Chapter 799 382: New Intel—Yinchen Wood Worth Millions at the Lakebed! (Part 2)

Beep beep beep—

The phone rang for quite a while before it was answered, and the voice of Zhang Yongsheng, muddled by sleep and a hint of confusion, came through.

"President Zeng? What's going on so late?"

Zeng Lingyun's tone was urgent:

"Manager Zhang, now, you have to rush to the company immediately! There's no time to explain. Just follow the instructions!"

"Ah? Oh, okay, I'm driving over now!"

Although Zhang Yongsheng didn't know what was happening, he could tell from Zeng Lingyun's urgent tone that it wasn't a trivial matter.

After hanging up Zhang Yongsheng's call, Zeng Lingyun found the contact for the security manager, Liu Xiaojun, and dialed his number.

Beep beep beep—

Beep beep beep—

He couldn't get through the first time, and Zeng Lingyun cursed internally as he dialed for the second time.

It wasn't until the third call that he managed to connect to Liu Xiaojun.

At the same time, there was also the voice of a woman speaking on the other end.

"Liu Xiaojun! I don't care what you're doing right now! You have 20 minutes to get to Jinghua Pavilion!"

"If you're even a minute late, you'll lose a month's salary. If you're 10 minutes late, don't bother coming in the future!"

After finishing his two sentences, Zeng Lingyun didn't give Liu Xiaojun any chance to explain and hung up the phone directly.

After ending the call with Liu Xiaojun, the elevator Zeng Lingyun was riding arrived at the parking lot on the second basement level.

With a ding—

As the elevator doors opened, Zeng Lingyun dashed towards his parking space.

Screeech—

Amidst the intense screeching of tires grinding against the floor,

a black Maybach sped towards the exit of the parking lot.

At 1:20 AM, Zeng Lingyun's black Maybach screeched to a halt less than 10 meters from Jinghua Pavilion's main entrance.

With a bang, he pushed open the car door and got out, not even bothering to close the door as he strode towards the main entrance.

"President Zeng!"

"President Zeng!"

Zhang Yongsheng and Liu Xiaojun, who had received the call from Zeng Lingyun, arrived almost simultaneously.

While greeting Zeng Lingyun, they also quickened their pace to catch up with him.

Especially Liu Xiaojun, who was already 2 minutes late at this point.

According to the rules Zeng Lingyun mentioned over the phone, he had already lost two months' salary.

"President Zeng, President Zhang, Captain Liu!"

Seeing the three executives of Jinghua Pavilion descend in the middle of the night, the two drowsy and sleepy night shift security guards instantly perked up.

Zeng Lingyun asked urgently, "Has An Ziming come?"

One of the security guards nodded and said, "Ah, yes, President Zeng, Manager An has been here for a while."

"I knew it!"

Hearing that An Ziming indeed came, Zeng Lingyun's heart jumped to his throat, and he continued to ask,

"Did he act strange in any way?"

The security guard being questioned scratched his head and said,

"No... no? Nothing unusual."

Another security guard suddenly spoke up,

"President Zeng, Manager An was carrying a white plastic bucket when he went in. At first, I thought it was filled with wine, but then..."

"But what?"

The other security guard's eyes widened nervously, and Zeng Lingyun, with a tense expression, asked.

With a nervous countenance, the security guard supplemented,

"When Manager An walked past me, I seemed to smell a hint of gasoline, but I'm not too sure."

Gasoline smell!

Upon hearing the words gasoline smell, Zeng Lingyun's expression turned even more grave!

"You guys, quick! Come with me!"

Zeng Lingyun waved his hand, leading Zhang Yongsheng and Liu Xiaojun along with two on-duty security guards swiftly toward the office area of Jinghua Pavilion.

The hurried and chaotic sound of footsteps echoed down the hallway, breaking the silence of the night.

Liu Xiaojun took the lead, directly crashing open the door to An Ziming's office!

Inside the office.

An Ziming was reclining on the sofa with his legs crossed, a cigarette hanging from his mouth, seemingly deep in thought.

On the floor before him was a conspicuous white 12-liter plastic bucket.

The sudden banging of the door startled him, almost causing the cigarette to fall from his mouth.

He looked at the group that barged in, bewildered, especially at the forefront, where Zeng Lingyun and Zhang Yongsheng stood, their faces dark as if cast in iron.

