Chapter 79: The Hearts of Men

"Xiaohu, be a good boy, eat one more bite of egg. Once you finish this bite, you don't have to eat any more."

Zheng Yingyong, wearing an apron and holding a stainless steel bowl, was chasing Li Ailing's son to feed him breakfast. Just then, the phone sitting on the TV cabinet rang. He happened to be right next to it, so he picked up the receiver and was somewhat surprised to find it was Di Ye calling. He said, "Xiao Ye, what's the matter, calling me so early?"

Di Ye didn't waste words and got straight to the point: "Zheng, Ren Yinglian has returned to Yuncheng. I'm afraid of being pestered by this shrew, so I plan to find her and make it clear that Ren Datou's death has nothing to do with me."

"Ren Yinglian is back?"

Zheng Yingyong was slightly startled. He put down the stainless steel bowl in his hand and said, choosing his words carefully, "Ren Datou was stabbed to death while fighting someone in the detention center; it already had nothing to do with you."

"But Ren Yinglian might not think so, so I have no choice but to prove my innocence. I've checked: the person who stabbed Ren Datou to death is named Li Gang. His wife was defiled by Ren Datou last year, so the two had a personal grudge."

"If that's the case, Ren Datou deserved to be stabbed to death! Why are you calling me instead of just going to tell Ren Yinglian directly about this?"

"I also found out that around 9:30 on the night of the incident, someone saw Manager Zhong go to find Li Gang. Afterward, Li Gang deliberately went out to drink and cause trouble, got himself locked in the detention center by the police, ended up in the same cell as Ren Datou, and stabbed him to death in the middle of the night."

Zheng Yingyong's expression turned grave, and he asked, "Where did you find this out?"

Di Ye let out a light chuckle over the phone, sounding completely in control, and explained, "Zheng, when I was the General Manager at Yingfeng, I traveled all over Yuncheng to open branches and dealt with all sorts of people every day. It's very easy to look into something if you want to. Ren Datou opened a dance hall over by the Chemical Plant and did a lot of dirty things, bullying men and women. Public resentment is high; it's clear as day if you just ask around."

At this moment, Li Ailing walked out of the bedroom, fully dressed, and asked, "Who's calling so early?"

Zheng Yingyong didn't answer; he just waved his hand to let her go take care of their son, who was playing with Transformers on the sofa. Then, turning his back to Li Ailing, he whispered, "You're going to tell Ren Yinglian about this?"

"Yes, otherwise how can I prove my innocence? Zheng, Manager Zhong is a major Shareholder of Yingfeng. If his household is in turmoil, it won't just affect his official career, but also Yingfeng's corporate image. That's why I'm communicating with you in advance, so as not to delay the shop's business."

Zheng Yingyong took a deep breath and asked, "When are you going to find Ren Yinglian?"

"I'm at the entrance of the Baihua New Village residential compound where Ren Yinglian lives right now. Manager Zhong just drove away a few minutes ago. Zheng, when do you think is the most appropriate time to talk?"

"Wait a moment, I have something to take care of here."

Zheng Yingyong hadn't expected Di Ye to be so swift and decisive, and he was caught off guard. Unable to make a decision for a moment, he looked up at the wall clock. After pondering for a few seconds, he covered the receiver and asked Li Ailing, "How much money did Zhong Rongke say yesterday he wanted to transfer out of the Yingfeng account?"

"He wants 8 million, and told me to transfer it to him before March 5th."

"That much?"

"Yes, it's too much! Mayor Wang thinks the VCD Players modified from CD Players are too low-end and it looks bad, so he wants us to bring in a batch of legitimate brand-name goods as soon as possible for government staff to trade in their old ones. A brand-name unit costs at least 3,000. Trading in old for new will definitely lose a huge amount of money. If we let him transfer another 8 million, the company won't be able to operate."

Hearing this, Zheng Yingyong immediately made up his mind. He released the receiver and said, "Xiao Ye, wait for me there. I'm coming to find you now."

Li Ailing heard the form of address and was somewhat surprised. She looked up and asked, "Was that Di Ye calling?"

Zheng Yingyong gave a grunt of affirmation, hung up the phone, and then untied his apron, changed into his jacket and shoes, and said, "Di Ye has a high IQ, a sharp mind, and acts decisively. He's bound to be an extraordinary person in the future. You should be a bit warmer to him from now on. When Xiaohu grows up, maybe he'll be able to get some help from him."

Li Ailing looked at his busy, short, and stout figure, and her cold expression softened a little. She said, "It's enough that Xiaohu has you to look after him."

Zheng Yingyong's previously troubled mood eased, and a smile appeared on his face. He said, "When Xiaohu grows up, he'll definitely have to do a proper job; I won't be able to look after him."

Baihua New Village is a residential area in the city center that was demolished and rebuilt. Its location is excellent, only six or seven hundred meters away from the Department Store Building. The street at the entrance of the compound is called Baihua Lane, filled with shops and restaurants, making life very convenient.

