Free Web NovelChapter 35: Chapter 35: Just in Case
The next morning.
The offices of the Economic Crime Investigation Division.
A phone rang insistently. freewebnσvel.cѳm
"Hello? Yes..."
Fang Hongbin’s expression soured as he listened to the call from Peng City. He then hung up.
Ma Qiang, who was drinking tea in his office, asked curiously, "Captain Fang, from the look on your face, did something else happen?"
"That was a call from Peng City."
"What did they say in Peng City?" Ma Qiang asked with concern.
Fang Hongbin shook his head and sighed. "Ai! That Sun Moon Lake and his two assistants were all captured in one go, but the interrogation didn’t go well. The other party had already sent the confidential formula back to Ryukyu over the internet."
"So, you’re saying Hailufeng Company’s technology has been leaked?" Ma Qiang’s face darkened as well.
"That’s right." Fang Hongbin sounded resigned.
Ma Qiang could only throw up his hands. "Then there’s nothing we can do. After all, Ryukyu won’t cooperate with us. I’ll notify Hailufeng Company and tell them to start legal proceedings as soon as possible!"
"Right, go ahead and notify them. Oh, and one more thing. CCTV is sending a reporter for an interview tomorrow at noon. Let Hailufeng Company know. You should also go over to Hailufeng Company to cooperate with the filming and interview."
Although Ma Qiang wasn’t keen on doing this kind of interview, he had no choice but to brace himself and nod. "Understood."
「...」
Over at the Hailufeng Company Headquarters.
Secretary Li Zixuan reported to Jiang Miao what the Economic Crime Investigation Division had told them, as well as the matter of the CCTV reporter’s interview tomorrow at noon.
Jiang Miao was still buried in his work. "Got it. I’ll personally go to the eel farm tomorrow. Tell Vice General Manager Jiang to come see me."
"Okay."
A few minutes later, Jiang Haibo knocked and entered the office.
"Chairman."
"Have a seat."
Jiang Miao looked up. "Get ready. The police have finished their investigation. I want you to immediately file a lawsuit against Ryukyu West Sea Seedling Company in the company’s name. The grounds for the suit will be what we discussed before: illegal theft of intellectual property and infringement of our company’s invention patent."
"Understood." Jiang Haibo nodded. He knew the company couldn’t just do nothing. Even if it was destined to be difficult to punish the other party through legal means, they had to press on with the lawsuit.
Jiang Miao added, "While you’re at it, contact Watanabe Kenjiro from Rokkaido Eel Company and have them file a lawsuit in East Japan as well. That company has business in East Japan. I can’t influence things in Ryukyu, but we have a corporate partner in East Japan. We need to make full use of them."
"Yes, sir. I don’t think Rokkaido Eel Company will refuse this proposal."
Jiang Miao knew, of course, that Rokkaido Eel Company wouldn’t refuse. Whether they were genuinely acting or just creating a diversion, they would definitely cooperate.
As expected, when Jiang Haibo sent the email, Rokkaido Eel Company immediately agreed and requested that Hailufeng Company provide them with a copy of the police report and any other reproducible materials.
After all, Watanabe Junichi had just paid a steep price of 30 million US dollars for that follow-up technical data. How could he possibly let Ryukyu West Sea Company off the hook? Even though he already knew from Watanabe Kenjiro that there were huge problems with the stolen data, he had no intention of just letting the matter drop.
As a sharp man, Watanabe Junichi had already seen through Jiang Miao’s intentions: to force Ryukyu West Sea Company to secretly sell off the technical data, thereby drawing everyone’s attention to it.
Once that happened, Hailufeng Company and Rokkaido Eel Company, the original two sole possessors of the artificial eel breeding technology, would no longer be valuable targets for industrial espionage.
And verifying the authenticity of that technical data would take two to three months—for some companies without the necessary infrastructure, it could even take over half a year.
That was enough time for Hailufeng Company and Rokkaido Eel Company to complete their product distribution.
