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Chapter 590 Closing the Door to Beat the Dog (Please Subscribe)

The tea room was quiet.

After Zhang Yunqi left, Liu Mingde remained seated in his chair, like a corpse on its deathbed.

The tea on the table had long since gone cold.

The brown tea soup condensed at the bottom of the cup, remaining completely still.

As dusk settled outside the window, the ancient alleyway was teeming with people. The cries of vendors, the ringing of bicycle bells, and the laughter of citizens mingled together, creating a vibrant, warm, and lively atmosphere that contrasted sharply with the deathly silence in the teahouse and with the despair in Liu Mingde's heart.

The situation he is facing now is far more serious than he and Zhang Yunqi had described.

In this era of economic overheating, due to inflation and tight credit, bank lending has been extremely active, making private lending and financing very popular. It's not surprising that he borrowed money from Qiao Zhiwu to bridge the gap and get through his difficulties.

Of course, he was very cautious when borrowing money. He negotiated with Qiao Zhiwu three times, drafted a financing agreement, and stipulated the repayment period and annualized rate of return of 12%. He was also very clear that with the booming business of Jiangxinzhou Entertainment City, he could completely repay this debt. In fact, he did earn back the money later. Therefore, he felt at ease investing this huge sum of money in the project's working capital. However, this foreign businessman never expected that the business environment in Lijin would be so terrible, and that Qiao Zhiwu would disregard the law and completely disregard the financing agreement! In addition to the principal of 60 million, he also demanded 130 million in interest.

He simply couldn't possibly come up with 130 million in 1996 right now. But Qiao Zhiwu was a complete scoundrel who only cared about money and not people. He sent his henchmen to monitor him, intimidate him, beat him, and threaten to detain him, making his life a living hell!

Forced into a corner, Liu Mingde submitted a report to the city government, but received no response. He went to report the crime, and as soon as he stepped out of the police station, he was arrested by Qiao Zhiwu's men and hung up and beaten for a day. To this day, he still has crisscrossing bruises on his back.

Right now, Liu Mingde has no other choice but to find a way to pay off this high-interest loan as soon as possible! He is being watched by Qiao Zhiwu's men every day, and he doesn't even have the chance to abandon his numerous properties in Lijin and escape back to Hong Kong!

However, in order to push forward the Qingwu Street project, which involved an investment of several hundred million yuan, his most valuable asset—the Jiangxinzhou Entertainment City—had already been mortgaged to the bank, and the resulting loan was also invested in that huge vortex. As for his other assets, he sold them off piecemeal, but couldn't even raise 130 million yuan.

Even worse, sporadic repayments not only failed to reduce his debt, but Qiao Zhiwu would also use the excuse of not repaying the full amount on time to compound interest, causing it to snowball until it buried him alive...

This is an inexhaustible debt that will never end.

We'll fight to the death, until we drain him of his last drop of bone marrow!
Thinking of this, Liu Mingde was already having trouble breathing, his face contorted, and despair filled his heart! However, this was only the visible knife.

An even more ruthless blow came from Lu Yuanzhou!

This is related to the Qingwu Commercial Pedestrian Street that he owns.

In the process of transforming the provincial capital, Lijin City launched ten major investment projects, including the Qingwu Commercial Pedestrian Street on Huangxing Road and the renovation of Wuyi Avenue, amidst controversy over "reckless actions" and "advanced planning."

The Qingwu Commercial Pedestrian Street was spearheaded by Xu Kai. However, his forward-thinking planning made many investors hesitate to invest in the project until he took a liking to it.

He had some connection with Xiangnan, which stemmed from his company being invited to participate in the first Xiangnan Trade Fair and investing in the Jiangxinzhou Amusement Park project, instantly becoming the first "star enterprise" with foreign investment in Xiangnan. Because of this reputation, he took the lead in investing in and building the Qingwu Commercial Pedestrian Street project, which perfectly matched the needs of Rijin City, and the two sides quickly reached a cooperation agreement.

After the cooperation entered the substantive implementation stage, the project was so large that a main operating company was needed to manage it. Meanwhile, the Huangxing South Road Qingwu Commercial Pedestrian Street was one of the top ten key investment projects in Lijin City, and Xu Kai had the task of attracting investment. To accomplish this task, the powerful Xiangbei Xiongsen Group was brought in, along with Xu Kai's foreign-invested company registered in the British Virgin Islands—Zhenyu Company—as the investment entities. The two parties jointly established Lijin Jinzhao Industrial Company, each holding 50% of the shares. Xu Kai served as chairman, and Lu Yuanzhou, the pride of the Lu family, served as general manager.

In this joint venture, there have been rumors that Xiongsen Group was introduced by Liu Mingde, but that is not the case.

Xiongsen Group was privately designated by Xu Kai!

He left his hometown and went to a strange place, and he was able to build such a big business. He was obviously not a fool. This was a business operation in the cooperation between government and enterprise, which was very normal in the mainland. Moreover, due to the circumstances, he could not go against Xu Kai's idea, so he readily agreed.

At the beginning of the cooperation, the Qingwu Pedestrian Street project progressed very smoothly. The project contract was finalized in just one month. From planning and design to land acquisition and demolition, all departments cooperated exceptionally well. Lu Yuanzhou also acted with humility and politeness, and he took the lead in implementing everything, big or small. The cooperation between the two parties was very pleasant.

