Chapter 25: As Foreseen
Chapter 25: As Foreseen
Yu Meilin saw Li Zian standing by her desk as soon as she entered, flipping through the document she considered confidential. Astonished, she exclaimed, “Zian, why are you digging through my drawers?”
Li Zian replied coolly, “I didn’t take it out. Someone else did.”
“Someone else? Who?” Yu Meilin pressed.
Kun Li snapped, “There’s only three of us here. If you didn’t get it from the drawer, who else did?”
Li Zian couldn’t be bothered arguing with her. He waved a hand. “Meilin, come here. I want to show you a video.”
Yu Meilin walked over.
Li Zian woke Ma Chuan’s mobile phone and tapped the play button on the video player.
Kun Li also stepped closer to see.
“It was him?” Yu Meilin’s voice was a mix of shock and anger.
“I’m going after him right now!” Kun Li spun around to leave.
Li Zian called out, “Calm down.”
Kun Li fumed, “Calm down? That brute pushed your wife down the stairs! I’m going to teach him a lesson, and you tell me to calm down? What kind of man are you?” Anger flared in Li Zian too. He stared at Kun Li. “What’s wrong with your brain?”
Yu Meilin was stunned. She never imagined Li Zian would speak to Kun Li that way, and so harshly.
Kun Li, humiliated and furious, suddenly threw a punch at Li Zian’s face. Everyone had their limits, and Li Zian hadn’t just crossed hers – he had practically danced on it! Insulting her intelligence right in front of Yu Meilin? She couldn’t swallow that, even if Yu Meilin stood there.
Li Zian didn’t dodge. Instead, his hand shot out and grabbed Kun Li’s fist. He then pushed down hard toward her wrist joint.
“Ouch!” Kun Li cried out in pain, crouching down as she followed the force of his movement.
“Zian! What are you doing? Let her go!” Yu Meilin cried anxiously.
Li Zian gave a gentle push. Kun Li staggered, almost falling to the floor.
Furious and embarrassed, Kun Li stepped forward again, her right leg lifting to kick.
Li Zan’s voice turned icy. “If that leg comes toward me, I will dislocate your ankle. And not even Meilin pleading will stop me.”
Kun Li’s leg trembled, but it didn’t lift. She just glared balefully at Li Zian.
Yu Meilin gasped, amazed. “Kun Li has studied martial arts! How did you stop her instantly? Have you trained too?”
Li Zian said simply, “My master taught me a boxing style. I could take three of her, easy.” He didn’t know for sure – he’d never fought her before. But her scrappy self-defense moves were no match for the ancient, authentic Branch-Breaking Boxing. Teaching her a lesson wouldn’t be hard at all.
“Hmph!” Kun Li snorted, clearly unconvinced.
Yu Meilin sighed deeply. “What are you two even doing? I have enough troubles already. Must you make things harder?”
Li Zian stated, “I came here to help. But what she implied earlier – that I rifled your drawers to steal business secrets? What use could I possibly have for that?”
Yu Meilin glanced at Kun Li, hesitating. She knew Kun Li’s words were out of line. But if she sided with Li Zian and scolded Kun Li, it would look like both of them were ganging up against her.
Kun Li angrily spat out, “I’m furious that you knew Yu Jiayong pushed Meilin down the stairs! You had the proof! And you stopped me from going to teach him a lesson! Are you even a real man?”
Again that question.
Li Zian replied coolly, “I pushed Yu Jiayong down the stairs, exactly how he pushed Meilin. He’s probably outside looking for help right now. Check by the window; you’ll see.”
Kun Li marched over to the window.
Yu Meilin gasped. “Zian, you… you pushed Yu Jiayong down the stairs?”
Li Zian just nodded slightly.
Kun Li parted the blinds a crack and peered out into the Large Office Area. She spotted Yu Jiayong immediately.
Yu Jiayong was limping towards the office. Gauze encircled his head, half his face was swollen, and he could barely walk straight. It was obvious he had taken a bad fall.
