Shi Sheng was very busy as of late—busy finding trouble for the Bei Family.
“Ms Bei, Bei Enterprises is currently at its peak. What we’re doing is hitting a stone with an egg1! This is not a wise move at all!” The CEO Shi Sheng hired spoke with an agitated expression.
Shi Sheng sat without a care for her image, legs crossed2 and an ice cream in her hand which she licked before responding, “Ant nests can break a thousand-mile dam3. As long as we have the perseverance, there’s nothing we can’t do.”
“But we need ants for that! Ms Bei, how is our company, which only has slightly over 10 people aside from me, supposed to go against a titan like Bei Enterprises?!”
Shi Sheng rolled her eyes at him. “Who needs you to act? You think you’re Nezha4?”
CEO, “…”
She swallowed the ice-cream before speaking composedly, “There are plenty of people in this world who want to see Bei Enterprises crumble. All you have to do is find these people, and offer them the information they need.”
Mr. CEO was suddenly enlightened. He quietly gave his boss a big thumbs-up in his mind but of course, showed no outward signs of it; he was afraid of her ego getting even more inflated.
“Have you found anyone who fits the requirements?”
“Yes, but the salary…”
“Give him however much he wants, provided he has the ability. Complete the next order, there’ll be a reward.”
“Then there’s no problem.”
“Go ahead and do what you want. We don’t have any net worth anyways, so we aren’t afraid of being investigated.”
CEO, “…” ‘It’s true we don’t have any net worth… but that’s because all of our capital’s swimming around in the stock market!’
“Find some hackers too; we’re forming a specialised team of them. They’re going to be in charge of brokering information.” Shi Sheng continued, “I want the more skilled ones. Preferably those on the level of selling national information.”
CEO, “…” ‘Boss… what are you planning to do?! Start another world war?!
Also, do you think hackers are white cabbages abundant in the streets, ripe and ready for easy picking?!
These kinds of talented people are either working for the fucking country, or are under heavy surveillance by said country! You think we can just poach them?!’
“Do well and you’ll get to enjoy your monthly salary of 10 million. Walking to the peak of success and marrying your ideal woman isn’t just a dream!” Shi Sheng ignored his bewildered look and patted his shoulder before waltzing off.
The CEO really felt like just running off right now. The amount in his bank account had already broken past 100 million; he didn’t know why this young boss of his was so reassured with him.
Only many years later did the CEO know why he hadn’t run back then. He had probably felt, even back then, that money really was just a number as long he was following this boss.
……
Though the loss of two of its large projects in a row cost Bei Enterprises a lot, the damage did not reach its roots.
But in the following period, all sorts of situations cropped up; projects and orders were lost constantly, as if the people opposing them had decided to all act at the same time. Yet they couldn’t find anything no matter how much they investigated.
All of those competitors had used legal methods, all of their procedures adhering to the law.
“There’s a traitor! There’s definitely a traitor!” One of the directors slapped the desk with a furious roar, “We were just about to sign the contract, so how come they signed it with Tian Chen instead at the last moment?!”
Father Bei sat at the head of the table, his expression serious. “All of the high-level management have been investigated. No anomalies have been discovered.”
“There’s been something strange about the events recently; it’s clear that someone is opposing us. Have we offended anyone recently?” One of the more logical directors queried.
“There are definitely people who were offended because of those two projects, but none of them have this much ability…”
The two projects they had lost before had been eyed by quite a few competitors, though Bei Enterprises won by only just a slight margin in a comparison of actual strength.
A group of people sat in the meeting room, yet they weren’t able to come up with any leads no matter how much they discussed.
At first, Father Bei hadn’t thought of Bei Zhi; she was a mere hanger-on who had pandered up to the Fu Family in his eyes. However, upon thinking of this, it seemed to make sense.
The Fu Family… was a family that wasn’t weaker than the Gao Family. The difference was wherein the Gao Family mainly had their power in the government, the Fu Family had theirs in the underworld.
These two families lorded over the worlds of light and dark.
If it was the Fu Family behind this matter, then that would explain the events of late.
The first thing Father Bei did when the meeting ended was to call Shi Sheng’s number. However, Shi Sheng had already blacklisted him so naturally, it didn’t go through.
Father Bei pondered for a bit before deciding to go visit the Fu Family.
According to rumour, the Fu Family had been around since the Qing Dynasty. Their main house had an ancient feel to its architecture, even the very plants seemingly classic and elegant.
“Do wait a moment Mr Bei. Our master shall be here soon.” A servant invited him in. This wait lasted nearly half an hour, yet Father Bei wasn’t able to reveal even the slightest hint of impatience.
The head of the family Fu Rao was pushed in on a wheelchair, causing Father Bei to feel slightly surprised. He had only heard of this person before but had never known that the man was a cripple. With a normal expression, Fu Rao exchanged some pleasantries with Father Bei for a bit before getting to the point.
“I wonder what brought Mr Bei to my doorstep today?”
“It’s about my daughter and your (esteemed) son.” Father Bei straightened in his seat.
Fu Rao’s eyebrows lifted slightly. “What about Xiaoqin and Ms Bei?”
“Is Mr Fu not aware?” Father Bei looked at Fu Rao, attempting to glean any information from his expression yet finding nothing but puzzlement.
“My relationship with Xiaoqin isn’t too good; he doesn’t let the people beside him report back to me. What has he done?”
Father Bei soon grew doubtful. He didn’t know whether or not to believe Fu Rao. ‘It looks like he really doesn’t know anything… Then I guess it wasn’t the Fu Family. Who could it be then?’
“Oh, nothing much. It’s just that my daughter and your son have been rather close as of late. Since there’ve been rumours, of course I have to come and ask as her father.” Father Bei changed what he was going to say.
‘If it was not the Fu Family and Bei Zhi and Fu Qin really are close, then perhaps the Bei Family can benefit from this.’
Fu Rao maintained his confused and lost expression throughout and successfully fooled Father Bei.
Only when Father Bei had left did Fu Rao get rid of that fake smile on his face. He asked the middle-aged man standing to the side, “How’s Xiaoqin lately?”
Fu Rao hadn’t lied to Father Bei; his relationship with his son was really bad. The boy also did not allow the people beside him to report back to Fu Rao. But being his father, of course Fu Rao would think of ways to keep track of Fu Qin.
“From the looks of it, the Young Master has already accepted Ms Bei Zhi; he takes his medicine on time whenever he is with her. The doctor, however, was certain that the Young Master only has half a year to live.”
“Have you arranged everything overseas?”
“Yes. But I’m afraid the Young Master won’t agree to go…”
Fu Rao muttered. “He’s my only son; I can’t just watch him die. I have to at least attempt every method available. Go and invite that young lady over.”
“Er…” The middle-aged man appeared hesitant. “Getting Ms Bei Zhi to show up would not be easy.”
“How so?” Fu Rao lifted his brow. ‘How hard can it be to call a young lady over?’
“I believe you’ve heard of the crisis Bei Enterprises is facing, Sir? Well, this matter has the young lady’s fingerprints all over it. Or, I suppose I should say, she’s the one controlling all this. Do you believe this kind of person would be easy to summon?”
Fu Rao chuckled lowly. “No wonder their head of household came looking for me. He must be thinking the Fu Family was behind it, right? And here I thought he was just testing my attitude towards that little lady.”