Chapter 95

Upon returning home, just as he opened the door and entered, Weixiangxiu brought in a box of apples, saying that it was sent by officials from Lingdong to thank Director Lu for helping the people of Lingdong. Since no one was home at Lu Zheng's place, they knocked on the neighbor's door, which was Weixiangxiu's, and asked her to give the apples to Director Lu when he returned.

Weixiangxiu had initially advised them to wait for Lu Zheng, thinking that a box of apples was not a big deal, but who knew what Lu Zheng would think? Weixiangxiu did not want to take responsibility for it, as she was also a public security official and very sensitive to such matters.

However, those people left without further discussion, and Weixiangxiu had no choice but to temporarily keep the box of apples.

Lu Zheng had no time to deal with such trivial matters. He took the book and the letter and went into the study. In the letter from Bai Sha Bao, the first string of Arabic numerals was "41117." If this string of numbers was a code and the decoding key was a book, then it could represent the 17th character of the 11th line on the 4th page, or the 7th character of the 11th line on the 41st page, or the 17th character of the 1st line on the 41st page, and so on.

Lu Zheng searched one by one. When he found that the 7th character of the 11th line on the 41st page of the book "Blood-Stained Grace" was the character "Lu," he smiled and sat down in a chair, realizing he had guessed correctly.

The next step was simple. He picked out the Chinese characters from the book according to the Arabic code. For those he was unsure about, he would wait until he could determine the majority of the characters and then choose based on the context.

About half an hour later, a complete Chinese letter written by Lu Zheng appeared on the desk.

The letter from Bai Sha Bao read, "Lu Zheng: Hello, I am Iris from the Federal Republic of Germany. Thank you for saving me, even though it might not have been your intention."

"Although I have always tried to face death calmly, when I learned that I could live, my joy and happiness might only be understood by someone who has experienced life and death like you. Thank you, Lu Zheng, you are the knight God has given me!"

"I am such a person. Since I was very young, everyone has praised me as a genius, and I seem to have a natural talent for many things. In recent years, our Sandro family has been emerging from the depths of decline and entering a period of revival. In fact, I have contributed many ideas to my grandfather's successful acquisitions and divestitures. For some reason, when I get involved, those companies seem to become prey, and what I want to do is ultimately hunt them down. This is my favorite hunting game."

"Perhaps, you might also be one of my targets."

When Lu Zheng read this, he broke out in a cold sweat. Was this written by a girl around ten years old? Moreover, Bai Sha Bao was not boasting; her innate confidence made her not need to show off to anyone, because deep down, Lu Zheng and she were of the same kind, so he could understand her.

In a matter-of-fact tone, she was simply introducing herself to Lu Zheng, telling him what kind of person she was.

But, this child, was she really that extraordinary? Even as a person who had been reborn, he felt a slight tingling on his scalp.

"There is one more thing to tell you. Changming Company is actually your company. As you said, the United States and several other countries indeed signed an agreement to forcibly devalue the dollar."

"Before making this risky investment, I was very hesitant, but because of your reminder, I seized the best opportunity. Therefore, your reward is well-deserved. Before the investment, I had already decided to split the money my grandfather lent me and my own savings in half, with half belonging to you. If we make a profit, I will return your share to you. If we lose money, I will eventually come to you to collect the debt you owe me!"

Lu Zheng laughed at this point. Only then did he feel that Bai Sha Bao was indeed still a child at heart, no matter how mature she appeared, some things never changed.

But, what did she mean by "Changming Company is yours"?

Lu Zheng continued reading.

"Since we made a profit, I will return your share to you, which is Changming Company. Of course, this is also the money my grandfather lent me, as our money is still in the Japanese stock market. Since you are in Red China, it is inconvenient for you to manage your finances, so I will handle it for you, and your salary will be deducted from your earnings. Mr. Schneider knows about your relationship with this company, and in China, he is the only one who knows. He is a very loyal servant, so you can trust him to handle the matter."

"But I guess, in the joint venture negotiations, you must have fought for the greatest benefit for your country, right? I hope you didn't use your maximum effort, because every benefit you fought for in the negotiations is a loss to your own interests."

"I hope I haven't given you a headache."

After reading the entire letter, Lu Zheng couldn't help but laugh, especially at Bai Sha Bao's analysis of his negotiations. If an ordinary person saw this, they would probably be furious. After all the hard work in the negotiations, it turned out that he had actually undermined his own interests. Who wouldn't be frustrated?

How could Bai Sha Bao be so mischievous?

However, Lu Zheng didn't have any particular feelings about it. To him, money was like dirt.

As for Bai Sha Bao saying that the German shares of Changming Company were actually for him and were temporarily managed by her, Lu Zheng didn't take it seriously. Not only was it just a child's word, but if the 70% share of the German side were really transferred to him, it would involve many complex issues. Moreover, even if it were really given to him, did he have to accept it?

