klisemfg Chapter 135 A Slight Punishment
Chapter 135 A Slight Punishment
Su Ang grabbed the papers and glanced at them. The mockery and the words "internal strife within a wealthy family" felt like slaps to his face, which he always considered aloof and arrogant.
"What is the PR department doing?! Buying online trolls and deleting posts! Do I have to teach them such trivial things?!" Su Ang suddenly stood up, extremely angry.
"We can't seal it off, Mr. Su Ang." The third brother said with a bitter smile, his face ashen.
"The other side's methods are too professional. As soon as we delete a post, ten larger public accounts will immediately follow up, and even some official media's livelihood sections are subtly reposting it."
The public relations manager said, "This is absolutely orchestrated by a top-tier PR team. Their funding and distribution network... are simply beyond the reach of a local group like ours. The more we try to cover it up, the worse it gets."
The conference room fell into a deathly silence, broken only by Su Ang's heavy, suppressed breathing.
He turned his head and looked towards the south of the city through the huge floor-to-ceiling window.
At the end of that direction lies that old, ancient street.
He originally thought he could crush Su Chen and that restaurant like ants with a flick of his finger, and force his disobedient younger brother to come back and admit his mistakes.
But now, a hand reaching out from that dilapidated alley is causing headaches for the entire Su Group.
"Su Chen..." Su Ang gritted his teeth, "You actually... found such a good backer."
As the eldest young master who had experienced many years of ups and downs in the business world and was being groomed as the heir of the Su family, Su Ang quickly calmed down after his brief loss of composure.
He tossed the crumpled public opinion reports aside and rubbed his temples wearily.
Then, he put his gold-rimmed glasses back on, the sinister look in his eyes disappeared, and he regained his usual rationality.
He loosened his tie, walked to the French windows, and personally made several phone calls to try and gauge the strength of the suddenly emerging force.
However, Su Ang was also a bit overwhelmed when several family friends who usually held sway in the south of the city gave him evasive and even cryptic advice on the other end of the phone to "stop here."
He leaned against the cold glass window with one hand, looking out at the bustling financial center.
Although the Su Group is already a leading group in the southern part of the city, it still has some reservations about the top forces in the capital with unfathomable strength outside of this small area.
Just as he was frowning and preparing to dig deeper into his contacts, a sudden phone vibration broke the silence in the conference room.
A string of extremely strange numbers, indicating an unknown location in the capital, was flashing on the screen.
Su Ang raised an eyebrow, hesitated for a moment, and finally pressed the answer button.
His private phone number is highly encrypted, and it is impossible for outsiders to know it without a reason.
The fact that the other party could call his phone at such an astonishing speed at this critical juncture surprised Su Ang, and sent a chill down his spine.
"I am Su Ang, who is this?"
There was no answer on the other end of the phone, only a faint, unhurried sound like the lid of a purple clay teapot gently tapping the rim of a cup.
Although the voice was soft, it carried a sense of superior authority.
A moment later, a somewhat aged and steady voice came over.
The caller was Chen Feng's mentor, the legendary chef who held a prominent position even within the walls of Beijing.
"The Su family's little lad has quite the composure," the old man said calmly from his courtyard house thousands of miles away, his voice devoid of any worldly concern.
"I know you're trying to find out about the old man. No need to look anymore, his surname is Guo, and he's been cooking in the capital his whole life."
Su Ang's heart jolted, and several names that had only appeared in core internal reports flashed through his mind, causing him to catch his breath.
"Elder, I don't understand what you mean," Su Ang said, forcing a calm tone. "Our Su Group has always maintained proper conduct in the south of the city..."
"Alright, this old man doesn't have time to listen to your nonsense." The old man interrupted him directly, his tone now carrying a hint of protective domineering.
"I've always been protective of my own. My apprentice, Chen Feng, is a cook; he's soft-hearted and doesn't like to use underhanded tactics."
He gave up his perfectly good chief executive position to run back to the old street and open that "Human Fireworks" restaurant. He's there to live a real life, not to play house with you money-grubbing businessmen.
The old man snorted coldly, and the sound made Su Ang's eardrums tingle as it traveled through the radio waves.
"I'll give you a little punishment first to teach you a lesson. You'll find out what the punishment is in a moment."
The old man's tone remained calm, yet every word carried immense weight.
"My apprentice Chen Feng is a chef and a craftsman."
If you defeat him fair and square in terms of cooking skills and business management, I won't say a word more. It's because he's not as good as you, and he deserves it.
but--"
The old man's voice suddenly turned cold, as if the height of summer had instantly turned into the depths of winter:
"If the old man sees you using underhanded tactics like cutting off supplies or smearing people with rumors to ruin your Su family in the south of the city, it won't be a big deal for him and his old friends. Focus your energy on the right path."
"Beep beep beep..."
Without giving Su Ang any room for explanation or maneuver, the phone was abruptly disconnected.
Su Ang remained frozen in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, still holding his phone.
The third brother, standing to the side, held his breath. He could clearly see that Su Ang's hand, which was holding the phone, was trembling violently.
Quiet.
Only the sound of their heartbeats remained in the conference room.
Not long after, less than three minutes later, the silence was broken again.
The landline on Su Ang's desk and the work cell phone in Lao San's pocket both rang frantically at almost the same second.
The third brother was so frightened that he trembled and quickly pressed the answer button. After hearing only half a sentence, his legs went weak and he almost knelt directly on the marble floor.
"President Su Ang! Something's happened!" The third brother scrambled to the table, his face ashen, his voice trembling.
"We just received an urgent message from the north!"
All of our Su Group's core branches in Beijing have been subjected to joint surprise inspections by fire, tax, and industry and commerce authorities, and have been ordered to cease operations for rectification!
And...and those key northern partners we'd been negotiating with for six months, just a minute ago, all of them unilaterally sent official letters, saying they'd rather pay hefty penalties than give up all cooperation with us!
Upon hearing this news, Su Ang's face, which he always prided himself on remaining calm even in the face of a collapsing mountain, finally cracked completely.
He gripped the corner of the table, large beads of cold sweat dripping down his forehead, soaking the collar of his expensive suit.