Chapter 556: Respected Mr. Lin

The two women were both shocked and suspicious, exchanging a glance: What should they do?

As if they shared a telepathic connection, the same thought occurred to both: Should they notify Smith and let him run for it?

As long as he ran, it wouldn't implicate the two of them...

The thought had barely emerged before it grew like wild, overgrown grass, instantly filling their consciousness.

As if by prior agreement, both women took out their phones at the same time.

Sun Rui hesitated for a moment: "Director Yao, you call!"

After all, the other party was trained in law and was more professional than her.

Now was not the time for deferring, and Yao Funing did not shirk the responsibility.

The call went through, but an electronic voice answered: "Sorry, the number you have dialed cannot be reached."

The two of them then remembered: earlier, while speaking with Sun Rui, Smith had smashed his phone in a fit of rage.

Yao Funing flipped through the contact list: "Who did Smith take with him to Beijing?"

Sun Rui's mouth hung open: she didn't even know Smith had gone to Beijing, so how would she know who he took?

A flash of inspiration struck her: "Director Yao, call the driver!"

Oh right: the company had several cars; it was impossible for Smith to have taken a taxi.

Yao Funing called Smith's dedicated driver.

The first time it went unanswered, but when she called a second time, the phone actually rang in the hallway.

Immediately after, the sound of leather shoes stepping across the floor followed. Then, with a "bang," the office door was pushed open.

He was around fifty, with blonde hair and blue eyes, a straight and narrow nose bridge, a long and narrow face, cold white skin, and faint freckles visible.

His hands and feet were large, his build burly—a typical Anglo.

His expression, however, was not very pleasant: his brows were tightly furrowed, his gaze cold and sharp, piercing over like a knife.

Sun Rui's heart skipped a beat, and she subconsciously shrank back.

Yao Funing was so angry she felt like vomiting blood: she only knew how to hide, where was that usual flirtatious charm of hers?

Besides, you were about to go to prison, where could you possibly hide?

Glaring at Sun Rui, Yao Funing picked up the two documents and handed them to Smith:

"President, these were just delivered by the Police. There are four in total; two are at the Exit and Entry Administration, and two are at the Foreign Affairs..."

After a slight pause, she looked outside the door again, as if no one was there.

Yao Funing lowered her voice: "President, yesterday General Manager Han called to say there are some technical issues in Shenzhen that need to be resolved, and it is very urgent. Do you think you should go over and take a look?"

General Manager Han was indeed in Shenzhen, and he had indeed encountered a technical difficulty. But the company had a director specifically in charge of technology; why would he, the President, need to make the trip?

Yao Funing's meaning was for him to go out and hide. If he could sneak out of the country, that would be best.

It wasn't a good idea, and it was quite clumsy, but it was still better than Sun Rui, who lost her head the moment something went wrong.

After a quick scan, Smith placed the documents on the table. His expression was very calm, as if he were not surprised at all.

Yao Funing looked suspicious: "President, you knew?"

If he hadn't known, he wouldn't have been in such a rush to return.

Smith waved his hand: "I came back by plane!"

Yao Funing was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized.

These two documents were delivered today, and the Notice of Case Filing bore the stamp of the Beijing Police Department. This meant that the decision for these two notices had been made at least yesterday, or even earlier.

Since a criminal case had already been filed against Smith, the police must have been tracking his movements. This meant that yesterday when Smith went to Beijing, and today when Smith returned from Beijing, the police knew everything.

If the police wanted to summon him, they could do so anytime, anywhere.

This also meant that Smith was currently under full police surveillance; he couldn't escape even if he wanted to.

If he really did try to escape, it would only waste the time the consul had worked so hard to secure for him.

Smith shook his head: "No need to hide, and no need to worry, your problems are not that big!"

Both women breathed a simultaneous sigh of relief: if the President said the problem wasn't big, then it definitely wasn't.

Sun Rui was a general assistant in name, but in reality, she was Smith's lover and Public Relations Manager. Liu Anhua had indeed asked her for favors; sometimes it was delivering money, and sometimes it was delivering people.

Whether it was bribery with money or sexual bribery, it was all bribery, and domestic law was relatively lenient on this. Moreover, Sun Rui was just following orders; aside from delivering gifts and collecting a little "hardship fee," she hadn't participated in anything else, so at most, it would be a fine and a suspended sentence.

Yao Funing's problem was slightly more serious: in addition to using the Saishi Company legal team to provide legal assistance to Liu Anhua's Smuggling ring, she was also involved in forging legal documents.

