quality Control Department stepped forward and rejected the shipment on the grounds that the sampled specimens failed the test!

Goods worth fifty million were returned just like that, directly preventing Huajian Steel's funds from being recovered. The money spent on raw Materials, plus the production costs of that fifty million worth of Rebar, made the already tight capital chain even worse.

Even more unexpectedly, at this moment, Jingnan City Bank also sensed the change and demanded that Qin Jianye repay a five-hundred-million-yuan loan early. The reason given by the bank was even more ridiculous, saying that it was almost the end of the year, the head office was conducting evaluations, and their bank's fund recovery reports looked a bit bad...

During that time, Qin Jianye went everywhere begging for help, but it all ended in failure.

In desperation, to save the factory, Qin Jianye could only turn to a loan shark, the boss of the Jingnan Underground Bank—Chen Hu. Using ten percent of Huajian Steel's equity as collateral, he borrowed fifty million. He barely managed to repay thirty-eight million in interest to the bank, while the remaining twelve million served as the company's working capital to keep it struggling along.

However, this only bought Huajian Steel a brief respite.

Within Jingnan Steel Group, those former "friends" with whom he had maintained relationships for over ten years avoided Qin Jianye like the plague, as if they had all received some unspeakable instruction overnight.

While Qin Jianye was isolated and helpless, Chen Hu, the loan shark, found him one day accompanied by a lawyer and made a ridiculous suggestion—to sell Huajian Steel.

Huajian Steel was Qin Jianye's life's work; he had never considered selling it and refused immediately.

But who knew, Chen Hu threatened: "Qin, I'm here today to notify you, not to negotiate with you! If you're smart, sign the acquisition contract and get out with the money. Otherwise, don't blame me for being rude!"

The lawyer standing nearby advised: "Boss Qin, it wouldn't hurt to look at our acquisition contract before making a decision."

Qin Jianye took the contract doubtfully and looked at it, his brow furrowing deeper. When he saw the figure on the contract, he finally couldn't help but explode: "Thirty... thirty million? Are you kidding me! The land alone for this factory is worth more than thirty million!"

The lawyer gave a cold smile: "It seems Boss Qin still hasn't recognized the situation! Then let me do the math for you."

He paused and continued: "Huajian Steel has owed Jingnan City Bank a total of five hundred million in loans from its founding until today. Those loans should be due by the end of the year, right? In addition, the fifty thousand tons of Rebar Boss Qin promised to deliver to Jingnan Steel Group has been stuck because it failed quality inspection! To relieve the pressure on your capital chain, you borrowed a fifty-million-yuan bridge loan from Brother Hu's Underground Bank with ten percent equity. Everything I've said is correct, isn't it?"

"What exactly are you trying to say?" Hearing this, Qin Jianye understood that the other party had come prepared.

"Naturally, I want to help Boss Qin solve his problems," the lawyer continued to explain. "We are willing to pay thirty million to acquire Huajian Steel! We will assume all of Huajian Steel's debts. We'll pay back the debt to City Bank! We can also pay back the bridge loan you owe Brother Hu! Boss Qin only needs to sign the acquisition contract, and thirty million will be yours!"

"Impossible! Just the fixed assets of this factory are worth several hundred million, plus all that steel! The land is over fifty mu! Thirty million? Are you treating me like a beggar!" Qin Jianye shouted angrily.

"Haha, Boss Qin, don't be so quick to speak. How about this, I'll give you one more day to think about it. I'll come back for you in a day. I believe Boss Qin will make the right choice!" After the lawyer finished speaking, he left Qin Jianye's office on his own.

But at that moment, four burly men suddenly burst into the office. Seeing this, Qin Jianye immediately asked, "Brother Hu, what are you doing?"

"Qin Jianye, given your current situation, how are you going to pay back that fifty million! You'd better just sell the factory obediently and keep thirty million for your retirement!" Brother Hu said in an unfriendly tone.

"You... you're taking advantage of my misfortune! Thirty million is absolutely impossible!"

"Heh, Qin Jianye, I didn't realize you were the type who insists on doing things the hard way! I'm telling you! If you still don't agree to sell the factory by this time tomorrow, forget thirty million! You won't even have thirty thousand!"

After the threat, Brother Hu led his men away.

Qin Jianye was left with lingering fears. After calming down, he called an acquaintance at Jingnan Steel Group. After much persuasion, he finally managed to arrange a meeting. He thought that as long as he could finish that hundred-million-yuan order, Huajian Steel could still be saved!

However, during dinner that night, the man revealed to Qin Jianye: "Old Qin, to tell you the truth, there's actually nothing wrong with that batch of Rebar from your factory."

Qin Jianye was confused: "If there's nothing wrong, why has the Quality Control Department been blocking it? Huajian has dealt with quality control for years and we've never encountered anything like this..."

The man hesitated for a moment before continuing: "This... I heard it from others. It actually has nothing to do with quality control. Someone has their eye on the land your factory is on! However, Huajian Steel has always been well-managed, so that person knew there would be a lot of resistance to an acquisition. That's why... everything else happened... I think you understand what I'm saying now, right?"

"No... who is that person? Why do they want my factory? What's so good about this piece of industrial land?" Qin Jianye's confusion grew even deeper.

