Chapter 723 - A Battle Behind The Scenes

Chapter 723: A Battle Behind The Scenes

When Su Yang received Cao Qiguang’s call, his heart skipped a beat as he guessed that things might be heading the way he wanted…

Hence, he picked up the phone and indeed, Cao Qiguang’s dispirited voice came from the other end of the line, “Little… Mr. Su, what would it take for you to cure the poison in my body?”

Su Yang did not lower his guard just because Cao Qiguang had admitted defeat.

Yesterday, Cao Qiguang taught Su Yang a lesson at the restaurant, which was how to threaten someone without batting an eyelid, how he could expose his true thoughts without leaving any evidence behind, which were all taught during their face-to-face conversation.

Now that the two of them were on the phone, no one knew if Cao Qiguang was recording the call or if he had found someone to monitor the call. Hence, Su Yang immediately denied it. “Mr. Cao, I don’t understand what you mean. You might have called the wrong number.”

After he said that, Su Yang hung up without hesitation.

At the same time, in a villa in Shanghai, Cao Qiguang was holding his phone with one hand and a recorder in the other as his face turned ashen. It was clear that he wanted to trap Su Yang by leaving behind evidence. That way, he would have a trump card to deal with Su Yang.

However, Su Yang did not fall for it.

Hence, he took a few deep breaths, put down the recorder and called Su Yang again.

“Du… Du… Du…”

Su Yang’s voice came from the other end of the phone. “Hello? Cao Qiguang, can you stop calling me like you have cerebral palsy? You may have a lot of time on your hands, but I don’t.”

After being scolded by Su Yang, Cao Qiguang’s face turned red and white.

However, he had no choice but to humble himself. Hence, he could only control his temper and said to Su Yang, “I’m sorry, Mr. Su. I don’t want to trouble you as well. You…

“I really do admire you. I would like to ask if you have anything that you could teach me?”

Su Yang’s answer was flawless. “What’s there for me to teach you? We’re in different industries to start with.”

Cao Qiguang did not know how to respond and did not speak for a long time.

After a while, Su Yang suddenly asked, “By the way, are you going to send your quarterly financial report to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange?”

Hearing Su Yang’s question, Cao Qiguang’s heart tightened. He did not know why Su Yang was asking this, but under the circumstances, he could only reply, “Yes…”

His rationality made him add, “But, it’s not finalized yet.”

Su Yang asked, “Can you release it within this week?”

Cao Qiguang said, “We’re not sure if we should report it yet.”

Su Yang smiled and said, “I feel that it would be beneficial for you to announce the financial report which you have completed in order to regain your shareholders’ confidence. Therefore, I would suggest that you release it within this week.”

Cao Qiguang hurriedly said, “We won’t be able to make it in time for this week though.”

Su Yang said with a faint smile, “Don’t lie to me, Mr. Cao. I know your company like the back of my hand. So, I’ll only ask you once, think about it carefully before you answer. Can you release the financial report within this week?”

Hearing the threat in Su Yang’s words, Cao Qiguang’s face alternated between red and white. Although he was unwilling, he could only feign civility and say, “Yes.”

Su Yang’s tone became more relaxed. “In that case, I hope to see this financial statement this week then.”

Just as Cao Qiguang was about to delay it, Su Yang added, “If possible, I could give you a box of Jiadian’s oral fluid which is produced by our company.”

‘Oral fluid?’

Cao Qiguang was stunned. He knew what this was. It was an oral fluid that had become very popular in Shanghai recently. He had heard that even the few big shots in Shanghai were drinking it. In fact, there were even some who could not even buy it.

‘But, that’s not what I want…’

All of a sudden, Cao Qiguang recalled Su Yang’s earlier alertness and understood what was going on. ‘Su Yang says that he’s going to give me oral fluids, but he’s actually going to give me the antidote.’

At that thought, Cao Qiguang started to hesitate.

His heart wavered. ‘I do want the antidote. But… I really don’t want to release the quarterly financial report because there’s a big problem with it… It’s been falsified.

‘In order to realize my dream and to prove to everyone that I’ve chosen the right path, I’ve spent all my money on building branches across the country during the first quarter of our listing.

‘I’m well aware that this is a very risky move and it’s not in line with the company’s usual development. However, I’m short of time and can’t afford to take things slow. Therefore, I decided to put everything at stake and shut the investors up once and for all.

‘As a result, the profits for Xinli Education’s first quarter are very poor.

‘It’s so poor that it’s literally enough for the investors to force me into resignation.

