Luo Chen went to prepare the Panlong Bay project. Xia Qingjing hesitated for a long time before she dialled her younger sister’s phone number.
After all such a big thing had happened and she needed someone to comfort her.
“Hello, Xinxin.” Xia Qingjing sounded rather hesitant.
The Xia family was indeed a major clan in Haidong. It could even be called a vast business empire.
Haidong was a place full of mixed forces and powerful backgrounds. For the Xia family to hold a position there showed just how formidable they were.
It was said that Xia Yuanwu had once been in politics. For some unknown reason he had offended a powerful family in Yanjing. After being suppressed he lost heart and stepped down.
Although the Xia family had suffered pressure and many members had gone abroad to develop their interests, the family remained not to be underestimated.
They still carried some weight across the whole of Haidong.
Yet Xia Qingjing had never dared to face her father. Because of her own wilfulness, after graduating from police academy she had run straight to Tongzhou.
She had left that enormous business empire entirely to her younger sister Xia Xinxin.
This had always left Xia Qingjing feeling rather guilty.
The two of them chatted for a few moments after the call connected, yet Xia Xinxin seemed to be in low spirits as well.
Her father Xia Yuanwu had just told her something that shocked and opposed her deeply.
From the time she could remember, her father had never mentioned this matter before.
Even her elder sister Xia Qingjing had been kept completely in the dark.
But suddenly he informed her that she had a fiancé and that he would arrive tomorrow. She must go to the airport at nine o’clock to meet him.
Xia Xinxin found this utterly unacceptable.
It was said that the other party was simply an old friend of her father’s. Although they had not kept in close touch, the two families had always maintained a good relationship.
However the other party’s family background seemed rather ordinary and he had only recently graduated from university.
Xia Xinxin and Xia Qingjing were completely different in this respect.
It could be said that from the start of university Xia Xinxin had hardly studied at all. She had spent nearly all her time at her father’s side managing the company.
Now she was more or less in full control, the young, beautiful and wealthy female president of a company worth several billion.
Such a perfect woman was a highly sought-after figure in Haidong. Countless sons of wealthy families and rich second-generation heirs had tried every method to pursue her.
How could she possibly take a fancy to an ordinary university graduate who had just entered society?
Yet girls are naturally sensitive about such matters and she could clearly sense her father’s matchmaking intention.
So Xia Xinxin immediately felt irritated by this so-called fiancé she had never even met.
She also had an important client meeting scheduled for tomorrow morning, but now it looked as though it would have to be cancelled.
This made her even more impatient with the unseen fiancé.
That same evening Luo Chen received a message from his father saying he must go to Haidong the next day.
Luo Chen did not pay it much attention. He certainly could not go in the morning.
He had to be present when Panlong Bay went on sale.
He would simply go later.
“Remember, I have already called my old friend in advance. Your time at the Jingnan Military Academy is still some way off. Whatever arrangements they make for you, just follow them. At the critical moment give them a helping hand to get through the difficulty.” Luo’s father instructed.
Luo Chen took his father’s words very seriously.
Going to Haidong involved only three matters. First, help train the Blood Fiend group. Second, have a fight with the master of the Baji Sect. Third, help his father’s old friend and repay the kindness shown.
That evening Luo Chen packed his luggage.
Then he suddenly remembered that his servant Master Zhang seemed to be in Haidong as well.
Early the next morning Xia Xinxin drove to the airport with her best friend to wait for Luo Chen.
Luo Chen on the other hand was preparing for the Panlong Bay sales launch that day.
Panlong Bay was indeed quite well known, though it had never enjoyed a good reputation.
After all many deaths had occurred there before.
If Tongzhou residents really wanted to buy a property they would certainly not consider that area.
Many people still believed in feng shui and felt the location had bad energy. Living there might bring trouble.
Inside the building of Star Media Culture, early in the morning Zhou Chuan sat with a cigar in his mouth and sunglasses on. A group of reporters already stood behind him.
