Back to the teenage years

Chapter 603 Will You Kill Him?
The sun blazes high in the sky.

The city of Ritsu was shrouded in heat that day.

The glass curtain wall of Huarong Jinhuishan reflects the scorching sunlight, so bright that it's hard to open one's eyes.

When Liu Mingde climbed to the top floor, several dark clouds suddenly appeared in the sky outside the window, blocking out the blazing sun, as if it was about to rain.

What goes up must come down, just as the moon waxes and wanes.

Just as the weather is like this, so too are the laws of the world.

Zhang Yunqi is not at Huarong Jinhuishan today.

Wang Guibing greeted Liu Mingde.

Wang Guibing didn't seem surprised to see Liu Mingde in such a miserable state. He simply stepped forward, helped Liu Mingde up, and led him into the office, where he brewed a cup of warm Longjing tea and handed it to him.

Liu Mingde, still catching his breath, asked, "Where is General Manager Zhang?"

Wang Guibing smiled and said, "It's in No. 1 Lijin Courtyard."

After saying that, he pulled out the pre-prepared equity transfer agreement of Jinzhao Industrial Company from the folder again, placed it on the table, and pushed it in front of Liu Mingde, along with a pen: "Mr. Liu, sign it. I don't like to persuade people, but this time, it really is your last chance."

Liu Mingde stared at the cover of the agreement, picked up a pen, hesitated for a while, then suddenly put it down. He reached for the red microphone on his desk, found Zhang Yunqi's number, and dialed it directly.

The moment the call connected, his first words were a bombshell: "Can you help me kill Lu Yuanzhou?"

Zhang Yunqi clearly recognized Liu Mingde's voice on the other end of the phone: "I am a law-abiding citizen."

Liu Mingde's breath hitched, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the microphone. Then Zhang Yunqi's voice came through again: "But as a law-abiding citizen, one also has the responsibility and obligation to cooperate with relevant departments to bring those who break the law to justice. As for whether they die or not, that depends on how many peanuts they've earned for what they've done."

How can I trust you?

"You don't need to believe me, believe the facts."

"What fact?"

"Do you think Lu Yuanzhou will let me off the hook after I take 50% of your shares? Since I know he won't let me off the hook, why should I let him off the hook?"

"Good! Very good!" Liu Mingde on the other end of the phone suddenly laughed, his laughter tinged with a hint of madness: "Zhang Yunqi, I'll grant your wish! I'll sign!"

There was a "pop" sound!
Liu Mingde hung up the phone immediately.

Zhang Yunqi's ears were jolted.

He put down his phone and turned to look out of the car.

The weather in early summer is unpredictable. It was sunny and clear when I went out, but a light drizzle started in the blink of an eye. Outside the car window, the city's outline became blurred by the increasingly dense rain.

The car sped along in the rain, soon turning onto Lushan South Road. The windshield wipers swung rhythmically from side to side, shoving away the rainwater only to have it splash back up again and again. The camphor trees on both sides of the road were a dark, almost blackish green in the rain, their branches drooping as if unable to bear the sudden weight.

Zhang Yunqi leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes to rest.

His mind was filled with Liu Mingde's manic laughter and how to deal with Lu Yuanzhou next.

He was aware of Lu Yuanzhou's actions.

In his view, the Qingwu Commercial Pedestrian Street on Huangxing South Road was an absolutely brilliant commercial capital operation. Lu Yuanzhou leveraged this large-scale project with a potential value of tens of billions of yuan at almost zero cost.

Regardless of his personal opinion of Lu Yuanzhou, he had to objectively admit that this man was indeed a genius in capital operation, with the style of the Delong Group. His methods were quite aggressive, but his strategies were superb, with each step precisely treading the edge of the rules while wearing the cloak of compliance.

Zhang Yunqi knew that before Lu Yuanzhou and his family business, Xiongsen Group, took over, according to the cooperation agreement for the Qingwu Commercial Street project, Xiongsen Group confirmed an investment of 5000 million yuan, of which 1500 million yuan was registered capital and 3500 million yuan was working capital. Liu Mingde was responsible for securing a bank loan of 5000 million yuan for Lijin Jinzhao Industrial, a joint venture established by the two parties.

At the same time, both parties agreed that Liu Mingde would be responsible for coordinating all work before the land use certificate for the project site was obtained. What does this mean? It means that Liu Mingde would be responsible for everything, including smoothing things over, financing, and acquiring the land.

After Jinzhao Industrial was established, although the initial capital was only 100 million yuan, Lu Yuanzhou used the goal of "creating the number one festival in China" that Liu Mingde himself had proclaimed as the reason to carry out "top quality" and "advanced supporting facilities" planning. He continuously increased the project development cost significantly through related transactions and other means, and the first phase of the project alone piled up to nearly 500 million yuan.

In order to open the street smoothly and raise funds as soon as possible, Liu Mingde used his own industrial resources, such as Jiangxinzhou Entertainment City, and even borrowed high-interest loans to operate with extremely high leverage to help Jinzhao Industrial raise funds.

