Chapter 707: Just Woke Up, Already Dealing a Finishing Blow

In the ICU, the instruments ticked regularly.

Li Hengbo felt as if he were sinking in icy seawater, his consciousness alternating between clarity and haze.

Faint sobs and murmured conversation reached his ears.

And...

The clatter of a golden cane hitting the floor, the image of shareholders raising their hands to vote, and Lin Dongfan's cold face.

"No!"

He flung his eyes open, his chest heaving violently, tugging at the monitoring lines on his body.

"Boss! You're awake!"

He Qixing, who had been guarding the bedside, hurriedly pressed the call button for a doctor, his face showing undisguised joy and worry.

Li Hengbo stared blankly at the ceiling.

A few seconds later.

Memory surged back like a tide.

The board…31%…largest shareholder…unanimously passed…Ye Jiaying acting as chairman…

"Pfft—"

Another mouthful of bloody sputum spewed from the corner of his mouth, staining the white sheets red.

"Doctor! Quick!"

He Qixing instantly panicked, even if it was an act he played it to the hilt, thinking, You can't die—if you do, where will I find a job paying a million a year?

The attending doctor rushed in with a nurse.

After an examination.

The doctor let out a breath: "Stress-induced gastric bleeding from internal heat has been temporarily controlled. But Mr. Li's blood pressure and heart rate are extremely unstable; he cannot take any further stimulation."

The doctor paused.

Seeing Li Hengbo regain his composure, the doctor added, "Mr. Li, you must keep your emotions steady; your heart and blood vessels can't withstand another shock like this."

"!!!"

Li Hengbo seemed not to have heard.

He slowly turned his eyes toward He Qixing, his voice hoarse like a broken bellows: "Company… how is it now?"

He Qixing's face stiffened, and he hemmed and hawed, afraid to answer.

"Speak!"

Li Hengbo growled low, tugging at his wound, breaking out in cold sweat from the pain.

"Lin Dongfan has fully taken over Rebirth Group while you were unconscious," He Qixing said, lowering his head, his voice dwindling: "Ye Jiaying, as acting chairman, held the first board meeting this morning, restructuring the executive team. Most of your people have been purged, and the few who remain have been sidelined…"

"And Xu Yaqiu?"

Li Hengbo suddenly asked, a flash of malice in his eyes.

If it weren't for that bitch providing the client list…

"Madam… no, Xu Yaqiu…"

He Qixing stammered: "She yesterday afternoon had already entrusted a lawyer to file for divorce and property division with the court, and furthermore…"

"And what else? Speak!"

Li Hengbo truly didn't take the doctor's orders to heart, and this impatient anger wouldn't subside.

He Qixing replied awkwardly: "She… provided the Economic Investigation Bureau with some supplementary materials about your overseas accounts and related transactions."

"Hahaha…" Li Hengbo suddenly burst out laughing, his laughter shrill and desperate: "Great! Want to play kick-the-man-while-he's-down? Hope to trample me? Damn it! Bitch…"

He laughed and laughed, but tears slipped from the corners of his eyes.

Reborn one!

Seer!

But why is this?

Why did he, Li Hengbo, end up losing in the end?

"I won't accept it! I won't accept it…" Li Hengbo gripped the sheets till his nails almost dug into his palms: "I still have a chance… I still have…"

"Boss, there's one more thing." He Qixing steeled himself, voice dropping even lower: "Just now… Lin Dongfan sent someone over with a fruit basket."

Li Hengbo blinked: "A fruit basket?"

"It's placed outside the nurse's station." He Qixing wore a strange expression: "Inside… there's also a card."

"Bring it over!" Li Hengbo hissed.

A few minutes later, the plain white card was delivered into Li Hengbo's hands.

On it was a single line of printed regular script:

"Manager Li, rest and recover well; the medical fees can be deducted from this year's dividends. Oh right, I almost forgot to tell you—the board just passed a resolution to suspend the annual dividends and stock option grants for the original management. Poor bastard, rest easy, don't rush to leave the hospital; it's windy outside, watch out for a chill."

At the signature was a flourishing handwritten sign—Lin Dongfan.

"Damn!!!"

Li Hengbo let out a beast-like howl, tore the card to shreds, yanked out the IV needle in one pull, and blood spurted out.

"I'll kill him! Get someone to kill that dog Lin Dongfan!"

Medical staff rushed in to restrain him and injected a sedative.

Before his consciousness faded again, Li Hengbo's final thought was: Lin Dongfan is using a dull knife to carve his flesh, torturing him to death bit by bit.

……

At the same time, in the No. 1 building of the Wu Zhou Municipal Party Committee, the secretary's office.

