Chapter 206: Let them fight

In Union Square, San Francisco, a film crew is shooting a scene when suddenly a Hummer roars up, forcing the crew to temporarily stop filming. The Hummer leaves with a laugh and eventually parks in an upscale parking lot. Tang Yi gets out of the car and enters the luxury commercial building next door.

A quarter of an hour later, Tang Yi arrived at the St. Nala Private Dining Room. He followed the waiter to the luxurious private room inside, opened the door, and found Tang Yu and Tang Wan Er there.

Upon seeing Tang Yi enter, Tang Yu frowned in displeasure. After Tang Yi had sat down, Tang Yu questioned him, 'Tang Yi, has being late now become a habit you're used to? Or do you simply not value our gatherings? Sometimes I really wish I could hear that the reason you're late is because you were in a car accident on the way here, and it was a very serious one.'

Facing Tang Yu's curse, Tang Yi chuckled lightly: 'I'm afraid I'll disappoint cousin Tang Yu, because I'm a very death-fearing person, so I'm afraid of car accidents, which is why I drive very slowly and end up being late.'

At this point, Tang Yidun paused for a moment, and then said to Tang Yu, 'But when it comes to car accidents, cousin Tang Yu, you are so impatient, aren't you afraid?'

Almost as soon as Tang Yi finished speaking, Tang Yu slammed his hand down on the table, pointed at Tang Yi and said angrily, 'Tang Yi, what are you saying? Are you cursing me?'

Tang Yi raised his hands high, made a gesture of surrender, and said he was afraid. On the other side, Tang Wan'er also took Tang Yu's hand and persuaded him for a while, and only then did Tang Yu calm down. and said, 'Since we're all here, let's get down to business. I'm sure you're aware of what happened at the Stanford Hotel yesterday. Jackal, Suffolk and Apple signed a tripartite agreement. Suffolk will pay for it, and Jacko will supervise the production and maintenance of all equipment by Apple. The entire transaction amount is 5 million US dollars.'

At the end, Tang Yu's tone became very gloomy: 'I want to know why this happened? If I remember correctly, a week ago, I was asking you to meet me here every day, and I told you every time that you had to find a way to stop him. Why was Jack Company, with a monthly turnover of only a measly 200,000, able to participate in the Forte Technology Exhibition and sign a 5 million contract?

Tang Yu pointed back and forth between Tang Yi and Tang Wan'er, asking in a stern voice, 'I want you to tell me, why was this?'

In response to Tang Yu's question, Tang Wan'er said with a smile, 'Cousin Tang Yu, you can't blame us for this. It's all because we are also heirs, and our interference cannot be too obvious. Our relationships and abilities are also limited...'

Tang Wan'er was saying, while Tang Yi asked Tang Yu in return, 'Cousin, I don't think this problem can be blamed entirely on Wan'er and me, can it? You are the second-in-line heir to the Tang family, and if you aren't in a hurry, what's there to be in a hurry about? After all, to us, whether you or cousin Tang Ran inherit the family fortune in the end makes no difference.'

Tang Yu immediately stood up, but in the end he restrained his anger. He gritted his teeth and said, 'Are you stupid? They are outsiders!'

Tang Yi laughed disdainfully: 'You talk as if you were family. Then, since we are family, if cousin Tang Yu inherits the family fortune, can you share some with me and cousin Wan'er? It doesn't have to be much, just half.'

'I can take what you just said as a joke,' said Tang Yu.

As rivals for the inheritance, they of course knew each other's character well, so Tang Yi was not surprised by Tang Yu's response. After all, Tang Yu liked to act cool and pretentious, but in reality he had very little insight. In this situation, where he desperately needs allies, when faced with Tang Yi's request for his inheritance, he is so stingy that he is not even willing to draw a pie. With this petty appearance, how can he compete with the loud and boisterous Zhou Ming and Tang Ran over there?

Thinking about this, Tang Yi could only shrug his shoulders helplessly and casually say, 'Just take it as a joke.'

Tang Wan'er also shook her head, but after a moment she said, 'Since it's a joke, just laugh it off. But apart from the joke, the problems with Tang Ran and Zhou Ming do require our consideration.'

'That's a given!' Tang Yu said, 'So this time you must stop thinking about other things. You must do everything you can to stop them, whether it's acquiring Suffolk, forcing them to give up the project, or simply getting rid of that Zhou Ming. In short, you must come up with a countermeasure, understand?'

After giving Tang Yi and Tang Wan'er a lecture, Tang Yu got up and left the restaurant.

After Tang Yu left, Tang Yi and Tang Wan'er looked at each other. Tang Yi said disdainfully, 'I know everything. In that situation, wouldn't it have been better if he pretended to agree and said that we could divide the family property? But he actually took it so seriously and said that I was joking? And then he ordered us to do this and that? On what basis? Does he think that because he is the second-in-line heir, he is the only one in the world? He still wants to inherit the family property? How presumptuous!

Tang Wan'er also shook her head helplessly: 'It's true, cousin Tang Yu's vision is indeed not far-sighted or generous enough, but he did hit the nail on the head with some of his comments.'

'I know, it's Tang Ran and Zhou Ming, especially that Zhou Ming, it's really a surprise, I didn't think he could come up with 20 million at once. I'm afraid it's not as simple as we think.'

