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墨書 Inktalez
Zhong Kui's Diary
For a moment, various thoughts flooded my mind. Is Dongfang Xiao related to the deaths of Chukai? What does Li Haifeng mean by that statement? Did Dongfang Xiao kill Chukai? Or did he instruct someone else to kill Chukai? Or was he present at the crime scene? If he directly or indirectly killed Chukai, what could his motive be? Could it be that he was enraged by Li Meng'er being harassed by Chukai?
Li Haifeng lightly coughed, interrupting my chaotic thoughts, and continued, "At the time of Chukai's incident, Dongfang Xiao was at the scene."
"You mean, Dongfang Xiao is the murderer of Chukai?" I asked in surprise.
"We don't know yet. Right now, Dongfang Xiao seems completely dazed; no matter how others question him, he remains silent," Li Haifeng said with a bitter smile.
"What about the police?" I pondered for a moment.
"Chukai fell from the room on the nineteenth floor, and not only are there fingerprints of Chukai on the window of the room, but there are also fingerprints and footprints of Dongfang Xiao. Even if Dongfang Xiao is not the one who directly pushed Chukai, he probably cannot escape involvement," Li Haifeng shook his head with a wry smile. "Although Dongfang Xiao is silent, the police are already preparing to bring in a hypnotist from Beijing. Once they hypnotize Dongfang Xiao, the truth will naturally come to light."
"That's one way to go about it," I nodded and then questioned, "So why did you ask me here?"
"I believe Dongfang Xiao is innocent."
"Uh, this matter is not for us to decide; it needs to be resolved by the police."
"That's why I need you to help me find evidence to prove his innocence," Li Haifeng said solemnly.
"Uh, can't this just be left to the police? Why do you need me?" I rubbed my nose in confusion.
"Because I don't want the police to know about the underlying issues involved in this matter," Li Haifeng looked at me candidly.
"I'm not quite sure I understand your meaning," I smiled.
However, Li Haifeng stared at me with flickering eyes. After a long pause, he said seriously, "Mr. Zhong, from what I know about you, you have an excellent reputation and are a trustworthy person. I wonder if I can trust you."
I chuckled, "Well, whether you believe it or not depends on you, not me."
Li Haifeng was taken aback for a moment, then he forced a smile and nodded, "That's true, that's true... Alright, to get your help, I'll tell you the whole story."
I nodded silently, feeling a bit frustrated inside. Damn, I want to tell you that I'm struggling to save humanity, and you're going to share these trivial matters with me?
"If this matter is related to Dongfang Xiao, then Chu Cang Hai will want me to transfer 15% of my shares in Cang Hai Group to him..." Li Haifeng said slowly.
"Wait a minute, I'm a bit confused," I interrupted Li Haifeng, not caring whether it was polite or not.
Li Haifeng didn't seem offended and looked at me calmly.
"You just said that if this matter is related to Dongfang Xiao, then Chu Cang Hai will take the opportunity to threaten you. I don't quite understand what that means. To put it bluntly, as long as you're not involved, even if Dongfang Xiao is your son, his crimes shouldn't be related to you, right?" I frowned and said, "Chu Cang Hai isn't crazy; why would he use this to threaten you?"
"Thirty years ago, I came out to fight alongside Chu Cang Hai and Dongfang Ao. At that time, we were full of ambition and had our own dreams, thinking we could carve out a piece of land for ourselves. Unfortunately, reality was incredibly cruel. After three years of hard work and setbacks, we achieved nothing and even reached the point where we were struggling to make ends meet," Li Haifeng suddenly reminisced.
Wow, Li Haifeng and Chu Cang Hai were actually close brothers in hardship. Who is Dongfang Ao? Could he be Dongfang Xiao's father?
Li Haifeng continued, "Just when we were about to give up our dreams and leave Star City, a wealthy man found us and offered us 100,000 yuan to start a business with him in Star City. But there was one condition: one of us had to go to prison for him."
It seems that the wealthy man knew they had a good relationship; no matter who became the scapegoat, the other two brothers would consider him and wouldn't worry about him turning against them. Moreover, 100,000 yuan thirty years ago was a huge sum; back then, there was a term called 'ten-thousand-yuan household,' meaning having 10,000 yuan already made you wealthy.
"This condition must have been difficult for you to decide on," I said with a tsk.
"No, we quickly made our decision. We drew lots, and Dongfang Ao became the scapegoat. After confessing for the wealthy man, he was sentenced to ten years in prison while Chu Cang Hai and I followed the wealthy man in making money in Star City. That wealthy man had substantial capital; he was already the Wealthiest Man in Star City. Plus, he didn't spare any expenses in seizing opportunities; it was very easy for us to make money with him. In just a few years, Chu Cang Hai and I rose to become top tycoons in Star City," Li Haifeng said.
"Your Wealthiest Man in Star City wouldn't be Jin Manyuan, would it?" I asked in surprise.
"The Wealthiest Man in Star City, who else could it be?" Li Haifeng looked at me with a hint of suspicion, as if doubting my ignorance about who the Wealthiest Man in Star City was, given my past with Jin Manyuan.
