Chapter 114: An Enemy of My Enemy Is a Friend—I'm In!

The villain was quiet; if he was not dropping dead, he was certainly up to something.

During the day Zhang Tianfeng was away in Harbor City, Xu Maocai, who had been beaten with eight hundred punches, went home in tears to complain.

Just then, Xu Kuangdao had also prepared his means of dealing with Zhang Tianfeng. The two sides fit together perfectly: not only did it strike back at Zhang Tianfeng, it also restored a measure of face within the clan.

He had grown wiser now. He would not step forward in person and present his face for Zhang Tianfeng to slap; instead, he worked in the shadows.

Over the course of half a month, he dug up the full structure of Blue Square Toy Factory’s supply chain, along with its raw material suppliers and every detail of production.

The suppliers were all merchants from Harbor City. Some even had formidable backing and were deeply superstitious; they obeyed Zhang Tianfeng’s words to the letter and could not be moved.

The raw material supplier was Ding Yan, a man with funds of uncertain depth. Xu Kuangdao could do nothing about him either.

The only opening lay in the outer packaging side of things, such as the cardboard box厂 and the printing厂.

In just a few days, he quietly completed the acquisition of the cardboard box厂 that had a working relationship with Blue Square Toy Factory. The moment the transfer of shares was finalized, and that very morning, Xu Kuangdao eagerly announced the termination of all contracts with Blue Square Toy Factory.

Inside the toy factory office, Wang Tiancai and the other three stood rooted to the spot, not daring to breathe.

The plan had originally been proceeding smoothly, but today a problem had suddenly emerged, throwing the rest of their arrangements into disarray.

This was the first time they had completed a task relying on their own strength. Before this, it had always been Zhang Tianfeng covering for them that allowed things to go so easily.

After this mess, the four of them had no face left to see Zhang Tianfeng.

Seeing the termination notice sent by the other side, Zhang Tianfeng leaned back in his chair and asked, "Tell me what you think."

"Boss, they came prepared this time. They used a loophole in the contract to perfectly avoid the penalty for breach. All we can do is quickly find another cardboard box厂 and have the packaging remade."

"Where do you think we should look?"

Chu Hongyuan, who had been absent for quite some time, said, "Right here in Tangwan Village. It's close, we know the place inside and out, and if anything happens it'll be easier to handle."

As he said this, Li Yuehe kept frantically signaling him with her eyes, but the foolish man simply failed to notice.

Chu Hongyuan often ran around outside and had never learned about Zhang Tianfeng's conflicts with the other factories in Tangwan Town.

Going to cooperate with an enemy was the same as telling them outright that they could handle you however they pleased.

"Fine. I'll leave this matter to you," Zhang Tianfeng said, pointing at Chu Hongyuan. "If you handle it well, I'll give you a bonus. If you handle it badly, I'll dock your bonus."

"Boss, rest assured. I will solve this problem."

After leaving the office and reaching the smoking area outside the workshop, Chu Hongyuan lit a cigarette and stared into the distance.

Zhang Tianfeng had not set a deadline, but it was definitely better to finish sooner rather than later. After all, the four of them still had not sorted out their rankings, and all of them were fighting for that sales manager position.

What should he do? At this point, the only thing Chu Hongyuan could think of was finding a friend.

He was the doer among the four. As long as he had an idea, he would act on it, right or wrong.

The more he went out, the more friends he made.

It could be said that by now, Chu Hongyuan had more friends in Tangwan Town than Zhang Tianfeng, Wang Tiancai, Li Yuehe, and Cai Yun combined.

"Hello, Old Liu? Do you have any cardboard box factory contacts on your side?"

"No? Then please help me ask around. I need one urgently. If you find anything, I'll treat you to dinner."

"Old Li? Cardboard box factory."

After more than a dozen calls, Chu Hongyuan finally got the lead he wanted.

There was a cardboard box厂 in Tangwan Town that was currently up for sale. The moment he got the news, he immediately rushed over.

Zhongcai Cardboard Box Factory was one of the oldest cardboard box enterprises in Tangwan Town. It had been established in the commune era and had lived through many major historical changes.

After the passing of the old factory director, the factory gradually fell into decline. The equipment was outdated, the management had little to commend it, the personnel mindset was rigid, and the director himself was hard to get along with, with a foul temper to match. As competitors ate away at its market, it slowly edged toward ruin.

Ten minutes later, Chu Hongyuan was standing outside Zhongcai Cardboard Box Factory.

