Chapter 1004: 999. Preparing to Act

Zhang Ran seemed to have forgotten about the matter with Zhao Hu, wholeheartedly playing around here with the two little ones.

Not to mention, this place was truly well-built; the area was secluded, yet it lacked none of the various amenities, including golf, hot springs, and all sorts of recreational facilities.

Zhang Ran also took the two little ones to play through everything that was available.

On the second day, when Zhang Ran had played enough and was preparing to take the two little ones back, Zhao Hu was standing at the entrance of the lobby, waiting quietly.

Although his eyes were anxious, he did not dare to move about recklessly.

At this time, some staff members saw him in this state and had strange looks in their eyes, though they had already learned some "inside information."

After all, the number of people present at the time was not small; even excluding Boss Guo and those people, there were quite a few employees.

Therefore, the news could not be kept hidden.

But at this moment, Zhao Hu did not care about that at all; he only cared about whether Zhang Ran would let him off.

Seeing Zhang Ran come out, he wanted to go up to meet him, but he did not dare to disturb Zhang Ran, so he just followed behind, step by step.

This sight truly stunned quite a few people.

Once outside, Zhang Ran first sent the two little ones into the car, and only then did he look at Zhao Hu.

"Mr. Zhang, I was wrong," Zhao Hu said with his head lowered.

Zhang Ran said, "You aren't anyone to me, why are you apologizing to me?"

"Mr. Zhang, I truly know I was wrong. I shouldn't have used your reputation to do these things, and even more so, I shouldn't have done business with those people," Zhao Hu said, and began to slap his own face.

The force he used was heavy; he did not hold back in the slightest.

Zhang Ran could not help but frown, "Who are you putting on this show for?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Hu's heart trembled, and he stopped immediately, but not knowing what to do, he could only stand to the side, at a loss.

Seeing him in this state, Zhang Ran could not help but sigh. In fact, as early as last night, someone had already investigated everything Zhao Hu had done and sent it to him.

Zhang Ran had looked it over carefully; although Zhao Hu had committed a taboo against him, he had not done anything illegal or undisciplined.

Of course, to say there were absolutely no issues at all would be impossible, but all in all, Zhang Ran could still accept it.

At the very least, if Zhao Hu had truly used these people to do things that Zhang Ran could not tolerate, then Zhang Ran would not even have listened, let alone stopped to talk to him.

Of course, not having done so now does not mean he won't in the future. If Zhang Ran had never noticed, as Zhao Hu's ambition grew, some things would certainly have been unavoidable.

However, Zhang Ran could not pin things that hadn't happened yet onto Zhao Hu.

"Mr. Zhang, I have already returned all the shares, and from this day forward, I will completely sever ties with them and will no longer be involved," Zhao Hu said.

Zhang Ran looked at him without speaking for a moment, and Zhao Hu's heart immediately became anxious.

"Actually, if you didn't use my reputation to do things, then I wouldn't care at all about what you do, nor would I want to," Zhang Ran suddenly said.

Zhao Hu immediately buried his head even lower. He certainly knew that, but he knew even better that without Zhang Ran, he would not be able to accomplish anything.

Let alone be in the position he was in today.

"Let Dayong handle your affairs," Zhang Ran suddenly felt like he didn't want to talk anymore, waved his hand, and left.

Zhao Hu did not dare to stop Zhang Ran, only watching as Zhang Ran got in the car and left.

However, at this moment, Zhao Hu felt slightly relieved in his heart. In fact, for Zhang Ran to be able to do this was already the greatest tolerance he could show him.

Because Zhao Hu knew that although He Yong would deal with him severely, he would ultimately still leave a shred of decency.

This was the sentiment of being old brothers from back in the day.

Of course, Zhao Hu should not think about using Zhang Ran's name to do anything ever again; He Yong would definitely keep a close eye on him.

Once he had any unusual movements, then it would not be so simple.

Zhang Ran did not concern himself with Zhao Hu's affairs anymore; in fact, he knew that similar things would certainly not be lacking in the future.

Let alone Zhao Hu, even on the Liu Family's side, similar situations actually occurred.

It was just that Liu Lu had always managed things well, which was why no slip-ups had appeared.

But who knows what it will be like in the future?

Especially as Zhang Ran slowly retreats behind the scenes and lets his son, Zhang Sicheng, come forward—who knows what the situation will be then?

However, future matters will be handled in the future; Zhang Ran would not worry about things unnecessarily.

After relaxing for a period of time, Zhang Ran needed to get busy again; news had come from Aili, and things were basically all but negotiated.

Zhang Sicheng had also returned to the country by now and explained some of the situation; Zhang Ran would also need to set off in two days.

It was time to deal with the Rhode Family; after so many years of grievances, it was time to bring them to an end.

Zhang Ran had made his preparations, and the Rhode Family had also sensed the crisis. Although they did not know the specific situation, judging by some of the things that had happened recently, they had already sensed that something was wrong.

Some enterprises and families that frequently cooperated with them had been gathering for meetings during this time, and they did not know what was being discussed.

But there was one common phenomenon, which was that they were shutting the Rhode Family out.

Even when they wanted to participate, they were brushed off.

This made the people of the Rhode Family feel a trace of panic; the most critical thing was that their oil fields in several locations were about to expire.

They wanted to renew the contracts, and this had been negotiated beforehand; it was even written in the contracts, and the Rhode Family had been very cautious at the time.

And according to the situation, they should be renewing the contracts now; after all, there was no disagreement about dragging it out, and it was impossible for oil prices to see major fluctuations in a short period of time.

In other words, their contract prices would not see any major changes either.

But even so, every time they sent someone over to negotiate, they were stalled; it seemed as if everyone was targeting their family all at once.

This left the people of the Rhode Family feeling somewhat at a loss; what on earth was happening?

Luode Xiongmei actually guessed that this must have something to do with Zhang Ran.

But previously, they had thought Zhang Ran would deal with them in the area of new energy, as they had also invested some in it.

But now, problems were appearing at their foundation; how could this not make them panic?

At this time, Qiaosilin could not remain calm either; the matter was simply too big. If a major problem really appeared, their family might truly be finished.

All the things Zhang Ran had done previously, while they would have some impact on their family, were not enough to shake their family's foundation.

After all, that was only their side business; their main business had always been in petroleum, but things were different now.

Their foundation had already been shaken, which meant that if they did not handle this well, their family would be completely finished, with no room for retreat.