As he looked at Qian Guangzhao’s smug countenance, Hong Weiguo’s expression was calm.

He already knew this would happen. From the moment Qian Guangzhao asked him to kneel down, he already knew that there would be no chance of reconciliation between them. Qian Guangzhao was too mighty. He had the support of one of the magnates as well as Toyoda Conglomerate. With Qian Guangzhao’s tendency to seek revenge for any perceived grievance, and so much power at his disposal, how was it possible that he would let things slide easily?

“I’ll offer you a few words of advice.” Hong Weiguo shot him a brief glance and said with disdain, “It will not be so easy to pull me under.”

“We’ll wait and see!” Qian Guangzhao stared daggers at Hong Weiguo and said with teeth clenched, “Your company will fall. You will be forced to wander the streets, and everything you have will leave you. I want you to experience what true helplessness feels like. I want you to understand what is real hopelessness. Hahaha!”

“Perhaps.” Hong Weiguo answered flatly and spoke no more.

After some brief discussions, everyone present started leaving. Liu Yihui and Mu Tie walked with Hong Weiguo. As they walked, Liu Yihui asked softly, “The inquiry is starting, will we make it?”

“Just give it our all!” Mu Tie said in a low voice. “Fight to the end!”

“Just try our best.” Hong Weiguo shook his head slowly. “It’s time to fight like our lives depend on it.”

…

In the next two days, the huge machine that was the Resource Chamber of Commerce started operating at maximum power!

It calculated total member assets, the strength difference between the two parties, whether the party who initiated the impeachment was qualified to, and so on.

The Chamber of Commerce was working at maximum power. Both Qian Guangzhao and Hong Weiguo, too, were desperately making preparations. Hong Weiguo’s side was sure to use their full strength. As long as his total assets exceeded one-fifth of Qian Guangzhao’s side, then Qian Guangzhao would not be qualified to impeach him!

Door to Heaven, Level ninety-eight, temporary headquarters specially set up for Hong Weiguo.

Right at that time, Liu Yihui, Mu Tie, and the others were calculating the sum of their assets. There were more than twenty companies, and the total assets of each family must be accurately accounted for. After all, this was a matter of life and death. There must be no mistakes!

“Heavenly State Southern Power Group Corporation, total assets of 22.6 billion.”

“Hongyu Precision Industry Co., Ltd., total assets of 15.4 billion.”

“Heavenly State Guangtu Construction Co., Ltd., total assets of 12.3 billion.”

“Heavenly Min-metals Corporation, total assets of 17.2 billion.”…

After careful investigation, the final total assets of all their friends were finally added up. Liu Yihui said in a low voice, “Our total asset as of now is 316.8 billion.”

“In other words, the sum of the assets on Qian Guangzhao’s side just needs to exceed 1.58 trillion and they will qualify to impeach.” Mu Tie’s expression was gloomy as he looked at the calculated results. He said, “Weiguo, the situation is not good.”

“Yes, I know.” Hong Weiguo nodded and said, “Qian Guangzhao has gathered most of the inner circle members whose assets are in excess of 20 billion each. Our average assets are only about 14 billion each.”

“Yes.” Liu Yihui’s expression looked worse. He sighed. “It’s difficult. Qian Guangzhao has made ample preparations for this. Your Dali was probably being used as a cover story. Qian Guangzhao probably promised them a lot of preferential treatment. After all, the Qian Family started with the energy business. We cannot do without energy in today’s world. Without energy, nothing works.”

“True.” Liu Yihui looked at the report and said helplessly, “Based on the results of our previous estimates, Qian Guangzhao has a total of 94 inner circle members with him. Most of the members who have total assets of over twenty billion are on his side. It’s estimated that their total assets exceed 1.7 trillion. It’s an impossibly huge gap.”

“I know that.” Hong Weiguo said, “Qian Guangzhao has won the support of most of the inner circle members. He must have promised them quite a lot of benefits, and the five magnates are secretly helping him too. At least, I know that Sun Yuanzhou is involved. The stand of the other four is unclear. They are too strong, there is nothing we can do about it.”

Mu Tie said worriedly, “Yes. If it was just Qian Guangzhao, I would not be so worried. After all, the Chamber of Commerce does not belong to his family. The problem is that there are five magnates who might be involved, and we are not sure how many. It would be almost hopeless to try and win their support now. After all, in this Chamber of Commerce, no one dares to disobey the words of the five magnates. We have so many allies here, but it’s already the limit.”

Hong Weiguo said, “As soon as the Chamber of Commerce impeaches me, their next step will be to encircle us. Everyone has to leave a way out. Do not let my problem affect your business.”

Just then, the jewelry giant, Gong Zhiwen, who had been listening to him, said hurriedly, “CEO Hong, don’t stand on ceremony with us. We all know what kind of person you are. How can we stand aside and watch you die?” As they heard what he said, the other members present who supported Hong Weiguo also nodded. “Yes, CEO Hong, we are on your side because of your character. It’s all right if our business suffers a little, but we cannot just stand and watch without doing anything!”

