Yu Xiang chimed in, “If she wants to go, just let her. Dad has always been lenient with his granddaughters. He won’t say much.”
Perhaps because he had never had a daughter of his own, the Old Master treated all the younger members of the family equally, whether when it came to their education or their pocket money.
Jiang Yihua had no choice. “All right, all right. Just stay quiet by yourself. If your grandfather blames you, I’m not taking responsibility.”
“Nyah!” Jiang Chuling immediately took Sister Xiaoqiu’s hand and secretly pulled a funny face.
Even if Grandpa asked, she had a perfectly legitimate reason for being there!
The three of them crossed the covered corridor and arrived at the main building.
As luck would have it, Jiang Yifeng was there too.
He had just arrived.
“Big Brother, Little Seven.” His gaze shifted to Qiuyun beside them. “Assistant Qiu is here too.”
Jiang Yihua nodded at his fourth brother, then said to the Old Master, “I thought Xiaoqiu’s tea-making skills were quite good. You’ve always wanted to try them, haven’t you, Dad? It happened that Little Seven was with me when Butler Lin called, so we came together.”
“Excellent. Then we can try Xiaoqiu’s tea today.” The Old Master had Butler Lin bring out his treasured Taiping Houkui tea. “Why is Little Seven here too?”
Jiang Chuling smiled sweetly. “I came to report to Grandpa on the progress of that charity variety show! We’ll start filming next month, and our first stop will be a mountainous rural area.”
“Good.” The Old Master nodded.
As he grew older—and with trouble repeatedly striking the family lately—he had no choice but to place more faith in charitable deeds. “If you need money, tell Butler Lin. It’s good to do more charitable work.”
“Okay, Grandpa. I’ll make sure to do a good job just as you said.”
Butler Lin brought in the tea. Qiuyun went over to sit beside the tea table, and Jiang Chuling hurried after her and took a seat as well.
The Old Master had originally summoned only his eldest grandson, but Jiang Yifeng, Qiuyun, and Little Seven had all come along.
Still, they were all family, so the Old Master did not hold back. “The Ning family has been working on a cross-border merger and acquisition project recently. Their cash flow is stretched extremely thin, and they urgently need a huge bridge loan. My people have already begun moving. Ning’s Medical will have a major scandal in a few days. Once the banks refuse to extend them credit, the Ning family will suffer a cash-flow crisis and find themselves in financial trouble.”
Jiang Yihua had been bedridden after his surgery and had not gone to the group for quite some time. He had not expected the Old Master to move so quickly—to already have Ning’s Medical by the throat.
“Are we doing things the usual way?” Jiang Yihua asked.
“No.” The Old Master’s face darkened. “Have someone take sole control of the operation and disguise themselves as an overseas company. Taking advantage of the Ning family’s desperation to recover their funds, buy up that batch of vaccines at thirty percent below cost under the pretext of exporting them overseas. Then use the opportunity to acquire shares at a low price and become a shareholder in Ning’s Medical.”
Tsk.
Listening as she prepared the tea, Qiuyun was alarmed. The Old Master was holding back a truly devastating move. He intended to drive the Ning family completely into bankruptcy.
Jiang Yihua’s expression turned solemn. “Understood.”
As for Huayao Group, it was far larger than the Ning family, and they still had not found a suitable opportunity to strike.
Qiuyun finished brewing the tea and carefully placed a cup beside the Old Master. Yet her eyes unconsciously drifted toward the documents scattered across the table.
The Old Master picked up the teacup and took a small sip. The temperature was just right.
“Excellent,” he praised. “The liquor is a tender, clear green, and it leaves behind a delicate fragrance without a trace of bitterness. Your tea-making skills are truly exceptional.”
Qiuyun came back to herself. “Old Master Jiang, may I take a look at this document?”
Today’s discussion centered on how to retaliate against the Ning family and Huayao. The Old Master’s desk was covered with information on both families.
“Go ahead.”
Qiuyun picked up the document.
Huayao had made its fortune in real estate, with developments scattered throughout the country.
With so many properties, the names of its various developments were naturally quite similar.
