Inheriting a dilapidated ranch in North America, he became a billionaire through animal taming and t

Chapter 160 Locks in the Mastermind, Malice Revealed

The first person to speak was a young man in his early twenties with dyed yellow hair, whose fingers were trembling as he sat in the interrogation room.

Bill hired me.

"He said that as long as you hand out flyers in Whitefish, you can earn $200 a day."

"He gave me the flyers and told me to hand them out at the supermarket entrance and in the square."

"They even said the more they posted, the better, ideally the whole town would see it."

The second one was a middle-aged man with a scar on his face and a very low voice.

"I've worked with Turner a few times. He called me and asked me to find people to distribute flyers. I found the blond guy and another one."

"The flyers were printed by Turner. They told us to drive around the ranch a few times, pretending to scout it out, so that people would think there was really something wrong with the ranch."

The third one was the oldest, in his fifties, with gray hair.

He looked at Cole's notebook and remained silent for a long time before speaking.

"Cook owes me money, and he said that if I help him with this, the debt will be wiped clean."

"Let me go and distribute flyers around the ranch, just outside the fence and on the road."

"I did it, but I didn't know things would escalate this much."

The three people are in agreement: those who instructed them; that is, Bill: Turner, Cook.

Cole secured testimonies, surveillance footage, leaflets, and vehicle information, creating a complete chain of evidence.

He organized the case files, sending one copy to the town government, one copy to the court, and one copy to his archives.

After reading the case file, George slammed his fist on the table.

"According to the town's regulations, malicious rumors and unfair competition will be punished with fines and public apologies at the very least, and legal action will be taken at the very worst."

"The three conspired together, which is a serious offense and must be severely punished."

He picked up the phone and called Bill.

Bill didn't answer.

George then called Turner and Cook, both of whom answered, but both denied it on the phone.

"Mayor, we didn't! Those three people are just making things up!"

George didn't waste any words with them.

"Tomorrow morning at 10:00 AM, at the town hall, for a face-to-face confrontation."

"If you don't come, treat it as an absence and proceed with legal action."

After hanging up the phone, George gave Cole a copy of the case file and asked Cole to notify Su Chen.

When Su Chen received Cole's call, he was inspecting the pasture at the ranch.

Cole recounted what had happened and asked Su Chen how he wanted to handle it.

Su Chen said, "A public apology, compensation for losses, clarification of the facts, and the rest will be handled according to legal procedures. I will not insist on a heavy sentence."

Cole said, "With your demands, they probably won't go to jail, but they'll still have to pay fines and restitution."

That's enough.

Cole hung up the phone.

The next morning at 10:00 AM, in the town government office meeting room.

George sat in the head seat, and Cole sat beside him.

Su Chen sat opposite him, with Emma standing behind him.

Bill, Turner, and Cook sat on the other side, all looking rather grim.

Bill's beard wasn't very clean, Turner kept rubbing his hands, and Cook kept his head down and didn't say anything.

George spread out the case file and read it aloud page by page.

It started when the three men were refused to buy bovine sperm extract.

They conspired to hire people, print leaflets, and spread rumors.

All evidence chains are complete, and testimonies are consistent.

After reading it, George looked at the three people.

"Is there anything else you want to say?"

Bill looked up, stubbornly refusing to admit defeat.

"Mayor, we didn't..."

'

"The surveillance cameras captured your car, and the flyers had the fingerprints of all three of you. The people we hired have all confessed."

"What else do you want to say?"

Bill opened his mouth, but no words came out.

Turner lowered his head and remained silent.

Cook looked up at Su Chen.

"Mr. Su, I was wrong."

"I shouldn't have done this just because I couldn't buy breeding cattle."

"I apologize, I'm willing to compensate you, please forgive me."

Su Chen looked at him without saying a word.

Bill tried to argue, but Cole slapped the case file on the table.

"Bill, apologize now, and I can write in the report that you took the initiative to admit your mistake."

"If you continue to be stubborn, I will hand over all the evidence to the court. You will be responsible for whatever the verdict is."

Bill finally shut his mouth.

The three people wrote apology letters on the spot.

The letter was drafted by George:

He admitted to maliciously spreading rumors, admitted to unfair competition, admitted to causing negative impact on Sunset Ranch and Whitefish Town, and apologized to Su Chen and all the residents of the town.

Three people signed and put their fingerprints on the document.

George announced the outcome of the investigation.

First, the three individuals must publicly read their apology letter in the town square.

Second, publish a full-page clarification and apology statement in the local media.

Third, compensate Sunset Ranch for announcement fees, testing fees, and expenses related to maintaining public opinion stability, totaling US$48,000.

Fourth, permanently expel from the Whitefish Town Ranch Alliance.

Bill's face turned green when he heard "forty-eight thousand dollars".

But Cole sat there, not daring to utter a single word of dissent.

Turner and Cook's hands were shaking when they signed, but they still did it.