Kun Li released the blinds and stepped back. “Yu Jiayong is coming inside. He really got hurt.”
Yu Meilin panicked. “Zian! Hide! He’s definitely coming to settle the score!”
Li Zian gave a small smile. “Don’t worry. Something tells me he won’t dare knock.”
Yu Jiayong reached the office door, hand raised to knock. But he hesitated several seconds, lowered his hand, turned, and shuffled away.
Yu Meilin also rushed to the window, peeling back the blinds to peek. She saw the bandaged Yu Jiayong hobbling away. She blinked in disbelief before whispering, “He… He left.”
Kun Li stared at Li Zian with a strange new look. How? He predicted Yu Jiayong wouldn’t knock, and he hadn’t. Was he truly foreseeing events? Did he really know things ahead of time?
Li Zian raised an eyebrow. “Why are you looking at me? You’re so hot-headed you even tried to hit me. Could I trust your temper if you’d gone after Yu Jiayong? If you hurt him badly and went to jail, who would help Meilin then?”
Kun Li snapped back, “You pushed Yu Jiayong downstairs too! And now you’re lecturing me!”
“Yu Jiayong had the surveillance turned off. He can’t prove it was me. Besides,” Li Zian shook the phone slightly, “I have proof of his crime. Even if he knew, what could he possibly do to me?”
Kun Li gave a snort of disbelief. “He pushed Meilin down; you pushed him down. If he stews over it, nothing stops him from reporting you. What then?”
Yu Meilin approached them, her brow deeply furrowed. “Why are you two fighting again? Zian, Kun Li has a point. If Yu Jiayong stabbed me, would you then stab him? That’s illegal too! You must never act so impulsively again!”
Li Zian raised his voice. “Come out now.”
The bathroom door creaked open slowly. Ma Chuan emerged, looking terrified, his voice trembling. “G-General Manager Yu?”
Yu Meilin stared, astonished. “Why is someone in the bathroom?”
Li Zian explained, “This is Ma Chuan. He works for Yu Jiayong. He was the one who sneaked into your office tearing through drawers looking for something. He took out this file and photographed it with his phone. I caught him. The video you just saw, he pulled it from the surveillance footage.”
Yu Meilin turned her gaze on Ma Chuan. Her eyes turned cold.
Ma Chuan dropped to his knees with a thud. “General Manager Yu! I was wrong! I have old parents to care for, a wife, children to feed! Please forgive me! Don’t call the police! I… I’ll serve you faithfully, work myself to the bone!”
Thud! Thud! Thud!
He actually slammed his forehead three times against the floor in two frantic seconds.
But Yu Meilin felt no sympathy. Her voice was icy. “The company paid you a wage. We bought your benefits. And you repay us by stealing our business secrets? If I let you go, how can I enforce discipline?”
She pulled out her mobile phone, ready to dial the police.
Ma Chuan turned desperate eyes to Li Zian, tears forming. “Lord An! Help me, please!”
Li Zian smoothly took the phone from Yu Meilin’s hand.
Yu Meilin was bewildered. “What are you doing?”
Li Zian stated flatly, “I know you’re angry. I know you are a principled person. But… don’t you want to know who stands behind Yu Jiayong?”
Yu Meilin paused, momentarily caught off guard.
Li Zian pressed on. “Would the chief of the Security Section dare push you down stairs? Would he send someone to steal company secrets… if he didn’t have powerful backing?” His gaze was steady. “Sending him to jail solves nothing. But his secrets are in our hands now. Use him to lure out the one behind Yu Jiayong. Only then do you turn this around.”
Yu Meilin stared at him intensely. A strange thought struck her: I’ve never really known this man.
Li Zian picked up the mobile phone from the desk and handed it to Ma Chuan. “Yu Jiayong called three times. I let them all ring. He must be desperate to find you. Call him back. Tell him you’ve already left the company. Arrange to meet him tonight at a specific spot. Demand he brings five hundred thousand yuan to get the ‘item’.”
