Su Jianjun wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"I just came back from the land bureau. They do have a transfer agreement signed by Mingqiang, with his signature and fingerprints on it."
A cold glint flashed in Su Jianguo's eyes.
"Zhang Erhe!"
He immediately dialed Old Cat's number.
"Find out exactly how Mingqiang's transfer agreement came about, and also, who took over the barren mountain."
In less than two hours, the old cat brought news.
The barren mountain was taken over by a small company called "Green Field Development," whose boss was Ma San, a businessman with no background.
But more importantly, Lao Mao discovered through his connections in the prison that Su Mingqiang had indeed signed the transfer agreement under duress from prison guards.
"Brother, what do we do now?"
Su Jianjun asked anxiously.
"The military-funded project is due to deliver vegetables next week, but if work stops..."
Su Jianguo took a deep breath.
"Don't panic. Ma San is just a puppet; Zhang Erhe is definitely behind him. We need to approach this from two angles: first, through legal means, to sue for the illegality of this agreement; second, to talk to Ma San and see if he's willing to cooperate."
That afternoon, Su Jianguo, accompanied by his lawyer, went to the Land Bureau and formally filed an appeal, requesting a stay of execution of the work stoppage order.
Meanwhile, Su Jianjun, along with more than ten employees, found Ma San's residence.
Ma San, a middle-aged man in his forties, was visibly nervous upon seeing Su Jianjun's impressive entourage.
"Mr. Su, this really isn't my fault."
Ma San rubbed his hands together as he spoke.
"I was also acting under orders..."
"Zhang Erhe?"
Su Jianjun asked directly.
Ma San's expression changed, and he waved his hands repeatedly.
"I wouldn't dare say. Mr. Su, please don't make things difficult for me, I'm just a nobody..."
Su Jianjun stared at Ma San.
"Do you know how important these barren mountains you have are to us? This military cooperation project is crucial to the border troops' vegetable supply!"
Ma San lowered his head.
"I...I had no choice..."
Just then, the phone rang at Masanjia.
He answered the call, and his face instantly turned deathly pale.
"Yes, yes... I understand..."
Ma San hung up the phone and said to Su Jianjun in a trembling voice.
"Mr. Su, you should leave now. Just now... just now someone warned me that if I dared to cooperate with you, they would make sure I couldn't stay in Beijing any longer..."
Su Jianjun's heart sank, knowing that Zhang Erhe was putting pressure on him.
Back at the company, Su Jianguo listened to the report and his face was ashen.
"It seems Zhang Erhe is determined to bring us down."
He stood up and walked to the window.
"Since legal recourse takes time, let's first try to save the military project."
He turned to Su Jianjun and said.
"Contact Minister Wang, explain the situation, and see if we can get special permission to continue production on land outside the disputed area. At the same time, expedite the construction of other bases."
However, even worse news followed.
The land bureau not only refused to accept the appeal, but also dispatched an enforcement team to force a work stoppage.
Worse still, news came from the military that the cooperative project was at risk of being canceled due to the possibility of delayed delivery.
Su Jianguo stood in front of the greenhouse at the vegetable base, his fists clenched as he looked at the seal affixed by the enforcement team.
Inside these greenhouses, the lush green vegetables are nearly ripe and were supposed to be transported to the border troops in a week.
"Boss Su."
The head of the enforcement team said somewhat awkwardly.
"We were just following orders..."
Su Jianguo nodded.
"I understand."
He turned to the workers and said.
"Everyone, go home and rest. You'll still get paid. Trust me, we'll be back to work soon."
The workers looked at each other in bewilderment and left silently.
Su Jianguo rubbed his temples, picked up the phone, and dialed Lao Mao's number.
"Old Cat, how's the investigation going?"
"We're starting to see some progress."
The old cat's voice on the other end of the phone sounded tired.
"Green Field Development is indeed just a shell; the real controller is actually Zhang Erhe's brother-in-law."
"Where's the evidence?"
"We're still collecting data. We won't have concrete documents until tomorrow at the earliest."
Su Jianguo gritted his teeth.
"Hurry up, I can't hold on for more than a few days."
After hanging up the phone, Su Jianguo opened his contacts, hesitated for a moment, and then dialed Minister Wang's private number.
The phone rang for a long time before it was answered.
"Old Wang, it's me."
Su Jianguo tried his best to make his voice sound calm.
"About that project..."
"Old Su."
Minister Wang's voice betrayed his difficulty.
"It's not that I don't want to help you, but the higher-ups have issued an ultimatum. If you can't prove the property rights are valid within three days, we'll have to treat it as a breach of contract."
"Can't you give me a few more days? I've already started legal proceedings."
"You know the military's rules..."
Minister Wang sighed.
"Okay, I'll try to get you two more days, five days at most. Any longer really won't work."
Five days.
Su Jianguo hung up the phone, pondering to himself.
If Lao Mao can get the evidence by tomorrow, it might still be in time.
Just then, the phone rang again. It was an unknown number.
"Hello?"
"Is that Su Jianguo?"
An unfamiliar male voice.
"I'm Warden Zhao from Chengnan Prison. Your son, Su Mingqiang, is in trouble."
Su Jianguo's heart sank.
"What happened?"
"He has been on a hunger strike for the past few days, and this morning he clashed with prison guards. He is currently in the infirmary."
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