Clearwater has no fish since fish lurk in murky waters.
The more murky the water is, the more truth is concealed in it. Hence, the truth can be found through investigation.
According to Qin Meimei"s initial arrangement, her planned press conference was to have all reporters that she arranged. So even if there was a large amount of beneficial controversy tomorrow, everyone would only feel that she"s putting on an act. Rather than dispelling the rumors, it would only further arouse the public"s disdain.
The public believed in conspiracy theories, and the deeper the conspiracy, the more attractive it would be to the public.
Hence, Su Tao"s method was to mix up the water by allowing reporters to ask him questions as a form of fis.h.i.+ng. Even if he couldn"t find the truth beneath the water, he had successfully thrown his bait out to lure fish. There were bound to be greedy fishes, and through this method, they would be able to find out who"s arranged by the other party. At the same time, he"s using the public"s expectations for conspiracy theories to change their focus.
However, Qin Meimei did not see through it, so she voiced her concern, "You"ve offended those reporters today, and I"m afraid that the news tomorrow will not be beneficial to us."
"They"re already here with malicious intentions, so even if I treat them well, do you think that they will stand on our side in their article?" Su Tao shook his head with a smile.
Despite Su Tao"s explanation, Qin Meimei couldn"t find herself agreeing with his logic and bitterly smiled. "You"re giving them a chance to stir more trouble!"
"Let me make an example. If you"re alone on the road and was shot with an arrow, you won"t be able to find the culprit. The only method is to purposely show a flaw and let the other party take the bait. Thereafter, you will be able to find the culprit following the trajectory." Su Tao patiently explained.
Finally, Qin Meimei understood Su Tao"s intention and asked, "You"re purposely giving those reporters a chance to make things difficult for you?"
"Looks like you finally understood my intention. I"m a little tired from explaining, give me a bottle of water. I"m thirsty." Su Tao smiled as he inwardly sighed.
Although Qin Meimei was still somewhat worried, she could only sigh when she looked at Su Tao"s confidence. She took a bottle of mineral water on the table and pa.s.sed it over to Su Tao.
Raising his head, Su Tao gulped down in mouthfuls. He wasn"t putting on an act. He was busy entertaining the reporters earlier and became thirsty. However, he did not notice it back then since he was too focused, so he immediately felt thirsty when it finally ended.
As he gulped down the water, he pondered about Xia Yu and Liu Jianwei"s development.
He trained his troops for so long just for today. Liu Jianwei had been training those men from Thailand that Ba.s.soon brought over, so it"s time for them to prove their worth.
As for Xia Yu, he sat in the back row earlier and observed all the reporters. He had successfully narrowed down the range of reporters sent by the other party and sent the news over to Ba.s.soon for them to follow up the investigation.
Meanwhile, Liu Jianwei brought two men with him to Nanyue Province to tail and investigate Jiang Mingxuan. At the same time, he was also tasked with finding the secret that He Yu possessed.
Su Tao was no longer alone by himself, so he no longer needed to do everything by himself. As long as he gained control of the progress, he could leave the execution to his companions. Due to his trust for Xia Yu and Liu Jianwei, Su Tao did not feel any pressure at this moment. On the contrary, he felt that this was a golden opportunity for him to train his hidden forces.
At this moment, Asaka Ochi walked over, to which Su Tao introduced her to Qin Meimei, "This is the person that I previously mentioned to you, Ms. Asaka Ochi."
Looking at Asaka Ochi, Qin Meimei"s eyes lit up from her beauty. She researched Kohei Koizumi, but not Asaka Ochi. After all, she thought that the donor would be Kohei Koizumi. Kohei Koizumi is in his fifties, but Asaka Ochi only looked to be in her twenties from her appearance. Seeing such a drastic difference in age, she couldn"t help cursing Kohei Koizumi for being an old cow that eats young gra.s.s.
"Nice to meet you, Ms. Qin! We"ve previously conversed through the phone, and I have been looking forward to meeting you in person. You"re more beautiful than I"ve imagined!" Asaka Ochi took the initiative to stretch out her hand and shook Qin Meimei"s.
The temperament from Asaka Ochi made many people direct their attention to her with shock. Qin Meimei was beautiful, but she lacked the sweetness of Asaka Ochi. Then again, in terms of charm and seduction, Asaka Ochi paled in comparison to Qin Meimei. The two of them could be considered peerless beauties with two completely different temperaments.
Looking at Asaka Ochi, Qin Meimei did not show anything on her face, but she was inwardly alert. She sighed since she felt danger from this woman before her. Asaka Ochi was attractive even to her, a woman, not to mention men.
She couldn"t help taking a peek at Su Tao and felt a little p.i.s.sed. Su Tao"s gaze was focused on Asaka Ochi and appeared to be charmed.
