"So, this video was given to you by Huang He's people, deliberately for you to hand over to me!" the old man said, his face serious as he looked at the finger disc in his hand.
"Yes!" Hao Jianguo then recounted everything that had happened in the office to the old man.
"Oh, the Jiangnan Group threatened you, enticed you with benefits, and even used your identity as a Chinese person to admonish you, and yet you immediately told me the truth? What were you thinking?" the old man asked, looking at Hao Jianguo with some surprise.
The old man felt that the Jiangnan Group's tactics were quite clever. First, they used Hao Jianguo's life to coerce him, then they offered him benefits by not falling out with him, and finally, they brought up his identity and bloodline as a Chinese person. Even the old man himself would have hesitated for quite some time. He didn't expect Hao Jianguo to make a decision so quickly and sell out his own countrymen.
"To answer your question, once a person reaches my position, they can no longer afford to be indecisive. If I had betrayed you for the Jiangnan Group's threats and enticements, wouldn't I have offended you again? Moreover, I would never gain trust from the Jiangnan Group again. Therefore, I can only follow you unconditionally, begging for your protection, and only then can I live out my remaining years in peace!" Hao Jianguo said with utmost sincerity.
"As for the identity of fellow Chinese people, this is entirely moral blackmail against me. Who stipulates that being Chinese means one must do it for China? Besides, the Jiangnan Group does not represent China, which is utterly ridiculous!"
"Well said. Huang He is indeed a bit too naive to think that such methods could deal with you. By bringing up the identity of fellow Chinese people to coerce you, he has indeed underestimated you!" The old man laughed heartily, very satisfied with Hao Jianguo's declaration.
However, he did not know that Hao Jianguo had actually wavered severely in his heart, almost deciding to help the Jiangnan Group and Huang He.
After all, Hao Jianguo was not foolish. Judging by the actions of Dr. Cooper, he was not even as valuable as a dog in his hands. Once he lost his usefulness, he would likely be discarded completely, leading to an even worse fate.
So Hao Jianguo hesitated. He knew Huang He was a man of his word. If he had agreed to Huang He, he could have simply fled back to China in the future and been completely safe.
But what Huang He did not expect was that the final mention of "fellow Chinese people" completely changed Hao Jianguo's mindset.
That's right, if he had ultimately sided with Huang He, even if he had successfully deceived Gao Sheng and escaped back to China, he could have lived a stable life there.
But in doing so, wouldn't all his hard work in the first half of his life be reduced to zero?
He had meticulously stayed in the United States, even willing to sell his conscience and dignity to be a mole, all for the purpose of staying in the United States and becoming a first-class citizen.
But if he were to return to China in disgrace, wouldn't all his actions become a joke? What would be the point of his life's struggles?
Furthermore, even if he returned to China, it would be impossible for him to work openly. The Jiangnan Group would still harbor deep resentment towards him. With just one word from them, they could completely blacklist him from any work opportunities in China. He would likely have to live off all his savings.
He had gone to the United States through every possible means, only to return in disgrace. Wouldn't he have become a laughingstock?
Had his trip to America been in vain?
"Since I stayed in the United States, I should be a thorough American. As long as I can stay in the United States, the first half of my life will not have been wasted. I refuse to be some damned Chinese person; I am a noble American!" It was this thought that ultimately solidified Hao Jianguo's resolve, and he turned around and told the old man everything that had been said in the office.
"However, this Huang He is quite capable, actually thinking of using confidence to gain negotiation advantages. If you hadn't told me, I would have been fooled by him too!" The old man praised our Boss Huang, then watched the entire video and fell into thought.
"Hao Jianguo, you said that Shrek told you this video was genuine and authentically filmed?" the old man suddenly asked.
"Yes!" Hao Jianguo quickly replied.
"Then this is indeed quite troublesome. If the Jiangnan Group's technology can already be practically applied, then it will be very difficult to force them to hand over all their technology by using patent traps. Must we really give up on the vacuum high-speed train and instead obtain all the PT!" the old man became troubled, realizing that it was not so easy to force Huang He to submit.
Hao Jianguo's earlier excitement seemed to have dissipated.
