Chapter 1781 — The Industry in Hand

As the saying goes, a horse may stumble and a man may slip; in this line of work, the occasional misstep is unavoidable. But the crux of the matter was that the error had come right at the very start—how could An Jiande stomach that? Had it been the police catching them red-handed, that would have been one thing. But no—it was a few meddlesome young people who had tipped them off, and that galled An Jiande even more!

Whoever stood in the way of his plans would pay.

"Brother De, we've identified those busybodies!" Cao Zhuge had just received his men's report and hurried off to tell An Jiande.

"Oh? Who was it?" An Jiande asked at once.

"Nothing on the Land Rover yet, but the Audi S5—according to our investigation, it's frequently seen coming and going from the Seaview Bay villa district. Our people went there to sniff around. The owner is Gu Mengyao, daughter of Gu Pengzhan, chairman of the Gu Group!" Cao Zhuge said. "As for the others, they must have been with her. No need to dig any further—we've got our targets."

"Damn it! So the Gu Group's little princess thinks she's something special? Get a few brothers together and torch her house. Let her learn what happens to people who get in the way of my plans! Burn them alive!" An Jiande was in truth a ruthless man; murder and arson were everyday matters in his eyes.

"Brother De, but according to our investigation, Gu Mengyao has already gone off traveling. There's no one at home. Even if we set the fire, we won't burn them. And for wealthy people like them, burning down a house isn't much of a loss, is it?" Cao Zhuge said.

"Gone traveling?" An Jiande was taken aback, but then asked, "So what do we do?"

"Maybe... wait until they come back?" Cao Zhuge was equally at a loss. After all, they couldn't gather intelligence as fast as the local factions could. With that lag in time, Gu Mengyao had naturally slipped away.

"Wait until they come back? The daylilies will have wilted by then!" An Jiande was thoroughly displeased, feeling as though he had strength to spare but nowhere to spend it.

"This..." Cao Zhuge pondered a moment, then said, "How about we direct our retaliation at Gu Pengzhan instead? There's a saying—the child's debt is paid by the father. That way, Gu Mengyao will suffer too..."

"Hmm... Gu Pengzhan is a notable figure in Songshan City. If we move against him, won't there be trouble?" An Jiande was thinking further ahead. "On this matter, I'd better consult my father first. After all, Gu Pengzhan is a man of standing; with my father's backing, there'd be no problem."

"Quite right. Caution never hurts. Even though it was Gu Pengzhan's daughter who provoked us first, if we're going to move against him, we still need President An's approval," Cao Zhuge said.

An Jiande dialed his father An Mingri's number directly and reported to him what had happened and what he intended to do, only adding at the end, "Father, I've just arrived in Songshan City. If I don't make some kind of response to this, An Jianwen will look down on me, and that will hurt my standing in the Fire Wolf Gang!"

"What? You want to move against Gu Pengzhan?" An Mingri did not ask a single question about the matter itself, but refused outright: "No. Absolutely not!"

"Why?" An Jiande was somewhat defiant. "Sure, Gu Pengzhan's Gu Group used to be neighbors with Uncle, and they've had some business dealings, but we have no ties to him. What's wrong with moving against him?"

"I said no, and no it is!" An Mingri said with finality. "At least not now—absolutely not! Jianwen is working on something big. If it comes off, every asset of the Gu Group will fall into the An family's hands. I know you may resent it, but there's nothing I can do. This matter benefits the An family enterprise—that's what counts. Bear with it for now. Once the Gu Group's assets are under the An family name, you can beat Gu Pengzhan to death for all I care. But until it's done, you are not to lift a finger!"

"This... all right..." An Jiande was helpless. But since his father had spoken with such finality, he naturally could not disobey. Still, his heart grew even heavier with resentment. Why should An Jianwen get to do great things? Why should he be the one to bring the entire Gu Group's assets under the An family name?

Why should even his father back An Jianwen? These outrages turned into seeds of hatred, buried deep in An Jiande's heart. He swore that once this business was over, he would do Gu Pengzhan to death and be rid of this grudge!

Over at the Gu Group, Gu Pengzhan had finally, with his own shares, Wei Zhao's shares, and numerous private holdings, signed the loan agreement with An Mingyue: all the shares he and Wei Zhao held would serve as collateral—and that was not all. Every piece of private real estate and land under his name in the Gu Group was mortgaged to An Mingyue in one go.

"Ah, Brother Pengzhan, I know it's useless to try to talk you out of it, but... never mind, I won't say it!" An Mingyue seemed utterly unconcerned as he handed the share certificates and property deeds Gu Pengzhan had brought over to the accountant beside him for review. Then he said, "These holdings—our An family has a rough idea of them already. I've spoken with my elder brother, and after consulting Father, he agreed to transfer three billion from the head office first. Your holdings here are worth about that much. What does Brother Pengzhan think?"

"Three billion? That much?" Gu Pengzhan was somewhat surprised. If these holdings and shares were valued at their full worth, they would certainly be worth more than three billion. But as collateral, they couldn't be valued at full price—so An Mingyue's offer was actually quite fair.

"Haha, we're old friends. Since it's a loan, I naturally can't take advantage of you. In fact, if the An family were mine alone to decide, I'd lend you the money with no collateral at all—the collateral is just a formality!" An Mingyue said.

"In that case, thank you, Brother Mingyue!" Gu Pengzhan was elated, mentally calculating how many times over three billion would multiply once combined with what he had already earned in the futures market. By his estimate, his enterprise would soon rise to yet another level.

The accountants An Mingyue had brought were no lightweights; the review was completed before long, and they nodded to confirm everything was in order. An Mingyue and Gu Pengzhan then signed the loan agreement...

When An Mingyue took the loan agreement bearing Gu Pengzhan's own signature, the corner of his mouth curved in a satisfied smile so faint it was barely noticeable—while Gu Pengzhan, for his part, let his smile show plainly on his face...

An Mingyue laughed inwardly. It seemed the Fire Wolf Gang's hypnotist really was formidable. Then again, if even a near-imbecile could be hypnotized, what of a normal man?

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