Chapter 28: The Life of a Monster

  Back home, just as they opened the door and entered the house, Wei Xiangxiu brought in a box of apples, saying that it was sent by a cadre from Lingdong to thank Director Lu for helping the people of Lingdong village. Since no one was at Lu's house, they knocked on the neighbor's door, which was also Wei Xiangxiu's door, and asked her to give the apples to Director Lu when he returned.

  Wei Xiangxiu originally wanted to advise them to wait for Lu Zhong's return, a box of apples was not a big deal, but who knew what Lu Zhong was thinking? Wei Xiangxiu did not want to take delivery on his behalf, after all, she was also a public security system cadre and was very sensitive to such things.

  Who knew that those people would suddenly rush downstairs without saying a word? Wei Xiangxiu had no choice but to temporarily take care of the box of apples.

  Lu Zhong didn't have time to bother with these trivial matters, so he took the book and letter into his study. In the letter wrapped in white silk, the first string of Arabic numerals was "41117". If this string of numbers is a password, and the decoding key is a book, then it could represent the 4th page, 11th line, 17th character; or the 41st page, 11th line, 7th character; or the 41st page, 1st line, 17th character, and so on.

  Lu Zhong went one by one to find, when he found that on page 41 of the book "Blood-stained Wind", the 7th character in the 11th line was the word "Lu", Lu Zhong smiled and sat down on the chair, it seemed that his guess was correct.

  The rest is easy, following the Arabic numerals to pick out Chinese characters one by one from the book. If some are temporarily uncertain which character they represent, wait until most of them can be determined and then choose based on the meaning between the lines.

  About half an hour later, a complete handwritten letter in Chinese appeared on the desk.

  The letter wrapped in white gauze read: "Lu Zhong: Hello, I am the Iris from the Federal Republic of Germany. Thank you for saving me, although that may not have been your intention."

  "Although I've always wanted to face death calmly, when I knew I could live on, my joy and happiness can only be understood by you who have gone through the same life-and-death experience. Thank you, Lu Zhong, you are the knight God has given me!"

  "I'm a person who, since I was very young, has been praised by everyone as a genius. I seem to have an innate talent for many things. In recent years, our Sanduru family has been considered to be emerging from the depths of decline and entering a period of revival. In fact, many of my grandfather's highly successful acquisition and restructuring cases were ideas that I contributed. For some reason, when I get involved in these deals, those companies seem to become prey, and what I want to do is ultimately hunt them down. This is also the hunting game that I enjoy playing the most."

  "Perhaps you will also be one of my goals."

  Lu Zhong saw this and immediately broke out in a cold sweat. Was this letter written by a 10-year-old girl? Moreover, Bai Sha's words were not boastful at all. Her innate confidence made her not need to show off to anyone, because deep down, Lu Zhong and she were kindred spirits, so he could understand her.

  In a calm and gentle tone, she was just introducing herself to Lu Zhong, telling him what kind of person she was.

  But this kid is too demonic, right? Even I, a reborn person, can't help but feel a chill run down my spine.

  "There's something else I need to tell you. Changming Corporation is actually your own company. What you said was right, the US and several other countries have indeed signed an agreement to depreciate the dollar."

  "I was hesitant to make this risky investment, but thanks to your reminder, I seized the best opportunity. So, your return is well-deserved. Before investing, I had already thought it through - I would split Grandpa's borrowed money and my own private savings in half, with one half being yours. If we made a profit, I would return your share to you; if we lost, you would owe me the debt, which I would collect sooner or later!"

  Lu Zhong couldn't help but laugh at this, and only then could he feel that Bai Sha was still a child at heart, no matter how mature she seemed to be. Many things were still unchangeable.

  Then what is Changming Company to you?

  Lu Zhong continued to look down.

  "Now that we've made some money, I'll return your share to you, which is the Changming Company. Of course, this is also Grandfather's money that he lent me, because our money is still in the Japanese stock market. You're in Red China and it's not convenient for you to manage your finances, so I'm helping you with the operations, and my salary will be deducted from your earnings. Mr. Schneider knows about your relationship with this company, and in China, he's the only one who knows. He's a very loyal servant, so you can rest assured that things are being taken care of."

  "But I guess, in the joint venture negotiations, you must have secured the maximum benefits for your country, right? Hopefully, you didn't use your utmost efforts. You should know that while you're securing every bit of benefit for your country during the negotiations, you're actually harming your own interests."

  "I hope I didn't give you a headache."

  After reading the entire letter, Lu Zhong couldn't help but laugh dryly, especially when he read Bai Sha's analysis of his own negotiation skills. It was indeed a godlike prediction. If an ordinary person were to see this part, they would probably be furious. The negotiation that had taken so much brainpower, in the end, actually ended up suppressing their own interests. Who wouldn't feel depressed about that?

  White gauze package, how come so strange and mysterious?

  But Lu Zhong didn't have any special feelings about it either; money was like dirt to him.

  As for what Bai Shuangbao said, Changming Company's German shares are actually for himself, temporarily operated by Bai Shuangbao. Lu Zhong didn't take it seriously either, not to mention that it was just a child's words. If the company really changed the ownership of 70% of its shares to itself, there would be too many things involved, and even if it were true, would he have to accept it?