For example, the developments Jiang Yihua’s family had identified on the market were all well-known projects, such as Huayao International and Pingyao Mansion.
But…
A few days earlier, Qiuyun had noticed an apartment building near the garment factory. It was called Shiguang Apartments.
The name Shiguang—“Ten Radiance”—was formed by taking one half from each of the two characters in Huayao’s name.
That inevitably made her wonder whether the building was connected to Huayao in some way.
Qiuyun shared what she knew.
The Old Master’s gaze sharpened, and he immediately ordered his people to investigate thoroughly.
Jiang Yihua said, “There was a period when the real-estate industry was booming. The major developers borrowed money to acquire land and build properties, causing their debts to snowball. It wouldn’t be surprising if Huayao had skirted the rules when acquiring land—packaging industrial land as commercial land, then selling apartments on it to recover their funds.”
The Old Master’s expression softened into a kindly smile. “If that turns out to be true, Xiaoqiu, you’ve done the family another great service!”
After all, that would mean Huayao had crossed a red line in government policy. And the courts had always followed the principle of taking no action unless a case was brought before them.
Qiuyun replied modestly, “I only happened to notice it by chance. You could say it was a matter of timing and luck. Besides, my guess may not be correct.”
The Old Master chuckled as he sipped his tea.
Even if the investigation revealed nothing this time, she had given him a new lead.
During those years when the real-estate industry had been expanding at a frantic pace, he refused to believe that the people at Huayao had never taken advantage of the chaos.
Jiang Yifeng had not said a word from the beginning.
Only now did he speak. “Dad, the group is in urgent need of capable people. Since Third Brother is unable to continue taking part in the group’s affairs for special reasons, why not let Lin’an take his place? He’s in the second semester of his junior year and doesn’t have many classes. He can come to the group and familiarize himself with the business now. By the time he starts his senior-year internship, he’ll be ready to take over.”
Qiuyun remained calm and exchanged a glance with the young miss.
It was obvious that Jiang Yifeng’s real intention lay elsewhere.
Sure enough, the Old Master’s next words were, “You know the group is in urgent need of capable people. Why don’t you come yourself?”
Jiang Yifeng gave a bitter laugh. “Just look at my leg. How could I go to the group? Dad, I don’t want to embarrass myself. Please don’t try to persuade me.”
The Old Master frowned. “What’s wrong with your leg? Your father hasn’t gone to the industrial park in several years, but that doesn’t mean I can’t still handle the group’s affairs. Weren’t you just boasting that you wanted to take me as your role model? Why have you lost all your spirit now?”
Jiang Yifeng sighed and said awkwardly, “In the end, I’m still no match for you. I tried handling the affairs of my own company from home, but the company kept losing money, and I couldn’t do a thing about it! I’m completely useless.”
Qiuyun was startled when she heard this.
This was bad.
“You’ll learn from me!” the Old Master ordered sternly. “Get up every morning and attend my meetings here. Learn what it means to manage your subordinates. If you keep the people under you properly managed and make good use of them, then even from a thousand miles away, you’ll still be able to control the company’s overall direction!”
Jiang Yifeng looked troubled. “But I’m not familiar with our family’s business at all.”
“Then familiarize yourself with it little by little!” The Old Master had made up his mind. Having his youngest son participate in group affairs with him every day was better than leaving him cooped up at home, moping in self-pity.
He turned to his eldest son and instructed him, “Have Lin’an prepare as well. He’ll start at the company next Monday. Yifeng is right—the group needs people now. Third Brother is no longer in office, and I don’t trust Second Brother to entrust him with any major projects. Take Lin’an under your wing. Have him learn and observe as much as possible, so he can stand on his own as soon as possible.”
Jiang Yihua agreed. “All right. I understand.”
The brief meeting in the main building came to an end.
In the elevator, Jiang Yihua deliberately gave the fourth brother the first chance to leave. He took his daughter and assistant down the stairs instead, then turned toward the study on the lower ground floor.
“Sir, the situation is very unfavorable,” Qiuyun said bluntly.
