Chapter 8 - The Red Eviction Seal
Grandma Lin stepped out of the vehicle, her face turning the color of ash.
"Landlord Qian..." she gasped, stumbling forward, her hands clutching her chest. "Please! I paid you three months of rent in advance just last Tuesday! All twelve hundred dollars from my savings! You looked me in the eye and swore on your ancestors we could stay until the spring thaw!"
Qian scoffed, spitting into the muddy slush by his boots. "Twelve hundred dollars is pocket money, old woman. Wei Maritime paid cash upfront with a twenty percent developer buyout bonus for early demolition. You want your money back? File a claim at the municipal housing arbitration desk downtown. Good luck getting an appointment before the new year. Now take your kid and clear your junk out."
Meimei ran to her grandmother, burying her face into the plum coat, weeping with terror. "Grandma, where will our beds go? It’s snowing outside... don't let him throw our things into the mud!"
Kenneth Shen walked forward. He didn't raise his voice. He didn't clench his fists.
He reached up, gripped the red eviction notice, and tore it cleanly from the door frame with a sharp rip. He crushed the thick paper into a tight sphere within his right palm, letting the fragments drop into Qian’s open tool bucket.
Qian’s eyes flared with anger. "Hey! That is a court-registered notice, you punk! Who the hell do you think you—"
Qian’s voice died in his throat as his gaze traveled past Kenneth to the three long, armored limousines idling silently in the dark alley, their polished grilles reflecting the streetlamps and their diplomatic port authority badges gleaming on the windshields.
Kenneth pulled a encrypted satellite phone from his pocket, pressing a single speed-dial button.
"Arthur," Kenneth spoke into the speaker.
In the provincial capital, Arthur Vance—the chief legal officer of Kairos Holdings—answered within half a ring. "Yes, Chairman Shen."
"Wei Maritime Logistics," Kenneth said, his tone casual and precise. "Who holds their commercial debt covenants?"
"Our infrastructure fund underwrote their ninety-million-dollar syndicate note for the dry-dock expansion last spring, Chairman. They have an interest coverage ratio review scheduled for next week."
Kenneth looked down at Landlord Qian, whose face was beginning to twitch with nervous dread under the intensity of his stare.
"Call the loan immediately," Kenneth commanded. "Declare a material governance default based on unlawful predatory tenant displacement in an active residential zone. Freeze their commercial accounts through our banking consortium before midnight. And purchase the entire land title for East Wharf Alley directly from the city development trust by six tomorrow morning. Put the deed into The Lin Mother-and-Child Foundation."
"It will be filed with the high court registry within thirty minutes, Chairman."
Kenneth ended the call and slid the phone back into his coat. He looked down at Qian, whose mouth was hanging slack in utter horror.
May you like
"Take your iron bar and walk out of this alley," Kenneth said softly. "If I find you near this door again, I will have the provincial tax inspection bureau audit every unrecorded cash lease you’ve taken in this district over the past twenty years."
Qian dropped his cigarette, grabbed his tool bucket with trembling hands, and sprinted down the dark alleyway like a dog fleeing the whip.
