The news of the accident spread quickly, and by the time Lin Shizhong learned that something had happened at the press conference, the situation was already irreversible. When he came down from the press conference, his face was still gloomy. He had never expected that the Sun family would cause such a thing at this critical moment, and it happened even though he had warned them in advance.
After returning to the office, the negative impact caused by the press conference had already spread from all directions.
Lin Shizhong really wanted to give up the Sun family. After all, being a partner targeted by regulatory authorities was too disadvantageous for them. However, the investigation of the Sun family broke out too suddenly. He received the news two days in advance and only had time to withdraw part of the arrangements. In fact, he still had unsettled business with three companies of the Sun family.
He had originally intended to take advantage of the press conference to distance himself from the matter and let the Sun family take the blame, but now that the Sun family has turned against him, all his efforts have been wasted... and he might even lose several of his subsidiaries.
"Clear all responsibilities and cut off the business with the Sun family as soon as possible. There is no need to deal with the regulatory authorities. Now that things have gotten like this, put all the blame on the Sun family. Channel partners should relocate immediately to avoid letting the fire spread to us."
After Lin Shizhong arranged everything, he hung up the intercom phone.
He hated even more the person who delivered the anonymous letter to the regulatory department at the critical moment. If it weren't for that anonymous letter, he could have kicked the Sun family out after transferring the business. Now that the situation has turned out like this, he will have to pay more to sever ties with the Sun family...which may result in all his efforts over the past few years going to waste.
After a while, his cell phone rang.
When Lin Shizhong saw the phone number, he immediately answered: "This matter..."
"The Sun family is fighting back because they received an anonymous email and a report from the regulator." The person on the phone said straight to the point, "The person who sent the email did it on purpose. First, he reported it, and then provoked the Sun family. It's obvious that their purpose is to target you."
Lin Shizhong frowned and said, "Impossible. I was very careful in this matter of the Sun family. There is no way I could leave any evidence."
"The other party knows your movements very well. If you are really careful, how did he know about your relationship with the Sun family? How did he submit the report accurately and instigate the Sun family to turn against you?" The person on the phone sneered and said bluntly: "Lin Shizhong, do you think what you said is credible?"
When Lin Shizhong heard this, he became a little unsure about his own arrangements.
He was indeed cautious and was very careful at every step during this process. Unless something went wrong with the people on their side, it was hard for him to imagine that these things would be exposed. The other party seemed to know all his plans from beginning to end, and was always stuck at an important juncture, as if he had predicted the future.
"Recently, we just started to wrap up the Chen family's affairs, and then the Sun family's affairs broke out. Don't you think this is a coincidence?" The person on the phone said, "I gave you enough patience. It's hard for you to preserve all the assets by dragging on until now. As early as last year, when I told you to just deal with the Chen family, you were dragging your feet. It's ridiculous to play a good game like this for a little bit of profit."
Lin Shizhong frowned. He had been doing this for decades and had never made any mistakes, but he also disagreed with the other party's approach.
His caution was that he wanted to bankrupt Chen without affecting Lin's company at all. If he went too far, it would easily lead to the Lin's side. He had used Chen's company for so many years and made so much profit, and he didn't want to fail at the last minute and lose everything.
But the person on the other end of the phone didn't think so. His actions were even more extreme and ruthless. He just wanted to quickly resolve the Chen family and eliminate all hidden dangers, and he didn't mind even resorting to criminal means.
"What do you want to do?" Lin Shizhong asked.
"Since the other party hasn't taken any ruthless action against you yet, it's very likely that he's not sure he can kill you, so he's stalling for time." The person on the phone said, "Give up your original plan. You can earn back what you want in five or six years. There's no need to waste time on the Chen family. Since they've already used the Sun family to bite you back... just do what needs to be done, such as putting the Chen family into a real crisis."
The Sun family showed up at Lin's press conference and fought back. An uncontrollable situation broke out in an instant. The news of Lin's accident spread like wildfire. The stock price of Lin Group fell that day, and Chairman Lin Shizhong had to step in to turn the tide. However, the public opinion triggered by the press conference and the Sun family still had a huge impact on the Lin family. There were even reports that the regulatory authorities had entered the Lin family many times.
When Chen Qizhao received the news, the issue between Cheng Rong and Liu Kai had been resolved.
