Counterfeit Hero

Indulgence in food, drink, and pleasure is a temptation that young people can never resist, and for Zhang Pan, who has always been disciplined under his strict father’s watch, it is all the more so.

Having just taken over the family business and without his father’s guidance, Zhang Pan suddenly found himself surrounded by many friends he never knew he had!

These friends were not ordinary people.

Their lifestyle was something Zhang Pan never dared to dream of before. They drove the best cars, had the most beautiful women, drank the finest wines, and partied all night long. Following them, Zhang Pan felt that his past two decades had been utterly wasted!

Although the Galaxy Mecha Company was not large, it easily supported such a lifestyle. Zhang Pan couldn’t understand why his father was so old-fashioned and conservative!

Look at his friends—this is what living really means. Even though some of them were Black Society gangsters, once gangsters reached a certain status, they became big shots.

No matter what kind of conflict arose, Zhang Pan found that as long as these friends were around, nothing was unsolvable.

Every time, when other customers were still waiting in line in front of the nightclub, Zhang Pan was already led through the VIP passage into a luxurious private room by these friends. Every time, when the restaurant seats were fully booked, these friends always found a way to make the manager promptly free up a table for them. Every time, when the girl Zhang Pan fancied had already been called away by someone else, these friends always managed to have her in his arms within five minutes.

The company was profitable, and life became increasingly colorful. Zhang Pan thought these days would last forever.

But one day, when he hesitantly, amid these friends, walked into the casino his father had strictly banned, everything changed.

To this day, Zhang Pan couldn’t recall what he was thinking at that time.

It was a period of muddled days. A blank page in his memory.

During that period, he lost everything he had.

Then, his friends disappeared. They turned into his enemies and creditors. Along with the vanishing friendship, the fine wine, women, and that intoxicating lifestyle disappeared too.

By the time Zhang Pan finally understood, it was already too late. At some point, his debts had become the responsibility of the Fierce Bear Association under the Tai Sect. These gangsters came to his door every day with IOUs to collect debts. They not only came to his home but also to the Mecha Company and the factory workshops.

They harassed his mother and sister, vandalized and looted in the company, and dragged away the raw materials just bought for production and the products waiting for delivery to customers from the factory workshops.

All the financing channels of the company were blocked by these gangsters. As soon as the banks and even loan sharks heard about the entanglement between Galaxy Mecha Company and the Fierce Bear Association, they immediately backed off. No matter what method Zhang Pan tried, he couldn’t even get through the door, let alone borrow money.

Seeing all the employees except for the old staff led by Mechanical Master Hann Mingxia, who had followed his father, scattered, unable to start work, and debts increasing day by day, Zhang Pan was already in despair. If not for thinking of his mother and sister, he would have jumped off the building long ago.

But today, a miracle order appeared before Zhang Pan’s eyes.

Fifty Special Type Mechas, worth fifty million Fei Yuan, if delivered on time, more orders would follow continuously! Most importantly, this client paid upfront!

This time, Zhang Pan decided to secretly start production immediately. Before the Fierce Bear Association could react, he would distribute the orders to the usual processing factories. As long as Hann Mingxia was overseeing, there would be no problem with the technology and quality.

”Uncle Hann....” Zhang Pan looked hopefully at Hann Mingxia, who was studying the never-before-seen Special Type Mecha blueprints, and asked, ”Any issues?”

”If we were to make this ourselves...” Hann Mingxia lifted his head blankly, sighed, and said, ”This kind of mecha, we couldn’t make it even in a lifetime.”

Seeing the desperate look in Zhang Pan’s eyes, Hann Mingxia pointed at the encrypted blueprints that came with the order and said, ”But with these blueprints, production is not a problem. Moreover, if we get through this, our future products can compete with those giant mecha enterprises...”

”Really?” Zhang Pan murmured.

Hann Mingxia gently patted his shoulder and sighed deeply, ”Go back and offer incense to your father who’s watching over you.”

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Here’s nine hundred words for everyone, happy 2009. The disaster year is over. May there be no earthquakes or financial crises.

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.(To be continued, to know what happens next, please visit www.qidian.com, more chapters available, support the author, support legitimate reading!)