Back to the teenage years

Chapter 601 Cloud Movement
The following day, Xiangtai Pharmaceutical's stock price hit the daily limit up as soon as the market opened!

At 9:30, the moment the trader pressed the confirmation button, Xiangtai Pharmaceutical's intraday chart line resembled a drawn sword, shooting straight upwards, piercing the 8.88 yuan mark, and firmly locking in the 9.31 yuan limit-up price.

The buy order numbers at the top of the buy list kept jumping wildly: 50,000 shares, 100,000 shares, 200,000 shares... In the blink of an eye, more than 3 million shares of buy orders were piled up.

Xiangtai Pharmaceutical has been rising for several days in a row, and today it hit the daily limit! But Zhang Yunqi knows that this is just the beginning. With each step forward, Xiangtai will jump higher. The real climax of this grand drama, jointly directed by Xie Yun and Lu Yuanzhou, will only come when the news of Xiangtai's official restructuring is announced. Countless retail investors will rush in with their money, and then, they will be left with a mass grave of thousands.

Xie Yun clearly didn't take his words to heart at Li Jilin's housewarming banquet, and Zhang Yunqi naturally didn't care. But at this point, things were beyond repair.

There are no more innocent people on this ship.

After arranging for Xu Qingshan to manage the stock price of Xiangtai Pharmaceutical, Zhang Yunqi prepared two documents overnight regarding the Qingwu Commercial Pedestrian Street project on Huangxing South Road. He asked Wang Guibing to contact the media to publish one document at a suitable time, and he planned to take the other document to Lijin No. 1 Courtyard.

Yang Jiarong should already be waiting for him.

Some time ago, he revealed to Lu Yuanzhou that Liu Mingde was planning to transfer 50% of Jinzhao Industrial's shares to him.

Given Lu Yuanzhou's mindset, he naturally wouldn't take those words seriously, but they would certainly serve as a wake-up call, prompting him to accelerate his efforts to acquire the remaining 50% of Jinzhao Industrial's shares.

As expected, on May 18, Xiongsen Group unilaterally submitted an application to the city government, citing Liu Mingde's involvement in lawsuits and the concentrated outbreak of debt problems, which seriously affected the opening of Qingwu Commercial Pedestrian Street. The application requested that Liu Mingde Zhenyu Company transfer 50% of the equity of Lijin Jinzhao Industrial Company for 80 million yuan. The transferee was Xinghong Industrial Co., Ltd., an affiliated company of Xiongsen Group.

However, Liu Mingde, this Hong Kong businessman, still possesses a tenacious spirit.

Caught between Lu Yuanzhou and Qiao Zhiwu, he was in a desperate situation, but he still did not intend to surrender and continued to make a last-ditch effort.

Liu Mingde's ability to build such a large business in Rijin suggests he's quite intelligent. He filed a series of lawsuits against Xiongsen Group in the Rijin Intermediate People's Court, concerning a series of major issues involving Jinzhao Industrial, including tax evasion, inflated project development costs, and asset transfers.

Among these, one lawsuit that Zhang Yunqi was very familiar with was a dispute over 10% of the upfront costs for the Qingwu Commercial Pedestrian Street on Huangxing South Road.

When Liu Mingde signed the "Cooperation Agreement" with Xiongsen Group, a "Supplementary Agreement" was attached. The agreement clearly stated that, in view of Liu Mingde's research findings from his long-term investigation and research on pedestrian street projects at home and abroad, as well as his role in helping to solve the project's loan issues and coordinating various aspects of cooperation during the development process, and in providing project cooperation opportunities, the board of directors of Xiongsen Group agreed to allocate 10% of the project's after-tax profits as Liu Mingde's "preliminary expenses".

What Liu Mingde is demanding right now is this huge sum of money.

The shops in Qingwu Commercial Pedestrian Street are now being sold to recoup funds. Lu Yuanzhou's approach is to sell the shops at low prices to his designated personnel or affiliated companies, thereby directly draining the net assets of Lijin Jinzhao Industrial Company and rendering Liu Mingde's equity worthless.

