Nominal: Hou Liangping blocking the door? He was slapped away!

"Secretary Li, something has happened."

At 12:40 pm, the door to the Jingzhou Municipal Party Committee office was pushed open by the secretary.

Li Dakang had just turned to the second page of the state-owned assets supervision report when the red mobile phone on his desk was still ringing. His secretary was sweating and clutching a fax in his hand.

Li Dakang looked up.

The secretary quickly placed the fax on the table. "Haizhou Coastal Fund has just passed the creditors' meeting of Jingzhou Intermediate People's Court and applied for the forced freezing of the accounts of two heavy industry companies, Jingzhou Heavy Machinery and Handong Special Materials."

The air conditioner was still on in the office, and the paper pages rustled softly in the breeze.

Li Dakang picked up the fax, scanned two lines, and his face immediately tightened.

"reason."

"Protect foreign creditors' claims and prevent the malicious transfer of state-owned assets." The secretary's throat tightened. "The materials they submitted were very complete, including confirmation of overseas claims, a letter of guarantee, and an expedited application for property preservation."

Li Dakang put down the fax.

Who chaired the creditors' meeting?

"The Second Civil Division of the Jingzhou Intermediate People's Court. The meeting has just ended, and the freezing order has not yet been officially issued."

"What about the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission?"

"Just received the message, and I'm on my way here."

What's the status of the company account?

The secretary opened her notebook. "Jingzhou Heavy Machinery has an equipment payment due this morning, and Handong Special Materials needs to pay wages this afternoon. If the accounts are frozen, the production line, suppliers, and workers' wages will all be stuck."

Li Dakang picked up his teacup.

The secretary took half a step back.

He didn't drink it.

The cup fell onto the table, and tea splashed onto the corner of the fax machine.

"Using my court to freeze my business. Do you really think Handong has no one left?"

The secretary whispered a reminder, "Secretary Li, the other party is proceeding with the procedures very quickly, using the guise of protecting foreign debt. If we directly block them, we risk being labeled."

Li Dakang gave a cold laugh.

"They've got a clever plan. Before Handong even makes any arrests, they've already transferred the assets. They freeze the accounts, transfer the debts, mortgage the equipment, and then come back and say they'll handle it according to the law."

He stood up and grabbed his coat from the back of the chair.

The secretary hurriedly followed, "Secretary Li, the car is ready."

"Notify the Economic Crime Investigation Department."

"Yes."

"Notify the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission."

"Yes."

"Notify the heads of the two companies to bring their company seals, financial seals, bank statements, and recent orders to the Intermediate People's Court."

The secretary quickly jotted down the note: "Should we notify the court's Party Committee?"

Li Dakang stopped at the door and turned around.

"Notify them. Let them also go and sit in the meeting room. Whoever signs, explains."

The secretary hesitated for a moment, then said, "What about Secretary Sha...?"

Li Dakang draped his coat over his arm.

"Get things done first."

The secretary immediately shut up.

The footsteps in the corridor were quick.

Two staff members followed, carrying materials; one was holding a phone, and the other was carrying a briefcase.

The moment the elevator doors opened, a call came in from the person in charge of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.

Li Dakang answered the call.

"Secretary Li, we're already on our way. The Coastal Fund has brought a legal team, and they're taking a very tough stance."

"hard?"

Li Dakang pressed the elevator button.

"I like it hard. Soft things don't feel right to squeeze."

There was a pause on the other end of the phone, followed by a quick reply, "Understood, we'll bring all the company's records."

"Don't just bring the accounts, bring the workers' roster too."

"A roster?"

"If they want to freeze the accounts, let them talk to the workers' list about how foreign debt is more valuable than the wages of thousands of people."

The elevator is going down.

The secretary, standing beside him, added in a low voice, "Secretary Li, the Economic Investigation Department is asking if we should detain the representatives of the coastal fund first?"

"Don't rush."

