Chapter 341

Li Ye held the phone, having waited a long time.

Making an overseas call from Southeast Asia to mainland China in 1984 was extremely difficult, requiring multiple transfers, and the line would often drop mid-call, forcing you to redial and reconnect.

After a long while, a familiar voice finally came through: "Hello, this is the Beijing office of Pengcheng Factory Seven. Who is calling?"

Li Ye said: "I'm Li Ye. I need to speak to Jin Peng—immediately, right now."

"Oh oh, wait a sec! I'll go call him for you!"

The person on the other end hung up and went out to call for someone; Li Ye heard the sound of a motorcycle starting through the line, and couldn't help feeling exasperated.

The communication conditions these days were truly frustrating.

Fortunately, Jin Peng wasn't far away—he answered the call within minutes. If it had taken half an hour to reach someone, the line would've dropped long ago.

"Ah, Xiao Ye! Aren't you supposed to be in Lijia Po? Why are you calling?"

"Jin Peng, don't ask now—go find my sister right away. She's either at Zaojun Temple, or at Chen's Noodle Shop, or possibly in Zhongguancun. I'm giving you one hour. I'll call back after that."

"What? Xiao Ye, is something urgent? Hello? Hello?"

"What's going on?"

Jin Peng shouted for a long time before realizing Li Ye had hung up.

But he didn't dare delay—he yelled to the office staff: "Xiao Wu, ride your motorcycle to Chen's Noodle Shop and check if Li Yue is there. Liu Liu, go to Zaojun Temple. I'll head to Zhongguancun."

A boss gives an order, and the subordinates run themselves ragged—Li Ye's single phone call turned the entire Beijing office of Pengcheng Factory Seven upside down.

Li Ye hung up the phone and stepped outside, where Pei Wencong had already bought late-night snacks and fruit.

He walked over, sat down, and ate while saying: "Tell me more about the chaos in the Fu family. What did the court decide?"

Pei Wencong said: "The court hasn't ruled yet, but Fu Yinglun's will is very clear—it shouldn't lead to any surprises. But Fu Corporation is a family business, and there's plenty of messy internal drama."

"Originally, Fu Yinglun and his older brother Fu Yinglü worked together in Malaya—Fu Yinglü ran the timber business, while Fu Yinglun ran the beverage business."

"Later, the older brother made a bad judgment and nearly went bankrupt; Fu Yinglun invested to rescue them, merged both companies into Fu Corporation, and took seventy-five percent of the shares—absolute control."

"Now that Fu Yinglun is dead, his daughter Fu Guiyin inherited forty-five percent, Fu Zhiman inherited twenty-six percent, and Ms. Fu Guiru should have four percent."

Pei Wencong, having worked in publishing for many years, explained this to Li Ye in great detail.

That means Fu Guiru's adopted son holds twenty-six percent—if those shares go to the elder brother Fu Yinglü, control of Fu Corporation will shift from the second branch to the first.

Conversely, if those twenty-six percent go to Fu Yinglun's biological daughter, she'll hold seventy-one percent—meaning an adopted son has been holding the reins of Fu Corporation.

That's very contradictory.

Li Ye said: "Didn't the private detective find out why Fu Zhiman, the adopted son, is so highly favored?"

"No one could find out, but actually, you don't need to investigate," Pei Wencong said. "By normal reasoning, Fu Zhiman is almost certainly Fu Guiyin's illegitimate son."

"."

Li Ye stared at Pei Wencong: "What do you mean 'normal reasoning'? You didn't hire a detective—you came up with this all on your own?"

"No, Mr. Li—I hired the best private detective, which is precisely how I reached this conclusion."

Pei Wencong said: "Fu Guiyin was always a wild child, famous in the flower-growing circles of Johor. Then she suddenly vanished for half a year."

"Fu Guiru adopted the infant Fu Zhiman around that same time."

"So now many people suspect Fu Zhiman is Fu Guiyin's child—only that can explain the Fu family's bizarre share distribution."

"."

Li Ye rubbed his forehead: "If your theory is right, then why is Fu Guiru even fighting? The real mother and son are right there."

"I don't know," Pei Wencong said. "But Fu Corporation's current scale is entirely due to Fu Guiru as general manager. Fu Yinglun stopped managing affairs ten years ago, and Fu Guiyin spends her days traveling the world."

Li Ye stretched his neck, then suddenly asked: "How big is Fu Corporation exactly?"

Pei Wencong quickly flipped open his notebook and checked: "Starting last autumn, they began negotiations with the Lin family of Malaya, who valued them at thirty-five million."

"But because of the recent Fu family troubles, the Lin family seems to have paused their cooperation plan."

"Thirty-five million U. . dollars? That's quite a bit!"

Li Ye hadn't expected his own relative to control such a large company.

"Ahem, Mr. Li—it's thirty-five million Malaysian ringgit, which converts to less than ten million U. . dollars."

"."

Li Ye gave Pei Wencong a cold, irritated look: "When I discuss business with you, when have I ever used any currency other than U. . dollars?"

"Hehe~ hehe~"

Pei Wencong felt wronged—how many days had it been since he became rich? Ten million U. . dollars wasn't even anything anymore?

Hmm, Boss, keep going—maybe three or five hundred million won't mean anything to you!

Li Yue was rushed to the Beijing office of Pengcheng Factory Seven by Jin Peng, nervously guarding the black telephone.

She knew her younger brother Li Ye hadn't returned from Lijia Po —so why was he suddenly calling for her? What had happened?

