60: Chapter 60 Threatening the Bank Manager to Raise Two Billion! Lin Zhe's New Scheme!

Changsheng Real Estate headquarters building, top floor, chairman's office.

Chairman Chu Changfeng stared at the two documents in front of him, his chest heaving violently, and swept the teacup off the desk, sending glass shards scattering everywhere.

The vice president and the financial staff were so terrified they huddled in the corner, not daring to breathe.

"Get out, all of you!" Chairman Chu Changfeng roared, pointing toward the door.

The group acted as if they had been granted amnesty, scrambling out of the office and closing the door behind them.

Only Chairman Chu Changfeng remained in the office.

He loosened his tie and slumped into his large executive chair.

A cash flow gap of two billion—this was a dead end.

But Chairman Chu Changfeng was someone who had seen his fair share of storms; he took a deep breath to steady himself, then turned to look at the encrypted landline in the corner of his desk.

This line was a dedicated internal LAN connection that linked directly to several safe houses and private clubs he had set up outside.

He grabbed the receiver and quickly dialed a few numbers.

After two rings, the call connected.

"Hello? Who is this?" a voice sounded impatiently from the other end.

"Old Liu, it's me." Chairman Chu Changfeng lowered his voice. "Don't hang up, listen to what I have to say!"

There was a distinct pause on the other end, followed by a voice that became extremely wary: "President Chu, you're a big problem right now. Why are you calling me?"

"I'll only ask you one thing: do you still want the three billion in loans Changsheng has with your Jianzhou Bank?" Chairman Chu Changfeng said, cutting straight to the point.

Bank President Liu's voice instantly rose: "What do you mean? Are you trying to default on the debt?"

"Jiangcheng Commercial Bank came to withdraw two billion in loans today. All my accounts are frozen; I can't come up with the money at all." Chairman Chu Changfeng gritted his teeth. "If I don't pay this back by two o'clock this afternoon, Changsheng Real Estate will face a chain-reaction collapse."

Silence fell on the other end of the line.

Chairman Chu Changfeng upped the ante: "Old Liu, if Changsheng falls, all those mortgaged plots of land in your hands will become non-performing assets. Can you, as the bank president, handle three billion in bad debt?"

"Are you threatening me?" Bank President Liu was furious.

"This isn't a threat, it's a fact!" Chairman Chu Changfeng slammed the desk. "You are the only ones who can save Changsheng now! Contact Old Sun from Haifa Bank and Old Zhang from the Rural Commercial Bank. The three of you, scrape together 700 million each! That's 2.1 billion total; wire it to my overseas reserve account that isn't being monitored!"

"You're crazy! If we issue illegal loans at a time like this, we're dead if we get caught!"

"If you don't issue the loans, you'll be dead today!" Chairman Chu Changfeng's voice was hoarse. "Make up this two billion, send Jiangcheng Commercial Bank away, and Changsheng's situation will stabilize. I'll pay to handle the economic investigation team. We're all in the same boat; if the boat sinks, none of us will survive!"

Bank President Liu was breathing heavily on the other end of the line, and it took a full minute before he spoke.

"Send the account number. The funds will arrive by 1:30 PM at the latest. Old Chu, you'd better pray you can make it through this, or I won't let you off even as a ghost!"

A busy signal sounded.

Chairman Chu Changfeng put down the receiver; his shirt was soaked through with cold sweat.

This was an extremely risky move, essentially forcing the other three banks onto Changsheng's war chariot.

Even if he made it through this hurdle, the three banks wouldn't give him a friendly look.

But he had no other choice.

...

Yunding Mansion, second-floor study.

Zhou Ye sat in front of the computer with over a dozen surveillance windows open on the screen, the sound of keyboard clacking filling the room.

"Boss, there's a situation." Zhou Ye stopped what he was doing and turned to look at Lin Zhe, who was sitting on the sofa.

Lin Zhe looked up upon hearing this: "Speak."

"A secret overseas reserve account belonging to Changsheng Real Estate has suddenly been activated." Zhou Ye pulled up the transaction history interface. "Three large sums were transferred in batches just now, totaling exactly 2.1 billion."

A-Gui stood to the side, his brows slightly furrowed: "Where did that old guy get so much money?"

Zhou Ye pointed to the remittance information on the screen: "Jianzhou Bank, Haifa Bank, and the Jiangcheng Rural Commercial Bank. Have the presidents of these three banks lost their minds? They dare to give Chairman Chu Changfeng a blood transfusion at a time like this; aren't they afraid their money will go down the drain?"

Lin Zhe leaned back against the sofa.

"It's not losing their minds, it's being forced into a corner." Lin Zhe said in a flat tone. "The scale of Changsheng's loans with these three banks must be massive. Chairman Chu Changfeng is holding Changsheng's life and death over them; if they don't give him money, everyone goes down together."

Zhou Ye scratched his head: "Then doesn't that mean our withdrawal of two billion has been neutralized by him?"

"Neutralized?" Lin Zhe chuckled. "Once that two billion is poured in, Changsheng's hole will only get bigger. Chairman Chu Changfeng has exhausted his last connections and trump cards, and those three banks have become ants on a hot pan."

Lin Zhe stood up, walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, and looked at the scenery of Jiangcheng in the distance.

"However, the game has only just begun. If he can't even make it through the first round, that would be too boring."

Zhou Ye rubbed his hands together and placed them back on the keyboard: "Boss, what do we do next? Should we leak the evidence of these three banks' illegal lending directly to the Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission?"

"No need to alert the authorities in a rush." Lin Zhe turned around. "Where is Chu Shaojie now?"

Zhou Ye immediately switched to a surveillance feed.

"He's locked in a villa by Chairman Chu Changfeng. His phone and computer have all been confiscated, and there are four bodyguards watching him around the clock. The kid is currently smashing things and throwing a tantrum."

Lin Zhe tapped his fingers lightly on the windowsill.

That good-for-nothing Chu Shaojie is the Chu family's biggest weak point.

As long as he causes trouble outside, Chairman Chu Changfeng will have to keep getting distracted to clean up his messes.

"Who is the creditor for the 300 million that Chu Shaojie owes?" Lin Zhe asked.

Zhou Ye typed rapidly on the keyboard for a few moments and pulled up a file: "It's a junket agent from over there named Sang Ju. He keeps a bunch of thugs under him and uses very dirty tactics."

"Where are Sang Ju's people now?"

"A few of his henchmen are in Jiangcheng; they're probably here specifically to keep an eye on Chu Shaojie."

Lin Zhe nodded slightly.

"Use a virtual number and send a message to Sang Ju." Lin Zhe commanded. "Tell him that Changsheng Real Estate is about to go into bankruptcy liquidation, and if he doesn't come to collect his debt now, the Chu family won't have a single hair left."

Zhou Ye's hands flew across the keyboard, and he agreed excitedly: "Understood! Borrowing a knife to kill—this trick is brilliant!"

A forged text message traveled through network nodes and was precisely delivered to Sang Ju's phone.

Lin Zhe turned to look at A-Gui.

"Notify Qin Tianming." Lin Zhe instructed. "Tell him to find a few unfamiliar faces. Since Sang Ju's people are in Jiangcheng, they'll definitely need someone to show them the way; make it convenient for them."

A-Gui nodded in agreement and immediately turned to leave the room to make the call.

After sending the text, Zhou Ye leaned back in his chair: "Boss, Sang Ju's people don't have any moral bottom line. Although they won't dare to go too far, splashing paint and hanging banners is inevitable."

"For such a lively affair, we must let the onlookers see it too." Lin Zhe said with a smile. "Send the news to Shen Nianwei; she knows what to do."