Chapter 42: The smokescreen stratagem
What did a hundred million yuan mean? Ten years earlier, in the nineties when China's economy was rising, it would have been an astronomical sum. Even on China's current Forbes list, the hundredth-richest person on the mainland had a fortune of only five hundred million yuan.
For most people, it was a figure they could only dream of. Even Su Can found it dizzying, and it was no small sum to most Shanghai businesses at this stage.
But the crucial question was how Donglin Group had come to owe someone a hundred million yuan.
The immediate priority was to gather information. They could not fight a war with an information disadvantage.
Su Can opened his eyes early the next morning and climbed out of bed. Li Han and Xiao Xu greeted him before heading out, both wearing running shoes, planning to exercise where the journalism girls practiced their voices every morning. They invited him along as they left, but Su Can shut the door behind them, leaving them outside.
Su Can called Li Lan, explained the situation, and outlined his idea. At first, Li Lan still sounded inclined to dissuade him, but after hearing him out, she fell silent, then said, "How about this? I'm on my way to the office. I'll turn around and pick you up, and we can discuss it with Uncle Tang in person."
Su Can worked out the timing and left. After he had waited outside the university gate for over half an hour, Li Lan's car came toward him. She lowered the window beside him. "Get in."
The car sped away.
Inside Donglin Group's office, Tang's father sat at his rosewood desk, frowning deeply as he searched for a solution. An assistant knocked and entered, drenched in sweat. "Mr.