Chapter 42
Li Ye had no time to think about these things. She had Lin Hong and Fang Jie pull up the financial and business data for the financial sector, and the group spent the entire morning studying it on their computers. After lunch, they gathered again for a meeting.
Li Ye first extracted the financial data related to the 20 million and showed it to the others. The Excel spreadsheet was marked with "payment by promissory note".
Lin Hong, with his auditing background, immediately spotted the problem. The 20 million was split into several payments, but the amounts and payment methods were clearly inconsistent with the group's usual practices. The group had never paid such a high "consulting service fee" to a single company, let alone used a promissory note.
He looked at it more closely, and his unease deepened. He remembered that the original financial documents and reports corresponding to this part of the data were missing. At that time, the chairman had held a meeting with several senior executives, and Zhang Gang said that the documents might not have been organized yet after the office was moved, and it wouldn't be too late to look at them after they were organized.
This delay dragged on until October.
"Mr. Lin, have you discovered something?" Li Ye noticed him constantly wiping away sweat and had a guess in his mind.
"Well, we haven't been able to find the original financial documents and reports for the time being," Wang Du said, pointing to a row of data.
Li Ye frowned. Wang Du's words confirmed that there was something wrong with these payments. Li Ye had actually investigated this company before. It was an inconspicuous loan company that she had never even heard of, registered in Yuzhou.
But in Yuzhou, there are thousands of such companies, so it's fine if she doesn't know. The strange thing is that, according to public information, this company is clearly in the same niche industry as the company they paid, so what consulting service fee is there to pay?
“Then… I guess we won’t be able to find it.” Li Ye glanced at Lin Hong and said quietly, “Zhang Gang probably didn’t expect to be discovered so quickly; he hasn’t even had time to write the report yet.”
"Do you have any?" she asked, turning to Wang Du.
“Well, I’ve never seen it. To be honest, I know nothing about it. Chen Fang handled all of this at the beginning of the year,” Wang Du recalled.
Li Ye recalled the hunchbacked man with big ears and small eyes.
"Is the file sorted out?" she asked casually, her eyes fixed on the computer screen.
Wang Du felt as if he were facing Xu Wanyi. "No, no, ah, it's all sorted out, but I haven't seen any report." He finally realized what Li Ye was asking.
Upon hearing this, Lin Hong wiped away his sweat and slowly sat up straight.
He was Xu Wanyi's confidant and knew Xu Wanyi's methods. He should have noticed this mess a long time ago, but now not only did he not notice it, he almost fell into Zhang Gang's trap.
"Let me take a look at the other data and see if there's anything else fishy going on," he mumbled.
"Mr. Fang, have you made any discoveries over there?" Li Ye noticed that Fang Jie's expression was serious, and his brows furrowed more and more as he listened.
"At first I didn't think much of it, but after hearing what you two said, I now think there might be something going on." Fang Jie turned on his computer and wrote a program to run through his investment and financing clients a few times.
"I've noticed a sharp drop in the number of customers over the past two months. Many customers haven't even reached their due date; they've all made early repayments."
Feng Jing also found it strange, "With the economy so bad, shouldn't people be unable to repay their loans? Why are so many people repaying their loans early?"
"The most likely scenario is that someone is trying every means to get them to repay the loan early." Upon hearing this, the other three were shocked. Who would do such a thing? What would be the point?
"This is just a guess. I'll verify it first." Li Ye didn't want to explain in too much detail to them right now.
"President Feng, what about that huge expenditure?"
Feng Jing was very familiar with the group's various processes and administrative affairs, so Li Ye asked her to check the process of that huge sum of money.
"That expenditure complies with the group's financial and payment processes."
"Huh? Chairman Xu agreed? Then why didn't you know before?" Li Ye was a little confused.
"The chairman was unaware of this matter; the final payment was signed by the former chairman."
"Xu Shenzhao? Didn't he stop interfering a long time ago? How come he still has this authority now?"
“Yes, the old chairman doesn’t really manage things, but he still controls the money. However, this is the first time I’ve seen him actually interfere with the specific fund transfers.” Feng Jing glanced at Lin Hong, who also showed a hint of doubt in his eyes.
Li Ye knew that Leguang Group was complicated and that Xu Wanyi had a difficult life, but he didn't know that it was so complicated and subtle that even these people found it hard to explain.
"Alright, Mr. Lin, Mr. Fang, thank you both for taking up your National Day holiday. Could you please send me these documents and I'll take care of the rest?"
"You're too kind, Attorney Li. We're all working for the chairman, so you've worked hard too."
Lin Hong and Fang Jie were now in a real bind. It turned out that beneath the seemingly calm surface, there was already such a huge undercurrent.
"Then I'll head back now. Let's keep in touch."
Feng Jing followed Li Ye out the door.
“Li Lu, the chairman has actually been here the whole time. Why don’t you go and explain what happened today to her? I’m afraid I can’t explain it clearly.”
