Chapter 260: Cherry Blossom Festival

"Oh, by the way, has Chairman Su replied?" Du Yuanhang changed the subject.
"Yes, yes! I just received his reply this morning!" The vice president quickly handed over the document.
"Oh? So fast? He finished that thick book, as thick as a dictionary, in one night?"
"You know, our Chairman Su is incredibly efficient!"
"Speed? He's practically a prodigy!
Every achievement he's made is earth-shattering!
Who would have thought that Fanghuan Shipping would soar to new heights under his leadership, directly challenging the throne of the world's number one shipping giant?
It's all thanks to Chairman Su!"
That's why Du Yuanhang has grown increasingly respectful of Su Hao, even to the point of being completely obedient.
But he also knows Su Hao is incredibly busy, so he's learned his lesson and tries not to bother him.
Only each quarter, like submitting homework, would they compile the company's most important strategic plans into a booklet, respectfully submit it, and await the "teacher's" review.
"Let me see, let me see...where exactly did Chairman Su circle..."
Du Yuanhang was currently most concerned with only one thing:
Which pages did Su Hao leave his annotations on?
No matter how eloquently he and his team wrote their proposals, or how brilliant they thought they were, if Su Hao didn't circle or mark a page on that page, the proposal was essentially a piece of waste paper, directly invalid.
Therefore, even if he felt sorry for his team's hard work, he wouldn't give the unselected proposals a second glance.
“‘Pacific routes, especially in Northeast Asia, require a reassessment of vessel utilization efficiency’…
‘Some routes pose a potential risk of cargo backlog and delays. From a risk management perspective, the call schedules at major ports in Japan need to be flexibly adjusted.’
…Also, ‘Some routes are temporarily diverted…to Central and South America or Europe’…”
Du Yuanhang read the annotations on the report aloud while looking at the densely packed route maps. Suddenly, his voice stopped abruptly, and he froze.
“Old Yang, come and take a look at this report.”
“Mr. Du, what’s wrong?” The vice president approached.
“Old Yang, have you looked at these annotations?”
“I haven’t had time to look at them closely.”
“Then…just look at this part about the route adjustments.”
The vice president did as instructed, focusing his gaze on the few pages of highlighted route maps and adjustment explanations, quickly scanning them.
A moment later.
"...Hmm?" The vice president's face mirrored Du Yuanhang's expression, a mixture of astonishment and confusion.
He finally sensed the unease hidden between the lines.
"President Du...this...this is no longer a simple route change." His voice was hoarse.
"That's right! Old Yang, you noticed it too, didn't you?" Du Yuanhang's voice trembled slightly.
"Yes! Every single modification...has an extremely clear intention!
And these intentions are like an invisible net, precisely targeting...Japan!"
The layman sees the spectacle, the expert sees the details.
To the untrained eye, this report might seem meaningless.
It's just adjusting shipping schedules and changing a few routes, what's the big deal?
But in the eyes of these two seasoned veterans of the shipping industry, every punctuation mark in those words exuded a chilling murderous intent!
"Reassessing efficiency" and "managing risks"—beneath these high-sounding excuses lay adjustments to port call schedules;
Furthermore, there were drastic modifications to shipping routes!
On the surface, it appeared chaotic, seemingly solely for improving overall operational efficiency.
But once these seemingly independent adjustments were placed within the intricate, interconnected global shipping network…
The result was singular!
That is, deliberately, systematically, and on a large scale, without violating any contractual terms!
Delaying all cargo ships bound for Japanese ports!
“Every shipping contract has a delivery deadline, and exceeding that deadline incurs hefty penalties.
But if we operate strictly according to this plan…
We can precisely time the arrival of every ship right at the last minute of the deadline, without violating any contract terms!”
Shipping contracts typically allow for a considerable margin of error in delivery deadlines.
But Su Hao's plan aims to completely eliminate that margin of error!
“If it were just one ship doing this, it might not be a big deal.
But if dozens or even hundreds of cargo ships bound for Japan, all arriving at the port at the last second before the deadline…”
Du Yuanhang’s lips curled into a chilling smile: “What will happen to their domestic logistics?”
“They will… be paralyzed.” The vice president gasped.
“Initially, it might not be obvious, but if it continues for a few weeks, Japan will absolutely experience unprecedented logistical chaos!
Goods that should arrive won’t arrive, and goods that should be shipped won’t be delivered due to port congestion!
The entire country’s economic artery will be severed by us!”
The complexity of global freight routes far exceeds outsiders’ imagination.
Especially for a behemoth like Fanghuan Shipping, which owns hundreds of giant ships, even a slight adjustment to any route could trigger a chain reaction, causing massive time delays.
Su Hao’s seemingly casual flick of the wrist precisely pinpointed the critical node in the entire network.
“But… how did Chairman Su manage that?
How could he know every shipping route in the world so intimately?
Adjusting to these times and milestones he annotated, not a minute more, not a second less, everything…
is flawlessly precise, down to the second, terrifyingly accurate!”
“I told you before,” Du Yuanhang leaned back in his chair, his eyes filled with awe,
“In shipping, Chairman Su is more professional than all of us old guys who've worked in this field our whole lives combined!
He’s a genius! Sometimes I even wonder if he’s the reincarnation of the Dragon King of the East Sea.”
This thin annotation had laid bare Su Hao’s intentions before them.
His target was the entirety of Japan!
Was it because the Japanese government dared to shake the semiconductor empire he had built, enraging him?
Or was it because of the patriotism deeply ingrained in his blood, making him determined not to allow China to lose to Japan on any battlefield?
"Whatever the reason," Du Yuanhang's eyes sharpened.
"Given Chairman Su's personality, this is definitely just the beginning!"
That guy has always been like this.
Anyone who dares to stand in his way, whether human or demon, company or giant, is always crushed to dust!
Ordinary people outside simply cannot imagine that behind those behemoths that suddenly collapsed or inexplicably went bankrupt in the past few years, there was, to varying degrees, the shadow of Su Hao.
"But...but President Du! This time, the opponent isn't just a company, but...the Japanese government!"
The vice president's voice trembled.
Even a giant like Facebook, after offending Su Hao, suffered a halved stock price and a tarnished reputation, didn't it?
But that was ultimately a war between companies.
Now, Su Hao is taking on an entire nation!
Du Yuanhang took a deep breath, his eyes blazing with fury:
“The government can't intervene, but Chairman Su is going to fight back for all of us who are holding our breath!
What are we waiting for if not to cheer him on?”
“Shouldn't we…shouldn't we try to persuade him?”
“Persuade?” Du Yuanhang shook his head.
“Too late. From the moment this report was sent back, it was all too late.”
This meant that while they were still worrying about the crisis, Su Hao had already prepared the entire counterattack plan, including all the execution details.
“I bet he's issuing instructions to us while simultaneously laying a trap in the financial markets.
Perhaps all the financial positions are already in place.
He might even have a backup plan hidden in places we never imagined.”
The Japanese government probably never dreamed of this.
They haven't even officially declared war, yet they're already indulging in the illusion of certain victory.
They believed that revealing their three trump cards would be enough to subjugate their opponents.
But they were unaware that a massive storm, capable of upending everything, was quietly brewing beneath their feet.
Du Yuanhang picked up a pen and slowly wrote a few words on the cover of the report, muttering to himself:
"Operation codename: 'Cherry Blossom Festival.'
How about it? Doesn't the name sound impressive?"
The vice president forced a smile that was more like a grimace.
This wasn't a "festival," it was clearly a "funeral"!
And so, with this annotation issued, this war machine, composed of countless intricate gears, began its first low rumble, following Su Hao's will.