Zhou Group’s agreement with Aimer was negotiated in secret. Since the internal spy had not been found, they decided not to publicize the news and risk giving that person another chance to interfere. Not even Zhou Lin and her husband knew about it. That was why they were so shocked to learn Zhou Group would no longer sign with AG Group.
Zhou Lin did not oversee this part of the business, but Zhao Jiansheng did. At her urging, he went to Feng Yifan’s office on the seventieth floor.
“President Feng, I’ve heard the company no longer intends to sign with AG Group. Is that true?”
As usual, Zhao Jiansheng’s face remained wooden and impassive despite the questioning edge to his words. Yet beneath that dull exterior lay enormous ambition.
Feng Yifan finished reading a contract, signed his name, and handed it to Xie Wenzhi, who carried the papers out and closed the door.
“It’s true. Is there a problem, Manager Zhao?”
“If this is because of what happened yesterday, you’re acting far too rashly. I’ve been following this project, and I know how tight the schedule is. Your decision may be inappropriate. If the chairman finds out, I doubt he’ll approve.” Zhao Jiansheng sounded rather less certain about the last part.
Feng Yifan smiled slightly. “You needn’t worry about that, Manager Zhao. If anything goes wrong, I’ll take full responsibility.”
Zhao Jiansheng frowned. “Since you say so, I’ll wait and see. But I hope you’ll think carefully. This decision will affect Zhou Group’s future development.”
When Zhao Jiansheng left, Feng Yifan called Xie Wenzhi on the internal telephone.
“Assistant Xie, are all the contracts ready?”
“Everything is ready.”
“Good. Keep this confidential. Don’t let anyone see them. I don’t want any last-minute complications before the formal signing tomorrow.”
Feng Yifan placed great importance on the partnership with Aimer. Thanks to Chu Yifeng, they only needed to wait for Aimer to verify the figures. Despite the sudden change in partners, they would finish sooner than expected.
Chu Yifeng handled Aimer’s cooperation with Zhou Group personally. After their discussion, he instructed headquarters to prepare a proposal. They moved quickly; within two days the plan was in his hands. Following a meeting of just over an hour, both parties signed the contract.
Aimer did not make exorbitant demands. Zhou Group, grateful for help at such a critical moment, voluntarily conceded part of the benefits. Most other people learned about the deal only after it was publicly announced.
Reid had lingered in Hua Country for several days, resentful after ruining the opportunity and hoping to watch Zhou Group make a fool of itself. Instead he learned that Zhou Group had signed with Aimer. He had no idea when the two had begun talking, let alone how they had concluded a deal so quietly. In the end he and his colleagues left Hua Country in humiliation.
At the same time, Zhou Lin received a phone call.
“Zhou Lin, have you decided you don’t want to work with me anymore? You’ve hidden this move remarkably well,” an unhappy male voice demanded.
She had guessed he would call about Aimer. Her expression turned sour. “I was kept in the dark too. My husband didn’t know either. The company announced it only after the contract was signed. Many executives were excluded. I’m sure you know why.”
“What? Has Zhou Shichang begun to suspect you, so he wouldn’t tell either of you? Or has he simply never trusted you?”
“That’s none of your business. Did you call just to say that? If you have nothing else, I’m hanging up.” The man had hit a nerve, and Zhou Lin grew angry.
“Upset? There’s no point. What’s done is done. Our goals may be different, but we’re in the same boat. You can only get what you want by working with me. It’s too late to back out.”
“Easy for you to say! Your plan didn’t seriously hurt Zhou Group. It actually pushed them into a partnership with Aimer. How can I trust you now? And I heard Hengyu’s cooperation with Oubang fell apart. Isn’t Oubang a subsidiary of Aimer?”
The man’s voice turned cold at the mention of his failure. “That isn’t your concern, if you still want control of Zhou Group.”
Zhou Lin snorted. She knew she could no longer withdraw easily. She had taken enormous risks to obtain those documents, only for his scheme to fail. She had gained nothing, and now her father might even suspect her.
