Chapter Thirty-Eight: Beauty, Ride the Wolf Car

Seeing the hint of being hooked in Bai Jing’s expression, Lin Yang’s face suddenly turned serious. “However, I’m certain it was done by someone on the inside, and it’s one of those three.” Though his words sounded vague, he spoke with remarkable certainty, directly pointing the finger at the trio.

The three people Lin Yang referred to were none other than the three male managers who had just left. A moment ago, in order to sense which of them was the most likely suspect, he had expended considerable effort, surreptitiously activating the inner workings of the “Thirteen Blades of the Celestial Spirit” technique to heighten his concentration, then relying on his formidable mental power to observe subtle changes in their auras.

A person telling a lie is bound to feel guilty, and their speech will inevitably lack conviction. This was precisely why Lin Yang had repeatedly provoked them earlier—his intent was to force the guilty party to reveal themselves through their reaction.

Unexpectedly, Bai Jing had ended the meeting early, leaving his efforts in vain and making him want to gnash his teeth in frustration. If he’d had just a bit more time, he could have identified the culprit without a doubt.

“Are you sure?” Bai Jing stared at Lin Yang in disbelief, hesitating for a moment before questioning him. After all, without a shred of evidence, drawing such a hasty conclusion seemed rather reckless.

“I am sure—absolutely certain.” Lin Yang suddenly became solemn, his sharp gaze as piercing as a blade, a sword, or a hammer.

Just as the two were deep in discussion, there came a knock at the door, disrupting the moment and dashing any secret hopes Lin Yang might have had of taking advantage of the situation.

Zhang Meimei walked back the way she had come, her heart in turmoil. She knew that if she didn’t handle what she was about to say well, she was bound to invite trouble upon herself. This was a thankless and time-consuming task, yet her sense of responsibility always compelled her to take on such burdens.

Her quick rise within the company was surely related to this high-minded sense of duty.

In fact, Zhang Meimei hadn’t even raised her hand to knock when Bai Jing, who was facing the door, spotted her through the glass window. Thus, the knock came almost simultaneously with her entering.

Once she entered, Bai Jing asked, “Meimei, is there something you need?”

After gathering her thoughts, Zhang Meimei spoke slowly, “Earlier, the three of them expressed strong objections to Deputy General Manager Lin, and even threatened to resign if things didn’t improve. I’m worried this could negatively affect the company, so I hope Deputy General Manager Tang will handle this matter judiciously. Otherwise, there could be serious repercussions!”

Everything Zhang Meimei said was reasonable, and both listeners paid close attention without interruption, allowing her to finish in one breath.

“If they really have done something to harm the company, then even if we must fire them all, I won’t hesitate. One rotten apple spoils the whole barrel. To eliminate external threats, one must first resolve internal issues—I understand this well enough.” Bai Jing was always decisive in her actions. Aside from the Zhao brothers, who were somewhat unruly but undeniably capable, she rarely granted special privileges. Lin Yang was an exception, after all, he possessed a miraculous formula that was pending patent approval—how could he be treated like the others?

“I’m just afraid…” Zhang Meimei started to say more, but Bai Jing cut her off.

“That’s enough, I’ll handle this matter with care. Let’s leave it at that. From now on, inspections of the herb storeroom will be more frequent to prevent similar incidents. You’d better get back to work.” With a plausible excuse, she dismissed the slightly nagging Zhang Meimei.

After glancing at Bai Jing a few more times, Zhang Meimei slunk away, realizing she had run into a tough customer today and was lucky to escape with just a warning.

Seeing that Bai Jing was still upset, Lin Yang refrained from saying more. He had originally wanted to take this opportunity to explain that, due to the rarity of the main ingredients, the Golden Silkworm Powder could not be produced in large quantities. But given the current mood, he decided to save that explanation for another time. He stood up and left with a convenient excuse. As for determining which of the three was the chief suspect, he dared not make a rash decision. These days, evidence is everything; even if you know who did it, without proof, you can only turn a blind eye.

Since Lin Yang was determined to leave, Bai Jing couldn’t very well ask him to stay. With the development of the new drug now urgent, any further entanglement in the issue of the swapped medicinal herbs would only be a greater loss, playing right into the hands of the schemers. She turned her attention to her own tasks, momentarily overlooking the matter of signing the contract.

Back in his office, Lin Yang slumped into his swivel chair, his brows tightly knit. Although he had mentally prepared himself, the cutthroat nature of business rivalries still left him stunned. In the past, he had only acted on personal preference within the family and paid little heed to business affairs. Now, in the thick of things, he finally understood how difficult his old man’s position had been.

Yet, regarding his father’s insistence on an arranged marriage, he remained deeply resentful.

