Chapter 685 - 687 The Sky Net is Sparse but Doesn’t Let Anything Slip Through
The officer spurred his horse to ride swiftly to the Commerce Association, conveyed the old man’s words verbatim. Upon hearing this, the on-duty manager changed his countenance immediately, saying that he would send someone to inform the chairman at once, while assuring that the chairman would show up at the Government Office in half an hour. After reporting the situation in detail back at the office, Kuai Minglang found it astounding and promptly had a seat arranged for the old gentleman, allowing him to sit at the onlooker’s area during the trial.
Du Songbai had already sensed that something was wrong. He sneakily glanced at the manager he had bought over, only to see the latter was pale and trembling slightly.
Coward! So easily terrified, so utterly pathetic! He deserved to remain a petty manager for his whole life! Du Songbai cursed him inwardly. However, the cursing ceased once he learned of the old man’s identity.
Soon after, an officer reported from outside: the branch chairman of the Commerce Association, Ge Qian, had arrived.
Ge Qian was a man in his forties, sturdy and stalwart. His face was square and honest-looking; if it were not for the mention of his position in the Commerce Association, probably no one would have thought he was in trade.
He first paid a courtesy to Kuai Minglang, then hurried towards the old man, dropping to his knees in sudden reverence, and announcing reverently, "Ge Qian pays his respect to Elder Lin."
In response to his action, the hall fell silent in astonishment, including Bai Ruozhu, who hadn’t anticipated that the elderly gentleman was indeed an elder of the Commerce Association.
Normally, the highest decision-maker in the Commerce Association is the General President, followed by branch presidents. Yet above the General President are the Elders, eight in total, with two for each region. If a Branch President has a major decision to make, it requires the agreement of the two Elders of the region; and for the General President, a major decision even requires the votes of all eight Elders.
Consequently, all the Elders of the Commerce Association are venerable and reputed elders. That’s why Ge Qian paid such a grand tribute to Lin Zhenghui.
Only then did the manager from Anyuan Town come back to his senses. He tottered over and also paid tribute to Lin Zhenghui, saying, "Liu Bin, manager of Anyuan Town, pays his respect to Elder Lin."
Lin Zhenghui snorted coldly, saying, "Liu Bin, you still recognize me as an Elder? I thought your wings had grown so strong that you no longer regard me. Even daring to falsify under my watch?"
"You insolent wretch, Liu Bin! Are you brazen enough to be disrespectful to Elder Lin?" Ge Qian thundered sternly.
Frightened by the reprimand, Liu Bin fell to his knees, "Su-subordinate .... dares not."
Ignoring him, Ge Qian turned to Kuai Minglang and bowed, "Sir, please allow me to examine the contract that Liu Bin brought, to see if it is counterfeit."
Kuai Minglang had one of his men pass the contract to Ge Qian. Upon receiving it, Ge Qian looked at the contract while Lin Zhenghui also handed him the contract he brought, saying, "Take a good look at this, the Commerce Association cannot afford to be in such chaos."
The more Ge Qian looked at it, the grimmer his face became. Then he held up the contract from Liu Bin and said, "Sir Kuai, this contract, in terms of the paper and the seal, there is no doubt it is from the Commerce Association, but it was not signed a few months ago. It was tampered with only recently. The signatures on both sides are merely copied. This constitutes a procedural fault from the Commerce Association, and I cannot evade the blame. Today, I will definitely clean up the Commerce Association."
Liu Bin was so scared that his legs began to shake uncontrollably and he knelt down again. His face was ghostly pale, bathed in streaks of cold sweat. He was so scared that he nearly lost his nerve.
Bai Ruozhu had asked Jiang Yichun the previous evening what would happen if anyone in the Commerce Association made corrupt decisions and was found out. Jiang Yichun told her that such situations were rare, because the punishment from the Commerce Association was extremely terrible, even more unbearable than being tormented in the eighteen layers of hell. Moreover, the association would not let you die easily. The punishment would last a month, and all the managers would be invited to observe, as a warning for others.
At this moment, Du Songbai also looked extremely troubled. He did not anticipate that Bai Ruozhu had such powerful backing - an Elder of the Commerce Association! Had he known, he definitely would not have tampered with the contract.
Regrettably, there was no such thing as a regret medicine in this world. One must pay for one’s wrongdoing.
"Liu Bin, you’d better confess honestly to save yourself some unnecessary torment," Ge Qian said sternly.
"Branch President, it was the officer who came for the contract, but I couldn’t find it in the archive. I-I was afraid of being held accountable, so I made another one," Liu Bin still held out a glimmer of hope. By saying this, he was merely admitting negligence, which would be much simpler to deal with than colluding with outsiders to fake a contract.
"Damn scoundrel, even now you refuse to confess!" Ge Qian’s cold face was frostier than ever. He made a slight bow towards Kuai Minglang, "Sir, Liu Bin refuses to repent, please mete out justice."
Kuai Minglang nodded, throwing a sentencing plank and ordered thirty lashes.
Liu Bin was lashed right there in the hall. Bai Ruozhu watched Du Songbai, smiling faintly. As each lash landed, Du Songbai’s beard seemed to quiver. It was as if he could already see his own dire predicament in the near future.
Soon, Liu Bin couldn’t withstand the pain and confessed, wailing.
"It was the manager of Beiyu City, Li Chenghe, who instructed me. He said that as long as I did as he told, he would transfer me over to Beiyu City later," Liu Bin managed. "He asked me to fully cooperate with the Du family. If I didn’t agree, I wouldn’t be able to stay in Anyuan Town anymore."
Ge Qian said to someone next to him, "Go and bring me Li Chenghe!"
Kuai Minglang remained still on stage. What was originally a dispute over a contract had now turned into an internal issue of the Commerce Association. He preferred to just sit on the sidelines and watch the spectacle unfold.
Old Master Du could no longer keep his cool. He protested loudly, "What do you mean by fully cooperating with the Du Family? You can’t just blabber nonsense!" He glared fiercely at Liu Bin. Unfortunately, in Liu Bin’s eyes, he was no match for the Branch Chairman and the Elder in terms of intimidation.
"Master Du, why are you in such a rush? True documents can’t be faked, and counterfeit ones can’t be made true. No matter who tampers with them, it wouldn’t work. Justice lies within the hearts of the people." Bai Ruozhu looked toward the old Master Du and said calmly.
Lin Zhenghui, who was sitting nearby, couldn’t resist nodding at Bai Ruozhu several times. A smile appeared on his face as he said, "The young girl is right, justice lies within the hearts of the people."
Bai Ruozhu’s lips twitched, wondered why she was still being called a girl. But considering Lin Zhenghui’s age, he could really be her grandfather.
"Thank you, Elder Lin, for upholding justice." Bai Ruozhu bowed politely to him in appreciation.
"Bai Ruozhu, I never realized how you managed to coax Elder Lin into helping you. I truly underestimated you," Du Songbai said, clenching his teeth in frustration.
Bai Ruozhu chuckled, "Elder Lin has said that he is here today to clean house, not to help me. Elder Lin’s absence wouldn’t mean that your forgery would deceive everyone, would it? You think Sir Kuai is that easy to trick? You should remember, heaven’s net is vast but lets nothing through."
Actually, Kuai Minglang was almost fooled, but Bai Ruozhu’s words at this moment were like praise in his ears, making him feel extremely pleased. He nodded his agreement, "Heaven’s net is vast but lets nothing through, well said!"
Lin Zhenghui’s gaze towards Bai Ruozhu was filled with approval, and the smile on his face grew even broader.