Strategies

Chen Chao's words, "I'm hungry," left Land speechless. He narrowed his light blue eyes and stared at Chen Chao, saying slowly, "I've always heard that the Chen family has strict rules, but I never imagined they would be so strict that they wouldn't even let people eat their fill. It's truly an eye-opener."

Chen Chao stared blankly at Lande, not intending to acknowledge him. He had simply forgotten, caught up in a flurry of tasks, leaving no time for food or sleep.

When he could squeeze out a little time, sleeping was obviously his priority. It wasn't until he arrived at the restaurant owned by Lande that he remembered he had to eat.

Since we're already here, we might as well take advantage of the freebies. Xi Shi's dishes are always in high demand and short supply; reservations are required at least three months in advance.

Lande had food served to Chen Chao, who ate with impeccable manners. After cleaning the table, Chen Chao slowly spoke: "How long do you plan to keep the Song family's use of art to smuggle drugs a secret from me?"

Land glanced at Chen Chao, his joking expression fading slightly: "I'm a businessman, drug trafficking isn't my business. Besides, I don't have any concrete evidence, just suspicion. What if I report it and they turn around and accuse me, getting me all tangled up in the mess?"

“I know you don’t trust the police, but now that I’m involved, you’ll surely cooperate and provide some clues. I don’t believe anything on the maritime trade routes can escape your eyes.”

After thinking for a moment, Rand agreed: "I'll have Pera give you the information later."

"good."

"So it was Song Zifeng who did this to you?" Lande pressed.

“Did I push Soka too hard lately? He’s too naive to think he can get away with it and avoid suspicion by letting the drug dealers do it,” Chen Chao said, taking a sip of the after-dinner tea served by the waiter.

“Song Qin only has one son, and he has been spoiled since he was a child. He doesn’t know the immensity of heaven and earth.”

"Over the past decade, the six major families have been gradually relinquishing power to varying degrees, but the Song family has been the most affected. Song Qin can see the situation clearly and knows that this is the general trend, but the young people are ambitious and used to a life of luxury, and they cannot bear the decline in social class."

"If he hadn't courted disaster, his social standing wouldn't have declined so quickly. Everyone was tacitly taking back power little by little; nobody was planning to crush anyone at once. Why was he in such a hurry?"

"Because academia, the medical field, and the art world have developed too rapidly in the past two years, they may be killed by a new generation of grassroots forces before they can gradually hand over power. Didn't one of your group's recent film investments outperform those old academics in the art world at the box office?"

"Hmph! The film industry is almost rotten. I just have too much money to burn, so I'm helping some talented newcomers and cleaning up the market." When he mentioned movies, Lande's eyebrows rose slightly, clearly full of resentment.

Chen Chao nodded: "The public's reaction is that they are more willing to buy into industrialized art pieces than traditional mentorship programs. How do you think they'll operate in this free market?"

Land frowned, his face showing disapproval: "If you can't adapt to the market, you deserve to be eliminated. Turning your back on your country, he really has shit in his head."

Chen Chao laughed and concluded: "The capable face challenges head-on, while the incapable blame everything."

"So what's the Chen family's idea now?" Lande asked, taking an elegant sip of his drink.

"As long as the Song family can sever all ties with Song Zifeng, I will pretend the assassination never happened."

"You're quite magnanimous."

"If I were to completely uproot the Song family, would any of you families agree to that?"

“Of course not,” Rand replied matter-of-factly.

No matter how wrong or weak the Song family is, it is still a corner of power. If it collapses, the other major families will inevitably experience turmoil in order to find a balance again.

Nobody likes turmoil.

"So I have no choice but to be magnanimous," Chen Chao said expressionlessly.

"As long as you don't touch Song Qin and Song Canglan, no matter what you do with Song Zifeng, the Popov family won't interfere. They can even provide assistance if necessary," Lande promised.

"Okay, then I thank you in advance."

Everyone could see that Chen Fei was gradually delegating power to Chen Chao, especially in this matter. If Chen Chao could handle it perfectly on his own, then he would have the ability to take over the family entirely.

Chen Fei seems to be using this incident to assess when he can retire.

Therefore, everyone readily agreed to Chen Chao's visit.

Having secured the support of the Popov family, Chen Chao visited Vonsimevich's residence the following day.

Even in the central district, Voncinjevich's mansion is considered extravagant in design. The five-story European-style castle features extremely intricate carvings and decorations on each floor, creating a stark contrast with the understated Chen family residence.

"Chen Chao, it's you! Why didn't you bring Chen Xi with you?" Valena's first words to Chen Chao were concern for her best friend, Chen Xi.

“She’s busy dating. I’ll tell her to keep in touch with you when we get back,” Chen Chao replied.

"Well, I really envy her for being able to do whatever she wants, unlike us." Valena straightened her shirt collar with some disappointment and walked up to Chen Chao. "You're here to see your mother, right? I'll take you upstairs."

Thank you.

The head of the family in Voncinjevich's generation was a woman, a woman who acted decisively and had a strong style.

In the male-dominated industrial sector, she had all the men completely under her thumb, and no one dared to utter a single word of dissent. Chen Chao privately admired this extraordinary woman named Kagarina.

So when he stood in front of Kagarina's desk, he was very respectful.

"Thank you for taking the time to see me, Ms. Voncinjevich."

Kagarina stood up from behind her desk, walked step by step to Chen Chao's side, and pointed to the sofa in the reception area:

“You can call me Kagarina, we don’t need so many formalities between us.”

