Chapter 90 Truth

Chapter 90: The Truth

The Li family sent someone—Li Fengrui's second brother, Li Zhaozhen, a man of similar age to Huo Zongzhuo.

The moment Li Fengrui was abducted, Li Zhaozhen received news from Haicheng through intermediaries.

However, Li Zhaozhen, then in Taiwan, neither departed immediately nor informed anyone else in the Li family.

In fact, he didn't arrive by plane until several days later, making a belated appearance.

Furthermore, upon landing in Haicheng, he didn't rush to the rural warehouse to retrieve the barely-alive Li Fengrui. Instead, he invited Huo Zongzhuo to meet at his family's restaurant on the Bund.

Only then did Huo Zongzhuo briefly leave the hospital and head to the Bund.

As they met, Li Zhaozhen rose from the sofa, stepped forward, and extended his hand. "Mr. Huo, long time no see."

Huo Zongzhuo reciprocated the handshake, calmly exchanging pleasantries. "Indeed, the last time we met was in Taiwan, about two years ago."

"Please, have a seat."

Li Zhaozhen was exceedingly polite, displaying no concern for Li Fengrui nor any urgency to take him away.

Why the rush?

They weren't full brothers.

Li Hui, the current patriarch of the Li family, had been married four times and had countless mistresses. Li Zhaozhen's mother was Li Hui's third wife, while Li Fengrui's mother was the fourth.

With many women and many children, the Li family's internal struggle for inheritance was already out in the open. How could Li Zhaozhen possibly worry about Li Fengrui, who had only just begun to make his mark?

When Li Zhaozhen learned in his Taiwan home that Li Fengrui had run into trouble in Haicheng—and at Huo Zongzhuo's hands, no less—he nearly stood up and applauded with laughter.

At their meeting, Li Zhaozhen naturally paid no mind to Li Fengrui's predicament, focusing solely on conversing with Huo Zongzhuo.

As they chatted, Huo Zongzhuo leaned back on the sofa, stating calmly, "Your family's young master this time..."

Li Zhaozhen quickly waved his hand, cutting Huo Zongzhuo off before he could finish, not wanting to appear overly familiar.

Li Zhaozhen said, "He's immature. Please don't take it to heart. As for the rest, President Huo, there's no need to elaborate. I'll take him back later and have my father discipline him thoroughly."

"He won't be coming to Haicheng again, so as not to trouble Mr. Huo."

Huo Zongzhuo gave a slight nod and said, "He offended me, so I gave him a minor lesson..."

"Ah!"

Li Zhaozhen interjected, "What lesson? He's just a child fooling around. Mr. Huo merely taught him a thing or two; it's nothing serious."

After this brief exchange and catching up, Huo Zongzhuo departed. Li Zhaozhen then followed the people arranged by Huo Zongzhuo to the rural warehouse to pick up Li Fengrui.

"This..."

Seeing Li Fengrui lying motionless on the ground, covered in filth and excrement, his clothes soiled and emitting a foul stench, Li Zhaozhen's secretary couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy, thinking Young Master Li had suffered immensely. How brutal!

But Li Zhaozhen remained impassive, merely waving his hand dismissively in front of his nose and saying, "He's lucky to still be alive, all thanks to his surname Li."

"If he weren't a Li, if he weren't one of Dad's precious sons, would he even be lying here with a breath left?"

"Take him away."

"We should thank Mr. Huo for his mercy."

The secretary instructed the accompanying men to carry Li Fengrui while he followed Li Zhaozhen out of the warehouse, puzzled. "Boss, is this Mr. Huo someone of great importance?"

Li Zhaozhen snorted, "What were you doing when you were eighteen?"

The secretary remained silent, listening intently.

"Studying? Falling in love? Arguing with your parents during your rebellious phase?"

Li Zhaozhen mused, "That Mr. Huo we just met, when he was eighteen, orchestrated the largest corruption case in mainland China in the 1980s. Over a hundred officials, big and small, were purged, and two were sentenced to death. Yet he emerged unscathed, completely unaffected."

Li Zhaozhen continued, "Do you think just because he looks about my age, he's part of the same generation of businessmen as me?"