...

On Monday morning, Lu Zheng was reviewing the materials on the previous foreign investment work of the Planning and Economy Commission when there was a knock on the office door. The head of the Project Audit Department, Zhang Qingtian, walked in.

Zhang Qingtian was in his early thirties, thin and small, with dark skin, but he was known for being difficult to deal with and meticulous, and was very favored by a certain Ma leader in the original Municipal Committee. Two years ago, he was appointed as the head of the Audit Department of the Planning and Economy Commission, and last year, when the department was upgraded to a division, Zhang Qingtian became Director Zhang, although his administrative level remained at the department head level.

A few years ago, officials like Zhang Qingtian, who were rigorous and serious, were very popular. However, with the deepening of the reform and opening up in Wushan and the development of the economy, being too serious in the audit position inevitably cut off people's financial paths, making Zhang Qingtian gradually seem out of place. He was often reported, and the saying "three people make a tiger" meant that hearing different people say bad things about him made the leaders gradually dislike him.

A few days ago, the Deputy Secretary of the Municipal Committee and Director of the Planning and Economy Commission, Ma Hua, personally inquired about Zhang Qingtian's work attitude and whether he had conflicts with many officials in the commission. Lu Zheng, citing his recent entry into the commission, did not give a direct answer.

"Director Lu, I have something to tell you," Zhang Qingtian said, placing a thick stack of files on Lu Zheng's desk.

Lu Zheng nodded slightly.

In terms of personal character, without a doubt, Zhang Qingtian was the most upright person Lu Zheng had encountered since his rebirth, excluding family members.

Even Lu Zheng himself did not consider himself a good person, but Zhang Qingtian was different; he belonged to the group of good people.

"Director Lu, you have worked in Guangning, right? You served as the Chief of the Guangning County Public Security Bureau, so you should be familiar with the Guangning County Bureau, right?" Zhang Qingtian's dark face showed no obvious expression.

Lu Zheng smiled and nodded.

Zhang Qingtian patted the stack of files on the desk and said, "You should be more familiar with the situation of the Guangning County Public Security Bureau than I am. This is the project proposal for the new office building of the Guangning County Bureau. I believe the cost of the new office building is seriously over budget, and there is likely to be a case of money-for-power transactions."

Zhang Qingtian was a very capable official, but there was no doubt that having such a subordinate would be a headache for any leader.

Although Lu Zheng was also known for his stubbornness, he often used this image to mislead opponents and achieve unexpected results by being like a hedgehog.

Zhang Qingtian, on the other hand, truly did not fear offending anyone. In the past two years, as the new rules of the market economy gradually formed in the Wushan political circle, Zhang Qingtian ignored all the gradually established norms and never feared cutting off anyone's financial path.

The Audit Department of the Planning and Economy Commission was actually just a supervisory department with no enforcement power. The most they could do was issue a notice requiring the relevant units to make necessary corrections.

So, while Zhang Qingtian could correct some illegal and disciplinary actions and prevent the other party from being too bold, he could not really punish them after cutting off their financial paths. As a result, he offended more and more people, and many officials wanted to remove him from his position.

Now, he had set his sights on the new office building project of the Guangning County Public Security Bureau. The project was contracted to a private construction company in Wushan. After reviewing the accounts for a few days, he came to the new leader's office.

Guangning, Lu Zheng's mind suddenly became a bit hazy.

Since leaving Guangning, Lu Zheng had never returned. Thinking about it, it had been almost half a year.

"Director Lu, thank you! I heard that Secretary Ma wanted to dismiss me, but you protected me."

Zhang Qingtian suddenly blurted out this.

Lu Zheng looked up at him and said, "That's not the case. Secretary Ma has a lot of trust in you." It seemed that Zhang Qingtian was not a simple-minded person, and the rumors in the commission were not entirely true.

"It's the same," Zhang Qingtian smiled, and the small, dark figure suddenly seemed to come alive.

Lu Zheng looked at the files on the desk and said, "You go back first. I will read these carefully."

Zhang Qingtian said, "The file number P1 is a detailed analysis of the sample data by me and several colleagues in the department. I am very sure that it involves money-for-power transactions. Moreover, I talked to an informant from Huayan Construction, who admitted to me that he personally gave money to the Chief of the Guangning County Public Security Bureau, Ma Yuewu. I recorded the conversation, and the tape and the transcript are in the bottom layer."

Lu Zheng smiled. This guy liked to act first and report later, having already conducted his own investigation before coming to him. Wasn't this putting him in a difficult position?

Thinking about it, the previous leaders must have disliked him for this attitude.

Zhang Qingtian would be better suited to the Discipline Inspection Commission, far superior to wasting his time in the Planning and Economy Commission.

Lu Zheng had this thought for some reason.

"Then, Director Lu, I'll go out first?" Zhang Qingtian asked tentatively.

Lu Zheng nodded slightly.