Chapter 872

Mortal Hotel, presidential suite.

Ye Jiaying, just finished showering, had her hair coiled at the back of her head, wrapped in the hotel's white bathrobe. When Lin Dongfan pushed the door open, a wave of shower gel fragrance hit him.

"So fast? I thought you'd need at least half an hour."

"No traffic on the way."

Lin Dongfan closed the door, turned to look at Ye Jiaying, and his gaze involuntarily swept over her from head to toe.

Her mature temperament was fully manifested on Ye Jiaying.

Lin Dongfan tossed his briefcase onto the table, saw the opened red wine there, and casually poured half a glass to drink as water.

"What's with the bruise on your knee?"

This offhand question embarrassed Ye Jiaying.

Ye Jiaying lowered her head to glance at her knee: "When did you become so attentive? You actually care about my knee. You got it in the car when you took me to the airport a few days ago, you forgot?"

Recalling the scene in the car last time, Lin Dongfan didn't say anything more.

He took a quick look.

Several documents were spread on the coffee table, the laptop was on, and a bottle of medicine sat beside it; Lin Dongfan instinctively picked up the medicine bottle to examine it.

"What are you looking at?"

Ye Jiaying sat on Lin Dongfan's leg, affectionately wrapping her arms around his neck: "This is stomach medicine; I've been tired from traveling back and forth, and my old ailment has flared up."

"I'm smoking, don't sit on my leg, or you'll get burned."

To prevent any accident, Lin Dongfan instinctively extended his right hand holding the cigarette outward.

"Okay."

Ye Jiaying giggled, kissed Lin Dongfan on the cheek, then sat opposite him and poured two more glasses of romantic red wine.

Lin Dongfan got straight to the point: "Regarding Huang Jintang, how do you plan to talk to him?"

"I had someone look into him; Huang Jintang is not simple."

Ye Jiaying pushed a glass of red wine toward Lin Dongfan.

She continued: "He appears to be a law-abiding contractor, but in reality he's a habitual offender. Over the past five years, relying on the Zhao Group's big tree in Wuzhou, he secured seven or eight municipal projects. For each project he used the same scheme—overstating work volume, cutting corners, substituting inferior materials, and finally demanding extra budget."

Lin Dongfan raised his eyebrows slightly: "Did Zhao Tianyu know about this while he was alive?"

"Of course he knew."

Ye Jiaying said: "Whenever Huang Jintang landed a municipal project, he gave Zhao Tianyu a kickback. Nominally it was profit sharing, but actually it was benefit transfer."

"I had someone check Zhao Tianyu's private accounts."

Over the past few years, Huang Jintang paid him no less than 400 million. That money went through underground lenders or shell companies, but the source always pointed to Huang Jintang.

Upon hearing that, Lin Dongfan was not surprised; Zhao and Huang had always been in cahoots.

Ye Jiaying chuckled: "That 120 million yuan guarantee deposit, nominally paid to the Zhao Group, was actually Zhao Tianyu's kickback money. Now Zhao Tianyu is dead, the Zhao Group has been acquired by our Mortal Group, and Huang Jintang has lost the big tree to rely on. He's unwilling to accept it, so he wants to recover that 120 million loss from me."

"He sure knows how to settle accounts," Lin Dongfan remarked with a smile.

Ye Jiaying handed Lin Dongfan the document on the coffee table: "This is a list of projects Huang Jintang secured over the years through the Zhao Group; each one has issues."

"For the Cloud Peak Mountain Villa project, he at least inflated the work volume by 30%."

"The materials listed in the contract were supposed to be imported, but he actually used locally made high-quality knockoffs; the price difference went straight into his and Zhao Tianyu's pockets."

Lin Dongfan listened to Ye Jiaying while flipping through the document.

The further he read, the colder his gaze became.

Upon finishing, Lin Dongfan slammed the document onto the table: "This is enough to have him wear out the bottom of his cell."

"I suggest you don't act rashly against him yet," Ye Jiaying said. "If he's locked up now, the Cloud Peak Mountain Villa project will truly rot in the ground. Wait until the project is finished, then settle accounts later. First, it ensures the project schedule; second, it makes fewer enemies, helping you establish a foothold in Wuzhou."

Lin Dongfan nodded in deep agreement.

If they really moved against Huang Jintang, the net wouldn't catch just him; related approval and supervision departments would be dragged in as well, inevitably causing collateral damage.

Right now, what's more important is to concentrate efforts on major tasks and first get the project back to work.

Lin Dongfan asked: "Have you arranged a meeting with Huang Jintang?"

"I've set a talk with him for tomorrow morning," Ye Jiaying said, lifting her red wine and taking a slight sip, apparently enamored, gazing tenderly at Lin Dongfan: "Do you want to go take a shower?"

"Okay."

Lin Dongfan downed the wine in his glass in one gulp.

In other hotels, Lin Dongfan always behaved cautiously, never daring to unleash his nature. But the Mortal Hotel is different—this is his own turf, where he can completely let loose and go all out.

Soft jade and warm fragrance, a sleepless night.

The next morning at nine o'clock.

Ye Jiaying chose to meet Huang Jintang in the reception room of the Mortal Hotel; Lin Dongfan did not appear, monitoring everything in the meeting room from the surveillance screen in the adjacent room.

The door was pushed open, and Huang Jintang entered the reception room.

Today Huang Jintang came alone without an assistant, his bald head beading with fine sweat, his smile carrying a hint of lecherousness.

"Ms. Ye, sorry to keep you waiting," Huang Jintang said as he sat opposite, scanning the reception room: "Didn't the government send a representative?"

"Do you really want the government to send a representative?"

Ye Jiaying's offhand question immediately embarrassed Huang Jintang, making him grin sheepishly, his guilt showing on his face.

Huang Jintang said: "I also think there's no need to alarm the government; we can settle this privately. It's like kids fighting—if you run to your parents every time, it shows poor stature."

"You really know how to make analogies."

As they chatted, noticing Huang Jintang's eyes darting around, Ye Jiaying calmly crossed her legs and said: "Mr. Huang, cut to the chase—are you resuming work or not?"

Seeing her legs crossed, Huang Jintang grudgingly withdrew his lecherous gaze.

He put on an embarrassed look.

He began to complain: "Ms. Ye, it's not that I don't want to start work; I simply can't. I paid a 120 million yuan guarantee deposit, which is no small sum. Now your group refuses to recognize that money, which means I've essentially thrown 120 million down the drain. The total profit from the whole project isn't even 120 million."

"According to your meaning, if I don't help you fill that 120 million hole, you won't work?" Ye Jiaying stared at the bald thief Huang Jintang without hurry or panic.

Huang Jintang grinned, showing a big yellow tooth stained with smoke, and said with a smile: "President Ye, it's not that I, Huang, don't know how to appreciate favors. You're a big businessman, you should understand. We in construction fear most a broken capital chain. That 120 million is real money I paid out; now that Zhao Group is gone, who can I go to for it?"

Ye Jiaying smiled:

"President Huang, today I didn't have the government send a representative to mediate—that's already giving you plenty of face, sincerely leaving you a way out; don't refuse a toast only to drink the penalty."

Upon hearing this, Huang Jintang's face changed abruptly.

Huang Jintang weakly and doubtfully gazed at Ye Jiaying: "President Ye, you... what does this mean? I'm a bit confused..."

"Those shady dealings between you and Zhao Tianyu may fool others, but not me." Ye Jiaying spoke bluntly, applying pressure: "Now I give you two options: either you honestly finish the project, no tricks with me; or I'll send you to prison to enjoy your old age. You choose."