"Wrong. He was in business ten years before me."

"While I was still studying, he had already pocketed his first fortune."

"In front of him, the most I can do is be polite, shake his hand, and address him as President Huo or Mr. Huo."

"The one who can sit at the same table and dine with him is my father, your Boss Li."

Li Zhaozhen curled his lips into a cold smile. "That fool Li Fengrui actually dared to offend Huo Zongzhuo in mainland China. If he doesn't suffer, who will?"

The secretary was shocked. "Is he really that powerful? Didn't mainland China crack down on organized crime a long time ago?"

"He's not part of the underworld."

Li Zhaozhen said, "He rose step by step during the most chaotic period for business in mainland China after liberation."

"Someone like him is far more formidable than any underworld figure."

The secretary asked again, "Then what about Li Fengrui's matter? Are we just letting it go? If Boss Li asks..."

Li Zhaozhen shot him a look. "Are you stupid? Would we tell him the truth?"

"If we tell the truth, will your Boss Li stand up for his precious son? Or will he come from Taiwan to the mainland to seek retribution?"

"Do you think your Boss Li cares about one son?"

"What he wants is for someone to cover up this incident. Ideally, he genuinely knows nothing about it, so he doesn't have to shoulder his responsibility as a father or do anything about it."

"Yes, yes."

The secretary finally understood.

When the city gate catches fire, the fish in the moat suffer. In the face of profit, the powerful care little for the lives of the less significant.

Simply put, if Li Fengrui's incident were blamed on Mr. Huo, how would the Li family conduct business in mainland China in the future?

Li Fengrui wasn't important. What mattered was business—the Li family's business.

Jiang Luo stayed in the hospital for a week and genuinely enjoyed it—Huo Zongzhuo accompanied him daily, bought him candy, gave him all sorts of snacks, and sat by his bedside chatting.

At night, Huo Zongzhuo would even read him poetry, coax him to sleep, and rest with him.

On the eighth day, Jiang Luo was discharged from the hospital, full of energy. Huo Zongzhuo personally drove him back to his hometown in Suzhou.

"Mom~ Mom~"

As they entered the courtyard, Jiang Luo stretched out his uninjured arm.

His mother rushed forward, her face etched with worry: "Weren't you supposed to be in the hospital? Why aren't you there anymore? How's your arm? How did the accident happen?"

Once back, it felt just like during the New Year—everyone ate together, chatted and laughed, and Jiang Luo, his arm still in a sling, sat at the table playing mahjong.

On a sunny day, Huo Zongzhuo took Jiang Luo for a stroll along Pingjiang Road. They saw the willow trees by the river sprouting green buds, the water shimmering with gentle emerald ripples, and the cobblestone paths and low houses with white walls and gray tiles bathed in the warm sunlight. Jiang Luo found it beautiful—that classic Suzhou scenery of small bridges over flowing water. His heart grew calm as he gazed at the view and sighed, "Whoa..."

"Damn," Jiang Luo turned his head to look at Huo Zongzhuo, "What's this called?"

Huo Zongzhuo looked at Jiang Luo tenderly: "Murmuring emerald waters, willows caressing the mist, white walls and dark tiles."

It was lovely; they'd gotten to see Suzhou's spring together.

"Come May, when everything's in bloom, it will be even more beautiful," Huo Zongzhuo said as they walked along the cobblestone street.

Jiang Luo, with one arm in a sling and the other swinging as he walked, replied, "Then we'll just have to come back in May or June."

"Such beauty ought to be seen."

As he spoke, Jiang Luo moved closer and lightly bumped his shoulder against Huo Zongzhuo's, just fooling around.

Huo Zongzhuo didn't dodge, letting him bump, and only said, "Watch your arm."

Jiang Luo quickened his pace, then turned around and walked backward, facing Huo Zongzhuo with a smile: "Come on, let's go drink tea and listen to pingtan storytelling."

"Once I learn it, I'll sing it for you. We won't have to pay a cent."

Huo Zongzhuo smiled.

Suzhou's spring, once thought ordinary and the same every year, now felt excessively beautiful and filled his heart with joy.

