Jinchuan City, Wanlong Plaza.
Liu Yutong, wearing a safety helmet, was inspecting the construction site to check on the progress of the resumption of work.
She had only arrived in Jinchuan City last night, yet she had come straight to the site early that morning. She wanted to see whether construction of Wanlong Plaza had been affected.
“Young Lady, Brother Yang and General Manager Xu are here,” Yun Cheng reported as he approached. Yang Xin and Xu Shishi followed behind him.
“Young Lady!”
“Chairwoman!”
The two stepped in front of Liu Yutong and greeted her respectfully.
There was something peculiar about both their expressions, especially Yang Xin’s. He looked as though he wanted to laugh but was embarrassed to let it show.
“What’s with that look? Did you find some money?” Liu Yutong asked with a smile.
“Young Lady, take a look at this first.” Yang Xin stepped forward and handed her a document.
Liu Yutong took it and opened it. Inside was a detailed operation report, with photographs attached to every page—more than a dozen in total.
The subject of the photographs was a bald man.
As she flipped through the pages, Liu Yutong’s expression grew increasingly strange. Finally, she looked up and asked, “Who is this?”
“Jia Dan.”
“He’s one of Qi Licheng’s underlings, a minor gang leader nicknamed Rascal Egg. He was the leader of the group that stopped the tour bus carrying the families of our employees on the provincial highway,” Yang Xin explained.
“Start from the beginning.” Liu Yutong closed the file and motioned for him to continue.
Yang Xin nodded, gathered his thoughts, and recounted the entire story in detail.
“Qi Licheng is an obvious breakthrough point. General Manager Xu told me at the time that we could start our investigation with him. Then…”
“…”
“Wumao had been humiliated by Qi Licheng, so there was no way he didn’t hold a grudge. Once my people found out about it, I immediately had them approach him in secret.”
“He agreed?” Liu Yutong asked.
“He didn’t dare refuse,” Yang Xin said confidently.
“He’s afraid of Qi Licheng. Do you think he wouldn’t be afraid of the Wanlong Society?”
Yun Cheng nodded beside them. That was indeed the truth.
Not to mention a small-time thug like Wumao—even among the young masters of the capital, there were very few who weren’t afraid of the Wanlong Society.
Xu Shishi then continued the account, explaining how they had set the entire trap step by step after turning Wumao.
“Once we had won Wumao over, we began setting the trap. Jia Dan isn’t exactly bright. He’s the kind of hothead who goes off at the slightest provocation. On top of that, he already had a grudge against the Wanlong Society and wanted to show off in front of Qi Licheng. We only had to give him a little push, and he walked right into it.”
After hearing about Jia Dan’s actions, Liu Yutong was reminded of Scarface from Mingzhu City.
Compared with Scarface, Jia Dan was every bit his equal.
One was Zhuge Liang, the other was Pang Tong.
Both of them were incredibly easy to manipulate.
After listening to the entire plan, Liu Yutong regarded Xu Shishi with newfound approval. As expected of an executive who had risen through the ranks of a multinational logistics giant—her methods were ruthless and brilliant.
Subduing the enemy without fighting, making them turn on one another and clean up their own mess, then personally delivering the evidence into their hands afterward…
That kind of skill—using minimal effort to achieve maximum results—was not something an ordinary person could devise. Xu Shishi might be worth developing into a core member.
The plan Xu Shishi had led appeared simple and crude, but in reality, every step had been calculated precisely.
First, they had determined through a few brief interactions that Qi Licheng was the easiest point of entry. Then they had exploited Wumao’s hatred for Qi Licheng and recruited him as an inside man. Finally, they had taken advantage of Jia Dan’s stupidity and eagerness to prove himself in front of Qi Licheng, making him willingly serve as their weapon.
The Wanlong Society members sent in for support had recorded the entire process, gathering evidence of Jia Dan’s and the Qi family’s crimes.
They had even conveniently splashed the blame back onto the Wanlong Society.
That wasn’t a flaw in the plan. It was, in fact, a masterstroke.