Of course, Liu Mingde wasn't stupid. There was only one reason he dared to do this: the project's returns were incredibly attractive! Lu Yuanzhou clearly stated in the supplementary agreement to the "Cooperation Agreement" that after the Qingwu Commercial Pedestrian Street opened within six months, Xiongsen Group would provide Liu Mingde with an additional 10% of the project's profits. This huge income was enough to cover all his financing costs, plus a substantial profit, and it was legally binding. Therefore, it was indeed worthwhile for Liu Mingde to gamble everything, even with high leverage.

The problem is that he didn't have time after the problem broke out.

Putting aside the influence exerted by Xu Kai, even if it had legal effect and Liu Mingde did file an appeal, his current situation simply cannot afford to drag it out.

In fact, thanks to Liu Mingde's efforts, Jinzhao Industrial achieved great sales success even before the project officially opened, and the 3500 million yuan of working capital invested by Xiongsen Group was recovered in a very short time. This meant that Xiongsen Group's actual cost was only 1500 million yuan of registered capital. If Zhang Yunqi hadn't also been eyeing this project, Liu Mingde's 50% stake in Jinzhao Industrial, which had already been squeezed dry, would probably already be in Lu Yuanzhou's hands under pressure from Xu Kai.

Using tens of millions of yuan in capital to leverage projects with a potential value of tens of billions of yuan—what a shrewd move!
Zhang Yunqi has no choice but to admit defeat!

But now that he has taken over Liu Mingde's business, there is one problem he must deal with as soon as possible: Jinzhao Industrial's assets have been almost completely drained by Lu Yuanzhou.

After several rounds of negotiation, he successfully acquired Liu Mingde's 50% stake in Jinzhao Industrial, but the actual value of these shares has now shrunk significantly.

After gaining Xu Kai's support, Lu Yuanzhou took control of the actual operation of Jinzhao Industrial. Before Qingwu Commercial Pedestrian Street even opened, he sold a large number of prime storefronts to designated third parties at extremely low prices, effectively emptying Jinzhao Industrial's assets.

What does it mean?

for example.

Zhang San and his wife jointly owned a house worth one million yuan. His wife, through various seemingly legitimate means, bypassed him and sold the house to her mother for ten thousand yuan. She then split the ten thousand yuan with Zhang San under the pretext of divorce. Thus, Zhang San's assets decreased from 50 yuan to 5 yuan. Meanwhile, his ex-wife's assets increased from 50 yuan to 99.5 yuan.

Now, Zhang Yunqi is like Zhang San, who only has 5 yuan, while Lu Yuanzhou has 99.5 yuan in his hands.

He must get back the 49.5 yuan that rightfully belongs to him!

Otherwise, taking over Liu Mingde's 50% stake would not only be meaningless, but would also become a landmine that could explode at any time!
"Boss, we're here."

Xiao Wu's voice suddenly rang out, interrupting Zhang Yunqi's thoughts. He opened his eyes and looked out the window. The city lights in the rain had formed a wet river of light. He drove through Xinjian North Road and stopped in front of the Lijin No. 1 Courtyard.

The security guard saw the license plate and let the car pass immediately.

Xiao Wu drove the Mercedes to the front of the main building and stopped it. Zhang Yunqi got out of the car.

Staff members were already waiting with umbrellas, and one of them ran up to hold an umbrella over Zhang Yunqi, whispering, "Mr. Zhang, the boss is waiting for you in his office."

Zhang Yunqi nodded and followed him into the building.

The corridor was brightly lit, with calligraphy and paintings hanging on both sides, mostly works by famous local artists from southern Hunan.

Zhang Yunqi stopped in front of the office door.

The staff member knocked gently on the door, and a voice from inside said, "Come in."

Zhang Yunqi pushed open the door and entered.

The study was large, but simply furnished.

The first thing you see is a large mahogany desk, behind which is a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf crammed with all sorts of books and documents. Yang Jiarong, wearing a light gray jacket, was sitting at the desk reviewing documents. When he saw Zhang Yunqi enter, he pointed to the chair opposite him and said, "Sit down."

Zhang Yunqi sat down.

The staff member quietly left and closed the door behind them.

Yang Jiarong picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said, "It seems you've been quite busy lately."

Zhang Yunqi and Yang Jiarong had known each other for many years, and the meaning behind his words was crystal clear. He sighed and said, "I still miss the days when we were doing small business in Jiangchuan. With your wise leadership, that was truly a comfortable time."

Yang Jiarong smiled, gently placed the teacup on the mahogany table, and said in a low but clear voice, "I see your appetite is getting bigger and bigger. That article in the Xiaoxiang Evening News, was it written by you again?"

Zhang Yunqi nodded in agreement.

Yang Jiarong said, "Since you have something to complain about, go ahead and say it."

