Abacus Fails

One by one, the core executives of Lu Corporation—department heads personally promoted by Lu Chenyuan—stood up like dominoes and submitted their resignations.

They had never followed the platform of Lu Corporation, but Lu Chenyuan himself.

With Lu Chenyuan at the helm, they were a formidable force.

Without him, they abandoned this seemingly grand yet already leaking ship without hesitation.

Within minutes, a thick stack of resignation letters piled up on the conference table.

The core management of Lu Corporation had been hollowed out in an instant.

Lu Mingshi was stunned.

As he took in the scene before him, fury surged from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.

This was an attempt to strip Lu Corporation bare!

Before leaving, Lu Chenyuan had still managed to stab him in the back!

That bastard!

He had never once regarded Lu Mingshi, his own uncle, with any respect!

Lu Mingshi whipped his head toward Lu Chenyuan and roared in rage, "Lu Chenyuan! What the hell is this supposed to mean?"

Lu Chenyuan looked at him, a trace of pity in his eyes.

"Uncle, you were the one who wanted all of this," he said calmly.

"Now, I’m giving it to you. Whether you can hold onto it—that’s your problem."

With that, Lu Chenyuan turned away without another glance at the shocked, panicked, or gleeful faces in the conference room.

What remained was a hollowed-out shell of a company, teetering on the brink, and Lu Mingshi—seated in the CEO’s chair—his expression shifting from disbelief to fury, then finally twisting into something vicious.

"Fine. Just fine!" Lu Mingshi ground out through clenched teeth, glaring at the direction Lu Chenyuan had left.

After the humiliation came a sickening rush of triumph.

Gone? Good riddance!

He had planned to purge Lu Chenyuan’s loyalists one by one anyway.

Now that they had resigned on their own, he’d save himself the trouble—and a fortune in severance pay!

Did Lu Mingshi really think he couldn’t find replacements?

Jingzhou was overflowing with talent!

All he had to do was put out the word, and countless would flock to serve under him!

"What’s with the panic?" Lu Mingshi slammed his palm on the table, barking at the uneasy board members and executives.

"Lu Corporation doesn’t need any of them to survive! A bunch of self-important fools—good riddance! From today onward, I’m at the helm. Those who want to stay, your compensation doubles. Those who don’t, get the hell out with the rest!"

The taste of power made Lu Mingshi swell with arrogance.

He reveled in this feeling of absolute control, blind to the fact that a sinking ship rarely capsizes from an iceberg—but from the unnoticed cracks and rot within.

...

Meanwhile, in a secluded estate elsewhere in Jingzhou.

Li Xiujian had just hung up the phone, his face dark with fury.

News of the upheaval at Lu Corporation had reached him almost instantly.

Lu Chenyuan resigning?

The entire core team walking out?

That idiot Lu Mingshi taking over as CEO?

The flood of information made one thing crystal clear—he’d been played.

"Damn it!"

His fist smashed onto the table, shattering an exquisite purple clay teapot.

"Lu Mingshi!" he hissed through gritted teeth, murderous intent flashing in his eyes.

Now he understood—Lu Mingshi’s frantic fundraising hadn’t been to acquire shares in his Sheng Tian Real Estate at all. It was to seize power from Lu Chenyuan!

The key piece of his carefully laid plan—the perfect greedy, foolish scapegoat—had slipped away at the last moment.

"Boss... what do we do about Sheng Tian now?" a subordinate asked nervously.

"Do?" Li Xiujian let out a cold laugh, his gaze sharp with venom.

"What else can we do? Keep looking for a buyer. Then start offloading our shares quietly..."

Yet, unease gnawed at him.

What truly haunted him was that secret ledger.

Though his tech team had repeatedly assured him their servers hadn’t been breached, he couldn’t shake the feeling that things weren’t so simple.

Just then, another subordinate hurried in, his expression grim.

"Boss, that plot of land in the southern suburbs... it’s just been auctioned off."

"What?" Li Xiujian shot to his feet. "By whom? At what price?"

"A newly registered company called 'Yuanxing Real Estate.' They outbid our maximum offer by five percent and paid in full upfront."

"Yuanxing Real Estate?" Li Xiujian frowned. The name was unfamiliar.

After a moment’s thought, he snapped, "Dig into them. I want to know who’s behind this company—every last detail!"

That southern suburban land had been crucial to his next move.

But now, with Sheng Tian’s funds still tied up and the land snatched away, he felt like he was being led by the nose by an unseen opponent.

A long-forgotten sense of frustration and danger coiled in his gut.

What he didn’t know was that, at this very moment, inside a newly established office, Lu Chenyuan was reviewing the land acquisition contract handed to him by Zhang Qi.

"Well done," Lu Chenyuan nodded.

"Mr. Lu, 'Yuanxing Real Estate' is a shell company registered with offshore funds. The legal representative is insulated—Li Xiujian won’t trace it back to us anytime soon," Zhang Qi reported.

Lu Chenyuan’s gaze drifted to the window, overlooking the bustling city below.

He remembered clearly—in the original timeline, this land had been secured by Li Jinchuan upon his return from Haizhou.

The original story had glossed over it, mentioning only that Li Jinchuan had accomplished something in Haizhou and obtained critical information.

Now, it was obvious—that so-called "critical information" must have been the investment intent of the Stra Group.

But in this life, he wouldn’t just prevent the tragedy that befell the Lu family.

He would strip away every opportunity that had allowed the Li family to rise.

"Securing the land isn’t enough," Lu Chenyuan said coldly.

"Li Xiujian is desperate to offload Sheng Tian now. We need to light the fire before he finds another scapegoat."