Chapter 77

On her way to the office, Li Ye drove smoothly. She knew what was going on; it was nothing more than a few things, all within her expectations. If Jiang Yu hadn't misheard, those people clearly mentioned Yu Zhou, which almost certainly meant a problem with President Tian's line of work.

However, Li Ye was confident in this woman's abilities, so he was certain that she wouldn't be the first to slip up. Considering the recent surge in the country's anti-corruption campaign and the numerous officials, both high and low, falling from grace across the country, Li Ye speculated that it was most likely related to the official above him.

The difficulty lies in the uncertainty of whether Director Lin was directly apprehended or simply caught in the crossfire while the investigation team was investigating others. If it's the former, even if President Tian is currently safe, her situation is precarious; if it's the latter, she might still be able to find a way to escape.

As she continued analyzing the situation, the car pulled into the office building's underground parking garage. After parking, Li Ye sat in the car for a while, looking at the familiar garage and the black and white lighting, and thinking about Xu Wanyi at home, her heart calmed down.

Regardless of the situation, we should first go up and listen to what these people have to say, and gather as much information as possible before we can formulate a countermeasure.

When Li Ye got off the elevator, the office was quiet. As soon as the receptionist and administrators saw her come in, they quickly greeted her: "Lawyer Li, you're here! How are you feeling?"

"Ah, it's nothing, I'm basically all better now."

"It's good that you're alright. We were really scared to death. We never knew Jin Haifeng was so heartless!" Xiao Zhou, the receptionist, still felt lingering fear when she thought about what happened that day.

"Well, to be blunt," the administrator lowered his voice, "Jin Haifeng was really forced into that state by Chen Chunlin."

"How do you know?" Li Ye was taken aback. She had thought that the two people who stopped her had heard some rumors. Obviously, the investigation team had arrived quietly, and no one in the station knew about it yet. This meant that things were better than expected. But what about the story of Chen Chunlin forcing Jin Haifeng to his death?

"Let's not talk about those old stories about using online loans to sell houses. Didn't Chen Chunlin have a project in Yibei? The company's boss is gay. Chen Chunlin teamed up with them to get Jin Haifeng drunk. You get the picture, right?"

"Ah!" the receptionist exclaimed first, "You can never judge a book by its cover! I never imagined Chen Chunlin was so despicable. How did you know?"

“Jin Haifeng said it himself. One weekend I came to work overtime and found Jin Haifeng alone in Chen Chunlin’s office, completely drunk.”

Li Ye was speechless, thinking, "So that's how it is. The last straw that broke the camel's back wasn't Chairman Xu, but that idiot Chen Chunlin." But ultimately, a person's fate is shaped by their own choices. For example, what she says and does today determines her future.

"Ladies, get back to work, I'm going in first." Li Ye regained his warm smile and walked straight to Zheng Shengmao's office.

"Bang, bang, bang, bang." Li Ye knocked on the door with a confident air, startling Zheng Shengmao, who was inside with his heart pounding.

"Oh, Attorney Li, you're here. Come, have a seat." Zheng Shengmao opened the door with a big smile and warmly welcomed Li Ye inside. Although it was the investigation team looking for Li Ye, they didn't say what it was about, and they didn't seem to be there to arrest him. It was Li Ye himself who, having done something wrong, was afraid of being knocked on the door. Being in the same space with these people made Zheng Shengmao a little worried that what he had done would be discovered.

When Li Ye entered, he saw three men in suits sitting properly on Zheng Shengmao's sofa. Zheng Shengmao had obviously been sitting with them earlier. The three men looked to be relatively young, with similar buzz cuts, wearing similar glasses, and had serious expressions, exuding an aura that kept strangers at bay.

Based on Li Ye's understanding of Zheng Shengmao, Zheng Shengmao, when faced with such situations, either flattered others or needed to be flattered. These people, whose faces clearly showed "if you can keep quiet, then don't speak" and "unyielding," had likely experienced some of the most difficult moments in Zheng Shengmao's life in the past twenty minutes.

Upon closer inspection, Li Ye noticed that Zheng Shengmao was covered in a fine sweat, and indeed it was true!

"Come, let me introduce you. These are the three leaders of the investigation team: Director Wang, Section Chief Liu, and Section Chief Ma."

"Good morning, leaders. I am Li Ye, a lawyer from Yuande." Li Ye introduced himself with a smile. As the saying goes, you can't hit a smiling face.

"Wang Qie, Liu Jun, Ma Ming." The three stood up and gave very brief self-introductions in turn.

Then, Wang Qie said, "Director Zheng, could you please step out for a moment? We'd like to have a private chat with Attorney Li."

"Of course, of course, you guys chat, you guys chat, just let me know if you need anything." Hearing this, Zheng Maosheng, as if released from prison, slipped out the door as if his feet were greased.

“Attorney Li, please have a seat. We called you here to understand some things,” Wang Qie continued.

"You should know XX Company in Yuzhou very well. You've been handling matters related to this company in Yuzhou recently." This company is Zhang Gang's company, so Li Ye certainly knows it.

"Yes, this company is owned by an executive of my client. It's used specifically to transfer assets and engage in business competition. What's wrong with this company?" Li Ye pretended not to know.

