Chapter Three: Eight Hundred Sixty Thousand Steals Thirty Million

Zhao's smile froze. The chosen buyer had posted its deposit and spent six months planning the transfer, yet never placed a single bid. For a heartbeat, the workers were silent. Then cheers shook the workshop. Han pinned the black badge back onto Yanqiu's rain-soaked gown. “President Gu used to say Xuanheng belonged to no single family. It was a scale.” Yanqiu looked down at the badge. She still did not possess thirty million in cash. She possessed a factory with 270 million in liabilities, idle for six months, and hundreds of creditors who had just become shareholders. But it was the first asset she had owned since being reduced to zero.