"Who gave you the courage to go in knowing it was a trap?!"
Gu Heng's voice was like an ice-hardened blade, carrying a suppressed storm, slashing Lin Wei's eardrums fiercely. The strong wind stirred up by the helicopter rotors had not yet subsided, ruffling her hair and shaking her mind. The surging anger in the pair of deep eyes close at hand was clearly visible, but deeper inside was the fear that Lin Wei had never seen before, which almost tore his cold shell apart.
He was afraid. Afraid that something would happen to her.
This realization made Lin Wei feel more suffocated and... an indescribable palpitation than the black muzzle of the gun just now.
She opened her mouth, wanting to explain that she had made preparations (the recorder was still in her pocket), wanting to say that she had no choice but to get the evidence, but all her words seemed pale and powerless under Gu Heng's almost devouring gaze. She could only look back at him stubbornly, her voice trembling slightly but very clearly: "If we don't break in, how can we reveal their true colors? How can we get the ironclad evidence to bring down Jay Chou?"
Her question was like a needle that pierced Gu Heng's surging anger. He stared at her intently, his chest rising and falling violently, as if he was trying his best to suppress something. The black-clad security guards around them quickly and silently cleaned up the scene (taking away the limp Manager Wang and others, and sealing off the area). Fang Wei and Chen Ming were escorted to the helicopter by another group of people in shock. In the huge noise and chaos, it seemed that only the two of them were left in a silent confrontation.
A few seconds seemed as long as a century.
The storm in Gu Heng's eyes finally subsided slowly, but the deep fear and a kind of fatigue that was almost like fear settled down, making his eyes look particularly dark and complicated. He suddenly closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he had regained most of his usual coldness, but his voice was still hoarse and low, with an unquestionable command:
"Get on the plane. Leave here immediately."
He did not give her any chance to argue or resist. He stretched out his big hand and grabbed Lin Wei's wrist with irresistible force! The force was so strong that it even hurt her a little. He was eager to regain what he had lost and had an unquestionable desire to control.
Lin Wei was half-forced by him to walk towards the hovering helicopter. The strong wind from the rotors almost made it difficult for people to stand steadily. Gu Heng's tall body subconsciously turned sideways and protected her between himself and the fuselage, blocking most of the wind pressure. This subtle protective action made Lin Wei's heart tremble again.
The space in the cabin was not large, and the noise was roaring. Fang Wei and Chen Ming huddled in the corner, their faces still pale. Lin Wei was pressed into the seat by Gu Heng, and he sat next to her. The "click" sound of the seat belt buckle was particularly clear. He didn't say anything the whole time, but his face was tense, his jawline was like a knife, and his eyes were solemnly looking at the rain forest scene that quickly passed by the window, as if calming the last waves in his heart.
Lin Wei's wrist still had the heat and strength of his palm. She quietly moved her fingers, and her fingertips touched the recorder in the side pocket of the briefcase. The cold metal touch made her come back to her senses a little. She turned her head and looked at Gu Heng's cold and hard profile. The green shadow under his eyes was more obvious in the dim light in the cabin, and his tightly pursed thin lips revealed a lingering fatigue and...fragility?
Did the thunderous and god-like rescue just now exhaust his last bit of strength to maintain perfection in front of others? Or...her "risk" really made him so out of control?
Lin Wei's mind was in a mess. The cold boundary of the contract seemed to be completely broken at this moment, leaving the ground in a mess and a strange, heart-pounding burning feeling.
***
Back at "Yunqi Waterfront", the atmosphere was as solemn as the dead silence before a storm.
Gu Heng sent Lin Wei back to the door of the suite on the second floor, leaving only a cold order: "Stay, don't go anywhere." Then he turned and strode to the third floor. The glass door that required biometrics closed silently behind him, isolating him from the space that hid countless secrets.
Butler Zhou's face was more rigid than usual, but there was a hint of subtle suspicion in his eyes. He had obviously learned some of the news. "Mrs. Gu, please tell me what you need at any time." His tone was still respectful, but more cautious.
Lin Wei knew that Gu Heng had gone to "deal with" it. Deal with Manager Wang, deal with "Senyuan Wood Industry", and deal with the mastermind behind the scenes - Mr. Zhou. A storm was brewing and erupting at the highest level of the Gu Empire.
She did not stay in the room. She went to the small study room on the second floor that was allowed to be used by default and locked the door. Then, she took out the recorder and connected it to the computer. Manager Wang's ferocious threats, Jay Chou's name, the details of the fraudulent contract, and the chaotic sounds before Gu Heng's helicopter appeared... were played clearly. The evidence was as strong as a mountain.
