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墨書 Inktalez
Zhong Kui's Diary
After a pause, I continued, "There's one more thing I need to tell you. Boss Zhou Mu Yang's son has also been kidnapped. After a ransom of one million was paid, his son is now safely home."
"One million?" Both Leizu Wu and Zhang Dingcheng repeated in disbelief, clearly surprised by the unexpectedly low amount.
"That's right, one million," I nodded. "It's possible that the kidnapper acted out of frustration."
Hearing this, Leizu Wu and Zhang Dingcheng frowned and fell into deep thought. After a while, Zhang Dingcheng cleared his throat and said, "Let's do this: I'll first list the people I've offended recently, and then we'll compare them with the people Leizu Wu has offended to see if there's any overlap."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"I just thought about it; there are three people I've offended recently," Zhang Dingcheng said, frowning as he took a puff of his cigarette. "The first person is an employee from the Health and Epidemic Prevention Station."
"What was the reason for the offense?" I asked.
This was a crucial question. In today's society, where the atmosphere is quite violent, even a simple insult could lead to dire consequences. Such incidents are not uncommon; just recently, a billionaire boss was killed in his office by an employee with an axe for refusing to approve vacation leave.
"I own several dining establishments, including not only KFC and McDonald's but also Shaxian Steamed Dumplings and Spicy Sour Noodles. Therefore, I have to maintain good relations with officials from the Health and Epidemic Prevention Station; otherwise, if they conduct an inspection at random, my food supplies could be deemed unqualified. In the past, because I maintained good relations, these inspectors would turn a blind eye. However, this year they assigned a college student who actually wanted to conduct inspections," Zhang Dingcheng raised his eyebrows. "You should know that in the restaurant business, there are many issues with food supplies, especially with KFC and McDonald's. If someone checks, they will definitely find problems. This is something I absolutely cannot tolerate."
"And then?" I asked.
"I found a certain leader and used some means to get this college student removed from his position," Zhang Dingcheng said nonchalantly. "I felt he wasn't very competent for this job."
Damn! The guy was just trying to do his job properly, and you went ahead and ruined his livelihood! How can you call yourself human? I cursed Zhang Dingcheng silently; he should be grateful that the employee didn't come after him with a butcher's knife.
However, since he had neither money nor power, it was unlikely that he was behind the kidnapping case. If he had money and power, how could Zhang Dingcheng have gotten him fired? From what I knew about Mr. Qian, he had substantial financial resources; at least one thing was clear: that high-tech operation couldn't be assembled with just two batteries.
The possibility of this employee being involved seemed slim for now; I signaled for Zhang Dingcheng to continue.
"The second person is my secretary. She's been with me for three years, living off me without understanding anything about work while occasionally getting her kicks here. With her conditions, she even wanted a raise," Zhang Dingcheng continued without any concern for his wife sitting next to him. "So I fired her. Honestly, I've never seen such a greedy woman; she has a house, a car, money—everything—and still isn't satisfied."
I couldn't help but stare in disbelief.
What the hell! Is getting your kicks from you considered a benefit? Does she think she's a Nobel Prize winner? Does she believe she can just stay locked in her room selling her essence without doing anything else and make a fortune?
Turning to Leizu Wu, he had a face full of sympathy: "You really have it tough. There's an old saying, 'One drop of essence is worth ten drops of blood; one drop of blood is worth ten chickens.' You need to eat ten chickens to replenish one drop of blood, and ten drops of blood to replenish one drop of essence. Just a casual spray from you on her would cost hundreds or thousands of chickens. Sigh, Old Zhang, you really have bad luck with people."
It felt as if a dump truck had crashed into the supermarket's living area, sending oil, salt, vinegar, and various bottles flying into the air. Various seasonings danced in the air—five-spice, star anise, pepper—scattering everywhere, filling my entire world with sour, sweet, bitter, and spicy sensations all at once.
What kind of theory is this? What do you think you are? Ducks?
Although there seems to be some logic in it, you can't just come out and say such things so recklessly. I glanced at Mrs. Zhang and Old Zhang; Mrs. Zhang looked a bit embarrassed, lowering her head without saying a word, while Old Zhang appeared completely unfazed. Could this theory be a family motto of the Zhang family?
Thinking about it, how could the mindset of a wealthy family be something I could understand? If I can't figure it out, then I shouldn't dwell on it. As for this Secretary, she probably doesn't have the capability to plan these kidnapping cases. It's not that I look down on her; it's just that someone who can't even do their job properly likely doesn't have much intelligence.
This person probably isn't capable either. I lightly cleared my throat and gestured for Zhang Dingcheng to continue.