The man shook his head and replied, "I'm not clear on that either, and don't ask me. Anyway, I only know this person has a deep background and an unusual relationship with our group's chairman... Otherwise, how could all of us 'old connections' not dare to look into Huajian Steel's affairs? I'm telling you, I took a huge risk just coming to this dinner today to give you a heads-up."

Qin Jianye felt only humiliation. He picked up his wine glass and took a large gulp. Seeing this, the man said again: "Old Qin, you can't fight city hall. If it doesn't work out, just sell it. As long as there's life, there's hope. You can start over later, and with us brothers helping you out, are you really worried about not making money?"

"Impossible! If they want to acquire it, then negotiate through normal business channels. What is this? Blatant robbery? I refuse to believe there's nowhere in Jingnan to get justice!" Qin Jianye said indignantly.

"Sigh, Old Qin, I've told you what I know, but after all, it's your own business and you have to make the decision. I won't say any more." After saying that, the man stood up and left the hotel without looking back.

That night, Qin Jianye got dead drunk and didn't return to his villa until late at night.

Wu Xiuhua looked at the drunken Qin Jianye and couldn't help but sigh. After helping him into bed, she was about to leave when Qin Jianye suddenly grabbed her hand and murmured with his eyes closed: "The factory is my life's work! It can't be sold!"

The next day, Brother Hu arrived at Huajian Steel with a group of thugs and that lawyer.

Upon seeing Qin Jianye, the lawyer asked with a smile, "Boss Qin, have you considered it?"

Qin Jianye replied coldly, "There's nothing to consider. I said yesterday that thirty million is impossible! If your boss wants to acquire it, do it openly. Using these underhanded methods to rob me, what kind of skill is that!"

The lawyer gave a cold smile: "So Boss Qin means you're not selling?"

"I can sell, but not for thirty million!"

"Hehe, then how much does Boss Qin hope for?" the lawyer asked curiously.

"I have nothing to talk to you about. Have your boss come and talk!" Qin Jianye responded flatly.

Seeing Qin Jianye's attitude, Brother Hu immediately became enraged: "Qin, don't be ungrateful! Do you even know who that boss is? Who do you think you are to be worthy of talking to them!"

But the lawyer waved Brother Hu off: "Brother Hu, don't be in a hurry. Let me make a call to the boss."

It was unknown what the lawyer said to the boss he represented, but after waiting for a moment, the lawyer looked at Qin Jianye with a gloomy face and said coldly: "Boss Qin, the boss said that since you have no sincerity, we will talk again when you are at the end of your rope!"

After saying that, the lawyer left directly, while Brother Hu and several subordinates glared at Qin Jianye with fierce expressions.

"Qin, since you refuse the easy way, then take the hard way!" Brother Hu said, waving his hand to call his brothers. "Boys! Go! Tie this guy up!"

"What are you doing! I'm warning you, don't do anything reckless. If you do, I'll call the police!" Qin Jianye couldn't help but warn them nervously.

But Brother Hu seemed completely unafraid of the police and gave a cold laugh: "Call the police? Go ahead! I'd like to see what the police can do to me over an economic dispute! Take him away!"

...

Just like that, Qin Jianye was kidnapped by Brother Hu to a deserted warehouse and locked in an iron cage for three days and three nights.

During that time, Wu Xiuhua also called the police. The police took it quite seriously and quickly found Brother Hu, who had taken Qin Jianye away. But Brother Hu insisted he hadn't seen Qin Jianye and even suggested that Qin Jianye might have run off with the money, since he owed him a huge sum of fifty million.

It's unclear if the police really believed him or what, but they only sent people to search on the day the report was made and stopped taking action for the next two days.

In her desperation, Wu Xiuhua could only call her son Qin Yi back. Qin Yi knew everything that happened after that.

Now, over half a year has passed. The original Huajian Steel no longer exists. The factory buildings were demolished, the processing equipment was auctioned off by the bank, and the factory's raw Materials and finished products were bought by Jingnan Steel Group at prices far below the market rate. Even that original fifty-plus mu of land has now been transformed into commercial land...

Who exactly is the mastermind behind the scenes? As Qin Yi was thinking, a System notification sound suddenly echoed in his mind.

[Ding! Detected that the host's mind is in turmoil. Triggering random mission—Endure for a moment and the waves will settle; take a step back and the more you think, the angrier you get!]

[Option 1: The past is like smoke. Since it has already happened, doing anything now is futile. Better to just let it go!

Reward: Randomly deduct 10 points from six-dimensional attributes, and be plagued by bad luck for 7*24 hours!]

[Option 2: Find the mastermind behind the scenes and let them also taste the feeling of being robbed!

Reward: Mental Energy +5, one random 100% Equity Exchange Card!]

"Damn! What is there even to say? They hurt my family so badly, I must find the mastermind! System, I choose option two!"

[Ding! Given the difficulty of this task, the host will receive 1000 System Points upon completion!]

Holy crap, 1000 System Points...

Previous tasks only rewarded 10 System Points, but this time it's 1000... It seems the power of this mastermind is indeed very great.

"System, is there no time limit for this mission?"

[Ding! This System task is of high difficulty and was triggered by the host, so no time limit is set. However, the System will rate the host based on the speed of completion. The faster the task is completed, the better the additional rewards will be!]