Super Rich: It all started when I met a young woman in a sleeper car.

Once the business administration officials left, the lively atmosphere in the store seemed to cool down by half.

Chen Xun stood at the store entrance, watching the group of men in dark blue uniforms disappear around the corner of the mall. The perfunctory smile on his face vanished completely.

Li Qian stood next to him, her voice low: "The whistleblower's signature is Zhou Wenbin. I recognize the handwriting."

"Are you sure?" Chen Xun didn't turn around.

"One hundred percent." Li Qian's tone was cold. "The lease agreement and the renovation profit-sharing agreement were both signed by him personally."

Chen Xun hummed in agreement, took out his phone, but didn't rush to make a call. He first went back to the small office that had been temporarily partitioned off in the store and closed the door.

Li Qian followed her in.

There were only the two of them in the office. The faint sounds of music from outside and Yang Xiaotao greeting guests made the room seem even quieter.

Chen Xun plopped down in the chair and tapped his fingers on the table.

"A grand opening gift," he sneered. "Boss Zhou is really generous."

Li Qian leaned against the door: "Why? Jiang Tianxiong has already backed down, he has no reason to mess with us anymore. Unless..."

"Unless Jiang Tianxiong didn't completely shed his skin," Chen Xun chimed in, "or someone else offered him an even bigger piece of meat."

He paused, then looked at Li Qian: "Did Zhou Wenbin act strangely before the opening?"

Li Qian thought for a moment: "You told me to keep an eye on him. I sent him the opening arrangements twice, and his replies were very perfunctory, just saying 'You guys decide.' The last time I confirmed whether he would come to the ribbon-cutting ceremony, he read the message but didn't reply. His phone was later switched off."

"You're avoiding me," Chen Xun said. "You have something to hide."

"What do we do now?" Li Qian asked. "Should we just confront him directly?"

Chen Xun didn't answer immediately. He leaned back in his chair, his mind racing through recent events.

Jiang Tianxiong withdrew from the negotiations at a loss, seemingly bringing the matter to a close. Zhou Wenbin played a significant role at the time, portraying a double agent quite convincingly. Later, during the renovation of the new store, he even proactively recommended suppliers to Lin Xinyue to curry favor.

Then came the opening ceremony, which he missed. Immediately afterwards, the industry and commerce bureau came to his door with a complaint letter bearing his signature.

The timeline is too smooth.

This wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision; it was planned.

"We'll definitely have to confront them," Chen Xun said, "but not now. There are still so many customers in the store, and the media haven't all left. Let's keep things calm for now."

He stood up: "Go help Xinyue and Xiaotao finish the rest of the opening procedures, give out the coupons that need to be given out, and do the necessary interactions. Don't let it show on your face."

Li Qian nodded: "Understood."

"Wait for my call," Chen Xun added.

Li Qian went out.

Chen Xun remained alone in the office. He took out his phone, found Zhou Wenbin's number, stared at it for a few seconds, and then sent a text message instead of calling.

"Brother Zhou, busy? It's a shame you couldn't come to the opening ceremony. I'd like to talk to you about something. If it's convenient, shall we meet at our usual spot, Jingxin Teahouse? Right now."

The message was sent out, but it disappeared without a trace.

Chen Xun wasn't in a hurry; he just sat and waited.

About five minutes later, my phone vibrated.

Zhou Wenbin replied with just one word: "Okay."

Chen Xun put away his phone and walked out of the office. Inside the store, Lin Xinyue and Yang Xiaotao were handing out trial vouchers to the last batch of customers with several employees. Li Qian was talking to someone who looked like a food blogger at the cashier, with a perfectly appropriate smile on her face.

Chen Xun walked over and whispered to the three women, "I'm going out for a bit. Keep a close eye on the shop. If anyone asks, just say I'm going to meet an important supplier."

Lin Xinyue glanced at him, her eyes questioning, but she didn't ask further: "Okay."

Yang Xiaotao, however, was quite nonchalant: "Big brother, you go ahead! We'll handle things here! We guarantee a perfect ending!"

Li Qian simply nodded slightly.

Chen Xun patted Li Qian on the shoulder, then turned and walked out through the side door of the shop.

Jingxin Tea House is not far from the shopping mall, about a ten-minute drive away.