This young talent certainly had many tricks up his sleeve, but what he did even more ruthlessly was to squeeze every last drop of profit out of Liu Mingde and then kick him out of Jinzhao Industrial! He didn't even give Liu Mingde the 10% after-tax profit as upfront expenses that was written into the "Cooperation Agreement".

Lu Yuanzhou seemed to disregard the series of lawsuits filed by Liu Mingde. While managing so many large-scale projects in Lijin, he also handled Liu Mingde, who was desperate and ready to overturn the table, with ease. He also arranged for his legal team to file a series of lawsuits against Liu Mingde on the grounds of misappropriation of project funds and illegal related-party transactions.

What's this move called?

Muddy the waters!

Now everyone's covered in poop, so figuring out who actually did it isn't so easy.

Even following the normal procedures, a lawsuit can take up to two years to process, from filing the complaint, registering the case, taking preservation measures, going to court, first instance, second instance, and enforcement.

The question is, can Liu Mingde hold out for another two months?
In a short period of time, the two sides filed as many as nine commercial lawsuits against each other! The case files were piled up to be as tall as a person, causing quite a stir in the industry.

However, perhaps neither side expected that on May 26, while they were embroiled in an endless legal battle, the Xiaoxiang Evening News devoted half of its front page to a report that directly poured gasoline into the fire of this legal battle!
Title: Unveiling the Equity Dispute Over the Qingwu Street Project—One of Lijin's Top Ten Investment Projects Embroiled in a Series of Lawsuits Involving Hundreds of Millions of Yuan

Author: Future First.

Once this report was published, discussions on the streets and alleys exploded like boiling water!

The Qingwu Commercial Pedestrian Street is currently the top priority project in Lijin City, involving people's livelihood and well-being, as well as their entertainment, leisure, and consumption. Almost every adult in Lijin City has heard of this project, and it can be said that millions of citizens are eagerly awaiting the day it opens.

Just before the opening of Qingwu Pedestrian Street on Huangxing South Road, this huge scandal suddenly broke out. Naturally, all sorts of rumors and gossip spread like wildfire in the streets and alleys. Rumors included unscrupulous Hong Kong businessmen and Xiangbei locals fighting like dogs, stealing state assets with no money, project funds being diverted to fill gambling debts in Macau, and those who were relocated and merchants being ripped off, and so on.

More professional voices are appearing in economic newspapers.

Tan Wenjie, a professor in the Department of Economics and Management at Xiangnan University, wrote an article on this matter in his column "Xingcheng Economic Review," in which he made a crucial point: "The dispute over Qingwu Commercial Street exposes the deep-seated contradiction between the current 'policy incentives' and 'business rules' in Lijin's investment promotion efforts. When local governments are eager to launch performance-based projects, they often leave hidden dangers in contract design and equity structure."

Faced with the overwhelming public opinion, the city government naturally realized the seriousness of the problem.

Almost on the same day the news broke, Xu Kai organized staff from relevant departments such as the Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Bureau, the Commerce Bureau, the Industry and Commerce Bureau, the Legislative Affairs Office, and the Tiannan District Public Security Bureau to form a joint investigation team and directly intervene in the project!
The first thing the joint investigation team did was rush into the Jinzhao Industrial office building and take away all the ledgers, contracts, and bank statements.

Liu Mingde was also stunned by this report.

He was certainly aware of the seriousness of the matter. This seriousness was not just about the content of the report, but also that the report had actually passed censorship and been published in the Xiaoxiang Evening News.

This is provincial media; the city can't control it!

what does this mean?
Liu Mingde dared not imagine what would happen next, but he was clear on one thing: he had nowhere left to retreat in his current situation. He had nothing to lose, so he had nothing to fear. Now that things had blown up and become known to everyone, attracting attention from all sides, this might be his only chance to escape his predicament.

Liu Mingde immediately took the newspaper and went to the city to find Xu Kai!

Over the past two years, Xu Kai has lost count of how many times he has been to his office. From the initial high spirits, holding the project plan and outlining the blueprint for "the No. 1 Street in Hunan", to the later cautious progress reports and requests for coordination, and now to his heavy steps, humble demeanor, and being turned away at the door.

