“Congratulations, Young Master Nie! This time, you’ve really beaten the Jiang family and Yaowang Group to a pulp!” Xia Miao stood up, clapping with a face full of smiles.
“It was an absolute stroke of genius, managing to bring Fang Zhanbo in. That country bumpkin Jiang Tian never stood a chance!”
“This short-selling campaign against Yaowang Group will go down in history! It’s a textbook case!”
Everyone rose to their feet, applauding enthusiastically, their flattery pouring out in a colorful torrent of bootlicking.
“I have to admit, Jiang Tian is a talent! Since Jinling’s reform and opening up, we haven’t seen anyone play the game quite so boldly!”
Nie Mingyuan waved his hand dismissively and sat down, his face dark as he sneered. “Too bad he’s completely clueless when it comes to finance and business!”
“I heard he’s a very capable fighter, though? Young Master Nie, aren’t you worried at all?” Mu Yunqing asked with a playful chuckle from her seat.
“I’m waiting for him to come and kill me!”
Like Zhuge Liang assured of victory, Nie Mingyuan sneered. “Business has its own rules. If he resorts to violence over a commercial dispute, it’ll plunge the Jiang family into utter ruin. That would be nothing but thuggish behavior. Who would dare cooperate with the Jiangs after that? And do you think the authorities would just sit back and ignore it?”
“Exactly. Young Master Nie’s move is an open conspiracy. He lets you know he’s attacking you, yet you’re utterly powerless to fight back.”
A middle-aged man with a dark, scheming demeanor nailed it with a single comment.
Nie Mingyuan smiled smugly, his gaze sweeping over everyone. “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m the one in the spotlight, but you’re all in the shadows. If you join my Nie family now in shorting the Jiangs, the money will flow like water, and the Jiang family won’t be able to do a thing about it…”
He added with ruthless, devastating intent, “My Nie family will take the hits. As for the profits, let’s all share them together!”
“Yes! Let’s all short Yaowang Group and make a fortune!”
“Thank you, Young Master Nie, for giving us this chance to get rich!”
“Only a blind fool would miss such an obvious opportunity!”
“A toast to Young Master Nie! To shorting Yaowang Group!”
The assembled tycoons and rich heirs raised their glasses together in response, gleefully celebrating, a scene of mutual congratulation all around.
“Mengyao, do you want to join in on shorting Yaowang Group? My company has a few million in idle funds on the books!” Tang Bao’er, unable to contain herself, looked excited and eager.
“Huh? What did you say?” Chu Mengyao looked at her in confusion, completely distracted.
“Mengyao, what are you thinking about? I said let’s join Young Master Nie in shorting Yaowang Group…” Tang Bao’er said, feeling frustrated.
“I have to think about it…”
Chu Mengyao’s eyes flickered, and she sighed deeply in her heart. “Jiang Tian being able to keep Xu Ruocheng in check makes him a talent of sorts. But business is business—a completely different logic. How could he possibly compare to Nie Mingyuan, who came back from studying at an Ivy League business school?”
“Sigh, Jiang Tian’s fighting skills are worthless now. Nie Mingyuan is far more formidable. Tsk tsk, this whole operation is just incredible…”
Tang Bao’er looked at Nie Mingyuan, who was laughing and chatting confidently with the other tycoons, with an expression of pure adoration and infatuation, just like a fangirl meeting her idol.
In her mind, compared to him, Jiang Tian seemed like nothing more than a clueless country bumpkin fool.
“Seeing how things are shaping up, the Jiang family is truly finished this time…”
“Jiang Tian may have some ability, but he doesn’t understand that the most brilliant edge is always the first to blunt! In a financial war, how could he ever beat Nie Mingyuan?”
Mu Yunqing lowered her head and sipped her tea, hiding the shock Nie Mingyuan had caused her, while sighing with regret in her heart.
…
From that day on, Zhang Wanqing’s and Ye Ziwei’s phones never stopped ringing. Countless people were calling to check on the situation.
There were suppliers demanding overdue payments, pharmacies and medicinal material trading companies wanting to return goods, and business partners looking to terminate their contracts…
Even worse, the day the program aired, Yaowang Group’s stock price hit the daily limit down again the very next day.