Su Chen didn't say anything, stood up and left.

That afternoon, at the town square.

George set up a makeshift small stage; it wasn't as formal as a briefing, but everyone who was supposed to come showed up.

Residents, business owners, and media gathered around.

Bill, Turner, and Cook stood on the stage, each holding a letter of apology.

Bill read it first, his voice very soft.

"I, Bill McCormick, harbor a grudge because I was refused to buy Sunset Ranch breeding cattle rice extract."

"Join Turner and Cook to print leaflets, spread rumors, and maliciously smear Sunset Ranch."

"I admit my mistake and apologize to Mr. Su Chen and all the residents of the town."

Turner read it second, his voice even softer than Bill's.

He got stuck halfway through reading, and Cook whispered a reminder to him before he could continue.

Cook read last, and read the fastest, like reciting a text.

After the three people finished reading, George took the microphone.

"The apology letter will be published in a full-page spread in the local media for three consecutive days."

"The three parties involved have pledged to pay Sunset Ranch $48,000 in compensation."

"The Whitefish Town Ranch Alliance has permanently expelled the three individuals."

Someone in the audience shouted, "Serves him right!"

Someone shouted, "Don't ever hang around Whitefish Town again!"

The three of them slunk off the stage, got into their car, and drove away.

Luke announced that afternoon that he would stop supplying agricultural supplies to Bill, Turner, and Cook.

Orders already placed will be refunded; we will no longer cooperate.

Smith also announced that he would tighten the loan credit lines for the three individuals and expedite the collection of loans already disbursed.

John went even further, permanently ceasing the purchase of beef from the three men and voiding the previously signed contracts.

The three-person ranch operation was suddenly plunged into a complete crisis.

Anderson called Su Chen, his tone gloating.

"Mr. Su, those three people are finished."

"Without agricultural supplies, loans, and sales channels, we can't even keep raising cattle."

Su Chen said, "Everyone has seen the rules of the alliance."

"Anyone who engages in malicious competition from now on will suffer the same fate."

Anderson nodded repeatedly.

"Don't worry, no one will dare."

Su Chen asked Emma to compile the entire crisis public relations process into a file.

From the emergence of rumors, the collection of evidence, joint verification, test reports, public briefings to the exposure of the mastermind, everything was recorded.

Emma spent three days organizing and wrote dozens of pages.

From the timeline to the chain of evidence, from the handling plan to the execution details, from the division of labor to the allocation of materials, everything is archived.

"If a similar situation occurs again in the future, just follow this procedure."

Su Chen flipped through the file and handed it back to Emma.

Old Tom also improved the public opinion early warning and rapid emergency response procedures.

From monitoring public opinion, collecting evidence, and initiating investigations to public clarification, accountability, and compensation claims.

Each step has a clearly defined person in charge and a specific timeframe.

After reading it, Su Chen said, "Send a copy to every rancher in the alliance and let them learn from it."

The system panel is twitching.

[Local Reputation: Completely Secure]

The crisis has been completely resolved.

[Unlock Achievement: Crisis Management Master]

After a period of time, Sunset Ranch returned to its peaceful daily routine.

On this day, Su Chen walked into the mine site, stepping on the gravel.

Juan was squatting beside the pile of ore, holding a hammer in his hand, smashing a piece of ore the size of a fist with each blow.

Debris flew and landed on the tarpaulin on the ground.

Louis sorted the items, throwing the good ones into the tin bucket and piling the ones with more impurities on the other side.

It's not very efficient.

The two worked all morning, but had processed less than half a ton of ore.

Dazhuang squatted in the shade next to the mine entrance, his two front paws on the ground, watching Juan's movements.

Its task is to move large chunks of ore out of the mine and pile them up in the work area.

The work is done, now we just wait to move the next batch.

Su Chen walked to the pile of ore, bent down and picked up a piece.

The cross-section shows copper-green spots, but the surface is covered with a lot of dirt and gravel.

High purity ore is good, but if it doesn't look appealing, recyclers will definitely lower the price.

Juan straightened up and wiped his forehead.

"Mr. Su, this rock is too hard. It breaks into several pieces with one hammer blow, and we can't make any progress."

Louis also stopped what he was doing.

"If only we had machines, we wouldn't be able to produce much even if we kept hammering away like this."

Su Chen didn't reply.

He knew, of course, that manually breaking ore was inefficient, but the mining site was just starting out, and it was good enough if they could even produce any ore.

Now that production has increased, the processing methods definitely need to be upgraded.

Dazhuang stood up, walked to Su Chen's side, and nuzzled his arm with his head.

Su Chen patted the bear's head, signaling it to stay put.

Black Fang trotted over from the slope outside the mine, making a low growling sound in its throat.

Su Chen turned his head to look in the direction it was pointing.

On the dirt road outside the ranch, a gray pickup truck was driving towards us, kicking up a cloud of dust.