The Rise of a Special Forces Soldier Abandoned by a Wealthy Family

In late autumn in Beijing, ginkgo leaves blanket Chang'an Avenue. Beneath this golden tranquility, a thrilling power struggle is quietly unfolding.

At seven o'clock in the morning, Teng Ao had just returned to his residence after finishing his morning run when his phone rang urgently.

The caller ID showed it was my second uncle, Teng Yunhai—a collateral figure in the Teng family's political circle, currently the speaker of a city council in an important city, and originally about to be promoted to secretary of the council committee.

"A'ao, something's happened." Teng Yunhai's voice was unusually anxious. "Yesterday afternoon, the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection suddenly received an anonymous report saying that the city cultural center project I promoted three years ago was a 'vanity project' that wasted public funds."

Teng Ao frowned: "Didn't that project win a provincial-level outstanding project award?"

"Yes, but now some people are bringing up old issues and making a big fuss about the project's 20% overrun and low utilization rate in the later stages."

Teng Yunhai sighed, "What's even more troublesome is that the inspection team has already moved in and said they want to conduct a comprehensive audit."

Teng Ao immediately realized the seriousness of the situation. Teng Yunhai was an important pillar of the Teng family in the political arena, and his promotion was related to the entire family's political strategy for the next five years.

An hour later, inside the Teng Group's crisis management center, Teng Ao faced a huge electronic screen displaying the complete timeline and network of relationships of Teng Yunhai's political career.

"We've found it," the intelligence chief said, pointing to the screen. "The earliest source of the information came from an anonymous Weibo account called 'Eye of Justice,' but after the IP address was redirected multiple times, it was eventually traced to an internet technology company controlled by the Chen Group."

Teng Ao's eyes suddenly turned cold: "Chen Yifeng..."

That afternoon, Tengao immediately launched a counterattack. He first convened the group's think tank to formulate a two-pronged strategy.

"Commercially, we are suspending all cooperative projects with the Chen Group, including that new energy battery joint venture plan."

Teng Ao's instructions were clear: "Politically, please have Elder Wang organize a research team of retired cadres to conduct on-site investigations into the actual benefits of the cultural center project."

Old Wang was a former subordinate of Old Master Teng, and although he has retired, he still wields considerable influence.

Three days later, a research report jointly signed by more than 20 retired cadres was delivered to the provincial party committee, objectively evaluating the positive role of the cultural center project in enhancing the city's cultural quality.

At the same time, Tengao used media resources to launch a series of reports in several authoritative media outlets to explore "how to scientifically evaluate the comprehensive benefits of government projects," dismantling the simplistic characterization of "image projects" from a theoretical perspective.

However, Chen Yifeng was prepared. The day after the research report on retired cadres was released, insider materials about the "inflated cost of the cultural center" suddenly surfaced online, comparing the costs of similar projects in detail and pointing directly to Teng Yunhai's alleged transfer of benefits.

"The materials are fake," the technical director reported, "but they are faked in a very professional way that ordinary netizens would have a hard time distinguishing them from the real ones."

Teng Ao's face darkened: "Chen Yifeng is going to wage a propaganda war."

Teng Ao decided to teach Chen Yifeng a lesson in the business world. He selected the smart city project that the Chen Group was focusing on recently.

"The core sensors used in the smart transportation project signed between Chen and the municipal government were imported from Germany."

Tengao made arrangements at a high-level meeting, and we can start from two aspects:

First, through our connections at customs, we delayed import clearance under the pretext of security checks;

Second, we should have our technical team develop similar products and offer them to the municipal government as an alternative at a price 30% lower than the competitor's.

A week later, the Chen Group's smart city project indeed ran into trouble.

The equipment could not be delivered on time, and the project delay resulted in huge daily penalties for breach of contract.

What troubled Chen Yifeng even more was that Tengshi's subsidiary technology company suddenly launched a domestically produced sensor with comparable performance and a more competitive price.

"Teng Ao is trying to cut off my source of income."

Chen Yifeng sneered at the board meeting, "Then don't blame me for being ruthless."

Chen Yifeng immediately retaliated, using his connections with the Liu family to instigate a sudden "routine inspection" by the banking regulatory authorities of Teng's Group's main lending banks.

This indirectly froze a significant overseas acquisition loan for Teng's company.

Meanwhile, the Chen Group dumped a large number of shares of Teng Group companies on the stock market, triggering a panic sell-off. The market value of Teng Group's listed companies evaporated by nearly 10 billion yuan in a single day.

