Chapter 75 - Blinded by Greed

The night was getting darker. The lights cast shadow across the whole city and made it look like a chessboard of reinforced concrete; the buildings arranged in crisscross patterns extended beyond the horizon.

Lin Qian and Li Zhicheng stood at the gloomy hallway of the Inpatient Department, looking at the dense crowd gathering downstairs.

They seemed restless, excited, and anxious. The journalists were walking around with cameras and video cameras. As soon as someone walked out from the Inpatient Department, all their attention would be focused on that person.

Behind the reporters were around ten to twenty men in blue worker uniforms. The sky was too dark so their faces couldn’t be seen clearly. But the banners that they were holding were very striking:

“Boycott foreign corporate acquisition!”

“Aida’s executives are colluding with foreign corporations and double-crossing national brands!”

After calming down for a little while, they started protesting loudly again.They had clearly practised ahead of their arrival at the hospital; their voices were loud and in unison.

“Protect domestic brands!”

“Reject foreign corporations as stakeholders of Old Aida!”

“Kick foreign spies out of Aida!”

Upon hearing the word “foreign spy”, Lin Qian frowned slightly.

Obviously they were referring to her. Humph.

At that time, even though it was already night, there were still constant streams of cars and passers-by going to and fro from the hospital entrance. As such, this group of protesters quickly attracted many onlookers. The news reporters couldn’t find the main players, so they were snapping even more shots of the demonstration. For the moment, the continuous flash and the ever-increasing onlookers culminated into a mighty, spectacular scene.

Lin Qian quietly let out a “Hmmph”.

Li Zhicheng was supporting himself with one hand on the windowsill and the other was holding her shoulder. His face looked calm; his jet-black eyes peered at the chaos downstairs, asking her, “Who do you think is behind this?”

Lin Qian put both her arms on the windowsill and answered in disdain, “Who else could it be? Chen Zheng.” Who else would use such dirty tricks, if not him?

Evidently this was the answer in Li Zhicheng’s mind too. Indifference flashed in his eyes. He didn’t say anything.

But Lin Qian shook her head, saying, “Actually Chen Zheng is not stupid. Before this when I was at SMQ, I thought that he had a lot of his own ideas and he managed his company quite well. But this guy is… too bigoted. He is too selfish and he doesn’t know when to stop until he reaches his goal. He always does stupid things that need to be kept under the table and can’t yield long term benefits. Now that I think about it, this fellow is actually quite pitiful, sad, and detestable.”

As she took a deep breath, she turned around and stared at Li Zhicheng.

The last few days, and especially that day, she had been feeling down. As she looked at this scene directed by Chen Zheng, which was both a farce and a vicious attack, she felt her heart let out an emotional sigh.

She was contemplating Chen Zheng’s motives, but it seemed like she was contemplating other things too. Even she couldn’t tell.

After Li Zhicheng listened to her, he merely stared at her with his calm and deep gaze. The lights from outside hazily slipped through the window, shining on his black hair and his face. His face seemed exceptionally calm, certain, and inscrutable.

He reached out to pinch her jaw, speaking under his breath, “Well-said. This is his last struggle.”

There was a hint of unperturbed coldness in his cooling voice.

Lin Qian’s heart quivered. She didn’t say a word.

DG and MK Investment Management Corporation directed this acquisition, causing Xu Yong to be hospitalized, and now Chen Zheng was using her to attack Li Zhicheng and Aida…

How could Li Zhicheng let it slide just like that? He was so ruthless; Chen Zheng was probably praying no more once he was on shore.

The intricate plan that Li Zhicheng had arranged was almost ready; the counterattack was about to kickstart in a few months. At that time, he would trounce Chen Zheng mercilessly.

Lin Qian took a sideways glance at the crowd downstairs again. Who knew where Chen Zheng was hiding, gloating over this scene?

Perhaps when they next met, the stare she had for Chen Zheng would be only pity.

“Xue Mingtao is here,” Jiang Yuan came upstairs and nodded at Li Zhicheng.

Following their gazes, Lin Qian saw a few buses stop in front of the hospital entrance, then she saw a few familiar faces; Xue Mingtao and other personnel, leading some Aida’s employees, rushing down from the bus. They tried to restore order, blocking the news reporters and protesters out of the perimeter at the same time.

The current situation truly was quite awkward.

They couldn’t report to the police, because if the police were involved the incident would appear in the headlines. That would escalate the matter further.

They couldn’t just leave it be, otherwise they would be cooped up in the hospital until God knows when. Xu Yong’s rest would also be affected.