She encrypted the recording file and saved it, and packaged it into a file together with the previously sorted evidence chain of "Tongda International" and "Senyuan Wood Industry". She did not send it to Gu Heng immediately. She knew that he did not need it. This was just a card in her hand, or perhaps... it was also a chip for her to protect herself in this increasingly complicated chess game.
***
For the next two days, "Yunqi Waterfront" was like a huge ice cellar.
Gu Heng hardly left the study room on the third floor. Butler Zhou walked in and out as lightly as a cat, and his face became more solemn day by day. The shock waves within the group inevitably spread here. Li Zhe came once, hurriedly, and whispered a few words to Butler Zhou with a serious face. When he left, he looked at Lin Wei with a complex respect and a trace of worry. Lin Wei pieced together some fragments from the scraps of financial news and Fang Wei's cautious report phone:
- Jay Chou was urgently interviewed by the group's supervisory department.
- "Tongda International" was exposed to huge financial fraud and related-party transaction scandals, and its stock price collapsed.
- Many assets under Jay Chou's name were frozen.
- Gu's Group issued a statement, resolutely eliminating internal pests and safeguarding the rights and interests of shareholders.
Thunderous means, fast, accurate and ruthless. Jay Chou's power, which he had painstakingly built for many years, collapsed quickly like a sand castle under Gu Heng's counterattack.
On the evening of the third day, Lin Wei was modifying the new supply chain plan of the "Morning Plan" in the study (she quickly locked in another reputable European supplier), and there was a gentle knock on the door.
Standing outside the door was Gu Heng.
After not seeing him for two days, he seemed to be thinner and his features were sharper. He was wearing a dark grey home suit, which made him look less oppressive than a suit, but more tired. The bloodshot eyes were obvious, and the bitter smell of herbs seemed stronger. He held a tablet in his hand.
"Here," he handed the tablet to Lin Wei, his voice low and hoarse, with a strong sense of fatigue, "Zhou's resignation statement and equity transfer agreement have come into effect. The relevant responsible persons will be investigated according to law for the bankruptcy and liquidation of Tongda International."
On the tablet were scanned copies of several official announcements and legal documents. The dust had settled.
Lin Wei took the tablet and scanned the cold words, without much ripples in her heart. This was the fate that Zhou deserved. "It's good to solve it." She said calmly.
Gu Heng did not leave. He leaned against the door frame and looked at her with a heavy gaze. His eyes were no longer cold, but they seemed to be covered with a thick fog, complex and difficult to discern. Silence spread between the two of them. The only sounds in the air were his light but slightly heavy breathing and the lingering smell of herbs.
"Why?" He suddenly spoke in a very light voice, with a kind of confusion that Lin Wei had never heard before and... a trace of pain that was not easily perceived, "Why... take the risk?"
He was not asking about her plan or her evidence, but the most core question that made him lose control - why did you go even though you knew it was dangerous?
Lin Wei raised her head and met his eyes that were full of bloodshot but trying to see her clearly. She saw his deep fatigue, the pain that might be hidden under the smell of herbs, and the aftermath of fear that was forcibly suppressed.
"Because," Lin Wei's voice was very light, but very clear, like a stone thrown into a quiet lake, "'Dawn Plan' is my responsibility. The future of Lin's is also tied to it. I can't retreat, and I... don't want you to lose." She said the last half of the sentence with some difficulty, but she was extremely frank.
Gu Heng's body shook almost imperceptibly. He looked at her, and the thick fog in his eyes seemed to be stirred by something, surging violent waves. He stood up straight suddenly, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he just looked at her deeply, deeply. That look contained too many emotions that Lin Wei could not interpret - shock, emotion, struggle, and a kind of almost desperate... desire?
In the end, he said nothing, but turned around, his back was still upright, but with an indescribable loneliness and heaviness, and he walked back slowly, step by step, into the shadow of the restricted area on the third floor.
The sound of the door closing was very light.
Lin Wei leaned against the door frame of the study, still holding the cold tablet in her hand. Gu Heng's last look was engraved in her mind like a brand. He asked "why", but she saw a deeper "why" in his eyes - about his fatigue, his herbs, his restricted area, and the scar deep in his heart that no one could touch.
The reckoning is over.
But the aftershocks of emotions have just begun.
It seems that something on this cold "Yunqi Waterfront" is quietly melting, or... a deeper crack has appeared in an invisible place.