Tang Yi said with emotion, while Tang Wan'er understood what he meant and said to him, 'The elders also think Zhou Ming is an uncertain trouble. I think that as long as we target him, the clan association will turn a blind eye.'

'If that's the case, then it would be good, and it would be like removing a pair of shackles from our bodies,' said Tang Yi.

'So, are you still thinking of finding a way to get rid of Zhou Ming?' Tang Wan'er asked.

Tang Yi sighed, 'Of course, unless you, cousin Wan'er, have a better idea. If not, we'll just have to find someone to have a good talk with.'

At this point, the dinner between Tang Yi and Tang Wan'er came to an end. They then took out their phones and contacted their respective people, before asking these people to meet up at the hotel in Union Square that night had a meeting. Since there were no meeting minutes, no one knows what was actually discussed. However, with the conclusion of this meeting, Jack Company immediately felt the malicious intent of the world.

On the evening of 31 December 1990, while many people were welcoming the arrival of the New Year, Zhou Ming and Tang Ran were still frowning in the office.

With a sound of footsteps, Cheng Qian also walked into the office, holding a document in his hand with a grave expression.

'All the statistics are in. As of today, more than 30 companies have terminated their cooperation with us, and we expect to lose more than 60 orders, including the order from Suffolk.'

Cheng paused here and glanced at Zhou Ming carefully. Zhou Ming waved his hand to tell him that it had nothing to do with him, and then Cheng continued, 'This afternoon we received a letter from the lawyers of Suffolk lawyers from Safco. They claimed that we had committed fraud in the transaction and demanded that the contract be terminated immediately and that we return the 2 million deposit we had already paid.

'What? How can they do that? The contract was signed face-to-face in the hotel, and now they're going back on their word. How shameless!' Tang Ran said angrily.

Compared to Tang Ran, Zhou Ming was obviously much more calm. He just nodded silently, then after a moment of thought, he asked, 'What about the other companies? Have they also sent us a lawyer's letter like Suffolk?'

Cheng Qian nodded and said, 'Yes, customers who have already paid have asked us to return all the money, and customers who have not paid have demanded that the contract be terminated and payment refused.'

'This is a full-scale attack on us,' Zhou Ming said with a smile.

As if to prove Zhou Ming's words, as soon as he finished speaking, the phone on the desk rang immediately. Tang Ran picked it up and her face immediately changed.

The person on the other end of the line hung up after speaking, and Tang Ran was still in shock. She didn't have time to put the phone down before she said to Zhou Ming, 'This is a call from Chairman Tang. He said that many investors in Jieke have been discussing divestment in the past few days, demanding that Jieke be put into liquidation and all company assets be auctioned off.'

'Could it be that they know about our customers' sudden change of heart?' Cheng Qian asked in surprise.

Zhou Ming laughed: 'If that were the case, it would be easy to deal with. I'm afraid it's all part of a story.'

'Someone is deliberately targeting us?' Tang Ran picked up where Zhou Ming had left off.

'President Tang, Vice President Zhou, what should we do now? The mood in the company has been very bad these past few days. Since all the customers have collectively changed their minds, something they have never experienced before, everyone is very anxious,' Cheng Qian asked.

Zhou Ming thought for a moment and said to him, 'I'll leave this to you. First, calm their emotions. Tell them the truth that the company has been targeted, but also tell them not to worry, and to patiently maintain contact with the customer, but never to provoke the customer with impatience. At the same time, you can also try to develop some small customers, and you may have good results.'

Cheng Qian nodded to show that he understood, and Zhou Ming then let him go back.

As soon as Cheng Qian left, Tang Ran immediately said to Zhou Ming, 'Brother Ming, this must be a conspiracy by the other heirs, right?'

'I'm afraid it's not a conspiracy anymore,' Zhou Ming said with a smile. 'If it were, it would be just like the past, sneaking around and doing little tricks behind people's backs, just like before the Forte Science and Technology Exhibition, when we were were the only things that made our business difficult. But now, they have actually directly made their customers regret their transactions with us.'

'Brother Ming, are you saying that we've pushed them too far?' Tang Ran asked.

'In the past, they only dared to play dirty tricks behind our backs, probably because they were afraid that their malicious actions against the other heirs would make them lose their inheritance rights. After all, as a large family, it is indeed not right for the heirs to fight so fiercely over inheritance rights. But then, as things got better and better for our side, they couldn't stand it anymore and tried desperately to stop us,' Zhou Ming guessed and replied.

'Those damned villains!' Tang Ran angrily exclaimed. "What should we do, Ming?'

Zhou Ming fondly rubbed Tang Ran's little head and said, "What else can we do? If they want to make trouble, let them. I expected this.'

'Brother Ming, do you mean that the family elders can be targeted, or that the efforts and value of the family members can be seen?' Tang Ran asked.

Zhou Ming shook his head and said, 'I don't think so, because there is no way to guarantee that the sudden recklessness of other heirs is not condoned or hinted at by those people behind the scenes. What I mean is that I never intended to put all my eggs in these orders. After all, I have invested 20 million, and those orders, not to mention the problems that may arise in the middle, will only be worth about 8 million if they are finally completed, which is less than half of the investment!

Tang Ran screwed up her eyebrows and thought for a moment, then suddenly said, 'Brother Ming, are you saying Steve Jobs?'

Zhou Ming smiled and nodded.