"The third person is a leasing director from Sky Building. Isn't the newly completed Ping An Building in Qinghu District currently leasing? Same location, same area, same rent—both over 1,000 square meters with a rent of 1.1 million. But their location is better; although Sky Building is also in Qinghu District, Ping An Building is right in the center with the city government across the street and a subway station behind it. They even have three levels of underground parking! Plus, Sky Building has only five floors while Ping An Building has 68 floors; just that number alone sounds much more auspicious. Isn't business all about good fortune? So I didn't hesitate to terminate our contract here; I didn't mind paying tens of thousands in penalties." Zhang Dingcheng snorted and said: "I didn't expect this guy wouldn't let me move over and even ordered security not to issue access passes."
"Hey? That's Director Deng you're talking about, right? I've had arguments with him too—also about moving!" Leizu Wu exclaimed in surprise. "What a coincidence! I wanted to move to Ping An Building as well. But this guy just wouldn't give me an access pass; it's so annoying."
Hearing them talk like this made me frown involuntarily: "Mr. Zhang, you have so many companies under you; it seems like they are all subcontracted to others. To put it bluntly, you're just a trading company making some profit margins. Why do you need to rent an entire floor? And Mr. Lei, your main business is Emperor Club; what do you need an entire floor of office space for? Training sessions for your sister?"
"You don't understand; my annual rent at Sky Building is 1.2 million. It's not much money but it showcases my influence," Leizu Wu nodded and said: "Every girl who comes to Emperor Club for the first time will feel hopeful about life just by sitting in my luxurious office for a few hours—hahaha." He chuckled twice but suddenly fell silent as if recalling his son Ray Yu.
Zhang Dingcheng agreed: "Exactly! In business, it's all about face."
"What happened next? If he wouldn't let you move, how did you handle it?" I asked with a smirk.
"Report it to the police!" Leizu Wu and Zhang Dingcheng answered in unison.
"Besides that, did you offend anyone else?" I frowned.
This leasing director Deng shouldn't go as far as kidnapping Lei and Zhang's children; after all, any disputes were related to business matters and didn't involve personal grudges. It wouldn't make sense for him to harbor resentment and risk breaking the law by kidnapping someone—if things went south, he would be the one suffering.
"We believe in harmony bringing wealth in business; how could we offend so many people?" Zhang Dingcheng extinguished his cigarette butt in the ashtray and loudly called for Ying to bring two more packs of cigarettes from the study.
I turned to ask Leizu Wu whom he had offended. After pondering for a moment, Leizu Wu replied: "My establishment is protected by Tang Zian's gang; if anything happens, I don't even need to step in—it’s not an issue of offending anyone. You should know Tang Zian too, right?"
"I've heard!" I nodded lightly and asked, "Even if it's backed by Tang Zian, that's just the underworld side of things. Is there no one from the Underworld who would come to trouble you?"
"No! Because Mayor Xu Qingyu has shares in my Emperor Club," Leizu Wu said proudly.
Leizu Wu's tone showed that he wasn't afraid I would go out and report him. It's no wonder; if I were a police officer, I would understand a saying—strict regulations. Anyone within the system would understand that in Star City, the mayor is a towering figure. Maliciously slandering the mayor could lead to dire consequences.
Hearing Leizu Wu mention Mayor Xu Qingyu, I couldn't help but feel a bit dazed. Over a year had passed since I helped Xu Qingyu with the old master’s dealings, and it felt like it happened just yesterday. Damn it, where has the time gone?
I shook my head to clear those chaotic thoughts and focused back on the present. Leizu Wu and Zhang Dingcheng's words didn't provide much insight; why Mr. Qian had kidnapped their sons remained a mystery. Unsure of what to do next, I cleared my throat and said, "Next, we need to wait for the criminals to call and see what their demands are so we can respond accordingly."
I felt my words were rather awkward, almost unreliable, like Meiyangyang just being bullied by the Old Village Chief, and I walked over saying, "Hey, don’t worry, it won’t hurt after a while..."
Zhang Dingcheng instructed Ying to prepare some late-night snacks. After eating, he asked Ying to set up a coffee table full of snacks; as for beer and drinks, they were in the fridge for anyone to take. After finishing the late-night snacks, Zhang Dingcheng told Old Zhang to go rest. After a while, Mrs. Zhang also couldn’t resist her drowsiness and left.
The three of us sat there in silence. At first, we chatted about everyday life, but as they both grew worried about their children, conversation gradually faded away. Each of us played on our phones, dozing off when we got too tired, and the night passed like that.
It wasn't until the next morning that Mrs. Zhang was instructing Ying to prepare breakfast when Old Zhang walked in with sleepy eyes just as Zhang Dingcheng's phone suddenly rang loudly.
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