Chapter 13 Step by Step
The lawyer simply flipped through the case file and didn't say anything more.
The assistant bowed his head and walked to Mrs. Zhou's side, whispering something to her.
"What did you say?" Mrs. Zhou was clearly more assertive than Mrs. Wang. She was discussing her son's case with her lawyer when her assistant came to report on the Wang family's affairs.
“Absolutely true,” the assistant replied, looking down. “Mr. Wang and his wife are still in the hospital.”
Mrs. Zhou's expression shifted for a few moments, but she finally gave the lawyer a mature smile and said, "Attorney Nian, that's all for today. I'll have to rely on you to do your best for Han'er's case from now on."
Seeing that his employer was essentially telling him to leave, Attorney Nian wisely packed up his documents, got up, and left. "Don't worry, Madam, I will do my best to defend Young Master Zhou's case."
The assistant politely escorted the lawyer out of the manor.
Clear water flows down from the artificial hill in the elegant landscaping, gurgling into a small lake. The tinkling sound of water droplets hitting each other sounds particularly abrupt in the quiet indoor space.
Mrs. Zhou sat at the head of the reception table in front of the decorative landscape, her smile gradually fading.
"First the Zheng family, then the Wang family," she murmured softly, her voice barely audible but each word clear, "and now even the Zhou family, who were protecting the Zheng family, are caught in the crossfire of public opinion..."
“Assistant Li,” Mrs. Zhou stood up, and her assistant immediately stood beside her, “who do you think will be the next target of the mastermind behind this?”
Assistant Li followed respectfully behind the elegant and dignified woman, knowing that she was not really asking for his answer, so he quietly served as her companion.
"Does the gentleman know about the Wang family's situation?" Mrs. Zhou picked up her shawl and gestured for Assistant Li to follow her to the company.
“We have already informed President Zhou,” Assistant Li said respectfully. “But Mr. Zhou has been busy dealing with the rabble caused by the factory accident recently… and with the young master’s matter on top of that, he hasn’t had any particular reaction.”
"He didn't answer the phone, he only replied to a text message."
Mrs. Zhou remained calm as she sat in the van, her voice casual, as if she were discussing someone else, "Tell the master to deal with those troublemakers as soon as possible. We need to prioritize... Han'er's matter is the most important thing right now."
"It's not a big threat. Just send some friends to visit and comfort those troublemaking wives and kids... If the visit is polite, how much trouble can those people cause?"
Assistant Li nodded in agreement, "Yes, Madam, would you like to go see the master?"
Mrs. Zhou leaned back comfortably in her chair and quickly closed her eyes. "After all, he's too busy to answer my calls. I should go see him."
Assistant Li fell silent.
The car slowly drove into the company gate.
“Assistant Li,” Mrs. Zhou said indifferently, standing in front of the company building, “you said that Mr. Zhou has been so indifferent to Han’er’s affairs lately…is it because that bastard child outside is causing trouble again?”
Assistant Li felt a chill run down his spine, but still replied respectfully, "Madam, you're overthinking it... The master loves you and the young master so much, how could he..."
Mrs. Zhou, carrying her bag, turned and walked towards the office building. "Tell those bastards outside that as long as I'm alive, no one can get past my Han..."
"Bang."
A faint afterimage of something black seemed to flash across the corner of their vision.
Then came the dull thud of a heavy object falling to the ground.
Mrs. Zhou seemed to have been splashed with a cool liquid. She frowned slightly. "What was the cleaning staff doing? How could they leave things like this..."
"Ugh, so filthy..." Mrs. Zhou casually wiped her cheek with a tissue, her disgust escaping her lips. But she stopped abruptly when she saw the oxidized, brownish-black, viscous liquid on the tissue.
Assistant Li's eyes widened. "Yes...yes..."
The burly man in the suit crashed to the ground on the steps not far from the two men, splattering red and white liquid and bits of flesh all over the ground.
Due to the impact of the fall from a great height and the impact on the ground, his head was so badly damaged that it was difficult to recognize his original appearance.
But Mrs. Zhou recognized the wedding ring on the man's hand.
It's the same style as the wedding ring on her finger.
Mrs. Zhou stood frozen in place, her throat feeling as if it had been choked, unable to utter a sound.
She took two stiff steps forward and finally recognized that the man's suit was the same one she had personally chosen for him that morning.
"Ugh..." Mrs. Zhou collapsed to the ground, her stomach churning with nausea, leaving her completely disoriented.
After gagging, she looked around blankly, and as if she had finally found her vocal cords, Mrs. Zhou belatedly screamed.
The chaotic noises from the staff and security guards around her couldn't register in her brain. She could only scream and cry in terror. After a long while, she finally raised her head from the crowd, trying to find the spot where the man had fallen.
The elegant and graceful woman's face contorted when she caught sight of the man wearing a baseball cap on the rooftop.
The man's low-brimmed hat obscured most of his expression, revealing only the lower half of his face, where a crisscrossing burn mark from his chin to his ear was particularly striking.
He seemed completely unsurprised to look at the rooftop, even managing a confident smile on his scalded and distorted lips, followed by a few mouth movements.
Mrs. Zhou's ears rang with a loud bang, and she saw it clearly.
You're next.
"Call the police...call the police and arrest them, you useless idiots!!!" Mrs. Zhou screamed, shoving away Assistant Li and the employee who tried to help her. "Are you all blind?"
"I didn't see the murderer there!!!"
A group of people looked towards the rooftop of the company building in the direction she was pointing.
There was nothing there.
The boss's office windows were wide open, and through the half-open curtains, one could see the furnishings inside.
"It is reported that a firearm was suspected to have been found at the scene of the crime where Zhou Cheng, the owner of the Zhou Group, fell to his death..."
The Zhou family's involvement in organized crime has once again become a trending topic.
The trending topic about the Zhou family was briefly suppressed.
But Zhou Zichuan felt no relief whatsoever from the temporary fading of the heat.
"Mr. Zhou, all the data for these companies is here." The assistant passed the data to Zhou Zichuan.
Zhou Zichuan stared at the scrolling text on the screen, his expression growing increasingly serious.
"The kidnapping of Zheng's only son, the attack on the Wang couple, and now the Zhou family's boss, who was involved in organized crime and laundering, has also mysteriously fallen to his death..."
"Most importantly, these things seem chaotic, but they all match the message that was leaked at the scene when Zheng Yiqing was rescued."
Zhou Zichuan thought of that widely circulated news.
The kidnappers, whose voices had been altered by a voice changer, first forced Zheng Yiqing to confess the dirty deeds of the Zheng family, then the Wang and Zhou families.
Finally... the Zhou family arranged for Zheng Yiqing to be released from prison on behalf of the Zheng family.
The order in which these three companies ran into trouble strangely coincided with the order in which several companies were mentioned in that message.
Zhou Zichuan relaxed, leaned back in his office chair, and seemed to be deep in thought.
"So..." Zhou Zichuan's voice held a hint of barely perceptible tension, "...the person behind the scenes is ultimately targeting the Zhou family?"
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