Chapter Fifty-Three: A Clash Between Father and Son

The Pan Group was a renowned private enterprise in Mingnan. Its founder, Pan Zhong, was once an ordinary coal miner. When the nation encouraged collective and individual mining, Pan Zhong, inspired by the government’s policies and unwilling to settle for mediocrity, persuaded his family, secured a loan from the bank, gathered a group of apprentices, and embarked on his own venture, establishing a small coal pit.

Mingnan was blessed with abundant, high-quality shallow coal seams; a single shovel could unearth vast quantities of black gold. At the time, few shared Pan Zhong’s boldness, and with state support, he became one of the first in Mingnan to amass wealth. With profits rolling in, Pan Zhong expanded production, purchased large-scale equipment, and annexed several surrounding small pits, transforming his modest operation into a major mine. Later, he opened a coal washing plant, a coke plant, and a quarry, cementing his reputation as a coal magnate in Mingnan.

Once his business grew, Pan Zhong ventured into cross-sector investments—real estate, department stores, chemicals. Whenever he spotted a lucrative opportunity outside, he’d find a way to bring it to Mingnan and into his company. Gradually, his small coal pit evolved into a diversified conglomerate, and Pan Zhong became the foremost entrepreneur in Mingnan. Naturally, the coal-related ventures remained the most profitable.

After the company’s meteoric rise, Pan Zhong no longer spent his days at the office, nor did he run around handling business affairs covered in soot. He handed the company’s operations to his son, Pan Lun, and his loyal old associates, intervening only for major projects. He devoted some time to maintaining relationships with key clients and leaders, which left him with much more private time.

Pan Zhong began to enjoy life, relishing the happiness that came with success. He grew weary of his wife, who had shared his hardships, and started seeking young, beautiful women, openly bringing them home and making them Pan Lun’s stepmothers. His mistresses outside the house were countless. It is said that satiation breeds desire, and Pan Zhong was a faithful adherent to this maxim. Eventually, he also became fond of gambling, frequently visiting Golden Island; Pan Lun’s love for cards was, in fact, inherited from his father. Of course, during the boom years of the coal industry, these indulgences had no impact on the company, which only grew stronger, giving rise to the Pan Group.

Pan Lun was Pan Zhong’s eldest son, born when Pan Zhong was still a coal miner. At the time, Pan Zhong had little education and was preoccupied with providing food for the family, so he paid scant attention to Pan Lun’s schooling. After finishing junior high, Pan Lun quit studying and began following his father into the coal business.

During Pan Zhong’s early years, Pan Lun received no special treatment. He mined coal, transported materials, forged connections, sought opportunities, and did all manner of dirty, tiring work, enduring much hardship and greatly assisting his father.

As the business prospered, Pan Lun naturally became the company’s successor and the group’s second-in-command.

Pan Lun was both fortunate and unfortunate. In his childhood, the family was poor, his father couldn’t attend to him, and he had to work alongside his father, always covered in grime. Once the business found its footing, Pan Lun gained siblings and stepmothers, and his father’s affection was further divided, leaving little for him. As the family’s circumstances improved, Pan Zhong began to value his children’s education. Pan Lun’s siblings all studied more than he did and even had opportunities to study abroad. Compared to them, Pan Lun, the rough eldest, failed to impress his father and, thus, was not favored. If not for his dedication from the start, working tirelessly and loyally, his position as second-in-command would likely have been stripped away long ago.

Pan Lun considered furthering his education, but lacking basic knowledge and busy with business, he found books daunting and gave up on that path. Thus, though the eldest, he had little in common with his siblings. He was also deeply dissatisfied with Pan Zhong’s neglect and infidelity toward his mother, which soured his relationship with his father’s later wives. He rarely returned home, preferring his own residence, and only visited during holidays or to see his mother. When free, he spent his time drinking and playing cards with friends, avoiding family altogether.

Over time, Pan Zhong’s affection for Pan Lun waned, and with the influence of his new favorites, he grew increasingly indifferent to the rustic Pan Lun. In his days of conquest, Pan Zhong publicly declared Pan Lun his successor, but later stopped mentioning it, often praising Pan Lun’s siblings to his old associates.

But the children were still young at the time, and the group’s veterans, who had shared hardships with Pan Lun, supported him fervently. This was one reason Pan Zhong never removed Pan Lun from his position.

Gradually, Pan Lun’s siblings grew up, and Pan Zhong began paving the way for them, steadily diminishing Pan Lun’s authority within the group. Though Pan Lun remained the general manager, Pan Zhong instructed several subsidiary managers to report directly to him, bypassing Pan Lun, and handed financial management to Pan Lun’s younger brother. Pan Zhong explained that his younger son’s expertise in finance made him better suited to manage the group’s finances, but Pan Lun saw this as a clear attempt to limit his power.

With subsidiaries no longer reporting to him and finances entrusted elsewhere, Pan Lun’s position became precarious. Yet Pan Zhong didn’t stop; he mandated that coal-related business decisions required board approval and allowed Pan Lun’s siblings and stepmothers to intervene in the coal washing and coke plant operations, leaving Pan Lun with nothing but the title of general manager.

Pan Lun had believed that proving his capability would earn his father’s trust and favor. He tried everything to form alliances, find opportunities, and strengthen the group. However, as his plans were repeatedly rejected, and his loyal veterans were gradually sidelined, Pan Lun realized his father would never trust him again.

He didn’t despair. Though uneducated, he had fought alongside his father since childhood, earning his place step by step. To him, if his father wouldn’t hand over the group, he would forge his own path. The new venture he envisioned was the gaming industry—gambling.