Life is like smoke.

The blueprint envisioned yesterday has become the abyss of today.

This time, he didn't even catch a glimpse of Xu Kai.

Or rather, Xu Kai has lost interest in seeing him.

As soon as he arrived at the city office building, he saw Yi Wenbin, Xu Kai's secretary, waiting for him at the entrance.

He knew Yi Wenbin very well; they used to be like brothers in private. He remembered a saying in mainland China that described the four ironclad bonds of brotherhood: studying together, fighting together, and so on. Those two were impossible now, but the other two did fit his past relationship with Yi Wenbin.

Now, Yi Wenbin seemed like a completely different person. With a stern face and an air of official business, he led him directly to the conference room next door, called over Zhou Yunxian from the Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Bureau, and then left without a word.

Zhou Yunxian was the head of the joint investigation team. He knew him; he was in his forties, wore gold-rimmed glasses, and was a deputy director.

After the two sat down facing each other, Zhou Yunxian didn't stand on ceremony and said directly, "President Liu, the leaders are in a meeting, so I'm here to talk to you."

Liu Mingde knew it was a joke, but he could only nod.

Zhou Yunxian slowly and deliberately said, "Actually, we have a preliminary understanding of the situation. Based on the existing materials, Xiongsen Group is indeed suspected of related-party transactions in the sale of shops, with prices significantly lower than market prices. We will report this to the city government."

Upon hearing this, a glimmer of hope appeared in Liu Mingde's despairing heart. Just as he was about to speak, Zhou Yunxian changed the subject: "However, your Zhenyu Company, as a foreign shareholder, also has problems in the process of injecting capital into the project."

Zhou Yunxian opened his notebook and said, "The initial investment was only 20 million, and all subsequent funds came from bank loans and pre-sale proceeds. This is suspected of violating the regulations on the management of foreign-invested enterprises' capital contributions. In addition, Jiangxinzhou Entertainment City mortgaged 60 million, and the flow of funds overlapped with the Qingwu Street project, which may involve the withdrawal of capital contributions."

Liu Mingde's expression changed: "Director Zhou, these are normal project financing operations..." Zhou Yunxian said: "Whether they are normal or not depends on the audit results."

Liu Mingde couldn't listen anymore. Right now, he hated the word "wait" the most, especially since Zhou Yunxian made his problem sound much more serious than Lu Yuanzhou's!

He said, "Lu Yuanzhou evaded taxes, inflated project development costs, and transferred assets. According to mainland law, any one of these offenses could land him in prison for decades! Have you investigated properly? If this continues, the company will be completely drained by the time the project opens! Now..."

"Mr. Liu, calm down!"

Zhou Yunxian interrupted Liu Mingde directly, closed his notebook, and said, "The city's opinion is very clear: the Qingwu Street project must not be stopped. Before the problem is clarified, I suggest that you two shareholders put aside your disputes and prioritize the smooth opening of the project! As for the disputes over equity and preliminary expenses, they can be resolved through legal channels."

This was said in a very measured and watertight manner.

Liu Mingde, however, plopped back into his chair. Having dealt with these people for so many years, he knew their true colors all too well. He could tell what kind of shit they'd produce just by looking at them. The deeper meaning behind Zhou Yunxian's words was that the investigation team wouldn't help him, nor would they touch Lu Yuanzhou.

what does this mean?
Liu Mingde took out a cigarette, his hand trembling slightly: "Then, Xu, what does the leader mean?"

Zhou Yunxian glanced at Liu Mingde and said, "Recognize the situation, consider the overall picture, and prioritize stability above all else!"

Fourteen characters.

It felt light and airy, yet like countless nails, it pinned Liu Mingde to the chair.

Yes, we must consider the bigger picture!

But can he consider the bigger picture?
First, there was that bastard Qiao Zhiwu, who nearly drove him into a dead end with his high-interest loans; then there was Lu Yuanzhou, whose methods were becoming increasingly vicious; and next to him was Zhang Yunqi, who was reaping the benefits. With each passing day, his despair grew stronger.