That same day, a retail investor jumped to his death from the rooftop of a securities brokerage office.
He was already down 30%, and because he had been trading on leverage, his position had been liquidated, leaving him owing over three million yuan to the brokerage.
Once this news broke, the capital markets were once again in an uproar.
Many people watched helplessly as the stock plunged, unable to sell, burning with anxiety and grinding their teeth in fury.
“How could I have been so blind as to buy Yaowang Group’s stock!”
“This is a disaster! Jiang Changgeng, give me back my hard-earned money!” Countless people beat their chests and stamped their feet in anguish.
By this point, the Jiang family was utterly panic-stricken, terrified and trembling, a dark cloud of gloom hanging over them.
To ensure the perfect execution of this financial attack, Jiang Tian had restricted knowledge of the situation to Ye Ziwei, Jiang Lin, Jiang Banxia, and the trading team. Even his own mother was kept in the dark.
“This is infuriating! Are these people rabid dogs? How dare they bite our Yaowang Group like this!”
Watching the TV program, Jiang Yangming was so angry he slammed the table, regretting only that he had already left his post and couldn’t jump into the fray and tear them apart.
“Damn, that old geezer who just won’t die has absolutely no shame!”
That evening, Jiang Chao was having drinks at a bar with a few companions. Seeing the media reports, he was so enraged he smashed three beer bottles.
As it happened, a few people nearby were discussing the conflict between Tianwei and Yaowang. Their words carried heavy insults toward Yaowang Group. In a fit of rage, Jiang Chao started fighting with them, which triggered a brawl. The police ended up arresting both sides.
Zhang Wanqing and Jiang Zhixing were also filled with an indescribable mix of frustration and anger.
Yet, they also felt a sense of powerlessness, their voices too small to matter.
They had pursued traditional Chinese medicine with pure passion and sincerity, naively believing that as long as they ran the business well, they could live a conflict-free life with nothing to fear.
But now, hitting the unyielding brick wall of an overwhelming reality, they finally understood the brutal law of the jungle in this world.
“We should have advised the old man to sue Chen Junbin back then. Striking first would have given us the advantage. Now, we’re in a very passive position!”
Zhang Wanqing sighed.
Even though Yaowang Group held the patents and could condemn them publicly or file a lawsuit directly, the tricky part was that Chen Junbin had been the old man’s advisor back in his university days and had many academic interactions with him afterward.
Chen Junbin could easily produce a handwritten manuscript from decades ago, claiming Jiang Changgeng had seen his notes before registering the patent, and that would settle the matter definitively.
Fang Zhanbo, an expert at exploiting such situations, had seen the opportunity for hype. It could be said that while suppressing Yaowang Group and vying for its shares, he was simultaneously boosting Tianwei Pharmaceutical and Bencao Group, launching the latter two into the stratosphere.
In the prison, Jiang Qingfeng, his head shaved to a stubble, was watching the news on TV while eating his cornbread. He suddenly froze.
Immediately, his face changed drastically, his hand trembling so much the cornbread fell into his food tray, splashing soup all over his face.
He bolted upright and hurried to a corrections officer, pleading anxiously, “Please, sir, I need to make a phone call. I need to see Jiang Tian!”
“Get back!”
“Let me out, I have to see Jiang Tian! Our family business is going to be ruined!” Tears streamed down Jiang Qingfeng’s face, but he was forcibly hauled back by several guards.
Another two days passed, and the Jiang family members could no longer hold back.
Yaowang Group, Chairman’s Office.
Jiang Shouren and his wife, Jiang Yangming and his wife, the elder aunt’s family, the younger aunt’s family—they all had Zhang Wanqing completely surrounded.
“Where is Jiang Tian?” Jiang Shouren asked nervously.
“He left early this morning. He’s not at home, not at the company, and not at the laboratory!” Zhang Wanqing said.
“Where did he go? We have to hold a press conference to set the record straight, we have to file a lawsuit! The company’s stock price has fallen so much, we could lose our controlling stake!”
Jiang Shouren’s face was grave, as if facing a formidable enemy.
