When Zhao Jianhua was around, he could only stand by Zhao Jianhua's side, having no stance to curry favor with Zhang Yuyun, nor did he expect Zhao Jianhua to have an accident.
"Sit down, how has your new position been recently?" Zhang Yuyun asked solicitously.
He said, flattered, "It's okay, I can adapt. I want to contribute more to the group and am willing to go to the most difficult and tiring positions."
Zhang Yuyun smiled and said, "You are also an old employee of the group, having followed our Old Zhao for so long. Even if you have no merit, you have toiled hard, so of course, I can't let you suffer too much."
"Ms. Zhang, thank you for your concern."
"Don't worry, although Old Zhao is still in the hospital, I won't treat you unfairly." Zhang Yuyun asked, "When Old Zhao had his accident, you were right there. Do you know what was going on between him and that girl?"
"I, I don't know either." Xia Ming lowered his head, avoiding her gaze, thinking that nothing good ever came of this. Was Zhang Yuyun going to settle accounts with him?
Zhang Yuyun stared at him and asked, "Do you really not know, or are you pretending not to know? I already have a good idea of Old Zhao's messy affairs, so what else is there to hide?"
Xia Ming said helplessly, "Ms. Zhang, I only did as Mr. Zhao instructed and never acted on my own initiative. Really, you must believe me!"
"I believe that, of course, I believe you," Zhang Yuyun said, only asking him, "What exactly happened at the time? Don't hide anything, tell me everything. This is related to the survival of our group."
Xia Ming couldn't help but look up at her, not understanding how Zhao Jianhua's entanglement with a woman could affect the group. "That serious?"
"Yes." Zhang Yuyun didn't tell him it involved project issues, but rather scared him by saying, "So you must tell me the situation clearly. Otherwise, this girl might even sue Old Zhao. Only by knowing the truth can I have lawyers figure out a solution."
"But..." Xia Ming said hesitantly, "Ms. Zhang, if I tell the truth, I'm afraid I'll be implicated. After all, what Mr. Zhao did at the time was not very honorable."
"I know your child is in junior high school now. With his grades, don't you want him to attend a good private high school in the future?"
"I dare not even think about it. It costs hundreds of thousands for three years of private high school now. We can't afford it," Xia Ming waved his hand.
Zhang Yuyun smiled and said, "Your wife isn't working, is she? She's been taking care of the child at home. Don't you want her to re-enter society and do something to earn some income?"
"At her age, it's not easy to find a job," Xia Ming sighed. "Forget it, it's better for her to stay at home."
"Then your family relies on you alone to earn money, the pressure is indeed great." Zhang Yuyun changed the subject and said, "As long as you don't hide anything from me anymore, your wife's job will not be a problem. I can help her find a high-paying position. And your son's private high school education is also on me."
"Ms. Zhang, you're not joking, are you?" Xia Ming's eyes widened in disbelief.
"I'm not joking with you, I'm serious." Zhang Yuyun's smile disappeared.
Xia Ming knew she wasn't joking. The conditions were truly tempting, but if some things were exposed, he was afraid he would be considered an accomplice and go to jail.
When he did those things under Zhao Jianhua's instructions, he knew in his heart that some of them had violated the law, but he had to obey Zhao Jianhua for the sake of his livelihood.
Seeing that he was still hesitant about something, Zhang Yuyun didn't press him further. "Let's stop here for today. Think about it yourself. If the group collapses, you will also be unemployed. Let alone your wife's job and your child's studies, you won't even have money to support them."
Xia Ming thought that even if he went to jail, as long as his wife had a good job and his son could attend private high school, it would be worth it.
He gritted his teeth and nodded, "Ms. Zhang, I can tell you the truth, but can you fulfill your promise just now?"
"I never go back on my word," Zhang Yuyun said, seeing that he had finally wavered. "You know me in the group. When have I ever been stingy with my subordinates? I've never treated those who followed me poorly in terms of money."
Xia Ming had heard of this before and envied Zhang Yuyun's subordinates.
Thinking that he was treated worse under Zhao Jianhua, working like a beast of burden, than Zhang Yuyun's people, his eyes couldn't help but turn red.
"Okay, I believe you." He told Zhang Yuyun the entire process of what happened that day.
After Zhang Yuyun listened, she felt numb to all the dirty deeds Zhao Jianhua had done. However, the reason Xia Ming mentioned for Xi Xianya's counterattack surprised her.
"What do you mean by Xi Xianya guessing that Old Zhao caused her family's company to go bankrupt and her father to commit suicide?"
Xia Ming clasped his hands, rubbing them nervously. He knew that revealing the real reason for Zhao Jianhua's accident would lead to more terrifying things they had done.
Xi Xianya's father's incident was what he truly wanted to conceal. If the police investigated, this would be a serious crime.
Seeing that he had gone silent again, Zhang Yuyun said decisively, "I want to know the whole truth. If you don't tell me, I can find out. But then you won't get anything good."
Xia Ming had no choice but to tell her the truth about Xi Xianya's father's company going bankrupt and his suicide.
It turned out that Xie Zhendong, in order to deal with Aoxiang Company, had supported Zhao Jianhua in registering a company overseas.
This overseas registered company not only snatched a batch of building materials from Aoxiang Group, but Zhao Jianhua also used this opportunity to engage in smuggling. That is, carrying contraband items along with legitimate goods.
This was a quick way to make money. Zhao Jianhua, accustomed to it, was unwilling to stop while he was ahead. He would ask Xi Xianya's father's transportation company to pick up the goods each time.
He also paid Xi Xianya's father's company a high freight fee each time, claiming they were friends and thus looking after Xi Xianya's father's business. In reality, he was harming her father.
The first few times, the customs clearance and transportation were smooth and undetected, so Zhao Jianhua planned to continue this long-term.
But one time, when that freight company was transporting problematic goods, it was caught, and the freight company was sealed off.
Zhao Jianhua, afraid that Xi Xianya's father would betray him, took several people to find her father and forced him to commit suicide.
This way, whether the police or customs investigated, there would be no evidence.
Zhao Jianhua also realized the risk was too great, so he quickly had him go abroad to deregister that company, erased all traces, and pushed all the responsibility onto Xi Xianya's father.
They narrowly escaped disaster.
Zhang Yuyun did not expect Zhao Jianhua to be so foolish as to do such a thing. If they had been caught at that time, their group would have been finished long ago.
"Ms. Zhang, this is the whole process. I really haven't hidden anything else," Xia Ming said again, expressing his sincerity.
Zhang Yuyun's mind was a bit chaotic now. She hadn't expected Zhao Jianhua to have done such illegal and immoral things. She said to him, "Okay, I understand. I will help you resolve your wife's job issue as soon as possible. You can leave now."