Just as Tengao was fully engaged in dealing with the commercial siege, another piece of bad news came from the political front: Teng Yunhai was officially suspended from his post and placed under further investigation.

"This is a fatal blow to the Chen family," Teng's father said gravely. "Yunhai is likely in grave danger this time."

A resolute glint flashed in Teng Ao's eyes: "Since they're not playing by the rules, then don't blame us for flipping the table."

He launched a secret operation—"Operation Gold Rush." ​​Teng's intelligence team began a comprehensive investigation to uncover evidence of misconduct by the Chen Group and its political allies.

Three days later, a set of photos and documents showing irregularities by the Chen Group in a real estate project were anonymously delivered to the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). Meanwhile, videos of the lavish lifestyle of a certain son of the Liu family began circulating online, with captions directly pointing out the serious discrepancy between his income and spending habits.

Chen Yifeng reacted quickly, retaliating through the media channels under his control, accusing the Teng family of "framing" him, and presenting so-called evidence of the Teng family's "tax evasion".

The power struggle between the two sides gradually intensified, and the flames of war even affected the interests of some neutral families.

Just when the two sides were deadlocked, the Zeng family finally stepped in to mediate. Zeng Sheng arranged to meet with both Teng Ao and Chen Yifeng at Zeng Sheng's private residence.

"My two nephews," Zeng Sheng said, looking at the young men sitting at opposite ends of the sofa. His tone was calm but authoritative. "If you continue to fight like this, you will only end up hurting each other. The situation between you two has already caused a lot of damage. You should stop now."

Chen Yifeng preemptively said, "Uncle Zeng, it was the Teng family who started this trouble. Their cultural center project does have problems; I was just fulfilling my civic duty to monitor."

Teng Ao sneered: "So this is citizen oversight! Oversight through fabricated materials and manipulation of public opinion?"

Zeng Sheng raised his hand to stop the two from arguing: I've already looked into the Yunhai matter. The project does have some flaws, but labeling it a "vanity project" is too harsh.

How about this, I'll act as peacemaker: Yunhai will not be promoted, but I won't pursue the matter further; the Teng family will cease interfering with the Chen family's business projects; and the Chen family will also stop attacking the Teng family. What do you think?

This plan appears fair, but it is actually detrimental to the Teng family. Teng Yunhai is an important pillar of the Teng family in politics, and his withdrawal means that the Teng family will lose significant influence in politics for the next few years.

Just as Teng Ao was about to object, Zeng Sheng gave him a meaningful look: "Ao, just give Uncle Zeng some face. Some things can't be rushed."

After the meeting, Zeng Sheng kept Teng Ao behind: "I know you feel wronged. But temporary political losses can be compensated for with business opportunities. I will support the Teng family in leading that national-level new energy project in the Beibu Gulf region. Also, there will still be opportunities with Yunhai after the land is replaced at the end of the year."

On the surface, the conflict between the Teng and Chen families has temporarily subsided, but the undercurrents are even more turbulent.

Chen Yifeng outwardly accepted the Zeng family's mediation, but inwardly he harbored even greater resentment. "The Zeng family is clearly biased towards the Teng family," he told Uncle Liu. "That new energy project should have been an opportunity for us to cooperate."

"No rush," Uncle Liu said shrewdly. "The Zeng family can protect them for a while, but not forever. Don't forget, we still have that trump card..."

At the same time, Tengao adjusted its strategy at the group's strategic meeting: "Politically, we are temporarily on the defensive, but commercially we must launch a full-scale offensive. In particular, the Beibu Gulf project is a must-win situation; failure is not an option."

He specifically instructed his younger brother Tengfei: "Your relationship with Zeng Lingyu is very important, but remember, don't act too opportunistically. The Zeng family's assistance this time is already very kind."

Late at night, Teng Ao stood alone by the floor-to-ceiling window of his office, overlooking the night view of Beijing. His phone rang; it was an encrypted message: "Target locked, further verification underway."

Teng Ao deleted the message, a sharp glint in his eyes: "Chen Yifeng, the game has only just begun."

Meanwhile, at the Chen family residence, Chen Yifeng was opening the safe and taking out a yellowed document titled "Preliminary Investigation Report on the Baby Swap Incident at Peking Union Medical College Hospital 18 Years Ago".

"The Zeng family, the Teng family..." he murmured to himself, "You will soon find out who the final winner is."

The capital city remains brightly lit at night, but beneath the calm surface, undercurrents surge. In this game of power struggles, everyone is making their moves, and everyone may well be a pawn in the game.