A Cornered Beast's Struggle

"What about the banks?" Zhao Jianguo asked, fatigue seeping into his voice.

"Zhaohang and Zhongxin both called this morning," Liu Mingyu said in an even lower voice.

"Their tone was more serious than last time. They require us to submit a written explanation regarding 'the recent abnormal fluctuations in the stock price and market rumors' by the end of business next Monday at the latest, along with the latest cash flow stress test report."

"A written explanation?" Zhao Jianguo scoffed. "Aren't they just trying to force me to admit that the company has problems?"

"And there's more..." Liu Mingyu paused.

"The account managers from Gonghang and Jianhang who handle our business both requested a meeting with Director Lin this morning under the pretext of 'routine post-loan inspections.' They didn't say it outright, but the meaning was obvious—they're worried too."

Besieged on all sides.

The phrase sprang into Zhao Jianguo's mind without warning.

He leaned back against the chair back and closed his eyes, his temples throbbing.

The office was terrifyingly quiet, broken only by the faint hum from the air-conditioning vent and the whir of the monitor's fan.

After a long while, he opened his eyes. His gaze had turned sharp again, but the lingering gloom deep within could not be concealed.

"Has the material Director Lin organized been delivered?"

"It has." Liu Mingyu pulled a three-page summary from the folder and placed it before Zhao Jianguo.

"Director Lin said the detailed structural diagram was too complicated. This is a simplified version, listing only the core projects and exposures."

Zhao Jianguo picked up the three pages.

There was no company logo, no heading—only cold figures and abbreviated project names:

[Rong City "Tianfu Jingyuan" Project—Equity-like Debt; actual liabilities: 820 million yuan; annualized cost: 11.5%; maturity date: June 2018]

[Wuhan "Jiangyue Tiandi" Project—Leaseback Guarantee; potential repayment obligation: 570 million yuan; trigger condition: occupancy rate below 70% for six consecutive months]

[Shan City "Bei'an Xingcheng" Phase II—Cooperative Development, on- and off-balance-sheet treatment; off-balance-sheet guarantee: 230 million yuan; related party: "Jintuo Investment"]

[Supply Chain Finance Nesting (construction materials procurement)—revolving credit line: 680 million yuan; actual use of funds: replenishing land security deposits...]

Item by item, line by line.

Seven major categories, thirty-one subcategories in total.

Total amount: 3.16 billion yuan.

Zhao Jianguo's gaze lingered on that number for a long time.

3.1 billion.

And this was only the portion he could remember and sort out clearly.

As for the more concealed funds that ultimately flowed into the land market through multiple layers of Nesting, even he did not dare calculate them in detail.

If all of this were exposed...

No.

He shook his head hard, casting aside that terrifying thought.

These structures were firewalls he had spent ten years designing with the finest lawyers and accountants.

As long as housing prices kept rising, land prices kept rising, and the Capital Chain remained unbroken, they would forever remain "off-balance-sheet" and never become a problem.

The problem was that someone now seemed to have caught the scent of blood.

"What about Wang Zhenhai?" he suddenly asked. "Has there been any movement from him lately?"

Liu Mingyu was Stunned. "President Wang? Didn't he just return from Macau last week? I heard he had a good run and won quite a bit. Chairman Zhao, you suspect..."

"Who I suspect isn't important," Zhao Jianguo cut him off. "What matters is who knows about these things."

He set down the three pages, his fingers unconsciously tapping against the desk.

Other than himself, only Lin Wanqing knew the complete map.

Several Core Executives in the Finance Department knew parts of the structure, as did the actual controllers of those Cooperators—such as Wang Zhenhai.

But if the opponent was an outsider, how could they possibly know such details so thoroughly?

Unless... there was a mole.

And not just an ordinary employee, but someone who could access core secrets and perhaps even participate in designing these structures.

Lin Wanqing?

No. She had no reason to. Her interests had long since been tied to his.

Those old hands in the Finance Department? They had followed him for over a decade. If they were going to betray him, they would have done so long ago.

Wang Zhenhai? That gambler was unreliable, but he was trapped in this situation too. Exposing it would do him no good.

Then who could it be?

Zhao Jianguo felt as though his head were splitting apart.

"Chairman Zhao," Liu Mingyu asked carefully, "how should we respond to the banks' written explanation due Next Monday?"

Zhao Jianguo fell silent for a moment.

"Tell Director Lin to prepare two reports," he said slowly.

"One for the banks. Make it clean and polished. Emphasize that the company's Fundamentals are sound, that the stock price volatility is caused by market sentiment and malicious Short Selling, and that we have sufficient cash and unused bank credit facilities to handle it. The other one..."

He paused. "The other is a real cash flow projection. Send it directly to me. I need to know how long we can hold out at most if this sell-off continues for another week."

"Yes."

"And," Zhao Jianguo added, "invite Wang Zhenhai to dinner. Tonight. Pick somewhere quiet."

"Understood."

Liu Mingyu withdrew and gently closed the door behind him.

The office fell silent again.

Zhao Jianguo turned back to the screen.

Henglong Holdings' share price had frozen at 10.26 Hong Kong Dollars, with its decline widening to 1.8%.

And that mysterious sell order, having completed today's fixed quota of Five Million Shares, had indeed vanished once more.

The market board became lifeless again.

Staring at the intraday line slowly trending downward, he suddenly thought of his son, Zhao Chen.