Cheng Rong: "I have finally found out these few days that it is the Sun family that is causing us trouble. They are shooting themselves in the foot and now they are involved in illegal and criminal activities. I don't think they will be able to keep their arrogance for many more days."
Liu Kai took a sip of wine and continued, "Not only that, I heard that the kid even ran away abroad. Now his father has been arrested, and he is said to have turned against the Lin family. It's very lively outside now. When I got home, my father was still discussing this matter."
The Sun family has an average status in S City, but the Lin family is considered a giant.
Now that the Sun family’s boat has capsized, it has also affected the Lin family, and the attention of the spectators has basically been drawn over.
The Lin family did not seem to have anticipated the Sun family's counterattack, so they did not completely block the press conference when they were in control of it. This allowed what happened at the press conference to be exposed directly. In addition, the Sun family did have some evidence in their hands, which put them in a passive situation.
This can be said to be the biggest crisis that Lin has encountered in the past five years. Five days have passed since the incident, and Lin's public relations copy has already been published seven or eight versions, and the press releases purchased are overwhelming.
Capital can be used to suppress online public opinion, but Lin Shizhong will have a lot of work to do if he wants to deal with the chain reaction brought about by the Sun family. It is only a matter of time for Lin Shizhong to escape from the Sun family's counterattack, but if he wants to escape, he must at least lose some skin... Once the Lin family is held back by the Sun family, the Chen family will be able to speed up the process of collecting evidence.
Chen Qizhao lowered his eyes and looked at the message on his mobile phone. Chen Shiming had already sent him the latest progress of the investigation. He thought about the evidence he had in his hands. One was the evidence of Lin Shizhong's private accounts, vicious competition and illegal collusion. The other was the evidence of business leaks and collusion that Chen Shiming had infiltrated within Chen Shi... But these were not enough.
To bring down a group as big as the Lin Group, these alone are still not enough.
Lin Shizhong and Fang Chengjie were involved in illegal drug smuggling transactions, and colluded with the Sun family to illegally transport contraband... When combined with the evidence he used to bring down Lin Shizhong in his previous life, it turned out that Lin Shizhong had committed too many crimes.
But this man is very cautious. Too little has been revealed so far. The idea of using the same method as in the previous life to force the Lin family to step down is completely unworkable at this stage. It is very likely that the Lin family will be forced to abandon the pawn to save the king, and Lin Shizhong will not be completely defeated.
Chen Qizhao has investigated more things in this life, and has glimpsed some things that have not been found out before. He always feels that at this point in time, he can find out more things that he could not find out in his previous life. Is this all that has been exposed on the surface about Lin Shizhong’s illegal drug smuggling? Or is there something else he hasn’t figured out yet…?
"Brother? Why don't you drink a little more?" Yan Kailin said, "It's rare to have such a good time!"
Liu Kai asked: "Didn't you say that your brother has been controlling you recently? Why does he seem to be more relaxed than before?"
"He's been busy lately!" Yan Kailin continued, "I don't know what he's doing. He's been working overtime every night. He used to send messages to check on me, but he hasn't checked on me much in the past two days. Otherwise, how would I have time to come out and play with you?"
Upon hearing this, Chen Qizhao looked at Yan Kailin. Yan Kailin has been very busy recently... ?
Inexplicably, he thought of the night when Shen Yuhuai and Yan Kaiqi went to Cheng Rong's villa together. It was already midnight, and Shen Yuhuai would have fallen asleep at that time... How could he happen to appear with Yan Kaiqi?
While the people around him were still talking, Chen Qizhao's cell phone suddenly rang.
Seeing the encrypted number on the phone screen, Chen Qizhao said, "I'll go answer the call."
"Go ahead." Yan Kailin waved his hand and continued to complain about Yan Kaiqi to Cheng Rong and others.
Chen Qizhao didn't walk far, he stood outside the private room and answered the phone.
The man in the flowered shirt on the other end of the line said immediately after hearing the familiar baby voice in the receiver, "Boss, I spent several days looking for the things you sent this time. The people in the photos are really hard to find."
Hard to check? Chen Qizhao knew who was on the other end of the line.
The other party was an intelligence dealer he met by chance when he was investigating Lin Shizhong in his previous life. He used to be a mercenary abroad. After retiring and returning to China, he organized his own network and started doing detective business with a few younger brothers. His business scope was very wide, and the confidentiality measures for customers were also in place.
