s a veiled threat. His family had some clout at Pineapple Media, so they could manipulate things if needed. This implied coercion: he wanted to buy a car and needed help from Su Can.Xiao Zhaoxu added,...Chapter 55: Tang Later Dynasty's Three Thousand Cities

Li Lan was being mysterious on the phone, so Su Cun didn't press him for more information. Two days later, Su Cun’s phone rang; Li Lan had arrived at the door.

Li Lan seemed somewhat distracted and hadn’t smoked in the car because he sometimes acted as a host and smoking wasn’t very elegant inside the vehicle. Initially, Li Lan was just close to Su Cun out of affection for Tang Wu (Su Cun's girlfriend), but this student from NDU had given him a sense of familiarity.

Chatting with him felt like talking to an adult rather than a first-year university student; he possessed mature thoughts and at times was even more perceptive.

Hence, Li Lan hardly regarded Su Cun as someone younger than himself. There was a sense of age-transcending friendship between them, and they referred to each other as brothers.

Su Cun noticed that Li Lan seemed lost in thought regarding NDU and tapped on the window. After opening the door, he got into the car with a smile, asking, "What are you thinking about"

Li Lan then smiled bitterly and glanced back a few times before reversing and turning onto the other side of the road. He looked at NDU’s somewhat simple entrance gate and said, "I just recalled something; when I was in NDU, an upperclasswoman passed through this very door."

"It must have been an interesting story. You were once a student at NDU" Su Cun hadn’t expected this. No wonder Li Lan seemed so familiar with the campus. He had also eyed the girls passing by rather shamelessly; no wonder he was an upperclassman.

“Ah, it’s been such a long time; I can barely remember...” Looking at the entrance gate, perhaps this is why he liked interacting with Su Cun and Tang Wu. Recalling his youthful days brought back the vigor and wisdom of those times, as well as the passion, not just because Tang Wu was the boss's daughter or that Su Cun had the potential to become the future leader of the company.

The car stopped by the roadside, Li Lan rolled down the window, lit a cigarette, and amid the swirling smoke, his gaze grew distant. It seemed something was slowly brewing in his mind, “She was one year older than me; I graduated in 1989 when university graduates had dual employment channels—encouraging self-employment but still having government allocation. The college entrance exam then consisted of Chinese, math, English, physics, chemistry, politics, and biology, totaling 710 points. That year, Tsinghua University's admission score was around 580, while Peking University was about 570. I scored 600 for NDU’s Finance Department; I was commended by the Minister of Education as a top student from my province. My first-year upperclasswoman welcomed me and we later had dinner together, held hands during our three years at university… That year, we argued over where to go after graduation; it got quite heated but now I can’t remember what we quarreled about…”

“We were together for three years with constant bickering but neither of us ever mentioned breaking up. She eventually graduated and found a good placement through her family connections, securing a position at the People's Bank headquarters; she left then. I remember that on the day she was leaving, I was playing basketball at NDU’s sports field when she came by to buy me a bottle of water, saying it was the last time she would watch me play and that she was going away. Later, I followed her as she carried her backpack towards Chairman Mao's statue from this very gate. Back in our dorm room with her bottle of water untouched, that year I was in my third-year, we had agreed earlier that if she graduated first, she'd find a job in Shanghai and stabilize for a while until I graduated; then together we’d start our careers and settle down… Over the years, I occasionally heard about her life—she got married, divorced, and remarried. She really lived quite freely.”

“After all these years, you still can't forget this” Su Cun was surprised.

"What's up It’s just some old news. Since you’re here today, I remembered something. Nothing much, over the past decade or so, my brother has had his share of romantic encounters, but none that made me want to settle down. Back then there was this feeling of wanting stability, but now it’s hard to find; everything is just floating around... It's not like I’m being overly critical, how could I bear the sight of inferior purple vying for the place of noble cinnabar Alas, people these days aren’t as virtuous as before, they all end up becoming hypocrites."

With a smug tone, Li Lan hummed Liu Shizhong's sanqu (a type of lyrical verse) "Duanzhengao" and started the car again, speeding away to take Su Cen towards an avenue shaded by trees.

...

Li Lan brought Su Cen to a high-end commercial district in Wending Road, Xuhui District of Shanghai. The intersection was bustling with activity; Pacific Digital City and Huijin Department Store were located here. There were benches scattered around for pedestrians to rest on. Major city traffic routes forked out near several schools and hospitals situated here, and between the tall buildings could be seen clear blue skies.