“I want Zhou Group, but if working with you does me no good, why should I help you again?”
“Don’t push your luck, Zhou Lin. You’ve already received what you were promised. And don’t forget I have evidence against you. I kept proof of what you did years ago. If you provoke me, I won’t hesitate to send a copy to your father.” He was tired of arguing. If Zhou Lin still had no use to him, he would have discarded her long ago.
“Are you threatening me?” Zhou Lin demanded.
“You can interpret it that way.” He stopped pretending. Zhou Lin should have understood the risk when she first approached him.
Zhou Lin was filled with regret. She had believed her actions years ago had been perfectly concealed. She had never imagined that the man had secretly kept evidence, which had now become a weapon against her.
“What exactly do you want?”
“Nothing complicated. Steal a copy of Zhou Group’s cooperation plan with Aimer for me.”
“They’ve already signed the contract. What use will it be to you now?”
“Aimer isn’t an ordinary family company. You know who’s behind it. If Zhou Group builds a lasting relationship with Aimer, you’ll have even less hope of obtaining the company. The only choice now is sabotage. If their cooperation goes wrong, Zhou Group may be unable to answer to Aimer.”
“If it were that easy! Have you forgotten that Zhou Group secretly established contact with Aimer? What if they have a connection we know nothing about? Would your plan still work?”
“If such a connection existed, Zhou Group would have approached Aimer from the start rather than AG Group. If the whole thing was an act, they wouldn’t have needed to go to such trouble.”
“Even if you’re right, my husband was excluded this time. They still haven’t found the mole behind the earlier leak. It won’t be so easy to steal the documents now.”
“Then find a way. I’ve told you what I want. The rest is up to you. I’ll wait for good news.” He hung up.
Zhou Lin went home and told Zhao Jiansheng.
He had helped her obtain the last set of confidential information. The couple had taken great risks that time, so when he learned she wanted to steal documents again, he rejected the idea without hesitation.
“Absolutely not.”
Her husband rarely refused her so firmly, but Zhou Lin did not get angry. Though she was strong-willed, Zhao Jiansheng’s opinions were often sensible and fair, so she was usually willing to listen.
“Tell me why.”
“Very few senior employees know about the Aimer partnership. Last time, almost every executive knew about the other prospective partner. If we act rashly now and are discovered, it’ll be difficult to cover our tracks. Besides, Dad is being especially careful. He won’t make the same mistake twice.”
Zhou Lin frowned. “You have a point, but he has evidence he can use to threaten us. If we don’t do as he says, I’m afraid he’ll send it to Dad.”
“He has evidence against us, but we have evidence against him too. Besides, we don’t necessarily need to obtain the cooperation plan to ruin things. There will be plenty of chances to disrupt Zhou Group’s work with Aimer later. Tell him that. He’s clever enough not to choose a course of action that would injure him far more than his opponent.”
“All right. But there’s something I don’t understand. Why is he even more desperate than we are to target Zhou Group? Did Dad do something to Hengyu in the past?”
Zhao Jiansheng shook his head. “I don’t know. Whatever the reason, our goals are aligned for now. Still, we have to be on our guard against him.”
Zhou Lin nodded.
“How has our son been lately?” Zhao Jiansheng asked. He had not seen him in some time.
Since Wang Cheng exposed him, Zhao Chenlin had avoided the Zhou residence and was living in an apartment Zhou Lin had purchased for him earlier. She visited him occasionally to check on how he was doing.
“He mostly stays in the apartment. He’s been fairly well behaved.”
“That’s good. Too many things have gone against us lately. It’s best if he stays out of trouble.”
The couple thought that as long as they lay low, Zhou Shichang and Feng Yifan would merely increase security if they failed to find the mole. They did not know that the two men had already guessed there was probably more than one insider.
No ordinary senior executive could both steal those documents and interfere with the surveillance system, erasing the recordings from that period. Whoever had managed both must have possessed extraordinarily high authority.