After his rebirth, the only channel he could think of was the other party, but now the other party's business network has not expanded to the scale of later generations, and it seems that it is still just supporting a small office. Chen Qizhao knew the other party's ability, and the price he offered was also the price in the previous life. If even the other party finds it difficult to find out something...it can only be said that the person you want to investigate has a strong background.
Flowered Shirt continued, "It took me some time to contact my friends in City B to find this person. His name is Gu Shen, and he is the son of Gu Zhengsong, a famous family in Beijing."
When Chen Qizhao heard the name Gu family, his eyes darkened instantly. "Gu family? Gu Zhengsong?"
The Gu family was too familiar to Chen Qizhao. In his previous life, when he wanted to deal with Lin Shizhong, the Gu family had been trying to stop him in every possible way, all because Lin Shizhong had used a jade necklace to hook up with Gu Zhengsong, the second son of the Gu family.
After Lin Shizhong got into trouble that year, Gu Zhengsong helped Lin Shizhong clean up the mess twice. Later, because Lin Shizhong was powerless to turn the situation around, and something happened in the Gu family, Gu Zhengsong withdrew his involvement and no longer cared about the matter.
But in this life, Lin Shizhong never got the jade necklace, so logically speaking, he would not have been connected with Gu Zhengsong.
The most important thing is... Chen Qizhao had never heard of Gu Shen in his previous life. "I remember that Gu Zhengsong had no sons, only two daughters."
"Yes, on the surface Gu Zhengsong has no son, but Gu Shen is Gu Zhengsong's illegitimate son." The man in the flowered shirt said proudly, "I found out about this through my friend's connections. The Gu family is a very traditional family, and it is difficult for an illegitimate child to enter the family tree, so Gu Shen has no chance to be in the open. In the Beijing circle, he is just a rich second-generation who is doing nothing. But I heard that... Gu Zhengsong actually cares about Gu Shen very much."
Chen Qizhao frowned: "Why?"
"Gu Zhengsong can't have children anymore. It's said that it was his deceased first wife who did it. In the end, the only two daughters left were his first wife's. But he doesn't like those two children very much. There are too many dirty things in the big family. Gu Shen can be said to be Gu Zhengsong's only son. Now it's difficult for an illegitimate child to be on the stage. But if Gu Zhengsong takes the throne, it's only a matter of time before he wants to support Gu Shen to the throne."
The man in the flowered shirt continued, "Don't be fooled by the fact that Gu Shen looks like a rich second-generation man, but I heard that he is secretly doing something else. As for what it is, we haven't found out yet. Some people say that Gu Shen is very shrewd."
"It seems that the reason why he appeared in S City recently was because he came here for tourism. He happened to be familiar with several rich second-generations in S City. The photos and videos you sent me should be from the party hosted by Cheng Rong of the Cheng family a while ago. Gu Shen followed those rich second-generations in. He is quite famous in Beijing and has a good time with them."
Chen Qizhao frowned slightly...Gu Zhengsong and Gu Shen.
The current head of the Gu family has two sons, the eldest son Gu Zhengxun and the second son Gu Zhengsong. Now is the stage where both sides are fighting for power. In the previous life, the power of the Gu family fell into the hands of the second son Gu Zhengsong, who was also the backer who later helped Lin Shizhong clear some obstacles.
To Gu Zhengsong, Lin Shizhong was just an ordinary friend who gave him a necklace. Helping him twice was already a great kindness. After all, Lin Shizhong's accounts were too dirty. For the Gu family, being associated with such a person would have a disastrous impact if the matter was exposed later. So when Lin Shizhong fell, the Gu family not only did not lend a helping hand, but also completely cut off all ties with him.
The appearance of Gu Shen gave Chen Qizhao a bad feeling.
In the previous life, did the Gu family really help Lin Shizhong just to repay a favor for a jade necklace, or was there another hidden story?
In Chen Qizhao's impression, Gu Zhengsong is not an easy person to get along with.
"Boss?" the man in the flowered shirt shouted.
Chen Qizhao said: "Please continue to help me investigate Gu Shen, and you can decide the price."
"Hey, that's no problem." The man in the flowered shirt continued, "Boss, you've been taking care of my business for so long, I will definitely get this done for you!"
After hanging up the phone, Chen Qizhao did not go back to the private room immediately.
