"All right, since you have already said so," said Xia Lei, "Then I'll be straightforward with you. Gu Kewen told you to buy Vientiane Group stocks. There are many more large account holders like you. What is her aim?"
Gu Dinghai sneered, “How do I know? I don’t own a single share of the Vientiane Group. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
"Stop acting. I have already found out that it was your subordinate. Someone called Wang Song. He bought about 2% of the Vientiane Group's stocks."
"Eh? When did this guy become so rich? I wouldn't have known if you didn't tell me. I'll ask him about it next time."
"There are many more large account holders like you. I am sure that it was Gu Kewen who told you to do this. Tell me, what does she want? Where is she?"
Gu Dinghai drew out his words. "How would I know where she's at? You should go to the television station to broadcast an advertisement to search for her, not ask me."
Xia Lei forced down his boiling anger and said, "Mr Gu, you are a smart person. Let me put it this way. Don't think that I cannot do anything to you just because what you were doing was normal business behavior. Gu Kewen has the American CIA as her backer. Her crime is betraying her country. You are working for her, and whether you are running a legitimate business or not, there is no difference in my eyes. If I want to persecute you, I can do it any time."
"Are you threatening me?" Gu Dinghai was stubborn, still. "I don't believe that you can hide the truth from the people, and ignore the law."
"You can think of it that way. I can cause your brother’s death, so I can kill you just the same." Xia Lei’s voice was ice.
These words triggered Gu Dinghai. He slammed his hand on the bar table and pointed his finger at Xia Lei. "Get out of here!"
"Looks like you have made your decision." Xia Lei suddenly reached out and grabbed Gu Dinghai's tie. He pulled hard and Gu Dinghai slammed flat on the bar table.
Gu Dinghai's head hit the bar table hard.
The two bodyguards behind Gu Dinghai both moved at the same time. The one on the left took a large step forward, raised his fists, and went for Xia Lei's head.
Xia Lei released Gu Dinghai's tie and counter-punched.
The two fists clashed in midair.
Bam! The black bodyguard who was as strong as a black bear staggered two steps back. He was astonished and couldn't believe that Xia Lei, who looked much weaker than him, could knock him back. Moreover, it was not only the repelling, but the severe pain in the fist made him suspect that his phalanx had been injured!
Wing Chun's one-inch punch was not something outsiders understood.
Bruce Lee could punch through a wooden board at a distance of seven inches because he used Wing Chun's one-inch punch.
The other black bodyguard's fist also flew to Xia Lei’s face, right after his partner had been knocked back.
Xia Lei moved his head sideways, and the large fist scraped past his ear. He released Gu Dinghai's tie. He moved from the bottom up, and used the second knuckle of his thumb to knock at the numbing acupressure point on the elbow of the other black bodyguard. It was a simple attack, but the second black bodyguard suddenly held his elbow and backed away. He looked at Xia Lei with fear in his eyes.
However, accepting someone's money meant that he had to do the work. The two black bodyguards knew that Xia Lei was a strong opponent with serious skills and that they were no match for him, but in front of the humiliated Gu Dinghai, they only paused for a short second before they forced themselves forward.
Xia Lei said coldly, "If you guys only want to use one hand for the rest of your lives then come on over."
The two black bodyguards approached, still.
Gu Dinghai raised his hand. "Back down."
The two black bodyguards were relieved. They stood behind Gu Dinghai. One was massaging his wounded phalanges, and the other was massaging his elbow. His elbow felt as if it had been numbed with anaesthetics.
"You're very strong." Gu Dinghai fixed the tie which Xia Lei had messed up. His face had a look of ridicule on it. "But are you going to use violence to take care of your wife's problem? If so, I have nothing to say. You can hit me again right now."
Would beating Gu Dinghai up solve the problem?
Obviously not.
As one of the country's largest listed companies, Vientiane Group's circulating shares made up 100% of the company. That meant that as long as a person had money, anyone could invest and buy Vientiane Group's stocks. As an investor, no matter if Gu Dinghai used his own account to buy Vientiane Group's stocks or if he borrowed someone else's account to buy the stocks, he still made an investment that was protected by the law. Nobody could interfere. If he forced Gu Dinghai to sell his shares in Vientiane Group, that would be trade using coercion, which was against the law.
In truth, this big pool of trouble which Shengtu Tianyin was in set Xia Lei in a very tremulous position. Whether he took the initiative to go on the offense or retreat in defense, he could not take the lead, and was subjected to outside controlling factors at every turn!
He had come here to look for Gu Dinghai with the intention of scaring him. If Gu Dinghai got scared and quit, then his decision would become a reference point for the other account holders. Then, he could help Shengtu Tianyin solve her problem at the lowest cost possible. However, it now seemed that this method would not work.
