Chapter Thirty-two Another Black Hand Appeared

  It was almost time to get off work when Zhang Sen received a call from Ma Pei: "Ah Sen, let's have dinner together tonight, 7:30, 'Little Shell', I've already reserved a table, whoever arrives first waits, just give my name and you'll be fine."

  "Alright." Zhang Sen also didn't waste words and simply replied to him.

  When Deng Zongheng arrived at "Little Shell", Ma Pei had already been waiting for a long time.

  As soon as he sat down, Zhang Sen asked: "Speak up, brother, what's going on?"

  "Look at you, so anxious, it's not a big deal, let's eat and talk at the same time. You know Jiang Huai, right?"

  "Of course," Zhang Sen smiled, "the general manager of the Jiang's enterprise, your group's real estate company is the largest competitor in G city, what's up?"

  "He was beaten by the old man and had his arm broken, he's been in hospital since last Wednesday; but his wife flew back to her hometown in Singapore on Thursday morning." Ma Pei said lightly while pouring wine for Zhang Sen.

  "Oh?" Zhang Sen was startled, "Why?"

  Ma sighed, put down the wine bottle and said: "It is said that the old man received an anonymous letter, then he was so angry that he called Jiang Huai back home from the company with a phone call. When Jiang Huai returned home, before asking what was wrong, he was beaten to the ground by the old man's crutch. Then the crutch came down like a storm, and out of instinct, he stretched out his arm to block it, as a result, his arm was broken."

  "Oh?" Zhang Sen asked again, "What did the anonymous letter say? Do you know?"

  It is said that there was no letter inside, only some photos. These photos were indeed unbearable to look at." Ma Pei let out another sigh.

  Zhang Sen furrowed his brow, looking at Ma Pei with an unbearable expression: "Director Ma! Can't you just let me finish speaking once? One minute it's an anonymous letter, the next it's a photo. What kind of photo is it exactly? Can you please just say it all at once? What's with this back-and-forth nonsense?"

  Ma Peichong chuckled: "Don't you have any patience? Alright, I'll say it. Those photos, who knows who took them, are all of Jiang Huai and someone else in a hotel room, very intimate. If that was all, the old man wouldn't be so angry. Nowadays, some people's private lives are just like that, especially since Jiang Huai is rich and not too old, under 40, and looks okay, not bad at all..."

  Ma Pei was talking incessantly, but before he could finish, Zhang Sen interrupted him rudely: "Get to the point, don't talk so much nonsense!"

  Ma Pei was choked with saliva, looked at Zhang Sen, picked up the wine glass and took a sip of wine, then put down the cup, leaned forward, stared at Zhang Sen, and said word by word: "It is said that in the photos, all those who are with Jiang Huai are men!"

  "Oh?" Zhang Sen was taken aback, "Jiang Huai is gay?" Ma Pei nodded. Zhang Sen continued: "But what does that have to do with me? Or rather, what does it have to do with you? Why did you go to the trouble of finding me to tell me this?"

  Ma Pei sat up straight, sighed and said: "Originally, it had nothing to do with me, and even less to do with you. Actually, I've known about this for a long time, but that's someone else's private business. Apart from work, we generally don't have much interaction, so whether he's gay or not has nothing to do with me. It's just individual preferences are different. Although we're competitors, it's only commercial competition. His ability is still quite impressive."

  "Now, the problem is, I just found out today that there's a rumor in the industry saying it was me who hired someone to tail him, take his picture, and then anonymously send it to his father. And also, Old Man's attitude and the reason he got angry, were all spread by me!"

  "Oh?" Zhang Sen raised an eyebrow, "Why? You're like this, there must be a believable reason, right?"

  "I'm guessing the reason is the final round of bidding for 'Tangwan Square' on the 18th of this month! You should know that 'Tangwan Square' is a large-scale complex integrating business, entertainment and tourism, and its music fountain square to be built will be one of the largest in Asia."

  "So, for the real estate industry, being able to participate in the construction of this square is secondary to benefits, and what's most important is reputation. Only two companies have entered the final round of bidding: Huayu and Jiangshi! Whoever wins this project will secure the top spot in G City's real estate industry, and the years of open and secret struggles will come to an end. Therefore, for this project, both Huayu and Jiangshi are determined to win!"

  "Anyone who understands this project knows that Vice Mayor Wang, who is in charge of the project, is a very orthodox person and naturally has strong reservations about such things. At the same time, at this juncture, the emergence of such an incident would be a huge blow to Director Jiang. Is this reason not sufficient?"

  Zhang Sen nodded thoughtfully: "Yes, that's a very sufficient reason. How long have you known that Jiang Huai is gay? Do many people in the real estate industry know?"

  "It shouldn't be too much, Jiang Zong is actually a low-key person, I only knew about it last year and that was when I met him abroad. He handled this kind of thing well in G city, at least I didn't hear any rumors like this in G city. I think, maybe this is also one of the reasons why I'm being framed?"

  "Oh, this project, who is in charge of your group company?" Zhang Sen asked again.

  "I personally, because this project is very important, so I personally follow up, and Jiang's side is the same, General Manager Jiang personally takes charge."

  Zhang Sen seemed not to have heard Ma Pei's words, furrowed his brow in deep thought. After a long time, he lightly exhaled and muttered to himself: "Is another black hand emerging? Is this year the calamitous autumn of G City's business world?"