“This company itself is fine; everything is subject to the investigations by the police and the procuratorate. But how did you find out who the actual controller of this company is? To be honest, if we didn’t have the authority, it wouldn’t be easy to discover the relationship between them,” Liu Jun interjected.

The crucial moment has arrived. How well she answers this question may determine whether she can walk out of this "door".

"Dear leaders, we did not approach this company without reason. We started with my clients and discovered some payment records. We then gradually uncovered the details. As for how we identified the actual controller, I couldn't be sure at first. It was only after the Economic Investigation Department conducted further investigations after we reported the case that I was able to confirm it."

Li Ye spoke in a calm tone, speaking in a mix of truth and falsehood. She wanted to steer the discussion to the core issue of economic crime investigation, because the Public Security Bureau has a great deal of discretion in filing cases. Once an economic crime investigation is initiated, a thorough investigation using coercive measures will always uncover some clues.

“Hmm.” Ma Ming adjusted his glasses and nodded to the other two.

“Attorney Li, we’ve seen the materials you provided to the Economic Crime Investigation Department. The information in them is very detailed; it’s not something an ordinary person can access.”

Li Ye fell silent, sitting there, holding his teacup and looking at the group of people.

“Attorney Li, we heard that you were recently discharged from the hospital after suffering a serious injury, and there may be some things you can’t remember for the time being. How about this, we have booked a hotel in the eastern suburbs, and we would like to trouble you to come with us and spend a few days thinking it through.”

"Alright, can I make a phone call?" Li Ye shrugged, seemingly having no better ideas.

“Normally it’s not allowed, but this case with Attorney Li isn’t too serious, so we’ll make an exception this time,” Wang said in a deep voice.

Li Ye went out and returned to his office, where he dialed Xu Wanyi's number. There was no point in hiding it now; if these people wanted to investigate, it wouldn't be impossible for them to find her call records from ten years ago.

"Hey, Wanyi, this is Liye."

Xu Wanyi was staring at the phone when she answered it as soon as it rang. "What's wrong? Is the problem serious?"

"Well, it's serious in some ways, but not so serious in others."

"What do you mean? Explain yourself." There was a hint of anxiety in Xu Wanyi's voice.

“This matter itself is very serious. I suspect that Director Lin behind it has fallen from power and is being investigated. My matter itself is not serious and does not pose a great threat to society, but it is indeed a clue that they can find, and by following the clue, they will eventually catch the big fish.”

"What will you do?" Xu Wanyi's voice grew colder and colder.

"The worst that could happen is bribery, which could get you ten or eight years in prison," Li Ye said casually, as if he were joking.

"Don't even think about running away for another ten or eight years, I won't allow it!" The anxiety in her voice turned into anger.

"Yes, this is the worst-case scenario. I will handle it well and strive for a good outcome. Things like reduced sentence, probation, or meritorious service. I won't let you stay on that 'ten-year' prison sentence again."

"Alright, let's get down to business. I'm going with them to a hotel in the eastern suburbs. To put it nicely, it's to cooperate with an investigation; to put it bluntly, it's a restriction of personal freedom. Well, maybe it's legal, since they have a lot of authority. I'm just letting you know. Don't worry, just wait for me to come back at home."

Just then, a voice came from outside the door, "Attorney Li, it's almost time, we should leave."

"I'm hanging up now. Take care of yourself."

"Hmm." Xu Wanyi listened to the dial tone, her expression gloomy.

After Li Ye left, Xu Wanyi experienced unease for the third time in her life. The last time was when he was injured, and the time before that was when he left. The difference was that ten years ago, she felt more anger and resentment, while this time she was filled with worry and fear. So she didn't dare to see Li Ye off, and didn't even leave the study.

At this moment, she held the key to Li Ye's house, unconsciously turning the keychain. After the initial shock subsided, Xu Wanyi's mind began to race. After listening to Li Ye's phone call and confirming that something had happened, her anxiety naturally increased. She had thought Li Ye's house wasn't very big, but now, looking at the empty rooms, an indescribable sense of loneliness welled up in her heart.

She sat in Li Ye's seat at the dining table, touched Li Ye's mouse, and an idea came to her. "Feng Jing, come pick me up from Li Ye's house."

Half an hour later, Xu Wanyi had returned to her office, which she hadn't been to for half a month.

"Feng Jing, call Jiang Yu and ask her to come to our office."

"Chairman, Jiang Yu isn't here today." Of course, Xu Wanyi knew that.

"Okay, just call and say you're looking for her."

"Okay." Feng Jing reacted, made a phone call, and soon brought Jiang Yu up.

This was Jiang Yu's first time entering Xu Wanyi's office. Apart from being a bit larger, it was exactly as she had imagined: dark tones, high-quality materials, simple and elegant. Everything in the office had its purpose, which was quite consistent with Chairman Xu's style: only useful things were kept.

However, if she knew about the huge amount of random things Xu Wanyi bought for Li Ye ten years ago, she would probably be even more shocked by the incredible transformation of her beautiful CEO.

"Jiang Yu, this is urgent, so I'll get straight to the point. How much do you know about that company in Zhanggang Yuzhou?"