Li Dakang stared at the elevator numbers.

"Don't they like meetings? Let them finish their meetings today."

The secretary, holding her phone, asked, "So, how should we arrange things on-site?"

"Meet downstairs in ten minutes."

Ding.

The elevator doors opened.

Outside the lobby on the first floor of the municipal party committee building, several cars were already parked at the bottom of the steps.

Li Dakang strode out, his leather shoes making a crisp sound as they hit the ground.

The people behind him jogged along.

Just as they reached the door, the secretary received another phone call, and her forehead was covered in even more sweat.

"Secretary Li, the Intermediate Court said that the Coastal Fund requires the freezing order to be signed on-site, and also requires the bank to send someone to execute it simultaneously."

Li Dakang didn't stop walking.

"Good."

He opened the car door, threw his coat into the back seat, and turned to look at his secretary and the staff who had rushed over.

"Notify the Economic Crime Investigation Department and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission to assemble downstairs in ten minutes. Anyone who dares to sign the freezing order today will be left here with the official seal!"

Jingzhou, the banquet hall on the third floor of the Bihai Hotel.

The representative of Haizhou Coastal Fund was surnamed Zheng. He wore a gray plaid suit, gold-plated cufflinks, and pointed at the stack of agreements on the table with a pen.

"Gentlemen, if you sign, today marks the start of our cooperation. If you don't, the freezing order will be issued this afternoon, and your salaries won't be paid. Don't blame me for not warning you."

The person in charge of Jingzhou Heavy Machinery's hand trembled, the pen tip hovering over the paper. The person from Handong Special Materials' throat moved, but he didn't say a word.

Representative Zheng leaned back.

"Don't hesitate. The confirmation of the overseas debt is here, the guarantee letter is here, and the application for property preservation has been submitted. This is a commercial legal process, and no one can stop it."

Footsteps could be heard outside.

It wasn't just one or two people, but a group. The leather shoes clicked on the marble floor, drawing ever closer. Representative Zheng looked up; someone in the legal team had stood up.

The door was pushed open from the outside and slammed against the wall with a dull thud.

Li Dakang walked at the front, dressed in a dark suit and with a neat tie. Behind him, the economic crime investigators filed in, while several officials from the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission followed on either side, carrying folders, quickly securing both doors to the meeting room.

"Everyone, sit down," Li Dakang said. "Nobody touch anything on the table."

Representative Zheng paused for half a second, then sneered.

"Who is this leader? This is a legitimate creditors' meeting; participation is voluntary for the company. What is the meaning of you bringing so many people in?"

"Li Dakang, Secretary of the Jingzhou Municipal Committee."

There were whispers among the legal team. Representative Zheng didn't fall silent; instead, he became more settled.

"Secretary Li, I've heard so much about you. But you have to follow the rules. This is a procedure overseen by the Intermediate Court; the freeze application is legal and compliant. Your intervention changes the nature of the matter."

"nature?"

"Yes, the nature of it." Representative Zheng put his pen on the table. "I can call right now and file a complaint with the provincial party committee. It doesn't sound good for a municipal party secretary like you to interfere with normal judicial procedures."

Li Dakang didn't respond to him.

He placed his briefcase on the long table and unzipped it. Both business leaders looked over.

A piece of paper was pulled out and laid flat on the table.

The bottom right corner of the paper bears the national emblem's steel stamp, with a red seal overlapping the steel stamp's subtle pattern, and a second red seal is placed next to it. Both military and civilian stamps are present, and the seals align perfectly across the seam.

Representative Zheng looked down.

"Receipt for Special Investigation of Terrorist Funds by Provincial Procuratorate." Li Dakang read it out word by word. "Your coastal fund's overseas funds are suspected of cross-border terrorism money laundering and have entered into a special investigation."

The hall fell silent.

"From this moment forward, all acquisition agreements discounted by 30% are suspended from evaluation. A freeze order? You won't be signing a single word today."