"This Huang He probably doesn't worry about whether Hao Jianguo will defect, because whether he defects or not, this video will inevitably be sent to me. And as soon as I see this video, I've already lost half the battle!" The old man was furious, then found an excuse to scold Hao Jianguo harshly and sent him away.
"Kobiro, come here!" The old man called out his chief secretary's name, then remembered that his chief secretary was still busy in Europe doing false accounting for a country.
He shook his head and called for his butler, then said, "You go find the most professional video technical personnel and analyze this video frame by frame to determine if it is authentic."
The next day, the butler delivered the results. The old man frowned upon seeing the report, as it stated that the video was completely authentic, with no signs of modification, and was indeed a video genuinely filmed with a mobile phone, with no issues!
"Is there no problem with this report?" the old man asked, still not quite believing it.
"Sir, I also engaged three technical appraisal agencies to conduct the appraisal, and their results were all the same. This video is indeed authentic, no problem!" the butler said quickly.
The old man fell into thought. After looking for a long time, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he pointed to the video playing on the large screen in the middle of the video and said, "Have you appraised the video within this video? Is this video authentic?"
The old man's words made the butler pause, and he quickly ordered the previous appraisal agencies to re-appraise.
This time, it took about two days for the appraisal agencies to issue their appraisal reports.
According to these appraisal reports, the video itself was indeed authentically filmed, but the Jiangnan Group had very cunningly used CG technology to produce a fake video of a vacuum train operating within the pipeline and then played it on the large screen in the middle. This made it technically impossible to detect any video manipulation.
Furthermore, due to the resolution issues of the mobile phone-recorded video, the resolution of the footage on the central screen was even worse. Coupled with the high-speed movement of the train within the tunnel, the true appearance of the train could not be seen, only a blur. This further deepened the possibility of video misidentification.
Ultimately, this CG video appeared to be genuine within the mobile phone video, deceiving even these professional appraisal agencies.
After obtaining this complete appraisal report, the old man immediately summoned Hao Jianguo again, threw the appraisal report in front of him, and laughed heartily, "Hahaha, this Huang He is indeed extremely cunning. He never believed you from beginning to end, and even the video he gave you was fake. If it weren't for my sharp eyes, I would have been completely fooled by his damn video!" xxs
"Huang He, you old scoundrel..." Hao Jianguo was so resentful that his teeth itched. His previous words had deeply touched Hao Jianguo, and he had even felt a trace of guilt towards Huang He.
But then Huang He dared to deceive him. He was indeed a scoundrel. His betrayal was not wrong; it was all Huang He's fault from beginning to end.
However, the old man was very happy. Although he was almost deceived, he had ultimately seen through Huang He's despicable methods and felt extremely smug.
What made him even more smug was that through this fake video, it was completely proven that the Jiangnan Group was currently in a dire situation. He probably only needed to point out the fabrication in the video, and the Jiangnan Group would immediately collapse.
"Hao Jianguo, from now on, you don't need to go to work at the Jiangnan Group anymore. Just submit your resignation report!" the old man said with a smile.
"Yes, thank you, boss!" Hao Jianguo was overjoyed to hear this. He could finally escape from the clutches of the Jiangnan Group. He no longer had to worry about being arrested and losing his life one day while at work.
After all, there was no spy in the world who could calmly stay in the enemy's lair without flinching after their identity had been discovered. Who knew how Hao Jianguo had managed these past few days.
Hao Jianguo had already decided that after resigning, he would immediately take the money and hide in the sparsely populated states in the west, making himself completely untraceable by the Jiangnan Group.
He planned to wait a few years until the Jiangnan Group had largely forgotten about him, and then he would use his savings to buy a large piece of land and live a leisurely life as a landlord in the United States.
Then, as Hao Jianguo was fantasizing, he heard the old man continue, "After resigning, you will immediately join the Union Pacific Railroad Company. I will directly arrange a managerial position for you. Then, you will lead the negotiation team of the Union Pacific Railroad Company to China and negotiate with the Jiangnan Group to get both the PT and the vacuum high-speed rail technology!"
"What?" Hao Jianguo's face turned pale with fright. Not only could he not hide and enjoy peace, but he also had to return to China, to the heart of the enemy's territory, and negotiate with his former employer?
Was this forcing him to his death?