Then again, her alert was ultimately just an alert. She knew that Asaka Ochi was a gold mine, so she invited the latter over to her office to discuss things further.
However, she was tactfully rejected by Asaka Ochi, "I can tell that you guys are busy right now, so I will not take up your time."
"Let me get a chauffeur to send you back!" Qin Meimei immediately suggested.
However, Su Tao smiled. "No need to trouble the chauffeur, I"ll send her back!"
"Look out for your safety on your way back!" Qin Meimei nodded.
She inwardly sighed when she saw how pa.s.sionate Su Tao was when facing Asaka Ochi. Even if she knew that this was a typical social interaction gesture, she still couldn"t help feeling somewhat uncomfortable in her heart, which she interpreted as feeling injustice for her best friend, Yan Jing.
This was the con of finding a young boyfriend; they"re easily charmed by other girls.
But looking at it from another angle, even an older man like Li Yede wasn"t any better.
Sitting in the Volkswagen CC, Su Tao looked at Asaka Ochi as she clipped the seatbelt. When she twisted her body, one of her b.u.t.tons accidentally came undone, revealing her pearly skin and a ravine. The moment he saw it, Su Tao immediately retracted his gaze.
As the vehicle pa.s.sed through a traffic light, Asaka Ochi covered her mouth and chuckled, "You performed well at the press conference earlier. I"ve seen many press conferences, but I"ve never seen one with such dominance as yours. You practically cursed out the reporters."
Turning the steering wheel, Su Tao bitterly smiled. "I can"t help it. This is China, and you will be bullied for being kind. If you don"t show some dominance, they will only take advantage of your softness."
"You did that to throw out the bait, right?" Asaka Ochi smiled.
Upon hearing those words, Su Tao was stunned. At the same time, he realised that he had underestimated Asaka Ochi. She had seen through his intention, while Qin Meimei failed. Perhaps a bystander really did have a clear view of the situation.
However, he did not answer her, but helplessly replied, "I can"t help it. The other party is in the dark, so I can only try to get them to make a mistake for me to have an opportunity."
"Your strategy is right! As long as you investigate to see if those reporters who tried to make things difficult for you earlier have recently met someone or if there"s any abnormality in their bank accounts, you will find the mastermind." Asaka Ochi nodded her head.
Hearing Asaka Ochi"s words, Su Tao wryly smiled. "Now that you put it this way, I"m a little worried."
"What is there to worry about? Your plan is flawless!" Asaka Ochi curiously looked at Su Tao.
"If the other is prepared and is as smart as you, wouldn"t my plan go down the drain?" Su Tao explained.
After a brief stun, Asaka Ochi shook her head. "The other party won"t see through your plan. If they did, then they wouldn"t have done something so stupid as to ruin your press conference. According to my a.n.a.lysis, the other party is practically certain that you"re in a disadvantageous position without any capability to retaliate."
Looking at Asaka Ochi, Su Tao knew that he really had to re-examine his evaluation of her. She wasn"t like how her appearance set her to be, and it"s easy to be misled by her appearance. She"s not only a vase, but her judgment capability was meticulous down to the finest detail. Now that he looked at it, this might actually be the reason why Kohei Koizumi would have such a strong reliance on her.
After reaching the hotel"s car park, Su Tao stared at Asaka Ochi for a long time before he asked, "You have other objectives in your visit to Hanzhou City, right? You can just tell me the truth, there"s no need to beat around the bush."
Surprised by his words, Asaka Ochi looked at Su Tao with a weird gaze before she asked, "How do you know that I have something to ask of you?"
"Firstly, it has been two days since you came to Hanzhou City, and you have been observing me. I"m a sensitive person, so I"m certain that you have been observing my strength. Secondly, your husband is currently nursing his health, and if you had nothing to ask of me, you wouldn"t leave him." Su Tao explained with a smile.
The second half of his words were tactfully worded. Putting it in a nutsh.e.l.l, time was ticking for Kohei Koizumi"s life, and every single day was an extension to his life. Furthermore, the two of them shared a close relations.h.i.+p, so if Asaka Ochi had nothing to ask of him, she wouldn"t have traveled all the way to waste time.
Looking at Su Tao with a complicated gaze, Asaka Ochi replied, "You"re smart. Can you come to my room? I have some words that I would like to speak with you privately."
Su Tao naturally wasn"t afraid of Asaka Ochi setting up a trap for him. Since she"s so sincere in her invitation, there"s naturally no reason for him to refuse.
But it"s getting late, and for him to spend time with a young married woman in a hotel seemed somewhat ambiguous.
Solemnly nodding his head, Su Tao replied with pure intentions, "Sure!"