I chose one of four options at the start, and I chose the number one clan in Lingnan.

The backyard of the Lin Family Ancestral Hall in Tazhai Town.

The abacus beads clicked and clattered. Lin Fu sat at his desk, his forehead covered in sweat.

Lin Dayou pushed open the door and walked in, holding an entry list in his hand.

"Grandpa, we won the bid. As you instructed, I contacted the largest heavy machinery rental company in the county."

"Two hundred excavators and bulldozers are ready to enter the site at any time to clear the rubble from the municipal square," Lin Dayou reported.

Lin Ting picked up his teacup and took a sip of water. "Did you pay the deposit?"

Lin Dayou turned to look at Lin Fu.

Lin Fu removed his hands from the abacus and pushed the ledger forward.

"Grandpa, there's no money left in the public account." Lin Fu's voice was tight.

"In the past two weeks, we spent two million to buy the cement plant on the back mountain and advanced several million to buy special materials to speed up the construction of Jiangjing Haoting."

In addition to paying workers their full salaries and distributing dividends to the entire clan, all the profits from Lin's Supermarket and the farmers' market were invested in infrastructure construction.

Lin Fu stood up and pointed to the list in Lin Dayou's hand.

"The municipal square is a lucrative opportunity, but it requires upfront investment."

The rental costs for two hundred machines, the workers' food, drink, and other necessities, and the subsequent production costs of special cement.

"Without 20 million in cash, we can't even get the first truckload of rubble out," Lin Fu reported, revealing the gap in their funds.

Lin Ting placed the teacup on the table.

"Take the winning bid notification stamped by the county bidding committee to the four major banks in the city. With the government's official document backing it up, the loan can be processed through a fast track," Lin Ting ordered.

Lin Fu stuffed the winning bid notification into his briefcase, turned around, and ran out of the ancestral hall.

The next day at 2 PM. City branch credit department.

Lin Fu, dressed in a suit, sat on a cold bench in the corridor for a full four hours.

Director Zhao of the Credit Department slowly walked out of his office, carrying a thermos.

Lin Fu quickly stepped forward to block their path.

"Director Zhao, we agreed to discuss the loan approval at nine o'clock this morning. Your meeting has been going on for quite a while," Lin Fu said.

Director Zhao stopped and pursed his lips.

"The bank is busy. Mr. Lin, your 20 million yuan loan didn't pass the risk assessment, so I sent it back."

Director Zhao unscrewed the lid of the thermos and blew on the tea leaves on the surface of the water.

Lin Fu suppressed his anger, opened his briefcase, and took out the official document.

"Director Zhao, this is the official bid award document for the municipal engineering project, stamped by the county bidding committee. It's a key government project, so where's the risk?" Lin Fu handed over the document.

Director Zhao didn't even glance at the document; he simply pushed it aside.

"The bid award document doesn't prove anything. Your Lin's Construction Team has been registered for less than a month and doesn't even have a Class II qualification."

"If the project falls apart, who will be responsible for the mess? I can't afford that responsibility." Director Zhao adopted an official tone.

Lin Fu retorted: "Jiangjing Mansion topped out three buildings in ten days. Is that what you call lacking qualifications?"

Our Lin family owns its own cement plant and sand and gravel mine; all costs are within a controllable range. If your branch won't approve this loan, I'll go to another bank.

Director Zhao burst out laughing.

"Go ahead, go and wear down the doors of every bank in Jiangnan Province, see which one dares to accept your Lin family's materials." Director Zhao said, walking back with his water glass in hand.

Lin Fu sensed something was off in the voice and strode after him.

"I want to see President Liu," Lin Fu shouted.

Director Zhao waved towards the end of the corridor. Two uniformed security guards ran over and blocked Lin Fu's way.

"President Liu has gone to a meeting in the city. President Lin, this is a financial center, please don't make a lot of noise here, please." Director Zhao walked into the office and slammed the door shut.

Lin Fu was half-pushed and half-driven out of the city branch's lobby by security guards.

Standing on the steps outside the bank, Lin Fu lit a cigarette and took out his phone to dial a number.

Ten minutes later, in the back alley of the bank.

Xiao Zhang, a loan officer who usually worked with Lin Fu on business, came over and looked around.

Lin Fu opened the trunk of the Santana, stuffed two packs of Zhonghua cigarettes into Xiao Zhang's hand, and handed him a thick envelope.

Xiao Zhang waved his hand repeatedly and pushed the things back.

"Brother Fu, this money is too hot to handle. Your Lin family has offended some big shots, and I can't afford to get into trouble," Xiao Zhang said in a low voice.