Seeing the group pouring into the room, An Ziming glanced at the white plastic bucket on the floor, his face showing extreme panic.

Liu Xiaojun didn't give An Ziming a chance to finish speaking.

He lunged, tackling An Ziming to the ground just as he got up!

Despite his post-retirement weight gain, Liu Xiaojun was still able to subdue someone like An Ziming.

Using his physical advantage, Liu Xiaojun employed a skillful grappling move, easily controlling An Ziming before he could react.

"Ah! What are you doing!"

An Ziming cried out in pain as his cigarette dropped onto the carpet, emitting a thin trail of smoke.

The other security guards also mobbed him, holding his head and legs down firmly, rendering him immobile.

"Let go of me! What are you trying to do!"

An Ziming struggled fiercely, shouting loudly.

Zhang Yongsheng ignored his shouting, quickly moving to the white plastic bucket and twisting off the lid.

Instantly, a pungent, familiar smell of gasoline spread throughout the office!

"It's really gasoline..."

Zhang Yongsheng's voice trembled as he lifted the bucket, turning towards Zeng Lingyun.

Zeng Lingyun looked at the translucent liquid sloshing inside the bucket, then at the cigarette still smoldering on the ground, just a meter or two from the gasoline bucket.

His spine went cold, and cold sweat instantly soaked the vest underneath his shirt.

A sense of dread, like icy water poured over his head, almost made him lose his balance.

If it weren't for that phone call from Jiang Tao tonight...

If this bucket of gasoline had been ignited, the consequences would be unimaginable!

The destruction of the century-old historic building of Jinghua Pavilion would have been secondary.

The reputation built by Jinghua Pavilion over decades would be incinerated in the blaze!

His career would also be potentially destroyed.

If Jinghua Pavilion were gone, he, as the deputy managing director responsible for operations, would not escape culpability.

And Zeng Lingyun would undoubtedly pay an extremely heavy price.

Zeng Lingyun dared not think further.

He took several deep breaths to calm his wildly pounding heart.

His gaze towards the struggling An Ziming turned icy cold, filled with uncontrollable rage.

"An Ziming, what were you planning to do?"

An Ziming stopped struggling, gasping for air, his eyes shifting from panic to resentment as he glared at Zeng Lingyun and suddenly laughed coldly.

"What was I planning? What do you think I was planning?"

"I've worked at Jinghua Pavilion for so many years; even if not meritorious, I have worked hard, haven't I?"

"For just one incident, you want to suspend me! I refuse! It's not fair!"

An Ziming's voice was sharp from agitation.

"If I can't have peace, then none of you will! We'll all go down together!"

Seeing An Ziming's twisted expression, any remaining trace of sympathy in Zeng Lingyun's heart vanished.

"Captain Liu, keep an eye on him. Call the police."

"Yes, President Zeng!"

Liu Xiaojun responded, having his subordinates lift An Ziming up.

Upon hearing the word "police", An Ziming went completely berserk, struggling and cursing fiercely.

"Zeng Lingyun! You old bastard, you'll die a horrible death! None of you will meet a good end!"

"I won't let you get away with this!"

"Even if you lock me up, when I get out, I'll settle the score with you!"

"Get off me! How dare you idiots mess with me, your father!"

As An Ziming's curses faded into the distance, he was dragged out of the office by two security guards.

The room was left with only Zeng Lingyun and Zhang Yongsheng, along with that dangerous bucket of gasoline.

The pungent smell still lingered in the air, a terrifying disaster having been nipped in the bud.

"An Ziming usually seemed quite honest, who would've thought he'd act so extreme."

Looking at the gasoline bucket, Zhang Yongsheng felt a profound sense of dread.

An Ziming was his direct subordinate; if this situation had actually unfolded, Zhang Yongsheng would've been implicated as well.

Losing his job would be the least of his concerns.

Given Jinghua Pavilion's backing, they could easily have made him cough up all the earnings over the years as reparation.

"Going forward, Jinghua Pavilion must be more rigorous in its hiring practices, including conducting personality tests."

"We can't let unstable individuals like An Ziming into our company again!"

Having experienced An Ziming's thwarted arson attempt,

Zeng Lingyun learned a great deal from the incident, gaining wisdom from the experience.

He also felt a deeper sense of gratitude towards Jiang Tao.