"Ring ring ring~"

The phone rang—Li Yue snatched up the receiver: "Hello? Is that Xiao Ye?"

"It's me, sis. I have something to ask you."

"What is it? Go ahead."

Hearing Li Ye's casual tone, Li Yue's tense heart eased by half.

But Li Ye's next words made her heart clench painfully.

"When was the last time you saw… our mother?"

"Wasn't it mid-January? You and I left Qingshui County together. You're calling just to ask about that?"

Li Yue was annoyed—she'd been so worried moments ago!

"No…"

Li Ye squeezed the receiver, exhaled, and said: "I mean… our real mother."

"."

Silence filled the line—but Li Ye knew it hadn't disconnected; Li Yue had simply been struck speechless.

After a long pause, Li Yue's voice, trembling with sobs, came through: "Did you get possessed? You called all the way from Southeast Asia just to ask about our mother? Waaaah~"

Li Ye's heart grew heavy too.

He stuck to his prepared script: "I came to Lijia Po for a cultural exchange event, and suddenly got inspiration—I want to write a short story… and need authentic material."

"Well, at least you still have a conscience."

Li Yue wiped her nose and tears with her sleeve, voice choked: "It was the fifteenth day of the first lunar month in '67. The last time I saw our mother—she bought me a little lantern."

"I saw her crying and asked why. She said the wind was too cold and made her eyes water. I was too busy admiring my new lantern and didn't hold her. Later, Dad and I searched the seaside all night—you just slept through it. Waaaah~"

Li Yue cried for a long while before finally stopping.

"I don't remember much—I was only six and a half. If you want to write it, ask Dad—he never talked about it before, but now if you ask, he won't dare refuse. Hey? Hello?"

He didn't speak up before, but now that you're asking him, he dares not stay silent, right? Hey, hey?

Li Yue suddenly heard nothing from the line and panicked.

But panic did no good—Li Ye had hung up.

Li Yue shouted for a long time, then turned to Jin Peng: "Why are you just standing there? Call him back right now!"

Jin Peng kept pursing his lips, swallowing saliva, and slowly sliding along the wall toward the door.

"Uh, Xiao Yue… I don't have that number."

"That little Yue—I don't have the phone number over there."

"Crash~"

The phone receiver was smashed into two pieces.

Jin Peng "whooshed" out the door, sprinted to his car, started the engine, and sped off.

They'd all trained under the same master—everyone knew each other's tempers. Who didn't have a fiery side sometimes?

Otherwise, with Li Yue's 9. /10 heavenly beauty, why had Jin Peng, who lived right next door, never once entertained a single improper thought?

Otherwise, with Li Yue's heavenly 9. beauty score, why had Jin Peng, who was right next to her, never entertained the slightest improper thought?

Li Ye didn't know Li Yue had exploded on the other end—he only knew he'd obtained the vital clue he needed.

Fu Guiru left Daocheng in January '67, arrived in Malaya, and gave birth to Fu Yiruo in September—nearly nine months apart.

Fu Guiru left Daocheng in the first month of 1967 and gave birth to Fu Yiruo in September that autumn in Malaysia, a gap of nearly nine months.

Then Fu Yiruo resembled Li Ye by six or seven tenths; Li Ye resembled Fu Guiru by six or seven tenths; Li Ye also resembled Li Kaijian by several tenths. a=b=c—the probability of blood relation was extremely high.

Then Fu Yiruo resembled Li Ye by six or seven tenths, Li Ye resembled Fu Guiru by six or seven tenths, and Li Ye also resembled Li Kaijian by several tenths—so a=b=c, the probability of blood relation was extremely high.

"Yes, Mr. Li, what is it?"

Li Ye said: "You just told me Fu Corporation's cooperation with the Lin family isn't going well?"

Pei Wencong said: "Yes. The Lin family never held Fu Corporation in high regard. Though Fu Corporation is large in Johor, there are many such companies in Malaya—and even more across Southeast Asia."

"And now, because of the inheritance dispute, the Lin family has likely realized the instability within the Fu family, so they're even less eager to cooperate."

"Then let's cooperate with Fu Corporation," Li Ye said coolly. "Register a company as soon as possible and approach them. Don't ask why—I only want control of Fu Corporation. If you're not interested, just use my share of the funds—I'll pay you a proper commission."

"Then let's partner with Fu Corporation," Li Ye said coolly. "Register a company as soon as possible and approach Fu Corporation for cooperation."

"Mr. Li, you're joking. How could I not be interested? I'll handle it tomorrow. As soon as there's progress, I'll report to you immediately."

Li Ye couldn't help saying: "Damn, aren't you afraid of losing money following me?"

"Mr. Li, you're joking—how could I possibly not be interested? I'll handle it tomorrow and report to you as soon as I have any leads."

Li Ye couldn't help saying, "Dude, aren't you afraid of losing money following me?"

Pei Wencong smiled but said nothing.

【Boss, how could I ever lose money following you? Even if I did, there's no shortage of people who'd follow you, you know.】

Pei Wencong's attitude toward Li Ye now was unquestioning blind obedience.

And it wasn't just him.

Fan Xiuling from Fenghua Clothing Design Studio now spent every day trying to get closer to Li Ye, but Pei Wencong held her firmly back.

Now that the boss has a project, you're not going to join?

You absolutely have to join!

A fortune of cosmic proportions—what are you hesitating for?

Today was lucky—we finally paid off this month's debts, but I still owe Master Hansohee two more updates, Master Pharcyde three more, and two more for the other patrons who tipped me. I'll pay them back slowly. At least if I stop the debt from growing, there's still hope!