The next day, Wang Cheng and Chu Yifeng got ready and set out for the prison.
The prison was on the outskirts of Shanhai City, near the forested hills. Apart from people visiting relatives inside, there were rarely many travelers along that road.
When a guard told Sun Jian he had visitors, his first thought was that the plan must have succeeded. He immediately followed the guard out, his heart full of delight. But the moment he saw Wang Cheng and Chu Yifeng, that delight turned to anger and surprise, with surprise clearly winning out.
“Surprised to see me? You expected me to die according to plan, didn’t you?” Wang Cheng said through the glass partition.
Sun Jian’s pupils contracted. He had thought the plan foolproof, yet Wang Cheng had somehow survived. Remembering his father, he knew he could not admit anything. “What are you talking about? I don’t understand.”
“That’s all right. We only have to investigate to find out whether you did it. Or whether it was your father. You’re locked up, after all. You couldn’t have arranged something like this without help.” Wang Cheng was not surprised by his denial. As long as Sun Degang remained influential, Sun Jian could still hope to get out of prison someday.
Sun Jian’s expression twisted. He clenched his fists and spoke with hatred. “Wang Cheng, what exactly do you want from me? So what if I did do it? I never had much of a grudge against you, yet you ruined me. I’ve wanted to kill you for a long time. Nothing short of your death will satisfy me!”
“We didn’t have much of a grudge at first,” Wang Cheng agreed. His conflict with Sun Jian had begun with Cheng Cheng. At the time, he had only wanted to stand up for Cheng Cheng and had not even considered what he might do to Dongwang Group. Later, when he realized Dongwang Group could become a stepping-stone for him, he seized the opportunity. After becoming the group’s largest shareholder, he still knew nothing of the deeper issue. It was only later, while Zhang Wu was investigating the Sun family, that he uncovered a secret and reported it to Wang Cheng. That secret was the real reason Wang Cheng had decided to deal mercilessly with Sun Jian.
“Then why?” Sun Jian still did not understand. Apart from what happened that night at the bar, how else had he offended Wang Cheng? Even though his fate was now settled, he wanted to know why the man had gone so far as to send him to prison.
Wang Cheng asked, “Do you remember a woman named Lin Qing?”
“Lin Qing?” Sun Jian looked puzzled for several seconds. He had been involved with so many women that he could not place the name at first. But Lin Qing did leave a particular impression on him: she had been the only woman to become pregnant with his child and then try to use the pregnancy to threaten him.
“Looks like you remember. Lin Qing used to be my big brother’s girlfriend. His name is Wang Ning’an. Does that ring a bell?”
Back then, Wang Ning’an had only recently started a small pharmaceutical company. Sun Jian had taken a fancy to Lin Qing and repeatedly invited her to fancy restaurants and other luxurious venues, showering her with expensive gifts. Before long, she had eyes only for him, though she was still dating Wang Ning’an.
Sun Jian knew what Lin Qing wanted, so he staged an encounter in which Wang Ning’an would walk in and see him having sex with her. He assumed Wang Ning’an would storm out in anger. Instead, Wang Ning’an pushed the door open and watched them without the slightest attempt to hide himself. He announced that he was breaking up with Lin Qing and told Sun Jian, “Since you like this woman so much, you can have her. You’re well suited to each other.”
Sun Jian still remembered the contempt in Wang Ning’an’s voice. Wang Ning’an was the one being cheated on. How dare he look down on Sun Jian and speak as though he were generously giving the woman away?
Sun Jian had been enraged. Afterward, he began suppressing Wang Ning’an’s little company. He had people set traps that left Wang Ning’an hundreds of thousands of yuan in debt and caused his business to come under investigation. For a time, the company had come dangerously close to closing for good. Somehow, Wang Ning’an managed to weather it all.
If Wang Cheng had not happened to be investigating Sun Jian and uncovered these long-buried events, he would never have known what his brother had suffered. Even though so much time had passed, he could still imagine how miserable and desperate Wang Ning’an’s situation must have been. Yet his brother had never breathed a word about it. Everyone believed he was on the verge of a brilliant career; no one knew how close he had come to being crushed beneath the burden.
Wang Cheng did not know how his brother had endured those years. But once he learned the truth, he swore he would never let Sun Jian off.
Considering the crimes Sun Jian had committed, even a death sentence would not have been excessive. Wang Cheng, however, did not want him to die so easily. In the end, he received life imprisonment, which left him only the faintest glimmer of hope.
“Now you finally know why I wanted to ruin you,” Wang Cheng said lightly. “Rest assured, I’ll make you repay every bit of suffering you inflicted on my big brother, and more.”
Sun Jian had never imagined that something so insignificant in his eyes could have brought him to this point. The realization only made him feel more bitter. Why should some country bumpkin from a rural family be capable of sending him to prison? He could not accept it.
