I See through Everything

Chapter 34: Chapter 34: Caught Red-Handed

Inside the break room of the eel farm, Xiaocai was taking a drink of water. He had just picked up his phone, ready to play a round of Dou Dizhu.

Just then, he saw Zhang Xincheng walk in with a few police officers.

The color immediately drained from his face. His body began to tremble uncontrollably as he prayed to himself, ’Stay calm. They’re not here for me, they’re not here for me.’

"Cai Yingyu, you’re suspected of serious economic crimes. You need to come with us." Ma Qiang’s face was grim as he held out his badge.

"Are you sure you haven’t made a mistake? I haven’t done anything! Don’t frame an innocent man!" Xiaocai argued, his voice trembling.

"Hmph! Still resisting? Take a look at this." Ma Qiang snorted coldly and then pulled out a video of Xiaocai furtively entering the ingredient mixing room.

The moment he saw the video footage, Xiaocai collapsed and began begging Zhang Xincheng for mercy. "Manager, I was wrong. I’m willing to compensate the company, I don’t want to go to jail..."

"Too late." Zhang Xincheng’s expression was icy.

"Take him away!"

Two officers, one on each side, handcuffed Xiaocai, then grabbed him by the arms and pulled him out.

WEE-WOO WEE-WOO...

The piercing wail of the police siren made the other employees at the eel farm hurry to put down their work.

"What’s going on?" Old Zhao, the electrician, looked completely bewildered.

Meanwhile, Zhang Xiaodong, who had been in the break room with Xiaocai, ran out, still shaken, and explained what had just happened to a few coworkers.

After hearing the story, everyone broke into a flurry of curses.

"That backstabbing traitor..." ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm

"Motherfucker!"

"No wonder I saw him acting so shifty a few times before. Turns out it was all planned."

"I hope the company didn’t lose too much."

"Yeah! A good company like this is hard to find these days! That damn traitor!"

Clearly, the employees held the company and Jiang Miao in high regard and felt a strong sense of loyalty.

After hearing about Xiaocai stealing secrets, they all instinctively worried about the company’s losses.

If the company’s losses were severe, it would most likely have to resort to pay cuts to survive, which was definitely not a good thing for the employees.

Zhang Xincheng didn’t let this good opportunity pass, striking while the iron was hot and gathering all the farm’s employees.

In an open area, all the employees were huddled together, discussing the matter in hushed tones.

They only stopped when Zhang Xincheng walked out.

"I’m sure you’ve all heard by now."

After a brief pause, Zhang Xincheng continued, "This incident was due to my negligence. It was also because Cai Yingyu had malicious intentions; it has nothing to do with any of you. Although the company has lost a secret formula, there’s no major impact for now. However, the good days of making money from eel fry are numbered. Let’s all put in some extra effort. While other companies don’t have the formula yet, let’s have our company produce as many eel fry as possible."

"No problem!"

"It’s all that troublemaker Cai Yingyu’s fault!"

"Don’t worry, Manager. I, Old Zhao, will guarantee the power supply."

Zhang Xincheng was very satisfied with everyone’s reaction. Although the company hadn’t actually suffered a loss, it didn’t stop him from using this incident to establish a victim persona.

...

Meanwhile, Xiaocai had been taken to the Economic Crimes Investigation Division.

He hadn’t even been inside for half an hour before he confessed to everything.

After all, there was no point in not confessing. His QQ, WeChat, and phone call records had already been investigated, and all their contents had been compiled.

Fang Hongbin looked at the preliminary investigation report in his hand. ’He took 1.5 million from the other party, and the guy’s from Ryukyu? This is going to be a headache!’

"Captain, let’s report this up. According to the identity information we investigated at the Paris Peninsula Hotel, this person is currently staying at a business hotel in Peng City. I’m worried that if we’re a step too slow, they’ll fly back to Ryukyu, and it’ll be difficult to arrest them then," Ma Qiang suggested.

Fang Hongbin nodded. "I’ll go report the situation immediately. We need to try to minimize Hailufeng Company’s losses."

The Economic Crimes Investigation Division’s high level of attention was inevitable, mainly because the amount of money involved was so large.

...

Meanwhile, back at the head office, Jiang Miao met with a rushed Zhang Xincheng.

He wasn’t surprised after hearing Zhang Xincheng’s account. Still, he instructed, "Brother-in-law, have someone secretly spread the news. Make sure everyone in Magong Town and the surrounding areas knows about this."

"Why?" Zhang Xincheng didn’t understand at first.

"Cai Yingyu’s family!"

