The bankruptcy of Chi Wan’s family was a "freak accident" full of strange coincidences.

Chi Yuanshan had started out in manufacturing. As his business grew, it gradually expanded to cover all aspects of home furniture production.

Not only did he have his own factories and production lines, but he also received considerable government support. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Furthermore, Chi Yuanshan and his wife were known for their honesty and integrity. Their factories never cut corners, they were generous with their friends, and they rarely made enemies.

The turning point was a massive order from overseas.

Normally, a practical man like Chi Yuanshan, who never acted rashly, wouldn’t have readily signed such a colossal deal.

He knew better than anyone that the order volume far exceeded his factories’ capacity. If he couldn’t deliver on time, the enormous profit would instantly become an enormous liability.

But the other party was extremely sincere.

They not only sent several waves of high-level executives to negotiate but also earnestly told Chi Yuanshan that their boss was an overseas Chinese who, after making his fortune, always thought of his homeland.

The series of antique-style wooden furniture previously produced by Chi Yuanshan’s company had caught his eye, which was why he gave the order to the Chi Family.

They even said that their boss valued quality more than delivery speed.

So, they very considerately split the order and drew up a detailed contract, ensuring that each shipment’s volume was just around the maximum capacity of Chi Yuanshan’s factories—a level that was manageable with a bit of extra effort.

After much hesitation, and after carefully researching the other party’s reputation and market history, Chi Yuanshan finally decided to accept what was, by all accounts, a high-quality order.

After all, who wouldn’t want to take their company to the next level?

And unlike food products, it was true that in the furniture business, there were buyers willing to wait longer to achieve their desired quality; he had just never seen one quite so deep-pocketed.

After signing the contract, Chi Yuanshan practically lived at the factory, determined to prevent any mishaps.

The first few shipments went very smoothly, with no hitches during handover. The timely payments from the client, in particular, boosted everyone’s confidence.

However, just as everyone was gearing up to complete the largest part of the order, disaster struck.

The day before the shipment was due, a tanker truck full of crude benzene got into an accident while passing by on the main road in front of the factory.

Fortunately, the driver was unharmed. He had probably taken a turn too fast, causing the truck to overturn. All thirty tons of crude benzene spilled out, right in front of the factory.

The workers near the factory gate at the time didn’t recognize benzene. They just wanted to clean up the ground quickly so it wouldn’t interfere with loading the cargo.

So they made what, in hindsight, was an incredibly foolish decision—they took a water hose and washed all the spilled benzene down the sewer.

Unexpectedly, when the benzene mixed with the methane gas in the sewer, it triggered an explosion!

The entire road along the sewer line, including the cargo waiting above, was destroyed. Even some of the factory’s machinery was damaged in the blast.

The only silver lining was that although some people were injured, no one was gathered at the epicenter of the incident, so there were no fatalities.

The most severely injured were the very workers who had hosed down the spill. They were thrown by the blast, suffering broken legs and concussions of varying degrees.

When Chi Yuanshan, who had been waiting for the shipment, saw the scene of devastation before him, his mind went blank. He collapsed to the ground, unable to get up for a long time.

It was Song Yinghe who forcefully pulled him to his feet, telling him, "As long as everyone’s okay, there’s still a chance to turn things around."

The order was now impossible to complete. The buyer, who had been so amiable and full of praise, instantly changed their tune, demanding a refund of the deposit and payment for the breach of contract due to the failure to deliver on time.

The city government urgently demanded compensation for infrastructure repairs. Because the explosion had damaged a small section of fiber optic cable, the amount they had to pay was staggering.

The tanker driver had vanished without a trace, and the employee who had hosed down the spill was still in the hospital receiving treatment...

Everything seemed to point to Chi Yuanshan just being incredibly unlucky, as if fated to face this calamity.

After all, every single part of it seemed plausible. Even the buyer who had turned hostile was only demanding legitimate compensation—they had indeed failed to deliver and breached the contract. In the world of business, there’s little room for sentiment.

And so, the rest followed as a matter of course.

Paying the massive compensation drained their cash flow, and the bank recalled its loans, making a bad situation even worse.

In the end, they had no choice but to declare bankruptcy.

After liquidating all their assets, they were fortunately left with a second-hand car the couple had bought when they were first starting out, and just a few thousand yuan in their bank account.

Seeing the non-blaming looks in Song Yinghe’s and Chi Wan’s eyes, how could Chi Yuanshan dare to wallow in failure? The family discussed it and decided to return to their hometown together. They figured they could still make a living by growing fruit trees.

Back when they were desperately begging everyone they knew for help, these "good friends" of the past had avoided them. Now, they were showing up at their door on their own initiative.

"Dad, do you think they’re coming to stir up trouble again because they see we’re getting back on our feet?" Chi Wan mused while eating. ’If what happened before wasn’t an ’accident,’ who could have set up such a vicious trap?’

An explosion was a completely uncontrollable event; it could have easily caused fatalities.

’To bankrupt our family, were these people really willing to risk people’s lives?!’

Chi Yuanshan put down his bowl and chopsticks and sighed. "I don’t know. Your mother and I discussed it for a long time, and we just couldn’t think of anyone who hated us that much. But, thinking back on it now, the whole thing was indeed very strange."

Song Yinghe said resentfully, "Honestly, if they hadn’t suddenly shown up now, trying to coax your dad into some ’comeback,’ we wouldn’t have connected all these dots."

"Think about it. If they were really the type to offer a helping hand, they didn’t lift a finger when our family was in such dire straits. Now that they see we’ve sold this batch of fruit and might recover, they come running, acting all chummy."

"Anyway, I’m sure they’re up to no good. It’s like they’re not satisfied that the last incident didn’t crush us completely."

Chi Wan rested her chin on her hand, poking at the rice in her bowl with her chopsticks. "So... Mom, Dad, don’t you think those people might have also been behind it last time, when Song Yangming hired someone to stage an accident to force us to sell the mountain?"

Chi Yuanshan and Song Yinghe exchanged a look. "Wanwan, are you saying that what happened before was also related to Song Yangming?"

Song Yinghe didn’t think so. "I’m not defending them, but even if my mother and the others hate our family, they wouldn’t turn their backs on money. Bankrupting us wouldn’t do them any good, would it?"

Chi Wan finished the rest of her rice. "I haven’t figured that part out either. I was just following what Mom said about someone wanting to crush our family and made the connection. After all, if Song Yangming had succeeded back then, our family’s last resort would have been truly gone."