Reborn in 2012, building a new energy empire

Back in his bedroom, lying on his bed, Jiang Haoran turned on his phone to look up Suzhou Hengtong Machinery Trading Company. In 2012, the internet was not as developed, and there were no tools like Qichacha or Tianyancha.

Qichacha was founded in March 2014 and is one of the earliest enterprise credit information query tools in the industry.

Jiang Haoran logged into the Enterprise Credit Information Disclosure System of Jiangnan Province and entered "Suzhou Hengtong Machinery Trading Company" as he remembered his father mentioning it.

The moment the page loaded, Jiang Haoran's eyes turned cold.

The company has a registered capital of 50 million, which seems like a lot, but the actual paid-in capital is only 50,000. The registered address is an office building in Suzhou, and Jiang Haoran had seen this address online in his previous life; it is a "cluster address" specifically for registering shell companies.

The legal representative, Zhang Lei, was one of the low-level henchmen who was caught after the group transferred assets in his previous life.

Jiang Haoran took a screenshot and saved the information, which gave him confidence.

He knew that his meeting with Jiang Tao the day after tomorrow would be a tough battle.

The next morning, before the morning mist had completely dissipated, Jiang Haoran went out with his phone in his hand.

The breakfast stall at the factory gate had just set up its oil fryer, and the aroma of fried dough sticks mixed with the steam of soy milk wafted over, but he had no time to stop.

The screenshot of the business registration information is only the first step. To expose Jiang Tao's scam, we need to obtain irrefutable evidence that can completely convince my father.

He took out his phone and dialed his childhood friend Chang Yu's number, his fingertips slightly burning with urgency.

The phone rang for the third time before being answered. Chang Yu's muffled voice, still nasal from just waking up, said, "Haoran? It's only 6:30. Where are you going to play that requires getting up so early?"

"I have something else urgent to do." Jiang Haoran walked quickly to the taxi. "I'll wait for you at the breakfast stall at the entrance of your apartment complex. I'll be there in ten minutes. I need your help with something important."

A rustling sound of clothes being put on came from the other end of the phone, and Chang Yu's tone instantly became clear: "What is it? Wait for me, I'll be right there!"

Jiang Haoran had just bought two bowls of soy milk and two fried dough sticks when he saw Chang Yu rushing over on his electric scooter.

"What exactly happened?" Chang Yu stopped the car, grabbed a fried dough stick, and took a bite.

After Chang Yu finished his fried dough stick and downed a whole bowl of soy milk in a few bites, Jiang Haoran pulled him toward the electric scooter: "It's hard to explain in a short time, let's go to your place for a while."

Jiang Haoran sought out Chang Yu because Chang Yu's uncle, Chang Hao, was the captain of the Economic Crime Investigation Team of the ZJ City Criminal Police Team.

In their past life, it was they who cracked this fraud case and finally arrested a group of criminal suspects, although most of the funds had already been transferred overseas by Zhen Yueting.

"There are some things I need Uncle Chang Hao's help with." Sitting on the stool in Chang Yu's bedroom, Jiang Haoran handed over his phone and opened a screenshot of the business registration information.

"As you know, my family owns a factory, and we have a distant relative named Jiang Tao who secured export orders for 5,000 sets from Southeast Asia, with tens of thousands more to follow."

"It seems fine at first glance, but when I checked, I found that the trading partner, Hengtong Company, had very little paid-in capital and hadn't paid much deposit. They used a 100 million copper futures collateral order as a deposit, which I suspect is fraudulent."

Jiang Haoran lowered his voice, "A few days ago I saw on the news that similar scams were exposed in several places in the neighboring Jiangbei Province. The scammers used fake orders and fake collateral to trick factories into investing in equipment and raw materials, and then ran away with the money. Many factories were forced to close down."

Jiang Haoran knew exactly what was going on. Before his rebirth, after the Hengtong fraud case, the reports mentioned that several factories in Jiangbei Province, similar in size to his own, had fallen victim to this "fake orders + fake collateral" scheme. This group of people had tricked people from Jiangbei Province all the way to Jiangnan Province.

He could only use the excuse of "seeing the news" to bring out this clue and pass it on to Chang Hao, the captain of the Economic Crime Investigation Team of the Criminal Investigation Department.

"Jiang Tao is bringing the contract to my factory to sign tomorrow. My dad is so obsessed with the order that he doesn't trust me at all. I heard that Uncle Chang Hao is investigating these kinds of cases. Could you help me find out what's going on?"

