Chapter Thirty-Five: The Final Struggle

When Zhang Yue arrived at Qian Zhen’s house, three days had already passed. He was filled with doubt, unsure why Qian Zhen had summoned him back in such haste.

Upon seeing Zhang Yue, Qian Zhen motioned for him to sit, brought over two glasses of wine, and seated himself on the sofa.

Qian Zhen asked, “How did the negotiations with Mr. Chai go?”

“No problem at all,” Zhang Yue replied. “Everything’s settled. From now on, we hand people directly over to him and get a fifteen percent commission. With this arrangement, we’ll make quite a lot. In times like these, women are still the most valuable commodity.”

Qian Zhen nodded. “You’ve worked hard. Well done.”

Zhang Yue inquired, “Which company should handle the transfer this time? Should we let Cao Jixiang take it? That fraud company we gave him last time was completely taken down and all contact was lost—he suffered significant losses because of it.”

Qian Zhen waved his hand. “No need. All his debt collection agencies have vanished. Even if we gave him the job, he couldn’t handle it. This time, we’ll do it ourselves.”

“Do it ourselves?” Zhang Yue looked at Qian Zhen in confusion. “Didn’t you say before that we should avoid risk by letting our subordinate companies handle these shadier matters?”

With a bitter smile, Qian Zhen replied, “Thirty-six debt collection companies disappeared overnight. Now, we have no choice but to handle it ourselves.”

“Are we being watched?” Zhang Yue asked. “Should we pause operations for a while?”

Qian Zhen shook his head. “No need. Get in touch with Wang Zhen and use his company’s name for the collections. If anything goes wrong, we’ll pin it on him. Wang Zhen is discreet, and the chance of trouble is low—bringing him in is safer. As for Cao Jixiang’s Shiheng Finance, it was just raided, and using him now is too risky.”

Zhang Yue nodded. “Understood. I’ll contact Wang Zhen right away.”

Qian Zhen added, “Wait. Remember, Wang Zhen only handles the loan business. The collections and handing over people to Mr. Chai must be overseen by our own men. Wang Zhen mustn’t know about Mr. Chai. The situation is delicate—we must be cautious.”

Zhang Yue stood and assured him, “Don’t worry. I’ll handle this personally—there won’t be the slightest leak.”

Qian Zhen went on, “Once this is done, contact the heads of the nine loan companies working with Cao Jixiang. Until they find suitable collection agencies, we’ll have to do the collection work ourselves for a while.”

Zhang Yue replied, “Understood. I’ll make the arrangements now.”

Qian Zhen nodded, watching Zhang Yue leave. Then, he called the heads of the nine loan companies one by one, instructing them to strengthen short-term lending, weaken long-term lending, and recover funds as quickly as possible.

He summoned his younger brother, Qian Gui, instructing him to scale back investments and prepare as much cash as possible. After all this, Qian Zhen let out a long sigh and collapsed onto the sofa. “Success or failure depends on this,” he muttered to himself.

Meanwhile, Cao Jixiang was troubled by the disappearance of the debt collection companies. Shiheng Finance had been wiped out and its head vanished. The other collection agencies were also out of contact, leaving his lending business at an impasse—if he continued to lend without collectors, the risk was too high; if he tried to collect himself, he had no experience, and if something happened, no one would take the fall for him.

But halting operations would cut off his income, making it impossible to go on, and if he stopped the business, he’d have nothing to report to the Qian Group. Miserable, he had no clear path forward.

Seeking help from Qian Zhen yielded no clear answer, and to make matters worse, his most reliable partner—the fraud syndicate—had recently cut off contact, likely already apprehended. Misfortunes never come alone. After much deliberation, Cao Jixiang could only grit his teeth and continue lending, while urgently searching for someone to take over the collection business. If all else failed, he would do it himself—even if it meant going to jail. He knew that as long as he satisfied Qian Zhen, even a few years in prison would not prevent him from making a comeback.

Just as Cao Jixiang was at a loss, Zhang Yue contacted him, informing him that a new collection company had been found. Delighted, Cao Jixiang hurried to make arrangements, finally feeling as if things were back on track.

Qian Zhen congratulated himself on his shrewd decisions—thankfully, the nine loan companies had not been exposed. As long as they remained operational, his loan shark business could continue, and soon his financial troubles would be resolved.

The pressure from the banks was not as intense as before. After all, the Qian Group was a major client, and the banks were reluctant to offend him easily. Although the authorities had ordered tighter lending, they targeted smaller players first, allowing major clients like the Qian Group more leeway.

Qian Gui had also prepared a considerable amount of cash. Qian Zhen felt that, for now, he was invincible. As long as he transferred the funds according to “Teacher Song’s” guidance, he and his brother would have nothing to fear.