"Thank you, Kagarina." Chen Chao sat down on the sofa in the reception area.

"I know what you want to talk about, and I don't have much of an opinion on the general idea. Just one thing: what is your relationship with the agent who was injured in the attack?"

Kagarina's question startled Chen Chao. Although he hadn't deliberately concealed his concern for Steve within the Special Security Agency, Steve's existence shouldn't be known to anyone outside of the agency. How did Kagarina know? Had the Special Security Agency's secrecy system failed?

"Don't be nervous, it's not that there's any loophole in the security system." Kagarina couldn't help but find Chen Chao's expression amusing. "Chen Fei discussed the deal with Prince Raman at a previous meeting, so the core leadership basically knows about his existence."

Then, on the day you had your accident, Chen Fei gave us a heads-up at the meeting, saying that the deal might be canceled. Why that is, I think, isn't hard to guess.

So that's how it is. Chen Chao breathed a sigh of relief after realizing that it wasn't a leak of intelligence from the Special Security Bureau.

"I value him highly." Chen Chao didn't intend to lie; lying to this woman would be a foolish choice, and she would definitely see through him.

"How much do you value him?" Kagarina had no intention of letting Chen Chao off so easily.

"The bone marrow donation surgery was carried out as scheduled," Chen Chao replied.

“Very good, you’re smart, you know what I care about.” Kagarina showed a satisfied expression and shifted to a more relaxed sitting posture. “You’ll be more pleasant to work with than the Song family, and the Song family’s control over academia also has an impact on the technological advancements here. So I will approve all your actions in this incident.”

"Thanks."

"No need to thank me, it's just a choice to maximize profits. Who do you think will absorb the profits that Song Zifeng is giving up?"

“The next emerging forces in the civilian sector should be the Popov family and Vonsenjevich,” Chen Chao replied quickly, clearly having already considered this.

"Yes, so Popov and I have no reason to stop you, and this time it was the other party who broke the rules first."

Although the He family and the Song family have no overlapping interests or conflicts, they would not want to keep such an unstable factor around. Moreover, genetic research in agronomy also needs a clean environment.

You know your limits and won't push the Song family too far, so we're happy to use you to clean up the mess.

"It is my honor to receive your praise."

“Rabino and the Chen family have always prioritized the fate of the nation, unlike us ordinary people. You have the least vested interests, so you are the most likely to make a move. But Chen Chao, as someone who has been through this, I advise you not to push yourself too hard.”

"I understand, thank you."

Chen Chao could tell that Kagarina was teaching him, but at this moment he still couldn't understand Kagarina's true meaning.

As Cagalina had predicted, the Hergé family and Rabino also indicated that as long as Chen Chao knew his limits, they would pretend not to see it.

So Chen Chao went to see Song Qin one last time.

Song Qin looked at the young man, who had been busy for more than half a month but still maintained an upright posture, in the study. A bittersweet feeling welled up in her heart.

Other people's children, sigh.

When Song Qin spoke to Chen Chao, her tone was not friendly: "I guess if Zi Feng were to try to leave the country now, a lot of people he doesn't even know would suddenly appear around him to ensure his safety."

"Please forgive me, Elder Song, but I must have someone monitor him from my position." Chen Chao looked at Song Qin, his voice steady and neither humble nor arrogant.

"You came to visit in person because you don't want things to get too ugly. What level do you want to go to?" Song Qin had no intention of playing games with the younger generation.

"Old Song, the assassination attempt on me can be put aside for now, but drugs are the foundation of the nation."

Do you have evidence?

"Old Song, do you want me to have this?"

Chen Chao's rhetorical question was brilliant.

For some, a trial requires evidence; for others, it does not.

In some situations, presenting evidence means there is absolutely no way to turn the tide.

Song Zifeng has already been sentenced to death in high society; whether there's evidence or not is irrelevant. Once all the family heads are willing to believe Chen Chao's story, Song Zifeng's chances of recovery are over.

But things are not yet at a dead end; behind-the-scenes transactions can still continue.

However, if the evidence is presented at this point, both sides will lose room for negotiation.

So Chen Chao asked, "Do you want me to have evidence? Do you want everything to be out in the open?"

Song Qin naturally did not want this.

“You’re very clever.” Song Qin smiled sadly. “Chen Fei must have accumulated a lot of good fortune to have a son like you. You’re only 28 years old, and when something like this happens, instead of thinking about how to kill Zifeng, you’re using this incident to balance the relationships between the various families and establish your own prestige.”

"Zifeng is indeed far inferior to you. He only got a slight advantage and already retaliated hastily; he's really reaping what he sowed."

"Thank you for the compliment, Mr. Song. I simply couldn't make a decision based on personal feelings because of my position."

"Is that so?" Song Qin glanced at Chen Chao. "But you are still a human being, and a human being cannot be turned into a machine."

Chen Chao lowered his eyes and did not reply.

"Zifeng will be removed from all Song family businesses, given a new identity to leave the country, and will be banned from returning for life. Are you satisfied with this? As for his subordinates, those who should be arrested or sentenced, you should do so according to the rules. I will not interfere."

"What if he still doesn't give up after he goes abroad?"

“After he changed his identity and went abroad, he was no longer a member of the Song family.”

"I understand, thank you for your understanding, Mr. Song."

Song Qin waved her hand, and Chen Chao left the study.

On the way back to the villa, Chen Chao let out a deep breath, an overwhelming sense of exhaustion washing over him. This farce that had lasted for almost a month was finally coming to an end.