Zhang Yunqi said, "The problem with Qingwu Commercial Pedestrian Street is superficially a dispute between shareholders, but the root cause is a loophole in the rules. The cost is that it has created countless people like Liu Mingde who get rich overnight by getting something for nothing. Secondly, it has created a de facto dual-track system for project contracting. As early as last August, before you came, I had already discussed various cooperation matters with Lijin, but this project was not included in the framework of negotiations at all. You know why."

Yang Jiarong listened in silence, tapping his fingers lightly on the table to signal him to continue.

Zhang Yunqi said, "Take the Qingwu Commercial Pedestrian Street project on Huangxing South Road as an example. If both parties can enjoy the same treatment and win the bid based on their own strength, then Lu Yuanzhou and Xiongsen Group are also qualified to undertake this project. From a normal person's perspective, a project he wins with his own funds will definitely be well managed. But the problem is that, like me, he doesn't have the qualifications and can't enjoy any preferential treatment. So how could he not try to take advantage of Liu Mingde? I would do the same. Why not? He can enter the market with very little of his own funds and enjoy a lot of preferential treatment by relying on Liu Mingde's Hong Kong businessman status."

At this point, Zhang Yunqi took out a document from his bag and handed it to Yang Jiarong: "These are some of my thoughts on this matter. The attachment contains detailed information about Lu Yuanzhou and Liu Mingde's operation of the Qingwu Commercial Pedestrian Street project on Huangxing South Road. You can take a look."

Yang Jiarong took the materials but put them aside without reading them. He slowly said, "You're right, but just being right isn't enough. Now that you've put the matter on the table, the residents being relocated are eyeing the compensation, the small business owners who bought shops are worried about the project being abandoned, and the citizens are waiting for the opening of Sanxiang First Street. With so many eyes watching, everyone is under a lot of pressure, and it's not a good thing."

Zhang Yunqi nodded.

He understood what Yang Jiarong meant by those words.

After Song Zijian packed his bags and left at the beginning of the year, Lu Feng was unable to take his place.

Lu Feng definitely had his own opinions on this matter. In addition, Zhang Yunqi had a significant conflict with Lu Feng last year because of Qiao Zhiwu's matter... The situation was very complicated. In short, a series of problems combined led to Lu Feng and Xu Kai becoming exceptionally close. Xu Kai also had reasons why he had to cooperate with Lu Feng. The Qingwu Commercial Pedestrian Street on Huangxing South Road, which he spearheaded, relied heavily on Lu Feng's support in everything from the initial land coordination and demolition to the current complex situation.

As a result, Yang Jiarong was constrained at every turn, and his influence was relatively limited.

On Qingwu Commercial Pedestrian Street on Huangxing South Road, Yang Jiarong probably felt that he couldn't help Zhang Yunqi much, let alone make a fuss about the material he provided.

Zhang Yunqi, however, saw it differently.

The issue of who helps whom between him and Yang Jiarong had long since disappeared. Seeing Yang Jiarong say this, he said, "There's something I don't know if I should say."

"explain."

"Only when things go badly will the person in charge get anxious. When they get anxious, they will expose their true colors. Once they expose their true colors, they can be caught red-handed."

Yang Jiarong looked up at Zhang Yunqi and tapped his knuckles lightly twice on the mahogany table: "What do you plan to do?"

Zhang Yunqi said, "Just now, I acquired 50% of the shares of Qingwu Commercial Pedestrian Street."

Yang Jiarong stared at him for a long time, his face expressionless. Finally, he put his glasses back on, picked up the document, and said, "You can be flexible with your methods, but you can't cross the bottom line. Three months should be enough time for you to work on, right? This project is related to the livelihoods and expectations of too many ordinary people. Don't let it down."

The rain pattered softly outside the window, and the night was deep.

Zhang Yunqi left Yang Jiarong's office at 10:30 p.m.

The corridor was brightly lit.

The door to the duty room was open, and the evening news was playing on the television. The anchor's clear and resonant voice echoed in the empty corridor: "In the first quarter of this year, Hunan's GDP grew by 12.7% year-on-year, ranking among the top in the country..."

Zhang Yunqi walked out at a leisurely pace, his phone already dialing Wang Guibing's number: "Take the legal and financial team to the Jinzhao Industrial office building first thing tomorrow morning and check my accounts! I need all the contract slips, cash flow records, and valuation reports for related transactions."

After giving his instructions, Zhang Yunqi put down his phone, took a deep breath of the cool, rainy night air, and the halo of light at the end of the corridor stretched his shadow long on the ground.

The phone rang again at that moment.

He took it out and saw that it was a call from Xu Kai.

Zhang Yunqi pressed the answer button and put the phone to his ear.

Xu Kai's voice came from the other end of the phone, calm and gentle, revealing no emotion: "Mr. Zhang, are you free tomorrow?"

Zhang Yunqi looked up at the night sky shrouded in rain at the end of the corridor and said with a smile, "Mayor Xu, I was just about to report to you about my work."

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