Chapter 72: Let Them Fight Like Dogs

Pei Yichuan scratched his head, looking troubled: "I feel it probably isn't him; we're all from the same company, we share honor and disgrace—what would he gain by doing this? There must be a leak elsewhere."

Xia Xi shook her head, thinking he was too naive: "You think the people from Present Cypress would help others for free without any benefit?"

Pei Yichuan's expression went blank.

"Zhang Wanli approached me privately." Xia Xi, glancing at Gao Ge while speaking, said, "That was the time you bumped into me. He then asked me to give him Broad and Elegant's design proposal, with any conditions I wanted. Since I couldn't agree here, it's understandable if he went to someone else."

Everyone's eyebrows shot up in surprise; they hadn't expected the people from Present Cypress to be so shameless.

Xia Xi looked at Pei Yichuan and supposed: "Present Cypress never lacks money; if Zhang Wanli gave you five million to hand over the proposal, would you waver?"

Pei Yichuan swallowed, imagining his card mysteriously gaining five million—he might actually…

He quickly shook his head, thinking, How could I think like that! Xia Xi watched his changing expression, amused: "Don't feel ashamed; anyone hearing that would feel a tug of desire—it's natural, nothing to be ashamed of. But some people hold to their bottom line, while others plunge into the mire and can't climb out."

Pei Yichuan stopped hiding and said: "First, I have no evidence, I'm not sure it's him. After the first day of the bidding ended, wasn't the company driver supposed to send us each home? When I got home I was busy in the living room for a while, someone knocked on the door—it was Jiang Tian; we live in the same community…"

There are only a few high-value residential communities near the company, so it's not strange to rent in the same one; he and Jiang Tian occasionally agreed after work to go out for late-night snacks.

That day Jiang Tian came to find him just to invite him to a newly opened hot pot restaurant; he actually thought it a bit odd—he could have just messaged or called to arrange a meal, so why show up in person?

But he didn't think much of it then; he told Jiang Tian to wait in the living room while he went to the bedroom to change clothes. He was wearing a work suit; eating hot pot would spoil it, and he'd need the suit the next day at the bidding site, so he changed into another outfit.

He hadn't thought to guard against Jiang Tian; his computer, printed documents, etc., were spread open on the living-room table. Changing clothes took only a few minutes, and when he came out of the bedroom, Jiang Tian was still in the same pose as when he'd left—hands behind his back, looking at the world map on the wall.

The more Pei Yichuan spoke, the more impossible it seemed, his voice dropping: "These past few days I've been run off my feet; besides you guys, the only person I've contacted is Jiang Tian. Even if he saw the design proposal I left on the table, that doesn't mean it's him."

Others also thought it unlikely Jiang Tian was the culprit: "When I work from home, my mom wanders back and forth in front of me and even glances at my computer—nothing unusual."

Xia Xi, however, felt a twinge of suspicion and asked Pei Yichuan: "Do you have surveillance at home?"

Pei Yichuan slapped his forehead: "How did I forget? I have surveillance installed at home! I keep a cat, and in my free time I check what the cat's up to."

He said this, pulling out his phone from his pants pocket, pulling up the surveillance footage, locating the evening of January 3. He remembered the exact time, so it wasn't hard to find the corresponding video; he dragged the progress bar with his finger and soon saw the scene: he rose to open the door for Jiang Tian, Jiang Tian entered, they exchanged a few words, he turned and walked toward the bedroom to change clothes…

Everyone gathered around Pei Yichuan, eyes fixed on the phone's few-inch screen.

In the video, after Pei Yichuan left the living room, Jiang Tian quickly went to his computer and plugged something into the side USB port; everyone seeing this widened their eyes.

Could it really be Manager Jiang? "He's holding a USB drive, right?" Gao Ge said in a low voice, uncertain.

Pei Yichuan: "Looks like it."

The surveillance video continued playing, showing Jiang Tian gripping the mouse and clicking a few times, then swiftly pulling out the USB drive and clutching it in his palm; before Pei Yichuan came out, he walked to the wall, hands clasped behind his back, appearing to idly study the world map.

