Chapter 67: The Sufferer

Let's talk about the primary victim of this incident, Da Fa Real Estate.

At the headquarters of Da Fa Real Estate, the 55-year-old chairman Li Zhaoxu is holding an urgent meeting in the conference room.

Li Zhaoxu, who is over fifty and has graying hair, sits at the head of the conference table, gazing at the empty seats with a face full of grief and anger.

Li Zhaoxu never expected that an old friend, with whom he had shared so many years, would stab him in the back.

When he arrived at the company today, he heard from his subordinates that *Dongfang Daily* and other newspapers had exposed negative news about Da Fa Real Estate. The news included a report of a broken capital chain—a fatal blow—and that shareholders of Da Fa Real Estate were cashing out and leaving.

Furthermore, there were worse news from the stock market: someone was aggressively suppressing Da Fa Real Estate's stock price, causing it to plummet!

Li Zhaoxu had been in good spirits recently because, after *Jiu Ding Daily* had given it a positive outlook, the value of his company was finally recognized by others. In just a few days, the stock price had doubled to 60 million Hong Kong dollars.

He was planning to use this opportunity to help Da Fa Real Estate grow rapidly again. Unfortunately, just as the plans were in the works, a thunderbolt struck.

The company's capital chain issue was definitely false. Given time, he could disprove the rumors and overcome this crisis. However, there was one prerequisite: the report by *Dongfang Daily* about shareholders cashing out was also false. If shareholders lost faith in Da Fa Real Estate for any reason, it would create market panic. With the current media storm, the negative impact would only be amplified.

Li Zhaoxu still held out some hope and urgently convened a shareholders' meeting. However, he found that three shareholders were absent. These three shareholders held a combined 16% of the shares, a significant proportion, yet they were missing from such an important meeting.

Li Zhaoxu urgently called them. Except for one who couldn't be reached, the other two merely apologized and hung up the phone. Though they said nothing further, Li Zhaoxu's heart sank. He knew it was over. The reports by *Dongfang Daily* seemed accurate; these three shareholders must have sold their shares.

Li Zhaoxu was overwhelmed with rage and frustration. After all, Da Fa Real Estate was the result of his decades of hard work. Due to a lack of funds, he had brought in many shareholders over the years. Li Zhaoxu believed he was good with people and had good relationships with them, but he never expected that the affection accumulated over the years was worth less than naked interests. They had betrayed him behind his back. The feeling of being betrayed made Li Zhaoxu feel suffocated. His blood surged to his head, and he felt dizzy.

Li Zhaoxu took deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down. He still had his wits about him. He knew he couldn't collapse. If he did, and news spread that the founder of the company was ill, Da Fa Real Estate would be finished!

The cost was too high; he couldn't afford to fall!

"Chairman, what should we do now? We can't let the rumors continue to spread. We must contain them immediately!" a shareholder said with a serious expression.

"Yes, Chairman, they've set us up. We'll remember this and settle the score eventually, but right now, resolving the company's crisis is the most urgent matter." Another shareholder, looking at the empty seats with anger, agreed.

"Yes, let's quickly hold a press conference to refute the rumors. Any recovery we can manage will be valuable."

...

Li Zhaoxu shook his head to clear his mind and, seeing the flustered minor shareholders, mustered his strength and said firmly, "I'll hold a press conference immediately, but that's not enough. To solve the problem and boost investor confidence, we shareholders need to buy back shares. I hope everyone is ready with the funds to get through this difficult time."

With that, Li Zhaoxu looked at them expectantly.

The other shareholders looked at each other, hesitant. They were unsure, as investing in the stock buyback might lead to even greater losses. They were also worried about the high risk involved.

At this moment, many shareholders regretted not selling their stocks when the company's stock price was at its highest a few days ago. Looking at Li Zhaoxu's hopeful gaze, they kept their thoughts to themselves. For now, they had to get through the crisis. Whether or not they would invest in buying back shares could be decided later. There was no need to voice their concerns; if Li Zhaoxu couldn't handle the stress and collapsed, it would be truly over.

...

How Da Fa Real Estate would respond, Xia Yu did not know and did not care.

Meanwhile, the old foxes Wu Chengtai and his associates had already anticipated that Da Fa Real Estate would issue a denial. Therefore, before Da Fa Real Estate could refute the rumors, they had already bribed several shareholders and bought all their stocks.

As a result, the news in *Dongfang Daily* was a mix of truth and falsehood, which made it even harder to distinguish reality from fiction, further amplifying the media effect.

At this moment, Ma Chengkun and Wu Chengtai were in a room. Wu Chengtai was continually instructing his subordinates on the operations.

Watching Da Fa Real Estate's stock price fall steadily and rapidly, Ma Chengkun smiled and said to Wu Chengtai, "Wu, it looks like our plan is working well. Your Tianwu Securities is strong enough; Da Fa Real Estate's stock price is dropping faster and faster. Victory is within our grasp! Haha!"

Wu Chengtai smiled but said, "Ma, it's not time to rejoice yet. There are still uncertainties. We need to be careful."

"Don't worry, Wu. We haven't used all our tactics yet. Tomorrow, I'll have *Dongfang Daily* publish another article to influence public opinion. With today's results, Da Fa Real Estate's stock price will fall even more. We've also bribed other newspapers. Although they didn't publish the news today, they'll definitely do so tomorrow. By then, Da Fa Real Estate will be finished. *Jiu Ding Daily* won't be able to save it. You just need to prepare to acquire Da Fa Real Estate. The cost of the investment will be recovered, and we'll make a large profit while expanding our own Mingheng Real Estate and getting revenge on *Jiu Ding Daily*. It's truly a threefold win!"

At that time, his reputation within the family would reach a new peak, and his brothers would be less of a threat to him, making it easier for him to control the Wu family.

Everything depends on tomorrow!

Both Ma Chengkun and Wu Chengtai thought almost simultaneously, eagerly anticipating the decisive moment of the next day!