Lin Chen looked at Tan Shan, whose face had turned ashen, and said with a faint smile, "Director Tan, do you have any dissatisfaction with my decision?"

Wiping the sweat from his forehead and gritting his teeth, Tan Shan eventually replied, "No dissatisfaction, President Lin's decision is quite right."

Upon hearing Tan Shan's words, several middle managers felt the urge to curse: "Didn't we agree to put Lin Chen in his place? Wasn't the plan just to scare Lin Chen and even reap some benefits from it? It was Tan Shan who suggested the idea only to betray them at the crucial moment."

"President Lin, the idea to resign was all Tan Shan's doing, we never wanted to resign at all, he said he wanted to give you a lesson since you just arrived," Sun Ming stood up, declaring angrily.

With one person starting, others followed. It wasn't easy for any of them to have reached their current position, and to truly resign would mean all their efforts had been in vain.

"Yes, he specifically held a meeting for us that day, asking us all to resign," Zhang Wang also stood up and added.

All eyes were now on Tan Shan.

"What nonsense are you spouting? When did I ever tell you to resign? Do you have any proof?" Tan Shan retorted with a dark expression.

Since the façade was already torn, Tan Shan simply denied everything outright, not wanting to earn a reputation for being deceitful and treacherous.

"You!" The group was stunned, having seen shameless behavior before but never to the extent of Tan Shan's shamelessness.

"President Lin, I fully support your decision. Let's get these people out of here quickly," Tan Shan said venomously.

Lin Chen snorted and chuckled, "Is that so? Rare to see Director Tan being so profoundly loyal to the company."

Tan Shan managed a bitter smile. Just now, his mobile phone had somehow ended up containing evidence of the embezzlement he'd committed over the years—all of which had been copied to a private computer at home. He had no idea how this information had fallen into Lin Chen's hands. With this leverage against him, he naturally didn't dare to confront Lin Chen openly.

"All right, anyone who is not related to the company may leave now," Lin Chen declared icily, glancing at the dozen or so middle managers who had resigned.

Their faces went pale, virtually all hating Tan Shan to the core.

"What, you can't bear to leave? We've all been colleagues for a while, let's part on good terms. If you don't leave now, I'll call security," Lin Chen said coldly.

Having been effectively given his marching orders by Lin Chen, the group of middle managers left the meeting room reluctantly but inevitably.

Tan Shan's face turned the color of iron. All of those people were his trusted confidants, and he hadn't expected them to be cleared out by Lin Chen so smoothly.

Where there is sorrow, there is joy. The remaining deputies in the company felt a tinge of excitement. With a dozen managers resigning, the company essentially underwent a big reshuffle, and Yun Shan Real Estate was poised for a rebirth, ready to soar anew.

Having dealt with the resignation crisis, Lin Chen flipped through the accounts and said coldly, "I want to know why our company is clearly profitable yet our working capital shows a loss?"

The deputy financial director, Li Qian, adjusted her glasses and said with difficulty, "President Lin, we indeed made a profit of over ten million this year, but most of that money is tied up in triangular debt, which we can't collect!"

"Triangular debt?" Lin Chen frowned.

Seeing Lin Chen frowning, Tan Shan couldn't help but sneer. Triangular debt is every company's nightmare, many of which had turned into bad debts and were virtually impossible to recover.

Lin Chen closed the account book and stated, "Compile a list of these debtors for me. I will find a way to collect these triangular debts within a month."

The room fell silent at this, and a mocking expression appeared on everyone's faces.

Many who had just started to respect Lin Chen shook their heads in helplessness. Initially, they thought he was a talented young man, but now it seemed that despite his ruthless methods, he was inexperienced and still a novice.

The deputy financial director, Li Qian, offered a wry smile, "President Lin, the issue is not as simple as you think. Every year, the company sends dedicated salespeople to collect these debts, but it's extremely difficult."

"There will definitely be difficulties, and although I can't guarantee that all the debt will be recovered, there shouldn't be a problem getting back eighty percent," Lin Chen said calmly.

"This Director Lin is joking, how could triangular debt be so easy to collect."

"Young people are full of vigor; they'll realize once they hit the south wall."

"Looks like Director Lin is still an outsider, unaware of the treacherous nature of the business world."

"Recover eighty percent? That's a joke. It would be pretty good to get back even one third."

Upon hearing the crowd's comments, Lin Chen smiled slightly, "I know many of you don't believe I can recover these triangular debts, but one month from now, in this very venue, I will duly recover eighty percent of the triangular debts. If a single penny is missing, I will cover it out of my own pocket."

The venue once again buzzed with astonishment.

Some were perplexed, others scornful, but no one believed Lin Chen's words.

Lin Chen paused and swept his gaze over the crowd before continuing, "Is there anything else that needs to be passed at this meeting?"

At this moment, Han Hui, the Deputy Director of the project department, stood up, "Director Lin, we've encountered a problem with our Eastern Brilliance project. The Construction Bureau has stopped our work under the pretext of issues with our company's project planning."

Upon hearing this news, everyone's expression changed.

The Eastern Brilliance project was the company's flagship project, with massive investment. The loss from even a single day of halted construction was beyond what Star Real Estate could bear, let alone that the Construction Bureau had not even specified how many days the halt would last, which implied an indefinite stoppage.

Upon hearing this news, Tan Shan sneered coldly; naturally, it was his doing.

The Deputy Director of the Construction Bureau, Wu Bin, was his sworn brother. He had arranged this to force Lin Chen to ask for his help in resolving the problem, so he could hold leverage over Lin Chen and extort him mercilessly.

"Oh, is that so? This matter is simple. I'll make a phone call right now," said Lin Chen, as he picked up his phone.

"Uncle Zhou, it's Lin Chen!"

"Lin Chen, what do you need?"

"Uncle Zhou, our Star Real Estate has a project called Eastern Brilliance that has already been approved, but today the Construction Bureau suddenly told us to halt construction. I'd like to ask for your help to see what exactly the problem is," Lin Chen said with a smile.

"Really? Such a thing happened? Okay, I'll call the Director of the Construction Bureau right away," Zhou Yunshan replied.

Tan Shan sneered disdainfully. He had already briefed the Deputy Director; without his say-so, no amount of face could be given, so it wouldn't matter whose influence Lin Chen tried to leverage.

Within minutes, Lin Chen's phone rang.

It was Qi Yong, the Director of the Construction Bureau, calling. He spoke politely, "Mr. Lin, today's issue was a misunderstanding. You may continue construction."

Lin Chen put down the phone and said indifferently, "All set. The issue is resolved now; construction can continue."

How could this be possible, who on earth did Lin Chen call that a single phone call of three minutes solved such a significant problem.

Just then, Tan Shan's phone also rang. Wu Bin was on the other end, berating him furiously, "Tan Shan, you son of a bitch, you're trying to screw me over, huh? You dare to mess with Mayor Zhou's people? You almost made me lose my official cap. Don't you ever call me again." After saying that, Wu Bin hung up the phone.

"What? The 'Uncle Zhou' Lin Chen just mentioned is actually Mayor Zhou Yunshan," Tan Shan's face immediately turned ashen.