“Yes, those patented formulas were originally ours. How can we just let Chen Junbin spout nonsense?” The elder aunt looked furious.
“Doesn’t Jiang Tian know a lot of important people? Why hasn’t a single one of them shown up at a time like this?”
The younger aunt huffed angrily. “Are any of these so-called friends actually reliable? If this keeps up, the Jiang family is truly finished!”
Everyone was arguing, offering advice and suggestions, the clamor unbearable. Jiang Wan’er even tugged at Zhang Wanqing’s sleeve, crying, “Aunt, is Grandpa a bad man? Why are all my classmates saying he’s a thief…” which only added to the chaos and frustration.
“Jiang Tian said we shouldn’t make any response at all!” Zhang Wanqing frowned.
“What on earth is he thinking?”
The younger aunt was frantic. “He tells us not to respond, and he’s nowhere to be found. We can’t even find anyone to discuss things with!”
The Jiang family members were all deeply worried, angry, and trying every possible way to save Yaowang Group.
Perhaps they were somewhat selfish, carrying the typical coldness and vanity of a large clan.
But unlike in her past life, Jiang Tian’s return had given them hope for the Jiang family’s rise. Now, they were united in the overarching goal of protecting Yaowang Group.
“Let me ask him!”
Zhang Wanqing could bear it no longer and called Jiang Tian. “Jiang Tian, you told me not to care about the company’s stock price, to ignore the media comments, and not to refute the rumors. But the stock price has already fallen 40%! The paper wealth shrinking is a minor issue. What I’m worried about is that there are shadowy figures deliberately shorting us, trying to seize control of Yaowang Group’s equity!”
“Mom, don’t worry. Wait a little longer, and we’ll launch a counterattack. All those behind-the-scenes manipulators will be destroyed!”
Jiang Tian’s voice was calm on the phone, but a dark glint flashed in his eyes.
In her past life, Chen Junbin had indeed colluded with the three great families of Jinling, adding insult to injury. But it was never this vicious, and the attacks hadn’t been this ferocious.
Now, in this life, with Fang Zhanbo’s added strategic mind, they could casually destroy Yaowang Group, even at the cost of ruining the old man’s reputation and integrity, all to achieve their goals.
The malicious, cold-blooded ruthlessness was crystal clear.
Jiang Tian was truly enraged.
These people—
Deserved to die!
That day, Yaowang Group’s stock price hit the daily limit down again in the final trading session, having cumulatively lost nearly 50% of its value.
After the market closed, Jiang Tian called a meeting with Chen Zhenming, Ye Ziwei, Jiang Lin, and Jiang Banxia.
“I want to know, how many shares have we accumulated now?” Jiang Tian asked calmly.
“We now control 51% of the tradable shares, and at super low prices too. We used only 10 billion in capital to control shares originally worth a 20 billion market cap. We should be thanking Fang Zhanbo and his crew!”
Chen Zhenming twisted his stiff neck, took a sip of black coffee, and smiled.
The logistics in the trading room were excellent. The man’s white shirt was crisp and clean, and he looked neat and sharp, but his eyes were bloodshot, and his mouth was full of blisters.
Chen Zhenming had barely slept all week.
Quietly accumulating shares without causing a significant price rebound or abnormal volatility was a technical job; he had changed his accumulation methods at least a dozen times.
“What do you think the current situation is with our counterparties?” Jiang Tian asked.
“They’ve exhausted their borrowed shares for shorting. They’re completely out of ammunition.”
Chen Zhenming said calmly, “Half an hour before the market close, we placed a 20-million buy order, which caused the stock price to bounce back by two percentage points. It took them the entire half hour to push it back down to the limit.”
“They wouldn’t have held back any shares. They’re very confident and don’t believe Yaowang has any chance of turning the tables.”
“Without any positive news, the stock price will continue to drop out of sheer momentum. They planned to finish accumulating shares by next week, complete the takeover, make a public announcement, hold a board meeting, and kick the Jiang family out.”
“So, is it time to launch the counteroffensive?”
Jiang Tian swept his calm, cold gaze across the room and asked in a chilling voice.
