Chapter 1241

Chen Zekai, upon hearing Ye Chen say he wanted to keep Su Shoude and Steve Hofgwitz, immediately exclaimed, "Young Master, Steve is easy enough to handle—he probably didn't bring many people from the U. S. this time, but Su Shoude openly employs dozens of security personnel, and who knows how many hidden experts he has lurking in the shadows? Capturing him might be difficult..."

Ye Chen calmly replied, "Don't worry—there's no such thing as windproof pants in this world. Capturing Su Shoude and Walter, I alone am enough."

As he spoke, a person suddenly flashed in his mind, so he immediately corrected himself: "No, better yet, let's add one more person."

Chen Zekai instantly stood up and said without hesitation: "Young Master, I'm willing to go with you!"

Ye Chen smiled and said seriously: "Old Chen, your courage is commendable, but your strength still falls short—you might not even get close to Su Shoude before being spotted by his hidden men."

Chen Zekai awkwardly said: "This... Young Master... if you don't mind, I'll start training my skills from now on!"

Ye Chen laughed: "Training now? Definitely too late."

Chen Zekai hurriedly asked: "Then when do you plan to act? If you need me to do anything on my end, I'll prepare in advance!"

Ye Chen said: "If we move quickly, I'd like to act tonight. Otherwise, if they shift their focus to Dongxue, things could get tricky."

As he spoke, Ye Chen added: "Let me call Dongxue first—I'll have her work overtime at the company today, so I can act tonight."

Immediately after, Ye Chen pulled out his phone and called Wang Dongxue.

As soon as the call connected, Wang Dongxue's voice came through: "Young Master!"

Ye Chen hummed and asked: "Dongxue, where are you now?"

Wang Dongxue respectfully replied: "Young Master, I'm in Hong Kong."

"Hong Kong?" Ye Chen curiously asked: "How did you end up in Hong Kong?"

Wang Dongxue explained: "Over the past few years, Hong Kong's real estate has been sluggish, and domestic market competition is fierce, so the Emperor's Glory Group plans to develop a commercial real estate project with Hong Kong's Xu family. I just arrived this morning to prepare for further negotiations."

After saying that, Wang Dongxue urgently asked: "Young Master, do you need me for something?"

Ye Chen smiled faintly and said: "I don't have anything urgent, really. Since you're not in Jin Ling, we'll talk when you return."

Wang Dongxue had no choice but to say: "Alright then, Young Master—if anything urgent comes up, just tell me, and I can fly back anytime."

Ye Chen quickly said: "No need, no need—just stay put in Hong Kong and relax."

Wang Dongxue, unaware of Ye Chen's implication, said: "Okay, Young Master—I'll focus on finalizing the cooperation in Hong Kong these few days. If you need me to return for anything, just notify me anytime."

"Good."

After hanging up, Ye Chen let out a faint sigh of relief.

Wang Dongxue happens to be away from Jin Ling, so this matter isn't so urgent anymore.

In that case, let's first closely monitor Su Shoude and Steve, observe their movements, and see what that Su Shoude is really up to—what medicine he's selling in his gourd.

But Ye Chen isn't planning to give them too much time—within two or three days, he'll make them vanish directly in Jin Ling.

At that moment, seeing Ye Chen hang up, Chen Zekai hurried forward and asked: "Young Master, did Miss Wang go to Hong Kong?"

"Yes." Ye Chen smiled faintly: "Quite a coincidence—she just left this morning."

Chen Zekai then asked: "So when do you plan to act against Su Shoude and Steve?"

Ye Chen thought for a moment and said: "Just these next one or two days—first observe them, see what moves they make."

As he spoke, Ye Chen further instructed: "Old Chen, your network in Jin Ling is the broadest—I need you to keep them under tight surveillance. No matter where they go or who they meet, report to me immediately!"

Chen Zekai said without hesitation: "Young Master, rest assured—I'll arrange this right away!"

Ye Chen nodded, a hint of regret in his voice: "It's a pity neither of them chose to stay at your Buckingham Palace Hotel."