Moreover, if any insatiably greedy parties wanted to rush into mass production, they would have to buy mature eels in large quantities. This would inevitably cause the price of mature eels to skyrocket, further stimulating the farmers’ desire to cultivate them.
What’s more, whether it was purchasing large quantities of mature eels or building the necessary facilities, all of it required significant investment. By the time they discovered something was wrong with the technology, they would have already sunk a large amount of capital into it, resulting in economic losses.
In any case, anyone who would buy the technology from the West Sea Company was bound to be a competitor. Jiang Miao and Watanabe Junichi would be more than happy to see these people go bankrupt.
Of course, considering that some of the companies and investors who discovered the problem might turn their attention back to Hailufeng Company and Rokkaido Eel Company in a few months, both companies tacitly strengthened their various security measures to prevent another leak from happening.
Meanwhile, Jiang Miao called Ke Yong over.
"Boss, are we heading out?"
"No. I need you to contact your old army buddies. See if there are any with good character who are currently unemployed or dissatisfied with their jobs. I want to hire six more bodyguards."
Ke Yong thought for a moment. "There are probably two or three, from my old platoon. I’m not too familiar with the other guys."
"Two or three is fine. I’ll have the HR department recruit the rest."
"Alright, I’ll call and ask them in a bit."
After Ke Yong left.
He called the deputy manager of the HR department over.
"Old Lin, I need to find three or four bodyguards, two of them female. They have to be professional and experienced. Also, require them to provide family information. If possible, have their entire families move here to Magong Town. The company can arrange some work for their family members."
"Boss, isn’t that a bit difficult?" Old Lin scratched his head involuntarily.
"Do your best. The economy isn’t great right now. As long as the compensation is good, someone will be willing to come."
"Alright then! I’ll figure something out." Old Lin could only agree.
The reason Jiang Miao made this request was that he was worried the bodyguards’ families could be threatened, which would in turn affect the bodyguards themselves. As long as their families were settled in Magong Town, which was Hailufeng Company’s home base, any suspicious activity would be easy to notice.
And he wasn’t just looking for so many bodyguards for himself, but also for his family’s safety.
After all, once those seedling companies bought the problematic technology from the West Sea Company and got burned, some of them were bound to hold a grudge against Shanghai Lufeng Company and Jiang Miao.
Jiang Miao wasn’t worried about the companies from Ryukyu and other countries; it would be difficult for them to retaliate.
But domestic companies were a different story. It wasn’t out of the question that someone who was driven to bankruptcy would show up and try to take everyone down with them.
Jiang Miao didn’t want to wait for something to happen and then be filled with regret; he chose to take precautions beforehand.
In any case, it was difficult to get hold of explosives, guns, or ammunition in the country right now. The worst you’d face would be knives or corrosive chemicals. At most, maybe an air gun or a bow and arrow.
As for poisoning, that was the one thing Jiang Miao feared the least. He always used his appraisal panel to inspect anything he was about to ingest.
He even occasionally inspected the food and raw ingredients in the company cafeteria, just to prevent someone from poisoning him.
But that still wasn’t enough. Jiang Miao called Wang Feng from the purchasing department over. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
"Fengzi, I called you over because of this. You know how some people were causing trouble yesterday? I’m worried similar incidents might happen again. I want you to do some research and purchase a batch of legal protective gear and emergency medical supplies for the company’s security guards. Also, buy thirty sets of concealable stab-proof vests—get the best ones on the market."
"Concealable stab-proof vests?" Wang Feng was taken aback. "Boss, is it that serious?"
Jiang Miao clapped Wang Feng on the shoulder. "Fengzi, you can’t be too careful. This is just a precaution. It’s best if nothing happens, but if something does, this could save a life."
Hearing this, Wang Feng nodded in agreement. If they really encountered a madman or someone with a death wish, the company’s security guards could only act as doormen. It would be difficult for them to fight off an armed assailant bare-handed.
