Chapter 75 - Chu Pengzhan"s a.n.a.lysis
Warning- Unedited!
Lin Yi had planned on dragging the man straight to Chu Pengzhan"s office for questioning, but decided otherwise upon further thought- anyone on the top floor was a big shot, somewhere along the lines of a main stockholder or a general manager. There was no guarantee that the man would admit to anything, after all, and Lin Yi was concerned that he wasn"t the only one involved in the scheme- there could be a whole group of them.
The man had accomplices, judging from the phone call earlier- the other people involved would likely still be safe even if Lin Yi brought him to the chairman. Furthermore, those around the vice-chairman rank wasn"t something Chu Pengzhan could handle with just a couple of words; even his power didn"t extend that far. A large scale company like Pengzhan Industries would have different factions naturally forming within, and there was no reason for Chu Pengzhan to just do whatever he wanted to the men of other stockholders, even if Pengzhan himself was the largest stockholder in the group. There was even the possibility that the man from the bathroom was a stockholder himself- there was no guarantee with this sort of thing.
Lin Yi"s decision to stay silent stemmed from this understanding- he didn"t want to alert the hostile party of his discovery. His acting back at the washroom was for this very purpose, as well.
Lin Yi noticed the door sidely ajar upon reaching Pengzhan"s office. Li Fu seemed to be reporting something to the chairman, who kept nodding with a pleased smile on his face. He raised his head pleasantly at Lin Yi as he stepped in. "Yi, there you are! Come in, come in!"
"Uncle Chu." LIn Yi greeted, closing the door shut as he stepped in. He intended to bring the man from the washroom to Chu Pengzhan"s attention.
"Yi, I heard that you"ve been involved in a conflict with some thugs yesterday?" Pengzhan asked openly as Lin Yi seated himself on the sofa.
Lin Yi was touched- the chairman"s tone wasn"t one of lecturing or scolding, but rather a tone one would expect from a concerned family member. Lin Yi was just an employee hired to accompany her daughter, after all- it was very rare for employers to exhibit such kind care nowadays.
It did puzzle him, however. The chairman would probably be talking about firing him in usual circ.u.mstances, in fear of involving his daughter with the whole incident.
"Yeah, it was this guy called Zhong Pinliang, he"s the one who sent the thugs after me." Lin Yi admitted, not bothering to hide anything. "Though, Heibao Bro must have taken all the blame when questioned, so Zhong Pinliang"s still safe from all that."
"Ah, Zhong Pinliang? Things didn"t go well between the two of you?" Pengzhan didn"t expect Lin Yi to find himself an enemy like that only a couple days in at school. The guy Zhong Pinliang sent at Lin Yi was quite insane, as well, even going as far as to pull out a gun.
"Ah.. haha.." Lin Yi laughed bitterly. "Well, it"s actually my fault…"
"Mister Chu, allow me to explain." Li Fu understood Lin Yi"s intention to cover up for Mengyao, and decided to give a straightforward answer of his own. His position as the chairman"s most trusted, naturally, meant that he held no secrets from Chu Pengzhan.
"Oh? You"re aware of their conflict?" Pengzhan asked, turning to Li Fu. He didn"t expect Li Fu to know anything about the bad blood between Zhong Pinliang and Lin Yi.
"This is what happened, Mister Chu…" Li Fu nodded with a bitter smile. "The Miss wasn"t too happy with Mister Lin as her shield the first day they met. She gave Lin Yi a task so that she could test him, telling Mister Lin to handle her admirer problem- Zhong Pinliang, who wouldn"t stop following her around…"
"I see, I see. No more, I think I"ve a good grasp on the situation!" Pengzhan smiled bitterly as while, shaking his head in empathy. Her daughter turned out to be the source of the problem once again. "Yi, Yao Yao"s oftentimes playful, but you should make sure not to let her have her way too much from now on- just this little incident turned out to be quite deadly. I can"t have imagined the consequences if it weren"t for your skills- Keep in mind, Yi: Yao Yao needs someone to give her a bit of discipline, as well."
