Mid-Levels, No. 15 Chang Jia Road, the Jiang Family Estate.
Hong Kong's Mid-Levels was one of the city's most prestigious residential areas, located between Victoria Peak and Central.
Thanks to its prime location, many of its homes overlook the bustling Victoria Harbour, making it a favorite among Hong Kong's wealthy elite and affluent immigrants.
The Jiang family estate was one of the district's historic mansions. It had been built fifty years earlier by Old Master Jiang, who spent nearly all the wealth he'd earned in business to buy the land and construct the house.
Designed in a blend of Chinese and Western styles, it was one of the better-known estates in Mid-Levels.
The Jiang family had gone through decades of ups and downs. There had even been times when they were close to bankruptcy. Yet no one had ever considered selling this priceless ancestral home.
To the Jiang clan, the estate represented their roots; it was the symbol that held the family together. Only the person who lived in the Jiang family estate was qualified to lead the entire Jiang clan.
Jiang Chenghua had moved out of the estate ten years ago. As a son who had already established his own household, he rarely came back unless there was a good reason. The grand mansion always made him feel oppressed, as if he couldn't breathe. Living on his own was far more comfortable.
But today, he had no choice. The master of this estate, his father, was absolutely furious.
The moment Jiang Chenghua stepped through the front gate, a bitter smile appeared on his face. If there really were a regret pill in this world, he would have paid ten million for one without hesitation, just to turn back time to a week earlier. If he could do that, he would have stopped this disaster before it ever happened.
As the head of Honghua Catering, he had been under tremendous pressure over the past few days, pressure coming from every conceivable direction.
Even in his wildest dreams, Jiang Chenghua had never imagined that what should have been an easy matter would spiral into a media firestorm aimed squarely at him.
The dog abuse incident had become the hottest topic in Hong Kong. Honghua's offices had been pelted with countless rotten eggs and tomatoes, forcing the company to shut down temporarily.
As for Jiang Chenghua himself, he had become like a rat crossing the street; everyone wanted to beat him. His drinking buddies avoided him, and the beautiful women who usually surrounded him had all disappeared. Everyone was terrified of being associated with him.
When had he ever fallen so low?
Everything had happened far too quickly. His opponent's manipulation of public opinion had been ruthless.
By exploiting the mistakes made by his own men, they had nailed Honghua to the pillar of shame and turned the company into the target of public outrage. Now the flames had spread to the Jiang family itself.
After all, his surname was Jiang.
The more Jiang Chenghua thought about it, the more suffocated he felt. He tugged irritably at his necktie.
"Young Master, you're here." The white-haired butler was waiting in the entrance hall. Looking at Jiang Chenghua with a hint of reproach, he said quietly, "The Master has been waiting for you in the study. He hasn't eaten anything all day, so don't make him any angrier."
Jiang Chenghua was normally arrogant and unruly, but he would never dare be disrespectful to this old butler.
Uncle Jiu had served the Jiang family for fifty years. He had attended Old Master Jiang, then Jiang Chenghua's grandfather, and now he served Jiang Chenghua's father, Jiang Tai. He was practically an elder of the family himself.
"I know I was wrong, Uncle Jiu."
The old butler smiled warmly. "As long as you know. Go on in."
Jiang Chenghua acknowledged him and quickly headed upstairs to the study. After knocking, he entered the room.
His father sat behind the large desk, while seven or eight others occupied the seats on either side, including Jiang Chenghua's two brothers and several senior executives from the Jiang Group.
Everyone in the room turned to look at Jiang Chenghua. Some looked at him with sympathy, some with blame, some with disappointment, and some with undisguised schadenfreude.
The ones enjoying his misery were, of course, his two brothers, who had never truly gotten along with him despite keeping up appearances. Facing this scene, Jiang Chenghua wanted nothing more than to turn around and leave. But under Jiang Tai's piercing gaze, he had no choice but to steel himself.
"Father... you wanted to see me?"
Jiang Tai let out a cold snort. "I know it's not easy to summon the Third Young Master of the Jiang family these days. But the Jiang family is facing a matter of life and death. Since you're a member of this family, you can't just stand by and pretend it has nothing to do with you."
'Life and death?' Jiang Chenghua was stunned. Was it really that serious?
Although the dog abuse incident involving Honghua's employees had put him in an extremely difficult position, there were still ways to clean it up. The people responsible had already been taken into police custody; they could simply plead guilty and pay compensation.
As for public opinion, as long as they admitted their mistakes sincerely and spent some money smoothing things over with the media, the controversy would eventually die down. People weren't going to stay fixated on this forever.
The Little Pet Protection Association was certainly a major headache, but with the Jiang family's connections, they could work things out through the proper channels. At worst, it would cost them a hefty price. No matter how he looked at it, there was no way this could shake the foundations of the Jiang clan.
"Father, I'm already working on a solution. At worst, I'll lower my head, admit we're wrong..." Jiang Chenghua asked in disbelief, "Surely our entire Jiang family isn't going to pay with our lives just because a few dogs were killed?"
Jiang Tai's face remained expressionless. He said nothing.
Instead, a middle-aged man seated to his left cleared his throat.
"Third Young Master, yesterday the Tax Bureau conducted surprise inspections at our two factories on the Mainland. They've seized all of the accounting records, and we're likely facing substantial fines." He paused before adding, "And today, the Environmental Protection Bureau also arrived to carry out a full environmental compliance inspection."
This time, Jiang Chenghua was truly dumbfounded.
Since China's Reform and Opening Up, the Mainland economy had grown at an astonishing pace. Its enormous market, abundant resources, and inexpensive labor had made it the top investment destination for Hong Kong businesses.
Every one of Hong Kong's top tycoons had major investments on the Mainland and had earned enormous fortunes there.
Naturally, the Jiang family hadn't missed the opportunity. They had begun investing there over twenty years ago. A few years earlier, after profiting from another wave of economic growth on the Mainland, the Jiang Group had invested heavily in building two large factories.
They had only recently begun production and sales. Those two projects had tied up most of the Jiang family's capital, including bank loans worth over a hundred million dollars. Just as they were finally starting to generate profits, the Tax Bureau suddenly showed up for inspections.
Jiang Chenghua knew perfectly well that those two factories would never pass a thorough audit. Whether it was taxes or environmental regulations, there were definitely irregularities. If the authorities really wanted to investigate, they would undoubtedly find problems.
This was, in fact, a common issue among many Hong Kong companies investing on the Mainland. Local governments usually turned a blind eye in the interest of economic development; as long as businesses didn't go too far, everyone got along just fine. The Jiang Group had also been careful to maintain good relationships with the local authorities.
But now... something had gone catastrophically wrong.
Jiang Chenghua had a strong, sinking feeling that the investigation into the Jiang Group's Mainland investments was somehow connected to his attempt to deal with that insignificant film crew.
The thought sounded absurd, almost unbelievable. But he couldn't think of any other explanation.
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(End of Chapter)
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