Chapter 522: Why Should I Believe You?
Huo Jinyao put down the phone and said, “Qiao Hong, you’re a smart person. I admit that you’ve greatly contributed to the project. I’ll give you two-million today. You take the money and then give me the data. As for coming back to Tianyu Group, you can stop wis.h.i.+ng for that. After getting the money, you are not allowed to take up this kind of occupation for two years.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“You have no choice,” said Huo Jinyao, sounding icy cold. “If I want, I can make sure that no company ever hires you again, not only in Rong City but in the entire country. It’s up to you if you want to believe me or not.”
Qiao Hong stayed silent. He knew that Huo Jinyao was capable of doing what he said. He struggled to make his last request. “I want a bank transfer, not a cheque.”
“Alright. I’m going to transfer a million to you right now. The rest will be transferred to your account after you have given me the data. Let’s go.”
Without using too many words, Huo Jinyao managed to make Qiao Hong accept his terms by both threatening and luring him.
Ever since Huo Jinyao started talking, both Yang Wenchang and Ding Qing did not get a chance to say a word.
Yang Wenchang had been working under Huo Jinyao for a long time. He had already seen the fierce and sharp side of Huo Jinyao long ago.
Unlike Yang Wenchang, it was the very first time Ding Qing saw Huo Jinyao like that. Sitting next to him, she started to develop an unexplainable feeling toward him.
At that moment, she was no longer the person who had come to Tianyu Group to work under Huo Jinyao for a special purpose.
She was now a mere employee of Huo Jinyao, who had just seen a different side of her boss.
She looked at Huo Jinyao carefully. What surged in her heart was an emotion that she could not restrain.
She clearly realized that she was attracted to him.
It was already midnight by the time they returned to the company.
Before that, they had followed Qiao Hong to the place that he mentioned earlier, to fetch the data.
None of them thought that Qiao Hong would be bold enough to put the data in the safe box of a suite, in a four-star hotel.
Huo Jinyao hadn’t searched Qiao Hong’s apartment, nor did he send people to search the hotels to find him. He probably never thought that Qiao Hong could be so bold.
He hadn’t registered the room with his own name, though. Therefore, Huo Jinyao might not have been able to find out which hotel he was living in.
The lost file was finally retrieved. Huo Jinyao put it somewhere safe.
He turned and looked at his employees. Yang Wenchang had worked for him for years. He had been through a lot of experiences in the office. Surely, he knew what Huo Jinyao wanted.
Yang Wenchang always got things done even before his boss asked him to.
Ding Qing had come to the company only recently, but she was doing a great job nevertheless.
“You’ve both worked hard today. Go home and rest.”
Huo Jinyao rubbed his temples. He felt that the problem was solved a little too easily.
He wasn’t surprised to see Qiao Hong surrender. After all, he had left the man with no other choice.
Two million was nothing to him. But still, he felt that the problem was solved too easily. It didn’t feel real.
Yang Wenchang didn’t leave immediately. Huo Jinyao gave him a glance, then turned to Ding Qing.
“Miss. Ding, go home and get some rest.”
“Okay.” Ding Qing knew that Yang Wenchang had something to say to Huo Jinyao in private. She didn’t linger, but dropped her head and left quickly.
After walking out of the office, she didn’t leave immediately. Instead, she closed the door and then pa.s.sed her ear against it.
The door of Huo Jinyao’s office was soundproof. She couldn’t hear a thing, so she left at last.
In the office, Yang Wenchang sat down in front of Huo Jinyao. Neither of them had rested well in the past couple of days, so they both looked a little sallow.
“President Huo, I feel like something is wrong.”
“Tell me how you feel,” replied Huo Jinyao. He felt the same way too and wanted to hear about Yang Wenchang’s thoughts.
“I feel that the whole operation was a little too simple.”
Yang Wenchang couldn’t believe that Qiao Hong took such a huge risk for merely two million. They were all clearly aware of how much the file was worth.
More importantly, if he sold it to Tianyu Group’s rival company, it would suffer huge losses, even though the company had the power to sue its rival companies.
“And it was solved too easily.”
Qiao Hong hadn’t put up a fight or exhibit a strong struggle before agreeing to Huo Jinyao’s terms. It seemed like he had only surrendered under the pressure that Huo Jinyao was putting on him. That still made Yang Wenchang feel uneasy.
Huo Jinyao looked at Yang Wenchang. The man was indeed his best a.s.sistant.
“Go and find out whom Qiao Hong has been in contact with recently, and if he has other unexplainable incomes apart from the two million.”
“Check not only his bank accounts but all of his other accounts.”
“I will do it,” Yang Wenchang replied, then turned to leave.
Huo Jinyao called after him. “You don’t have to do it now. You can do it tomorrow. And there’s another thing. Aside from his own accounts, check the accounts of his families too.”
Qiao Hong wasn’t stupid. He might not be receiving the dirty money using his own account.
Yang Wenchang immediately understood what Huo Jinyao meant. “Alright.” Huo Jinyao waved at him and said, “go back to sleep. Take half a day off tomorrow morning. Just get some proper rest at home.”
Looking into Huo Jinyao’s tired eyes, Yang Wenchang knew that Huo Jinyao was the most exhausted person.
“President Huo, I don’t have to rest tomorrow. You need the rest more than I do. You have a war to fight tomorrow.”
“Don’t worry, I get it.” Huo Jinyao sat straight and looked at him with sharp eyes. “Those people want to see me turn into a joke. I’ll turn them into the joke instead.”
Yang Wenchang dropped his eyelids and stopped worrying. Quickly, he walked out.
Huo Jinyao stayed in the office. He was still thinking about all the problems that had occurred recently.
He tried connecting all the missing dots to try and figure out the key point.
…
Su Qingsang came out of the airport and pulled her collars together. It was already the end of spring, but the weather in Rong City was still a little chilly.
Compared to the warm Lin City, Rong City was so much colder.
She didn’t rush to take a taxi. Huo Jinyao had told her earlier that he would send someone to pick her up, so she only needed to stay there and wait.
Before boarding, she had called Huo Jinyao. Huo Jinyao asked her why she didn’t stay a few days more in Lin City.
Not only Huo Jinyao, but the Li Family members and s.h.i.+ Mengwan had also tried to persuade her to stay a few days more.
She wanted to stay, but every time she thought about the incident where Huo Jinyao had gone to the night club with another woman, she felt uncomfortable.
Besides, she had work to do in the hospital. Therefore, she turned down Li Qianxue and s.h.i.+ Mengwan’s requests. She told them that she would fly back to Lin City to visit them again when she had time. Then, she took the earliest flight back to Rong City.
She came out of the airport to see someone who wasn’t supposed to be there.
It was the woman who had gone to the night club together with Huo Jinyao.