75: Chapter 75 Reveals the Truth

Qin Mulin shouted, "But I was clearly on a video call with General Manager Shi at the time! How could that be wrong?"

General Manager Shi, standing nearby, also looked puzzled. "That's right, I remember very clearly. Qin Mulin, you called me on video exactly at 10 PM. Even though you didn't come in person, didn't you pass the information to me?"

Qin Mulin was utterly confused. "You must be remembering wrong. It was you who didn't show up at the Hilton. And I didn't call you at ten. I arrived early yesterday; it couldn't have been past nine at the latest."

Zhang Wei sneered. "Do you know why we confiscated your phones? Aside from preventing you from contacting each other before the deal, the key point was that without your phone and without wearing a watch, after spending most of the day in the room, your sense of time would have become completely blurred. The only source of time information was the electronic clock in the room. What you didn't know is that I had set that clock ahead by one hour. And the reason the TV in the room wouldn't turn on? I had someone arrange that too. Because I was the one who booked the room. That gave me a one-hour time difference to work with."

Zhang Wei laughed heartily. "The moment you walked in and told me the contact's surname was Shi, you had already lost completely.

At that very moment, in a top-floor suite of the Hilton Hotel, someone had thoroughly investigated all the upper management of Phoenix Group. It was easy to find videos and photos of General Manager Shi. The only unknown was which specific executive was dealing with you.

So, once you said it was General Manager Shi, having our person impersonate him to make contact with you was child's play."

Zhang Wei looked at the two men with contempt. "Sir, times have changed. Ever heard of AI deepfake technology?"

With the operation of the genius hacker girl An Xiaoxi, swapping faces for a video call was a piece of cake.

Zhang Wei continued, "Then, when you thought the deal was done, we used your facial information to make a video call to General Manager Shi. We lied, saying the company was cracking down and he couldn't come out for the deal, then fed him the fake quote and plan. Of course, the plan didn't need to be perfect. Just modifying a few key points on the original plan was enough. Oh, and by the way, I conveniently increased Zhu Group's quote by 1 billion. So, your idea of bidding just a little lower than that to win the tender was pure fantasy."

"So... I told Zhu Group's quote and plan to a plant you hired?" Qin Mulin muttered vacantly, his gaze empty.

"And the lobby attendant and the taxi driver were my people too. So, the time in the taxi was also altered," Zhang Wei said coldly. Those two were Zhang Hong and Wang Sheng in disguise.

Qin Mulin was on the verge of a breakdown. Clutching his head, he cried out, "But I really did go to room 506! And I arrived early. General Manager Shi also said he never left the room. Even if you sped up the time, we should have still run into each other!"

"That's because we already knew your meeting location and tampered with the room numbers in advance. What you thought was room 506 was actually room 504. Ironically, while you were making the deal, you were just one wall away from General Manager Shi next door. Yet, you couldn't see each other."

Qin Mulin's last shred of hope was utterly extinguished. He collapsed to the floor, completely drained. Zhang Wei finally experienced the thrill of carrying the entire investigation like Conan.

"I absolutely love deduction!" But Zhang Wei still had one final blow to deliver.

He walked over to Qin Mulin and looked down at him. "As for the 5 million in cash you took, that was money I withdrew from the bank yesterday. I didn't even change the briefcase. It's already been retrieved from the Hilton. And the contents you disclosed during that video call? I made backups. Perfect as ironclad evidence of your commercial espionage. The Economic Crime Division officers are probably almost at the building by now. You can look forward to prison."

Turning to General Manager Shi, he said, "As for this esteemed executive, you're not getting off either. Perfect for you two to go in together and keep each other company on the sewing machines."

Hearing this, General Manager Shi's face turned ashen. He knew both he and Phoenix Group were finished. With the evidence solid, Zhu Group's lawyers were no pushovers. They wouldn't stop until they had sued him into bankruptcy and ruin.

Not long after, Economic Investigation officers came upstairs and took both Qin Mulin and General Manager Shi away for questioning. Minister Han, overjoyed, signed the project contract with the Construction Bureau leadership. Thus, the matter was perfectly resolved to everyone's satisfaction.

Only Zhu Pengfei looked glum. He had only learned the entire operation plan from Zhang Wei's mouth early that morning. He had thought he could show off a bit, but ended up being ruthlessly sidelined. If it weren't for their brotherly bond, he wouldn't be able to forgive Zhang Wei.

"You should be content," Zhang Wei said disdainfully. "I did all the work for you. Now that we've won the bid, you, as the project lead, get the lion's share of the credit. You're lying down collecting merits and still not satisfied?"

"Oh yeah, Old Zhang, I almost forgot about that with you mentioning it." Zhu Pengfei slapped his thigh. "My dad's always saying I'm useless. With such a huge achievement this time, let's see what the old man has to say. Gotta milk him for all he's worth."

Just then, a voice came from behind Zhu Pengfei. "And what exactly would you like to milk him for?"

Zhang Wei saw the newcomer and signaled to Zhu Pengfei with his eyes. But Zhu Pengfei, caught up in his excitement, blurted out without thinking, "Gotta get me a new sports car, a promotion, and maybe a pretty secretary or something. Let the secretary do all the work. As for what I'll do... hehehe, I've been wanting to unlock that new 'office' scenario for a while now."

Minister Han and the other employees standing nearby wore awkward expressions, looking at Zhu Pengfei's back, wanting to laugh but not daring to.

Zhu Pengfei turned around and saw his own father standing right behind him, looking at him with an expressionless face.

"Uh... Dad, if I said all that was just a joke, would you believe me?"

Just as Zhu Zhendong was about to undo his belt buckle to administer some home discipline on the spot, Zhang Wei hurried over to smooth things over for Zhu Pengfei. "Hello, Uncle Zhu. Finally meeting you. I'm Zhang Wei."

Zhu Zhendong raised his hand and pointed sternly at Zhu Pengfei, but when he turned, his expression had already shifted to a kindly one. "Xiao Zhang! Winning the bid so smoothly this time is all thanks to your help."

Zhang Wei replied modestly, "I just provided some assistance. It's mainly due to Zhu Group's solid capabilities. If not for some underhanded interference, you would have secured the project smoothly anyway."

He then pointed at Zhu Pengfei. "Old Zhu here also helped a lot. Without him holding down the fort, it would have been hard for me to execute the plan. Please don't punish him."

Zhu Zhendong nodded. "Don't be so modest, Xiao Zhang. Your uncle has a thank-you gift for you later; don't you dare refuse." He then turned and barked at Zhu Pengfei, "Listen! Both young men around the same age, yet see how sensible Zhang Wei is. Having a friend like him is a blessing you've earned."

It was already noon. In high spirits, Zhu Zhendong ordered Minister Han to book a restaurant. He wanted to personally host a celebration banquet for the entire project team.

Thinking that he wasn't actually a Zhu Group employee, Zhang Wei politely declined and didn't attend. Before leaving, he pulled Zhu Pengfei aside and asked, "By the way, wasn't Liu Haorui out with you last night? Where is he?"

Zhu Pengfei's expression turned odd. "Old Liu said he was going back to your place when he left last night. You'd better ask him directly for the details."

Utterly baffled, Zhang Wei said goodbye to Zhu Zhendong and the others, left the Construction Bureau, got in his car, and drove towards Jiangnan Garden.