Chapter 49

The Beginning of Winter. Winter signifies the end, a time when all things are stored away.

Xu Wanyi arrived at the office as usual, but today she felt a little uneasy. Li Ye had said last week that the Yuzhou Economic Investigation Department would give her news today. Xu Wanyi knew there wouldn't be any major problems, but at this crucial moment, she couldn't help feeling a little anxious, even she couldn't avoid it.

Just as Xu Wanyi was about to give up on the day's news, Feng Jing hurriedly knocked on her office door.

"Chairman, Attorney Li said that the Yuzhou Economic Investigation Bureau has opened a case. I sent you the receipt via WeChat, you can take a look."

Feng Jing's words revealed an undisguised excitement. She knew this matter was very important to the chairman, and it was also the result of their long-term hard work.

Excitement flashed in Xu Wanyi's eyes. She clicked on the receipt and saw that the case had indeed been filed. She asked, "What did Attorney Li say?"

"Attorney Li said that after reviewing the materials, the Yuzhou Economic Investigation Department believed that the evidence was sufficient and well-founded, and quickly filed a case. However, they have too many backlogged cases recently and are severely understaffed. Attorney Li believes that Zhang Gang and others' criminal activities are ongoing, and if they are not intervened in time, it may cause even greater losses."

"Huh?" Xu Wanyi's fingers trembled slightly. It seemed that Li Ye had gone to Yuzhou in person.

Feng Jing didn't hear Xu Wanyi's next words, so he continued, "So, after discussing it with Attorney Li, Officer Xiang finally decided to carry out the arrest this Friday, to detain and control them first."

At this point, Feng Jing finally couldn't contain his excitement.

Xu Wanyi wasn't quite clear on how things worked at the Economic Investigation Department, but in practice, it was rare for them to arrest people so quickly. She really had to thank Xiang Nuo and her brother for their help.

In fact, regardless of how others in public institutions handle matters, for these two individuals, a clear distinction between right and wrong is their principle, and they must never cross any red lines that shouldn't be crossed. However, whether they act quickly or slowly is another matter entirely, falling under their legal and compliant discretionary power.

"Okay, here's what you do. Schedule the final review meeting for the finance department's report for that day, starting at nine in the morning, with the end time to be determined. Also, have Wang Du arrange for more security guards to patrol these floors, just in case."

"Yes, Chairman. Oh, by the way, Chairman, Attorney Li also said that she needs a company authorization letter, which will be provided to the Yuzhou Economic Investigation Department later."

Xu Wanyi hadn't thought of this. Since Li Ye had personally reported the case, and she wasn't an employee of Le Guang, yet they had let her speak on behalf of Le Guang, it was clear that... Xiang Nuo was reliable.

"Okay, let her write down what she wants, and then you stamp it for her."

"OK."

With the case finally settled, Xu Wanyi breathed a heavy sigh of relief, her heart, which had been hanging in suspense all day, finally calmed down.

She turned and opened the company's talent pool, looking through the resumes of employees in the departments with shady dealings. She mentally reviewed who could be trusted, who she was not familiar with, who should be fired, and who needed to be reassigned.

In addition, she was also considering transferring some trusted people from Beijing's Leguang Pharmaceutical, which was her home base, to Leguang Group in order to achieve the goal of taking over Leguang Group completely, at least... at least to prevent them from continuing to bleed money out of the financial sector.

Judging from the large sum of money her father transferred last time, it's clear that neither he nor his son intended to reinvest the money back into the Leguang system, nor did they ever intend to return it. In her view, this was blatantly targeting her and her mother.

Xu Wanyi spent the rest of the week busy with these matters, and by the time everything was arranged, Friday arrived.

Early Friday morning, almost all the important figures in the Leguang Group appeared in the conference room on the 49th floor, and even many middle-level managers from various departments received meeting notices.

However, no one found it strange. Many people even considered it an honor to have the opportunity to attend such a high-level meeting on the 49th floor, as if they had suddenly become superior and felt a sense of pride in being appreciated by their superiors.

Little did they know, what awaited them was an unprecedented and unseen storm.

Zhang Gang sat down next to Xu Wanyi with a smug look on his face and presided over the meeting as usual.

Chen Chunlin sat opposite Zhang Gang with a beaming smile. Ever since he was punished by Xu Wanyi to read the due diligence report for a whole day, he hadn't dared to come to Leguang Group again. After being a coward for so long, today was finally his time to finally stand up for himself.

However, he was still intimidated by Xu Wanyi and didn't dare to sit directly opposite her, so he begged Jiang Yu to sit in that seat instead. Jiang Yu looked at him with disdain. "You, Chen Chunlin, are a partner in this project. This is the head seat for the project's legal team. I've never seen a partner so cowardly that he doesn't even dare to sit down. Attorney Chen, you're truly one of a kind."

Jiang Yu imagined that if it were Attorney Li, she would definitely sit here nonchalantly, perhaps even staring brazenly at the beautiful Chairman Xu, given her thick skin and her ambiguous relationship with Sister Xu.

"Oh, what a pity!" Jiang Yu unconsciously slapped her thigh.

"Attorney Jiang, are you alright?" Jiang Yu didn't feel anything from the pat, but it gave Chen Chunlin a big fright.

He thought to himself, "This little girl Jiang Yu can't let me down at this time. Who will give the report then? I'm not capable of filling in for her. This week, I've been drinking heavily with clients. I was unconscious for three out of five days and spent one day in the hospital on an IV drip. I didn't even have time to look at the final version of the report."

Chen Chunlin seemed to have thought of something, and suddenly wiped the non-existent sweat from his forehead. He then secretly glanced at Xu Wanyi, whose face was serious, as if it were about to freeze. He roared in his heart: I absolutely cannot let this woman catch me in any way again!