In the hospital, Zhang Ningfu sat on the edge of the bed in a hospital gown, holding a silver aluminum lunchbox and eating the lunch Xiao Lu had just brought.

Zhang Ningfu ate quietly, or perhaps silently. Beside him, his wife peeled an imported banana for herself, eating as she nagged—one moment complaining about how expensive bananas were, saying they were just bananas, not made of gold, what makes them so expensive.

The next moment, she blamed Xiao Lu for bringing food that was too bland today, saying there's hardly any meat in it, who was he trying to fool.

Then she muttered: "Anyway, no matter what, once you're back at the factory and that damn boss of yours is out of the hospital, you have to talk to him about compensation!"

The old woman rambled on until suddenly Zhang Ningfu threw his lunchbox down and yelled, his voice ragged: "Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! I told you to stop talking!!!"

They were driving back from Suzhou to Haicheng. Part of the road was a dirt road, all bumpy with potholes, making the car bounce and sway and the people inside to sway along with it.

As they swayed, the conversation turned to the recent car accident. Jiang Luo finally became serious and said, "I've thought about it again and again—it can't be that Li Fengrui wanted me dead."

"You said it yourself—he already went to see Chairman Qiu at the chamber of commerce. He definitely wants to settle things peacefully, work things out with me to keep losses from mounting for the commercial building."

"Li Fengrui isn't Guo Ronghai; he wouldn’t want me dead."

"Hmm."

Huo Zongzhuo drove: "What did you come up with?"

Jiang Luo: "During my time in the hospital, I kept thinking that if somebody wanted me dead, there’s only one possibility—I’ve stepped on somebody's toes."

"Whose interests? Who would hate me so much they’d want me dead?"

"After thinking it over, it's got to be the factory."

Jiang Luo: "Then I started recalling who I met before the accident and who might have a conflict of interest with me. And I actually thought of someone."

"Hmm."

Huo Zongzhuo drove steadily: "Tell me."

Jiang Luo: "That Wang Feng guy, the one Li Fengrui tried to pull me into to embezzle state-owned assets."

Jiang Luo: "It probably wasn’t Wang Feng who wanted me dead."

"I thought of the garment factory in Tongcheng that Wang Feng mentioned, the one undergoing restructuring."

Jiang Luo spoke as he reasoned: "What are the odds that there'd be a factory restructuring, needing to sell off assets, and then they'd approach me?"

"So I wondered, if it wasn’t a coincidence, could it be intentional?"

"Intentional—to get me to acquire that batch of equipment and then nail me for embezzling state-owned assets?"

Huo Zongzhuo: "Hmm, your reasoning is spot on."

Jiang Luo: "Have you found out something?"

Only then did Huo Zongzhuo say as he drove: "The Wang Feng you mentioned, and that factory in Tongcheng, are both in a county called Haimen under Tongcheng."

"That factory is indeed restructuring. The private investor is a Singaporean."

Jiang Luo immediately said: "How'd you find all this out? Did you really investigate that far?"

Yes, Huo Zongzhuo had people look into the truck that hit them and fled. They checked all the intersections along the route and finally found road surveillance footage at one intersection. Following the footage, they tracked down the truck, then the company it belonged to, and the driver at the time. When Huo Zongzhuo investigates, he uses the most direct and straightforward methods.

Once they found the driver, everything clicked into place. Following the clues, they naturally traced back to the state-owned garment factory in Haimen.

The garment factory was restructuring, and the private investor was from Singapore, surnamed Tan—or Chen in Chinese—named Chen Xianlong.

It was Chen Xianlong who hired someone to take advantage of the conflict between Li Fengrui and Jiang Luo, muddying the waters to make it seem like Li Fengrui was trying to kill Jiang Luo.

Singapore, Chen Xianlong.

Jiang Luo pondered: "A Singaporean who managed to find a small county like Haimen in northern Jiangsu and acquire shares in a state-owned garment factory—it seems he’s planning to set up a clothing business around Haicheng, Jiangsu."

"He didn’t expect me to suddenly step in, investing ten million in the factory and completely disrupting his plans."

Jiang Luo nodded slowly: "He had plenty of reason to want me dead."