  ……

  On Monday morning, Lu Zhong was browsing through the materials of the Planning and Investment Promotion Committee's investment promotion work. The office door was knocked, and Zhang Qingtian, the director of the Project Examination and Approval Department, walked in.

  Zhang Qingtian was thirty years old, born thin and small, with dark skin, but he was notorious for being difficult to deal with and stubborn. He had won the favor of a leader named Ma from the original municipal party committee. Two years ago, he was appointed as the head of the Financial Inspection Bureau, and last year, the Financial Inspection Bureau was renamed the Financial Inspection Department, and Zhang Qingtian rose to become Director Zhang, although his administrative rank remained at the level of deputy department head.

  Years ago, Zhang Qingtian, a strict and serious cadre like this, was very popular, but with the deepening of Wushan's reform and opening up, economic development, being too serious in the inspection post would inevitably cut off people's financial roads. Zhang Qingtian gradually became out of place, often being reported by others, so-called three people making a tiger, always hearing different people talking about Zhang Qingtian's bad things, leaders naturally gradually disliked him.

  A few days ago, Vice Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee and Director of the Planning and Economic Commission Ma Hua personally asked Zhang Qingtian about his work attitude and whether he had conflicts with many cadres in the commission. Lu Zheng did not give a direct answer, citing that he had just entered the Planning Commission.

  "Director Lu, I have something to tell you." Zhang Qingtian placed a thick stack of files on Lu Zhen's office desk.

  Lu Zhong nodded slightly.

  In terms of personal qualities, without a doubt, among the people he has come into contact with since his rebirth, Zhang Qingtian is the most upright person.

  Even if it's myself, I've never thought of myself as a good person, but Zhang Qingtian is different, he can be classified into the category of good people.

  "Director Lu, you used to work in Guangning, right? You served as the director of the Guangning County Public Security Bureau, so you should be very familiar with the Guangning County Bureau?" Zhang Qingtian's dark face didn't show any obvious expression.

  Lu Zhong smiled and nodded.

  Zhang Qingtian patted the stack of files on the table and said, "Then you should be more familiar with the situation at Guangning County Public Security Bureau than I am. This is the project proposal for the new office building of Guangning County Bureau. I think the construction cost of the new office building is seriously over budget, and there may be a power-money transaction involved."

  Zhang Qingtian is a very capable cadre, but undoubtedly, any leader with such a subordinate would be really headache.

  Lu Zhong, although also known for his stubbornness, except for being somewhat temperamental at times, often intentionally uses this image to confuse his opponents, and can achieve unexpected results with the help of this hedgehog-like armor.

  Zhang Qingtian, on the other hand, is really not afraid of offending people, especially in the past two years. In Wushan City's official circles, some unwritten rules have gradually formed under the new situation of a commodity society. Zhang Qingtian, however, has never cared about these gradually established conventions and has never been afraid to cut off anyone's financial path.

  The Planning and Economic Commission's audit department is actually just a supervisory department with no law enforcement power. If any issues are found, the most that can be done is to issue a written notice to the relevant unit for necessary rectification.

  So although Zhang Qingtian can correct some illegal and disorderly behavior, making the other party dare not to be too presumptuous, but after cutting off the road of wealth for others, he cannot really punish them. As a result, the number of people he has offended is increasing, and the officials who want to bring him down are countless.

  Now, he has set his sights on the new office building project of Guangning County Public Security Bureau. The project was contracted to a private construction company in Wushan. After checking the accounts for several days, he came to the office of the new leader.

  Guangning, Lu Zhong's spirit suddenly became slightly dazed.

  Since leaving Guangning, Lu Zhong has never returned. Thinking about it, in the blink of an eye, it's almost been half a year?

  "Director Lu, thank you! I heard Secretary Ma originally wanted to remove me, but it was you who kept me."

  Zhang Qingtian suddenly blurted out such a sentence.

  Lu Zhong looked up at him and said, "It's not that simple, Secretary Ma. I trust you." It seems Zhang Qingtian is not a one-track mind person after all, the rumors in the commission are not entirely believable.

  "It's the same." Zhang Qingtian smiled, and Xiao Hei suddenly seemed to have a spirit.

  Lu Zhong looked at the files on the table and said, "You go back first, I will carefully read these."

  Zhang Qingtian said: "The document number P1 above is the detailed analysis of sampling data by me and several comrades in the office. I am very certain that it involves power-money transactions. Moreover, I have talked to an insider from Huayan Construction, who personally admitted that he was involved in sending money to Ma Yuewu, the head of Guangning County Bureau. I recorded the conversation, but this insider didn't know about it. The tape and conversation record are at the bottom layer."

  Lu Zhong couldn't help but laugh. This guy still liked to act first and report later, having secretly investigated everything before reporting back to him. Wasn't this just like being his own general?

  It seems that previous bosses also had this style of doing things, no wonder leaders didn't like it.

  Zhang Qingtian is indeed more suitable for going to the Discipline Inspection Commission, far superior to lingering in the Planning and Economic Commission.

  Lu Zhong inexplicably had this idea.

  "Well, Director Lu, I'll be off first?" Zhang Qingtian asked tentatively.

  Lu Zhong nodded slightly.