"Haha, don"t worry about that Uncle Chu- I"m fine, really." Lin Yi really failed to see Heibao Bro as a threat at all; the guy was a p.a.w.n, the type of soldier you would send on the front lines to soak up enemy cannon fire. In other words, useless.
"This Zhong Pinliang"s only trouble, it seems. A student like that would tarnish the school"s reputation, perhaps I should talk to Princ.i.p.al Ding Binggong about this." Pengzhan was quite displeased at the kid.
"Mister Chu, Zhong Pinliang is a niece of Mister Jin of the board of directors…" Li Fu reminded. He was always familiarized with details like this.
"Oh?" Pengzhan frowned in response, not expecting one of the stockholders to have the kid"s back. He had the largest share as chairman, but the other stockholders had sizeable shares as well- There were limits to Chu Pengzhan"s power when other stockholders were concerned.
Pengzhan Industries were one of the shareholders for Songshan"s First School, meaning that Director Jin, naturally, was one of the stockholders for the school, as well. It would be a difficult dilemma for the princ.i.p.al should Pengzhan take this matter to him, and the chairman decided to leave Zhong PInliang alone, for now. It wasn"t long before graduation, anyway.
"It"s fine, Uncle Chu- Zhong Pinliang wouldn"t be up to anything anymore, not after this incident." LIn Yi said, clearly not thinking much of Zhong Pinliang.
"Hm.. Yi, I must apologize for this. I may be steering the wheels of an entire company, but there are many other things out of my reach." Pengzhan sighed.
"That"s actually something I wanted to talk about." Pengzhan had mentioned the company, and Lin Yi saw it as a nice transition for the topic on his mind. "Uncle Chu, have you any updates on the bank robbery the other day?"
"I"m afraid not- we"re only aware that the incident wasn"t a conventional one, and that"s it." Pengzhan explained candidly. "Their intentions have been confirmed, however- the robbery was a cover for their kidnapping of Yao Yao. It was especially so when you take into account the coincidences and timing, and the fact that it had happened during my exact absence."
Lin Yi praised the man silently: being able to figure this out from a few traces of clues was impressive in its own right. The chairman"s suspicions weren"t too far off.
"I had thought that they were planning a ransom at first, but it didn"t seem right. I remember how they acted that day, when we were signing the contract- it left an impression in my mind, and I can"t help but relate the two events." Pengzhan explained, not intending to hide anything from the man bodyguarding his daughter- voicing his suspicions to him would put him on alert.
Chapter 76 - What Kind of Mission Is This?
Warning- Unedited
"Although, it was a first meeting between our companies- they shouldn"t have that thorough information about me. The thing here is we don"t have any convincing evidence." Pengzhan said, shaking his head as if doubting his own suspicions.
"Uncle Chu, I overheard a man talking on the phone when I went to the washroom earlier." Lin Yi decided that it was a good time to bring the event up. He started telling the chairman of what had taken place.
The chairman"s eyes tightened upon hearing Lin Yi"s words. He"d had his suspicions back at the meeting, where the other party kept delaying the actual signing of the contract, despite the fact that everything was pretty much prepared. It was as if they were waiting for something, eventually postponing to another date after the signing after whatever they were waiting for failed to come.
Chu Pengzhan was quite enraged at the abrupt breaking of their agreement, but the contract was still technically unsigned- the other party still had the right to change their mind at the last minute. It was all the chairman could do to offer a couple of courtesy sentences before leaving.
The unnatural change of mind gave birth to some suspicions, but Pengzhan didn"t think much of it until he heard of Mengyao"s kidnapping, only thinking of connecting the two events after that.
The two events seemed completely unrelated at first glance, and Pengzhan"s connecting of them weren"t firm at all- after all, the other party"s odd behaviour was the only basis for that correlation.
Lin Yi"s explanation a while back pretty much confirmed his suspicions- there was no genuinity from the other party in the first place; they"d planned to threaten him with Mengyao from the very start!
It made sense. He"d have little alternative other than succ.u.mb should the other party hint about their kidnapping of Mengyao.
They could simply deny any accusations afterward, as well- it was a bank robbery, after all. The effectiveness of the cover up was immense.