‘So, for my own future and the development of the company, I’ve made a bold decision to falsify the financial report…

‘I’ve asked my confidant to use some technical methods to refurbish the company’s financial report, which ended up looking very positive on paper. So, unless it were an insider or a professional, it’s almost impossible for anyone to discover any issues with it.

‘However… it’s illegal to falsify financials after all. Even though the report is already placed on my desk and all I have to do is to sign it, I haven’t been able to make up my mind because I dare not do it, which is why I’ve been delaying all this time.

‘Yet, Su Yang’s insisting that I release it, which obviously means he knows what the problems are. He’s trying to gain an advantage over me. Worse, there might be some larger conspiracy behind all this, I really don’t want to agree to his demands…

‘However… My life’s happiness is in his hands right now…’ At that thought, Cao Qiguang had no choice but to consider Su Yang’s opinion.

Hence, amidst his conflict, hesitation and panic, Cao Qiguang kept on muttering something as he tried to come up with an excuse to stall Su Yang.

However, just as he was trying his best to stall for time, a thought flashed through his mind. Cao Qiguang realized that there was no need for him to be so conflicted. ‘Regardless of whether I want to release it or not, I could simply just agree to it first and continue delaying him. After all, I’m no gentleman, I could very well not do it after I made this promise.

‘Then, while I stall him, I’ll have time to slowly come up with a solution.’

With that thought in mind, he regained his composure and promised, “Okay. I’ll release the financial report within this week.”

Su Yang replied, “Sure. I’ll be waiting to have a look at it then.” After that, he hung up.

After hanging up, Cao Qiguang put his phone aside and calmly analyzed the situation.

‘Now that Su Yang knows that there’s something wrong with the financial report, should I still release it?’

At that thought, Cao Qiguang went online to investigate what the charges would be to both the company and the culprit should the matter get exposed. Then, he shook his head slightly. ‘It’s too risky.’

Hence, he started to think again. ‘Is my body more important, or power?’

Cao Qiguang hesitated for a moment before he thought that… Power was more important.

‘If something happens to the company, I’ll be left with nothing. In fact, there’s no way the investors will let me off the hook when they realize just how big of a mess I’ve caused. When that happens, I’ll probably lose everything.

‘I’d be better off dead then!

‘So, in comparison… My body isn’t that important already.

‘After all, money makes the world go round. I could buy any kind of health I want with money, but I can’t earn money with just my body though.’

When he thought about this, Cao Qiguang suddenly had a flash of inspiration and suddenly understood.

‘Why am I debating which choice should I choose?

‘Only children would choose! I want both!

‘Since Su Yang has already “admitted” that he’s the one who poisoned me, I don’t necessarily have to rely on him to get the antidote! Instead, I could very well source for a local or foreign specialist to diagnose me.

‘I didn’t have any clues before, but now that I know that I’ve been “poisoned”, I’m sure these experts will be able to come up with an antidote to cure me.’

Thinking of this, Cao Qiguang felt that he had broadened his path and found a way to have the best of both worlds.

‘This way, not only will I not lose my power, I’ll also regain my health!”

The more Cao Qiguang thought about it, the more pleased he became.

Furthermore, he was sure of another thing… ‘The quarterly financial report must not be released! Who cares about the stock price and the pressure from the investors? No matter how big the pressure is, would it beat them realizing that it’s been falsified?

‘Especially when Su Yang clearly knows that I’ve falsified it, he will be able to report me at any given time!’

At the thought of this, he could not help but laugh out loud in the villa. As he laughed, he said, “Su Yang, Su Yang! Thank you for your reminder! I’ve finally found a solution! However, you’ve ended up sealing your own fate! Looks like the ball is back in my court!”

At that moment, Su Yang looked at Cao Qiguang’s wild laughter on the screen and an unfathomable smile appeared on his face. ‘Go ahead, laugh all you want. You know nothing about true power…’

As he thought about it, Su Yang called out the [Absolute Verbal Contract] and wrote Cao Qiguang’s promise before he signed the contract.

Then, the brown parchment burned and disappeared in the air. Su Yang knew that the contract had been established…

…

After thinking things through, Cao Qiguang was in a much better mood and felt much better.

Then, he asked a few friends to inquire about both local and foreign experts who were more knowledgeable about poison. After that, he contacted all of them and planned for them to diagnose him sometime next week.

When all of that was done, Cao Qiguang called his driver and went to work.

Cao Qiguang would usually have a very busy day. From the moment he entered the company, there was a pile of documents waiting for him to sign. After all, he had started the construction of a large subsidiary company, so it was normal for him to have many things to do.

Cao Qiguang looked through the documents one by one and signed them. After that, he felt dizzy, his hands sore.

