“You know my identity?”
“When Boss Lu was laying out the plan, he told us. I’m ashamed to say, I didn’t do much that day, did I? I was just a tool, a figurehead, standing by. How was my performance?”
I didn’t comment on his acting and went straight to the point: “What have you been doing these past few days?”
“Someone pre-ordered a jade pendant from me. I’m working on it. What’s up? Figurehead, do we have a mission?”
I looked at the pendant he was carving: “Have you seen Old Zhu?”
“Never.”
“Let’s go, we’ll go find Old Zhu.”
When we got to Old Zhu’s place, his wife grumbled that he hadn’t been home for days. I looked at Lu Yao, who shrugged: “I really don’t know about that. I haven’t contacted them since that day.”
After coming out, I told Lu Yao to go back to the company first and asked him to inquire about Boss Xie’s hometown. After Lu Yao left, Ning Caishen, as usual, had foreseen the situation and asked me: “Boss, why did you send Tu Kela away?”
“Black Spade Two, Old Gu is acting.”
“How did you figure that out?” Ning Caishen seemed surprised; I guessed he hadn’t noticed.
“As a tool from the performing arts department, Old Gu’s acting is quite accomplished. However, I looked at the pendant he carved. He said he’d been carving for several days, but judging by the look of it, it took at most one day.”
“Perhaps he’s just slow.”
“In this situation, not a single clue can be missed.”
Ning Caishen and I went to Old Gu’s shop, but we didn’t go in, just kept watch outside. Not long after, Old Gu came out, looked around, didn’t see us, and left quickly.
Old Gu went to a residential complex and looked around again before going upstairs. I watched from the building’s stairwell as he went up to the third floor, so I took Ning Caishen up to the third floor and knocked on the door.
“Who is it?”
“The water bill collector.”
Old Gu opened the door. Just as he opened it a crack, Ning Caishen yanked it open. With Ning Caishen’s skills, he subdued Old Gu in no time.
Old Gu couldn’t move and shouted: “Old Zhu, escape quickly!”
This was the third floor. Old Zhu tried to jump out the window, but Ning Caishen quickly caught up, grabbed his clothes, and pulled him back from the window.
Old Zhu, trembling with fear, saw me and shouted even louder: “Figurehead, spare my life! I… I didn’t kill Lin Han!”
“Where did you take Lin Han?”
Hearing my question, Old Zhu described with a cry, that he had received Lu Yao’s order to temporarily take Lin Han to a hidden place. It was an anonymously rented house. After Old Zhu settled Lin Han there, he went to buy daily necessities. But unexpectedly, the house caught fire shortly after he left. By the time he returned, Lin Han’s body was already charred.
“You’re saying Lin Han is dead?”
“Who did it?”
I almost roared. Old Zhu’s lips trembled: “I… I, I really don’t know.”
“Kill him.”
Bloodshot veins appeared in my eyes. Ning Caishen hesitated. Old Zhu knelt and kowtowed. Old Gu also came over to plead, saying: “Figurehead, I know something. I suspect Lu Yao deliberately had Old Zhu take Lin Han to that house, and then someone was waiting there to kill him. I can roughly guess who was waiting there?”
“Who?”
“Mr. Ke, the Celestial Guest. Although I haven’t worked with him, I’ve seen him, so I recognize him. He’s come to Ruili.”
Ke Yingying is in Ruili? I didn’t know that! I looked at Ning Caishen, who shook his head: “I don’t know about this either.”
“Damn it, we’ve been played by Ke Yingying.”
Saying that, I turned and left. Ning Caishen followed: “What about these two?”
“Leave them be. They’re just two abandoned tools.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Plan change. I’m not donating anymore. All my money will be transferred to Lin Han’s company. Ning Caishen, use all your skills and directly swallow Lu Yao whole.”
“But this isn’t part of the plan!”
“Lin Han is dead, what plan do we need?”
I declared war on Lu Yao. Lu Yao, who always wore a fawning smile, chose to disappear. And our plan was all in vain because of Lin Han’s death. As my funds began to flow into the joint venture, Lu Yao’s side also started to mobilize, and a financial war began.
For the past week, I probably hadn’t eaten many meals, looking haggard and gaunt. Hearing Ye Qingcheng and Xiao Zian return, I mustered my strength and asked them: “How is the police investigation going? That person wasn’t Lin Han, right?”