But likewise, she was also following orders. As long as she insisted that Liu Anhua did not specify that she should commit forgery when providing the documents and materials, she would at most be sentenced to six months to a year.

After she got out, even if her lawyer's license was revoked, Saishi would still arrange things for her, even if it was just a nominal position.

Otherwise, she would tear the roof off Saishi.

Smith's problem was more serious:

First was commercial espionage and duty-related crimes: half of the institutions that originally intended to order instruments from overseas through Saishi Company had been directed to Liu Anhua by him. For half of these, Liu Anhua had ordered refurbished equipment in the name of Saishi Company.

Smith could not deny this point: every single time, Liu Anhua had sent him money.

Secondly: money laundering.

Nearly one-third of Liu Anhua's dirty money was laundered through the purchasing channels of Saishi Company; this point was even harder to deny, as it could be verified at the bank.

But there was one point: Liu Anhua was the second-ranking Vice President of Saishi Company, responsible for sales and finance, and reported directly to Smith. Since it was an illegal operation, Smith wouldn't be stupid enough to sign anything, so there was room to argue with Liu Anhua. He could completely claim he was unaware and that it was all Liu Anhua acting on his own.

Then it would depend on how the Judge ruled.

According to professional analysis, in the best case, about a year; in the worst case, at most three years.

A suspended sentence was impossible; it would definitely be actual prison time, so Smith was destined to serve time.

However, this prison time could have originally been avoided.

It was all that idiot Sun Rui's fault...

At the thought of this, Smith was so angry he felt like he was going insane; he grabbed Sun Rui by the hair and slapped her hard across the face.

With a crisp "slap," Sun Rui let out a sharp cry and stumbled to the floor.

She looked as if she had been stunned, her eyes brimming with tears: "General Manager!"

"Fool... idiot..."

Smith lunged forward again, but was held back tightly by Yao Funing: "General Manager, calm down... If you beat her too hard, what will you do if she goes crazy?" Hearing this, Smith calmed down significantly.

Sun Rui was the Public Relations Manager and held much evidence of bribery by Saishi Company. And every single time, it had been at Smith's instruction...

Smith gritted his teeth: "That young man came to the company to negotiate; why didn't you inform me?"

Sun Rui sobbed, not knowing how to argue her case.

She couldn't very well say that she was used to being overbearing and hadn't taken a small, pathetic Center seriously at all, could she?

She could only admit her fault: "General Manager, I was wrong..."

What good would that do?

Smith kicked out at her, and Sun Rui dodged in fear.

Yao Funing braced the foreigner's waist, using all her strength: "General Manager... General Manager, calm down... Sit down first, I will go call General Manager He (Financial Director) to see if there is any way to remedy this..."

Remedy, my foot.

Liu Anhua had said everything that could and could not be said, including the company, Smith, and Liu Anhua's own secret accounts.

Now, aside from going through diplomatic procedures and stalling for a few days, they could only hope for the lawyer to perform exceptionally and the Judge to show mercy.

Anything else would be completely useless...

Smith sat down nonetheless, breathing heavily.

Yao Funing stroked his chest to soothe him and gave a look; Sun Rui understood, and turned on the coffee machine.

"General Manager, what exactly happened?"

Smith gritted his teeth: "That young man has the Backdoor Key for the software systems of Keyence, Bruker, Agilent, Elmer, and Saishi..."

Yao Funing was stunned for a moment.

At first, she was somewhat skeptical: these five were all instrument and equipment companies; Keyence was in Japan, mainly researching laser inspection equipment and high-precision microscopic instruments.

Bruker was a German company, but its headquarters were in the United States, mainly researching nuclear magnetic resonance and X-ray instruments.

Agilent and Elmer were both American companies; the former researched mass spectrometry and Spectrum, while the latter researched chromatography and infrared imaging.

Saishi was them, mainly researching component analysis.

These five were all World Top 500 enterprises, giants in the field of scientific research instruments. How could a young man from China possibly have the system Backdoor Key for all five?

But then, a flash of inspiration crossed her mind, and Yao Funing opened her mouth wide: "Liu... Vice President Liu... gave it to him?"

Smith shook his head: Was Liu Anhua crazy?

"It was when the engineers under Liu Anhua were performing performance verification, using programming code to simulate the Operating Logic of the Third Generation Machine, that they were discovered by that young man..."

Just discovered?

Yao Funing was even more confused: Without knowing the program code or the Operating Logic, that stuff was no different from a heavenly book; how did he understand it? Let alone, how could he understand all five?

