Chapter 58: The Fifth Department and the Sixth Department

Three months had passed since Li Fengyu’s failure in the rubber market. During these three months, Li Fengyu had made not a single move. He spent his days drinking tea and playing Go, living with the leisurely air of a retiree. Anyone unaware of the truth would have mistaken his office for a senior citizens' club.

Li Fengyu picked up the Go stones one by one from the board, putting them away as he slowly said, "Old Liu, playing Go is just like doing business—you have to take it slow. Doing business is all about being adaptable and getting along with everyone, and when you do that, making money happens naturally as water flows down a channel. You cannot be impatient or rash, or you will lose the entire game."

Liu Xinanyang placed the chessboard back in its original spot and said, "Yes, yes, yes, my young President Li, you're right. But our most urgent task right now is to get our business running. If we keep playing Go and attending tea parties every day like this, we'll end up having to live on thin air."

Li Fengyu continued, "That's where you're wrong. Do you think I've just been tasting tea and playing Go every day? Market research, capital preparation, plotting for the future..."

Hearing this, Liu Xinanyang smiled and said, "Oh ho, impressive. Every day you looked like you weren't doing anything serious, playing the fool to hide your brilliance."

Li Fengyu gave a slight smile and said, "What are you talking about? Who's playing the fool to hide their brilliance? That's not even how you use that phrase."

Indeed, Li Fengyu had not been drowning himself in amusement all day. Ever since his previous Waterloo, Li Fengyu had reflected deeply on his defeat and resolved to play the role of the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. He understood profoundly that if the Li Group wanted to secure a broader space for development, it had to defeat all opposing forces. Like a hawk lurking in the shadows, he kept his eyes locked on the Lin Group, ready to launch a counterattack at the slightest movement.

And three months later, Li Fengyu finally seized that opportunity. By this time, Li Fengyu had carried out major reforms within the Li Group. The original departments were subdivided more meticulously into four: Human Resources, Finance, Technology, and Operations. The most crucial part, however, was the addition of two new departments. These two departments had no formal names and were simply designated as Department Five and Department Six. They were established specifically to handle covert affairs.

The head of Department Five was Li Sen. Its members were recruited primarily from professionals with backgrounds as hitmen and bodyguards, specializing in tasks such as tailing, assassination, kidnapping, and surveillance.

The head of Department Six was Chen Yuxuan. Compared to Department Five, the work of Department Six was much more "gentlemanly." Most of its members were veterans of intelligence work. Li Fengyu intended to send them undercover into major futures brokerages, a contingent that even included beautiful women who had once engaged in "special professions."

After his experiences with the Liu Group and the Lin Group, Li Fengyu realized that one could not survive in the financial circle without genuine ruthlessness. This was a life-or-death struggle, entirely unlike helping Lin Chu appease shareholders in the past, where matters could be handled leisurely over dinner parties.

Neither Gu Yumin nor Liu Xinanyang knew about this, nor did Lin Chu. This operation was strictly confidential to the outside world. Only Li Fengyu, Li Sen, Chen Yuxuan, and Ye Chen—the old core team from the former Xinyuan Group—were aware of it. Li Fengyu had deliberated over and over again before making this decision, knowing that once he stepped onto this path, there would be no turning back. He intended to use Lin Dongjiang to test the waters first.

By this time, Li Fengyu had seen Liu Xinanyang off. Li Sen walked over and asked, "Young President, are we really going to do this?"

Li Fengyu nodded and said, "That's right, there is no other way."