Chapter 2: Sabotaging the Contract

After leaving the internet café, Xu Chen quickened his pace.

It was still just noon; there was plenty of time.

Tonight, his father—a “town enterprise entrepreneur”—would attend a banquet and sign an order contract.

That very contract would later lead to his father’s bankruptcy and debts, followed by the family’s misfortunes…

Now that he’d been reborn, he could stop it all.

His mother died early; it had always been just father and son.

Xu Zhiquan ran a small sand-casting workshop in town, making parts for agricultural machinery.

In those ten-plus years, business went fairly well—Xu Zhiquan had risen from a “ten-thousand-yuan household” to the “richest man in the village.”

Recently, Xu Zhiquan partnered up and secured a procurement order from the state-run Bright Machinery Factory in the city.

Reborn Xu Chen knew this contract would become his father’s tragic turning point.

After signing it, his father borrowed heavily to expand the workshop.

But just a month later, Bright Machinery Factory went bankrupt and restructured, washing away all of Xu Zhiquan’s investment.

His partner, Huang Furen, absconded with the compensation funds, plunging his father into bankruptcy. After selling off assets, he still owed over 300,000 yuan to the bank.

In those days, 300,000 yuan was an astronomical sum.

During Xu Chen’s university years, his father had to go south to work and earn money to pay off debts.

They painstakingly cleared the debt, but after returning and trying to rebuild, his father’s years of labor took a toll on his health. He soon fell into deep depression and passed away.

His father’s downfall and early death were Xu Chen’s biggest regrets. Now that he was reborn, he wouldn’t let it happen again…

He had to stop his father from signing that contract.

But Xu Chen knew it made no sense to bluntly “advise” his father now.

With a million-yuan order on the table—the chance for the village’s richest man to soar even higher—how would Xu Zhiquan listen to a high schooler?

Xu Chen frowned.

Then he’d destroy the contract first, then explain it to his father…

The breakthrough point Xu Chen spotted was his father’s partner, Huang Furen.

In fact, this Bright Factory order came through Huang Furen’s connections—which was precisely why his father had to partner with him.

If he wanted to wreck the order, he just had to take out Huang Furen.

With a plan in mind, Xu Chen pulled out his Bodar flip phone and dialed his father.

He needed to confirm something…

On the other end, Xu Zhiquan’s voice came through:

“Son! I was about to call you. I’m in the city, but I’m too busy to drop by school.

I’ve got good news—we’ve secured the factory order. Our business is about to reach new heights…”

Hearing his father’s voice after so many years, Xu Chen couldn’t help feeling emotional.

Xu Chen: “Dad, you came to town with Uncle Huang, right?”

Xu Zhiquan: “Yes! Without him, we wouldn’t have signed this contract.”

Xu Chen: “When did you arrive?”

Xu Zhiquan: “Just this morning. I’ll grab a bite first; that Huang uncle has gone for a footbath.”

Xu Chen: “Dad, you didn’t go for a footbath too, did you?”

Xu Zhiquan: “That’s ridiculous!”

Xu Chen: “If you do, you’d be letting down Mom’s spirit up in heaven!”

Xu Zhiquan: “Never heard of that!”

…

Ten minutes later, at Taishufu Foot Spa.

Standing across the street, Xu Chen spotted a black Santana at the entrance and confirmed Huang Furen was inside.

Uncle Huang ran a workshop in town too; he was vehemently against gambling and drugs.

Every time he came to the city, he’d relax with a footbath.

Always at this Taishufu Foot Spa.

He just arrived this morning and was leaving tonight—so he’d definitely squeeze in another session.

Xu Chen had tracked him here because Uncle Huang once secretly took him out to “see the world” behind his father’s back.

As a model youth of moral conduct, Xu Chen had famously refused and scolded Uncle Huang in no uncertain terms.

…

On the street corner, two police officers stood by.

Xu Chen hurried over, stood at attention, chest out.

He raised his right arm in a perfect Young Pioneer salute, standing 1.8 meters tall.