Li Ye was startled and looked at Feng Jing in astonishment. They had been there all day, separated only by a wall, yet they hadn't noticed that Xu Wanyi was also there.
"Attorney Li, I shouldn't be saying this, but the chairman often stays up all night and is exhausted by a lot of things. She can be quite strict with lawyers sometimes, so I've been thinking of telling you this when I have the chance. The boss of Leguang... looks glamorous, but she works very hard. The chairman is running such a large group all by herself, and there are always some unexpected problems. Well... anyway... she has a lot of difficulties, and I hope you can understand."
Li Ye understood what she meant now. She thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll go talk to her. Don't worry, I'll do my best to help her."
The two came out of the conference room, turned a corner, and came from the secretary's office to the door of Xu Wanyi's office.
"Bang bang bang".
"Chairman, Attorney Li has arrived." Feng Jing lowered his voice.
"Come in."
Li Ye went inside, but Feng Jing didn't go in with him. Instead, he came out and closed the door behind him.
"Hello, Chairman Xu!"
“Attorney Li, you’re no longer the lawyer for this project, yet you still went to the trouble of personally investigating during the National Day holiday. Thank you for your hard work.”
“Chairman Xu, you’re right. But you’ve forgotten one thing. Although I’m not the person in charge of the project, the entire legal team is my people. I still have to sign the report when it’s released, and I’ll be responsible if any problems arise.”
“Attorney Li, don’t worry. You’re just a lawyer, you don’t have any responsibility. I’m the boss, so I’ll take full responsibility in the end.”
Xu Wanyi was already annoyed by Zhang Gang's mess, and when she heard Li Ye say something about being irresponsible, she got even angrier. Is Li Ye a responsible person? If so, why did he leave silently back then because of a little pressure?
Li Ye understood the unspoken meaning. But she couldn't refute it, nor did she feel the need to explain. As she grew older, she realized that explanations were the most futile thing in the world. If someone doesn't want to understand, nothing you say will help.
Moreover, now that she knows Xu Wanyi's situation, she has no desire to argue with her at this time.
"I understand, you're right. Then I'll get to the point..."
Next, Li Ye reported their achievements of the day to Xu Wanyi in the most concise language.
After listening, Xu Wanyi remained silent for a long time. She felt a mix of emotions; her father and brother had finally begun to take action, and a storm was brewing.
"What do you think?" After a long while, she finally spoke again.
"My suggestion is that the solution to illegal business is to stop it immediately and collect payments for existing accounts in advance. Regulators will usually turn a blind eye."
"That huge consulting service fee was agreed to be paid by your father. I followed the trail and happened to find a lawyer I had worked with before. He said that the company had just set up a trust overseas, and the amount was the same as that service fee. I can't explain the specifics, but Chairman Xu probably knows more about the inside story than I do."
Li Ye knew that Xu Wanyi's family situation was complicated. How could a wealthy family's family not be complicated? She didn't know the specifics at the moment, so she could only state the objective facts and couldn't offer any opinions.
After listening, Xu Wanyi gave Li Ye a meaningful look, but said nothing.
But a huge commotion was brewing inside her. It seemed her father had not only taken action, but had done so very quickly, and she needed to act quickly as well. Thinking this, the sense of urgency intensified.
"As for where those clients went and the companies that collected the consulting fees, we still have no clue. Uh, Mr. Xu, are you... alright?"
When Li Ye saw Xu Wanyi suddenly frown, as if something was troubling her, he couldn't help but ask her a question.
"I need you to find out where these customers went and which company received the payments, as well as the relevant evidence." Xu Wanyi ignored her question; she didn't want to, and didn't know how to, talk to Li Ye about these things.
"Evidence? Mr. Xu, these are all trade secrets."
"I want this evidence. You name the price," Xu Wanyi said, somewhat agitated.
"Chairman Xu... do you know that what you're doing is illegal?"
"So what? What am I supposed to do with a lawyer? If you can do it, then do it; if you can't, then get lost."
Provoked by Li Ye's blunt, lawyer-like remarks, Xu Wanyi's anxiety intensified. She even stood up and walked closer to Li Ye, exuding an aggressive aura. In fact, Xu Wanyi herself didn't realize that in front of others, no matter how angry she was, she could maintain an icy expression, but when it came to Li Ye, she easily lost her composure.
Li Ye stood there motionless, appearing very calm. She saw weariness and anger in Xu Wanyi's slightly red eyes, but the underlying tone was resolute. At this moment, she recalled the information in those documents and what Feng Jing had told her, and her fingers tapped lightly on the seam of her trousers for a long time.
“Okay, ten million. I’ll get you all the evidence,” she said, enunciating each word clearly.
Xu Wanyi felt a pang of sadness, and a familiar feeling welled up in her heart.
Back then, even though they argued, when they weren't arguing, Li Ye was always this gentle and considerate, easily winning Xu Wanyi's heart. She was momentarily stunned. Sunlight streamed in through the French windows, casting their shadows on the carpet, making them look like two stone sculptures.
After a long silence, she said, "Okay. But I want results this week."
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