But, what was worse was that he had no better solution than this.
A few people dressed in black with unknown identities, started walking over.
Gu Dinghai raised his hand again. Those people stopped in their tracks and just stood there without coming over. One of them was holding a walkie-talkie and saying something into it.
Xia Lei gaze moved to the person holding the walkie-talkie and he almost instantaneously interpreted what he was saying through lip-reading.
"Boss, someone is using violence against Mr Gu. His face doesn't look familiar. He might not be a member of ours… Yes, yes… I know what to do now."
So they were people from the private club. Xia Lei was not very interested and stopped using his powers.
Gu Dinghai became arrogant again. "Mr Xia, you should thank your lucky stars that your Thunder Horse Group is not a listed company, or we could also get you ousted from your Thunder Horse Group."
"So Gu Kewen's motive was to take down the Vientiane Group." Xia Lei's anger made him laugh. "Her naivety will take you guys down with her to her grave."
"Those things originally belong to the Gu clan. If the Gu clan can't obtain it, then no one should even think of obtaining it."
"Try me," said Xia Lei
"I advise you Mr. Xia, things related to the market needs to be solved with the market's methods. I will see you on the stock market, oh…" Gu Dinghai suddenly slapped his forehead and laughed. "I almost forgot. You don't know how to speculate on stocks. You can only process parts. In this war, your wife is the target of the hunt, and you as an outsider can only watch from the side. You cannot help with anything."
Ring ring ring, ring ring ring...
Xia Lei's phone suddenly rang.
It was Shentu Tianyin calling.
"Hubby, where are you? Something went wrong!" Shengtu Tianyin sounded very anxious.
"Don't panic. What happened?" Xia Lei stood up and walked towards an empty corner.
"A group of reporters came to my place. They're all from financial media outlets, and they’re here to interview me. They’re asking me… asking me…”
"Ask you what?"
"They seem to know something about Gu Kewen and my purchases in the past. I...cannot answer them. But if these negative articles get published, Vientaine Group stock values will plummet for sure, right at this time when we are buying up our own shares to keep it out of the hands of those large account holders! We have to make the stock prices rise again. The negative news will spur us towards bankruptcy!”
Xia Lei silent for a bit before asking, "If… if those things were revealed, how serious would be consequence be?"
"Didn't you say that you destroyed those things?"
"Tianyin, some unexpected things happened. Those things might not have been destroyed. Also… Gu Kewen might still be alive. This thing could be related to her too." Xia Lei had not wanted to tell her this, but he couldn't hide it anymore since things had come to this.
"This… How could this be?" Shengtu Tianyin's voice was full of disappointment and worry.
Xia Lei never witnessed this sort of reaction from her. This made his heart ache, but he needed to stay calm during times like this. He took in a breath of air and said, "Tianyin, tell me, if all of what I said came true, how serious would the consequences be?"
"If what you said came true, those things would destroy me. What would first be destroyed would be the Vientiane Group's stock value. If those negative news reports are released, we won't be able to uphold our stock price no matter how much cash reserve we have. If we sell our shares of the company, the opposite party could quickly consume our stocks at a low cost. And then, me. I will be cast into doubt by the Board of Directors, then investigated… How did it come to this!" Shengtu Tianyin was showing signs of an emotional breakdown.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of the problem for you." That was all Xia Lei could say to comfort her.
"Why is there music in the background? Where are you at?"
"A bar."
"You…"
"It's not what you think. I came to look for someone. He's…"
Beep beep, beep beep...
Shengtu Tianyin had already hung up before Xia Lei could finish what he had to say.
It did not feel good to be misunderstood by his wife. At this moment, Xia Lei felt heartbroken but he could understand Shengtu Tianyin. The Vientiane Group was more important to her than anything, and she must be feeling worse than anyone with something like this occurring.
Just then, a few men in black suits walked over, and blocked Xia Lei's path.
"Move!" Xia Lei was in a very bad mood. These people had not done anything yet, but they had already infuriated him.
The person with the walkie-talkie suddenly said loudly, "Isn't that Xia Lei? Shengtu Tianyin's husband, our country's Father of Rifles!"
Once those words were out, it immediately attracted the attention of many.
It was not known when the fighting in the metal cage had ended. The two female boxers with wounds all over their bodies also looked over at Xia Lei.
"Please welcome our new member, our most precious guest, Mr — Xia — Lei!" The host deliberately elongated the syllables and used an exaggerated tone when calling out Xia Lei's name.
A few dancers suddenly came out of the group of people and surrounded Xia Lei. Some reached out to pull at Xia Lei's elbow, some just pressed against him, and some put their hands on his shoulder.
Some people with cameras started snapping shots of the chaotic scene before Xia Lei could push the dancers aside.
Click click click...
Cameras were flashing nonstop.