Chapter 76: Retribution comes quickly

After some back-and-forth, An Ning realized that ordinary terms would not move Ning Weidong; she had to dangle a very large carrot.

An Ning said, "You should have heard something about my family's situation back then."

Ning Weidong nodded; the An Family was considered a famous Capitalist family before the Liberation, and they ran very large factories.

However, that had long since vanished into thin air; a group fled in '49, then came the public-private partnership, and after that... An Ning's parents passed away one after another, and An Ning became a helpless orphan, even forced to marry Wang Jingsheng.

But An Ning saying she had a very, very large amount of money was not entirely groundless.

As the saying goes, a wily rabbit has three burrows, and the old adage also says a starved camel is still bigger than a horse.

Even if the An Family had completely failed, the remaining foundation was not something an ordinary family could compare to.

An Ning said, "In my father's generation, there were three brothers. My eldest uncle joined the army to fight the Japanese and sacrificed his life. That left my second uncle and my father. After the Liberation, to cope with the situation, my second uncle took half the family assets Overseas, while my father stayed in the country to look after the family's factories and domestic properties..."

Speaking to this point, An Ning's eyes dimmed, and she said in a low voice, "And you see the result."

Ning Weidong, however, had no empathy for her, curled his lip, and said, "You Capitalists, don't you know what you were like yourselves? Isn't it deserved that you were liquidated in the end? What is there to lament or sigh about? Did you expect to be allowed to step on people's heads forever, acting high and mighty, ordering everyone around?"

The emotions An Ning had carefully brewed were almost shattered by what Ning Weidong said, and the corners of her mouth twitched.

She thought to herself, can you even hold a conversation, you jerk? Can't you open your mouth without stabbing someone in the lungs? Yet, An Ning could do nothing about him.

After testing him several times, An Ning could see that this guy Ning Weidong didn't indulge her at all; if she dared to give him attitude, Ning Weidong would dare to walk away.

An Ning took a deep breath, pretended she hadn't heard him, and continued, "Although my family's properties are gone, back when the situation wasn't so tight, my father saw some signs and made preparations in advance."

Ning Weidong raised an eyebrow: "Preparations in advance?"

An Ning nodded: "My father gathered all the cash and valuables he could mobilize at the time and divided them into three parts: one left in the open to deal with various situations; one donated to actively show our stance; and one was hidden away..."

Ning Weidong narrowed his eyes, understanding what An Ning meant.

Of the three parts her family had, the first and second were certainly long gone, but this third part...

The An Family's original fortune was quite vast; even if only the third part remained, it was by no means a small amount.

The current situation was visibly about to change again.

With the spring breeze reaching his ears, Ning Weidong didn't believe An Ning hadn't noticed.

In three or four years at most, this wealth could be brought out without much risk, and even people like Qi Jiazui, by using certain means to obtain those things, wouldn't be deeply investigated.

At this time, why was An Ning willing to share her family's remaining wealth with Ning Weidong?

Could it be that faced with Xu Jinshan's threat, An Ning really had no other way? Ning Weidong didn't actually believe that.

So, for An Ning to throw out such a large bargaining chip, it was very likely, just like when Ning Weidong went to find Wang Jingsheng last time, that she was dangling a large carrot.

The carrot looked tempting sitting there, but actually getting it into one's mouth was not that simple; many conditions were still required.

Otherwise, An Ning would not be willing to play such a trump card.

Sure enough, as Ning Weidong followed up with questions, An Ning revealed more of the situation.

It turned out that a few years ago, An Ning's parents both passed away from illness in another city, and at the time, to protect An Ning, they used some connections to keep her in Beijing.

Because of this, some of the aftermath could not be settled at all.

In the end, An Ning only knew there was this large sum of money, but as for where exactly it was hidden, she only had some clues, not the exact location.

After listening, Ning Weidong couldn't help but blink his eyes.

It really was, what goes around comes around. Before, he had used Qi Jiazui's name to hoodwink Wang Jingsheng and An Ning.

Now, An Ning was paying him back in his own coin, using a similar method to get him to do things for her.

Ning Weidong fell into thought.

A moment later, he said: "Why look for me?"

An Ning said bluntly: "If not you, then who? Of everyone I can think of, you're the only one who's somewhat reliable; as for the others..." An Ning snorted and retorted: "Who do you think I could possibly know, being with Wang Jingsheng?"

Ning Weidong was noncommittal.

An Ning continued: "Furthermore, you're young and look sharp; I'm willing to be your woman. When the time comes, I'll be yours, and the things my father left behind will naturally be yours too."

Ning Weidong wasn't fooled by the vision she painted, and chuckled: "Being your man, I'm afraid that's not so simple."

An Ning didn't respond, but her meaning was clear: help solve the Xu Jinshan problem first.

Ning Weidong said: "I'll consider this matter and give you an answer later."

An Ning pursed her lips and said resentfully: "You're a grown man, and you don't even have this much courage?"

Ning Weidong curled his lip, stood up, and said: "Don't try to pressure me with words; reverse psychology doesn't work on me."

After saying this, he ignored An Ning and walked straight out: "I'm leaving first; we'll talk about the Xu Jinshan matter later."

Watching the door "bang" shut, all the strength seemed to drain from An Ning, and she slumped onto the sofa.

Don't let her calm demeanor from just now fool you; today, when Bata'er showed up, it really scared her to death.

That tower of a man—Shen Sikui was considered a good fighter among ordinary people, but in front of Bata'er, he was like a child, knocked down in the blink of an eye.

At that moment, her heart had been in her throat.

Fortunately, Ning Weidong arrived at the critical moment... although the crisis was resolved, she still had to keep her spirits up to deal with Ning Weidong.

From the time Bata'er arrived until Ning Weidong left, those two-plus hours that evening made An Ning feel as if she had run five thousand meters in one breath.

Yet, despite pulling out all the stops, she hadn't obtained a single promise from Ning Weidong, leaving An Ning with a sense of powerless frustration.

On the other side, Ning Weidong came out of the Tongzi Building.

He didn't see Ning Wei, knowing he had gone to tail Bata'er; he took his key, unlocked his bike, turned toward the south, and while riding, pondered the conditions An Ning had just offered.

One thing was certain now: Xu Jinshan had broken free from Li Peihang's control.

For Li Peihang, this was a very serious blunder.

If Wang Guoqiang's side found Xu Jinshan, it could turn into a knife pointed at Li Weibing at any moment.

Therefore, setting aside the carrot An Ning dangled, Xu Jinshan himself was valuable.

What Ning Weidong needed to consider was how to handle the matter; how to make the most of this person's value.

Then there is that account book left behind by Wang Jingsheng.

Ning Weidong didn't flip through it just now, but he also knew the contents inside were definitely not simple; otherwise, that Zhang Minghui wouldn't have gone to such great lengths to send people to find it.

(End of this chapter)