It was the same private room where I negotiated with Jiang Tianxiong last time.

When Chen Xun arrived, Zhou Wenbin was already there. He sat alone with a cup of tea in front of him, untouched, his face a little pale. Seeing Chen Xun enter, he forced a smile: "Brother Chen, congratulations on your grand opening!"

"Congratulations, Brother Zhou." Chen Xun sat down opposite him and didn't beat around the bush. "I was quite surprised you didn't come to the ribbon-cutting ceremony. What's even more surprising is that during the ribbon-cutting, the Industry and Commerce Bureau came and said they received a real-name report and were investigating my fire safety and sanitation."

Zhou Wenbin's smile froze: "Huh? Is that so? Who's so shameless?"

"The whistleblower's signature," Chen Xun said slowly, looking at him, "Zhou Wenbin."

The air in the private room seemed to have been sucked out all at once.

Zhou Wenbin opened his mouth but no sound came out, and a thin layer of sweat visibly appeared on his forehead.

"The handwriting analysis is definitely correct," Chen Xun continued. "The lease agreement and profit-sharing agreement were both signed by you personally. Just compare them."

"Brother Chen, let me explain..." Zhou Wenbin's voice trembled slightly.

"Explain what?" Chen Xun interrupted him. "Explain why you were taking my rent and commission while stabbing me in the back? Or explain, now that Jiang Tianxiong has 'retired,' who would let you do this?"

Zhou Wenbin's face turned even paler. He picked up his teacup to take a sip, but his hand trembled so much that he spilled the tea.

Chen Xun didn't urge him, he just looked at him.

After a long while, Zhou Wenbin put down his cup and lowered his voice: "I...I was forced into it too."

"Jiang Tianxiong?" Chen asked.

Zhou Wenbin nodded, then shook his head: "Not entirely... In the last negotiation, I helped you and got the storefront and stable tenants I wanted. But Jiang Tianxiong... he has some things about me, some... things that can't be brought to light. He accepted his loss by paying compensation and backing out, but he kept those things to himself and didn't return them to me."

He looked up, his eyes slightly bloodshot: "He sent someone to tell me that if I did what he said just once, we'd be even, and he'd return my things. Just once... to report him during the business opening, to cause some trouble, he wouldn't really do anything to you... I... I was bewitched..."

Chen Xun listened without showing any expression.

He didn't care how much of that was true or false. What mattered was that Zhou Wenbin admitted it, and that he was indeed being manipulated by Jiang Tianxiong.

"So, Jiang Tianxiong never intended to really back down," Chen Xun said. "Paying compensation is to cut his losses, and planting you as a spy is to have a backup plan."

Zhou Wenbin tacitly agreed.

"What does he still want to do now?" Chen asked.

"I don't know," Zhou Wenbin shook his head. "He just told me to report it, to create chaos, and preferably to embarrass your new store opening and affect your business. He didn't say anything else."

Chen Xun tapped his fingers on the table, his mind racing.

Jiang Tianxiong's purpose was obvious: to disgust him, dampen the momentum of the new store, and incidentally, to see his reaction and what his cards were up to.

If he panics because of the whistleblowing, or if his business is affected, Jiang Tianxiong is likely to take the next step—for example, to propose another acquisition, or to use even harsher methods to suppress him.

【Ding! 】

[A new high-risk investment opportunity has been detected: By using an insider to pass on false intelligence, potential adversaries can be lured into making another move, potentially leading to a reverse takeover or a complete defeat of the opponent.]

[Investment Nature: Business Gambling, Intelligence Warfare.]

Risk rating: High.

Potential return coefficient: Extremely high (depending on the scale of the opponent's actions and the final outcome).

Please make your decision carefully, host.

The system notification came at just the right time.

High risk, high reward.

Chen Xun looked at Zhou Wenbin: "Brother Zhou, do you want to get rid of Jiang Tianxiong completely?"

Zhou Wenbin was taken aback: "Of course I want to! Who wants to have someone choking them every day?"

"Alright." Chen Xun leaned forward. "Do as I say. Tell him that although the business investigation didn't find any major problems, it gave me quite a scare. My cash flow is very tight right now. The investment in the new store is too big, and I'm in a hurry to find a new investor to bail me out."

