I couldn't take it anymore; when I went home for Chinese New Year, the family genealogy book ha

"Useless. All of them are useless."

In Beijing's Dongcheng District, there is an old courtyard house covering three acres.

Chu Tiankuo sat in the rosewood armchair in his study, holding the report that had been urgently sent from Qinghe County in his hand.

A4 paper. Four pages.

The first two pages detail the expulsion of the four families from Jiangjia Village. The third page is a "record of their squandering" after leaving the village. The fourth page contains an analysis appended by someone below—all the pawns who could have stirred up conflict within Jiangjia Village have now been eliminated.

Chu Tiankuo read the report from beginning to end. When he saw that Liu Cuifen had spent 80 million to buy a villa, his lips twitched. When he saw that Sun Yumei had been swindled out of 8 million, his brows furrowed. When he saw that Jiang Jianwen had lost 10 million in the stock market in half a day, the veins on his temples began to throb.

When I saw Jiang Haoran's 4 million yuan Lamborghini crash into a pillar before even leaving the dealership—

"Snapped!"

The report was thrown to the ground.

The assistant stood at the study door, shrinking back and barely daring to breathe.

Chu Tiankuo stood up, his hands braced on the desk, his knuckles turning white.

"How much effort did I put into planting these spies in Jiangjia Village? Twenty million in activity funds! Twenty million! Just to have these people cause trouble for Jiang Chen at the clan meeting!"

The assistant kept his head down, not daring to utter a single word.

"And the result?" Chu Tiankuo's voice was low, yet it was more chilling than a roar. "Jiang Chen spent over a billion to buy out the clan registrations of these people. Eradicated them completely. Not a single one was left."

He slammed his fist on the mahogany desk.

"Click—"

A Qing Dynasty Ru ware teacup on the table was jolted awake, rolled over the edge of the table, and crashed onto the bluestone floor with a "crack," shattering into several pieces.

The assistant's lips twitched with heartache—that cup had been auctioned for 3.8 million last month.

But no one dared to bring it up now.

Chu Tiankuo stood by the window, his hands behind his back, breathing heavily.

The study was quiet for a full half minute.

"Young Master Chu..." the assistant tentatively began. "Should we send another group of people...?"

"Change what?" Chu Tiankuo turned around, enunciating each word clearly. "Jiang Chen can even kick his own uncles and aunts out of the clan. Do you think he would give outsiders a chance to take advantage of him?"

The assistant shut his mouth.

Chu Tiankuo sat back down in the armchair, closed his eyes, and pinched his brow with his thumb and forefinger.

He was reviewing the situation.

How many times has he clashed with Jiang Chen since their first encounter?

Logistics blockade—they bought an airline, built an airport, and planes fly right overhead.

An educational sabotage—they hired a national treasure-level retired master teacher, causing his elite school to be nipped in the bud.

Commercial dumping—someone bought an entire street, offered rent-free accommodation and subsidies, and forced his multi-million dollar shopping mall to close down.

Seed patents—someone cultivates a new variety with independent intellectual property rights, and then registers a more fundamental global patent.

Marriage and dating loans – they built free, fully-furnished apartments, directly eliminating market demand.

Land blockade—they built a railway, and trains drove into the village.

Internal collapse – they spent over a billion dollars to cut their losses and clean house.

Every move was countered by Jiang Chen in the simplest and most brutal way.

It's not about resolving; it's about crushing.

Chu Tiankuo slowly opened his eyes.

He had to admit one thing—conventional methods were completely useless against Jiang Chen.

This young man from the countryside has an incredible number of trump cards up his sleeve. He pours in massive amounts of money as if it were free, and each time he hits the nail on the head.

"Where did his money come from?"

This question swirled in Chu Tiankuo's mind countless times, but he could never find an answer. The size of the Su Group couldn't support this rate of spending, and the physical industries under Jiang Chen's name were far from sufficient.

But it is not important.

The important thing is—how to play next.

Chu Tiankuo turned his head to look at the north wall of the study.

A huge map of Nanjiang Province hung on the wall. The map was covered with dense markings in red and blue pencil. Red represented Jiang Chen's sphere of influence, and blue represented the Chu family's territory.

The red area has tripled in the past six months.

The blue area is shrinking.

Chu Tiankuo stared at the map for a full two minutes.

Then he spoke.

"Since we can't break through from the inside, let's attack the foundation from the outside."

The assistant immediately perked up: "Young Master Chu, please give your orders."

Chu Tiankuo walked to the map and pointed to several marked points around Qingshui Town.

"How big is Jiangjia Village now? It has tens of thousands of acres of farmland, food processing plants, fresh fruit packaging lines, cold chain logistics, and a longevity breeding base under construction. The amount of materials handled by these projects every day is astronomical."

He turned to look at his assistant.

"He can handle fertilizer and seeds himself. He's even built the railway. But there's one thing he can't handle for now."

"What?"

"Package."

Chu Tiankuo took a red pencil from the pen holder and circled three points on the map.

"There are a total of six large-scale cardboard packaging factories in Qinghe County and the three surrounding counties. Jiangjia Village currently cooperates with three of them. The production capacity of these three factories is just enough for his processing plant."

The assistant's eyes lit up.

"Jiangjia Village's strawberry jam, vegetable gift boxes, and agricultural product packaging all rely on these three suppliers. If the packaging line is cut off, his finished products can't leave the factory. The agricultural products just rot in the warehouse."

Chu Tiankuo threw the red pencil on the table.

"It's not just packaging plants. It's also agricultural machinery parts, fertilizer additives, vulnerable parts for cold chain equipment... I want to cut off everything Jiangjia Village buys from outside, one by one."

The assistant quickly pulled out his tablet and started taking notes.

"Immediately utilize all the family's hidden funds in Nanjiang Province. Offer these factories prices they can't refuse: exclusive supply agreements, exclusivity clauses, and sky-high penalties for breach of contract."

Chu Tiankuo's voice turned cold.

"Reject all orders from Jiangjia Village. If they succeed, they'll receive a year-end bonus of three times the profit. If they fail—"

He smiled.

That smile was cold.

"If we can't do that, then let them know what it means for the Chu family to do business in Nanjiang Province."

The assistant quickly finished taking notes and closed the tablet.

"Young Master Chu, how quickly can this plan be implemented?"

"One week." Chu Tiankuo sat back down in his armchair. "Within seven days, I want Jiangjia Village to not get a single packaging box."

He picked up another intact teacup from the table and took a sip.

The tea is this year's pre-Qingming Longjing. It has a refreshing and slightly bitter taste.

"Jiang Chen, you've got your house so tightly guarded. Then I'm not going to come in."

Chu Tiankuo put down his teacup and his gaze fell on the small dot circled in red on the map—Jiangjia Village.

"I'll surround you."

three days later.

The factory manager of Hengsheng Paper Products Factory in Qinghe County received a phone call.

After making the call, he immediately dialed the second number.

the same day.

The owner of "Huatong Packaging Co., Ltd." in the neighboring county found an extra eight-figure prepayment in his bank account.

Fourth day.

The general manager of the third cooperating packaging factory, "Xinda Color Printing," signed an exclusive supply agreement. The agreement was stamped with an official seal he had never seen before, but the terms promised profits four times higher than the current ones.

Day .

Three termination letters were sent simultaneously to the village committee office of Jiangjia Village.