They could only use the same tactic in gathering a crowd, and use it against them to suppress them. Luckily Xue Mingtao has brought along many people. In an instant, they had set up their positions and surrounded the mob in the middle.

Xue Mingtao handled the situation carefully. Although Lin Qian could not hear what they were discussing, she could clearly see Xue Mingtao being followed by a few cadre to explain to the reporters that these protesters weren’t even Aida staff. The people he brought along were interesting as well. A bunch of them were strong, young men, all standing in the outer perimeter. Inside the circle were a group of older workers, as well as female workers. If the protesters started trouble, tomorrow’s headlines would show Aida’s workers being beaten up by gangsters. Of course, the men in the outer perimeter would certainly not allow harm to come to the others.

One had to admit that Xue Mingtao was quite devious. He was more than capable of handling Chen Zheng.

His technique was quite effective. It seemed like no conflict occurred on the scene, some of the protesters even started to withdraw. The reporters had surrounded Xue Mingtao and snapped pictures of him, as he was evidently answering their questions.

Seeing that the attention of the crowd downstairs was all on Xue Mingtao, Jiang Yuan hung up the phone and looked towards Li Zhicheng and Lin Qian, “The car is at the side door.”

Li Zhicheng nodded. Taking off his coat, he covered Lin Qian, then he hugged her shoulder, “Let’s go.”

Lin Qian was stunned for a moment.

To reduce major issues to minor ones,and then minor issues to naught, taking evasive action was the best solution to handle the current situation.

Just that…

She looked at the chaos downstairs, then she raised her gaze to look out into the borderless dark night.

Li Zhicheng didn’t say it, but other than him, her, Jiang Yuan, Xue Mingtao, Chen Zheng… everyone else was well aware that her relationship with Lin Mochen would eventually affect the confrontation between Chinese and foreign corporations.

Lin Qian was one of the Aida executives and fiancee of Li Zhicheng. Her brother was the chief investment manager who led the foreign acquisition project. No matter who found out about it, they would still raise questions.

Had Aida been secretly colluding with DG? Was Lin Qian a spy? All these concerns couldn’t be explained easily. To those without knowledge of Li Zhicheng’s upcoming moves, on the surface it seemed like domestic corporations had been losing to DG, which threw even more doubt on the situation. There was still some time before Li Zhicheng could counterattack. During the upcoming days, he would sure to receive even more pressure from the public.

Lin Qian lightly bit on her lower lip; she averted her gaze and calmly followed Li Zhicheng downstairs.

The side entrance was not far from the front entrance, but since the location was more remote and the lights were dimmer, when the car was driven there slowly and quietly, it didn’t attract the attention of the people at the entrance.

Jiang Yuan walked in front, opening the car door for them.

Lin Qian was covered in Li Zhicheng’s suit; his warmth remaining on the suit made her feel warm and well taken care of despite the chilly night breeze. Li Zhicheng was hugging her with one hand, seeming to guard her in his embrace. As soon as Lin Qian raised her head, she could see his stern, close-up look. This made her feel calm and unafraid.

Suddenly she felt touched. Perhaps it was the chilly night, the noises around, and his strong and powerful embrace, her heart was slowly overflowing with the thought of being with him forever.

“It will be fine,” she spoke suddenly, seemingly mumbling to herself and comforting him.

Li Zhicheng looked at her when he heard her.

His eyes were actually slowly smiling.

Lin Qian understood his gaze instantaneously; most likely he was amused that at times like this, she was actually comforting him instead of the other way round.

So Lin Qian couldn’t help but smile too. She gave him a side glance, which meant: since you are not concerned with them, I don’t care too.

It was just a short walk; without the others noticing, their eyes had met and they had read each other’s mind.

Very quickly, the two of them reached the car.

Lin Qian was stunned. Beyond Li Zhicheng, she saw there were a few familiar faces among the crowd who stirred up trouble.

Everything in the world worked in an unexplainable manner. There were so many people gathering there, but she could spot the few of them at a glance.

Those were a few of Aida’s senior workers, they had met before with Lin Qian. She believed that she had made a good impression on them, and had also shown them her ability and dedication.

But now, they were raising banners, standing together with those troublemaking hooligans. Although Xue Mingtao’s men were there to talk to them, they still didn’t leave.

Lin Qian’s heart sunk after she saw this, feeling wronged.

She felt hurt.

Suddenly, she saw a white shadow coming right at her. Then she felt a strong gust of wind hit her face with a brisk sound of “kacha”; her nose bridge and eyes felt a sharp pain. Some sticky and stinky liquid flowed down from her face.

It was an egg! Someone hiding in the dark hit her with an egg!

