Chapter 27: The Connections in Our Family Are Useless

The landlady was thoroughly frightened. She turned and hurried over to her husband, whispering, "Honey, we're in trouble. That man says he is Yang Chen, the chairman of the Sihai Group."

Wang Changgui chuckled and replied, "And I could say I'm Wang Sihai. Would you believe that? The new chairman of the Sihai Group is nothing more than a scapegoat. He’s currently under such intense scrutiny from creditors terrified that he might die or run off that there's no way he could be out and about like this."

The landlady nodded and smiled. "So he's just bluffing to scare us into letting them go?"

"Obviously!" Wang Changgui said. He then walked over to Yang Chen's car and shouted, "Hey! Mr. Chairman, why don't you make a phone call and have your CEO Zhang come over here to show me? Ha! You’ve certainly gone to great lengths—making up such nonsense just to escape."

At that moment, a motorcade of over a dozen cars appeared in the distance, heading toward the village.

Yang Chen gestured toward the approaching vehicles and said, "They’re here. Go talk to them."

Wang Changgui turned to look at the long line of cars, his face instantly draining of color.

In the blink of an eye, the motorcade reached the small square by the village committee office. Zhang Jinsong stepped out, leading dozens of people as they rushed toward the Alphard. Seeing the van blocked by the log, Zhang Jinsong pointed at Wang Changgui and cursed, "Wang Changgui, what the hell are you doing? Why are you blocking Chairman Yang's car?"

Wang Changgui felt his nerves tighten and his throat go dry. His anxiety was manifesting in physical tremors.

"CEO Zhang, what... what did you say? Is he really Yang Chen, the new chairman of the Sihai Group?" Wang Changgui asked, stunned.

"No kidding! Men, get that log out of the way, now!" Zhang Jinsong ordered.

Wang Changgui immediately stopped them. "Don't touch it!"

Zhang Jinsong looked at him with astonishment. "Wang Changgui, do you have any idea how many officials and executives are counting on him right now? Do you think you're more capable than all of them combined?"

Wang Changgui rolled up his sleeves, spat on his palms, and rubbed them together. "I mean, don't move it. Let me do it!"

Zhang Jinsong: "..."

Wang Changgui ran over with a forced smile. "Chairman Yang, I'm here, I'm here. I’m so sorry, it was all a misunderstanding. I don't know which idiot forgot to take their medicine this morning and dragged a log out here."

Wang Changgui struggled to lift the heavy log and drag it aside. When others stepped forward to help, he immediately barked, "Stay back, I'll do it myself!"

Whatever else might be said, Wang Changgui was certainly a man who knew how to bend when necessary. However, he and his brother had taken money they shouldn't have, and there would be consequences to face.

Yang Chen waved for Zhang Jinsong to come over and whispered a few instructions to him. Zhang Jinsong nodded. "Understood."

By now, the villagers had gathered to watch the spectacle. Seeing their village head sweating and straining to move the log, they began to gossip.

"What's going on? Why is no one helping him?"
"He won't let them. There must be some very important leader in that car. He’s probably trying to admit his fault this way."
"That’s just how he is—a bully to the weak and a coward to the strong. He deserves to be put in his place by the wealthy and powerful. Who is in that car, anyway?"
"I don't know, but looking at this setup, it's definitely someone big—maybe a major corporate CEO or even mayor level."

...

Wang Changgui finally managed to toss the log aside. Too exhausted to care, he rushed over to Yang Chen. "Chairman Yang, I was wrong, I was wrong. Please, take your secretary and leave now. No compensation needed, you can have the full deposit back. Please, just don't cancel the village project. If you do, I’m a dead man."

Yang Chen smiled. "It's too late for that. You know exactly what you've done. There is money that shouldn't be taken, and if you take it, you must be prepared to face the consequences."

Wang Changgui’s body trembled uncontrollably. He knew he was in deep trouble.

Zhang Jinsong climbed onto the roof of one of the cars and shouted, "People of Yuangang Village, I am Zhang Jinsong, Vice President of the Sihai Group. I’ve been here a few times, so I'm sure some of you recognize me. The man in this Alphard is our new chairman, Mr. Yang Chen. He came to the village to inspect the site and help his new secretary move house. Instead, he was harassed by Wang Changgui and his family, who demanded compensation for normal wear and tear on the walls and furniture. When Chairman Yang tried to reason with them, they not only refused to listen but dragged this log out to block his car. You all know the current situation at Sihai Group; the shareholders originally wanted to scrap the Yuangang Village project, but Chairman Yang fought against the tide to save it. However, the Chairman is now very disappointed, and he has decided to abandon the project."

As soon as these words were spoken, the villagers went into an uproar.