He pondered over Lin Shizhong's various arrangements. He didn't believe that Gu Shen's appearance in S City was a coincidence. If Lin Shizhong really had a connection with the Gu family without the jade necklace, then Gu Shen's appearance in S City might have been intentional... At the pool party that day, Gu Shen was looking at them.
"Brother, why did you take so long?!" Yan Kailin saw Chen Qizhao coming in from the private room and immediately said, "We plan to go to KTV tonight and go play in the suburbs..."
"You guys have fun, I have something to do tonight." Chen Qizhao just sat down, "My mom said there will be guests tonight, so I should go back."
Zhang Yazhi has been sending messages to Chen Qizhao frequently recently, and has always been concerned about his studies. This time it happened to be the weekend, and an important guest was coming to his home. Chen Qizhao thought that he had not been home last week, so he simply agreed to Zhang Yazhi's request. After drinking with Yan Kailin and others, Chen Qizhao hailed a car and went back to the villa.
On the way, the message he sent to Shen Yuhuai had not been replied.
Chen Qizhao clicked on Shen Yuhuai's circle of friends, but there was no update. He was a little bored and scrolled through Shen Yuhuai's circle of friends from beginning to end until he was stopped by the access restriction. He exited Shen Yuhuai’s circle of friends and continued to browse other circles of friends, and suddenly he came across Liu Sui’s circle of friends.
Liu Sui posted a picture of instant noodles and palace drama.
Chen Qizhao paused for a moment when he saw this, Shen Yuhuai hadn’t replied to his message today, and he thought he was still busy in the laboratory. But looking at the photo Liu Sui sent...it seems like they are taking a break today?
[-Zhao: Brother Liu, are you taking a day off today? ]
He had just sent the message when Liu Sui sent him a message.
[-Liu Sui: Take a rest! I've been so bored these days. Shall we go out for dinner tonight? ]
[-Zhao: I have something to do tonight, you can call Brother Huai. ]
[-Liu Sui: Shen Yuhuai is not here. He went out last night and did not return to the institute today. ]
Chen Qizhao stopped typing.
Liu Sui is still typing.
[-Liu Sui: Don’t worry about him. Recently when I invite him out for dinner he always says he has something to do in the evening. I don’t know what he is busy with. I can’t find him outside the laboratory. Last time when I finished my thesis, I wanted to ask him out for dinner, but that guy rejected me! ]
[-Zhao: Have you finished your thesis? ]
[-Liu Sui: It was done at the beginning of the month. I heard that there is a delicious restaurant in front of your school. I haven’t eaten there yet…]
At the beginning of the month…At the beginning of the month, when I went to eat hot pot with Shen Yuhuai.
Shen Yuhuai said Liu Sui had not yet finished his paper.
Chen Qizhao's eyes darkened slightly.
"Brother, the car can only be parked here. It seems that we can't get in." The taxi driver looked at the person in the back seat, "How about we stop here?"
"That's all." Chen Qizhao's eyes stopped on the chat history. He replied to Liu Sui that he had something to do in the evening, paid the bill and left the taxi.
The place where they got off the bus was some distance away from the Chen family villa, and Chen Qizhao walked for several minutes before reaching the door of his house.
When he first entered the garden, he noticed that there seemed to be a few more cars in the direction of the garage. It was seven o'clock in the evening, but the two workaholics in his family seemed to have returned?
Chen Qizhao seemed to be lost in thought, wondering what kind of guests were coming to his house.
He entered the entrance hall, greeted the butler who was waiting at the door, and when he turned a corner to the living room, he suddenly saw several familiar faces.
Shen's parents, Shen Xuelan... and Shen Yuhuai.
Chen Qizhao looked at Shen Yuhuai.
Shen Yuhuai seemed to notice his gaze, and nodded at him when he looked over.
Zhang Yazhi saw this and said, "Qizhao is back."
In addition to the Shen family, there was also a slightly unfamiliar man and woman. The man looked about the same age as Chen Jianhong, and looked very serious from a distance. The woman sitting next to him was very beautiful, and they looked like a couple.
If it were the Shen family, the workaholic in his family might indeed put down his work and come back early.
Chen Qizhao greeted everyone, looked around, and finally sat down next to Shen Yuhuai.
There were many people in the living room, and when Chen Qizhao sat down, he was basically close to Shen Yuhuai. His eyes paused slightly, thinking of the news he had just received from Liu Sui before coming in, he asked in a low voice: "I didn't reply to the message I sent you."
