"Within a few years, their business grew exponentially and became the richest in Country R… However, that was not where their ambitions stopped. Utilizing their immense wealth, they squirmed their ways into different governmental departments and greased a few important palms.
"Later on, they even sponsored Country R's first satellite launching center. Then, the He Lan family started their orphanage to start training talents. After the kids grew up, the He Lan family arranged for them to enter different sectors and important government posts.
"You could say that from the very beginning, the He Lan family had never stopped growing and the true political power of Country R was in their hands. Curiously enough, they were related to every single president this country has ever had. Many of them got the presidency with their support.
"About thirty years ago, the He Lan family was a household name throughout Country R because their influence could be felt all over the country. However, several years after that, they started to retreat to the background and away from the public eye. Nonetheless, this did not mean that their ambitions had dwindled. Many of their pawns were still in the government and they still held great power and influence.
"The only accident happened about ten years ago. Due to the great advancement in terms of culture and economy, the lifestyle of the citizens underwent a major change. The opening of the borders made it so that the people started to believe in democratic ideals.
"Eventually, the streak of conservative presidents was broken, and a newly formed democratic party managed to win the presidency. From that moment on, the conservative party and Democratic Party had contested non-stop. While everyone's attention was attracted to this tussle between the two parties, the He Lan family successfully faded from the public consciousness.
"During that time, they were trying to wrangle back power and that was where the Chui family came in. He Lan Chang was impressed by my family's background and potential so he chose to cooperate with us. He had been supporting and training us.
"After years of mutual hard work, I finally got the president's seat with He Lan Chang's help. I thought that was the beginning of nirvana for me, and life would be smooth sailing. How wrong I was, because that was the beginning of my nightmare.
"After I got selected, He Lan Chang started assigning me missions and the few initial ones were still within my acceptable range. However, the missions slid closer and closer to illegality after a not very long period of time. For example, he wanted me to cover up some of his family's criminal activities, help get grants for him using my power, and assign his people into important government departments…
"It was a vicious cycle because the more I helped him, the more evidence I was giving him to use against me. It was like a swamp, the more I struggled, the faster and deeper I sank."
Chui Qian sighed. Xinghe could see that this was a man of conscience and the illegal activities He Lan Chang had been forcing on him had taken its toll. However, he was trapped within this prison he had created for himself. This was the Chui family's choice from the beginning; they had signed a deal with the devil, so they would have to live with it!
However, Chui Qian could no longer allow this malignant tumor called the He Lan family to continue sucking the life out of Country R, so he had been collecting damaging information on the He Lan family behind their back.
He planned to release all of the information once he retired or was forced into retirement. He hoped that the information he collected would be enough to destroy the He Lan family!
Then, Chui Qian planned to commit suicide to repent for the sins he had wrought on his beloved country.