Chapter 95: Smoke And Business I (1/2)

June 3rd, 2017.

My name is Lu Qiao. I'm a third-year student at Beijing University.

I major in quite a reputable course - Marketing.

However, from how things were looking, I would probably remain unemployed after graduation.

Not because of poor grades, of course. Beijing University is one of the best after all.

My grades have always been good and I've always been in the top three.

It all began with my dad. I'm sure you've heard of sons cheating their fathers of money?

What about the other way round?

My father is Lu Ba.

Since young, I've been fed and clothed well thanks to him.

I'm sure you've never heard of the Roadcat Sports Car...

It was established in 2006 and was a sports car brand in China. It mainly produced SUVs and sedans. As of June 2008, the company's sold over 2,600,000 cards.

Yes, our family was doing great then.

But it did not prevent my father from turning into a gambling addict.

Before 2008, my dad was an honest man who ran his car factory diligently.

Within two years, his excellent work att.i.tude pushed his company into the top 15 car brands of China. His company showed no signs of slowing down. It was the black horse in the business world.

I still have no idea who was the son of a b*tch that brought him to Macau.

From then on, things got out of hand.

My dad became a regular customer, visiting Macau almost once a week.

I didn't know what he played in there, but he quarreled with Mom every day.

When things got heated, he would hit Mom.

After a year of abuse, she finally had enough.

In 2009, my mom reported him to the media, causing a hit to his reputation. However, with money and power, he managed to tweak the story so that in the eyes of the public, Mom was an adulterer.

Divorce was brought up and because I was still in elementary school, Dad bribed the judge and panelists to secure custody.

No matter how much evidence and sincerity Mom had, all of the news outlets were reporting about her 'affair' so it was an obvious decision for the judge.

Unable to bear public criticism, Mom jumped off a building that night.

I wasn't involved in the custody case and I only heard about it from Grandma a long time later.

I hated my dad but I said nothing.

2009 happened to be Roadcat's heyday, but those in the loop understood that the court case sealed its fate.

That year, I was placed in every evening cla.s.s possible and only returned to Grandma's house on the weekends.

Even though I was under Dad's care by law, I never saw him again after middle school.

After my college entrance exam, Grandma said that she wanted me to get into Marketing.

She wanted me to save Dad's company.

She only knew that the company was deteriorating but she did not know the reason why. I didn't have the heart to tell her that the company was in deficit thanks to Dad. With his name, he managed to borrow money to repay debts, pulling down a wall to build another.

At its peak in 2009, Roadcat sold 220,500 cars. By the end of 2014, sales had dropped progressively to 21,400.

Even with the deteriorating sales, Dad had no intention of stopping. He continued losing money, selling 17 factories and nine authorized stores in the process.