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I answered the phone, "Hello, Lao Liu?" On the other end, I heard Liu Zhong's voice. He said, "It's me. I just wanted to check where you guys are. It should be about time for you to arrive, right?"
I sighed, "Not yet. We ran into some trouble on the way and... lost some stuff." Upon hearing this, Liu Zhong responded in surprise, "What?! Lost something?! What happened?"
"It's a bit complicated right now. We've already called the police. Once everything is sorted out, I'll explain it to you." Liu Zhong had no choice but to be patient and calmed himself down, saying, "Alright then. If anything else comes up, let me know immediately." With that, he hung up.
I put my phone away and glanced back at Meng Zhuang, who was busy explaining things to the police. I thought to myself, "They probably have a good idea of who did this by now, but what about the evidence? How can we find proof..."
Just as I was lost in thought, Meng Zhuang placed a hand on my shoulder, bringing me back to reality. I asked, "What's up?" Meng Zhuang replied, "They're almost done with the investigation over there. Thankfully, there were no casualties or damage to public property. They plan to handle it as a regular traffic accident. As for insurance claims, we'll need to contact the insurance company."
"Right now, it seems like that's all settled. The most important thing is that half a ton of gold and the three mysterious bodies that appeared out of nowhere. Regardless of whether it's related to us or not, those are three lives..." I lowered my voice as I spoke to Meng Zhuang.
"Yeah, turning a truckload of gold into three bodies and then suddenly making those bodies disappear—what could be the motive behind this?" After saying this, Meng Zhuang kept scratching his head, eager to understand why this was happening.
I smiled and tried to reassure him, "Alright, stop scratching your head; you'll make lice fall out! As the saying goes, 'Where there's a will, there's a way.' Don't worry; we'll figure something out." But Meng Zhuang seemed not to hear me and continued pacing back and forth.
After a few hours, the accident investigation was finally completed. Meng Zhuang called in someone from the insurance company to assess the situation. Afterward, we arranged for a tow truck to take the vehicle back to my city for repairs. Once all the paperwork was done, Meng Zhuang and I hurriedly bought high-speed train tickets and rushed back to the company.
By now it was evening. Since I had spoken with Liu Zhong before boarding the train and informed him that we would be back tonight so he could wait for us in his office, we headed straight there upon arriving at the company.
Standing at the door, Meng Zhuang appeared somewhat timid; he was likely worried about being held responsible for what had happened. Given his current financial situation, even if he had to pay everything he owned as compensation, he wouldn't be able to afford it. I shared some of his concerns but knew we needed to face whatever came next.
I steeled myself and pushed open the office door. Liu Zhong sat at his desk with a troubled expression on his face as he looked over some documents. When he saw us enter, he lifted his head and said, "You're here... Sit down."
I didn't say anything as I walked over and took a seat at the desk while Meng Zhuang stood nervously behind me. Liu Zhong tossed aside the documents in his hands and asked in an accusatory tone, "So what happened?!"
I turned around and pulled Meng Zhuang forward by his arm. "You explain what happened." Meng Zhuang stood there timidly with his head down, fidgeting with his fingers: "I really don't know anything; it was all Manager Wu's orders! I'm just a runner..." With that said, Meng Zhuang recounted everything that had happened to Liu Zhong.
After listening to him finish speaking, Liu Zhong's brows furrowed in anger as he slammed his hand on the table and stood up. He shouted at Meng Zhuang: "Which Manager Wu? There’s no one named Wu in our company! Da Zhuang! Let me tell you something—you can't wriggle out of this! You must have been greedy and secretly swapped out that batch of gold! You deceived Shen and thought you could pull this trick on me too?! Go back home and wait for your lawsuit; get lost!"
Liu Zhong's eyes widened in fury as he glared at Meng Zhuang while pointing towards the door...
Seeing this scene unfold, Meng Zhuang didn’t know how to react; with a thud, he fell to his knees and pleaded: "Liu! I'm telling you the truth! Please believe me! I live with my elderly mother; what will happen if I go to prison?!"
Liu Zhong scoffed, "Now you remember your mother, huh?! Why didn't you think of her when you were taking the gold?!"
I was shocked by the scene and quickly got up to help Meng Zhuang. "Da Zhuang, don't be like this, get up and let's talk..." At the same time, I turned to the furious Liu Zhong and said, "The situation isn't completely clear yet; how can you jump to conclusions? If it really wasn't Meng Zhuang who did it, aren't you just wrongfully accusing an innocent person?"
"Wrongfully accusing an innocent person?! You two went together; if it wasn't him, then it must be you! The company's loss isn't just millions or tens of millions; it's a whole billion! Are you going to compensate for him?!"