Upon hearing the whole story, Chang Yu immediately frowned, slapped his thigh, and stood up: "This order sounds unreliable! Although I know nothing about these things, your business is my business, and I absolutely cannot let your family be cheated!"

He grabbed Jiang Haoran's arm and pulled him outside, his tone resolute, "Don't rush, ask my uncle first! My uncle has worked in the Economic Crime Investigation Team for so many years, he has a keen eye, he can tell at a glance whether it's a scam or not!"

It's only a ten-minute walk from Chang Yu's home to the police family compound. As soon as the two got off their electric bikes and entered the building, they were enveloped by the rich aroma of porridge—the soft and mushy smell of millet porridge mixed with the refreshing taste of pickled vegetables.

Chang Hao, dressed in a neat shirt, sat at the dining table, flipping through the morning newspaper with his left hand and holding chopsticks with his right. When he saw the two of them push the door open and come in, he smiled and put the newspaper on the table: "Xiao Yu is quite proactive today, getting up earlier than my lazybones."

He called out towards the inner room, "Yunfan! Your brother brought a friend over, hurry up and get up for breakfast!" A muffled reply came from inside. Chang Hao then turned to Jiang Haoran, his gaze gentle, "This is your friend Jiang Haoran, right? I've often heard Xiaoyu mention him. Please sit down. What brings you here today?"

Before Jiang Haoran could speak, Chang Yu interrupted, "Uncle, we came here specifically to see you! Haoran's family has run into some trouble, and he says it's related to contract fraud. You need to take a look."

He scratched his head and added, "I'll go wake Yunfan up first, and then Haoran will explain the situation to you in detail."

After saying that, Chongjiang Haoran gave him a reassuring look, turned around, and quietly pushed open the door to the inner room.

Jiang Haoran quickly took out his phone and explained the information about Hengtong Company, Jiang Tao's identity information, and the details of the copper futures mortgage certificate one by one.

"Uncle Chang, that's all the information about my family... I saw on the news that Hengtong Company and the fraud cases being investigated in several cities in Jiangbei Province might be the same group of people... You could focus on investigating the copper futures collateral documents... The amount of money involved in this group might be quite large."

Chang Hao's expression gradually turned serious. He got up and went into his study, quickly dialing the Economic Investigation Detachment of HA City, Jiangbei Province: "Old Zhou, this is Chang Hao from the Zhenjiang Detachment. Oh right, we have a company here called Suzhou Hengtong Machinery Trading Company, the legal representative is Zhang Lei, and there's an associate named Jiang Tao. See if they're related to that machinery fraud case you had before..."

"Yes, I remember that the machine processing plant was also scammed. Check the flow of funds... You can focus on checking the authenticity of the order company and their equipment supplier information."

After hanging up the phone, he immediately contacted his team: "Hey, Xiao Zhang, we have new leads on the order fraud case reported by the district. Notice that we focus on investigating Suzhou Hengtong Machinery Trading Company. Make sure to visit them in person. Also, contact the Shanghai Futures Exchange to get the delivery warehouse's phone number and verify the authenticity of these copper futures collateral documents."

After hanging up the phone, Chang Hao tapped the table with his fingertips, looking at Jiang Haoran with a hint of approval in his eyes: "Haoran, your observation skills are impressive. From the abnormal paid-in capital to the abnormal collateral, you were able to connect it to similar cases in Jiangbei. Truly, a young hero emerges, more astute than us old hands."

He changed the subject, his tone turning serious, "This case doesn't seem to be a simple case of individual fraud. It's highly likely an organized crime group. They have a clear division of labor, and they're very skilled at forging qualifications, contacting targets, and making empty promises. The investigation has already been launched in Jiangbei, and we should have results soon."

Jiang Haoran nodded emphatically, his tone filled with barely concealed anxiety: "Yes, Uncle Chang, my dad won't listen to any advice now. He keeps thinking that 'relatives wouldn't cheat each other,' and Jiang Tao is so sweet-talking that he's exaggerating the success of the order."

He paused, his face full of helplessness, "My factory has been facing cash flow problems for the past six months. Raw material prices have risen, old customers have been lost, and we're almost unable to pay our workers' wages."

"My dad saw this 'big order' as a lifeline and was eagerly anticipating signing the contract the next day, saying that signing it would revitalize the entire factory."