Neither Ye Qingcheng nor Xiao Zian answered me.
At this moment, Ning Caishen walked in with a solemn expression. Xiao Zian changed the subject: “Ning Caishen, after the financing, have we gained a voice?”
“We’ve been tricked.”
“What do you mean?” Ye Qingcheng also became nervous.
“From the beginning, the other party was targeting these ten billion. In this financing process, not only did Tu Kela use the funds from ‘China Style’ Jade Rough Stone Trading Co., Ltd., but also funds brought by Mr. Ke.”
“Where did Ke Yingying get so much money? What is this guy up to? He said the four of us, the four aces, would return to the original faction of schemers together, yet he stabbed us in the back.” Ye Qingcheng exclaimed indignantly.
“I don’t know.”
The current situation was completely unfavorable to us. Xiao Zian looked at me: “Figurehead, think of a way. We can’t just wait for death. That’s ten billion!”
I didn’t respond and said to Xiao Zian: “Don’t worry about the money. Go to the police station again and tell me for sure that the charred female corpse is not Lin Han.”
“Enough, Tang Nan. Lin Han is already dead. We can’t lose everything for a dead person.”
Ye Qingcheng shouted at me. I looked at her, she looked at me, and I raised my hand and slapped her: “Whoever dares to say Lin Han is dead, I will not be polite to them.”
After speaking, I turned and entered the bedroom. I heard Ning Caishen say: “At this point, we can only act on our own initiative.”
“Ning Caishen, what do you plan to do?” Ye Qingcheng asked.
“Contact Cao Qian.”
Xiao Zian’s voice was full of surprise: “Ning Caishen, do you want to sell the 2% of Gao’s shares to Cao Qian?”
“Sell? Xiao Zian, you don’t understand money at all. We are one of many parties financing in the joint venture. Although we invested ten billion, we didn’t gain control. This means Tu Kela and the others invested more than us. Without control, we have no right to sell Gao’s shares.”
“Then what should we do?”
“Invite the wolf into the house. We can only make one last gamble with Cao Qian’s money.”
“Cao Qian is more than just a wolf. Teacher Li Jiu said when that woman was young that we couldn’t afford to offend her.” Ye Qingcheng immediately raised an objection.
“As long as we have controlling interest, as long as she doesn’t invest ten billion, we can gain control. Judging from Lu Yao’s situation, their funds are at most 15 billion. If we borrow six billion from Cao Qian, we win.” Ye Qingcheng hesitated: “I still think this is not appropriate.”
“Sister Ye, there’s no other way now. Figurehead is all messed up because of Lin Han’s death. Let’s make the decision and let Cao Qian’s funds in.”
I don’t understand the financial war. To me, hundreds of billions are no different from hundreds of yuan. From the current situation, it’s an all-or-nothing gamble. If we win, everyone rejoices; if we lose, I’ll be back to being that poor guy.
Days passed one by one. I couldn’t eat or sleep, and I had lost so much weight I was skin and bones. My head felt groggy. I heard someone knocking on the door, but I didn’t move. The person used a room key card to open the door. I struggled to sit up and saw my senior sister, dressed impeccably.
“Long time no see, Tang Nan. Why are you in such a state? Your beloved is dead, and you’ve collapsed.”
“Cao Qian, what are you doing here?”
“Just came to see you.”
“How did you get in?”
“Do you remember when we parted in Hong Kong? I told you I would give you a gift. Now the mystery is solved. It was this ‘gift’ that gave me the room card, which is how I got in.”
I forced myself to sit up, took a sip of water, and said: “There have always been two people living in this room, one is me, and the other is Ning Caishen. Are you saying Ning Caishen is the ‘gift’ you gave me?”
Hearing me say that, Senior Sister fiddled with her fingers and smiled charmingly: “You’re so hungry, yet your mind is still sharp. It’s a pity you’re too easily swayed by emotions. If Ning Caishen hadn’t personally killed Lin Han and made you so distraught, it would have been hard to find your weakness.”
“I don’t believe it.”
“You don’t believe it?”
Then look, Senior Sister compressed a video and put it on her phone. Although the clarity wasn’t good, it clearly showed Ning Caishen strangling Lin Han’s neck. After Lin Han completely stopped breathing, he set the fire to destroy the evidence.
“Ning Caishen, where are you?”
“Stop shouting. He’s here. What can you do? You couldn’t even beat him when you were healthy, let alone in this state.”