Zhou Wenbin's eyes widened: "You...you're trying to provoke him into making another move?"

"Yes." Chen Xun nodded. "He wants my shop, or he wants to ruin me. I'll give him a chance, make him think I'm about to fail, and he'll jump out on his own. Then, it'll be hard to say who will eat whom."

"This is too risky!" Zhou Wenbin blurted out.

"If you don't take the risk, how can you get your leverage back?" Chen Xun retorted. "According to him, if you report him once, he'll really be even? Brother Zhou, you're a businessman too. Can you trust someone like that? Only by completely crushing him can you truly be safe."

Zhou Wenbin fell silent, his expression shifting unpredictably.

Chen Xun wasn't in a hurry and gave him time to think.

After a long pause, Zhou Wenbin gritted his teeth and said, "Fine! I'll listen to you! Tell me, how exactly do I do it?"

"It's very simple," Chen Xun said. "You take the initiative to contact Jiang Tianxiong's people and say that the report has achieved its purpose. Chen Xun is currently in a state of panic, asking around to see if anyone is willing to take over or invest. As the landlord, you are also worried that he can't afford the rent and are willing to help make connections. You need to be eager and genuine."

"I understand." Zhou Wenbin nodded. "It's about making him feel that the opportunity has arrived."

"Yes." Chen Xun stood up. "After it's done, I'll still give you your share. As for Jiang Tianxiong, I'll take care of everything for you."

Zhou Wenbin also stood up and let out a heavy sigh: "Brother Chen, this time... I'm truly impressed. Don't worry, I'll definitely do my best in this role."

Chen Xun didn't say anything more, patted him on the shoulder, and left the teahouse.

When I returned to the MixC World store, the opening event was almost over. Most of the customers had left, and the staff were doing the final cleaning.

Chen Xun called the three women to his office.

"The situation has changed a bit." He got straight to the point. "The whistleblower was Zhou Wenbin, and Jiang Tianxiong has used this against him."

Yang Xiaotao exclaimed, "Ah! How could Brother Zhou... do this?!"

Lin Xinyue frowned: "Jiang Tianxiong really hasn't given up."

Li Qian looked at Chen Xun and asked, "You went out just now to see him?"

"Yes." Chen Xun nodded. "I've already talked to him and we'll play along."

He briefly explained his plan.

"Should we have Zhou Wenbin give Jiang Tianxiong false information to lure him into making another move?" Lin Xinyue asked with some concern. "Wouldn't that be too risky? What if Jiang Tianxiong doesn't come, or what if he comes up with something even more ruthless..."

"He will definitely come," Chen Xun said with certainty. "The kind of person who, once he's suffered a loss, will always try to get revenge. Now that he thinks I'm weak, he'll definitely seize the opportunity."

Li Qian thought for a moment: "What do we need to do?"

"Three things," Chen Xun assigned tasks. "First, Li Qian, you're in charge of intelligence analysis and monitoring. Keep an eye on the channels through which Zhou Wenbin transmits information, and gather information on Jiang Tianxiong's possible reactions. Also, keep a close eye on any rumors circulating online and offline."

"Okay." Li Qian noted it down.

"Second, Xinyue, Xiaotao," Chen Xun said, looking at the other two. "Keep the shop operating normally, do what you normally do. In fact, make it even better and more lively than usual. Give the impression that we haven't been affected by the reports at all, that business is booming, and that we have plenty of funds. This is to lull our opponents into a false sense of security."

Yang Xiaotao immediately raised her hand: "Got it! I'm good at acting! I guarantee the shop will be like it's New Year's Day every day!"

Lin Xinyue nodded: "I will do a good job in terms of revenue and reputation."

"Third," Chen Xun said, "wait. Wait for the fish to bite."

He had just finished speaking when his phone vibrated. It was a text message from Zhou Wenbin: "Message sent. The recipient received it and said, 'Understood, waiting for further message.'"

Chen Xun showed the text message to the three women.

"The bait has been laid," he said. "Let's see when Jiang Tianxiong can't hold back anymore."

The office fell silent.

Outside the window, the neon lights of the shopping mall were flashing; the city's night was just beginning.

A new, unseen business game has quietly begun.