When Liu Yong and Li Feng Mei met, neither mentioned their previous argument in Shangdu.
Li Feng Mei kept quiet after seeing Liu Yong’s harsh living conditions in Shenzhen, while Liu Yong, having just been brought back from the dance hall by Xia Xiao Lan, felt guilty despite not having wronged his wife, and didn’t dare mention their argument.
Besides, Li Feng Mei had taken the initiative to visit him in Shenzhen, which was already a gesture of submission to him as the “head of the household.”
Liu Yong picked up his son, saying, “Stay in Shenzhen for a few days to enjoy yourselves.”
Li Feng Mei gave him a side glance: “Doesn’t your son need to go to school? We can only stay for two days!”
Liu Yong just chuckled.
Of course, schooling was important. The reason he and Li Feng Mei lived separately to work was for their son Liu Zi Tao’s better future. Xia Xiao Lan was the perfect example – the difference education made for children from rural backgrounds was enormous!
Education couldn’t be delayed, even if it meant sacrificing some family time. As Xia Xiao Lan had said, they needed to instill good study habits in Liu Zi Tao, teaching him that school should come before everything else, not just studying sporadically. Travel broadens the mind more than reading ten thousand books. Well, you still need to read those books first!
Not only did Liu Zi Tao need to attend school, but back in Shangdu, where they’d just switched to winter clothing, with hired shop assistants, neither Li Feng Mei nor Liu Fen could abandon the store business.
Xia Xiao Lan needed to examine the contract between Liu Yong and Liu Tian Quan.
One look at the contract revealed the problem.
Liu Tian Quan’s Tian Chen Decorating had contracted part of the Xiangmi Lake Resort’s interior decoration project, primarily the Xiangmi Lake Nightclub. Then, as the contractor, Liu Tian Quan subcontracted part of the work to Liu Yong ‘Yuan Hui’. The process seemed standard, but the tricks were in the details.
“Was my uncle drinking when he signed the contract with Liu Tian Quan?”
Xia Xiao Lan asked Ge Jian.
They had indeed been drinking that day, but they’d had someone review the contract.
Xia Xiao Lan pointed at the contract: “Liu Tian Quan’s company is called Tian Chen (天宸), but this contract writes it as Tian Chen (天辰). Though these characters sound the same, when it comes time for payment, it’ll be entirely up to Liu Tian Quan’s whims.”
Construction projects required advance funding.
Like the Shenzhen Municipal Government Guesthouse project – with a total budget of over a million, even all of Liu Yong’s family money wasn’t enough. Without the bank loan midway, they couldn’t have lasted until the final payment. Every contractor operated this way, using 100,000 in working capital to take on projects worth millions. In modern times, news often featured migrant workers demanding wages – some contractors deliberately defaulted, but most had simply broken their cash flow chains. How could they pay workers’ wages then?
When contractors took on projects exceeding their working capital, the construction companies above could squeeze them to the point of desperation just by withholding payments.
This was exactly Liu Tian Quan’s game. Without a formal Contract Law in China yet, contracts were negotiated between parties, making fraudulent contracts hard to prevent. Liu Tian Quan had played a simple trick, changing ‘Tian Chen (天宸)’ to ‘Tian Chen (天辰)’. Now he was making Liu Yong desperately advance funds, and when payment time came, Liu Yong would find his contract worthless. This ‘Tian Chen (天辰)’ surely existed somewhere but with no responsible person to be found, who could he pursue payment?
Ge Jian broke into a cold sweat:
“Miss Xia, the boss has already advanced over 90,000 in project funds…”
Now that they’d discovered the contract problem, what about the 90,000?
If they didn’t terminate the contract, they’d have to invest more. If they terminated it, they’d lose the 90,000 plus pay a penalty.
Either way, Liu Tian Quan would profit.
Xia Xiao Lan pondered – Liu Tian Quan wouldn’t care about such small money. What was the point of destroying Yuan Hui? They weren’t even competitors in Shenzhen, operating at different business levels. Could Yuan Hui have gotten the Xiangmi Lake decoration project if Tian Chen could?
If Liu Tian Quan hadn’t deliberately brought Liu Yong in, Yuan Hui wouldn’t have gotten anywhere near Xiangmi Lake.
Liu Tian Quan wasn’t after Liu Yong’s money, but leverage.
Leverage to control him.
Either her uncle’s cash flow would collapse, leaving him deeply in debt, or he’d have to obey Liu Tian Quan and do things he didn’t want to do.
Did Liu Tian Quan need muscle?
No, he needed her uncle’s connection to Tang Hong En.
Whether that relationship came through Liu Yong or Xia Xiao Lan if Liu Yong owed hundreds of thousands, could Xia Xiao Lan ignore it?
“It’s fine, discovering this now is better than after a falling out.”
Xia Xiao Lan was even comforting Ge Jian.
Business deals made in dance halls often had problems – everyone was drunk, and who knew what contracts they were signing? Her uncle had learned a lesson, and even if the 90,000 was lost, it wouldn’t break him.
Xia Xiao Lan didn’t worry about the penalty Ge Jian mentioned.
Even if Liu Tian Quan burned bridges, he wouldn’t collect that penalty.
Xia Xiao Lan thought for a moment: “Don’t tell my uncle about the contract yet. I might have dinner with Mayor Tang tonight. Let uncle enjoy a day with an aunt and my cousin first, we’ll discuss this tomorrow.”
Xia Xiao Lan took the contract with her.
Kang Wei and Pan San knew about it.
Kang Wei tried to lighten the mood, “Sister-in-law, even if we lose 90,000, with Uncle Liu’s current business scale, he could earn it back in a few months. If Uncle Liu needs money to tide over, I have some.”
As for Pan San, if Xia Xiao Lan said to deal with Liu Tian Quan, he could bring him in immediately.
Liu Tian Quan’s followers didn’t even register in Pan San’s eyes.
Xia Xiao Lan shook her head, “Not necessary for now, Kang Wei, don’t volunteer to lend money.”
Whether they could recover the invested capital wasn’t the most important. Xia Xiao Lan felt the most important thing was that this loss would leave a deep impression on her uncle. If people rushed to clean up his mess before anything happened, her uncle would likely soon forget the pain… Even raising children required letting go someday, let alone Liu Yong who wasn’t even Xia Xiao Lan’s son.
The evening dinner was at Tang Hong En’s home.
Tang Hong En looked in good spirits, eating light dishes. After consulting doctors, Secretary Peng made a meal schedule for Tang Hong En. When to eat, what to eat daily, what to rotate weekly – everything followed the schedule.
What Secretary Peng couldn’t control was Tang Hong En’s rest schedule, since no one supervised his bedtime.
“Uncle Tang, you must take care of your health. With so many bad people in the world, I can’t handle them all alone without you.”
Tang Hong En laughed: “Who are you complaining about indirectly? Little Wang told me you’ve run into some trouble?”
Xia Xiao Lan placed the contract on the table, “I had no idea Shenzhen had gained another Hong Kong company called Tian Chen (天辰).”