Lin Qian’s vision was blurred; she felt horrible. Suddenly she felt Li Zhicheng grasping her arm tightly, the anxious voices of Jiang Yuan, Gao Lang, and the rest rang, “Are you okay?”

Lin Qian replied, “I am okay…” Her hand reached out to touch her face. But the hand beside her was faster, picking away the remaining broken egg shell on her face and gently wiping away the egg using his fingertips.

Then over her head she heard his slightly angry voice asked, “How can you say you are okay even before you look at the wound? Don’t move.”

Lin Qian instantly stayed still, with her blurry vision, she could see Li Zhicheng’s face. There was not a hint of smile on his handsome face; he looked tense. His dark and deep eyes were affixed on her; some piercing emotions were about to burst out of him.

His stare made Lin Qian’s heart tighten. Her brain turned from spaced out to feeling awful.

At that moment, she heard “pluck pluck pluck” sounds again, not knowing where the eggs hit. Li Zhicheng reacted quickly by tucking her into the car, then he turned around to look at Gao Lang and the rest, “Seize them! Don’t let anyone of them run away!”

Lin Qian was stunned staring at him standing in the night with a ruthless expression.

Outside the car window, the lights and the shadows were flickering. It was very dark so they couldn’t tell where the attackers were hiding. Then she heard him shout angrily. Some messy footsteps could be heard from behind the low wall opposite them. Gao Lang immediately led a group of people to chase after the attackers furiously.

Li Zhicheng came into the car too, slamming the door and turning around to stare at her. His black gaze was so deep as though he was looking into her soul.

Lin Qian’s face was not painful anymore. There was no blood on the paper napkin she used to wipe her face. She stared at him, whispering, “It’s okay. I am not injured.”

Li Zhicheng nodded, staring at her for a few seconds, then he reached out to pull her into his embrace. To her surprise, his palms were slightly sweaty, the hands holding her were slightly wet and warm. Lin Qian leaned against his chest, through the thin shirt she could heard his pulse beating forcefully, thump, thump, thump…

The car went around the chaos happening in front and dashed out of the exit, leaving the hospital.

When he received the news about Lin Qian being attacked, Lin Mochen was sitting in his office, checking the news on the US stock market.

When he put down the phone, his initially laid back and relaxed face had completely darkened. He was silent for a moment; he didn’t have any other immediate reaction, instead he opened his web browser and skimmed through the news of the industry.

Indeed, the latest news had been updated and they were all reports about tonight’s mass disturbance. Some said that Aida’s employees were in conflict with the management team because they were dissatisfied with their domestic brand being sold, while some said that it was hooligans gathered to stir up trouble.

But all the media’s speculation was focused on the brother-sister relationship between “a female executive from Aida” and “an executive from MK Investment Management Corporation”.

There were many ill-intentioned posts popping up on various forums. Most of them revolved around “Executive Lin from Aida”, alluding to her as the sleeper agent planted by MK Investment Management Corporation and DG Group, and claiming she had brought about this acquisition after she had seduced the CEO of Aida and slept her way to the top. Some of the words used were obscene.

Lin Mochen shut his computer and stood up; his expression was gloomy. He pushed open the door to walk out, immediately the secretary by the door side stood up, “Jason, is there anything I can help you?”

Lin Mochen waved, walking straight towards the conference room where the team in charge of Aida’s acquisition was having their meeting.

He knocked on the door, and pushed the door to enter without waiting for the people inside to answer “come in”.

Everyone looked at each other, then looked at him in confusion.

His hands were in his pants’ pockets. He wore a cold expression as he looked at his colleagues and friends. He chucked the smartphone in front of them, the screen displaying news on Lin Qian.

“What’s going on?” He coldly asked, “I have said before to never involve my sister. When I signed the agreement, we agreed that both parties would skirt this issue of personal relations. Now, who can give me an explanation?”

The head of the group was from Hong Kong, he glanced at his colleagues, fell silent for a few seconds, then stood up, “Jason, this was not orchestrated by us. It was DG China’s idea, Charles and Chen Zheng’s. We just observed.”

Lin Mochen looked at him without saying a word.

Because he was being stared at too furiously, he could only continue saying, “Actually Jason, as I know, the issue has received the acquiescence of many, those who took part weren’t just a few. Aside from DG China, there were also the shareholders that sold us the shares to Aida, and the others in the Chinese industry that hoped to sell their brands to DG…Jason, the Chinese are not united, your sister actually has a lot of enemies.

“We considered your situation, so we did not take part. But the acquisition of Aida has not been successful, so we could only acquiesce without informing you beforehand. In this aspect, I believe we have not done wrong, and we hope you can be professional…”