Mr. Ou shrugged. "We had some clues. A few old maps. A bit of history. Nothing confirmed... until now."
Meng Nanhao clenched his fists. His face turned red with anger.
"You tricked us! You set us up!"
Ou Lin laughed. "Did we? Or did you just bet without checking the cards?"
"You made us chase a fake prize!" Meng Nanhao shouted.
But no more words came. His throat felt tight. All his confidence from earlier was gone.
Mr. Ou looked at the crowd of reporters, who were now swarming closer with cameras and microphones.
"Let me be clear," Mr. Ou said, adjusting his tie, "we didn't force anyone to do anything. We simply... gave the Meng family some breathing room. We took the land they thought was useless. Now it turns out, the 'prize' they won is nothing but a historical site."
"And by law," Ou Lin added, grinning widely, "no construction can happen there. At least not for many, many years."
Meng Qingshan felt dizzy.
