Chapter 59: Chapter 59: Shock at the Upper Echelons of the Brokerage Company!
Because they were involved in illicit activities, they often had to deal with many shady contracts and disputes. Therefore, the company had a whole team of legal staff, seven or eight of them.
"Whoever can help the company resolve the current issue will be the next Chief Legal Officer, with a monthly salary of one hundred thousand!" With a grand gesture, Wu Zhenglin made the promise.
In his view, great rewards would lead to brave deeds. The temptation of a promotion and a raise... no one could resist it.
However, after he finished speaking, the remaining seven or eight legal staff members stood up one by one.
"Mr. Wu, this morning my mother called me. Our Miao Village is about to host a gu-fighting competition, and I must take a three-month leave of absence. Without me, our village will surely lose."
"Boss, there’s been something weighing on my mind. The madam looks too much like my ex-girlfriend, and working here every day has become too depressing. I’d like to resign."
"Mr. Wu, the food in the cafeteria is unbearable. I simply can’t stand it anymore."
"Mr. Wu, I feel the salary the company pays is too high. My abilities are insufficient for my duties, and I feel unworthy of it..."
"..."
The remaining legal staff resigned en masse.
The legal department’s office area wasn’t large. They had all heard the entirety of what happened and were quite frightened.
Actually, after joining An Jia Tian Xia, they had helped with many borderline legal activities. For example, they drafted dubious contracts that harmed the rights and interests of both buyers and sellers. They also assisted Wu Zhenglin in fighting several malicious lawsuits.
Everyone knew what the involvement of the prosecutor’s office meant. If the authorities decided to investigate, any attempt at concealment would be futile.
"You... you all..." Wu Zhenglin, looking at all the legal staff in front of him, trembled with rage.
In times of great trouble, everyone scatters. He had truly witnessed the fickleness of human relationships that day.
After that, he stormed out of the legal department in fury, slamming the door behind him. He then called an emergency meeting with all the company executives to discuss the crisis the company was facing.
At the meeting, after all the executives had been briefed on the situation, they fell into silence.
"The main purpose of this meeting is to navigate this crisis. If we succeed, the company won’t forget your efforts!"
"Shares, options, dividends—you’ll get them all!" Wu Zhenglin looked at all the executives and continued to make tempting offers.
The executives exchanged glances. This time, it wasn’t a case of ’when the tree falls, the monkeys scatter’; instead, they began to discuss seriously.
"Is it too late to fire Lin Zhen? If we do, can we claim his actions were solely his own and unrelated to us?"
"If all else fails, how about we... offer some money to someone in the prosecutor’s office?"
"We can’t forge the accounts. How could we explain such huge discrepancies between our books and the sales contracts anyway?"
"Should we hire some thugs to intimidate the plaintiff into voluntarily dropping the lawsuit?"
"Intimidation? That’s a good idea. Maybe even kidnap one of his relatives..."
"..."
As Wu Zhenglin listened to the executives propose one "solution" after another, dark lines appeared on his forehead.
Good grief. He’d found his own suggestion of cooking the books unacceptable, yet these people were proposing bribery and kidnapping... Did they really think they were above the law? If he actually did these things, the entire company would probably end up in jail the very next day!
Two hours later, this meeting still hadn’t produced any effective solutions.
In the end, one executive couldn’t help but say, "What about legal? Doesn’t our company have so many legal staff? They are the professionals!"
Wu Zhenglin’s mouth twitched. Thinking of that made him so angry he could hardly contain himself. He huffed, "They all resigned en masse a few hours ago."
In the meeting room, all the executives swallowed hard. They looked at each other, fully realizing the seriousness of the issue.
These legal professionals always prioritized their own interests, seeking advantages and avoiding harm. For them to flee so decisively... it spoke volumes about the severity of this crisis.
However... the legal team could run; their ties to the company’s core business were minimal. But they, the executives, couldn’t. As senior management, they were deeply entangled in many operations. Their fate was tied to the company’s—for better or worse!
「Jin City. An Jia Tian Xia realty store. Dusk.」
Three staff members from the prosecutor’s office were working overtime, collecting data on transaction orders, contracts, and property listings within the store for investigation and evidence gathering.
Initially, they had thought this was just a simple, routine evidence collection, hoping to finish early and call it a day. But as they delved into it, they started noticing several clues and inconsistencies.
Besides the false property listing information provided by the plaintiff, they also uncovered a homebuyer’s loan details: a loan of three hundred thousand. The transaction amount was not 750,000, but 1.1 million!
And as their investigation deepened, they discovered that other brokerage activities conducted by this branch were, to varying degrees, dubious or illegal.
"’It looks like the three of us can’t handle this alone. We’ll need to ask the bureau to send more people,’ one of them said."
At nine o’clock in the evening, the three copied all the data they had gathered and left the An Jia Tian Xia branch.
Meanwhile, Lin Zhen watched them leave, cold sweat drenching his back; his shirt was soaked through without him even realizing it.
"Master, it seems like they’ve found something..." Zhao Ludu said to Lin Zhen, unable to hold back.
In the beginning, these three investigators from the prosecutor’s office would still make small talk with them. But as the investigation progressed, they noticed the three investigators gradually became solemn and fell silent.
Lin Zhen gave a wry smile.
Faced with this sudden crisis, he had completely lost his bearings. He was clueless. Rumor had it that the company’s executives were urgently discussing countermeasures... Right now, his only hope lay with the company.
BRRRING—
Just then, his phone rang. Glancing at the caller ID, Lin Zhen frowned; the call was from Uncle Yang, the elderly man from the couple who had bought the property.
"Hello?" When he answered the phone, his voice lacked its previous enthusiasm and humility, carrying a distinct chill instead.
"Hello? Is this Lin, the realtor? High school is starting soon, so I was just calling to ask: since the loan process has been completed, when can we proceed with the property transfer...?" Uncle Yang’s elderly voice, tinged with humility and caution, came through the phone.
"Property transfer? Qin Mu has already breached the contract. The house is no longer for sale, so there’s no possibility of transferring it now!" Lin Zhen listened, then, seething with anger, said coldly, "Also, I’m very busy lately. Don’t call me if it’s not important!"
Having said that, he hung up the phone directly.
If it weren’t for helping Qin Mu sell this house... he wouldn’t be in this mess, possibly even facing jail time.
Therefore, he showed no courtesy to the elderly couple. Afterward, the old man, undeterred, called another seven or eight times, but Lin Zhen hung up on him each time.
「The following day. Jin City, a nursing home.」
After suing Lin Zhen, Qin Mu also received notice that the prosecutor’s office had begun its investigation and evidence collection.