He knew long ago that Xu Kai had completely abandoned him.

A new generation replaces the old.

She's nothing but a slut that Xu Kai has had his fill of!

But with the matter escalating to such an extent, he couldn't help but fantasize that Xu Kai, in order to address the concerns of so many people, would at least be fair and give him a little breathing room. However, under the pretext of prioritizing the overall situation, Xu Kai's inaction in the face of Lu Yuanzhou's tax evasion, inflated project development costs, and asset transfers was, in essence, a way of forcing him to transfer his 50% stake in Jinzhao Industrial to Lu Yuanzhou!

How vicious his heart is!

Seeing that Liu Mingde had been silent for a long time, his face was very gloomy, and his hand holding the cigarette was trembling, Zhou Yunxian stood up and said, "Mr. Liu, you should go back and think about it carefully. Let's stop here for today."

Liu Mingde did not respond.

Zhou Yunxian picked up his notebook and walked towards the door, but he suddenly stopped when he reached the door and said, "Mr. Liu, I want to ask you an inappropriate question."

Liu Mingde's voice was hoarse: "What?"

Zhou Yunxian turned his head and asked, "Did you have someone put that report in the Xiaoxiang Evening News on your behalf?"

Liu Mingde struggled to look up at Zhou Yunxian, then suddenly laughed. For some reason, an uncontrollable rage welled up in his despairing heart. He grabbed the newspaper and slammed it directly onto Zhou Yunxian's face, roaring, "If I had that kind of ability, would I be standing here listening to your fucking nonsense today?!"

*****
It was mid-May.

Above Xingcheng, the sun blazes overhead.

Liu Mingde had no idea how he walked out of the city office building.

He raised his head and squinted at the sky.

The sunlight was so intense that it made my eyes sting.

Above the sky, a few thin clouds drifted swiftly past at great heights, their shapes constantly being stretched and broken until nothing remained.

For some reason, he suddenly remembered looking at the sky like this many years ago on the shore of Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong. He was only eighteen years old then, with only fifty Hong Kong dollars in his pocket, but he felt like the whole world belonged to him.

He now has countless fifty-dollar bills in his pocket, but the world is about to swallow him up.

As I walked down the stone steps and across the square, the driver had already driven up, opened the back door, and stood by with his hands at his sides.

Liu Mingde walked to the car, his hand resting on the door frame. The metal was scorching hot from the sun, burning his palm.

He paused, turned around, and took one last look at the solemn, silent gray building behind him.

The building's glass curtain wall reflected the blinding sunlight, countless suns burning within those cubicles. He knew that behind one of those windows, Xu Kai might be standing there, watching him leave with a gaze that was a mixture of pity and disgust, before he plunged into hell.

Liu Mingde twitched the corner of his mouth, wanting to laugh.

A moment later, he looked away, opened the car door, and prepared to get in. Just then, a silver minivan suddenly cut in from the side and rear, screeching to a stop in front of him.

The car door was flung open with a whoosh.

Two strong young men jumped down and flanked him from the left and right.

The movement was so fast that the driver hadn't even had time to react before Liu Mingde was dragged into the van.

The car door closed!

With a roar of its engine, the van merged into the traffic and disappeared from the intersection in the blink of an eye.

The driver seemed to be used to this situation, showing neither surprise nor panic, but simply standing there sighing repeatedly.

At a street corner not far away, a man wearing a baseball cap put away his camera, turned and went into an alley. Then, he took out his phone and made a call: "President Lu, Liu Mingde has been kidnapped by Qiao Zhiwu's men again."

"Ah."

"Based on the clues I've uncovered, Qiao Zhiwu appears to be Zhang Yunqi's mortal enemy, but behind the scenes, he might be working for Zhang Yunqi."

"Ok?"

"Qiao Zhiwu once visited Zhang Yunqi's villa."

"That's it?"

"Qiao Zhiwu recently launched a VCD piracy project and made a fortune!"

******
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