Chen Zekai laughed: "Young Master, Walter was staying at Jin Ling International Hotel before his disappearance—his father staying there is perfectly normal. As for Su Shoude, the Su family knows this is Ye family property—how could he possibly come here to stay?"

Ye Chen curiously asked: "With the Su family's vast wealth, don't they have any holdings in Jin Ling?"

Chen Zekai shook his head: "Years ago, the Su and Ye families held negotiations and mutually agreed on their respective business territories. The Su family chose certain cities, and the Ye family would not invest there—and vice versa. Since Jin Ling falls within the Ye family's designated territory, the Su family has not established any presence here."

Ye Chen asked: "What basis did they use to divide their business territories?"

Chen Zekai said: "It was agreed upon in person by your grandfather and Su Chengfeng. After all, the two families are roughly equal in strength, and their businesses are spread everywhere. If they kept fighting wherever they went—especially in first-tier cities—competition would be endless. So they privately agreed on a boundary, for example, these few provincial capitals in the southeast: Jin Ling belongs to the Ye family, and Su Hang to the Su family."

"To put it bluntly, the Su family had stronger leverage at the time. When dividing the territories, Su Hang's data clearly outperformed Jin Ling's, so the Su family took Su Hang first, leaving Jin Ling to the Ye family."

"I see." Ye Chen nodded slightly, then asked: "Since Wu Donghai is the richest man in Su Hang, why haven't I heard of any connection between him and the Su family?"

Chen Zekai laughed: "You see, the Song family is the richest in Jin Ling—and they have no ties to the Ye family either."

As he spoke, Chen Zekai continued: "Actually, the Su and Ye families defined their territories mainly to avoid mutual conflict—it's essentially a gentleman's agreement."

"But local clans are deeply entrenched—we'd struggle to confront local tyrants head-on, let alone crush them."

"After all, most of both families' strength is still concentrated in Yanjing. China is vast, and the forces they can disperse nationwide aren't that strong."

"Whether it's the Ye or Su family, their total investable assets in other domestic cities amount to only a few hundred billion at best. But besides Yanjing, there are three other first-tier cities, and second-tier cities like Jin Ling are everywhere. So when averaged out, the manpower, material resources, and financial power they can invest in each city aren't significant."

"To sum up, my role in Jin Ling is merely to hold down the Ye family's outpost here."

As he said this, Chen Zekai added: "Just like the Ye family—if we don't count the Emperor's Glory Group bought for you, Young Master, then the Ye family actually doesn't have much industry in Jin Ling."

"The Ye family's main presence in Jin Ling is hotels, plus a few seemingly unrelated security companies on the surface, and some minor project investments. Their total assets in Jin Ling, scattered as they are, amount to only around one or two hundred billion—far behind the Song family's trillion-yuan scale."

"Over these years, my most important task hasn't been helping the Ye family make money in Jin Ling, but helping them build networks, relationships, and a complete intelligence system—turning Jin Ling into a node of the Ye family's nervous system, like an octopus's tentacle, detecting any disturbance and feeding it back promptly."

Saying this, Chen Zekai couldn't help but self-mockingly laugh: "Actually, if it weren't for you, Young Master, being in Jin Ling, the Ye family wouldn't pay much attention to Jin Ling at all. Nationwide, they have dozens of spokespersons like me, but only a few hold real influence—aside from Tang the Butler, it's just the spokespersons in the three other first-tier cities."

Ye Chen nodded: "I understand—since the Su family has no real foothold in Jin Ling, we can take the initiative."

Chen Zekai agreed: "Exactly—if the Su family causes any trouble here, they'd have to rush troops from Yanjing, which would take at least a few hours."

As he spoke, he asked: "By the way, Young Master, if the timing is right and you're ready to act against them, do you have any suitable candidates in mind?"

Ye Chen nodded and smiled: "Of course! In this regard, I already have the most suitable person in mind!"

Chen Zekai pressed: "Who is it?"

Ye Chen laughed and said: "Su Ruoli!"