Chapter 39: The Cost of Opening Doors
The Call from the Bank
It came early in the morning.
"This is Manager Zhou," the voice on the line said. "The board has approved your loan request — with conditions. Monthly financial statements. No missed deliveries. Miss one, and the loan is frozen."
Rui thanked him, though he knew the conditions were designed to keep him sweating. Still, the land outside Kaiyuan would soon be theirs.
A Rat in the Chain
That afternoon, Xu Lian appeared in Rui's office holding a clipboard.
"We checked the driver logs for the Wenzhou run. The truck made an unscheduled stop outside Pingyang. The GPS was disabled for forty minutes."
Li Wei frowned. "That's our man. The driver's nephew works at Haotian's warehouse."
The driver didn't even deny it when confronted — Haotian had paid him more than a month's wages to "swap a few parts." Rui didn't shout; he simply handed the man his final pay and a signed confession for legal records.
Gao Delivers
In Mingzhou, Gao's first batch of fifty Light Riders sold out in six days. He sent Rui a photo: his showroom half-empty, the Haotian bikes shoved to the corner.
But Gao's success was too visible. Haotian's regional manager visited his shop the next week.
"Your sales are up," the man said, eyes narrowing. "But not for our models."
Gao laughed it off, but Rui knew the clock was ticking before someone connected the dots.
Building and Defending
That evening, Rui stood at the empty land plot, loan documents in hand. Soon, the new factory would rise here — bigger, faster, untouchable by roadside sabotage.
But as the wind swept dust across his shoes, he couldn't shake the thought: every door he opened, Haotian seemed ready to slam three more shut.
He'd need to build not just a factory — but a fortress.