"Oh no, sir, you can't do that! I’ve already bought a house elsewhere, waiting for the demolition money to pay off my mortgage. If you don't demolish, how am I supposed to pay back over ten thousand a month?"
"The village head's family offended you; you can punish them, but don't take it out on us!"
"I finally found a girlfriend, a college graduate! We’ve already picked out a house and a car. You can't cancel the project. If I don't get the demolition money, she’s definitely going to dump me!"
"Wang Changgui, apologize to the Chairman right now! You can't let the whole village lose this one chance to get rich!"
"Wang Changgui, I've put up with you for half my life! If you ruin this project, I swear I’ll fight you to the death! Don't let me find an opening, or I'll take you down in one go!"

...

Wang Changgui's son, Wang Yanzhao, was used to acting like a king in the village. Seeing the neighbors he usually bullied daring to speak to his father this way, he flew into a rage. "Shut your mouths, all of you! Don't you see my dad is trying to fix this?"

The tension had reached a breaking point, and the villagers were no longer holding back.

"Wang Yanzhao, stop acting so arrogant! If the project is canceled, you’re the first one I’m coming for!"
"Me too! We’ve tolerated you enough. If the project is gone, I’ll risk my life to see you suffer! Let's see how many lives you've got!"
"Count me in, I've had enough too!"

...

It was clear there was deep-seated resentment toward the father and son, and the cancellation of the project was the spark that ignited it. Wang Yanzhao was terrified; his arrogance vanished instantly.

He leaned toward his father and whispered, "Dad, you have to do something. If this is really canceled, we won't be able to live in this village anymore. They’ll actually kill me."

Wang Changgui gritted his teeth. "Yang Chen wants to make us the scapegoats. Damn him, he's not just holding us responsible for the project's cancellation—he's making sure we can't survive here. Call your sister and tell her and her husband to get here immediately. I’ll call my uncle. I refuse to believe we can't handle one scapegoat."

Wang Yanzhao nodded and quickly dialed his older sister, Wang Yanxi.

"Hello, sis? Something happened at home, you need to come back and see!"

Wang Yanxi asked urgently, "What happened?"

"Mom tried to charge a tenant for 'wear and tear,' and it turns out the tenant is the secretary of the new Sihai Group chairman, Yang Chen. Yang Chen got annoyed and is using this as an excuse to cancel the village project. Now the whole village is threatening us. If the project is gone, they say they'll kill us. You and your husband need to come back and help us out—have him use his legal knowledge!"

Wang Yanxi was shocked. "How could you provoke him? Every official, every executive, every bank president is counting on him to save them right now. Even if we come back, it's useless. Do you think we can go up against all those big shots?"

"So what are you saying? You're just going to ignore us now that we're in trouble?" Wang Yanzhao asked angrily.

Wang Yanxi was silent for a few seconds. "Fine, I'll call your brother-in-law and ask for his advice."

She called her husband, Zhou Yang, and explained the situation. Zhou Yang immediately scolded her, "I told your mother long ago that behavior like that is illegal, but she wouldn't listen. A few days ago, Yang Chen dealt with Li Village, and I warned her again, but she still did this. She..."

Wang Yanxi interrupted, "Enough, enough. I'm not calling to be lectured about my mother. I need you to find a solution."

"If you want my career to end today, sure, I'll go to your house and fight Yang Chen," Zhou Yang replied bluntly.

Wang Yanxi fell silent again. After a long while, she said, "Sigh... never mind. Just pretend you're on a business trip and turn your phone off."

Zhou Yang felt a sense of relief—his wife wasn't as foolish as her family. "That's it, that's my girl. We clearly can't win; showing our faces now would be suicide. The only way is for your parents to sincerely apologize. Don't pull any strings. It won't work, and it might just drag others into trouble, burning bridges we might need later. You've been in the securities industry for long enough to understand what I mean."

Wang Yanxi replied helplessly, "Fine, I'll go back just as a daughter."

Meanwhile, Wang Changgui hung up the phone with a heavy heart. His wife immediately asked, "Well? Is my brother going to help us?"

Wang Changgui shook his head. "He said there isn't a soul in Jiangcheng who dares to cross Yang Chen right now. Every official and creditor is counting on him to fix the Sihai Group's mess. Even if he intervened, it would be useless; he wouldn't dare do anything to Yang Chen."

The landlady said in despair, "Then... there's no point in asking the other relatives... what good is having so many capable relatives if they're useless when we actually need them?"

"You're the one who provoked Yang Chen! He has so many people backing him—what kind of influence would you need to suppress someone like that?" Wang Changgui scolded.

"What do we do now? If the project is gone, the villagers will kill us!" the landlady cried.

This wasn't a joke; if the project went through, every family would become millionaires. With that hope of sudden wealth shattered by their actions, would the villagers ever let them go?

"We should hide somewhere," Wang Yanzhao suggested.

"Hide where?" his mother asked.

Just then, the wail of sirens echoed through the air. Everyone turned to look, and a line of over a dozen police cars came driving toward them.

Wang Changgui finally had somewhere to hide.