Di Ye found a breakfast stall, bought a bowl of soy milk, and sat at a table in front of the entrance, drinking and reading the newspaper. After waiting for about seven or eight minutes, he saw Zheng Yingyong drive up in a gray Santana. He put away the newspaper, walked to the roadside, and greeted him: "Zheng, you bought a new car."

Zheng Yingyong pushed the door open and got out, explaining, "I just bought it a couple of days ago. Yingfeng has too many branches; it's really inconvenient without a car."

"You're the General Manager, representing the face of Yingfeng. You should have bought an imported car."

"What face or no face? As long as it's enough to use. This car is sturdy and easy to repair; it's less of a headache than an imported car."

The two stood by the roadside, and after chatting for a few sentences about cars, Zheng Yingyong lit a cigarette and asked in an indifferent tone, "How do you plan to deal with Ren Yinglian?"

"Ren Datou did a lot of illegal and undisciplined things, and public resentment is high. Even if he hadn't been stabbed to death, if the police had investigated him, it would definitely have been a death sentence. He's not worth sympathizing with, and no one is going to seek justice for him..."

Di Ye made a few excuses for Ren Datou's death. Seeing Zheng Yingyong's expression soften slightly, he continued, "Although Ren Yinglian is a shrew, she hasn't broken the law, so I'm not qualified to deal with her. I can only tell her the truth and hope she doesn't hold a grudge against me. As for how she and Manager Zhong settle their scores, that has nothing to do with me."

Seeing that he didn't want to blow things out of proportion, Zheng Yingyong's expression softened further. He took a couple of puffs of his cigarette and warned, "She might not necessarily believe what you say."

"Whether she believes it or not mainly depends on whether you, Zheng, are willing to let Manager Zhong have a bad time."

Di Ye took out a pack of stick gum, and while tearing the wrapper, said, "Zheng, I've worked with you and Sister Ling before. I can tell that you two genuinely want to run Yingfeng well, right?"

"Of course. I like the business of renting discs; it's lively with people coming and going. Ailing also likes being the boss's wife—it's both profitable and prestigious."

"Manager Fan is a businessman who wants to sell VCD Players through Yingfeng, which is still within the rules. But Manager Zhong doesn't care about Yingfeng at all; he only wants to scrape money from the company, right?"

Zheng Yingyong remained silent, only exhaling a long puff of smoke.

Di Ye spat the gum he had only chewed a few times onto the wrapper, threw it into the trash can nearby, and said, "Zheng, if Yingfeng continues according to my plan and develops steadily, in three to five years it will definitely become the largest home appliance sales company in the province. You and Sister Ling will also become glorious entrepreneurs. But if you let Manager Zhong mess around, in two years at most, you and Sister Ling will be like that piece of gum—thrown into prison as fundraising fraudsters."

Zheng Yingyong looked at the dirty trash can. Gone was his usual amiable demeanor. He threw the half-finished cigarette butt on the ground and said viciously, "Zhong Rongke relies on being a cadre in the province; he usually acts high and mighty and doesn't look at me or Ailing as anything. I've long wanted to make him suffer!"

With Zheng Yingyong's support, it only took Di Ye a few minutes to explain the true cause of Ren Datou's death to Ren Yinglian. He then took out two pieces of inexpensive but exquisite foreign brand jewelry and gave them to Ren Yinglian as an apology gift from Huang Ya. In a way that struck at her heart, he said, "Miss Ren, according to my observations, the bag and watch Manager Zhong gave you look a bit like imitations from Guangdong Province."

Ren Yinglian was only slightly sad about Ren Datou's death, but now that she heard the clothes and accessories she usually showed off everywhere were fakes, she was instantly enraged. She began to curse loudly, saying she knew many of Zhong Rongke's illegal and criminal dealings and wanted to confront him in public and send him to jail.

"Ren Yinglian, Zhong Rongke even dared to scheme against your cousin. If you go to confront him, aren't you afraid of being silenced too?"

Zheng Yingyong first scared Ren Yinglian, then began to discuss with her how to strike at Zhong Rongke. Di Ye didn't want to get involved in such matters, so he got up, walked out of the house, and went to the neighbor across from Ren Yinglian's home to give him the 500 yuan he had promised. He then waited downstairs for over ten minutes before seeing Zheng Yingyong walk out of the stairwell.

"Zheng, I'm no longer a Shareholder of Yingfeng, so it's not convenient for me to get involved in the affairs between you and Manager Zhong. However, I want to remind you: this is a civilized society. There are some bottom lines you cannot touch, otherwise, you won't just be unable to extricate yourself for the rest of your life, but you'll easily bring disaster upon your family."

Zheng Yingyong understood and said in a low voice, "I will send Ren Yinglian to work in Zhe Province and tell her never to return to Yuncheng again."