latelenovela Chapter 103: Casting stones to ask for directions
Chapter 103: Casting stones to ask for directions
Upon hearing this, Xu Menghao angrily exclaimed, "This is utterly lawless! How can they engage in such malicious competition!"
I will report the situation to the city lord right now!
The Qingyuan Mountain project involves issues of public welfare, which the city lord values highly. He will definitely put pressure on the Chen and Cheng groups!
Ye Cheng said politely, "Then I'll have to trouble you."
"Don't mention it, it's my job. I'll let you know later."
After saying that, Xu Menghao hung up the phone.
Ye Cheng glanced at Shen Qingrou, then at Du Miaowei, while holding his phone: "Things have taken a bit unexpected."
Shen Qingrou's eyes flickered, and she offered her opinion: "Is it possible that the city lord has something going on with the Chen Group?"
Li Zhanyue, who possessed evidence of the Chen Group's crimes, suddenly disappeared. This must have caused panic within the Chen Group, and since they couldn't search blindly, they had no choice but to appeal to the city lord for help.
Ye Cheng nodded: "Your analysis makes a lot of sense."
I don't believe that the Chen Group has been able to dominate Hedong City for so many years without the city lord's secret support.
Li Zhanyue said that when the Shen Group and Cheng Group were rising to prominence, they had a fierce battle with the Chen Group, but in the end, the Chen Group had the last laugh.
But if the city lord is truly connected to the Chen Group, would he still be helping us now?
This is indeed a problem.
Du Miaowei suggested, "We can ask the chairman for details about what happened back then."
Shen Qingrou took out her phone: "I'll call Old Man Shen right now."
She found Shen Qianfeng's phone number and dialed it.
A moment later, Shen Qianfeng's delighted voice came through the phone: "You found a solution so quickly?"
Shen Qingrou said, "I have something else to tell you. Is now a convenient time?"
Shen Qianfeng was taken aback: "Go on, I'm listening."
Shen Qingrou said, "I just received news that the city lord has ordered the East District to search for Li Zhanyue."
We now suspect that the Chen Group is backed by the city lord.
Could you tell us about how the Shen Group and the Cheng Group ganged up on the Chen Group back then?
Upon hearing this, Shen Qianfeng seemed to suddenly realize something: "No wonder the Shen and Cheng families couldn't shake the Chen family's foundation no matter how hard they tried back then. It turns out the city lord was secretly helping them."
Back then, the Chen Group was practically the only dominant force in Hedong City. They bullied and monopolized the market, arbitrarily inflated prices, violated business rules, and suppressed small and medium-sized enterprises.
Later, a gray building appeared in Hedong City, and in order to show off their status, they deliberately suppressed the Chen Group.
The Chen Group was unwilling to give up, but dared not confront them directly, so they sent a subsidiary to provoke Gray Tower.
As a result, the gray building was completely destroyed.
It was at this time that your mother and I saw an opportunity to win people's hearts, vigorously develop our business, and expand our market.
Seeing an opportunity, Cheng Xiufang took the initiative to join forces with the Shen family.
Our two families, relying on our excellent reputation, managed to snatch two lucrative opportunities from the Chen family.
The Chen family's reputation was already terrible in Hedong City. The Shen and Cheng families originally wanted to crush the Chen family in one fell swoop and get rid of this cancer in the Hedong City business circle.
Who knew that no matter how the Shen and Cheng families tried, the Chen family was able to successfully resolve the crisis.
Their numerous evil deeds have been completely eradicated.
Later, that idiot Cheng Xiufang fell for the Chen Group's divisive tactics and insisted on competing with the Shen Group to see who was stronger.
The fierce fighting between the Shen and Cheng families gave the Chen family a chance to catch their breath.
Finally, Hui Lou, unwilling to see the Chen family dominate any longer, took the initiative to invite Cheng Xiufang and me into the building, thus resolving the conflict between the two families.
