Chapter 415: Roundabout Tactics

Chapter 415 -192: Roundabout Tactics

Jiang Mingzhu’s slender brows furrowed. She couldn’t fathom her husband’s thoughts; after all, they had been a couple in name only for nearly a decade. “Got it.”

「A dozen or so minutes later.」

Jiang Mingzhu knocked on the door of the second-floor study.

“Come in. The door’s unlocked.”

The door opened, then closed.

The atmosphere in the study was somewhat oppressive and awkward.

Liu Tonghai didn’t beat around the bush. He directly produced a paternity test report. “Do you have anything to say?”

Glancing at the paternity test report, Jiang Mingzhu’s expression changed slightly. She immediately went on the offensive. “If you want a divorce, just say so. Why bother forging something like this?”

“I don’t want to blow this up, nor do I want to embarrass Ah Zhe or your father. If you think this is fake, we can have your parents accompany us to get another paternity test tomorrow. How about that?”

“…” Losing her nerve, Jiang Mingzhu was momentarily at a loss for words. After a moment, she feigned stubbornness and retorted, “What do you want?”

“I don’t want to see her. Marry her off! It’ll be a good thing for everyone.”

“…” Jiang Mingzhu wrestled with her thoughts for a moment. She agreed it was best not to let this blow up. Otherwise, it wouldn’t just be about Liu Tonghai being cuckolded; Liu Xiaowen would go from being a wealthy young lady to an illegitimate child, an outcast. Moreover, her father was a rather traditional man; this kind of scandal would be deeply embarrassing for him.

“Which family’s son have you decided on?”

“The Jiang Family.”

Jiang Mingzhu’s brow furrowed tightly. As far as she could recall, there were no prominent tycoon families named Jiang in the Xiangjiang River. Racking her brain for a few minutes, she finally came up with one: “The son of Jiang Fusheng, chairman of Hengsong Holding Group Co., Ltd.?”

“No.”

“Then what other Jiang Family is there in the Xiangjiang River?” Jiang Mingzhu retorted, displeased.

Liu Tonghai explained nonchalantly, “They are only minor tycoons, but their relatives are quite formidable—the Jiang Family that’s in the White Truffle business.”

“White Truffle? From the mainland?” Jiang Mingzhu suddenly had a vague recollection.

“Yes. They’re backed by the mainland Jiang Family, so at the very least, they won’t have to worry about food and drink. Plus, since they’ve only recently become minor tycoons, their sons probably haven’t developed any serious bad habits.”

“I will go meet them myself.”

“Do as you please. But this matter is related to the company’s business. I expect you not to screw it up. Otherwise, you’ll face the consequences.” Liu Tonghai’s gaze suddenly turned stern and icy.

Stared at by him, Jiang Mingzhu felt a chill in her heart, and her own little schemes diminished.

Liu Tonghai knew all too well the power of the puppet master behind this affair. If he messed this up, his entire family would be utterly destroyed, without a place for burial.

「The next day, early in the morning.」

Jiang Mingzhu specifically used her connections to arrange a tea meeting with Jiang Dahe’s wife, He Saimei.

Flattered and surprised, He Saimei saw it as an opportunity to break into the Xiangjiang River’s circle of tycoons. She dressed up meticulously and went to the Peninsula Hotel to have tea with Jiang Mingzhu and her party.

Over the course of the morning tea, Jiang Mingzhu got a basic understanding of the Jiang Family’s situation. She also saw photos of their two sons. While they weren’t handsome enough to be movie stars, they at least weren’t ugly, just ordinary-looking but presentable men.

The previous night, Jiang Mingzhu had also searched online for information about the mainland Jiang Family.

When she saw the information that Hailufeng Company had contracted 30 million mu of land in Monan, she was completely stunned.

At first, the number didn’t surprise her too much. It was only when she did a quick calculation of the Xiangjiang River’s area that she realized what 30 million mu meant—it was equivalent to eighteen Xiangjiang Rivers.

Even if they were just nouveau riche, they were worth cozying up to. Besides, while the daughter wasn’t Liu Tonghai’s seed, she was definitely her own. As the mother, she might be able to ride her daughter’s coattails in the future and gain the upper hand over Liu Tonghai.

Therefore, Jiang Mingzhu was exceptionally warm during the tea.

Although He Saimei wasn’t highly educated, she had at least knocked around the streets for over twenty years. Hearing the other woman frequently mention Jiang Miao, Hailufeng Company, and her own sons, and then adding that she had a daughter who was already twenty, He Saimei guessed her ulterior motive.

He Saimei, who dreamed of marrying into a wealthy family, chose to go with the flow.

Both parties felt this was a good match, so their conversation naturally grew more and more enthusiastic.

…

Meanwhile, Jiang Miao was still busy traveling around the various sites of the Monan Branch.

At the United Mining Company’s experimental bio-mining site in the northern mountains of Zhelimu City, Jiang Miao, led by Lu Mingyuan, was inspecting a dozen or so experimental wells.

Lu Mingyuan, wearing a mask, said, “We’ve currently tried several methods, but the cost of phosphorus extraction remains stubbornly high.”

“What’s the estimated cost per ton?”

“Even the cheapest method is still 2,800 yuan per ton. At that cost, it’s completely meaningless to mine.”

“Take it slow. No need to rush.” Jiang Miao was waiting for Shuya to return to work. He would need to wait at least a few months after her return before he could produce a preliminary plan.

“Yes, sir.” Lu Mingyuan wasn’t actually in a hurry. After all, United Mining Company was truly flush with cash right now; a few tens of millions in research funding was just chump change.

After inspecting the situation at the experimental site, Jiang Miao rested for a night in a small nearby county town.

「That night.」

After opening his personal laptop, he saw a hidden background application pop up with some notifications.

This software was a keyword-retrieval anti-surveillance system he had designed himself.

Of course, he had based its core template on similar software from major international internet companies, which he then optimized and improved himself.

He looked at the notifications from the anti-surveillance system. They were all captured targets—individuals who had triggered the system’s automatic logging by intensely searching for certain keywords today.

‘Why is this woman gathering information on me and my uncle’s family?’ Apparently, Jiang Miao had seen Jiang Mingzhu’s search history.

Although he thought she might just be acting on a whim, or perhaps was one of his uncle’s business partners, Jiang Miao remained cautious. He entered all of her various accounts into his list of secondary surveillance targets.

In fact, Jiang Miao had encountered many similar people. The vast majority were driven by curiosity or were people who were about to cooperate with Hailufeng Company and were thus doing intensive research.

For such people, he would add them to the list of secondary surveillance targets and monitor them for a period. If they showed no unusual activity during the observation period, he would remove them from the list.