However, he never expected that as the construction of Qingwu Commercial Pedestrian Street continued to advance, the "Number One Street in Hunan" that he wanted to create gradually released huge commercial potential. Before the shops were even built, a large number of customers were already holding large sums of money and wanting to buy shops. Jinzhao Industrial's operation center was always bustling with customers.

Lu Yuanzhou and Xiongsen Group sensed the immense potential for profit, and their thinking gradually shifted. They began to want to seize control of the project, leading to numerous disagreements, both large and small, on development concepts and work details. Lu Yuanzhou gradually realized that this polite young man was extremely ambitious and ruthless. Xiongsen Group itself was powerful, with a deeply entrenched network of connections nationwide. Lu Yuanzhou easily cultivated a vast network of contacts in the city, and as his influence grew, he gradually gained control of Jinzhao Industrial's operations and maliciously inflated the renovation costs of the pedestrian street…

The trigger for the conflict between the two parties was Liu Mingde's discovery that Lu Yuanzhou had sold shops in prime locations on the pedestrian street to people or companies he designated at prices that were practically given away for free.

The market price is nearly 20,000 per square meter, but he sells it for just over 2,000!
This is no longer a business dispute, but a blatant attempt to hollow out Jinzhao Industrial and stab Liu Mingde in the heart.

The conflict between the two sides has now become public.

Liu Mingde submitted the report to the city government, but it was all for naught.

Xu Kai's attitude was ambiguous, subtly favoring Lu Yuanzhou.

What is this called?
Invite the enemy into the trap, then close the door and beat the dog!
Liu Mingde was at a loss, and these two incidents made him truly understand the perilous business environment in Lijin.

Every step is fraught with danger, and there are hidden dangers everywhere!
When Liu Mingde thought of this, he felt a mix of emotions, filled with regret. He had let a wolf into his house! Just then, the phone rang.

Liu Mingde instinctively turned on his phone. The person on the other end sounded somewhat nervous as they said, "Mr. Liu, Xiongsen Group has just filed an additional lawsuit against you, accusing you of misappropriating project funds..."

"understood!"

With a loud "smack," Liu Mingde slammed his phone to the ground, his chest heaving violently.

He knew this was Lu Yuanzhou's trick. Ever since the conflict between the two sides escalated, Lu Yuanzhou had launched a series of malicious lawsuits against him in court.

What's even more infuriating is that, without any evidence, Lu Yuanzhou sent someone to report him to the Tiannan Branch Bureau. The Tiannan Branch Bureau opened an investigation into him and then withdrew the case, opened an investigation and then withdrew the case again... This led to Lu Yuanzhou having a complete loss of control over the Qingwu Commercial Pedestrian Street project on Huangxing South Road!
Liu Mingde lit a cigarette, trying his best to control his anger and despair. The business world is like a battlefield! No matter what, he believed that as long as he could get through this and survive until the Qingwu Commercial Pedestrian Street opened and his funds returned, he would definitely be able to turn things around!
This is a project worth hundreds of millions, or even billions!

However, what he lacks most right now is time. Qiao Zhiwu will not let him go, and Lu Yuanzhou will relentlessly pursue him.

Liu Mingde's obese body sank into the mahogany chair, his eyes closed, his mind racing. Suddenly, Zhang Yunqi's face involuntarily appeared in his mind.

He had thoroughly researched Zhang Yunqi's background; this young man was formidable and certainly not an innocent bystander. Moreover, he knew about the incident at the end of last year when Qiao Zhiwu ambushed Zhang Yunqi on the Orange Isle Bridge, resulting in a direct confrontation. He also knew the rumors that Lu Yuanzhou had clashed with Zhang Yunqi in Jiangchuan at the beginning of this year and was thrown from a designated local hotel into the street by Zhang Yunqi's men and beaten all night.

Currently, both of his enemies have had significant conflicts with Zhang Yunqi. Isn't the enemy of my enemy my friend? If Zhang Yunqi is willing to cooperate with him, he has every chance to turn the tide and launch a counterattack!

As Liu Mingde thought this through, his mind gradually became clearer, and his spirits lifted considerably. Although Zhang Yunqi had directly rejected him earlier, he was confident that this was merely a pretense because Zhang hadn't offered sufficiently enticing terms. They were both in business; given Zhang Yunqi's personality, he would willingly take the bait if there was profit involved.

Thinking of this, Liu Mingde picked up his phone from the ground. Although it had been dropped, it wasn't broken at all. These days, phones are as sturdy as bricks.

He found Zhang Yunqi's number in his contacts and dialed it. As soon as the call connected, he immediately said, "Mr. Zhang, listen to me..."

“Really, there’s no need, Mr. Liu.” Zhang Yunqi interrupted him directly: “I already know the situation. I sympathize with you in this matter, but it’s too complicated. I really can’t help you with this.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the phone call ended.

When Liu Mingde called back, all he heard was a cold, repetitive system message: "The user you dialed is busy, please try again later..."

He wasn't busy, he'd been blocked!
Liu Mingde froze in his chair, his knuckles white as he gripped his phone. Zhang Yunqi was a smart man; he should have known that this call was an offer to negotiate, but Zhang Yunqi's resolute attitude filled him with despair once more!
After a long while, he took out a document from his leather bag, flipped through it, and his expression gradually became complicated. Was Zhang Yunqi really unwilling to help him?

He picked up the tea, which had long since gone cold, and drank it in one gulp. He got up and went out, his obese figure disappearing into the deep twilight, passing through the cries of vendors, the ringing of bicycle bells, and the laughter of citizens.

******
PS: Growing up...