“Are you waiting for your father, Sun Degang, to rescue you from prison?” Wang Cheng suddenly asked.
Sun Jian’s eyes widened as he stared at him.
Wang Cheng spoke with deliberate cruelty. “Stop waiting. Your father will soon have more trouble than he can handle. The Sun family is about to collapse, and you’ll never walk out of this prison.”
Having accomplished what he came for, Wang Cheng left the prison with Chu Yifeng. The air inside really was inferior to the air outside. It smelled stale and unpleasant.
Chu Yifeng caught Wang Cheng’s arm. “Why didn’t you tell me about this?”
Wang Cheng stiffened. He had become so carried away while speaking to Sun Jian that he had forgotten Chu Yifeng did not know the story. Turning around, he offered an awkward smile. “At the time, all I could think about was making Sun Jian pay. Zhang Wu also happened to have gathered plenty of evidence about his involvement in murder, so the matter was dealt with quickly. I was busy afterward, and once I’d settled things in my mind, I forgot to mention it. It’s all in the past now, so there’s not much point in bringing it up. Anyway, Zhang Wu is waiting for us. We’d better get on with business, right?”
Chu Yifeng saw through the clumsy attempt to change the subject at a glance. In fact, he was not especially bothered. Wang Cheng had been perfectly capable of dealing with the problem himself. Chu Yifeng simply enjoyed seeing him flustered.
Once Zhang Wu received the evidence, he began making arrangements. Sun Degang remained completely unaware. He still believed his side held the advantage, not realizing he already had one foot in the trap.
Ever since his meeting with Wang Cheng, Sun Jian had been deeply uneasy. He knew now that Wang Cheng had the ability to carry out his threats. A man who had planned so far ahead must have prepared for what came next. Sun Jian wanted to warn his father, but bribing prison guards to pass messages was no longer an option. He did not know whether Wang Cheng had spoken to them, and he dared not take the risk. He could only wait for his father to contact him.
And what was Sun Degang doing during this time?
His attempt to have Wang Cheng killed had been exposed, and the police were investigating. Sun Degang really had participated in the plot. At such a sensitive moment, he feared attracting attention. He had also heard that Wang Cheng had visited his son in prison, and he worried that the visit might be a trap. So he dared not make any rash move.
Thus one man desperately wanted to contact his father, while the other feared walking into a trap. They missed their chance to communicate until the whole affair came to light.
Several senior executives who had conspired with Sun Degang were exposed for stealing company secrets and selling them to other companies. After reporting them to the police, Zhang Wu also brought legal proceedings against them.
The evidence was conclusive. The executives faced not only enormous claims for compensation but also possible prison sentences. They turned to Sun Degang for help, but he was struggling to protect himself. To outsiders, he appeared to be doing fine. In reality, the person orchestrating events behind the scenes was stripping away his supporters one by one.
Records showed that the executives had sold company secrets to a firm called Guohua, which had been registered less than a month earlier. No one believed such a young company could handle deals that large without a powerful backer.
The scandals sent Dongwang Group’s share price tumbling for a time. Rumors spread that even Aimer Group’s support could not save Dongwang, which was supposedly hollowed out from within and on the verge of bankruptcy. Some investors believed the rumors and began selling their shares.
Then another astonishing revelation broke.
The person behind Guohua was none other than Sun Degang, Dongwang Group’s second-largest shareholder. He had used his position to drain assets from his own company. The conduct was widely condemned.
Local newspapers covered the news relentlessly. Less than half a year after the upheaval that had ended around the New Year, Dongwang Group was back in the headlines. Reporters crowded outside the Sun family mansion every day, trying to interview Sun Degang. He never appeared. Before long, however, the reporters received an even greater surprise.
Police arrived at the Sun residence and arrested Sun Degang on suspicion of intentional homicide.
The man who had tried to kill Wang Cheng was named Chen Sheng. He worked as an instructor at a martial arts school and had a wife and son. His life had been happy until a car accident one month earlier killed his wife and left his son with a severe brain injury. The boy needed surgery, but the cost was enormous. When Chen Sheng was in despair, someone working for Sun Degang approached him and promised him a large sum if he killed Wang Cheng. Otherwise, the man said, his son could only wait to die.
Chen Sheng agreed for his son’s sake. But he knew killing was a crime, so he entrusted his boy to his only younger sister and prepared to kill Wang Cheng even if it meant dying himself. Instead, he failed.
After police persuasion, Chen Sheng finally told them the truth for his son’s sake. Following the evidence, the investigators identified Sun Degang as the person behind the attempted killing.
By the time Wang Cheng received Zhang Wu’s call, the matter was settled. The Sun family had fallen apart. Both Sun Jian and his father were headed for prison, and Dongwang Group had truly become Wang Cheng’s.