Although the Shen family and the Cheng family have reconciled on the surface, they have been constantly engaged in open and covert struggles.
The two families were already unstable, and this commotion made it impossible for them to catch up with the Chen family.
This ultimately led to a three-way power struggle.
The Chen Group has a strong foundation and its economic strength remains number one.
Although Shen Qianfeng only briefly explained the situation back then, his emotional tone revealed just how fierce the business wars were.
"If the Chen Group is backed by the city lord, then the Qingyuan Mountain project is likely to be lost."
Rou'er, let's prepare for the worst.
"This isn't your fault; it's just that the Shen family isn't strong enough."
Shen Qingrou paused for a moment, then said, "Alright, let's leave it at that."
After saying that, she hung up the phone and looked at Ye Cheng: "You heard everything, right?"
Ye Cheng nodded: "It's very likely that Wu Hao played a role in Cheng's Group's intervention."
Chairman Cheng is truly muddle-headed; she actually allowed her eldest nephew to run rampant.
To side with the Chen family is like asking a tiger for its skin.
Instead of considering the Chen Group's past misdeeds, she harbored suspicions about the Shen Group.
If the two companies continue to drain each other like this, sooner or later the Chen Group will take them all over.
The Chen Group has the city lord backing it up!
I wonder if Chairman Cheng knows about this.
Shen Qingrou glanced at Ye Cheng, puzzled, wondering what kind of grumbling he was making: "You're saying so much, but Cheng Xiufang can't hear you."
In business, there are winners and losers. Since the time isn't right, what's a little loss?
She also considered giving up the Qingyuan Mountain project.
Just then, Ye Cheng's phone rang again.
Ye Cheng picked it up and saw that it was Xu Menghao calling. A bitter smile appeared on his face: "It probably isn't good news."
As expected, Xu Menghao told him, somewhat embarrassed, that the city lord said that the Chen Group had not violated any rules and that it was a normal business operation; the blame should fall on the Shen Group for not being adequately prepared.
Ye Cheng comforted Xu Menghao for a few words and then hung up the phone.
"I want to go out and be alone," he said.
Shen Qingrou knew that Ye Cheng had suffered a blow and wanted to find a secluded place to heal his wounds alone.
She looked at Ye Cheng with heartache and comforted him, "Victory and defeat are common occurrences in war. No matter what, I will always be by your side."
Ye Cheng smiled and said, "I'm fine. I just wanted to think about things by myself. It's my habit."
Shen Qingrou quietly looked at Ye Cheng for a while and found that there was no sense of defeat in his eyes, but rather a lot of fighting spirit. So she nodded and said, "Okay, go ahead. Don't feel pressured."
Ye Cheng wheeled himself to a quiet spot outside, took out his phone, and called Xu Menghao again.
"District Chief, where have you locked up Li Zhanyue?"
Xu Menghao thought Ye Cheng was worried about Li Zhanyue's safety, so he quickly said, "It's a very secluded place, and it's almost impossible for others to find it in the short term."
I'm just worried that things might get complicated if things drag on, and that word might leak out.
Ye Cheng then asked, "Have you asked everything you needed to ask?"
Xu Menghao affirmed, "We can't dig anything of value out of them anymore."
Ye Cheng then said, "Quietly send him out and hand him over to me at ten o'clock tonight."
I can handle him.
Remember, you've never met Li Zhanyue, and you know nothing about him.
Xu Menghao was taken aback: "Brother Ye, what do you want to do?"
To silence them, or else?
I will not allow you to do that!
Ye Cheng smiled and said, "Why would I do something illegal in front of the district chief?"
I plan to send Li Zhanyue to Gray Tower and see how they react.
Xu Menghao guessed Ye Cheng's purpose: "You want to use someone else to do your dirty work?"
Ye Cheng said, "It's not a case of using someone else to do the dirty work, but rather testing the waters."
Xu Menghao thought about it and felt that this was the best way to deal with Li Zhanyue, so he agreed to Ye Cheng's suggestion.