It felt very pleasant, Su Cen got a sense of the power of wealth; every inch of the city seemed to flow with financial veins. Without an economy, skyscrapers would become abandoned projects, areas would turn desolate and lifeless. While materialism is toxic, it cannot be denied that money holds immense energy.

During World War II, Western imperialism transformed GDP into military might and went on the offensive in every direction. Now countries are desperately developing their economies to convert GDP into the strength of a military-industrial complex. The Chinese hawks have proposed that imperialist powers never give up their designs to destroy China, colluding with small fry to strategically encircle our country; China must turn its economic might into military power to achieve deep-sea strategic ambitions and possess the ability to counterattack America in space.

In essence, it all boils down to developing the economy. Money is indispensable.

This newly built high-end residential building was named "Houtang, Qiansan Cheng" (meaning “After Tang Dynasty, Three Thousand City”), obviously a project of the Tang Corporation. Li Lan drove her car under the sales office located on the ground floor at the southern part of this upscale community. The two-story-high building had large curtains hanging inside and glass walls; within could be seen partitions resembling water curtains with sofas and coffee tables inside each one, serving as "elegant seating" for sales purposes.

After getting out of the car, Li Lan led Su Cen into the sales office. The interior was elegantly laid out and bustling, with a cocktail reception underway.

Parked outside were various cars including some with license plates from Shanghai government agencies and even military ones.

There were many people inside, with an array of self-service drinks set up in the middle. Su Cen could see Tang's father holding a brown wine glass, constantly mingling and chatting with different guests.

Su Cen and Li Lan found an empty table to sit at.

"General Manager Li," an employee passing by greeted Li Lan. Li Lan nodded and quietly instructed someone, "Bring us a pot of coffee."

Seeing Su Can's gaze focused on the lively scene of the cocktail party, Li Lan said, "This is just a cocktail party hosted by Mr. Tang in the early stage of the pre-sale of his property project. He invited some friends from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai circles. Some are there to book apartments while others are here to congratulate him. People from various sectors in Shanghai are present, and it’s said that a major figure will come later, someone famous even on Forbes."

Coffee was served as the air filled with a hint of rich aroma.

The lively scene didn’t seem to affect their conversation environment; Li Lan looked around and said, "This property project is one of Mr. Tang's best works. Therefore, it cannot afford any mistakes. This project has gained much fame in Shanghai and is expected to become the most upscale high-rise residential area in Xuhui District."

"Before this event, we did face a crisis that made people in Shanghai’s financial circles talk about us extensively. The one billion yuan debt of Donglin Group’s Chaoyue side isn’t even mentioned; here the Land Bureau and Planning Bureau are blocking our way. Later on, Tang Sansheng City is a large upscale community in Xuhui District where the district planning department has approved the construction of an affiliated primary school. However, later both bureaus issued new policies and documents, which led to conflicts: The Land Bureau believed that the affiliated elementary school of Tang Sansheng City must be independently situated on land, while the Planning Bureau thought that there was no need to change the project previously approved. Due to these inconsistent opinions, our pre-sale permit has been delayed."

"During this period, we were under great pressure. According to the Land Bureau's requirements, we had to apply again and go through several levels of approval from divisions, bureaus, and government departments. However, the approval seemed far off, and we couldn’t obtain the pre-sale permit. You can imagine how much pressure we faced: The construction site for this large community has thousands of workers who need a million yuan daily to maintain operations—about 30-40 million yuan per month. We also have to bear Donglin Group’s debt; thus, Mr. Tang is in a desperate situation, and the pressures we face are unimaginable."

Su Can was taken aback; he hadn't expected there would be such a process.

So it turns out that back then, Tang's father carried two major burdens: one was the Donglin Group’s debt, and the other was this sudden issue with Tang Sansheng City. It seemed unreasonable for the Land Bureau to suddenly change its policy targeting Mr. Tang Senior and oppose the Planning Bureau. Su Can naturally didn't know what was going on behind the scenes, but there must have been certain conflicts; no wonder during that time, when Mr. and Mrs. Tang brought Tang Wu to Shanghai, they were busy visiting friends everywhere—perhaps dealing with these matters.

Mrs. Tang, as a top official in the judicial department of Chengdu, and considering the background of the Tang Family in Sichuan, their influence is significant in southwestern politics. However, that’s only the case for the southwest; here in the southeast, the Tang family's influence naturally diminishes. There might be enemies targeting them behind this unreasonable attitude from the Land Bureau.