A mishap with the medicinal herbs, especially one involving company insiders, was not something he could easily judge. With no other options, he turned his thoughts to the pharmacopeia gifted by Zhao Ziheng. For now, resolving his own affairs was the priority.

Very soon, he became absorbed in the pharmacopeia, his gaze unlikely to move for quite some time.

...

Back in his own office, Wang the Fat Supervisor flopped into his chair, his face dark and foreboding. The old saying about not judging a book by its cover was true—though he seemed simple and honest, his mind was cunning in the extreme.

He had intended to use the incident with Li Yang to divert everyone’s attention, then take the opportunity to secretly move the swapped ginseng out of the company. After all, the longer it stayed, the more likely problems would arise.

But Lin Yang had quickly deduced that the leak was internal and immediately placed suspicion on the three leaders. This unsettled Wang the Fat Supervisor, despite his excellent acting skills. Luckily, Bai Jing had ended the meeting in time; otherwise, he might have slipped up and ruined everything.

He drained a cup of tea to steady his nerves, then got up and locked the door. After confirming he was safe, he took out his phone and dialed Li Yang’s number.

“Is it done, Fatty?” came a rough, impatient voice as soon as the call connected, making it clear that Wang had been up to no good.

“Damn it, what’s the rush?” Wang, already annoyed, bristled at being pushed. Inwardly, he fumed: “Hell, I’m risking my neck and prison time for this, and you’re still rushing me? Keep it up and I’ll blow the whole thing up. We’ll all go down together.”

Of course, he only dared think these thoughts. With his wife and son held hostage by these bastards, he had no room to resist. The lure of a large sum of money had also tempted him to betray the company and take up this most despicable occupation as an inside man.

Suppressing his nervousness, Wang grumbled, “This time it won’t be easy. The swap has been discovered. I’ve hidden the herbs somewhere safe in the company for now, but I haven’t been able to move them yet.”

“Idiot! What kind of job are you doing? If you screw this up, we’ll both be finished, and our families with us. Damn it! Who did we offend to deserve this?” came the voice on the other end, full of resentment—it was clear he too was acting under duress.

Two wretched souls, each cursing their fate and each other.

“So what do we do now, Li Yang?” Mentioning his family made Wang shudder. He was the only son, and after years of tireless effort, his wife had finally given birth to a boy. If anything happened, even in death he’d find no peace—his ancestors would curse him for ending the family line.

“Stay calm. Pretend you know nothing. Don’t let anyone suspect you. I’ll check what the others want to do.” With that, Li Yang hung up, presumably to contact the lawless, detestable gang behind it all. With his wife and daughter held hostage, he viewed those men as utter monsters, deserving of a thousand deaths.

Listening to the dial tone, Wang was filled with helplessness. He was in a predicament with no way out and could only proceed with extreme caution. If things went awry, he’d be looking at prison—a project worth over two million was no trivial matter.

Elsewhere, Zhu Ziqiang and Zhang Yan had also returned to their offices, each speculating and cursing the culprit under their breath, repeating every vicious curse they could muster upon the one who had swapped the herbs.

...

Time slipped by in the blink of an eye. Before he knew it, the sky outside had turned a deep crimson. Only when his phone rang did Lin Yang reluctantly tear his gaze away from the pharmacopeia and glance at the screen—it was a call from Bai Jing. Seeing the darkening sky, he guessed she was calling him to finish work for the day.

“Jing, are we off work already?” he asked, half in jest.

Her tone was grave, still weighed down by the ordeal with the medicinal herbs. She seemed unwilling to say much more, simply telling him to meet her downstairs before hanging up.

He tidied his desk, tucked the yellowed pharmacopeia under his arm, and hurried downstairs. Having made some progress with the Tianyang Pill yesterday, he was eager to continue today; after all, he had gathered a good haul of herbs and couldn’t bear to let them go to waste. If he didn’t produce a superb batch of Tianyang Pill, he would never be satisfied, especially since he still had leftover ingredients at home.

When he reached the ground floor, Bai Jing had yet to arrive—she was on the twenty-fifth floor, a full ten floors above him, so a delay was only natural.

About five minutes later, Bai Jing appeared before him, dressed in a blue sports jacket, black jeans, and white sneakers. There was no need for words; a single glance sufficed for mutual understanding.

With the intention of playing the gallant escort—and perhaps with ulterior motives—Lin Yang invited her to ride in his rather ordinary Audi.

Bai Jing did not refuse. She figured she could use the ride to ask more questions and decided to take a chance—just this once, she’d ride with the wolf.

Who was the wolf and who the sheep? That was indeed a question worth pondering.

Once seated, with the car roaring away under his foot, Lin Yang broke the silence that had settled between them. “Jing, could you tell me more about Fangyu Pharmaceuticals?”