Chapter 145: King of Three Lands

Qin Chao had been watching his father intently. But Qin Guofu was an old hand, and his sixth sense was exceptionally sharp. He turned to Qin Chao and asked, “Xiao Chao, shouldn’t you be busy with your own work? What are you doing here?”

Qin Chao quickly forced a smile. “Dad, there isn’t much going on today, so I thought I’d stay and keep you company. It’s nothing.”

“Something happened, didn’t it?” Qin Guofu suddenly asked, his brows drawing together.

After all, no one in the world understood Qin Chao better than he did. From a single look in his son’s eyes, he could tell what was on his mind.

He had already seen it in Qin Chao’s eyes just now. Something had happened—something serious.

Qin Guofu suddenly grew agitated. “Did something happen to the company? Don’t upset me. Whenever I get worked up, my head starts hurting.”

“Dad, what are you imagining? What could have happened? What are you getting so worked up about?” Qin Chao cried, equally agitated. His father was ill, yet still worked himself into a state over such things. Qin Chao was utterly at a loss.

“Tell me the truth and I won’t get worked up. Otherwise, I won’t even be able to sleep. Tell me the truth.” Qin Guofu continued anxiously, utterly certain that something had happened.

Seeing that his father had seen through him and that there was no point hiding it any longer, Qin Chao frowned. “Dad, all right, all right. I’ll tell you. It’s actually nothing major. The Yu family has adjusted its strategy and ordered the Qin Group to suspend operations.”

“The group is suspending operations? Why?” Qin Guofu asked, his eyes flashing with agitation.

“How would I know? But I heard something happened in the provincial capital. Huading Group made a move, and the Yu family may have suspended our operations because they were under pressure.” Qin Chao sounded troubled.

“Huading Group made a move? Good... Very good.” Qin Guofu let out a complicated sigh. After thinking for a moment, a contemptuous smile appeared on his face, and he slowly closed his eyes.

Seeing his father’s displeasure, Qin Chao feared that his emotions might further affect his condition and tried to comfort him. “But, Dad, don’t worry too much. This is only temporary. Once the Yu family gets through this, we’ll still be one of their most important partners.”

Qin Guofu gave a slight nod and said no more. In a low voice, he murmured, “I know. I’m a little tired. Go outside and let me sit quietly for a while.”

There was nothing Qin Chao could do about the situation. His face filled with helplessness. “All right, Dad. Try to relax. Really, don’t worry. I’ll go out for now.”

Qin Chao turned and left the hospital room, his heart heavy with bitterness.

Meanwhile, Qin Guoshan and Han Qin had also learned that the Qin Group had been ordered to suspend operations. The older couple was deeply surprised.

After all, the Qin Group had only been open for such a short time, and now it had already been forced to suspend operations.

There was definitely something behind it—something serious.

At nine o’clock that morning, Chen Yang arrived at the Huading Company office on time, as usual.

He had barely entered the office and sat down when Shen Donghua walked in with a smile.

“President Chen, it seems our actions yesterday had some effect.”

“Of course.” Chen Yang knew exactly what action Shen Donghua meant and gave a faint smile. “But don’t celebrate too soon.”

Shen Donghua immediately understood. His brow furrowed slightly. “You mean this is merely a smokescreen put up by the Yu family?”

“I don’t know whether it’s a smokescreen,” Chen Yang replied calmly. “But if you were a member of the Yu family, would you easily forgive me after I ordered Yu Chengyi, Yu Chenglong, and the others beaten so badly yesterday?”

Shen Donghua understood at once and shook his head. “No.”

“Exactly.” Chen Yang smiled faintly. “So regardless of why the Yu family ordered the Qin Group to suspend operations, they’ll still come after me over this matter.”

“Then what do you intend to do?” Confusion showed in Shen Donghua’s eyes.

Chen Yang smiled slightly. “Don’t worry. I’ve already made arrangements. I’m only saying that we mustn’t let our guard down because of this.”

Shen Donghua felt that Chen Yang was right and nodded lightly. “Yes, exactly.”

“All right. Go take care of your work. There’s still plenty to do this morning,” Chen Yang said softly.

Shen Donghua nodded hurriedly, then turned and left Chen Yang’s office.

Once Shen Donghua was gone, Chen Yang immediately turned his attention to the new city project in the northern suburbs. At present, nothing mattered more than making money.

