Chapter 101: What a Truly Devious Scheme

Cui Shangkai could also sense Chen Yang’s inner resolve. He urged himself not to hate Chen Yang too much, but faced with Chen Yang’s overwhelming strength, he felt powerless and unsure of what to do. His mood soured, and he fell silent.

Seeing Cui Shangkai quiet, Chen Yang narrowed his eyes. There was nothing left to say between them. He left a final message: “Only two days remain before the Southwest Chamber of Commerce dissolves. Consider your position carefully.” Then he hung up.

By the next day at eleven in the morning, Chen Yang was working in his office as usual when his phone buzzed. He quickly picked it up and saw it was Lin Qianyao calling. Smiling slightly, Chen Yang knew Lin’s call meant good news.

Lin reported with satisfaction, “President Chen, the Southwest Chamber of Commerce officially dissolved today at noon.”

“Is that so?” Chen Yang raised an eyebrow, feeling surprisingly calm. Even he found his own composure curious. Then it dawned on him: to him, the Chamber was weak, so its dissolution brought no joy.

Lin continued, “Cui Shangkai acted promptly to dissolve the Chamber, showing he understands the stakes.”

“Of course he knows. If the Southwest Chamber hadn’t dissolved, they’d all be begging on the streets by now. Do you think they’d behave honestly then?” Chen Yang said coldly.

Lin responded with a hum, then offered, “I’ll assign people to keep an eye on the Southwest Chamber. If they make any more moves, I’ll handle it if I can.”

“Good, Lin. Then you’ll have to work a little harder,” Chen Yang smiled.

Lin laughed helplessly, “President Chen, this is no hardship; it’s just a small matter.”

“All right, then. If the Southwest Chamber acts up again, get in touch,” Chen Yang said.

“Understood.”

Chen Yang nodded, hung up, exhaled deeply, and tossed his phone on the desk. He sneered with satisfaction, “Finally, one less problem to worry about.”

That evening, at seven o’clock.

The dissolution of the Southwest Chamber of Commerce was no secret to the General Chamber of Commerce in the provincial capital.

Before Cui Shangkai decided to dissolve the Chamber and sell off its estate, he had a long phone conversation with Liu Xianghui, the president of the provincial Chamber.

Though Liu was shaken by Chen Yang’s recent conversations with the Song family from Yanjing, he had since sent people to investigate and learned that Chen Yang’s connection to the Songs was superficial at best.

Liu even suspected that the Songs had only spoken up for Chen Yang because he had paid them handsomely.

If money was the only reason the Songs defended him, then the problem was simpler to solve.

After all, the provincial Chamber’s assets were worth hundreds of millions; money was not an issue.

Still, Liu harbored deep resentment toward Chen Yang and was quietly nursing a grudge, determined to bring him down.

At seven that night.

In Linhai, inside the private room 203 of the Linhai Grand Hotel.

All eight core members of the Southwest Chamber of Commerce had gathered except Jiang Yigan.

They assembled not only to bid farewell to the Chamber but also to accompany Liu Xianghui, the respected provincial Chamber president, for a meal.

Because of the Chamber’s dissolution, Cui Shangkai was in low spirits. Despite the banquet lasting only five minutes, he had already downed twelve shots of baijiu.

Though his capacity was thirty shots, twelve had already flushed his face and stirred his mind.

Liu Xianghui, sitting to his left, sensed Cui’s mood and suddenly slammed his hand on the table, standing to scold, “Look at yourself! What are you doing like this?”

His outburst drew everyone’s attention, and the room fell silent.

Cui, half-drunk, smiled weakly at Liu, “President Liu, please… sit down and drink.”

“Drink? Look at you! You’ve been bullied and beaten down. If you’re unhappy, then fight back!” Liu said, hands behind his back, anger etched on his face.

Cui lowered his head, shaking it with a bitter smile, “Fight back? President Liu, teach me—how am I supposed to fight back?”

Liu glanced at a glass of plain water on the table and said, “Drink some water first and sober up. I don’t like negotiating with drunkards.”

Cui lifted the white porcelain cup and drained the water.

His mind cleared slightly. He shook his head hard, but soon his thoughts returned to the Chamber he had painstakingly built being dismantled. Frustration welled up again. He looked at Liu, “President Liu, tell me, what should I do?”

Liu sat back in his rosewood chair, downed a glass of wine, then fixed Cui with a serious look. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend. The Yu family is now at odds with both Chen and Shen Donghua. Why don’t you reach out to them?”

Cui’s eyes brightened; he sensed Liu had a plan. “Brother Liu, please continue.”

Liu frowned. “Remember how Chen and Shen dealt with the Yu family? They hired expert hackers to infiltrate the Yu family’s internal network, stealing incriminating evidence and gaining a firm grip on them.”

“They were so clever. Can’t you do the same?”

Cui’s eyes lit up with joy, secretly thinking this was a good idea.

Liu pulled a cigarette from his pocket, placed it in his mouth, and took a drag. In the swirling smoke, he said seriously, “Look how smart Shen Donghua and Chen Yang are. Are you any dumber than them?”

Cui clenched his fists, his face glowing, “Brother Liu, I understand what you mean.”

Liu continued, “When you gather evidence against Huading Company, strengthen ties with the Yu family. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Got it?”

Cui’s heart seemed illuminated. Raising his glass of baijiu, he said, “Brother Liu, I see hope now. Let’s toast—I sincerely salute you.”

Liu clinked his glass with Cui’s and drained it.

Meanwhile, Chen Yang was at his father-in-law and mother-in-law’s villa, sitting on the sofa with Qin Muxue, discussing moving plans.

Chen Yang had no idea about Liu and Cui’s meeting or the schemes Liu had proposed against him.

He was immersed in the joy of moving to a new home. Smiling at Qin Muxue, he said, “Muxue, it’s decided—we’re moving this weekend.”

Qin nodded, “Yes, we’ll move with my parents.”

“As long as you’re fine, I’m fine,” Chen said softly, though he still had some reservations about his mother-in-law. But he chose not to dwell on it; after all, she was Qin Muxue’s mother, and he couldn’t just abandon her.

Qin looked at him seriously. “Don’t worry about my mom. If she causes trouble or goes too far, I’ll talk to her.”

“Your mom’s a tough nut to crack,” Chen said, shaking his head.

Qin gave him a complicated glance but said no more.

Chen closed his mouth and settled down to watch TV with Qin.

That same night, at eleven, Cui Shangkai, through a friend, found a group of five hackers forming a team.

This team operated out of the provincial capital, each a computer expert with clear roles and trustworthy skills.

Of course, hiring them was costly—200,000 yuan for the job.

Just hacking into Huading Company’s internal network to dig up dirt would be expensive at that price.

Still, Cui accepted it. Splitting 200,000 among his six close associates meant about 30,000 yuan each—a small sum.

At eleven that night, Cui contacted the hackers’ leader, ordering him to begin the mission and find incriminating evidence against Huading.

The leader readily agreed—after all, money had been paid.

Time passed swiftly through the night.

Cui spent the night half asleep, troubled and restless.

At eight the next morning, just after waking, he grabbed his phone and called the hackers’ leader.

The call connected quickly. Cui asked eagerly, furrowing his brow, “Hello? Did you find anything? Any results?”

On the other end was a man wearing dark glasses and dressed entirely in black, with sharp eyes that marked him as no ordinary man.

He was the hackers’ leader. Hearing Cui’s question, he shook his head bluntly: “This isn’t easy.”