OBS Chapter 1354 Ending!
Chapter 1354 Ending!
Chapter 1354 Ending!
The evening in New York carries the coolness of early summer. The setting sun bathes the skyscrapers of Fifth Avenue in a warm gold, and the traffic moves slowly, with car lights forming a flowing ribbon of light in the twilight.
Qin Hao was driving a black Lincoln. Liang Sichen, who was in the passenger seat, had just put away the oil-filled paper bag of roast goose that had been packed up from the restaurant, and there were still some oil droplets on her fingertips.
Just as the car was about to turn into the neighborhood where Liang Sichen's villa was located, the mobile phone in the passenger-side storage compartment suddenly beeped, the urgent ringing breaking the silence inside the car.
"I'll answer it, you focus on driving." Liang Sichen casually took out her mobile phone, pressed the answer button, and just as she said "hello", she heard Song Yunping's tearful voice on the other end of the phone. She was stunned for a moment, and quickly softened her tone: "Sister Pingping, this is Liang Sichen. Brother Hao is driving, he will pull over to the side of the road soon, don't worry."
Qin Hao quickly parked his car in the temporary parking area on the side of the road, took the mobile phone, and his fingertips had barely touched the body when Song Yunping's urgent and panicked voice came through: "Haozi, something bad has happened! Lei Dongbao is in trouble! He was just taken away by people from the county. Before they left, they said only you can save him. You have to think of something quickly..."
"Pingping, calm down, take a deep breath, and speak slowly." Qin Hao's voice was steady, trying to make his tone reassuring: "Who took Dongbao away? What happened at the time?"
“It was Shi Hongwei who brought the message. He’s right next to me now. I asked him to tell you. He knows everything.”
Soon, Shi Hongwei's slightly flustered voice came from the other end of the phone: "President Lei, it's me... Brother Dongbao... he was taken away by people from the county. They said it's for embezzlement, and they need him to assist in the investigation..."
Qin Hao patiently listened to Shi Hongwei's rambling explanation of the whole story—it turned out that Chen Pingyuan had been promoted to the city.
After the new secretary took office, he approached Lei Dongbao several times to discuss "personnel adjustments," but Lei Dongbao firmly rejected him each time and even publicly humiliated him at a leadership meeting.
"Don't just talk about others. I'm asking you, did Lei Dongbao embezzle public funds or not?" Qin Hao interrupted Shi Hongwei as he went off on a tangent, his tone serious and unquestionable: "You've been by his side for so long. You know best whether he's put public money into his own pocket. Don't try to fool me."
Shi Hongwei on the other end of the phone paused noticeably, his voice lowering and tinged with bitterness: "President Lei, to say that Brother Dongbao is greedy for money, that's definitely not... absolutely not! It's just... it's his wife, Jiang Xiaoyue. She bought some household items, like a washing machine and an electric fan, as well as nutritional supplements for her family. She had Lei Zhengming go through the company's reimbursement process, but somehow someone reported her, saying that this was 'abusing her position to embezzle collective assets.'"
"How much is the total amount of reimbursements?" Qin Hao didn't bother with the definitions of "embezzlement" and "misappropriation" and went straight to the core question.
Shi Hongwei's voice was even softer, with a hint of uncertainty: "I didn't ask for the exact amount, but when Lei Zhengming told me, it seemed to be... a little over ten thousand? Less than twelve thousand."
Qin Hao paused, holding the mobile phone, feeling speechless. Ten thousand yuan was nothing compared to the tens of millions of yuan in revenue generated by the Thunder Industry Cluster each year, but it was enough for the new secretary to use the charge of "embezzlement" as an excuse to make a fuss.
He took a deep breath: "Alright, I understand. I'll call Lao Xu later and ask. Give the phone back to Pingping, I'll say a few words to her."
Qin Hao reassured Song Yunping on the other end of the phone, promising to handle it as soon as possible, and telling her not to worry and not to tell her father—the old man had just recovered and shouldn't be affected by this.
After hanging up the phone, Liang Sichen looked at his serious expression and asked softly, "Do you need any help?"
"No need. For domestic matters, it's more direct to contact Lao Xu." Qin Hao shook his head and pulled out Lao Xu's phone number from his contacts.
When the call connected, Lao Xu's voice was filled with obvious anger: "Tell me about that Lei Dongbao! He patted his chest and guaranteed to me that he would never take a single penny more than his share of public funds, and now look what he's done! Ten thousand yuan, isn't that a slap in my face?!"