Wait… he should be a Communist Youth League member now?

Never mind. It didn’t matter.

Xu Chen pointed at the spa across the street.

“Officer, I’d like to report something!

That foot spa over there is conducting shady illegal activities!”

…

Half an hour later.

Two police cars pulled up in front of the spa and hauled away over a dozen people.

Xu Chen crouched in an alley across the street, eating a Green Mood ice pop and watching secretly.

As he’d hoped, he saw Uncle Huang among those being taken away.

Huang Furen would be detained for days—there was no way the order would be signed tonight.

With a click, Xu Chen tossed the popsicle stick into a trash can.

With minimal effort, he’d resolved his father’s bankruptcy crisis and dismantled a shady syndicate.

Not bad for me!

High-end business warfare, simple and unpretentious…

Planning to head back and comfort his disappointed dad, then guide his business in a new direction and launch his “Rich Dad Training Program.”

As a reborn soul, he’d foresee future market trends.

Turning his father from the village’s richest to the town’s, then the city’s, was no big deal.

The richest in the province, even the nation, was also within reach.

Although Xu Zhiquan only had a technical school diploma, Xu Chen knew his father still had big ambitions.

As for Xu Chen himself…

This life he just wanted to quietly be the “rich heir.”

Indulge in fleshly pleasures, live recklessly.

Do nothing, lose himself in his hobbies!

Spend time on what he loved, caring nothing about what others thought.

Making money is up to Dad.

Spending it is up to me.

Just thinking about it made a smile creep across his lips.

Perfect plan!

Xu Chen was about to get up and leave when he saw another officer emerge from the spa with someone in tow.

“Caught another one who slipped through!” said the stern-faced officer.

The man being led out wore a loose suit, his belly a bit pronounced, hair slicked back to shine.

It was… his father, Xu Zhiquan.

“Officer, you must hear me out!”

…

Xu Chen: “…”

His own dad showing up at a foot spa and getting arrested by the po-po…

What a trap he’d walked into?!

No, what a trap for the son?!

Old Xu, how could you do this?!

How could you let down Mom’s spirit up there?! How could you betray my trust and hope?!

…

…

Three hours later.

Xu Chen got a call from the station to “pick someone up.”

Officer: “He didn’t do anything really. We’ve cleared it up.”

Xu Chen: “??!”

His father Xu Zhiquan answered the phone:

“Son, my phone died, so I couldn’t reach you. After class, come straight to the station…”

Xu Chen: “Why are you at the station?”

Xu Zhiquan: “I went to look for your Uncle Huang… it got complicated. We’ll talk when we meet.”

After hanging up, Xu Chen shook his head in helplessness.

A false alarm.

Apparently, his father really just went to “find someone.”

In fact, Xu Chen also knew that as a town entrepreneur, his father occasionally had to attend certain gatherings.

Xu Zhiquan himself had always maintained a clean image…

Xu Chen exhaled in relief but didn’t go straight to the station. Instead, he stopped at a newsstand and bought a pile of newspapers.

He squatted by the roadside and flipped through them one by one.

Xu Chen focused on policy planning documents, official bidding notices, and the like.

With Bright Machinery Factory about to collapse, his father’s casting workshop needed to transform—and the direction for transformation required careful consideration.

From ’06 to ’16 was a decade of economic rise and consumer upgrades—opportunities were everywhere. With just a thought, Xu Chen saw many paths.

But not every opportunity was within his father’s current reach.

Capital, capability, connections, understanding… all posed layers of limitations.

He needed a transitional business to help his father build up capital before making long-term plans.

Combining his past-life experience and insights, Xu Chen already had an idea.

Now flipping through papers was more about gathering evidence to persuade his father.

After all, the current Xu Chen was still just a high schooler. Spouting big theories might not win his dad over.

He couldn’t just say he’d been reborn and knew exactly what to invest in.

To get his father to listen, he needed endorsements, evidence, and supporting materials.