Ma Chuan stammered nervously, “Five hundred thousand? Asking him for that much money…?”
Li Zian glared at him. “Do exactly as I say. Do this well, and not only will you avoid prison, you might even keep your job.”
“I’ll call him right away.” Ma Chuan took the phone, quickly dialed Yu Jiayong’s number.
The line connected after only a few rings.
Ma Chuan wisely put it on speakerphone.
Yu Jiayong’s angry shouts immediately filled the room. “What the hell happened? I called you three times! Why didn’t you pick up?”
Ma Chuan took a deep breath, steadying his voice. “Section Chief Yu, rest assured. The item is in my grasp. Meet me tonight at Brother’s Restaurant across from the company. Bring five hundred thousand yuan. I’ll hand it over then.”
“What kind of bullshit is this?” Yu Jiayong roared.
“Section Chief Yu,” Ma Chuan pressed, maintaining his trembling-but-firm tone, “This is illegal, and I’m no fool. If you don’t bring the money, I’m not giving you the documents.”
“You little—” A sharp intake of breath sounded over the line. Then Yu Jiayong spoke again, the anger forced down. “Fine. But not there, too many people we know. Tonight, eight o’clock. Skyview Club. I’ll bring the cash.”
Ma Chuan looked anxiously at Li Zian.
Li Zian shook his head slightly.
Yu Meilin leaned close to Li Zian’s ear and whispered urgently, “Tell him – Pearl Tower.” She understood Li Zian wasn’t familiar with Shanghai’s locations.
Li Zian grabbed a pen from her desk and wrote “Pearl Tower” swiftly on a sheet of paper. He held it up for Ma Chuan to see.
Ma Chuan nodded curtly and spoke back into the phone. “Section Chief Yu, that’s too high-end for me. I can’t go there. We meet below the Pearl Tower.”
A stretch of silence hung on the other end. Then, Yu Jiayong’s voice came back, tight with control: “Alright. Eight o’clock tonight. Under the Pearl Tower.”
“I’ll be there.” Ma Chuan hung up.
Li Zian took the mobile phone back. “Be at Pearl Tower tonight with us. Do this right, and it won’t be considered a crime against you; you might even earn credit. Fail…” His voice turned cold as ice, “…and you prepare your backside for jail time.”
Ma Chuan nodded so vigorously it looked painful. “Lord An, no worries. I will get this done right.” This man was definitely wilier than Wei Dazhuang.
Kun Li couldn’t hold back. “And you’re really selling Yun Di’s secrets to Yu Jiayong? What are you playing at?”
Li Zian actually chuckled. “See? Linear thinking truly is your problem, Kun Li.” He leaned forward slightly. “Yu Jiayong won’t part with five hundred thousand yuan himself. His backer will pay. Most likely, that backer will appear tonight for the trade. If they don’t, we film the exchange – it’s solid evidence against them both either way. And once they’ve traded…” A faint, sharp smile touched his lips. “…we tail Yu Jiayong. We will find the money trail leading to his boss.”
For once, Kun Li didn’t snap back. She merely lowered her gaze, shifting awkwardly before finally looking at him. “Sorry. About earlier… I shouldn’t have said those things.”
Li Zian offered a faint smile. “I forgive you.”
Kun Li rolled her eyes.
Yu Meilin looked back at the file on her desk, a worried frown creasing her forehead. Uncertainty flickered in her eyes.
Li Zian understood her hesitation instantly. He leaned in again, speaking low so only she could hear: “I never intended for him to get the real documents. Eight o’clock is hours away.” His eyes met hers, filled with meaning. “You have time. Plan what you want them to believe they are getting. Use your imagination.”
Yu Meilin could only stare at him.
That feeling of strangeness, of mystery – it returned suddenly, hitting her powerfully. He was different. Entirely unknown. Yet entirely… compelling.