Shen Yuhuai slightly leaned to the side, and his warm breath covered Chen Qizhao’s ears, “I didn’t check my phone. It’s not convenient with the elders present.”
Chen Qizhao’s ears felt a little itchy, and when Shen Yuhuai didn’t speak, the surrounding air rushed over, and the momentary heat seemed to dissipate. He lowered his eyes slightly, his gaze resting on Shen Yuhuai's thigh that was pressed against him, his eyes deepened a little.
"Isn't the lab busy today?" Chen Qizhao asked.
Shen Yuhuai glanced sideways upon hearing this, and moved a little closer to him, “Not busy, take a rest today.”
“I thought you would go out to dinner with Brother Liu on the weekend.” Chen Qizhao didn’t look at Shen Yuhuai, and asked in a normal tone: “Brother Liu is still busy with the thesis?”
“Yeah.” Shen Yuhuai responded.
"Is that so..." Chen Qizhao lowered his eyes and looked at the two people's thighs pressed together.
Shen Yuhuai was wearing a pair of black pants today, his bent legs were long and thin, his hands were casually placed on his legs, and the blue veins on the back of his hands were clearly visible.
…Chen Yuhuai is lying.
Chen Qizhao looked at his finger bones, his eyes deepened.
At this time, the strange woman spoke.
"Qizhao and Yu Huai seem to have a good relationship?" The beautiful woman looked over.
Chen Qizhao politely called her "Auntie".
"The two can play together." Zhang Yazhi said: "Yu Huai often came here when he was a child."
The beautiful woman smiled and looked at Chen Qizhao with a bit of pity in her eyes, "Yazhi, this child looks like you."
The two people sitting on the main seats also looked over. The first person Chen Qizhao noticed was the slightly old-fashioned middle-aged man. He thought the man looked familiar, as if he had seen him somewhere. After a while, Chen Jianhong introduced, "This is your Uncle Gu."
"Uncle Gu?" Chen Qizhao's hands tightened slightly. When he heard this surname, he immediately remembered where he had seen this person. He remembered that the person in the photo he had just seen in the afternoon looked very similar to the person in front of him... or he had also seen the photo of this person.
Gu Zhengxun, the eldest son of the Gu family.
This couple is Gu Zhengxun and his wife.
Chen Qizhao lowered his eyes slightly. Their family should have no relationship with the Gu family. In his impression, Chen Jianhong and Gu Zhengxun had no business dealings at all. Why would Gu Zhengxun and his wife suddenly come to their house at this time? !
He didn't say anything, remained calm, and carefully observed the situation on the field.
Shen Yuhuai noticed the silence of the people around him, and his eyes stopped at Chen Qizhao's hand on his thigh, with the place where his index finger touched slightly white.
The boy didn't say anything and looked no different from usual, but he was tense.
Shen Yuhuai hesitated slightly. From his angle, he could only see the profile of Chen Qizhao. If he hadn't been close enough to notice the subtle movements of his fingers, he might not have noticed these. It was like a small animal tightly wrapped in a shell, vigilantly observing something.
Chen Qizhao cares a lot about the Gu family... ?
The liveliness in the living room continued, and the butler came over to refill the tea.
Chen Qizhao didn't notice the gazes of the people around him. His attention was all on the conversation between Chen Jianhong and others.
Gu Zhengxun was talking to Chen Jianhong, and Shen's father also joined in the conversation. They were talking about business matters. From their conversation, he simply heard that Gu Zhengxun came to S City on a business trip and inspection, and the reason why he came here today was all arranged by the Shen family. It seemed that the Gu family wanted to discuss something with their family, so they asked the Shen family for help.
Chen Qizhao was a little surprised by this matter. He didn't expect that the Shen family and the Gu family actually knew each other.
Chen Qizhao didn't say anything, but he was thinking about something.
He suddenly caught a glimpse of a jewelry box placed next to Chen Jianhong's hand.
At this time, Chen Qizhao suddenly felt an itch on his thigh.
He suddenly came to his senses and saw the person next to him tapping his thigh with his fingers.
"Are you distracted?"
Shen Yuhuai's voice was very close.
--------------------
The author has something to say:
Xiao Chen: He is lying.
Xiao Shen: He was distracted and didn’t look at me.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