The projects operated by the Tang Group in Shanghai are not limited to this current Tang Sansheng City alone. According to Li Lan’s statement, there is an even larger project in Jiangsu with a scale of 600 acres, and it's adjacent to several large-scale projects from Mr. Li Ka-shing. The Tang Group also has multiple cooperative projects with China Railway Corporation Shanghai Branch.

These projects are part of the Tang Group’s interest chain in the southeast region, but the key is this Tang Sansheng City project. It acts as a pioneer project and an important source for capital turnover. If it's held up here, then the entire operation of the Tang Group will face problems—a significant means to hit the Tang enterprise.

Mr. Tang Senior suffered losses of 60 million yuan in August and September, on top of which is the debt from Donglin Group’s Chaoyue side—this would be a devastating blow indeed.

"On the day we got the contract from Chaoyue side, after discovering their unusual capital flow, Mr. Tang consulted Sister Mu about this matter particularly. Then Sister Mu personally came to Shanghai and probably used her connections to investigate the background of the other party. By then, our relationship with Chaoyue side had already soured; they declared a final deadline for repayment, stating that if we didn’t pay back by then, there would only be one way out. When several managers and directors went over previously, they were harshly criticized. The opponent was quite arrogant; later on, Mr. Tang took us to Chaoyue where he demanded their superior come out for a talk. At this point, that deputy director-level boss of theirs was truly intimidated. Sister Mu presented them with some tracking records of their fund transfers to Hong Kong and stated that she would involve the higher-level disciplinary committee in an investigation."

"The other party eventually conceded. Before our car could even leave Chaoyue, they called us back for a talk. In the end, it was rather amiable; since Chaoyue side felt guilty, I suspect their Secretary Zhao knew Sister Mu's identity but being caught on the spot without courage to commit mutual destruction, we negotiated an agreement. Donglin Group’s dozens of shops and one unsold property in Chaoyue were handed over to them as compensation, thus both sides reached a reconciliation. In fact, it was a big win for us; any professional could tell how much those shops and properties are worth—they're all left-over issues of the Donglin Group... But at least Chaoyue side saved face, and those assets will still support many people. On the other hand, the one billion yuan debt was settled this way—everyone ended up happy."

Lilán made it sound easy, but she didn't know how exhausting their efforts had been during this period. There were some things that still bothered him—such as the Land Bureau's delay and Eastern Forest Group's debt issues. The timing of these events seemed too coincidental; was someone behind them targeting Tang Zong

Of course, Lilán couldn't tell Su Cen about these concerns.

Even if she didn't say anything, Su Cen had a vague sense from her hints. But no one talked about it.

...

As they drank coffee and chatted, listening to Lilán talk about the inner workings of the Tang family business, Su Cen saw Tang Fu's figure moving through the crowd in the distance, feeling somewhat dazed.

Tang Fu was considered a notorious figure in Shanghai’s commercial circle, but that didn't mean he had no enemies. According to Lilán, another well-known company in the same industry, Pioneer Group, also fiercely competed with them on certain projects. Furthermore, both the Tang and Mu families had political connections, which naturally led to some adversaries. Could these opponents be taking advantage of their geographical advantages to strike against Tang Fu

"What about the pre-sale permit" Su Cen was now concerned about the Three Thousand City project in Tangshan after missing out on the best sales period during the National Day holiday.

Future sales would likely be challenging. Although it wasn't impossible to sell good properties in Shanghai's real estate market, Tang Fu needed funds quickly to cover losses and recover substantial capital within a short time frame. It wouldn't be easy to achieve this goal. After all, Tang Fu was his future father-in-law, and the crisis facing the Tang family couldn’t just be brushed off as none of his business—it also affected him personally and could impact Tang Wu.

The relationship between Tang Family and Su Cen had become extremely delicate; he couldn't turn a blind eye to it.

"Yes, that's why General Manager Tang invited quite a few friends from the commercial and political spheres in Shanghai this time. Today is just a small reception for some of them who are relatives. After the property sales, there might be an oath-taking banquet. You must attend then."

"Me" Su Cen was surprised at his invitation to Tang Family's rally dinner.

"Haha, General Manager Tang specifically asked me to tell you this... If not for your suggestion at Chao Yue, we wouldn’t have been able to pull off such a significant move from the smallest details. He mentioned that ‘Su Cen is a young man with an air of calm and composure no matter what storm he faces.’" She chuckled. "How could Tang Family’s banquet be complete without your presence"In such circumstances, there was a disproportionate gender ratio. Moreover, encountering beautiful girls everywhere naturally made them famous among those in high schools and university backstreets."B...