Seeing that Liu Zhong was too angry to distinguish right from wrong, I raised my voice and shouted back, "Do you really think that blindly accusing someone will help you recover the money?! As the highest leader of the company, acting so rashly without clarifying the issue first—who would want to work with you after this?! It's reasonable to hold someone accountable, but at least provide some evidence! Where's the evidence?! I truly regret handing over the company to you!"
"Ha! After so many years of friendship, you're not helping me but siding with an outsider instead. Fine! Since you regret wanting the company back, let's see how you plan to recover this billion! I'm done; tomorrow afternoon, I'll come take what's mine. You can continue running this company—satisfied now?!" With that, Liu Zhong stormed out, slamming the door behind him.
"How could a friend change so much? He wasn't like this before," I muttered to myself as I lowered my head and covered my face with my hands, feeling utterly lost. My mind was already a jumbled mess.
Meanwhile, Meng Zhuang didn't know what to do either. He pulled out a cigarette from his cigarette case and offered it to me. "Want one?" I noticed his hand was slightly trembling as he held out the cigarette. After hesitating for a moment, I took it from him and thanked him before asking for a lighter.
I placed the cigarette between my lips, lit it with the lighter, and took a deep drag from the flickering flame. Since I had never smoked before and took too big of a puff this time, I ended up coughing violently, tears streaming down my face.
Seeing this, Meng Zhuang quickly crouched down beside me and patted my back. "Are... are you okay?" I waved my hand at him and coughed twice more before saying, "No wonder so many people like smoking; it seems like it really can calm a person down."
With that thought in mind, I took another drag from the cigarette. This time it was much better than the first. As the smoke slowly filled my lungs, I felt a wave of dizziness wash over me. Although it was somewhat uncomfortable, the oppressive feeling in my chest from our earlier argument had lessened significantly.
Meng Zhuang lit one for himself as well. Taking a deep breath, he exhaled a cloud of smoke. "If there's really no other way out of this, maybe I'll just turn myself in. At least then Liu won't leave and won't drag down the company with him. Shen, I know you're a good person; that's why I don't want you to get involved in this..." He sighed heavily.
I tossed aside the now hot cigarette butt and extinguished it under my foot as I stood up. "Don't lose hope just yet; there will be a way out. Liu is only coming tomorrow afternoon, right? As long as we find out the truth before then, we can turn things around. If we can't figure it out by then, it's not too late for you to turn yourself in afterward." Meng Zhuang nodded in agreement.
After comforting him for a bit more and urging him not to think too negatively—reminding him that he might still need to testify later—I took down his phone number before we parted ways and headed home. On my way back, I stopped by a convenience store to buy cigarettes and a lighter.
When I got home and stepped through the door, I saw Hu Fang and Li Zhisheng sitting on the sofa watching TV. Hu Fang hurriedly stood up when she saw me return. "You're back! Let me get you a glass of water!" She smiled at me before rushing into the kitchen.
I sat down on the sofa with a sullen expression and didn't say anything. Li Zhisheng looked over curiously and asked, "What's wrong? Did things not go well?"
I pulled out the cigarettes I had just bought and took one out to put in my mouth before tossing the cigarette case onto the tea table. Then I lit it up. Just then, Hu Fang came over with a glass of water and noticed that I had started smoking. She looked puzzled and asked, "Hey? You learned to smoke while you were out?"
I didn't answer her; I simply took the cup of water from her hand, thanked her, and turned to Li Zhisheng. "It's not just that things aren't going well. We've lost gold worth over a hundred million, and it could even involve three lives."
Hu Fang, upon hearing this, quickly interjected before Li Zhisheng could speak. "What?! Three lives and gold?! Did you rob a bank and kill the bank staff?!"
I shot her a glare. "Now's not the time for your nonsense. If I really robbed a bank and killed someone, would I dare come back?" Hu Fang realized she had misspoken and wisely closed her mouth.
Li Zhisheng said from the side, "What exactly happened? Can you tell me in detail so I can help you analyze it?" I then recounted the whole situation to him.
After listening, Li Zhisheng furrowed his brow and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "This matter is indeed quite tricky. If it's not handled properly and just left to develop, your partner's withdrawal will directly affect the company's operations. Plus, you're still under the legal entity's name; you can't just ignore it."
"That's why I'm worried. If I can't come up with a solution by tomorrow, Meng Zhuang is going to be in big trouble," I sighed.
Li Zhisheng pondered for a moment. "So you mean we should go back to the company tonight to look for clues?"
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