Jiang Tian probably never imagined a single man living alone would have surveillance at home, so he remained calm throughout, thinking he was unseen and unheard.

After watching the surveillance, Pei Yichuan slammed the table and couldn't help cursing: "I'm going to find him! That bastard!"

Xia Xi frowned and said: "If you go find him, what if he denies it?"

Pei Yichuan pointed at his phone: "The evidence is solid—how could he deny it?"

Xia Xi took his phone, dragged the progress bar back, and focused on the segment where Jiang Tian touched the computer: "The surveillance didn't capture the computer screen—how can we prove he copied the proposal?" "Then we can't do anything about him?" Pei Yichuan flushed with anger, his face red and neck thick.

The leak didn't come from his doing, but it originated from his place, and he felt he had let everyone down.

Xia Xi pondered for a few minutes, formed a rough idea, and looked at the faces before her awaiting her decision: "Since we've found the person who stole the proposal, we certainly can't let him off."

A few people gathered to discuss for a while; after the meeting dispersed, everyone returned to their workstations or offices.

Pei Yichuan went to find Jiang Tian.

As a customer manager, Jiang Tian had his own private office; he was busy sorting client data, preparing to give feedback to the designers later, and without looking up asked: "Do you need something?"

"Nope." Pei Yichuan flopped onto the sofa, patting the armrest, relaxed: "We just finished a meeting, I've got nothing on hand—I came by to kill some time and ask what you're having for lunch."

Jiang Tian recalled something, set the documents aside, lifted his head as if casually, and asked: "The bidding's over—why is your team still holding a meeting?"

Pei Yichuan said: "Just discussing follow-up work."

"Oh." Jiang Tian gestured at the pile of documents on his desk, resigned: "I still have a heap of work; I won't go out for lunch, I'll just order takeout to get by."

"Fine, then I won't bother you." Pei Yichuan got up and left.

Jiang Tian watched his retreating back, inexplicably feeling uneasy, wondering if he'd notice something—"Wait a moment." He couldn't suppress the anxiety welling up inside and called out to Pei Yichuan.

Pei Yichuan turned back, hearing him ask himself: "I heard your design proposal was stolen—what's going on?"

Pei Yichuan smirked inwardly: "Can't hide it anymore, huh?"

He kept his face calm, shrugged: "Who knows what happened? Anyway, Xia Gong salvaged the situation, Present Cypress gained nothing, so let's just leave it at that. What else could we do? Even if we wanted to investigate, we have no leads."

"That's true."

Jiang Tian gave a half-hearted agreement, secretly letting out a sigh of relief.

Meanwhile, Xia Xi called Zhang Wanli; as soon as he answered, he spoke in a sarcastic, mocking tone, devoid of earlier politeness: "Oh, Xia Gong, how do you have time to call me? Shouldn't you be busy signing the contract with the Xu Clan? Yesterday I forgot to congratulate you."

Xia Xi didn't bother with false pleasantries, getting straight to the point: "Do you know where you lost?"

"What do you want to say?" Zhang Wanli's voice suddenly turned cold and stern.

"What do you think made us come up with a second proposal?" Xia Xi didn't spell it out, leaving room for his imagination.

Zhang Wanli took the bait, conjuring a conspiracy—after he'd approached Xia Xi that day, she had refused, and anticipating he'd try someone else, she turned the tables, setting a trap: she gave him a fake design proposal, while the real one was the very one she demonstrated in the bidding!

"Deputy General Manager Zhang, you're quite clever."

Xia Xi threw out the remark without preamble, then let out a short laugh and hung up.

The best course, of course, is to let them fight like dogs; now Zhang Wanli believes Jiang Tian is a mole for Broad and Elegant, deliberately setting a trap for Present Cypress, and will likely fly into a rage seeking Jiang Tian to settle the score.

Still worried Jiang Tian won't show his hoof? (End of chapter)