Li Zhenyang stood by the window, his back slightly hunched. Outside, Wu Zhou's bustling nightscape glittered with neon lights and endless traffic, yet he felt not a shred of warmth.

Two reports lay on the desk.

One is an urgent briefing from the city concerning shareholding changes and operational adjustments at the Rebirth Group.

The other is a detailed record, personally delivered just now by his daughter Li Shuting, of the conversation in the hospital corridor with Lin Dongfan.

"Principal..."

Li Zhenyang murmured these two words repeatedly, his fingers unconsciously tapping the windowsill.

He knew all too well what these two words meant.

Duan Xinhua's disappearance, Duan Xiaobin's street‑side killing, Su Yuhong's death…

And over these years, the shady benefit transfers between him and Li Hengbo, and the cases he suppressed or distorted…

These are all the 'principal'.

Previously, these were the ropes Li Hengbo used to bind him, and also the lubricant of his power.

Now they have become the hatchet hanging over his head from Lin Dongfan.

"Secretary Li."

The secretary crept in, knocking softly: "Peng Tianhua of the inspection team… would like to meet you tomorrow morning to discuss some… procedural matters regarding the Xiaobin case."

Li Zhenyang's heart jolted.

Talk about procedural matters? What procedural matters! This is clearly a feint with the sword aimed at me!

"Go reply to him; I have a standing committee meeting tomorrow morning." Li Zhenyang quickly regained his composure, turned and said: "Please have him come to my office at three this afternoon."

"All right."

The secretary noted the content, then hesitated: "Also… Ms. Ye Jiaying, acting chairwoman of the Rebirth Group, conveyed through the city's Investment Promotion Bureau hopes to meet you soon to discuss… the compliance review and future investment intentions for the Group's projects in Wu Zhou."

"Compliance review."

Those five words once again made Li Zhenyang's eyelid twitch.

Who stands behind Ye Jiaying goes without saying.

This isn't about discussing investment—it's taking a magnifying glass to see if Li Zhenyang left any handles on the Rebirth Group projects!

"Arrange it—the sooner the better." Li Zhenyang wearily waved his hand.

The secretary withdrew.

The office fell silent again.

Li Zhenyang sat back in his chair, closed his eyes, and quickly weighed the pros and cons in his mind.

Protect Li Hengbo?

No longer possible.

The Rebirth Group has changed hands; Li Hengbo is abandoned by all and can't even protect himself.

Not to mention those murder cases—as long as Lin Dongfan keeps his grip, aided by forces from above, Li Hengbo's death is certain.

Head‑on against Lin Dongfan?

On what basis? With what?

Lin Dongfan has now cleared his name, holds the Rebirth Group, and has the Lin family's foundation behind him. Most importantly, he stands on the side of reason and law.

The Xiaobin murder case is ironclad evidence, and Li Hengbo's collusion with foreign intelligence agencies is likewise a thunderbolt.

If I stubbornly protect him, I'll only be dragged down together.

Cut off?

How to cut? How deep?

Li Zhenyang opened his eyes, a flash of ruthlessness crossing his gaze.

We must cut off, and do it cleanly—cut so that Lin Dongfan… at least for the moment finds no reason to continue targeting Li Zhenyang.

Having thought this through in silence,

Li Zhenyang picked up the phone and dialed a private number.

"It's me."

Li Zhenyang's voice low: "Regarding the materials on Hengbo… yes, compile them all. Remember, the focus is economic problems and underworld leads, especially the Xiaobin case… uh, the anonymous submission channel must be secure."

After hanging up, Li Zhenyang walked to the safe, entered the password, and took out a thick file folder.

Inside are the back‑up hands he has kept over the years.

——Records (in part) of Li Hengbo bribing him; some drunken remarks Li Hengbo made involving lives; and…… a backup recording of the last call between him and Duan Xinhua before his disappearance (edited version).

Handing these over would be enough to ruin Li Hengbo forever, while also allowing me to cast myself as a leader who was once deceived but ultimately upheld righteousness over kin.

Sacrificing the chariot to save the general—though it's a loss of eight hundred, at least it saves my life and position.

As for whether Lin Dongfan will be satisfied…

"All we can do is take it step by step." Li Zhenyang sighed, placed the file folder on the desk, and his gaze fell once more on that sentence from his daughter's record:

【Lin Dongfan said: "The precondition is that it be legal and compliant, able to withstand the test of time."】

This is a warning, and also… a glimmer of hope?

Li Zhenyang rubbed his brow and began drafting an outline for a speech on "Cooperating with the provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection's investigation, deepening the rectification of Wu Zhou's political and legal system."