Hearing this, Zhang Xincheng immediately understood Jiang Miao’s concern.

In today’s internet age, it’s an environment ripe for spreading rumors. Therefore, Jiang Miao chose to make a preemptive strike, cementing his status as the victim first. That way, no matter how Cai Yingyu’s family tried to stir up trouble, he and Hailufeng Company would be in an unassailable position.

Otherwise, if Cai Yingyu’s family spread rumors first, many people would form their initial impressions based on that. Even if the truth was later clarified, it would be easy to end up in a no-win situation.

If the family didn’t come to cause trouble, Jiang Miao naturally wouldn’t broaden the spread of this matter.

But he had to prepare for the worst.

He had already instructed Jiang Haibo’s legal department to prepare a lawsuit against the Ryukyu company, while also preparing to sue any rumormongers.

On another front, he had Zhang Xinyi from the online store department post sympathetic articles and videos on several major social media sites, playing the victim. He also had her prepare to buy traffic and conduct crisis PR.

Sure enough.

That afternoon, around four o’clock.

A dozen of Cai Yingyu’s relatives, with family in tow, showed up at the company headquarters to cause a scene.

Jiang Miao, of course, wouldn’t go out to meet these people. If one of them got desperate, he would be putting himself in a dangerous situation.

Ke Yong, along with another young, able-bodied security guard and five or six strong male employees, shouted from behind a barrier, "We’ve already called the police! If you don’t leave now, our company has lawyers on retainer. You can just wait for a court summons!"

"Oh, my son! Your fate is so bitter! How could you frame a good person..." Cai Yingyu’s old mother wailed, rolling around on the ground by the entrance.

Another middle-aged man from the Cai Family put on a peacemaker’s face. "My nephew has never stolen or robbed anything his entire life. What your company is doing is just too much. How about this: we each take a step back, you issue a letter of forgiveness, and we can put this matter to rest?"

"Do you even know what Cai Yingyu did? It’s a criminal case." Ke Yong laughed in exasperation. "Do you know how much the technology he stole is worth? At least two hundred million! If you dare to come up with two hundred million for a private settlement, our boss will write that letter of forgiveness for you right now!"

"Two hundred million? Why don’t you just rob a bank? Besides, how do you know my nephew stole it? There’s no proof. I think you’re just trying to bully us common folk." The middle-aged man’s face was a mixture of shock and fear; he hadn’t expected such a huge sum to be involved.

"Don’t believe me? Then just wait for the national news in a few days!" Ke Yong had barely finished speaking.

When a police car pulled up on the road not far away.

An old officer from the Magong Police Station saw the Cai Family and quickly pulled the middle-aged Cai man aside.

The old officer quickly began to persuade him in a low voice, "Old Cai Tou, stop causing trouble, or you’ll face consequences you can’t handle."

"But my nephew..."

"Do you have any idea how serious this is? The news is all over town now."

"Is that technology really worth two hundred million?"

The old officer, speaking out of consideration for their past acquaintance from their hometown, warned him, "At least that much, if not more. Your nephew took 1.5 million from a Ryukyuan to steal technical data from Hailufeng Company. The cash is in an apartment in Jinting Bay. If you keep making a scene, Hailufeng Company will fight your family to the bitter end."

GULP... Old Cai Tou was already pale with fright. After all, Hailufeng Company had had technology worth two hundred million stolen. The fact that they weren’t already coming after the Cai Family for trouble was a sign of their immense generosity.

"Scared now? Hurry up and get your sister-in-law and brother out of here. Stop making a scene."

"Yes, yes, I’ll take them home right away."

Old Cai Tou quickly called his own son over and pulled his older brother aside.

A short while later, the Cai Family fled, their faces pale.

Ke Yong breathed a sigh of relief seeing them leave. After all, even though he was a veteran, he couldn’t use deadly force. If a fight had broken out, that would have been real trouble.

"Thanks, Old Zhou."

The old officer smiled and shook his head. "Just doing my duty. Can we consider this matter closed for today?"

Ke Yong nodded. "Yes. As long as the Cai Family doesn’t come back to cause unreasonable trouble, our boss can’t be bothered with them. After all, the one who committed the crime was Cai Yingyu; it has nothing to do with his family."

"I’ll be sure to talk more sense into Old Cai and the others. Cai Yingyu was the one in the wrong from the start. If they dare come cause trouble again, just call me directly." The old officer shook hands with Ke Yong.

"Thanks for your trouble, everyone." Ke Yong watched as the police car drove away.

Only then did he run upstairs to report the situation to Jiang Miao.