At that moment, his secretary knocked on the door and said, “Mr. Cao, Mr. Wang is looking for you.”

Mr. Wang was Cao Qiguang’s other trusted aide and was in charge of the company’s finance department, who was also the one whom Cao Qiguang had asked to falsify the financial report.

Cao Qiguang remembered that he wanted to talk to Mr. Wang about the falsified financial report, so he quickly said, “Let him in.”

A moment later, a middle-aged man walked in with a document.

After entering the office, the middle-aged man placed the document on Cao Qiguang’s desk and said, “Mr. Cao, the quarterly financial report has been delayed for a long time. You’ve signed the document long ago, but you’ve been hesitating and haven’t placed your stamp on it yet. It’s time for you to make a decision.”

When Cao Qiguang heard this, he smiled and said, “Old Wang, this was just the thing I wanted to discuss with you about.

“I thought about it. It’s not appropriate for us to falsify our profits.

“Think about it. Our stock price is indeed not high and the pressure on us is definitely high as well. However, we’re still barely able to manage this pressure.

“If we publish this fake financial report, it will definitely ease our pressure if it doesn’t get exposed, but that’s the extent of it. There are no extra merits in doing this.

“However, once we’re exposed, our company, including both you and I, will be finished!

“If we don’t publish the financial report, the pressure we’ll be facing would still be the same. So, all we have to do is endure some hardship.

“So, after thinking about it carefully, I feel that… It wouldn’t be appropriate to release the falsified financial report.”

Then, he closed the falsified financial report and placed it on the pile of documents beside him. He said, “So, forget about this financial report and leave it with me. I’ll throw it into the shredder later.”

Mr. Wang then said, “Sure, as you wish, Mr. Cao.”

After that, the two of them talked about the company’s financial affairs for half an hour. Then, Mr. Wang received a call and took the initiative to leave. He said that he was going to head into the city for a meeting.

After Mr. Wang left, Cao Qiguang smiled and shook his head. Then, he picked up the other documents on the table and continued to read and sign it.

After signing, he placed that document on top of the falsified financial report.

Then, another hour passed and Cao Qiguang had finally finished reading all the documents and signing them. After he was done, he bent down and took out his official seal from the drawer.

Perhaps he had forgotten about the quarterly financial report, or perhaps he was too tired and did not pay too much attention to it, he placed his stamp on the falsified financial report and placed it together with all the other documents.

After he was done stamping all the documents, Cao Qiguang called his secretary over and asked her to distribute them to the various departments.

The secretary took the documents and went out. Very quickly, they were allocated to the various departments.

When she arrived at the finance department, there was only one document left in the secretary’s hands and she handed it to the deputy director.

When the deputy director flipped it open and took a look. He asked in surprise, “Are we going to publish the quarterly financial report? Does the director know about this?”

The secretary said nonchalantly, “Of course he does. Mr. Wang was the one who presented this report to Mr. Cao for his signature. He seemed to have answered a call and went out for a meeting after that, so Mr. Cao asked me to send it over.”

The manager carefully flipped through the financial report and realized that the data was complete with data, including Mr. Wang’s signature and Cao Qiguang’s signature plus the company seal. Hence, the manager no longer had any doubts in his mind.

Due to the time constraints, he began to make the most of his time to record the data and submit it…

After the day ended, Cao Qiguang returned home in a relaxed mood.

When he returned to the villa, he began touching himself a few times as usual. When he realized that there was no reaction, he gave up.

However, it was precisely because of this that he hated Su Yang even more. ‘Destroying a man’s masculinity is no different from killing your own father!’

At the same time, Cao Qiguang had also made a decision in his heart. ‘I’m going to destroy Su Yang! Maybe even kill him!’

With that thought in mind, he took out his phone and chatted with the few capitalists that he was familiar with in the “Anti-Su Alliance”. He asked if they had any useful information or possible solutions.

However, these investors who were on good terms with him did not have much useful information. There were even some of them who actually tried to talk him out of it. “Listen, Old Cao, I’ve especially gotten someone to find out more about the Jiadian Group. This company is a solely owned by Su Yang and he has 100% shares over the company.

“As for the glass phone, it’s his main project under Jiadian Technology, a branch company under Jiadian Group. The same thing goes for this branch company as well, Su Yang has over 90% of the company’s shares, there are literally no loopholes for us to take advantage of.”

When he heard that, Cao Qiguang merely chuckled.

He said, “Is that so?”

His friend was confused by his question. “This shareholding ratio cannot be shaken. What could you possibly do?”

Cao Qiguang said softly, “Do you still remember about the incident at Liaocheng?”