Having completed these arrangements, the Qian brothers could not help but marvel at the unpredictability of life. They had nearly lost everything, but now, having weathered the crisis, they could resume their illustrious lives.

Qian Zhen mused at fate’s mysterious workings. Once abandoned by fortune, he had endured a miserable childhood and a life full of hardship. Yet now, with their luck reversed, he and his brother had become favored by destiny. At this critical juncture, the An Nan business was secured, the debt collection problem eased, and their capital issues resolved—it was true, the road always appears at the foot of the mountain.

He also felt immense gratitude toward Teacher Song, whose guidance had pointed out the right path at a crucial moment. To Qian Zhen, Teacher Song was a true benefactor.

The only lingering regret from this ordeal was his inability to reach Xu Dong—who knew when he would return? Qian Zhen realized he needed alternative plans and could not stake everything on Xu Dong. If a crisis arose in Xu Dong’s absence, he would again be caught off guard.

He had, however, completely forgotten Teacher Song’s warning to watch out for Haifeng. Instead, his mind was occupied with selecting a backup—he settled on Li Xian, a favorite of Qiao Yuqian. Though he had only met Li Xian once, Qian Zhen did not believe there was anyone in the world beyond the reach of money. “Men die for wealth, birds for food. Li Xian, you will submit to me,” he murmured.

What Qian Zhen did not know was that the White Tiger Unit had already returned to Tanghua. They had obtained conclusive evidence linking several loan companies to the debt collection agencies and their crimes, yet Haifeng’s team still could not prove any connection between the Qian Group and these criminal activities.

Liu Zhiyang was troubled. Everyone knew the Qian Group was the true mastermind, but without concrete evidence, they could only watch as it evaded justice.

Liu Zhiyang was well aware that finding proof linking the Qian Group to the loan and collection companies was like searching for a needle in a haystack. All the documents were legally sound, all business operations above board. The only potential breakthrough was the Qian Group’s P2P investment business.

As a financial company, the Qian Group was not licensed to take deposits. Arresting the Qian brothers for illegal business operations was possible, but doing so would make it even harder to uncover their other crimes. Moreover, the law had not yet caught up with P2P licensing issues—there was a legislative lag.

Where the law is silent, there is no crime. The Qian Group had not suffered a run on loans and was operating normally. Simply shutting them down for illegal business would have a huge social impact—other legitimate P2P companies would panic, possibly triggering an even greater crisis. The burden of such consequences would fall on ordinary people and society at large.

In other words, shutting down the Qian Group for illegal operations would not only fail to make the Qian brothers pay for their crimes, but might actually help them escape justice. The public’s money would become irretrievable.

Liu Zhiyang felt that even if they could not recover all the victims’ funds, they should at least minimize the losses. For now, they could not move against the Qian Group.

Haifeng saw Liu Zhiyang’s concern and tried to reassure him. “Don’t worry—the net of heaven is vast and wide, and evil doers will slip up eventually. We’ve already uncovered thirty-six collection agencies; the Qian brothers won’t remain unmoved.”

Liu Zhiyang nodded. “I believe we’ll bring them to justice. I’m not worried about evidence—my concern is minimizing losses. The Qian Group is so large now that if we take them down, the people will suffer the consequences. Their losses may never be recovered.”

Haifeng was saddened by this—no matter what, some losses were inevitable. All he could do was bring the criminal organization to justice as soon as possible, to prevent further harm.

Resolutely, Haifeng told Liu Zhiyang, “We can’t be perfect, nor can we stop all crime—human nature is unpredictable, and not everyone is good. But what we can do is make the wicked pay for their actions, and let the good believe in the justice of the law, believe that wrongdoers will be punished. As long as we achieve this, I believe our country will improve, and crime will diminish.”

Liu Zhiyang nodded in agreement. Suddenly, he looked up and asked, “What about this ‘Teacher Song’? Can Weiwei and Zhijie pinpoint his location? Is he the same ‘Teacher Song’ that Sun Zhentao mentioned?”

Haifeng shook his head. “We don’t know. He’s using ‘Juliu,’ and Weiwei can’t do anything about it. She says there are only two ways to locate him: hack the ‘Juliu’ server and decrypt the data, or get ‘Juliu’ to cooperate and collect his location from the backend. But for now, neither is possible.”

“We’ll have to catch Qian Zhen first and then try to lure Teacher Song out. But that’s all right. I believe we’ll catch him someday. Whether or not he’s the same as Sun Zhentao’s Teacher Song, we’ll only know after we apprehend him.”

Liu Zhiyang nodded and said to Haifeng, “The law’s net is vast and wide. Let’s focus on the present and make sure the Qian brothers are brought to justice!”