The road outside the factory was in terrible condition, with potholes and puddles everywhere. The golden signboard was splattered with mud, and no one had bothered to clean it.

Looking through the iron fence, he saw weeds growing in many places inside the yard, and even the metal columns of the shelter were beginning to rust.

Was this really a cardboard box factory for sale?

Chu Hongyuan grimaced. It was far below his expectations. Even if he barely bought it, he would probably have to replace nearly everything. The investment would be enormous.

He turned to leave, only to see a girl riding a bicycle toward him from afar.

"What are you doing here?" the girl asked, looking tense.

"Hello. I heard this cardboard box factory is for sale, so I came to take a look."

"Who introduced you?"

"Old Zhou. Zhou Xianlin."

"Oh, so it's Uncle Zhou."

The girl's expression eased somewhat. "My name is Yuan Yi. This is my family's factory. Sir, please come in with me. We'll talk inside."

She opened the door, and with the squeal of the iron gate, Chu Hongyuan stepped inside.

Only after entering did he realize that the situation was even worse than he had imagined. Many machines were already coated in dust. If even high-precision mechanical equipment had been left to gather dust, then those things were clearly beyond repair and had no usable value left. Even selling them as scrap iron would be a bother.

Yuan Yi brought over a glass of plain boiled water and smiled apologetically. "Sorry. This factory has been vacant for a long time, so there isn't much to offer. Please forgive us."

"May I ask why it fell into such a state?"

"Just listen to the rumors outside and you'll know." Yuan Yi gave a bitter smile. "To be honest, this factory could have kept running properly, but it was targeted by a group of people."

"They wanted to buy it at a low price. My father refused, so they used every trick they could to poach our staff and pull away all the backbone employees. It angered my father so much he ended up in the hospital."

"After my father collapsed, even more people quit, and those people became even more unscrupulous."

"Ordinary business competition is like that. If you're not ruthless enough, others will bully you."

"I know that. But that group of people were senior managers at the factory whom my father personally brought up!"

In its earlier years, Zhongcai Cardboard Box Factory had been a tyrant of Tangwan Town, even providing custom services to state-owned enterprises.

Back then, a whole line of people had come to curry favor with Yuan Yi's father, willing to forgo money just for a position.

Her father selected a number of people from among them whose families were in difficult circumstances and cultivated them as trusted aides. He paid them wages, gave them resources, and whenever they ran into trouble, he stepped in to solve it. He treated them as though they were his own sons.

And in the end, over a dispute about replacing equipment, Yuan Yi's father clashed with that group and the matter ended in a bitter parting.

"Chen Ke, one of the trusted men my father raised, suggested replacing the equipment with cheaper ones, because that would bring more profit to the factory."

"But my father refused because it would mean even worse pollution."

"After that conflict, Chen Ke took people away and started his own business, with Wan Xiong's help. They established a new cardboard box factory and kept eating away at our business."

"If I'd known they were a pack of ingrates, I never would have let my father be so kind-hearted!"

The more Yuan Yi spoke, the angrier she became. She slammed a fist down on the armrest.

This was nothing less than stripping a family from the living. The old man was still lying in a hospital bed, and the young one was not yet in a position to take charge of the factory, yet they had already begun devouring Zhongcai.

Chu Hongyuan lowered his head and said, "Miss Yuan, I can help you get back at them, but you must sell the cardboard box factory to me, and the price has to be much lower."

"Sure. I wasn't planning to keep the factory running anyway. As long as you can do that, I'll agree."

"All right. Wait for my news."

Half an hour later, in the general manager's office at Blue Square Toy Factory.

After hearing Chu Hongyuan out, Zhang Tianfeng pondered for a moment and said, "You mean you want to report them, shut down Chen Ke's factory for rectification, use that to get your revenge, and then easily take over the cardboard box factory, is that right?"

"Yes. I've already checked the other party's background, and what she said is true. Old Yuan is lying in Central Hospital right now."

Chu Hongyuan said, "Boss, do you think this method will work? If it does, I'll go ahead and do it."

"Of course it works. Chen Ke is Wan Xiong's lackey, and I don't get along with Wan Xiong either. If there's a chance to deal with him, how could we pass it up?"

The enemy of one's enemy is a friend, and they could also pick up a cardboard box factory for a bargain. Why not?

As for machinery and equipment, he now had Huitian Yilanfang in his hands. What kind of equipment could he not get?