“Chen Feng,” he turned around, looking at his assistant of ten years with a complicated expression, “what do you think will happen to Sheng Tian if something happens to me?”
Chen Feng was taken aback, then lowered his eyelids: "President Gu, you're overthinking it. The police are just conducting a routine investigation. We've done nothing wrong..."
"Have you done nothing wrong?" Gu Yanting sneered, slamming his empty glass down on the bar. "After being in this industry for so long, do you still believe this nonsense?" He walked behind his desk, opened the bottom drawer, and took out a black safe.
His fingers trembled as he entered the combination lock. With a click, the safe opened. Inside, there was no cash, no jewelry, only a small box wrapped in oilcloth and a few sealed documents. Gu Yanting picked up the oilcloth box and carefully opened it. Inside was an antique-style jade pendant with a tiny crack on one corner.
This was a token of love given to him by Lin Wanqing's mother years ago, and it was the only thing he had kept that was connected to the past. Looking at the crack, he suddenly remembered many years ago, in the garden of the Lin family's old house, when the young Lin Wanqing stood on tiptoe, tied this jade pendant around his neck, and said with a smile, "Brother Yanting, you must wear it forever, because we will be family from now on."
The sunlight was warm then, her smile was sweet, and his heart was filled with hope for the future. But now…
Gu Yanting abruptly closed his eyes, carefully wrapped the jade pendant again, and stuffed it back into the safe. He picked up the sealed documents, his eyes hardening. These were incriminating materials he had secretly collected about several city leaders, his long-standing "protective shield." He had originally intended to use them only as a last resort, but now…
“Chen Feng,” Gu Yanting’s voice regained a hint of calm, “you need to do two things right now. First, take these documents to see Vice Mayor Zhang and tell him that I, Gu Yanting, would like to ‘have a chat’ with him. Second, contact my private account abroad and prepare to initiate an emergency transfer procedure. Use whatever method you can to transfer the available funds to Switzerland.”
Chen Feng looked at the documents, his face turning pale. "President Gu, this...this is too risky, isn't it? What if..."
"There's no 'what if'!" Gu Yanting interrupted him, his eyes filled with a desperate, madness. "Now is not the time to take risks, it's the time to save your life! Go! Now!"
Chen Feng dared not hesitate any longer, took the document, and quickly left the office.
The spacious office was now empty except for Gu Yanting. He walked to his desk, turned on his computer, and the screen displayed the stock price chart of Shengtian Group. The previously soaring curve had begun to show slight fluctuations since yesterday, and today, it plummeted like a rollercoaster.
He opened an encrypted chat application containing a group chat known only to him and a few key executives. Messages kept popping up on the screen:
"Mr. Gu, we can't get in touch with the warehouse in the east of the city. Their phone is switched off."
"Mr. Gu, the technical department says the core server seems to have been infected with a virus, and they are urgently detecting and removing it."
"Mr. Gu, the bank called again, saying that our transfer application was automatically rejected by the system on the grounds of 'suspected abnormal transactions'."
Looking at these messages, Gu Yanting felt a surge of blood rush to his head. He slammed his fist on the table, making the keyboard bounce, while the stock price curve on the screen continued its relentless decline.
Just then, his personal cell phone rang. An unfamiliar number appeared on the screen. Gu Yanting frowned, hesitated for a moment, and then answered.
"Hello?"
A digitally altered voice came from the other end: "Mr. Gu Yanting, we are from the Economic Crime Investigation Division of the Municipal Public Security Bureau. Given that you are suspected of multiple economic crimes, we are summoning you in accordance with the law. Please report to the Municipal Bureau for investigation within half an hour. If you refuse to cooperate, we will take coercive measures."
Gu Yanting's hand gripping the phone tightened suddenly, his knuckles turning white from the force. He could faintly hear police sirens coming from the other end of the line, as if they were right downstairs.
“You…” He tried to say something, but found his throat too dry to make a sound.
"Half an hour, Mr. Gu." The electronic voice finished speaking and hung up the phone.
Gu Yanting slowly put down his phone and stood there, stunned. The sound of police sirens outside the window grew clearer, and the alternating red and blue lights shone through the blinds, casting flickering shadows on his face.
He thought of many people and many things. He thought of Lin Wanqing's tearful eyes, Ah Yu's hateful gaze, and Zhong Hua's calm yet sharp eyes. He had always thought of himself as the hunter in control, but he never imagined that he would be the one who ultimately fell into the trap.
Panic engulfed him like a tidal wave, and he felt a chill he had never felt before. He tried to destroy evidence, to transfer assets, to grasp at the last straw, but it was all too late.
The encrypted folder on the desk remained open, the files inside gleaming pale under the light. Gu Yanting slowly walked to the chair and slumped down. He picked up the extinguished cigar, smelled it, and then put it down listlessly.
The sound of hurried footsteps and voices grew closer and closer in the hallway.
Gu Yanting closed his eyes, and a final thought flashed through his mind: So this is what panic feels like. It seeps into your bones, and there is no cure.
When the office door was flung open with a bang and several uniformed police officers rushed in, Gu Yanting neither resisted nor spoke. He simply sat quietly in his chair, gazing at the still bustling city nightscape outside the window, his eyes empty and blank.
The once invincible financial tycoon is now like a caged beast, facing his end in the darkness before dawn. But the story of Ah Yu, Zhong Hua, and Lin Wanqing is just beginning to turn a new page.
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