When Zhang Moyun walked in, Li Yunmo’s mother was keeping watch. Li Jinxiong was still at an out-of-town project and wouldn’t be able to rush back to see his son until this afternoon.

Zhang Moyun greeted Mother Li, then asked her to go to the ICU to keep Wu Xinhui company. He then ordered two bodyguards to stand guard at the door and sat down in front of Li Yunmo himself.

Li Yunmo had always respected and feared Zhang Moyun. Right now he was even more frightened to tears, sobbing as he said: “Uncle Zhang, it’s my fault for being useless! Before Achan lost consciousness, he gave me a voice recorder, and they snatched it away! Inside must have been important evidence, recording the conspiracy between Liu Ying, Cheng Chuan, and… and Zhang Fengming!”

“Liu Ying, Cheng Chuan, Zhang Fengming…” Zhang Moyun slowly repeated these three names, his expression showing neither surprise nor anger. In fact, with Li Yunmo’s limited experience, he couldn’t tell what this man was thinking at this moment at all. Zhang Moyun patted the back of his hand and said warmly: “Child, it’s not your fault. You’ve already done very well. Tell me about yesterday’s events in detail.”

Li Yunmo became even more tearful and poured out yesterday’s events like spilling beans. Zhang Jingchan and Li Weiyi’s intentions hadn’t been hidden from him—they had told him about Furuida’s buying high and selling low, embezzling assets.

At a certain moment, Li Yunmo noticed a flash of sinister expression cross Zhang Moyun’s face, which made Li Yunmo’s heart tremble. But quickly, Zhang Moyun returned to silence, as if he were just a gloomy father full of worries.

“Did you see clearly? Besides Liu Ying, the people sitting in the car were also Cheng Chuan and Zhang Fengming?” Zhang Moyun asked.

Li Yunmo nodded forcefully.

“It was late at night, so far away, and with the car window in between—how did you see clearly?”

“Brother Zhong Yi got me military binoculars.”

Zhang Moyun nodded, pondered for a moment, then murmured in a low voice: “That means… they’re not sure if anyone else saw them.”

He looked at Li Yunmo with extremely grave eyes: “Child, you must remember what I’m about to say and do it. You haven’t told anyone what you just told me, have you?”

“No! I didn’t even tell my mom—she wouldn’t understand anyway. Besides, isn’t it true that the fewer people who know a secret, the better? If she knew, she’d be in danger instead!”

“Well done. From now on, when anyone asks you—including the police—you say you didn’t see anything, don’t know anything, only followed Achan’s instructions to stand guard on the perimeter for backup. When you arrived, Li Weiyi had already been hurt. Achan gave you the voice recorder but didn’t have time to say anything before he lost consciousness. Then you were beaten and the recorder was snatched away. Just like that, understand? This is also to protect you.”

Li Yunmo bit his lip and asked: “Uncle Zhang, what are you planning to do? When will you avenge Achan?”

Zhang Moyun smiled, stood up, patted Li Yunmo’s shoulder, and said: “Uncle has a plan. But before that, Uncle must first fulfill Achan and Weiyi’s wish.”

Li Yunmo was startled: “You also… know?”

Zhang Moyun nodded, his gaze looking deeply out the window into the distance: “They went through so much hardship to come here, again and again, all to save Fuming and save me. Uncle is useless—that’s why I’ve let them suffer so much. I can’t let my impulsiveness cause their efforts to fail at the last moment! Fuming cannot have a major financial scandal now, and I must continue to be that arrogant and foolish father who can’t see anything clearly. By early September, once Fuming has paid off all its debts in one stroke, what do I have left to worry about? I’ll risk this old life to send those heartless bastards to prison! I’ll settle everything in 2014. If Achan can wake up in 2022, they… won’t need to come back again.”

—

Zhang Moyun’s guess was correct—the police soon came to question Li Yunmo. However, Li Yunmo was stubborn by nature. Having promised Zhang Moyun, no matter how the police went in circles questioning him repeatedly, he claimed to know nothing about anything.

