She was deliberately avoiding him.
Afraid to face him directly.
Or was it to avoid suspicion?
This was the mother who claimed to love him, the only one who would give her all for him.
Leaving the dark corner, she didn't even dare to speak a word to him.
Hu Jiasheng knew he wouldn't see her again today. He hardened his heart and was about to pursue her regardless, when his phone rang.
A strange number sent him a text message, it was likely Mrs. Gao.
"Get back in the car, I'll call you."
To avoid suspicion, she really went to great lengths.
Knowing his phone number, yet unable to get through to her home landline. No wonder even the intelligent Zhan Beijue couldn't do anything about her; she was too cautious.
Hu Jiasheng returned to the car. It had only been two or three minutes before Mrs. Gao called.
"Why are you here?"
They were strangers before, yet she spoke as if they were very close.
Hu Jiasheng hated that tone.
"You know something happened to Tang Nannan, right?"
Mrs. Gao played dumb: "Oh, when did that happen? What happened?"
Hu Jiasheng said coldly: "If you knew what happened to her, would you help her?"
"That depends on the specifics. If I can help, I will. If I can't, I won't force it. Are you looking for me because of her?"
Still pretending, how tiresome.
Hu Jiasheng stated directly: "Mrs. Gao, I need a clear answer from you, what will it take for you to stop?"
Since they weren't facing each other, she couldn't see his expression, and Mrs. Gao continued to feign ignorance.
"I don't understand what you're talking about."
"You don't understand? Then let me tell you, you arranged for Tang Nannan's incident. Just because I wanted to pursue her as my girlfriend, you sent her to prison. You're something else."
"Hasn't she suffered enough because of you? Without parents, without a bright future, she has lost everything. Is there something wrong with your psychology?"
What he said made Mrs. Gao want to laugh.
"I didn't expect that the old man with warped values would give you such upright values. I'm trying to destroy her, make her lose everything, and you think I have psychological problems?"
"Since you've already decided that's the truth, then I'll accept it. To tell you the truth, I can't stand it anymore. I've given you opportunities, but you've ignored my words. People always have to pay the price for their choices."
Hu Jiasheng found her utterly unreasonable and wished he could argue with her face-to-face through the phone.
"Just because you gave birth to me? So you can control me? So you can do as you please with people around me, and interfere? You're abusing your power, and you'll be exposed sooner or later, with no good outcome."
Facing her own son's curse, Mrs. Gao could only laugh.
"It doesn't matter. While I still have power, I'll do what I can for you..."
"What do you mean by doing something for me? Clearly, you're doing it to satisfy your own selfish desires, to satisfy your dark psychology. This isn't what I want, and you know it very well."
Mrs. Gao's tone became a bit agitated by his words.
"Asheng, you are a mature man in your thirties. Your father was like you at this age..."
"Don't mention him to me! What's so good about a man who is selfish and only thinks about romance and flirtation?"
Mrs. Gao agreed: "That's right. He's selfish and a womanizer, not worth emulating, so don't be like him. As long as a man has money, power, and social status, what kind of woman can't he have?"
"You lost Tang Nannan today, but in the future, you'll gain women a hundred, a thousand times better than her. So, don't get bogged down in petty romance..."
Hu Jiasheng realized it was impossible to reason with her.
Their values were different, their logic was not on the same wavelength, they each stuck to their own arguments, like talking to a wall, it was a pure waste of time.
"I understand. Since you don't plan to stop, this will be the last time the two of us communicate. Mrs. Gao, remember, from this moment on, Hu Jiasheng and I have no relationship. If we do, it will be as enemies. Because of Tang Nannan, I will never forgive you in this lifetime."
---
Just as Mrs. Gao had predicted, when the products were randomly inspected at customs, they successfully found the fake drugs they had planted.
This incident caused a sensation.
All the shipments scheduled to leave that day were held back.
A formal notice was issued stating that all products manufactured by the Zhan Group were not allowed to leave the warehouse without permission, and they would immediately send people to search.
With the products detained and such strange items found, it was uncertain when the investigation would conclude. They couldn't explain the delay to clients, and staff immediately reported it to the sales department.
The sales department quickly relayed the information to Zhan Beijue.
Zhan Beijue seemed to have heard something out of this world.
He, an exporter of electrical equipment, had fake drugs found inside? The attempt to frame him was too obvious.
Zhan Beijue immediately ordered that all personnel who handled this batch of goods be restricted in their movements and brought to the conference room.
They would check the surveillance footage, examine the goods, and review the loading and departure times, bringing out all the monitoring to see at which stage the items were mixed in.
Meanwhile, he urgently contacted familiar staff at the inspection station to inquire about how such situations were generally handled.
The staff told him that someone might know that inspections were being tightened recently and they wanted to catch a typical case, hence the attack at this time.
They couldn't say for sure; everything depended on the final investigation results. In any case, delaying the delivery was certain.
In its many years of operation, Zhan Group had never done anything as disgraceful as violating contracts or delaying deliveries, which would make clients look down on them.
The delivery deadline could not be missed.
He urgently mobilized similar products from branch companies in other cities, whether by water, land, or air, and rushed them to the clients.
Then he returned to the company, personally took charge, and investigated the matter of being framed.
All those who had handled this batch of goods were taken to the conference room and questioned one by one.
Everyone appeared confused, innocent, and shocked.
Having worked at Zhan Group for so many years, everyone was satisfied with their salaries and benefits. The last thing they wanted was for the Zhan Group to face trouble.
Because if the company encountered problems, it would mean instability for their own families.
Everyone passionately expressed their dedication and love for the company. Zhan Beijue watched from behind the glass and quickly identified two foreign trade sales representatives, dismissing everyone else.
Ah Zhong asked him, how did he know those two were acting abnormally?
"Their reactions seemed as if they had rehearsed beforehand. Don't you think all their expressions were too natural?"
"Furthermore, their descriptions were astonishingly consistent. If they hadn't coordinated beforehand, such a high degree of overlap would be impossible."
"And the timelines, remembered so clearly, the details so meticulously laid out. If they weren't prepared beforehand, who could remember these small details so minutely?"
"Then let's go in now and pursue them aggressively; we're sure to get a confession!"
"No," Zhan Beijue said, "Let them stay alone for a while. You watch here."