As a businessman, Pan Lun often played cards with friends, all wealthy and well-connected, and stakes were high—tens of thousands won or lost in a night. His card skills weren’t exceptional, but after years of experience, they were more than adequate. His fondness for cards brought him many friends in the field.

After being stripped of power, Pan Lun secretly began his gambling enterprise, knowing that only Golden Island permitted gambling in the country, a place he couldn’t touch. He found an alternative—opening his own casino in Manchaga.

Pan Lun’s acumen, aided by his friends, quickly brought prosperity to the casino, and he profited handsomely. Once he had strengthened his position, he no longer wished to surrender the group he had struggled so hard for. Despite his confidants being suppressed, as general manager he retained influence, and the group’s veterans preferred dealing with him over his siblings. Thus, he hadn’t lost the competition—he merely needed an opportunity.

Pan Zhong was oblivious to all this, still lost in his dreams. The group was making money hand over fist, his harem was full of beauties, and the son he disliked had withdrawn from the power circle. Everything seemed under his control; he wanted nothing more, only to enjoy life.

But flowers do not bloom for a hundred days, nor do people enjoy a thousand days of good fortune. Pan Zhong’s happiness soon faced crisis. With both family and business thriving, his only remaining passion was gambling.

Pan Zhong played increasingly high stakes. Having made his first fortune through daring risks, he was fearless in gambling, flying to Golden Island every few days for several nights of play.

Golden Island’s hospitality captivated Pan Zhong for a time, but he later sought new pleasures, finding a better place—Manchaga. A gambling-savvy subordinate recommended it, saying it offered bigger games, more betting options, and famous starlets as companions.

Pan Zhong had seen and played with many minor celebrities, but never with famous starlets, which piqued his interest. He moved to the Manchaga casino.

Upon arrival, he found his subordinate’s words true; the casino was unique, offering imperial pleasures. Within a week, Pan Zhong lost half a billion, but he didn’t mind—as long as he was happy and his money tree remained, such losses were trivial.

Unfortunately, just then, the coal industry cooled, environmental regulations tightened, and the group’s revenue plummeted. Compounding matters, the real estate boom ended, and the Pan Group faced a crisis.

Pan Zhong, unaware of all this, thought only of the Manchaga casino. Less than three months after returning from Manchaga, he set out again, this time losing a billion.

This single loss cost Pan Zhong half the group. Though it was a family business and the board was largely symbolic, everyone depended on it for their livelihood. With Pan Zhong’s reckless behavior, the group’s veterans finally spoke up, urging him to retire and cease meddling in company affairs.

Pan Zhong sold many properties to patch the financial hole. Seeing the group’s revenue plummet and having lost so much, he finally sobered up, realizing he could no longer command the group. He decided to retire, and the group’s elders seized the chance to demand Pan Lun’s promotion.

This series of setbacks shattered Pan Zhong’s ambition. He no longer resisted; after all, Pan Lun was his son. Though not as handsome or educated as his siblings, blood was thicker than water, and Pan Zhong knew only Pan Lun could save the group. He ignored his wives’ objections and handed power back to Pan Lun.

What Pan Zhong didn’t know was that the Manchaga casino was actually Pan Lun’s, and the money he lost flowed into Pan Lun’s pockets. It was all part of Pan Lun’s plan.

Pan Lun ultimately gained real control of the group. Yet, being in charge was no easy task, for he had never anticipated how sharply the coal industry would decline. Previously, clients vied for coal, bowing and scraping to secure supply. The mines and coke plants thrived, with trucks lining up for miles.

But when Pan Lun took over, these businesses were deserted; on the busiest days, only a couple dozen trucks came for goods. At first, Pan Lun thought the stepmothers had ruined business by offending clients, but upon investigation, he realized they had indeed alienated some customers, but the true problem was the market downturn. In other words, the hard-won group was now a mess.

Pan Lun understood that the coal industry was cyclical, with highs and lows, but if he couldn’t survive the trough, there would be no peak. His priority was to stabilize morale and the enterprise, find a path to transformation, and avoid dying in the downturn.

He felt helpless—after years of struggle, he inherited a disaster. If he remained complacent, the group would collapse; if he sought transformation, he found no direction. Meanwhile, countless mouths depended on him for their livelihood, but the group’s decline, fueled by Pan Zhong’s previous actions, led to losses in some businesses.

Pan Lun considered shutting down some operations and laying off employees, but he knew that showing weakness would be noticed first by the banks, who would immediately cut off loans, hastening the group’s demise.

More importantly, Pan Lun knew that many of the group’s businesses were less than legitimate, relying on connections and clever maneuvers. If he cut staff or halted production, those secretly benefiting might disassociate themselves from the Pan Group.

Without backing, if trouble arose and the government launched a thorough investigation, the whole family could face imprisonment—a risk Pan Lun couldn’t accept. Therefore, he could neither allow the group to show weakness nor dare to do so.

He thought about expanding the casino business to offset losses, but due to capital controls, he couldn’t transfer large sums abroad to grow his gaming business, nor could he bring funds back to cover the group’s deficits. He was caught between a rock and a hard place, with no solution.

He could only conceal the group’s true situation, reassuring partners that Pan Group remained strong and that the broader economic changes hadn’t affected operations, while simultaneously seeking new industries for transformation or ways to freely move gaming funds across borders.

Pan Lun believed that fate never shuts all doors. He felt he had given too much for the group, worked too hard for too long to surrender easily.

His conviction proved right; soon, he found a perfect new path, and Lady Luck once again smiled upon him.