“I want to see just how many flats that Luo fellow can sell today.” Zhou Chuan gave a cold laugh.
He was the leading figure in Tongzhou media. Even some of the city’s big shots did not dare offend him.
Yet Luo Chen had dared to slap him in public.
This had filled Zhou Chuan with a firm resolve to destroy Luo Chen.
Previously the boss of a housing project had offended him. Zhou Chuan had smeared the development as an unfinished ghost estate full of substandard construction.
As a result not a single flat had sold in ten years. In the end the owner could not bear the loan pressure and jumped to his death.
To put it bluntly, anyone in business feared him.
He could turn the worst reputation into something attractive or ruin the best reputation overnight.
Sometimes a pen could kill far more sharply than a knife.
This time he would make sure Luo Chen went bankrupt and came begging on his knees.
“Big Brother Zhou, this time our two media companies are joining forces. That Luo fellow is probably going to take a huge fall today.”
“Later I will put up a giant screen right opposite him and play the video we shot outside the Haotai entrance on a loop. I want to see whether he can sell even one flat today.”
“How dare he slap me in public? He must pay a heavy price.”
Zhou Chuan stabbed the cigar hard into the table.
The Haotai video was simply a short clip of Luo Chen walking out alone with black-suited men lining both sides.
No one else had been filmed, so Zhou Chuan was not worried that Luo Chen might actually have some powerful background.
They had discussed the matter in a meeting and concluded that Luo Chen had probably just been passing by at the time.
After all Zhou Chuan knew most of the big shots in Tongzhou and had never heard of any young figure like that.
It also seemed impossible when he thought about it.
None of that mattered. What mattered was how he presented the video.
If he uploaded it online and claimed Luo Chen belonged to a criminal gang, hired some internet trolls to stir things up, then Luo Chen would never be able to clear his name.
He might even face investigation. Who would dare buy flats from a project developed by a criminal gang?
He had already warned all the big and small media outlets in Tongzhou, even the small street advertising companies.
No one was allowed to promote Panlong Bay.
“Let’s go. Take the people and enjoy the show. I want to see if he can sell a single flat today.” Zhou Chuan stood up, took Shen Tao from Blue Universe Media with him, and a large group of reporters followed behind.
In truth online violence was truly frightening these days. An ordinary housing project could easily be destroyed by it.
Even if people spread lies, what could you do?
Once enough people repeated them the lies became truth. You could not reach down the wire to hit them, so you just had to accept it.
This was why so many people feared Zhou Chuan.
When Zhou Chuan and his group arrived at the Panlong Bay sales office it was indeed deserted. Only two or three staff members sat there drinking tea.
There was none of the usual grand scene for a new launch.
There were not even any banners or slogans.
Luo Chen and Wang Fei sat outside on chairs drinking tea. Zhou Chuan walked over with a cold laugh.
“Well, Boss Luo, your property sales seem rather quiet today.”
“None of your business.” Luo Chen replied in a flat tone.
“Fine, you have guts. I want to see if you can sell even one flat today.”
“And let me tell you the truth, Luo. If you kneel down now, kowtow and apologise, then give me five billion, it is still not too late to regret. Otherwise I will completely ruin this place.”
“I guarantee that for the next ten years, no, the next thirty years, you will not sell a single flat here.” Zhou Chuan said with a cold smile.
He had not yet posted the video, but he was certain that once he did and added a few words it would not only destroy the Panlong Bay project but also make it impossible for Luo Chen to continue in Tongzhou.
“Never mind whether anyone comes. If anyone does come I will play that video of yours on the screen opposite and tell people this estate is a den of criminals. Let us see who dares to buy.” Zhou Chuan threatened again when he saw how stubborn Luo Chen remained. “For every person who comes you play the video for them. If you do not then you are a coward.” Luo Chen said with a cold laugh.