"I know, I know. I'm classmates with his grandson, Jin Yang. I was just asking casually," I chuckled.
Li Haifeng nodded and didn't linger on the topic, but his expression grew serious. "Recently, I've been visiting Dongfang Ao in prison with Chu Cang Hai from time to time, updating him on the situation outside. At first, it was fine, but later on, when Dongfang Ao heard how well we were doing outside, he started feeling unbalanced and wanted us to pull some strings to get him out. Sigh... didn't we try to pull strings? From the very beginning, we were working hard at it. Unfortunately, we were quite rigid back then; we had never even heard of medical parole. Despite our efforts, there was no result."
I wasn't surprised by this; people from two or three decades ago were much more naive than those today.
"As time went on, Dongfang Ao became angrier. He thought we didn't want to let him out because we were afraid of sharing our wealth with him. Eventually, he began to threaten us. If we didn't get him out soon, he would expose everything. Chu Cang Hai and I quickly called Jin Manyuan to brainstorm solutions. Unexpectedly, news came that Dongfang Ao attempted to escape from prison and was shot dead on the spot." At this point, anger flashed in Li Haifeng's eyes.
"Dongfang Ao was too impatient," I said in surprise.
"No, it wasn't Dongfang Ao who was impatient; it was Chu Cang Hai who was anxious. He feared that Dongfang Ao would expose everything and ruin years of hard work. So he decided to take drastic measures and bribed the guards and a few inmates. During recreation time, those inmates pushed Dongfang Ao into a restricted area, and the guards shot him without hesitation." Li Haifeng's anger intensified.
"How do you know about this?" I asked in astonishment.
"I've always had my suspicions about this matter. Later, I found a trusted confidant who infiltrated the prison and got close to those inmates. He learned that they had been paid by someone to do this," Li Haifeng said bitterly.
"So you suspect Chu Cang Hai?" I asked.
"Who else could it be?" Li Haifeng snorted coldly.
"Have you considered that Jin Manyuan might have instructed someone else? After all, if Dongfang Ao exposed this matter, he would be the most affected," I pointed out.
Li Haifeng smiled wryly. "Of course I've considered that. When Dongfang Ao made those threats, we immediately informed Jin Manyuan. But he simply said that if we couldn't handle this matter, he would make us lose everything again. If anyone else had said that, we would have scoffed at it; but coming from Jin Manyuan, we believed it completely—he absolutely has that capability."
"Yes, he indeed has that capability," I nodded.
"Moreover, at that time, Jin Manyuan had already taken action. This incident happened three or four years ago, and the person involved has already been forced to flee Star City by him. There is no evidence proving he is the murderer. Even if it gets out, it would only tarnish his reputation without any substantial impact," Li Haifeng continued to smile bitterly.
"Since you are sure of Chu Cang Hai's involvement, have you confronted him about it?" I asked curiously.
"Of course, I confronted him, but Chu Cang Hai turned the tables on me, claiming that I was the one who planned everything from the beginning," Li Haifeng's eyes flashed with anger again.
For a moment, I didn't know what to say. After a pause, I lightly coughed and said, "Uh, Mr. Li, let's talk about Dongfang Xiao."
"We'll get to him shortly," Li Haifeng took a deep breath, seemingly suppressing his anger. "Neither Chu Cang Hai nor I could yield to each other, and we ended up becoming enemies. At that time, Jin Manyuan intervened to mediate and proposed that we each hold 15% of each other's group companies' shares. All new companies must be under our groups. This way, we could balance each other out and avoid mutual destruction."
"Yes, if there are major decisions, they must go through the board of directors. Holding 15% of the shares is enough for you both to become major shareholders and know all the plans of each other's companies. In this case, any competitive tactics against each other would just be a joke," I nodded.
"Not only that, but Jin Manyuan also required us to give him 5% of our respective companies' shares. This move is truly deadly; with that, I would only hold 5% of Haifeng Group myself. If Jin Manyuan and Chu Cang Hai teamed up to create trouble, Haifeng Group would be shaken up. Similarly, Cang Hai Group would face the same fate. Therefore, neither Chu Cang Hai nor I dared to act rashly. According to the agreement, only when the two parties reconcile and return all shares to each other would he stop interfering in our affairs and return the shares he holds," Li Haifeng said with a hint of bitterness at the corner of his mouth.
"Jin Manyuan is truly an old fox," I remarked with deep understanding. Of course, my comment was not directed at this matter but rather at his enduring patience in seeking the Yin-Yang Ancient Coin.
"At the same time, Jin Manyuan invested in establishing another company under Dongfang Xiao's name for Chu Cang Hai to manage while I was responsible for raising Dongfang Xiao's son until he could stand on his own feet and then hand over his company to him," Li Haifeng continued. "If Chu Cang Hai ruins Dongfang Xiao's company, he will have to give up 15% of my company's shares. If anything happens to Dongfang Xiao while I'm raising him, I will also have to return 15% of the shares to Chu Cang Hai."
I smiled and said, "In that case, why does your Haifeng Group need to surpass Cang Hai Group by so much?"
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