"He hired a hacker!" Smith snorted coldly, "And at the time, the Password Lock for all the equipment systems were in an open state..." Yao Funing's expression changed: How was this any different from leaving the door wide open and inviting a thief inside?

Seeing whatever he wanted to see, stealing whatever he wanted to steal, and deciphering it however he wanted to decipher it...

Yao Funing finally understood why Liu Anhua was unwilling to meet with the consul.

And why, before the diplomatic procedures were even finished, he had voluntarily confessed everything, leaving nothing out, for fear that the Judge would not give him a heavy sentence?

Because the engineers Liu Anhua arranged to simulate the operating system of the Third Generation Machine on the First Generation Machine were all using Maintenance Key authorized to Saishi by the major companies.

But he used them to defraud customers, selling refurbished equipment as brand-new, latest-model equipment. And, he did it in the name of Saishi Company? What a massive scandal this was!

If this were exposed, these companies, including Saishi Instruments, would all cancel their maintenance and technical training partnerships with Saishi Purchasing Company.

It wouldn't just be domestic; it would likely be global business. Because these five companies could not afford the massive loss that would cause customer trust to drop to zero. There was no other way; they would have to let Saishi take the fall.

Not to mention anything else, just looking at Saishi Company: the losses would be at least in the tens of billions, in US dollars or Euros.

But let's be clear: Saishi is capital, a giant, not a state-owned enterprise like in China where you just serve time and it's over. With such a huge loss, someone must be held responsible, even if that person cannot pay a single cent.

So, ask Liu Anhua: after he gets out of prison, does he dare return to the United States?

But it wasn't a matter of whether he wanted to return or not: according to the repatriation treaty, as soon as he was released, the diplomatic and judicial personnel of his home country would take him back. It meant that the moment he left prison, Liu Anhua wouldn't even be able to see his family one last time.

As the old saying goes: it is better to live in misery than to die...

Therefore, if he wanted to survive, or live a little longer, there was only one way: stay in a Chinese prison.

But the problem was, this wasn't the first time Liu Anhua had done such a thing; nothing had ever gone wrong before, so why did he capsize this time? Yao Funing was stunned for a long time: "Those instruments are so advanced, how... how did he discover it?"

The "he" here referred to Lin Sicheng.

Smith shook his head: "I don't know!"

According to the memories of the technicians who were released: during the acceptance, this Center hired an Expert, but they basically didn't understand anything.

Including this young man surnamed Lin, who also appeared very unprofessional.

But at the final acceptance stage, he suddenly turned hostile, not only bringing a hacker but also the Police.

As for how he discovered it, the technicians didn't know either.

Smith didn't know either if, had Sun Rui reported to him normally, he would have met with Lin Sicheng.

But he was at least certain: as long as he saw him, that young man would definitely use the key as a bargaining chip to negotiate with him.

If others didn't understand, did he not understand either?

Never mind full compensation, even double compensation, Smith would have been willing...

But it was too late for regrets.

Glaring at Sun Rui, Smith pinched the bridge of his nose:

"You go find General Manager He and align your stories: what should be said and what should not. Of course, don't worry; even if you are sentenced, it won't be for long. When you get out, the company will arrange everything for you..."

This was not something they were worried about; there was no need to mention the finance and legal departments, as they held all the leverage needed to flip the table.

Even the most useless one who participated the least, Sun Rui, could force Saishi to suspend operations for a year or a year and a half if she went crazy.

Therefore, going to jail is not scary; it could even be considered a benefit.

"General Manager, what about you?"

Smith let out a breath: "I have to wait for the company's negotiation results!"

"Negotiations? With the government, with the public security bureau?"

"No!" Smith shook his head, "With that young man, his name is Lin Sicheng!"

Yao Funing understood: the company intended to suppress everything within Saishi.

At the very least, they could not let the five giants know that the Vice President of Saishi Purchasing had used their authorized keys and the name of Saishi Purchasing to defraud customers of tens of billions.

That is why the public security bureau had not summoned Smith, because to Saishi, he was still useful.

"General Manager, what price needs to be paid?"

"I don't know, and I am not the one presiding over it!" Smith spread his hands, "It is the Asia region General Manager, Li Zhengwu!"

After replying, Smith grabbed the desk phone and called the President's office:

"Notify the Hilton Hotel to reserve six suites and one conference room... and draft an invitation letter in the company's name. Use bilingual text, and pay attention to the wording: Respected Mr. Lin..."