Living in a county town, starting as a stock market maker...

"AME..."

Gu Ming read the name aloud and gave a cold laugh.

interesting.

I just defeated Shen Guodong, and he already brought in help?

It seems he's even less of a sore loser than I thought.

Yeah.

I was just worried about not being able to find you.

Since you've shown yourself, don't blame me for wiping you all out.

A Mercedes pulled up and stopped behind him.

The car door opened, and a hunchbacked man got out of the car.

His hair was wet and stuck to his forehead, and he smelled of alcohol.

It was Wang Tianqi.

He walked quickly to Gu Ming, stopped three steps away, and dared not approach.

He lowered his head, his eyes no longer holding their former brilliance.

"Mr. Gu... Mr. Gu..." His voice was hoarse.

Gu Ming didn't turn around or look at him.

He took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and took a puff.

"Is the matter settled?"

"It's done," Wang Tianqi said. "I've received the list you requested."

He pulled a brown paper envelope from his pocket and held it above his head with trembling hands.

Inside is a secret list of Shen Guodong's core creditors.

This is Shen Guodong's weakness.

Gu Ming did not answer.

The parking lot was quiet, with only the sound of the wind and Wang Tianqi's breathing.

His hand holding the envelope began to go limp.

With a thud.

Wang Tianqi knelt on the cement floor.

Rain splashed and soaked his trousers.

He held the envelope high towards Gu Ming's back.

"Chairman Gu, please give me a chance. I was blind to your greatness before, and now I only want to work for you."

"Shen Guodong ruined everything for me. I want revenge. I'm willing to do anything for you."

He kowtowed to the ground.

Gu Ming exhaled a smoke ring.

He knew that to get someone like Wang Tianqi to obey, you couldn't just offer money and status.

Give him the hope of revenge, let him get his hands dirty, so that he can become the most useful tool.

"Get up." Gu Ming turned around and looked at him, his eyes calm.

"You're not fit to be my subordinate."

Wang Tianqi trembled and turned pale.

"However," Gu Ming said, "I can give you a chance to bite."

He picked up the envelope with two fingers.

"These are investors who were scammed by Shen Guodong. They're in a real hurry now."

"I'll set up a new company for you and give you 50 million."

"Your job is to tell them that there's a new way for them to make ten times more money."

"As for Shen Guodong..." Gu Ming smiled, "Let him be ruined even faster."

Wang Tianqi's eyes lit up.

He understood; Gu Ming wanted him to dismantle Shen Guodong's alliance.

This is how he defeated Shen Guodong and got back on his feet.

"Thank you, Chairman Gu." He kowtowed forcefully. "I will definitely handle this matter well."

"Go ahead," Gu Ming waved his hand. "Don't disappoint me."

……

Two days later.

Inside a private room at a club in Beijing.

Wang Tianqi was drinking with a middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses.

The man's name was Zhao Wenhai. He was Shen Guodong's trusted legal director and had handled many dirty jobs for him.

"Mr. Wang, what brings you here today?" Zhao Wenhai took a sip of whiskey and asked with a forced smile, "I heard you're a little short on cash lately?"

Wang Tianqi smiled and poured wine for Zhao Wenhai.

"Mr. Zhao, I'll be frank."

He took a phone out of his bag and pushed it over.

The screen displays a bank transfer record.

The recipient was a Swiss account, and the transferor was one of Shen Guodong's adversaries.

The amount is five million euros.

The time was three years ago, a week before Shen Guodong defeated that company.

Zhao Wenhai's smile froze.

His pupils contracted.

This was a scheme he orchestrated for Shen Guodong years ago, where he bribed Shen's CFO.

Only he and Shen Guodong knew about this.

How could Wang Tianqi have known?

"Mr. Zhao," Wang Tianqi tapped his fingers on the screen, "if this money leaks out, won't that friend in jail want to have a word with him?"

"You..." Zhao Wenhai's lips trembled, and his shirt was soaked with cold sweat.

"What?" Wang Tianqi leaned closer to him and lowered his voice, "My new boss asked me to pass on a message."

"Shen Guodong is finished."

"He wants you to switch sides and continue enjoying wealth and luxury."

"He also said that he admires you. Star Holdings' legal department is lacking a vice president who knows the rules."

Zhao Wenhai knew he had no choice.

That evening, Shen Guodong received Zhao Wenhai's resignation letter, citing "personal health reasons" as the reason.

……

Starry Sky Holdings, President's Office.

"Are you using Wang Tianqi?"

Shen Lian frowned, looking at the report with a puzzled expression.

"Gu Ming, are you crazy? That person is unreliable. Aren't you afraid he'll turn on you if you keep him around?"

Shen Lian disliked Wang Tianqi very much.

She felt that this kind of person should never be able to get back up.

Gu Ming smiled and poured her a cup of tea.

"An'an, your world is too clean."

He looked at the night view outside the window and said:

"A place can't only have a good side; it also needs someone to handle the dirty work."

He turned his head, looked into Shen Lian'an's eyes, and said, word by word:

"For matters that are on the surface, we need someone like Su Qingying to establish order."

"But what happens behind the scenes..."

"We need people like Wang Tianqi to break the rules and deal with the garbage that we can't handle."

Shen Lian was stunned.

For the first time, she understood Gu Ming's worldview.

She thought business warfare was a game of planning and capital.

In Gu Ming's eyes, business warfare is a life-or-death struggle.

We need both commanders and people to handle the dirty work.

……

Wang Tianqi is a very useful tool.

For the next week, he attended various dinner parties non-stop.

Using the damaging information Gu Ming provided, he cut off Shen Guodong's resources one by one.

"Boss, Shen Guodong's supplier has agreed to stop supplying him and switch to us."

"Boss, those three artists from Huacai Media are all switching companies next week."

"Boss..."

On the phone, Wang Tianqi's voice grew increasingly excited.

Shen Guodong's company began to crumble under his attacks.

"Boss, there's something else that's a bit strange," Wang Tianqi said finally.

"When I was checking the supplier's accounts, I found an encrypted file, which took a lot of effort to decrypt."

"It contains a confidential list of family asset trusts. It was set up by some people decades ago."

"What's strange is that most of the people on the list have the surnames Shen, Zhao, Li... but there's one last person with the surname Gu."

"His name is Gu Yuanshan."

Gu Ming paused for a moment while holding the teacup.

Gu Yuanshan?

Father's name?

How did an ordinary retired worker end up on the trust list of Beijing Capital?

Is it a coincidence?

He recalled Chen Mo's report: "AME" may have investors who are related to his father's former comrades-in-arms.

He sensed that a secret about his origins was about to be revealed.

Wang Tianqi inadvertently discovered a crucial clue.

"Send me that encrypted file," Gu Ming said calmly.

"Okay, boss."

After hanging up the phone, Gu Ming looked at the night outside the window without saying a word.

He originally thought he was the one who orchestrated the whole thing.

Now it seems that I might just be a pawn in this game.

……

at the same time.

The top floor of China World Trade Center Phase III.

The office was a mess, with broken porcelain scattered on the floor.

The air was thick with the smell of alcohol.

Shen Guodong slumped on the sofa, his eyes bloodshot and his face pale.

He lost all support.

He has lost completely, with no chance of turning the tide.

A long time passed.

He shakily pulled a black satellite phone from his pocket.

He pressed a number.

The phone is on.

It was very quiet on the other end.

Shen Guodong took a deep breath and said into the microphone:

"I agree to your terms."

"As long as... Gu Ming disappears."