After all, although Qian Guangzhao’s side was formidable, they had chosen not to join them. The most fundamental reason was Hong Weiguo’s character and personality. No matter how serious the situation was, they would not leave Hong Weiguo in the lurch.

“I appreciate all your kindness.” Hong Weiguo took a deep breath. “Qian Guangzhao’s Qian Family may be rich and affluent, but I, Hong Weiguo, am not easily bullied as well. Everyone, don’t worry too much, let’s just act in accordance to the changing circumstances.”

Everyone looked at each other and nodded at the same time. “Okay, let’s just act in accordance to the changing circumstances!”

…

Door to Heaven, the ninety-seventh floor, Qian Guangzhao’s camp.

“1.76 trillion, hahahaha!” Qian Guangzhao looked at the calculation of the total assets in his hands and laughed maniacally. As he laughed, he said, “1.76 trillion. Settled! It’s settled! With this amount, even if Hong Weiguo turns the sky upside down, he is doomed to be impeached!”

As he laughed maniacally, the other people present went along with him. “Yes, we will offer our congratulations in advance then, CEO Qian. Haha!”

“CEO Qian is impressive. 1.76 trillion yuan, this amount will pass the qualification review for sure.”

“Congratulations in advance, CEO Qian. Haha!”

Now that victory was within his grasp, Qian Guangzhao was all puffed up. He accepted the congratulations without ceremony and said, “Haha, don’t mention it, don’t mention it. When this matter is over, I will definitely not forget everyone’s benefits!”

“Thank you, CEO Qian. If there’s nothing else, we will take out leave first.”

“Okay, I will not send you off.”

The people on Qian Guangzhao’s side left the large conference room.

When they returned to their rooms, these people who were full of praise earlier immediately started discussing among themselves. They were busy scheming ways to further their own objectives.

Cheng Qifu sat on the sofa, facing the few inner circle members he was close with. He took a deep breath and said, “It seems that Hong Weiguo is definitely going to get impeached. If at least two of the five oligarchs are on our side … Eh, when Hong Weiguo gets impeached, do you think we should go easy or go all out on him?”

One person said, “We impeached Hong Weiguo as a favor to Qian Guangzhao. Although Hong Weiguo is getting impeached, Qian Guangzhao is not a simple man. We helped him this time, but we need to leave a way out for ourselves. If Hong Weiguo ever manages to make a comeback…”

Another person said, “I will go all the way. If I decide to do it, I will go all the way. Otherwise, if he ever makes a comeback in the future, he may bear us ill-will. That’s why I think it’s better to go all out and exterminate him completely.”

The third person said, “If you were to ask me, the attitude of the five magnates are **. Let’s just wait and see before deciding. Anyway, they will not miss us if we were not there. Let’s just observe the direction things go before deciding.”

“Yes.” Cheng Qifu reconsidered before saying glumly, “Damn, this matter is really hard to deal with. Who would have thought Qian Guangzhao would play this hand. The old fox is being rash. We shall just act according to the changing circumstances. We can’t possibly just let him order us around!”

…

Door to Heaven, top level, inside the meeting room of the five magnates.

“This Qian Guangzhao is too trigger-happy. He almost screwed up our plan.” Wen Jianan pounded his fit on the table and said glumly, “Fortunately, things got back on track after that, although we are now a few days ahead of schedule. Damn.”

Sun Yuanzhou nodded and said, “Eh, Qian Guangzhao is really not the type who can amount to much. If it weren’t for the fact that the Qian Family has a strong foundation, he would have been out of the running long ago. Our plan has been brought forward by a few days and based on the current outlook, it’s easy for things to go wrong. Qian Guangzhao is too impatient, and a little crazy. It’s not a good combination.”

“Yes, that’s what I think too,” said Wen Jianan, his head aching. “Troubled. It would be super depressing if our big operation gets ruined by him. How about this, from now on, make sure someone has eyes on Qian Guangzhao twenty-four hours a day. He must not touch a hair on Hong Weiguo’s head! If it’s observed that he might be making a move, secretly move to stop him immediately!”

The other three people nodded together. “Yes, that will work. Oh right, we should also send some people to make sure Hong Weiguo’s people are well protected. No matter how things turn out, the safety of the key personnel must not be compromised.”

“Right, that’s what we will do!” Wen Jianan immediately made the decision. “Be careful on your way back. From now on, everyone must not let their guard down during this one month. Well, let’s disperse now. The results will be announced tomorrow.”

“Good. Hopefully, nothing else will go wrong.”

…

Soon, it was August 21. The day the impeachment qualification inquiry results would be out was here!

The meeting was scheduled to begin at eight, but this time, all the members of the Resource Chamber of Commerce were at the International Conference Center on level 99 of the Door to Heaven by seven to await the result of the inquiry!