If Qi Tianhu wasn’t an idiot, he would definitely use that point to make a major issue of it.
“General Manager Xu, did you work this way at your previous company too?” Yun Cheng couldn’t help asking.
“Not at all.”
Xu Shishi smiled and said, “That company was too conventional. Everything had to follow procedure, so I never had a chance to show what I could do. Working for the Chairwoman is much more interesting. I can finally let loose.”
Yang Xin’s mouth twitched as he listened from the side.
This woman was terrifying!
Then again, the female leaders of the Wanlong Society Group all seemed to be rather frightening. Take Yu Xin, for example. If she were here, her methods would probably be even more ruthless than Xu Shishi’s.
Of course, Little Hui was the sole exception. That girl was innocent and didn’t have much of a scheming mind.
“What about Qi Tianhu? Has there been any movement on his end?” Liu Yutong asked again.
“He should make his move soon.”
“Qi Licheng may be an idiot, but his father, Qi Tianhu, certainly isn’t. I estimate he already knows what happened. He just won’t act against us immediately.”
“The people General Manager Yang sent out have been tracking Qi Tianhu’s recent movements. As expected, he’s set his sights on the lithium mine at Qingyan Mountain.”
“Also, there’s a mining-rights auction in Jinchuan tomorrow, and that lithium mine is on the list. Qi Tianhu will definitely show up. However, quite a few companies are participating in the auction, including several powerful investors from outside the region. If Qi Tianhu wants to secure the mine, he has only two options.”
“The first is to follow their usual methods: sabotage the auction and then take over the mine himself at a low price. The second…”
Xu Shishi paused before continuing, “Kill the chicken to frighten the monkeys—make the other competitors back off before the bidding even begins.”
“Kill the chicken to frighten the monkeys?” Liu Yutong repeated with an amused tone.
Xu Shishi nodded. “Exactly.”
Liu Yutong looked at her. “Since you’ve already anticipated this, you must have a plan to deal with it.”
Xu Shishi nodded again. “Chairwoman, we’ve already obtained quite a bit of hard evidence through the incident involving Jia Dan. Most importantly, I had General Manager Yang assign people to keep an eye on Qi Licheng, and they uncovered something very important. This spoiled second-generation heir actually lost tens of millions gambling in Australia City. His father should know nothing about it. We can use that to our advantage as well.”
After hearing this, Liu Yutong fell silent for a moment, deep in thought. She did not ask for further details and simply said, “The auction is tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
“Then you and General Manager Yang will go. Make sure you secure it.”
“Yes, Chairwoman!”
“Yes, Young Lady!”
Yang Xin and Xu Shishi accepted their orders and left.
After they were gone, Liu Yutong suddenly turned to the Blue Butterfly behind her. “Has Professor Xu sent over the business proposal?”
Blue Butterfly shook her head. “Not yet.”
“Then forget about it…”
Liu Yutong had only just begun speaking when her phone rang.
She took it out and saw that Xu Yi was calling.
“Classmate Liu, does your offer to invest in my parents’ business still stand?” Xu Yi’s voice sounded somewhat nervous.
“Of course it does. But the business proposal…”
“I organized the proposal for my father. I just sent it to the email address you gave me.”
Liu Yutong was slightly surprised to hear that from Xu Yi.
Professor Xu hadn’t organized the materials himself; instead, his daughter had taken care of it. It seemed the girl was truly eager to change the situation.
“All right. I’ll take a look when I get the chance.”
“By the way, where is Professor Xu? Why didn’t he contact me himself?”
“I have no idea where my dad went. I went to his dormitory to look for him, but he wasn’t there, and I couldn’t reach him by phone either. I found the materials he’d only partially organized on his desk, so I finished them up while I was at it. I was worried you might be in a hurry, so I thought I’d send them to you first.”
“Mm, all right. I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.”
“Thank you! Thank you!”
After hanging up, Liu Yutong was reminded of what had happened in her previous life, and an uneasy feeling began to stir within her.
Professor Xu had suddenly disappeared. Could something have happened to him?