Pengzhan finally understood why the opposing party were constantly on their watches, as if waiting for something. Lin Yi"s words brought in a new component to the problem, too: the man in the washroom had to be a high executive if he was based on the top floor.
It was no surprise then of how near perfection the plan was, with a rat of top floor authority on their side. There was no telling how things would have developed if an unforeseen circ.u.mstance like Lin Yi hadn"t come by; a.s.signing the boy to Pengzhan"s daughter was a wise move after all!
Pengzhan had arranged Lin Yi to Mengyao due to his father"s wishes, not taking much considerations beyond that. He"d never expected Lin Yi to contribute so vitally in such critical a situation!
"I"ll look into the matter." Pengzhan responded definitively. It was preferable to have some particular top floor executives on good terms, but the chairman wasn"t planning on holding back when his own daughter had been involved in the conflict.
Lin Yi only nodded, not intending to partake in any of these affairs- this was Chu Pengzhan"s field, as chairman of Pengzhan Industries. Lin Yi simply wanted to provide whatever information he had.
"Yi, the enemy hasn"t been alerted to our suspicions yet, I hope?" Pengzhan asked as the sudden concern crossed his mind. It"d be a deal harder if the man in the washroom was aware of Lin Yi"s eavesdropping.
"Don"t worry, Uncle Chu." Lin Yi answered with a smile. "Li Fu rang my phone up, but I"d managed to pa.s.s myself off as an a.s.sociate walking up the wrong floor when coming to the company for some affairs."
Lin Yi explained the entire thing in more detail.
"Hahaha, not bad at all!" Pengzhan praised, more and more pleased with his decision of employing Lin Yi. The kid was extremely skilled, and full of potential.
Pengzhan"s father was Chu Sanwa, whose words packed extreme power in the Chu families. The man had started as a carpenter, setting the foundation for Pengzhan Industries and bringing it to its glory. Chu Pengzhan had inherited the company from Chu Sanwa, but the old man remained a powerful presence.
The Chus were poor earlier on- Chu Sanwa had just formed the Pengzhan Construction Company when Pengzhan was around eight, only growing into a superpower step by step, year by year. It was also the reason why Chu Pengzhan was so well mannered, unlike the young masters of Zhong Pinliang"s like. Pengzhan always treated everyone with respect and grace, and paid his father a large constant of respect.
The stockholders had all begun as Chu Sanwa"s business warmates. These shares had been pa.s.sed down and inherited generations down the line, and a certain discord and disobedience had started to form; Chu Pengzhan, however, didn"t take any drastic actions regarding them, leaving them some s.p.a.ce due to their involvements with Sanwa.
What happened had crossed the line- they"d laid hands on Mengyao, Pengzhan"s only daughter. It was genuine rage that propelled the chairman at this point.
"By the way, Uncle Chu… Are there any missions you"ve prepared for me?" Lin Yi asked after some hesitation, deciding that this was as good a time any to finally touch on that topic.
He"d been in Songshan a couple days now- still no significant a.s.signments other than accompanying Mengyao to school, making some breakfast for her and dealing with some delinquent clowns….... It was a relaxing life, but not a fulfilling one- he"d accepted the mission with a set goal and mindset in mind: To have the rest of his life comfortably set up from the ma.s.sive rewards promised! Lin Yi didn"t think that going to school with the Miss would earn him that life.
"Ah, missions……" Pengzhan glanced at Lin Yi oddly. "Well, there is an important a.s.signment you should expect, but the time isn"t ripe yet- you"ll need to bond with Mengyao a little longer so as to ensure the mission"s success."
"Hah?!" Lin Yi was stunned- Bond with Mengyao? What kind of mission was this, why did he have to bond with the girl for the mission to succeed? What was Mengyao"s part in all this? The chairman wasn"t planning on setting Mengyao up as bait to fish out the mastermind or anything, was he?
It was the only logical explanation Lin Yi could come up with. The chairman was not trying to make things clear at all! According to Lin Yi"s experience in missions, however, clients who maintained a secretive att.i.tude regarding the specifics never revealed the actual a.s.signemnt until the final moment.
Lin Yi would never let any confidential information get out, but he understood the careful mindsets from his clients" perspectives.