Therefore, Jiang Yu absolutely cannot afford to have any problems.

Jiang Yu found Chen Chunlin's actions and expressions rather comical; even a fool could tell his inner turmoil was no less than when he was caught being late for class by the head teacher as a child. So, an idea formed in her mind, and she lowered her voice and said:

“Attorney Chen, I didn’t realize it until you mentioned it, but now that you’ve reminded me, I really do have a headache. If I’m in so much pain that I can’t present the PPT later, remember to fill in for me. All the important people from Leguang Group are here today, so we can’t let Yuande Law Firm down.” After saying that, she gave Chen Chunlin a knowing look.

Chen Chunlin almost fainted.

"Uh, uh, Attorney Jiang, you should rest first. You can definitely do it, there won't be any problems. Hang in there, believe in yourself. You are the best lawyer at Yuande. If this report is approved, becoming a partner is absolutely no problem. Ah, no, no problem at all."

"Then thank you in advance, Attorney Chen," Jiang Yu replied indifferently, glancing at Jin Haifeng sitting on her other side.

Jin Haifeng shuddered; he hadn't seen Jiang Yu in a long time. Although Jiang Yu hadn't said anything, and no one in the team had ever mentioned it, Jiang Yu's glance made him feel uneasy, like walking down the street in broad daylight in his underwear—utterly unsafe.

"Chairman, it's almost time. I checked and everyone's here. Shall we begin the meeting?" Zhang Gang whispered to Xu Wanyi.

Xu Wanyi didn't speak. She glanced at the nearly fifty people in the conference room and nodded slightly after confirming that everyone on the list had arrived.

"Distinguished leaders and colleagues, today is the final review meeting for the legal due diligence report of our financial sector integration and development plan. The chairman is personally attending, although President Xu is unwell and still recuperating in Yunzhou. However, he also instructed me to cooperate fully with the lawyers, which shows how much importance he attaches to this meeting..."

Xu Wanyi didn't take his rambling seriously. The previous chairman of Leguang Group was Xu Wanyi's older brother, Xu Xuanming. Later, the financial sector's performance became so poor that Xu Wanyi was brought in. But it wasn't appropriate to kick Xu Xuanming out directly, since they were all family members, and family scandals shouldn't be aired in public.

Xu Shenzhao then gave him a role that should have given him real power in business operations—the president. This was a two-pronged approach: he wanted Xu Wanyi to turn things around, but he didn't want Xu Wanyi to have real power.

Ironically, due to health reasons, President Xu was unable to fulfill his actual management responsibilities.

As for the cause of his health problems, apart from Xu Wanyi himself and a few of Xu Xuanming's confidants, no one in the group knew. In the end, Xu Xuanming became the nominal president of Leguang Group, but he was almost never in Haixi. On the contrary, Xu Wanyi had been stationed in Haixi this year, so naturally, the affairs fell under the chairman's management. Therefore, no one in the group usually mentioned the title of president.

Zhang Gang brought this up at the beginning of today's event; it seems he has some good ideas.

Others might not understand the implied meaning, but Xu Wanyi did. First, it was a reminder to many present that their current positions were given to them by Xu Xuanming, and they should remember who the real boss was. Second, it was a warning to Xu Wanyi: you're nobody; your brother can kick you out with a wave of his hand, so don't be so arrogant.

It seems I communicated with my good older brother beforehand and received instructions, otherwise where would I get such confidence?

Zhang Gang continued muttering, but then came a cacophony of footsteps and voices outside the door. The people in the conference room looked at each other, unsure of what was happening.

The sound seemed to be getting closer and closer to the conference room, so Zhang Gang stopped abruptly. "Wang Du, go check what's happening outside and tell them to keep their voices down. We're having a meeting here."

His tone was completely matter-of-fact, showing no regard for Xu Wanyi sitting next to him, a stark contrast to his usual timid and submissive style.

Wang Du, of course, knew what had happened; he was partly responsible for it. Before Wang Du even reached the door, the conference room door opened, and a group of police officers in uniform walked in, accompanied by Feng Jing, followed by what appeared to be company security guards.

Those in the meeting room who hadn't done anything wrong remained completely bewildered, while those who had felt a chill run down their spines. Zhang Gang was especially nervous, suddenly turning to look at Xu Wanyi, a crack appearing in his previously smug expression.

"Chairman, what's this?"

"Mr. Zhang, don't you understand what this is? You come from a government agency, you've seen this kind of thing many times before." Xu Wanyi said calmly.

The police blocked both doors, making the conference room extremely chaotic and crowded. It was the first time Jiang Yu had ever seen such a huge conference room packed with people.

Although Attorney Li didn't tell her, she roughly guessed what had happened. Sitting between Chen Chunlin and Jin Haifeng, she suddenly felt uneasy, quickly stood up, wedged her chair under the edge of the table, and retreated to the back.

Meanwhile, her eyes searched the crowd, hoping to spot Attorney Li. But these policemen were tall and imposing; Attorney Li, who usually stood out from the crowd, would probably look like a dwarf next to them. For a moment, Jiang Yu could only see countless policemen in peaked caps.

Xu Wanyi didn't have that awareness. She remained seated, unmoved. On the other hand, Zhang Gang became agitated when he heard her say that, and when the two policemen walked behind them. He stood up, knocking over his chair and separating the two policemen on the other side.

"Chairman, what do you mean by this? Are these police officers targeting me? This is a society governed by the rule of law; arrests require evidence."

"Would the police come without evidence? The police station isn't my family's property, Mr. Zhang."