Money, money, and more money. As long as one had money, anything could be handled.

Chen Yang worked until half past eleven. When lunchtime arrived, he was preparing to go to the cafeteria when Shen Donghua suddenly burst into his office again, looking serious.

“President Chen, I hope I’m not disturbing you.”

“You have something to say, don’t you?” Chen Yang replied calmly. “Say it first. Everything else can wait.”

Shen Donghua hurriedly said, “Well, I just received a call from President Li Canghai of the Three Eagles Group. He wants to invite our company’s senior executives to dinner tonight. As for the Three Eagles Group... how should I put it? It’s extremely powerful. Since its primary business is energy, its scale is even greater than that of Huading Group.”

“I’m not particularly close to Li Canghai. We’ve only met twice before at the Three-Province Chamber of Commerce. We exchanged phone numbers, and that was all. Besides, the Three Eagles Group is backed by the Li family, whose influence extends across the three provinces. They’re known as the foremost family in the region, so naturally they possess considerable power.”

“But I don’t know whether I’m overthinking it, yet I have a feeling that Li Canghai’s invitation isn’t as simple as it appears. That’s why I came to ask what you think.”

“The Three Eagles Group? Its scale is even greater than Huading Group’s?” Chen Yang asked, frowning slightly. Though he had been the owner of Huading Company for quite some time, this was genuinely the first time he had heard of the Three Eagles Group.

Still, Chen Yang was no fool. From Shen Donghua’s description, he could naturally imagine that the Three Eagles Group was like a massive ship—far from simple.

“Yes.” Shen Donghua sighed softly. “You haven’t been involved in the business world for very long, so naturally you don’t know much about these matters.”

“In short, Li Canghai and the Three Eagles Group under his control are extremely formidable. That’s all there is to it.”

“Oh, you also said that the Three Eagles Group is backed by the Li family, right?” Chen Yang suddenly asked.

“That’s right.”

“The Li family is very low-key and mysterious,” Shen Donghua said seriously. “All I know is that their influence extends across three provinces: Jiangdong, Dongshan, and Wenjiang. Their power is enormous. To put it plainly, compared with the Li family, the Yu family is barely worth mentioning.”

“Is that so? In that case, the Li family must truly be extraordinarily powerful,” Chen Yang murmured.

“Exactly.” Shen Donghua nodded. Then he suddenly looked at Chen Yang with an earnest, agitated expression. “President Chen, what do you think we should do about tonight’s dinner?”

Chen Yang thought for a moment. To himself, he said, What do I care about the Li family or any other family? There are plenty of clans in the capital far more powerful than them, and I’ve met my share of those. Since they’ve come looking for us, I might as well go see what they’re about.

With that thought, the corner of Chen Yang’s mouth lifted slightly. “Why not? I’ll go with you tonight and take a look. But I’ll pretend to be your subordinate. Don’t reveal my identity at first. I want to observe them from the shadows.”

“Observe them from the shadows?” Shen Donghua looked surprised.

But he soon understood Chen Yang’s intention and replied helplessly, “All right. I’ll respond to them immediately.”

“Go ahead,” Chen Yang said with a light laugh.

At seven that evening, the third floor of the Xiaonan Bay Hotel in Linhai City was deserted, save for a single lavishly decorated private room packed with guests and filled with lively conversation.

The reason only one private room on the entire third floor was in use was that Li Canghai had spent lavishly and reserved the whole floor for the evening.

Whenever he had serious business to discuss, he disliked noisy surroundings.

At that moment, the man sitting in the private room was in his forties. He wore permed curls and smoked an expensive cigarette. Naturally, he was none other than Li Canghai.

On the surface, Li Canghai was the chairman of the Three Eagles Group. But he also possessed another, more hidden identity: he was a member of the Li family.

Even without mentioning his position as chairman of the Three Eagles Group, the mere fact that he belonged to the Li family was enough to make him a formidable figure throughout the three southern provinces.

Li Canghai had been waiting in the private room for only five minutes when Shen Donghua, Chen Yang, and two vice presidents of Huading Company arrived at last.

When they entered, Shen Donghua walked in front, Chen Yang followed behind him, and the two vice presidents came after Chen Yang, clearly indicating that Shen Donghua was the principal figure.

As Shen Donghua reached the entrance, Li Canghai immediately rose from his chair, leaned back slightly, and laughed heartily.

“Brother Shen.”