The following morning, Jiang Songbai, accompanied by Li Jia and others, arrived at his office in the Songbai Building. After a period of repair and reconstruction, the two important departments that had been destroyed by the bomb had resumed their work. The only difference was that everything had to start from scratch. Fortunately, many of the technicians were able to get back to normal, and it was only a matter of time before things returned to normal.
Jiang Songbai sat in his office, focused on handling some company matters. The three researchers who had died in the explosion still needed some follow-up work from the company. The lawyer he was scheduled to meet with would arrive at 9:30 a.m. to discuss the aftermath with Jiang Songbai.
Xiao San and Xiao Liu were in the lounge next to Jiang Songbai's office, while Miller stood to the side of Jiang Songbai in the office, staring intently at the half-open door. Li Jia sat in the secretary's seat on one side of the office with a slight smile. Since the explosion, Jiang Songbai had cleared out the secretaries from the office, leaving only him working in the huge office.
"Miller, could you go out for a bit? I have something I'd like to discuss with Li Jia alone," Jiang Songbai said calmly after signing the last document in his hand and putting down his pen.
"Yes, Mr. Jiang." Miller nodded slightly, then pushed open the door and walked out. Before leaving, he glanced at Li Jia, his cold eyes revealing no emotion.
"Li Jia, I have a question for you, and I hope you can answer me truthfully: what exactly is your relationship with my granddaughter?" Jiang Songbai leaned back in his chair, calmly looking at Li Jia. The question he posed elicited a faint smile from Li Jia.
“Uncle Jiang, I’m afraid I’m sorry to disappoint you. Ling’er and I are good friends. To be specific, she was the first friend I made here. I wonder if this answer satisfies you?” After Li Jia finished speaking, Jiang Songbai smiled and nodded. “I can see that Ling’er has a deep trust in you. But no matter what, I hope you won’t hurt Ling’er. I believe you can understand what it’s like for an elder like a grandfather to say this.”
"Yes, I understand. Don't worry, I won't hurt her, nor will I let anyone hurt her." Li Jia naturally understood Jiang Songbai's words. The unusual behavior Li Jia had displayed these past few days had instilled in the old man a strange fear of her identity. Because no matter how hard he investigated, he couldn't find a single useful piece of information.
Even more unbelievable is that Li Jia also has a close relationship with his old brother Ou Boshi. Based on this alone, Li Jia's identity is definitely not as ordinary as it seems on the surface. Therefore, Jiang Songbai is highly suspicious that Li Jia might bring some unwarranted trouble to Jiang Ling'er. "A guy who can get his old brother to praise him and his granddaughter may not be from the same world at all."
Seeing Li Jia's reply, Jiang Songbai became even more convinced of his guess. He nodded in satisfaction at Li Jia's reasonable, or rather, intelligent, answer. "I don't have any grandsons. This granddaughter is my grandson, and all of my vast assets will be left to her."
As the two were talking, the phone on the table rang. Jiang Songbai answered it, his expression changing slightly. "Speak. What do you want? What conditions will you take to end this?" The voice on the other end was still a synthesized electronic voice, cold and devoid of emotion. "Fifteen million, plus that grassland in Inner Mongolia."
“I can pay the money. But the grassland has already been returned to the government, and there’s nothing I can do about it,” Jiang Songbai said frankly, glancing at Li Feng’s calm expression.
"Hehe, that's your own business. You can't lose either the money or the pasture, otherwise, this won't end so easily." The synthesized voice couldn't detect any emotional fluctuation, but the content of the words made it clear that the other party was very angry. Jiang Songbai's quick return of the pasture to the government was undoubtedly the most correct thing to do.
"Hehe, that grassland is now occupied by the military and has become a closed military zone. Even if I wanted to help you get it back, I'm powerless. I can give you the money, but the technical data must be returned to us first. I believe you won't think I'd try anything funny, right?" Jiang Songbai was unusually relaxed at this moment. The setbacks his company had suffered recently had left the old man somewhat exhausted, and it wasn't until he listened to Li Jia's advice that he slowly recovered some of his strength. Now, however, because he had listened to Li Jia's advice and returned the grassland to the country, he had let go of a burden in his heart, and he felt unusually relaxed in the face of the enemy's extortion.
There was silence on the phone for a while, about two minutes later, "The conditions didn't work out, good luck!" After that, the call ended. Jiang Songbai turned his gaze to Li Jia's face. "Any suggestions?"
"I'm considering it. I'm thinking of a solution to this problem. After much deliberation, I've come up with only three ways to completely resolve this trouble. First, get the pasture and pay for it—that's the simplest. Second, find the employer and settle it privately—that's the next most difficult. There's also a last option: destroy the hyenas, but that's almost impossible. Therefore, we only have two choices: either the first or the second. However, while choosing the first option might solve the immediate problem, the subsequent issues will likely be even more difficult. So, we can basically abandon that option. That leaves only the last one: find the employer and settle it privately! What do you think?" Li Jia offered her suggestion. Indeed, choosing the first option would mean facing the entire country, so Jiang Songbai could only nod helplessly. "Do I have any other options?" As soon as he finished speaking, his secretary's internal phone rang. "Mr. Jiang, the lawyer has arrived."
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