Qin Hao waited until he finished venting his anger before slowly speaking: "Old Xu, I know Lei Dongbao's character as well as you do. He has flaws in his personality; he's reckless, impulsive, and sometimes stubborn and inflexible. But to say that he knowingly allowed his wife to take advantage of public funds, or even embezzled them himself, is something I absolutely do not believe. Think about it, the Leiting industrial cluster has basically been under his control for years. If he really wanted to embezzle, let alone ten thousand, even a million or ten million, he would have found a way to get it. It's not worth ruining his reputation for such a small amount of money."
There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone, followed by Lao Xu's sigh.
“What you said makes sense. Although this kid is a bit of a troublemaker, he’s never been confused when it comes to matters of principle. How about this, I’ll make a call and ask about the specifics.”
After a phone call from Lao Xu, Lei Dongbao was released that very night. However, he was still required to hand over the 12,000 yuan that his wife had illegally reimbursed from the wire factory, and he was also dismissed from his position as general manager of the Leiting Industrial Cluster.
When Lei Dongbao returned home, Jiang Xiaoyue was sitting on the sofa crying. When she saw him enter, instead of apologizing, she complained that he was "useless".
Lei Dongbao was already furious, and Jiang Xiaoyue's words provoked him so much that the two had a big fight on the spot. In the end, Jiang Xiaoyue shouted "divorce" with red eyes, and Lei Dongbao, who was also angry, agreed immediately.
The next morning, the two went to the Civil Affairs Bureau with their household registration books in their hands. The red booklet was replaced with a green one, as if they had never been together at all.
After the divorce, Lei Dongbao stayed home for two days, his heart filled with a burning desire—he refused to believe that the Leiting industrial cluster could survive without him. He felt that sooner or later the county would realize that no one could manage those factories, and at that time they would definitely invite him back to take charge.
But reality quickly slapped him in the face: the county sent a secretary surnamed Gong to replace him. Although Secretary Gong did not understand technology, he was good at coordinating relationships. With the assistance of factory directors like Lei Zhengming and Shi Hongwei, who had followed Lei Dongbao for many years, the production and sales of the Leiting industrial cluster were not disrupted at all. At the end of the month, when the performance was calculated, it even increased by two percentage points compared to the previous month.
What chilled Lei Dongbao even more were the villagers of Xiaolei Village. He used to be a "hero" in Xiaolei Village, and everyone would greet him with a smile and offer him cigarettes and water when he walked on the road. Now, when they saw him, they would either walk around him or lower their heads and pretend not to see him, and they would whisper behind his back, saying that he was "arrested for embezzlement and would have been in jail long ago if he didn't have a powerful backer."
Even when his mother went out, people would point and whisper behind her back, gossiping about Jiang Xiaoyue's expense reimbursement. The old lady was so ashamed that she couldn't go out and spent all her time hiding in her room wiping away tears.
Lei Dongbao was so frustrated that he made an overseas long-distance call to Qin Hao. His voice was hoarse and reeking of alcohol: "Haozi, I'm not reconciled... Leiting is the culmination of more than ten years of hard work, from a small brick factory to the industrial cluster it is today. I've worked day and night, and this is how it ends up..."
As he spoke, this man, who was usually fearless, started crying like a child.
Qin Hao held the phone, listening to his sobs, and said calmly, "Dongbao, I've told you before, those people from the Lei family can only share hardship, not prosperity. Before, when you could lead them to make money, they treated you like a god; now that you've lost your power, they've naturally turned on you. Instead of drowning your sorrows in alcohol, you should pull yourself together and go it alone—with all the connections you've built over the years, even without Leiting, you can still make a name for yourself. Let those who want to see you fail see that you, Lei Dongbao, can live without Leiting!"
"That's right! We can always start over!" Lei Dongbao was sobered up by Qin Hao's words, and the effects of the alcohol wore off considerably. His voice became firm again. "I refuse to believe that I, Lei Dongbao, can't make something of myself!"
What's most admirable about Lei Dongbao is his execution ability—once he's figured something out, he takes immediate action.
The next morning, the first thing he did after sobering up was to take out his savings book, withdraw the 30,000 yuan he had saved over the years, and head to Donghai with the money in his pocket.
He wasn't stupid; he knew he couldn't just blindly go it alone. Song Yunhui was the factory manager of Donghai Chemical Plant and had extensive connections; Yang Xun's "Donghai No. 1" was growing bigger and bigger, and he had many connections; Qin Hao's industrial park needed a lot of raw materials and parts, all of which were readily available resources.
Upon arriving in Donghai, Lei Dongbao didn't rush to open a shop. Instead, he spent half a month investigating the market and finally decided to go back to the wire and cable business, which he was most familiar with. Previously, Leiting's wires and cables were exclusively supplied to Qin Hao's industrial park, ensuring quality and providing a reliable market.
He borrowed a temporary office from Song Yunhui, registered "Dongbao Electric Company", and then called Qin Hao.
