Actually, even if there were loopholes in the contracts, it wouldn't be that easy for someone to renege on them.
After all, Zhao Sihai had signed his name on those contracts, and he had signed with so many parties at once. If legal liability were to be pursued against him, it would surely be a tough situation for him.
There was only one situation that could explain why Zhao Sihai had done this.
That was that he really wanted to buy the timber but didn't want to pay for it.
After listening to Yun Que'er's analysis, Ji Chengxuan added a point.
"But haven't you noticed that he hasn't been to the village recently and hasn't signed any contracts there either?"
Yun Que'er and Ji Chengxuan glanced at each other and also noticed this problem.
Yes, why was that particular place the only one left out?
Had Zhao Sihai forgotten about it, or did he have some other plan?
Yun Que'er was utterly confused, but she felt that there was something wrong with this matter.
Judging from Zhao Sihai's actions, he really seemed to want to buy the timber, but one couldn't make random speculations. Yun Que'er decided to find someone knowledgeable to discuss this matter.
Yun Jianzhou had been running around these days and was exhausted, so this time, Yun Que'er and Yun Fujin went to the town to find Li Chengfu.
Li Chengfu was extremely happy to see the two children. He welcomed them in with a big smile.
"You've finally come. Actually, even if you hadn't come, I was going to go to you. So, how's it going? Has the timber - purchasing deal been successful?"
Yun Que'er looked at Li Chengfu with a guilty look in her eyes. "Sorry, Uncle Li. We haven't reached an agreement yet."
"How could that be?" Li Chengfu was puzzled. "The timber in your village is in such a dilapidated state. Don't they plan to sell it and instead keep it for their grandchildren?"
Yun Que'er shook her head with a bitter smile. "No, it's because someone is competing with us."
Li Chengfu was surprised. "There's such a thing? It shouldn't be. As far as I know, I'm the only one who comes to your place to buy timber. And I've already told my subordinates that everyone knows I'm going to cooperate with your family. They can't possibly go behind my back to find others."
Li Chengfu couldn't help but think too much. Could it be that his subordinates were being disobedient and starting to steal business?
Actually, Li Chengfu knew that one day his apprentices would leave him. Now they were working for him, but they would eventually set up on their own.
Li Chengfu never thought about the saying "teach the apprentice and starve the master." It was only natural for them to want to make a name for themselves.
There was only one thing, and that was that they must tell him.
If they did things openly, even if they became competitors in the future, Li Chengfu wouldn't say anything.
But if they did things secretly, it would be a bit too much. This was clearly a sign of distrust in Li Chengfu and an insult to his dignity.
It was simply ungrateful!
Seeing Li Chengfu's eyes constantly shifting, Yun Que'er quickly explained.
"Actually, at the very beginning, we discovered that it was someone from Yuhe Village who had a feud with our family deliberately causing trouble, and they were closely pursuing us. We had no choice but to spread some smoke - screen information and play cat - and - mouse with them. We originally planned to muddy the waters and wait until the other side was too busy to care about the village, and then we would take the opportunity to buy the timber. But who would have thought that those people on the other side would always sign contracts with the logging farms, and there were pitfalls in the contracts. It seemed like they wanted to take the timber for free without paying."
"Uncle Li, do you think we're overthinking it?" Yun Fujin said. "We were just feeling strange, so we came to ask you. Also, they didn't sign a contract with the village."
Li Chengfu frowned frequently as he listened. "From what you're saying, it really does seem like there's a use for the timber they're buying."
He wondered if it was someone from his side who had done this.
After all, besides himself and the recent boss who came to buy timber to make furniture, Li Chengfu hadn't heard of anyone else whose business would need this.
"By the way, you said they've all signed contracts?"
"Yes." Yun Que'er nodded and also told Li Chengfu about the loopholes in the contracts.
Li Chengfu frowned and thought for a while, then suddenly let out a cold laugh.
"Good, really good!"
Seeing that Li Chengfu's expression was a bit strange, Yun Que'er quickly asked.
"Uncle Li, what are you talking about?"
Li Chengfu's smile was extremely cold. "I've seen the kind of contract you're talking about."
It was indeed a way to renege on a debt.
As the saying goes, it's simply impossible to reason with someone who has no sense of shame.
As long as one is shameless enough, one can always find faults with the second - party.
By that time, they could take the goods without paying, and the second - party would have to suffer in silence.
And this method had originated from Li Chengfu.
It had been more than a year ago. At that time, besides dealing in antiques and timber sales, Li Chengfu also resold some bulk white liquor.
With so many businesses, he was very busy. Since other aspects of his business were already operating smoothly, Li Chengfu handed the work over to his subordinates.
Li Chengfu trusted them very much, but who would have thought that something would go wrong with his eldest apprentice.
During that period, the eldest apprentice always said that there wasn't any good timber, and he would only bring back two trucks each time. At first, Li Chengfu didn't find anything strange about it. It wasn't until one day that someone suddenly came to his door.
That person was one of the deceived second - parties. But at that time, he was short of funds for his business and urgently needed to turn things around. He wanted to sell his small forest, but ended up being deceived out of his money by the eldest apprentice.
For him, it was truly a disaster.
He directly came to Li Chengfu's door with pesticide, saying that he had been deceived by Li Chengfu and couldn't go on living. Instead of watching his business go bankrupt, he might as well die at Li Chengfu's door. Maybe if the matter became a big deal, he could get some money back for his wife and children.
Li Chengfu was completely dumbfounded. He had no idea what was going on.
"In the end, it was Teacher Li who noticed something was wrong." Li Chengfu said.
Teacher Li took a look at the contract and immediately spotted the problem.
Li Chengfu wanted to confront the eldest apprentice, but the man had already run away after hearing the news.
There was nothing he could do. Li Chengfu had to take the responsibility himself, compensate the man with a sum of money, and say a lot of good words before the man gave up on the idea of suicide.
As for the money Li Chengfu had given the eldest apprentice for procurement, there was no doubt that it had ended up in his own pocket.
Moreover, since he had fled with the money, it was impossible to get it back.
"It seems that my good apprentice has returned to the arena."
Yun Que'er and Yun Fujin glanced at each other, both extremely surprised.
Although they had suspected something before, they had never been able to figure out why.
Now they finally knew that there was such a hidden story.
"Actually, your approach was correct. Confusing the enemy's vision can indeed mislead them." Li Chengfu said. "But it can't withstand someone helping from behind, plus some people suddenly changing their minds halfway through."
Yun Que'er looked at Li Chengfu. "Uncle Li, do you mean Zhao Sihai?"
Li Chengfu nodded. "At first, he really was helping the people in your village to make things difficult for you. But making things difficult is just making things difficult. To put it bluntly, he was just a errand - boy and didn't earn much money. But the commotion caused by the two of you is too big, and it's easy to attract others' attention."