Lin Fu forcibly stuffed the envelope into Xiao Zhang's suit pocket.

"Let me die knowing why. Who intercepted my money?" Lin Fu asked.

Xiao Zhang sighed and leaned close to Lin Fu's ear.

"President Liu didn't attend the meeting at all; he was in his top-floor office. This morning at nine o'clock, Mr. Leng from the Jiangnan financial group arrived."

He entered the bank manager's office with bodyguards and two black briefcases. "When President Leng left, he didn't take the briefcases with him," Xiao Zhang revealed the truth.

Lin Fu's hand holding the cigarette trembled slightly.

Xiao Zhang patted the envelope in his pocket and continued, "No sooner had President Leng left than Director Liu issued a death order."

All banks in the city are connected and will issue a notification: anyone who dares to lend the Lin family even a single penny will be kicked out.

Leng Qiu is going to drag you all down with the cash flow problem. Without this advance payment, how will you get to the construction site to start work tomorrow?

After saying that, Xiao Zhang turned around and ran back into the building.

Lin Fu threw his half-smoked cigarette on the ground and crushed it with his leather shoe.

As darkness fell, at the ancestral hall in Tazhai.

Lin Fu slammed his briefcase on the desk and grabbed the teapot, gulping down large mouthfuls of cold water.

"Grandpa, that woman Leng Qiu has pulled a trick. She bribed Bank Manager Liu and blocked all loan channels in the city," Lin Fu reported, wiping the water from his mouth.

Lin Dayou paced anxiously in the room.

"Tomorrow morning is the deadline for entry. The heavy machinery boss will not send out the trucks until he receives the deposit."

"Are we supposed to expect the men of the Lin family to dig through the ruins of the square with their bare hands?" Lin Dayou shouted.

Lin Fei walked in from outside, carrying a seamless steel pipe.

"Grandpa, I'm taking fifty brothers from Zhongtang to the city to kidnap that bank manager Liu and bring him back to Tazhai."

"If he dares not approve the funds, I'll stuff him into a dump truck and haul him to fill the sea!" Lin Fei clenched his fist.

Lin Ting sat in the armchair and tapped on the table.

"Put the steel pipe down," Lin Ting said.

Lin Fei gritted his teeth, propped the steel pipe up in the corner, and stepped aside.

Lin Ting looked at Lin Fu.

"Does Leng Qiu think that by blocking the banks with money, he can strangle the Lin family?" Lin Ting asked calmly.

Lin Fu sighed: "Grandpa, the standard practice in the construction industry is to advance funds. We've invested all our cash in the building materials production line in the back mountain."

Leng Qiu knew perfectly well that we didn't have any readily available cash. That was a truly ruthless move.

Lin Ting did not respond.

He brought up the system panel, which only he could see.

[Family prosperity points deducted by 5,000.]

[Exchange successful: Level 2 Business Intelligence Database. Target: Branch Manager Liu of the City Branch.]

A series of data streams flashed across the system panel, displaying a dense array of overseas account transfer records, high-definition photos, and account details.

Lin Ting opened the drawer, took out a USB flash drive, and plugged it into the laptop on the desktop.

The file copy progress bar quickly reached its maximum.

Lin Ting unplugged the USB drive and threw it directly into Lin Fu's arms.

"Go to town and find a print shop that's still open. Print everything in color and bind it into a book," Lin Ting instructed.

Lin Fu held the USB drive, his face full of confusion.

"Grandpa, what is this?" Lin Fu asked.

Lin Ting leaned back in his chair.

"The kickbacks that Director Liu took in approving bad debts over the past five years, and the addresses of the three mistresses he kept outside."

"And there are two villas he bought overseas under other people's names." Lin Ting looked at Lin Fu.

"The transaction records for every single account are in there. Since he refuses to use public funds, let him use his own money to cover the costs."

Lin Fu suddenly realized what was happening, clutched the USB drive, and rushed out of the ancestral hall.

The branch manager's office is on the top floor of the city branch building.

President Liu leaned back in his leather office chair, his legs dangling over the edge of the desk.

On the table were two fully open black combination lock boxes. Inside, bundles of red cash were neatly stacked.

President Liu took out a stack of banknotes, held them to his nose, and smelled the ink.

The red landline on the table rang.

Bank Manager Liu put down the money and picked up the receiver.

A cold, hard voice came from the other end of the phone: "Director Liu, have the Lin family gone there?"

President Liu sat in his leather chair, smoking a cigarette, and said with a smile into the phone, "Don't worry, President Leng, they won't get a single penny."