Qin Hao immediately instructed the industrial park's purchasing department to contact him and transfer all the wire and cable orders in the industrial park to his new company.
With orders from the industrial park as a foundation, Lei Dongbao's business quickly took off.
Just as Pudong was undergoing a major development, with buildings and factories being constructed everywhere, the demand for wires and cables surged.
Lei Dongbao seized the opportunity and took out a loan to acquire a local wire factory in Donghai. This acquisition made him realize that it was so much easier without the burden of the Lei family. The factory could hire skilled workers directly, and there was no need to teach them any skills. They could start working as soon as they arrived. As long as they were paid monthly, the workers would work their hearts out and there was no need for so many fuss.
Later, through Yang Xun's connections, Lei Dongbao sold his products to construction sites in Shanghai. In just one year, his cable factory transformed from a small workshop into an enterprise with an annual output value of tens of millions of yuan, and his personal wealth also exceeded ten million yuan, making him even more successful than when he was the general manager of Leiting.
Time flew by, and in the winter of 1994, Donghai City witnessed a lively wedding—Song Yunhui and Ren Xiaer finally confessed their feelings and decided to get married.
The couple was not young, and when their parents met, they had no objections and immediately decided to hold the wedding during the Spring Festival.
As the brother-in-law, Qin Hao naturally wouldn't miss his brother-in-law's wedding, so he returned to China half a month in advance. Liang Sichen originally wanted to come back as well, but when she thought about meeting Song Yunping at the wedding and fearing an awkward situation, she finally decided to stay in the United States to manage the business of "Sichen Capital," only entrusting Qin Hao to bring her a generous gift.
Song Yunhui initially didn't plan a big celebration, thinking that a family meal and a few close friends would suffice. However, he clearly underestimated the significance of the position of "Director of Donghai Chemical Plant"—leaders in the chemical industry took the initiative to call him, saying they would personally attend the wedding; several leaders from government agencies also had their secretaries inquire about the specific time, saying they would come to offer their congratulations; there were also colleagues from Haoran International, business partners like Yang Xun and Xiao Ran, and even Lei Dongbao came with generous gifts, saying he wanted to "support his younger brother."
On the wedding day, the banquet hall of the best hotel in Donghai City was packed with people, with more than fifty tables set up, even more lively than when Qin Hao got married. Song Yunhui, dressed in a sharp suit, stood at the door to greet guests, a slightly awkward smile on his face. Ren Xia'er, wearing a white wedding dress, held his arm, her eyes full of happiness.
As soon as Qin Hao stepped into the banquet hall, a small figure ran towards him and called out in a childish voice, "Daddy!"
Qin Hao bent down and picked up his daughter, gently rubbing her cheek with his stubble, and asked with a smile, "Lanlan, did you miss Daddy? Did you listen to Mommy when Daddy wasn't home?"
"Yes!" Qin Lan hugged his neck, pressed her face against his, and said softly.
After Qin Hao spent some time being affectionate with his daughter, Song Yunping came over, took Qin Lan from his arms, and gently patted her daughter's back: "Why didn't Xiao Liang come back with you?"
The existence of Liang Sichen was already a semi-public secret in the Song family. At first, Song's parents felt sorry for their daughter, but Song Yunping herself was open-minded: she had to stay in China to take care of her parents and couldn't be with Qin Hao in the United States. It was better for Qin Hao to have someone to talk to and help him while he was working hard abroad than to be all alone.
Moreover, Qin Hao has never had any other problems in his personal life over the years, and he has always been very good to her and their daughter. Now that Qin Lan is with them, she focuses most of her attention on her daughter and is even less concerned about these things.
Looking into Song Yunping's gentle eyes, Qin Hao knew she truly understood, and breathed a sigh of relief. He smiled and said, "She has a project to oversee recently and can't leave."
Song Yunping nodded and carried Qin Lan into the banquet hall: "Go and say hello to Xiaohui, he's been incredibly busy all day."
Qin Hao looked in the direction she pointed and saw Song Yunhui being surrounded by a group of people toasting him, with a helpless yet happy smile on his face.
"Congratulations, you've finally achieved your goal."
Song Yunhui clinked glasses with Qin Hao: "Thanks to you, Brother Hao, for connecting us. Otherwise, Xiao Ren and I, who are completely unrelated, would never have had the chance to get together."
"Xiao Ren is a good girl. If you live a good life in the future, it will be worth all the effort your sister and I have put into your relationship."
"Don't worry, brother-in-law, I will."
"What are you chatting about that makes you so happy?" Ren Xia'er, dressed in a wedding gown, slowly walked up to her.
"It's nothing, my brother-in-law said you look very beautiful today."
Seeing Song Yunhui's guilty look, Qin Hao chuckled to himself, thinking that his future brother-in-law might be henpecked.