Even under Ding Chenmo’s powerful interrogation pressure and superior interrogation skills, Li Yunmo struggled on with difficulty, covered in sweat. Finally, unable to withstand it anymore, Li Yunmo simply rolled back his eyes and pretended to faint, even convulsing a few times. This made Mother Li cry and wail, and the doctors and nurses were greatly alarmed—the hospital room was thrown into chaos.

Ding Chenmo was furious, cursing loudly: “You little brat, a minor hairline fracture in your arm can somehow affect your brain!”

In the end, Ding Chenmo still left his hospital room looking disheveled.

The other party involved, Li Weiyi, also looked completely confused, saying she remembered nothing. Zhong Yi had also received Zhang Moyun’s instructions—his mouth was harder to pry open than anyone’s. The other two veterans truly didn’t know the inside story.

Moreover, with pressure from upper-level leadership regarding the sensitive topic of Fuming, this case was about to be hastily closed.

Full of unwillingness, Ding Chenmo found Zhang Moyun. The two found an empty doctor’s office, closed the door, and had a private conversation.

Ding Chenmo said: “Chairman Zhang, let me update you on the current progress of the case. According to the workers’ testimonies, Liu Ying falsely claimed Zhang Jingchan and Li Weiyi were thieves and instigated them to carry out the assault. Liu Ying is currently on the run and hasn’t been caught yet. The worker who drove the excavator that injured Li Weiyi had been drinking last night and says it was a misoperation—only his fingerprints are on the excavator. If we can’t find further human or material evidence, we can only close the excavator injury case like this. As for Liu Ying, we’ll deal with it when we find her.”

Zhang Moyun sat across from him with a calm expression: “I have no objection.”

Ding Chenmo slammed his ever-present notebook on the table and said: “You have no objection? The one lying unconscious in that hospital bed about to become a vegetable is your own biological son! I don’t care if he’s a naive young master raised in a wealthy nest, but Li Weiyi is a girl with courage and capability! For no reason, why would they go to Furuida late at night? As your subordinate, why would Liu Ying dare to make a move against them? What exactly is hidden in Furuida? Does Liu Ying have other criminal facts? Don’t you care about any of this?”

Zhang Moyun’s Adam’s apple rolled. After a moment of silence, he actually smiled—that kind of smile of an old fox in the business world: “What joke is Captain Ding making? How could I not care about my son’s situation? But this really was just an accident, a misunderstanding. Since it was that worker’s misoperation, then let him accept legal punishment. Of course, I’ll also use my ability to make sure he doesn’t have an easy time. As for Liu Ying, she’s always been loyal to me. Maybe it was kids fooling around at the factory and both sides got into a conflict. In the end, didn’t Achan and the others still win the fight? It’s not a big deal. As for Furuida, it’s always been my quality subsidiary. Our internal group affairs don’t require a criminal police detective to worry about them.”

Ding Chenmo raised his gloomy eyes, looking at this Chenshi’s richest man, this prominent figure that even city leaders had to respect three parts. He said: “Zhang Moyun, I know Fuming is now on the edge of bankruptcy. A person like you will certainly try every means to protect your business. Are there some things that can’t be investigated and you don’t dare investigate? But are those things more important than your son’s life?”

Zhang Moyun stood up and answered calmly: “My son is more important than my life.” He walked toward the door, looking like he didn’t want to talk anymore.

Ding Chenmo called out: “One last question—why was Li Weiyi the one injured, yet Zhang Jingchan became the vegetable?”

Zhang Moyun’s steps paused.

Ding Chenmo’s heart stirred: “You know why, don’t you?” He thought of the girl he’d seen this morning—quiet and gentle, completely different from the fierce girl he’d met two months ago, like two different people.

Zhang Moyun turned around, looked at this old criminal detective with half-white temples and eyes full of persistence, slowly exhaled, and said: “Captain Ding, thank you for all the efforts you’ve made for our family. In the coming period, if you insist on continuing to investigate, I can’t stop you either. But please take care and pay attention to your safety, especially when using vehicles. That’s all I’ll say.”

Ding Chenmo’s pupils suddenly contracted. Zhang Moyun had already opened the door and strode away with several bodyguards.