Chapter Forty-Four: Greed

Zhou Yi smiled, his face full of helplessness.

"If only it were that simple. I think the main brain and the intelligence brain have another purpose for selecting these chosen ones. We just don't know what it is yet."

Zhou Yi opened the page he had searched earlier, hovering the mouse over two companies: AiTe Network, created by Li Mei, and Qilu Technology, established by Li Mei's mother, Yu Jianhua.

"From what I've just found, these two companies are the most noteworthy. Tomorrow, when Su Yongming comes by, let's ask him first. We don't know if it's money laundering or genuine investment. As for Li Mei's husband, look into his background, especially his financial accounts. I'm going to grab a bit of sleep."

Fatty stared at Zhou Yi in shock.

"You're just going to dump this on me and go to bed yourself?"

Zhou Yi didn't reply, heading straight to the inner room. Though Fatty was disgruntled, he had no better leads at the moment, so after grumbling a few words, he began his search.

Dawn broke.

Zhou Yi was roused by a shake. He opened his eyes warily to see a chubby face looming over him. Fatty's eyes, never easy to tell if they were open or closed, were now bloodshot, but his face was glowing with excitement.

"Get up, someone's coming soon! Take a look at what I've found!"

Zhou Yi scrambled up, smoothed his hair, and followed Fatty out. By the computer, a pile of printouts lay scattered—dates and numbers everywhere. Zhou Yi rubbed his eyes and peered closer: these were account statements.

All the transfers were for large sums, with inflows and outflows almost always completed on the same day, and a new transaction every two days. After flipping through several pages, Zhou Yi was bewildered—the total had already surpassed twenty million.

"Whose account is this?"

Fatty rolled his eyes but didn't dare protest, yawning as he spoke.

"Zhang Zhen's. You asked me to check his accounts. I found he set up an account in Japan. Within a few months, transactions totaled over twenty million, all originating from domestic sources. After a few transfers, the money ended up back in a domestic account.

The operation isn't too complex, but if the authorities tried to investigate, it'd be tough—some are company accounts, some private, and the outgoing accounts are quite numerous, both personal and corporate. But in the end, all the money lands under Yu Jianhua's name. That's what's interesting."

Zhou Yi narrowed his eyes, looking at Fatty's computer screen, which displayed even more detail.

"So you're saying Li Yugang is a massive embezzler? While we were chasing after Cheng Zhi, we unexpectedly snared a big fish?"

Fatty grinned, nudging Zhou Yi with his elbow.

"Don't get upset. Partly, it's just something to do, but mostly, I'm wondering—how did this guy get so much money? His daughter runs a company and works at the health bureau? That's crossing way too many fields, none of which connect.

And then Zhang Zhen suddenly dies. However you look at it, the whole thing reeks of conspiracy. What if Cheng Zhi, knowing this man is a big embezzler, uses that knowledge to shorten his own climb if he gets a second chance?"

Zhou Yi paused, lost in thought. Fatty's words had struck a chord. In fact, when Fatty had found Li Mei's name last night, Zhou Yi had a gut feeling this woman might be connected to Cheng Zhi. After all, the timing of her company's founding was suspicious. He'd always thought they had no intersection, no way to connect, but if Cheng Zhi had some foreknowledge in this world cycle—like knowing Li Yugang would be caught for embezzlement—perhaps he really could seize the opportunity.

Just as he was thinking this, they heard a noise at the door. Fatty quickly cleared the desk and spread out a huge blueprint.

The door opened, and Su Yongming entered. Seeing the two of them, he hurried over. He'd seen young people with drive before, but rarely anyone like Zhou Yi and Fatty—a glance told him they’d stayed up all night, every light blazing.

"Zhou Yi, get some rest! You can't keep burning the candle at both ends!"

Zhou Yi smiled.

"Once you get an idea, you want to finish it before it slips your mind. Next thing you know, it's morning!"

Su Yongming set down his bag, clapping both on the shoulder, full of feeling.

"Twenty years ago, I was the same, but you can't overextend yourself. Go wash up, let's have breakfast together, and then I'll get you two a hotel room to rest. This break room just won't do, or you'll pull another all-nighter!"

Fatty grinned, jerking his head toward Zhou Yi.

"Su, you should talk to him! I’m just the underling here. He wants to finish the design quickly so he can go back to school. He doesn’t want to delay his studies!"

Su Yongming understood perfectly. He unpacked the breakfast and set it on the coffee table. The three of them gathered to eat, Zhou Yi sipping porridge as he looked at Su Yongming.

"Su, how are things with your father?"

Su Yongming sighed—a clear sign things weren’t going well.

"Don’t even mention it. My father’s recovering well, but not only did the perpetrators not visit, they even sent a few thugs to the hospital at night to intimidate my father and the driver with the broken leg, trying to force us to discharge early. They said if we wanted money, we should act like it, and offered our family fifty thousand, demanding we quickly sign off at the police station."

Zhou Yi raised his eyebrows. That was unexpected—he figured the other side thought Su’s family was angling for more money, but their methods were hardly sophisticated.

"Wait, they went to the hospital at night? Weren't the wards off-limits after nine? When exactly did they go in, and how?"

Su Yongming laid down his chopsticks, slapping his thigh, unable to hide his anger.

"I went to the hospital early and asked Director Cao when I heard. The thugs came around nine-thirty at night. The night nurse let them in—they flashed some kind of credentials, which frightened her, so she didn’t dare stop them. Seven or eight men looked downright menacing.

My father suggested we just discharge—better not to stir up trouble. But I can’t swallow this. We were the ones hit, and now they’re bullying us as if there’s no law left. I’m heading to the traffic police soon. This can’t just be swept under the rug."

Zhou Yi looked up at Su Yongming, probing:

"Aren’t you acquainted with Li Mei’s father, Li Yugang?"

Su Yongming nodded.

"That’s why I didn’t want to make a big deal of it at first. My business is in medical equipment and pharmaceuticals—offending him would do no good. But now, with him acting so outrageously, there’s no point hiding anything!"

Fatty, mouth full of savory pancake, mumbled:

"Why confront him yourself? It’ll be ugly if you fall out—business people value harmony. I’ll look online for news, see if anyone recorded yesterday’s incident. Zhou Yi thought he saw people taking photos. We’ll help spread the story. Once it blows up, who could suppress it?"

Su Yongming looked up at Fatty—he hadn’t thought of that. He quickly pulled out his phone.

"I had two missed calls yesterday morning. I didn’t notice until evening, and when I called back, there was no answer. I checked—it was the TV station."

Zhou Yi and Fatty exchanged a glance. Fatty held out his hand to Su Yongming.

"Could I see the number?"

Without hesitation, Su Yongming handed over his phone. Fatty glanced at it, then set aside his half-eaten pancake, shooting Zhou Yi a warning look.

"I already bit that—save it for me!"

He hurried to the computer, tapped away for a moment, and soon a sheet of paper printed out. He handed it to Su Yongming.

"This number belongs to an office in the news department—three people, two women and a man. I suggest calling the man. His name is Xu Youliang. He’s worked as both reporter and cameraman, and he’s got a mind of his own, though he’s a bit ostracized. Here’s his cell number."

Zhou Yi glanced at the date and time on the phone.

"It’s Saturday. The station’s probably closed now. There’s no harm in calling."

Su Yongming paused, then picked up the phone and dialed Xu Youliang. After three rings, the call was answered.

"Su?"